Chapter 5

"Do you know where I've put my belt?" Nadia rooted through her suitcase before returning to the closet, where she and Eva had hung up some of their clothing the day before. "The leather one. With the gold buckle. It goes perfectly with this dress."

Eva stopped scrolling through her phone long enough to behold the way Nadia moved around the room in nothing but her underwear. Over the back of a chair, she had slung a black dress that was the exact kind of outfit Eva went crazy for. Another woman gets to savor it tonight. Go figure. Meanwhile, Eva would simply throw on what she had worn earlier for her "date" with Ian. Even after she offered the role to Kathryn, it had been declined. Apparently, Kathryn had her own plans that night. "A big bath all to my damn self. I need the time to recharge all alone after all this shit, thanks."

"No idea," Eva said. "Although I think you look great like that."

Nadia coyly glanced over her shoulder. "Like you'd let me out of here in my underwear."

"I mean, we could stay in. Skip our dates and make merry the old-fashioned way."

"I'm sure you have all sorts of ideas in your head right now." Nadia reached across the bed. She was not aiming for Eva, though. Instead, she peered beneath the pillow and discovered the belt that had somehow ended up there over the past day. Not me. I didn't do it. Eva went back to her phone. "I'd rather not go on my fake date all tuckered out by you, though."

The belt zipped through the air while Eva remained on the bed. "You sure it's fake?"

"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Does she know that?"

Nadia could have gotten angry at her wife, but after seven years together, she must have known better than to take Eva's concerns at anything but face value. How did I get so lucky? Naturally, Eva didn't assume it was always luck. It was her skill for pursuing women she knew would make a helluva partner. That's all she wanted in the end.

Now she had a drop-dead gorgeous wife who always kept her on her toes.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about." Nadia climbed onto the bed, her every curve rippling beneath her underwear. My. God. It wasn't the first time Eva was grateful to be born female. If I were a guy, I'd give myself away right now. Sounded exhausting. "Even if I were the cheating kind, you know me. I like to play the long game. Have a few dates before jumping into bed with someone."

"Uh, we had casual sex, and I can think of some women you had one-night stands with."

Eva tossed aside her phone and lay across the bed. Perfect timing for Nadia to straddle her, long red hair falling in waves until she pulled it all back, so the focus was on her face and chest. Every day I get these sexy thighs on me is a day I get closer to a blissful death. Eva would never get tired of having this voluptuous woman on top of her. Not even if she had to let Nadia go "date" someone else that Saturday night in Vegas.

"Was it casual sex?" Nadia huskily asked with her hands on her hips. "Or was it the inevitable splurge after weeks and weeks of you flirting with me and making sure I never stopped thinking about you."

"Really? That's how you're rewriting history? Because you made me almost feel like a stalker sometimes."

Nadia chuckled. "Believe it or not, I was always attracted to you. You're a hot woman."

"Suuure."

"You're also high-fucking-maintenance, and I was not in the mood to deal with it."

"So you're saying that I was finally so hot that you didn't care I'm high maintenance?"

"Basically. After the principle of the thing fell by the wayside, I caved. We had great sex. I was hooked."

Eva pushed herself up, catching Nadia before she fell backward. "We could have great sex right now. Get you all nice and orgasmed out before you see… her."

"Mmhmm. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Nadia slung her arms around her wife's neck. "Get all up in me and send me on my way."

"It's called ‘asserting dominance.' Or maybe I should go with ‘marking my territory.'"

"Grooooss."

Nadia flung back her head and said that with the full length of her throat. It took everything in Eva's power to not lean forward and kiss it. "You don't understand. Women like me have to make sure the world knows who I've got warming my bed at night. Putting a ring on you isn't enough. Slam you with my scent, babe."

"You have such a wonderful way with words."

"Hey, I know what gets you hot. Gotta keep you coming back for more."

That was Nadia's cue to roll off Eva and finish getting ready for her expensive date. I knew what I signed up for when I said something stupid like that. Yet Eva would say it again if it meant getting that face out of her wife again. Sacrifices had to be made if Eva wanted to keep the silliness alive.

"You don't really need the belt." Eva lay across the bed with her fingers tapping against her scalp. "You're smokin' bombshell hot with the dress on you just like that."

Nadia absentmindedly smoothed her flowy black dress over her breasts and stomach while checking herself out in the big mirror hanging by the TV. "You think so?"

"Yes, but you're hot in the belt too. You should know that already."

Nadia picked up her belt and tugged it around her waist. Ugh. Look at that butt. Eva futilely reached for her wife's rear as it popped out when she finished cinching the belt. Once she turns around, I'm dead. This was the dress with the cleavage. Eva liked to joke that it was the perfect black funeral dress for a lesbian wake. Throw on some oversized sunglasses and a floppy hat and she's a real Warren. That's not what Nadia wanted to hear, though. She wanted to be a Gaines through and through.

"I like the belt better." Nadia tugged on the skirt of her dress until the hem was even all around. "Accentuates my curves."

"It sure fuckin' does."

Nadia whipped around, disbelief swarming her. "You're too damn much sometimes."

"Only sometimes? I try my hardest every damned day to be all the much for you, Nads." Eva flopped backward, starfishing from one corner of the bed to the other. She was so tall that even on a king-sized mattress, both her head and feet hung over their respective ledges. "Don't forget me when you're out with Lacey. She'll try to make you forget about me, while I suffer with my best friend's husband."

"I could easily say the same thing to you. Ian's not that bad of a catch."

"I want to gag at the thought."

A rueful grin loomed over Eva's face as spindly red hair tickled her cheeks. "I can give it as good as I take it. You know that."

"Oooh." The tingles tickling Eva's body were almost as good as the sex she wished they were having. "I do know. I also didn't forget the strap-on. Letting you know." She pointed somewhere behind her, somewhere she couldn't see in her ridiculous pose. "It's in the purple bag. I think."

"Are you saying you want some, Ms. Warren? Because like I said, I can give it as good as I take it."

"I have all the evidence I need for that too." Being on the receiving end of a strap-on wasn't at the top of Eva's list of things she loved to do in the bedroom, but occasionally? With a woman like Nadia? It can be pretty damn great.

Nadia tracked down her jewelry, but it was the wedding ring Eva ensured was on her wife's hand before she grabbed her sweater and purse. "I've got to go, Ms. Warren. Wish me a great time with Ms. Cruz. I'm sure she has a lot more stories to tell me."

"Uh-huh." Eva shot up on the bed so she didn't miss Nadia's departure. "You're way too gorgeous for her! You should be going out with me tonight!"

Nadia waved her hand over her head as she opened the door. "I'll see you later! Text you on my way back! You try to have fun too, okay?"

"Don't you dare do anything I wouldn't!"

Eva's words hit the back of the door as it closed. At that exact moment, her phone buzzed. It was Kathryn, reminding Eva that she was due at a show across the street in half an hour.

Instead of getting ready, Eva flung herself back onto the bed with a pouty grunt.