“I wanted to do all of this slowly,” Cassie said as she unzipped Taryn’s jeans and tugged them down to the floor. She pulled off her shoes and tossed them aside. “I wanted to take my time and undress you item by item and wind you up like a clock.”
Taryn lifted her ass from the bed to allow Cassie to tear off her shorts, exposing her most vulnerable self.
“But I can’t.” Cassie went down to her knees and pushed Taryn’s legs apart.
She let out a quiet breath, and Taryn thought she might come right then. Cassie seemed to communicate all her unbridled desire, blatant longing, and yearning for Taryn in one simple but loaded expression.
“I like the way you look at me,” Taryn whispered. Her latent, niggling fears of allowing herself to be laid wide open like this dissipated.
Cassie licked her lips and tucked her arms under Taryn’s legs. She pulled Taryn closer and lowered her head.
She let out a guttural moan. “God, you smell good.”
Taryn bit her lip and dropped her head back on the bed. But only for a moment; she didn’t want to break eye contact, and she didn’t want to miss a thing. She reached down and ran her fingers through Cassie’s hair. “You’re so beautiful.” Her words weren’t adequate, but they’d have to do. All Taryn wanted was Cassie’s full lips on her, Cassie’s tongue on her clit. “Please,” she murmured, powerless and happily so.
Cassie’s eyebrow quirked for the merest of seconds before she lowered her head and took Taryn into her mouth. Taryn sucked in a lungful of air as the sensation of Cassie’s tongue on her lips sent her spiraling into a sexual freefall. She clenched her fists into the comforter and pressed her head back into the mattress. She felt Cassie’s hands on her hips, holding her down though Taryn wouldn’t leave this spot even if a tornado warning sounded. Cassie settled into a strong and forceful pace, falling into an easy rhythm with the movement of Taryn’s hips.
Taryn placed her hands over Cassie’s, and Cassie interlocked their fingers, sealing and reinforcing their connection as her tongue continued to tease and tempt Taryn to the precipice of profound pleasure. Taryn raised her head from the bed and locked eyes with Cassie. Unspoken words flowed between them as she seemed to understand exactly what this meant for Taryn, and for them. And as Cassie brought her to orgasm, Taryn fell, weightless and untethered from everything that was holding her back, everything that she hadn’t even realized was doing so.
And she fell hard with a sliver of hope that Cassie might want to catch her.
Chapter Seventeen
“Why can we have so much frivolous funandseriously intense conversations?” Taryn plumped the pillows behind her and sat up. “I don’t think I’ve had deep conversations like this with anyone but Andi—certainly not with anyone I’ve slept with.”
“Maybe that’s the difference; we’re not doing an awful lot ofsleeping.” Cassie winked, and Taryn grinned. “If you want to redress the balance, you could sleep over tonight. If you wanted. I wouldn’t force you, obviously.”
Taryn glanced away and didn’t respond.
They had only spent the night together once, after they’d fallen asleep exhausted the first time they’d gotten together. It was a different prospect entirely toplanto spend the night together. That was…intimate in a way that purely having sex wasn’t. Did she want intimate? Did Taryn? If the past few hours were anything to go by, it seemed like she did. Unless what they’d just done had scared her off, and she was already looking for some way to back off. Which was hard to do right now since they were in Taryn’s trailer. Maybe she should just leave and see if Taryn followed. “If you’re going to overthink the offer, I’m rescinding it right now.” Cassie looked at Taryn and smiled to show she was still trying to be lighthearted, even after what they’d just shared. She took a sip of water and focused on the door of Taryn’s bedroom instead. She really hadn’t expected Taryn’s trailer to be quite this comfortable and spacious.
“No, please don’t,” Taryn said quickly then looked like she wanted to pull the words back into her mouth. “I’m just trying to work out what’s happening, and if we’re both okay with whatever that is.”
“So you are overthinking it.” Cassie put her glass down on the bedside table and placed her hand on Taryn’s hip. “We’re both competent adults, Taryn, and we know what we’re doing. We’re having an almost illegal amount of fun while it’s available.” She ran her hand along Taryn’s stomach and stopped just below her chest. Was she pushing it, touching Taryn this much after only just being given permission to do so? “You’ve made it clear that you’re a rolling stone, and as soon as your residency is over, you’ll be off traveling around the world again with your stunt team. And I’m,” she gestured to the window with her other hand, “happy here and at the hospital.” She couldn’t help the uncharacteristic hesitation and hoped that Taryn hadn’t caught it.
“Areyou happy here? We’ve never really talked about what you do or why you do it.”
Cassie removed her hand and retrieved her water to take a large drink, vaguely wishing it was something stronger to cope with a topic like this. “I don’t know that you really want to have that kind of intense conversation right now.” Strangely, shewasprepared to edge into that territory. She hadn’t talked when Taryn asked her about having siblings, and Taryn hadn’t brought it up again, but Cassie felt that was out of respect rather than a lack of interest or that she’d forgotten she’d asked when they’d been on the boat. Taryn had just laid herself bare for Cassie. Taryn already had complete access to her body, so the only way she could return the favor was by sharing her most sheltered memories and vulnerabilities.
Taryn turned sideways and tucked her feet into a meditation pose. She took Cassie’s free hand and held it in her lap. “I do. I want to know all about you—and your family. You shut me down on the lake, and I’ve been waiting for you to open up, that’s all.”
Cassie smiled at the weird synchronicity of her thought process and Taryn’s words.
“We can do the quid pro quo again, if that’ll help.” Taryn shrugged and scrunched her nose. “Though I think you know more or less everything there is to know about me and my family after the dinner at Cosmos.”
“I doubt that, but there’s no need. I think we’re a bit beyond that now.” And Cassie was beyond rolling back her feelings too. She knew Taryn wasn’t offering anything long-term, even if she had just let Cassie loose on her body, but that hadn’t stopped Cassie’s heart from getting involved. And that was okay. She’d grieve their separation when the inevitable happened, and she’d get back to her usual life, grateful that she’d had the experience rather than wallowing in its ending. What she didn’t want to think about was Taryn’s show and all the dangers it presented. She could control that, surely.
“Okay.” Taryn traced light patterns along Cassie’s forearm and looked at her with a serious expression. “Areyou happy with your life and job?”
“I thought I was.” She took a long, cleansing breath and tried to relax. She hadn’t even talked about this with her therapist. Cassie was grateful when Taryn didn’t press for more and simply continued with her soft touch. Which would usually have led to more sex, but tonight, it was comforting rather than sensual. Did being comfortable mean she could finally share her darkest guilt with someone who wasn’t paid to listen? And if it did, where should she start? She closed her eyes and was immediately transported back to that night. Pre-therapy, Cassie had relived it over and over, but now she was able to float above the room and watch. Detached but still so connected.
“Cassie?” Taryn whispered. “Are you okay?”
She opened her eyes, and the dam opened with them. Unable to stop the tears from flowing, she let them fall. “It’s fine if you want me to leave. This probably wasn’t what you had in mind when we tumbled into your trailer.”
Taryn pulled Cassie’s hand to her lips and kissed each of her knuckles gently. “I don’t think anyone other than a psychopath hopes to be the cause of someone crying, but it’s not a problem, honestly.” She wrapped her hands tighter around Cassie’s. “I adore having sex with you, but I also really love talking to you.” She pressed her lips together and raised her eyes to the trailer roof. “Again, I’d rather you weren’t crying but only because I hate to see you so sad, not because it makes me uncomfortable.”
Cassie nodded slowly. She put her water down again and wiped her eyes with the back of her other hand. “You asked if I had any siblings, and I couldn’t answer you at the time. I had a brother…but he died—he was killed.” Died was such a passive term. Her brother hadn’t just died. His life had been ripped away from him when he’d barely started it.
