Chapter 13

Chapter 13StellaGod, but the sunset was beautiful tonight. The way it played in the evergreens and over the gable roofs of the buildings all around us, streaks of red and orange spilling across the horizon, it was so gorgeous I just wanted to drink it in, like it was the best thing I’d ever seen.Of course, maybe I was just… associating it with something else. Something even more beautiful.Gale stuck close to my side, holding my hand through the thick texture of our gloves, and it was something of a miracle I managed to keep my eyes straight ahead where I was going and not just stare at her.I liked the haircut. Suited her a lot. Liked the glow in her eyes.And I really, really liked kissing her.“Think everyone’s here right now?” she said, sticking close behind me as I stepped up onto the porch in front of the lodge, kicking snow off my boots.“If they are, I’m faking a highly contagious illness to get them to leave us alone.”“Guess I’m getting sick too, then…”“Shame. Guess we’ll have to shelter together.” I pushed open the front door, and of all people to see there—Dad was fine, and it was kind of nice seeing him there with Faith watching something on her phone, and they seemed to be having a good time together, and I wasn’t sure the last time I’d ever seen Dad and Faith spending time happily together. The problem was that Grandpa and Grandma were right there in the entryway, talking with another elderly visitor here I’d seen at the dance, and Grandpa looked wide-eyed at the two of us.“There you two are—” he started, and I ran with it, staggering to the side and gesturing to Gale like I was showing her off.“Ta-da,” I said. “Sorry for sneaking out, we had a secret little haircut appointment to make. Doesn’t she look good?”Gale plastered on a smile, patting the side of her hair. Grandma looked like she’d just seen a loved one murdered.“Oh… what happened to all your beautiful hair, Abigail?”Gale smiled. “They cut it.” She mimicked snipping hair. “Scissors happened, I guess.”“Oh, but you were so pretty with your long hair…”Grandpa sighed. “I’m sure she’ll miss it soon enough…”I put my hands on my hips. “Grandpa. Grandma. C’mon. You always used to tell me if you don’t have anything nice to say…”Grandma gestured like she just had no choice, as if this was all but holding her at gunpoint to make her complain. “Oh, but just… she was so pretty with her normal hair.”Luckily, Dad cut in, stepping into the entryway with us as Gale slipped out of her coat. “Hey, kiddo. Looking good.”Grandma sighed, the weight of the world on her tiny shoulders. “Well, do what you like…” She turned away, walking tiredly back towards the lounge area. Grandpa just frowned, but he didn’t press the matter.“Just make sure you join in with things tomorrow. Your parents were worried about you.”He turned and followed Grandma, and their friend went with. Gale smiled tiredly at Dad.“Thanks. I’m kind of obsessed with the look.”“Good of Stella to take you for it.” He shifted, looking between us, and—I didn’t think we could stay here too long like this. With him awkwardly asking about me and Gale before, and the studying look he was giving us now, and the fact that we’d disappeared for a whole day together and gotten Gale one hell of a lesbian haircut, I didn’t want him asking too many questions about what we were.Especially since I wasn’t exactly clear on the answer, other than that I liked being what we were.I pushed past him, walking quickly towards the stairs. “I’ve missed hanging out with her. Anyway, sorry, Dad, I just really need to go to the bathroom…”“Oh, yeah, go ahead. Well, good seeing you two again. Joining us for dinner? Me and your mom, Faith, Clarissa…”I glanced back at where Gale met my eyes, and just that quick flash of eye contact set my heart on fire. Gale spoke for me.“I’m feeling a little gross,” she said. “I think I pushed my luck with cheese this morning. I’m probably going to stay here.”“I’ll stay here, look after her,” I said. “Besides, Faith’s probably been enjoying having one less sister around.”He smiled. “All right, well, have fun here, you two. Hope you feel better soon, Abigail.”Gale and I went quietly up the stairs, not saying a word, and my heart beat faster with every step—seemed like it was just the two of us up here right now, everyone else out for dinner. I fumbled the key in the door more than once, and I’d almost managed to deny I was nervous until that.I was a little nervous.I got the door open and held it open for Gale, who walked in ahead of me. “Need to go to the bathroom?” she said.“Nah.” I shut the door. “Sick from lactose?”She turned to me with a smile dancing over her lips. “Nah.”“Good.” I couldn’t help myself a second longer. I shed my coat, dropping it on the floor behind me, and I stepped forward and crashed into her in a kiss, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her into me. She fumbled her own coat off, flinging it away, and I felt her reach around behind me before I heard the click of the door lock, and I pulled away from the kiss, breathless, laughing.“Forgot about that,” I said.“Clarissa’s going to skip into the room otherwise…”I leaned in and kissed her neck—I hadn’t even thought about it, just feeling the fire burning in my chest looking at her here in front of me like this and needing her, and I’d done it before I’d realized what I was doing. She slipped a hand to the back of my head, rolling her head back with a soft sigh, and it drove me wild seeing what I could do to her.She was so gorgeous. I’d never kissed a girl before, but kissing Gale felt so right, like I’d been waiting all my life to get a chance for it. Feeling her soft skin under my lips, feeling the way she shuddered for me, I could never get enough. She whispered my name, a silent prayer, lacing her fingers through my hair, as I kissed my way back up along her jawline and up to her lips, putting my hands on her hips and tugging her up against me, deepening the kiss, my tongue trailing over her lower lip. She bucked her hips against me with a gasp, and I walked her backwards to the bed, pushing her down to sit on the edge, bending over to kiss deeper and deeper until she broke off with a wild, breathless look over her face, flushed red and want glazing over her eyes.“S-Stella,” she started, her voice aching. I felt it resonating down deep in my body, the sound of her voice humming inside me like when I used to lie with my ear close to the neck of her guitar while she played, feeling the vibrations. I put a hand next to her on the bed, climbing on top of her, backing her down onto her back.“Gale?” I whispered. She swallowed.“I… uh… I don’t want to ask too many questions right now, but, uh… what are we, you know…?”I laughed, kissing the nape of her neck. “You’re so cute when you’re shy.”“Are you trying to kill me?”“Just a bit,” I laughed, my lips against her skin. I settled onto my side on the bed next to her, smiling at her so wide it felt like I would burst. “Well, I dunno. What do you want to do with this lonely evening cooped up in here with just the two of us? Any ideas?”“Pf…” She looked away, her face a lovely Christmas-ornament red. “Oh, I dunno. Maybe some more sketches. I know how you love them.”“Nah. I think I’m all sketched out.”“Well, failing that.” She scratched her head. “Could always do what I’ve been trying hard not to think about all those times you just walk around without pants on and giving me—”I stood up, unbuttoning my pants and dropping them to the floor. Gale’s eyes went immediately to my legs, her sentence seemingly forgotten. I leaned against the edge of the bed. “Here I thought you were tired of me walking around pantsless…”“I… was mostly just trying not to check you out all the time…”“Should have just asked,” I laughed, heat bubbling up in my belly as I slipped my shirt up over my head too, dropping it on the floor. Gale let out a short breath, eyes wide as she took me in.“I… kinda assumed you were straight…”“Now, now. What do they say about assumptions?”“You could have said something.”“Hey. We got here.” I tossed my hair back over my shoulders, a fire smoldering in my core as I climbed back onto the bed, coming on top of her on my hands and knees. I loved seeing her like this… flushed and breathing hard, eyes wide, taking me in like I was the best thing she’d ever seen. Could have gotten used to it. “I want you so badly, Gale…”She bit her lip, nodding. “Me too.”I went up on my knees, straddling her, and I undid the top button of her shirt. She squirmed, unbuttoning her shirt from the bottom while I went from the top, and we met in the middle, my hands coming down over hers while she fumbled with the middle button, and I laughed, bending down and kissing her again as I pulled her shirt off, slipping it underneath her and tossing it off the bed.I slid down and kissed along her collar, savoring the way she arched her back against me with a low whisper of a moan, gripping at my back. Her skin was so soft under my lips… I couldn’t get it out of my head this was Gale I was touching, Gale I was feeling, Gale I was seeing spread out under me in the bed. She was seriously so beautiful…I undid her pants, slipping them down over her ankles and dropping them off the bed, and I took a second just to take her in—so impossibly pretty in her underwear on top of the red brocade. When she quietly gasped my name, squirming under me, I bent down and kissed the inside of her thigh, loving the way she bucked her hips into it with a cry. Still, I looked up at her with a playful smile.“You know we shouldn’t be too loud,” I whispered, and she clasped a hand over her mouth, nodding.“I-I’m going to try.”“Let’s just put on some music. Cover it up a little.”I grabbed my phone and almost just settled for putting on the Christmas station it suggested as the first result before I realized there was no way I was having sex to I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas, and I put on the soft indie pop instead that I knew she adored even though I’d never totally gotten the appeal of. If I played it like this, though, I think I’d learn to love it.I climbed back on top of her, and I reached back to the clasp on my bra, reveling in the way she watched so raptly. I undid the clasp, slipping my bra off and dropping it off the edge of the bed, and she let out a long, low breath, sliding her hands up my sides, up over my breasts. I closed my eyes, nodding her on, savoring the sensation of her soft, delicate hands working over my body, and when she teased over my nipples, I was the one who almost got too loud—I clutched at the sheets, rolling my head back and straining not to moan as she sent pleasure jolting through me, and when I couldn’t take it any longer, I took her hands and slid them down to the band of my underwear.“Please…” I whispered, and she was all too happy to oblige, sliding them down until I felt the cool air of the room on my center. Gale slipped her hands between my thighs, touching up just short of where I needed her to, and then back up along my hips, rising to kiss me, her hands burying in my hair. I met her with my tongue in her mouth, feeling the coarse texture of her tongue on mine, and I reached around her and unclasped her bra, sliding it down her arms and dropping it over the edge of the bed before I pulled back from the kiss, looking her in the eye while I reached my hands down the sides of her underwear.She arched her back towards me with a soft noise in her throat, planting her hands on the bed behind her, nodding me on desperately, and I guess maybe I was a little hasty, because I couldn’t help slipping a hand down between her thighs, running my fingers along the softness of her folds there.“Stella—” She clasped a hand over her mouth, catching the involuntary noise, and she closed her eyes, muffling the quiet curses under her breath as I danced my fingers lightly over her clit, running down along her shape, feeling how wet she was for me…I didn’t think I’d been this aroused in my life. She was just so perfect I couldn’t help myself. It burned through me like wildfire, aching need thrumming deep through my body, and I tugged her underwear down, desperate for more access. She dropped onto her back, letting me tug her underwear down and sling it over the side of the bed, and—I barely recognized myself being so proactive in bed, but I couldn’t hold back if I wanted to right now. I put my hands on her knees and pushed her legs apart, and I heard myself breathing hard as I ran a hand up her thigh, up slower and slower until I dragged one finger achingly up along her folds. She let out a shuddering breath, dropping her head back against the mattress, and I bit my lip hard.“Tell me what you want, please, Gale?”“I can’t think of a lot of things I don’t want, frankly.”I laughed softly, a murky sound in my throat. “Then… can I… you know…”She bit her lip, raising her eyebrows. “Oh, who’s shy now?”“Me.” I broke eye contact. “I think I’d like to be inside you.”She let out a rush of air, nodding breathlessly. “Please.”“Great. Just, um… tell me if I’m doing okay, because I’ve never… you know…”She smiled at me. “You know, you, uh, have the same setup yourself.”“Yeah, but—I’ve never gone in from this angle before.”“I think you’ll do just fine,” she said, sitting up and pulling me into a kiss, and she guided my hand down between her legs. Slowly, I slipped a finger inside her, feeling her clench tight around me, the way her breath caught, and I pushed deeper inside before I pulled back out, adding a second finger. Gale murmured whispers and small gasps of pleasure as I lowered her onto her back again, my lips against hers the whole time.I was just getting into the rhythm of it when she slipped her hand down to my clit, and I broke off from the kiss with a gasp at the jolt of pleasure that arched through me. She caught me, pulling me back down into a kiss, and I let it all happen—kissed her deeply, passionately, moved inside her, feeling her wetness pool on my hand, feeling her fingers working expertly over my clit, and I melted into the pleasure of it, fading out everything else in the world until it was just the arcing pleasure jolting through every part of me. The touch of her lips on mine, her tongue, the sounds she made. The sounds I made.She didn’t stop or slow down, and I couldn’t hold it in for long—pleasure built up until the dam walls buckled and cracked, my knees shaking under me, and I moved faster inside of her, thrusting harder and positioning to touch her clit while I did, and everything gave for both of us—she broke off from the kiss, pressing her head back into the mattress and pressing her lips together to muffle a cry just as my legs gave out and I collapsed with my head on her chest, an orgasm exploding through me and rippling out to the tips of my toes, and I buried my wild, uncontrolled gasps of pleasure against the soft skin of her breast.Once our orgasms subsided and the world came back into focus, I laughed like I’d lost it a little, exhausted from head to toe, and I collapsed onto the bed next to her, rolling onto my back and draping my hand over my stomach. Next to me, Gale rolled her head over to look at me, eyes sparkling and the most beautiful, satisfied smile on her face.“Hey,” she said.“Hi,” I laughed. “Damn. Merry Christmas, huh?”“Mm. Just what I asked Santa for.”“How many letters, exactly, did you write asking for a girl to kiss you while fucking you into the mattress?”“In my heart?” She clasped a hand over her heart, lazily, more like draping it there. “Dozens. Hundreds. Millions of letters.”“Your heart’s pretty prolific.”“My heart’s horny.” She looked away. “And likes you…”“Mm. Mine too…” I shifted closer, resting my head against the side of hers. She nestled immediately back against me, shifting closer.“I’m lucky like that,” she sighed, small and satisfied, and then she paused. “Wait. Which part?”“Oh. I meant the second, but I guess I wouldn’t be able to deny the first part after…”She moved in and planted a swift kiss on my cheek, and then she looked down at my hand draped on my stomach. “Uh… Stella, are you trying not to get the bed wet?”“I don’t want to explain that to the housekeepers…”She cleared her throat. “That, uh, might be a lost cause.”“Oh.” I propped myself up, looking further down the bed, and I—well—admittedly, it wasn’t like I didn’t feel good about getting Gale that wet. Luckily, most of mine was all on my thighs. I laughed nervously. “Um… maybe we put a towel down next time.”She laughed, nestling closer to my side. “Aren’t we conscientious?”If I were conscientious, I wouldn’t be doing this. But this was a pretty small room, and with the two of us in here, there wasn’t space to hold all the reasons we shouldn’t have done this.All I really cared about was that Gale was the most gorgeous person I’d ever known, and I got to kiss her.