Janice had to clear her throat to speak. “I was just going to go turn in.” She took a step toward the hallway but so did Carla, only she stepped toward her.
“Why?” She angled her head slightly, as if truly curious. She tossed her keys onto the coffee table while remaining focused on Janice. “It’s a little early for you, isn’t it?”
“I’m tired.” Janice swallowed as Carla came closer, moving like a predator keenly focused on its prey.
“You don’t look tired.” She stepped into her path. “You look upset. Frazzled. You looked the same at Maurine’s. Is something wrong?”
“No.” But she turned her head as she said it, unable to hold Carla’s intense gaze. “I just—got tired.”
Carla came closer. Carefully, she took the glass from her hand and set it on the end table. She tried to do the same with the wine, but Janice wouldn’t let go.
“No, I need this,” Janice said, once again looking into her eyes.
“No, you don’t,” Carla said softly.
“I do. I—want it.”
“No, you don’t.” She gently eased the bottle from her grip and placed it next to the glass.
Janice sidestepped to reach for it, but Carla stilled her with a slight grasp of her arm.
“You don’t need it, Janice. And you don’t really want it.”
Her voice and demeanor were smooth and sure as if she could see everything there ever was to Janice. Every thought, every feeling, every fear. Every…. desire. Just like she’d insisted she could back at the barbecue at Maurine’s. Was it possible that she really could? Could someone really know her so well?
Being seen like that so easily and for the very first time in her life, caused a sudden panic in her. There was nowhere to hide, no way to deny. She was now fully exposed and being held captive by the gaze of the most beautiful, alluring predator a poor, helpless prey like herself had ever encountered. Any attempt to try to form an escape plan or any other sort of complex or rational thought were futile. Her mind was melting, along with the rest of her body, save for her poor panicked heart, which was still careening.
Carla seemed to sense it and she drew even closer, now only mere inches away. Janice could smell the faint scent of her cologne, feel the slight caress of her breath and see the thrum of her pulse in her neck. Her close proximity at that moment was having such a strong effect on her, Carla might as well have been touching her.
Janice tried to speak, one last-ditch effort to say or do anything to somehow break the overwhelming spell. But the power of Carla’s gaze seemed to smother her voice, allowing for only a meek noise of helplessness to escape.
“Were you going to say something?” Carla asked.
Janice was finding it hard to breathe. “I—don’t know. I don’t know what to say other than good night.”
Carla smirked. “How about the truth, Janice?”
Oh God. Not again. I can’t fight it.
Her racing heart plummeted to her feet.
“The truth?”
“Yes. How about, instead of me telling you what it is you really want, you tell me?”
“I—” How could she say it? What were the right words? How does someone reach into their own chest, grab hold of their beating heart and offer it someone else, hoping against hope that they really want it and won’t tear it to pieces?
“It’s not the wine you really want, Janice. And it’s not sleep.” She lightly ran her fingers up and down Janice’s arm, teasing her skin like the touch of a feather.
Blood pounded in Janice’s ears and heated her entire body. She shook her head, feeling completely out of control and unable to put voice to any of the sporadic thoughts and feelings coursing through her.
“I know you’re scared. I am too. But I came here to tell you that I’m willing to move past my fear. I came here hoping that you’ll be willing to do the same.”
Janice held her chest, convinced she was going implode. Carla had just taken away the very last excuse she had for the continued denial of her feelings.
“You’re still not going to say it, are you?” Carla asked. She moved her hand from her arm and grazed her cheek just before she cupped her jaw.
Janice shuddered and she knew Carla felt it by the sudden flash of hunger she saw in her eyes and by the deep and sultry way in which she spoke, like the predator she’d been emulating, who at long last was about to devour its prey.
“Then how about instead of you saying it, or me saying it, I just show you what it is you want? What it is you need.”
Janice struggled to keep breathing. To remain standing. To remain fucking conscious as Carla carefully leaned in, skimmed her thumb across Janice’s lower lip and then slowly, so very slowly, brought her mouth to hers and kissed her.
The kiss was warm, soft, and so incredibly gentle and seeking of permission that Janice felt faint. Carla was introducing her to her own desire, taking her hand and guiding her into the depths of her innermost self and yet she was still considerate and careful, making sure she was willing to take that next step alongside her. And she asked her again and again with each delicate, deliberate move of her mouth, lightly pressing her lips into Janice’s, seeking and caressing and tasting and waiting.
With every single touch and careful collision of their lips, a scorching of yearning and desire began to burn hotter and fiercer deep inside Janice. Every cell seemed to burst aflame with life and need and they all cried out for more, demanded more. Made her feel like she was going to die if she didn’t get more. So, she clung to her, grabbing fistfuls of her shirt, and kissed her back, desperate to taste more of her, desperate to feel more of the moist heat of her mouth. Her response brought out a primal sounding noise in Carla and she quickly tugged on her hips to meld their bodies together just like their mouths.
They were fused. In unison. Exploring. Giving. Receiving. And when Carla carefully sought with her tongue, Janice welcomed her, never before having wanted the feel of that slick velvet against her own so badly. And the way Carla kissed her, so passionately and yet so controlled, as if she wanted it to last, as if kissing Janice was the most meaningful and sacred thing in her entire existence. As if she knew it meant just as much to Janice as well.
Janice was grateful and she knew she forever would be, because she had absolutely no control left in her. Carla’s kisses had splayed her wide open and every thought, feeling, and desire she’d had for her were now pulsing out of her. There was no stopping it. And no way in hell she wanted to stop it.
She pulled on Carla’s shirt, to hold her closer, tighter, and answered her tongue with the hungry thrust of her own. Carla groaned and eagerly deepened the kiss, lowering her hands to her buttocks where she, too, held her tighter. They kissed wildly then. Fervently. And every stroke of Carla’s tongue sent a rush of heat to Janice’s throbbing center, causing a newfound aggression to take precedence. And suddenly she was clawing at Carla’s back and trying to grind herself against her thigh.
Carla tore her mouth away and held her face. She panted as she stared into her with eyes as wild as their kisses.
“Is this what you want, Janice?” she asked. “Is this what you really want? Because if you aren’t completely sure, tell me now. Tell me now before I lose the very last of my reason and inhibition.”