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Lottie took a breath. “I accept,” she said under her breath.

“Excellent.” Hannah took Lottie’s drink as well as her own, waved to Brian and walked out of the bar, Lottie following in her wake. Hannah felt unusually powerful, and she liked it.

Once in her room Hannah placed the glasses down on her desk. She turned, and found Lottie right in front of her. She leaned in and kissed Hannah gently, the surprise of it almost as thrilling as feeling Lottie’s lips the first time against hers.

Lottie broke the contact. “You see,” she whispered, “the thing is, you are incredibly hot, and you’ve been driving me mad all night.”

“Oh,” said Hannah, bringing a hand up to Lottie’s face to tidy some hair behind her ear.

“And that has made me much more flustered and less smooth than I usually am,” Lottie was looking at Hannah’s lips as she spoke.

“And you’re usually really smooth?” Hannah asked, snaking her arms around the woman in front of her.

“Well, smoother than this,” said Lottie with a rueful grin. “You smell incredible, by the way.”

“Very smooth,” said Hannah, before leaning forward and kissing Lottie, this time allowing Lottie’s tongue entry. There was something achingly intimate about it that made Hannah moan.

Lottie brought her hands to Hannah’s face and into her hair, making Hannah’s knees give way slightly.

When they parted, Hannah spoke first. “OK, so I need to be totally up front with you right now.”

“Absolutely,” said Lottie, who seemed to be arranging her face into an understanding expression. It felt incongruous now her lips were red and swollen from their kiss.

“As I think you know, I’ve not done this before, I mean with a woman,” said Hannah carefully. “And I think honesty is the best policy.”

“Definitely,” said Lottie, her face serious.

“Here’s the thing. I need us to move so we can sit down or something, because this is a lot, and I’m really quite turned on. I’m not sure my knees are going to make it.” Hannah gave a tight laugh.

A smile slowly spread across Lottie’s face. “Now I think, deep inside, there’s a compliment in there somewhere.”

“Oh, for sure,” confirmed Hannah. “Definitely take it as a compliment.”

“Well, as the more experienced party here,” said Lottie, “I would suggest we adjourn to the bed.” Her face flickered. “That’s if that doesn’t feel like too much. I’m not making any assumptions here.”

“I’m already walking towards the bed, Lottie. Come on,” said Hannah. Lottie’s desire to protect Hannah’s honour was adorable. And entirely redundant.

Hannah sat down on the bed, and Lottie sat beside her, her pupils dilating as she gazed at Hannah. They kissed again, this time more passionately. Hannah brought her hands to Lottie’s shoulders, unable to resist bringing her fingers down her front to her chest.

Lottie sighed. “Is this OK?” asked Hannah.

“More than OK,” said Lottie.

“Good,” said Hannah, enjoying the sensation of Lottie’s breasts under her hands. She could feel the impact her touch was having already, and Lottie kissed her more hungrily.

Lottie swept her hands up Hannah’s side, underneath her shirt, and Hannah felt as if she was close to vaporising at the sensation of Lottie’s touch.

Hannah sighed into their kiss, moving her hands to pull Lottie closer. She could feel her body responding and needed more contact.

“I would really like to take this off,” said Lottie, fingering Hannah’s top.

Hannah grinned and pulled it over her head. Lottie’s eyes went immediately to Hannah’s breasts, which emboldened her to pull Lottie’s own top over her head. She gazed at her and then moved so she was sitting on Lottie’s lap, astride her thighs. “I never knew what I was missing, Lottie,” she breathed.

Lottie reached up to capture Hannah’s mouth with her own, and skirted her fingers across Hannah’s bra. Hannah gasped and began to writhe, keen to get more contact. It was though her body had a mind of its own. She had never initiated sex before.

Hannah put her hands on Lottie’s shoulders and pushed her back so she was lying on the bed. She took off her own bra and lay on top of Lottie, enjoying the sounds Lottie made as she did.

“This is not what I pictured when you walked into reception the other day,” said Lottie between kisses.