Page 48

When there are barely two minutes left before ten, she sees the light in the apartment she thinks is Claudia's go dark. She checks herself in the mirror, runs her fingers through her hair as if that could make her ponytail any less plain, and gets ready to step out of the car.

"You've got this, Laia," she tells herself, trying to summon a courage that has suddenly abandoned her.

The front door opens and Claudia steps out with her usual elegance. Tonight she's wearing slim black jeans, heeled shoes, and a light sweater. Laia gets out of the car, runs across the street, and her hurried footsteps are what make Claudia turn around—and when she sees her, she stops dead, letting out a breath of pure exasperation.

"Jesus, Laia," she says, looking at her with her whole body coiled tight. "What are you doing here? I told you the other day—I need to get laid, so unless you're offering again, get back in your car and save yourself a rough night," she snaps, irritated.

"I am," Laia says—and she goes very still when she hears herself, because this is not how she'd planned to start the conversation, and now she's almost as thrown off as Claudia, who stares at her with a mix of disbelief and annoyance. "I want to sleep with you," she adds, finishing the thought, her voice unsteady but her gaze steady. "I have for a long time, Claudia. For months."

Elvira's niece doesn't move, just stares at her, lips parted, mouth completely dry. Laia would rather die right now than endure this silence, in which she can hear her own racing heart pounding against her ears, the sensation of vertigo clawing at her stomach. She's said it—not the way she wanted to, and with none of the subtlety she'd planned—but it's a step, even if she has no idea whether it's going to go in the direction she's hoping.

Claudia turns sharply without a word, walks to her building door, fits the key in the lock, and pushes it open while Laia watches from the sidewalk, frozen. And just when it seems like Claudia is going to push through the door and leave her standing there with no answer—which would be the worst thing that could possibly happen to Laia—she turns back and gives her a small nod to come in.

Elvira's assistant doesn't think twice; her feet move on their own until she's across the threshold, then she follows Claudia to the elevator, positions herself to one side with her hands in her lap as if she's trying not to take up too much space, and the two of them ride up in silence. Laia's skin prickles all over and there's an intense heat coiling in her stomach, to the point where she feels like her knees might give out.

The doors open and Claudia heads straight for her apartment. She turns the light on when she walks in, and she notices her hands are shaking as she hangs her purse on the hook. She isn't sure what she's doing. She hasn't even fully processed Laia's words yet—she doesn't know if she meant them seriously, or whether saying "months" was just a way of expressing how badly she wants to sleep with her—but it's her body that seems to be running things now, and Claudia realizes: yes, she wants to have sex, but more than anything, she wants to have sex with Laia.

She turns around and sees her standing there, staring at her with wide eyes, an expression of disbelief on her face, arms pressed against her sides as if she doesn't know what to do with them. Claudia doesn't know what to do either, but again she lets her body decide, walks toward her, raises her hands to her shoulders, and starts taking off her blazer. Laia lets her, noticing how her breathing starts to catch and a tingling spreads along her arms as Claudia's fingers brush against them.

"I didn't see this coming," Claudia whispers, hanging up the blazer and turning back to her. "I don't know what to do right now," she admits—and before she can say anything more, Laia is the one who kisses her.

She puts a hand at the back of her neck and pulls her mouth to hers, kissing her more slowly this time, without the desperate hunger of the bathroom. She moves her lips against Claudia's and holds still for a second until Claudia gasps and kisses her back, putting her hands on Laia's waist to pull her body closer with a quiet certainty. The kiss deepens, and everything stays unhurried enough that Laia can focus on what she feels—Claudia's tongue against hers, the warmth of her hands bleeding through the fabric of her shirt.

"God," she hisses when Claudia slides a hand underneath her shirt and skims it up her back.

"Are you okay?" Claudia asks, pausing—because she's never felt this lost before, she feels inexperienced with Laia, as if she's discovering sex for the first time.

"Yes." Laia takes her hand and guides it from her back to her stomach. "Don't stop. Please."

Claudia takes a few seconds to react, but then she takes the lead—takes Laia's hand, walks her to the bedroom, and pulls her shirt off the moment they're through the door, her fingers fumbling when she reaches behind her to unclasp her bra.

"Let me," Laia says, eager, every trace of the fear she had a few minutes ago gone.

The bra drops to the floor and Claudia feels her vision blur for a second. She's irritated when she struggles again with Laia's jeans, because it's always been easy for her to undress a woman, and with Laia her hands shake like it's the first time she's ever done this.

"Let me—"

"No," Claudia cuts her off this time, holding her gaze for a moment. "I've got it."

Laia quivers with anticipation at the fire in her eyes and lets out a nervous laugh when Claudia finally works the jeans off her and leaves her in just her underwear. A sudden shyness washes over her and she covers her breasts on instinct, but Claudia takes her hands and draws them away gently.

"Don't cover yourself," she says, shaking her head. "Please. I need to see you."

Laia goes still, and her stomach tightens as Claudia runs the fingers of her right hand across it, up to her breast, squeezing it before pinching her nipple—then she steps back to pull her own sweater off. She drops it on the floor and presses herself against Laia, kissing her, pushing her back toward the bed until they both fall onto the mattress with Claudia on top, bracing herself on one elbow so she doesn't crush her. She kisses her neck and works her way down it, trailing along her collarbone until she reaches her breasts, and takes a nipple into her mouth—and Laia arches her back, lets out a low moan of pleasure, and buries her fingers in Claudia's hair, wrecking her updo.

She hooks a finger into the waistband of Laia's underwear and pulls down, and Laia lifts her hips to help, but her legs are shaking so much with want that Claudia has to place her hands on her thighs and stroke them gently until the tremor eases a little.

"Look at me," Claudia says, and Laia obeys, watching her from below—naked, her hair almost as disheveled as everything going on inside her.

"Touch me," she asks, her voice so rough she barely recognizes it as her own.

Claudia obeys. She slides her hand down her stomach, and when she finally touches her, her fingers slip easily through her folds, because Laia is very wet—and that sends a kind of vertigo through her that makes her close her eyes for a moment.

"Oh God," Laia murmurs as Claudia starts to move her fingers with deliberate care, as if she's afraid of breaking her—but Laia is far from breaking, and what she needs is to feel her with full intensity, so she reaches down, takes Claudia's hand, and presses it against her to make it clear she doesn't need to hold back.

Claudia presses harder, circling around her clit, working through her folds, starting over, until she pushes two fingers inside her.

"Is this okay?" she asks—and she feels foolish when Laia's eyes land on hers, her pupils so blown they're almost completely black.