April also understood that when all this happened, and they bumped noses, laughing into the night air, Daphne’s lashes fanning beautifully across her cheekbones, she wanted to kiss Daphne.
And Daphne wanted to kiss her.
And maybe it was wild and reckless. Maybe she wanted toexperience something new and exciting—kissing a pretty girl while half-naked in a lake—but April didn’t care. Because why shouldn’t she kiss Daphne Love if that was what she wanted? And why shouldn’t Daphne have what she wanted too? Why couldn’t they reach out and take it, whateveritwas at any given moment in their lives, whatever was possible? Seemed to April, they’d both spent a hell of a lot of time not taking anything.
She yanked Daphne even closer, fingers spreading over her torso, thumbs pressing into her bare hips. Daphne gasped a little, smiled a little too, right before their mouths met. The mineral scent of the lake surrounded them, the water rippling as they moved, but April barely noticed any of it.
There was only Daphne.
Daphne and the moon and the stars.
The tang of lake water on Daphne’s mouth, the sounds she made as April tugged at her lower lip, then licked into her mouth. Daphne’s hands rested on April’s shoulders, but soon dipped into her hair, pulling at the roots just a little.
Just enough to make April crazy.
But this was all crazy anyway, and April wanted nothing more than to lean in.
All the way in.
She slid her hands down Daphne’s hips, then around her waist to pull her flush against her own body, not a breath of space between them. April slid her mouth down to Daphne’s neck, swirling her tongue just under her ear.
Another gasp, and the sound went straight to April’s clit. She felt ravenous, almost unhinged. Granted, she hadn’t had sex in a while, and she knew how to take care of herself just fine. But this wasn’t the anonymous lust she felt when she watched porn or read a superspicy novel and then reached for a favorite toy in her nightstand drawer.
This was Daphne.
This was…
Fuck, this was trouble.
Daphne made a sound then—so sweet and provocative at the same time, her fingers sliding to April’s face to take her chin in her hands—and April pulled back.
Daphne inhaled sharply at the shock of it, but she didn’t protest. She didn’t move at all, really, except to look at April, their eyes locked. Then Daphne pressed one more kiss to April’s mouth—soft, sweet—before putting a bit more space between them. She kept her arms draped over April’s shoulders, however, and April felt her eyes start to sting with how much she liked them there.
And she couldn’t.
There was nothing but disaster down that road.
“I think I finally have an idea for the Devon,” she said.
Daphne’s brows lifted, and, just as April suspected she would, she removed her arms from April’s shoulders. April felt the loss immediately. She had a wild urge to grab Daphne’s wrists, circle them back around her neck.
“Oh?” Daphne said. She smiled softly, knowingly, as though she could see right through April’s chest to every conflicting part of her heart—the want and the denial, the exhilaration and the fear and the uncertainty.
April nodded, but she didn’t know what else to say, and Daphne didn’t ask. They hadn’t made a habit of talking about the Devon, sharing ideas, or asking about each other’s progress. April, of course, had seen the first incredible installment of Daphne’s series—what Aprilassumedwas a series—and knew Daphne was hard at work in the studio on more.
But she never asked.
And Daphne didn’t either.
It was easier to pretend the Devon was happening to both ofthem separately, had nothing to do with the other person at all, than face the reality that they were competing.
Which was probably why April had said what she’d said. Deep down, she knew the Devon would put a stop to everything happening in this lake right now, the ultimate cold shower.
And she was right.
She and Daphne watched each other for a second, everything floating between them like stardust.
“We should probably head back,” April said.
