"I want you more than I've ever wanted anyone," Lex said. Her voice dropped lower, rougher, and the sound of it traveled down Mara's spine like a hand. "It's not just sex. It's more. And you know it. You've known it since the corridor, maybe before. Stop being afraid, Mara. Let go of control for once."
"I don't let go of control." Her back pressed against the weight rack behind her. The words were automatic, a reflex, the last line of defense in a wall that was crumbling with every step Lex took.
"You will tonight." Lex moved closer. Three feet. Two. Close enough that Mara could smell her, soap and warm skin and a darker note underneath that was just Lex, and the scent hit her nervous system like a drug. Her pulse was hammering. Her hands were shaking. Every muscle in her body was locked between the competing impulses to run and to stay.
"I don't." Mara's voice broke. A fracture running through the center of the word, exposing everything underneath. She was shaking visibly. Her hands were clenched at her sides and her chest was heaving with shallow, rapid breaths and her body was screaming at her to close the distance, to reach out, to touch the woman standing in front of her with those dark, burning eyes and that unwavering certainty.
Lex stopped inches away. She was taller by two inches and she used the height, looking down at Mara with an expression that was equal parts tenderness and hunger. Her hand came up slowly, giving Mara every chance to move away, and she brushed a strand of loose hair from Mara's face. The touch was featherlight. The contact of her fingertips against Mara'stemple sent a current through Mara's entire body, electric and overwhelming.
"Tell me to stop, then."
The gym was quiet, the building quieter, the world narrowed to six inches and the feel of Lex's fingertips against Mara's temple. The last rational argument in her chest released. Four days of conviction had dissolved, not under Lex's pressure but under its own exhausted weight.
She closed the last inch of distance herself, reaching up to wrap her hand around Lex's wrist and press her face into Lex's palm.
Lex's breath came out in a long, unsteady exhale. Her hand moved. Slowly, so slowly, tracing down the side of Mara's face, along her jaw, down her neck. Her fingers were warm and steady and sure, and everywhere they touched left a trail of heat deep in Mara's core. Lex's thumb brushed the hollow of Mara's throat and lingered there, pressing gently against the rapid pulse she found.
"You're shaking," Lex murmured. Her mouth was close to Mara's ear. Her breath was warm against Mara's skin.
"I know."
"Do you want me to stop?" Lex pulled back just enough to see her face.
"No." The word came out broken and honest and it was the most terrifying thing Mara had ever said.
Lex's hands moved to Mara's waist. Settled there. Pulled Mara closer, slowly, until their bodies were pressed together and Mara could feel the heat of Lex's stomach against hers through two thin layers of fabric. Lex's mouth found the side of Mara's neck, just below her ear, and kissed her there. Softly at first. Then her teeth grazed the skin and Mara made a sound that came from somewhere primal and involuntary, a choked gasp that she couldn't have suppressed if her life depended on it.
"You're so beautiful," Lex whispered against her neck. Her hands traveled up Mara's sides, over the compression top, thumbs tracing the curve of her ribcage. "Every day I watch you behind those boards, so controlled, so composed, and all I can think about is what you'd look like when you let go."
Mara's hands came up and gripped Lex's shoulders. Not pushing away. Holding on. Her fingers dug into the muscle she found there, hard and warm and real, and the solidness of Lex's body against hers was grounding in a way she desperately needed because the rest of her was unraveling.
Lex's hands slipped under the hem of Mara's top. The contact of skin against skin was searing. Mara's abs jumped under the heat of Lex's palms, and her breath came in sharp, stuttering pulls as Lex's hands traveled upward, slow and deliberate, pushing the fabric higher. Lex's mouth found her neck again, kissing, biting softly, her tongue tracing the line of Mara's tendon, and Mara tilted her head back and let Lex's hands and mouth map her body with an authority that was dissolving every wall she'd ever built.
"I've thought about touching you every day since I walked into your rink," Lex said against her skin. Her hands reached Mara's bra and her thumbs traced the underwire, barely touching, teasing. "Every practice. Every session. Every time you stood behind those boards and looked at me with those blue eyes."
Mara was going to come apart. She was sure of it. Her body was vibrating at a frequency she didn't recognize, every nerve ending alive and screaming, and Lex hadn't even touched her yet, not yet, not where Mara's body was begging to be touched.
Lex's mouth found hers. The kiss was different from the one in the office. Slower. Deeper. Lex kissed her with a thoroughness that left no room for doubt about what was happening or where it was going. Her tongue slid against Mara's and Mara moanedinto her mouth and her hands left Lex's shoulders and buried themselves in Lex's thick dark hair, pulling her closer, deeper, and the last shred of professional composure Mara possessed caught fire and burned to ash.
Lex walked her backward. Mara felt the cool wall of the gym against her shoulders and the heat of Lex's body against her front and the contrast made her gasp. Lex pinned her there, one thigh pressing between Mara's legs, and the pressure was staggering. Mara's hips rocked against Lex's thigh, and Lex made a low sound of approval against her mouth that sent a flood of heat through Mara's center.
"Tell me what you want," Lex murmured against the corner of her mouth.
"I want." Mara couldn't finish the sentence. Her brain had stopped producing language. There was nothing left except sensation and need and the overwhelming reality of Lex's body against hers, Lex's hands on her skin, Lex's mouth warm and insistent and perfect.
Lex's hand traveled down Mara's stomach. Slowly. Her fingers traced the waistband of Mara's leggings, hooking lightly into the elastic, waiting. "Tell me."
"Touch me." The words were barely a whisper. "Please."
Lex's hand slid beneath the waistband. Beneath the cotton underneath. Her fingers found the folds of Mara's pussy and Mara's entire body seized with a shock of pleasure so intense her vision blurred. She was soaked. She'd been soaked since Lex walked through the gym door, maybe longer, maybe since the kiss four days ago, and the first touch of Lex's fingers against her was like a circuit completing, a current finally finding its path.
Lex's fingers moved slowly. Exploring. Learning. Tracing the length of Mara's arousal with a deliberateness that was both generous and torturous. She circled Mara's clit with her thumb and pressed two fingers against her entrance, not pushinginside, just holding, feeling, and Mara's hips rocked forward with desperate, instinctive need.
"Slow down," Lex whispered. Her mouth was against Mara's ear, her breath hot and ragged. "I've waited too long for this to rush it."
"I can't. I'm going to...” Mara gasped as Lex's thumb pressed harder, circled faster, and her fingers slid inside, two of them, firm and steady, and the feeling of being filled was so overwhelming that Mara's knees buckled. Lex caught her with her free arm around her waist, holding her against the wall, her body a brace, and her fingers began to move. Slow, deep strokes that found a rhythm Mara's body matched without conscious thought. Her hips moved with Lex's hand, riding the pressure, chasing the building wave of sensation that was gathering low in her belly and spreading outward.
"That's it," Lex murmured. Her voice was rough and low and it was the most erotic sound Mara had ever heard. "Let go. I've got you."
