(This is all I have written so far...hopefully, I will do more soon and be able to post it)

Chapter Thirteen

Kate look at the dinning room table, then look at her mother curiously. “How’d we go from two people to three people?” She pointed at the extra table setting.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Elaine Watson was the image of innocence. “I invited Laura Kingston to come for dinner.”

Kate’s stomach performed a lopsided flip-flop. Three days had passed since she’d gone over to see Laura. She’d been fighting herself since then, wanting to cross the yard and pull the other woman into her arms, but not wanting to push Laura.

“Caitlin’s sleeping over a friend’s house and Brent’s out of town, so I thought I’d invite her over to eat with us.” Kate’s mother continued her dinner preparation without stopping.

“Who’s Brent?”

“Laura’s boyfriend, Brent O’Reily.” Elaine smiled. “He’s such a nice young man. Great with Caitlin too.”

Stifling the desire to scream, Kate clenched her hands into tight balls, trying to contain the fury that filled her.

Unaware of her daughter’s reaction, Elaine continued to talk. “I keep telling her that she should marry him. I know he’s asked her. But she just says she’s not ready for marriage.” When silence met her, Elaine looked up and was surprised to see that Kate wasn’t there anymore. Shrugging to herself, she checked the temperature on the sauce pan in front of her.

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Laura rang the doorbell, a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Her palms felt sweaty as she waited for someone to answer the door. Just knowing that she was going to be in the same house as Kate made her both excited and nervous at the same time.

The door finally swung open and Laura’s vision was filled with Kate herself. She gasped when she saw the coldness in Kate’s dark eyes. Something in her shifted uncomfortably. Kate stood there, staring at her, almost as if she were looking through her. When the older woman didn’t say anything, Laura lifted the flowers in her hand. “These are for you,” she said softly.

“Did your boyfriend give them to you before he left?” Kate’s voice was harsh and her tone was meant to hurt.

Laura flinched as though she’d been physically hit. There was such raw emotion in Kate’s face that she thought she’d die on the spot from the pain. “Kate, it’s not—“

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Laura. I mean, we’re just friends, right. Who you fuck is your own business.” Turning on her heel, Kate stalked away, leaving Laura standing there.

“Oh, Laura, you’re here! Perfect timing,” Elaine’s came out of the kitchen, stopping when she saw Laura standing outside, the front door wide open, her daughter no where to be seen. “Forgive my daughter’s manners,” she said with a smile. “Come on in.” She reached Laura and took her elbow, guiding her into the house. “What beautiful flowers. Come, we’ll find a vase for them.”

Together they went into the kitchen where Elaine found a vase for the flowers. After putting them in water and arranging them, Elaine announced it was time to eat.

When called, Kate came slowly to the table, her face a mask without emotion. She ate her dinner by rote, answering only direct questions, avoiding looking at Laura all together.

After she’d eaten, Kate excused herself from the table and hurried away, not able to sit that close to Laura for a moment longer. She thought about driving to Hope for a drink, but she was afraid of running into Gina there. She’d never called the girl back and felt completely ashamed of her behavior. She was getting too old for those games.

Instead, Kate put a light jacket on and slipped out of the house, walking toward the forest at the end of the street. There was a walking path that ran through the forest. She hoped that the walk would clear her head.

Laura and Elaine heard the soft snick of the front door closing. Dinner had been a disaster. Elaine wasn’t sure what was happening, but she was completely angry at her daughter’s rude behavior. When she said as much, Laura only shook her head and said it had been her fault.

Excusing herself, Laura thanked Elaine for the dinner, declined taking any desert with her, and left the house.

Rather than heading to her own house, Laura stood outside for a moment, revealing in the feeling of a spring evening. She couldn’t understand how things had gotten so out of hand. After a moment, she headed in the direction opposite of her home, something inside her directing her.

When she got to the walking path at Jackson Glacier park, she hesitated. It was dark on the path and she hadn’t brought a flashlight with her. Dark places were not friends of hers, but she instinctively knew that Kate had gone this way. Taking a deep breath she moved forward, heading into the dense tress that lined the walking path.

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While the park wasn’t lit at night, Kate remembered fondly going there after dark, bravely walking the paths alone, or with friends. She and Sara had gone there frequently during their high school years, holding hands and exchanging heated kisses in the quiet refuge the trees provided.

Sara. Why did even the thought of her still hurt? Yes, it had taken away every ounce of innocence Kate had had and it had devastated her to the point that she’d never wanted to look back. But why couldn’t she just work passed that hurt? There was a bigger question there, Kate acknowledged to herself. Why couldn’t she let herself love again?

Then there was Laura. So very different from anyone Kate had ever felt anything for. She had thought that maybe she could fall in love with Laura. Maybe. But not now. There was already lies and deceit between them.

Sitting on a bench, Kate put her elbows on her knees and rested her head in her hands. The problem was that Kate wanted Laura desperately. Every time she was in Laura’s presence, she had to fight the strong urge to just touch her soft skin, feel it under her fingers. The desire that Kate felt for her was more than just lust. It was something so deep and so full that Kate thought she would burst from it, or else die from not allowing it to be free.

There was guilt in those feelings, Kate acknowledged. She hated the self-introspection, but her head was constantly swimming with thoughts that she’d tried so hard to ignore for years. The guilt came from knowing that as much as she loved Sara, and as pure as her love for Sara had been, what she was feeling for Laura was more. And it had hit her so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that Kate felt as though she’d unknowingly gotten into the line for the roller coaster when she wanted to go on the merry-go-round.

Just sitting there thinking about Laura, Kate was filled with the subtle fire that had been growing in her since that first afternoon when Laura had found her in the garden. The fire that had burned her so harshly every time she’d ignored it, only to searingly consumer her when she acknowledged it.

The sound of someone approaching fell on Kate and she knew instantly who it was. Laura. The younger woman’s form appeared from the path. She stopped when she saw Kate sitting on the bench, the light from the moon putting the woman in relief against the darkness around them.

Kate rose slowly, her face never turning away from Laura. With deliberate steps she closed the distance between them. Long arms wrapped around Laura, pulling her tightly against Kate, as Kate’s mouth sought Laura’s. Her mouth wasn’t gentle as she took Laura’s mouth, devouring her soft, warm lips as her tongue darted into Laura’s open mouth.

A gasp of surprise from Laura was quickly followed by a moan, both muffled by Kate’s mouth. Hands quickly found their way under Laura’s sweater, finding the warm skin of her abdomen. Her knees almost gave out when she felt Kate’s long fingers close over her breast, gently, but firmly caressing her quickly hardening nipple through her bra.

When Kate’s hot mouth moved from her mouth to her neck, Laura sighed in pleasure, pressing her body even harder against Kate’s. Cold air hit her skin as Kate lifted her sweater up, but was quickly forgotten as Kate took her nipple into her mouth.

Sucking softly at first, Kate used her teeth to nip at the hard nub in her mouth. Laura’s back arched, pressing her breast harder against Kate, leaving the older woman unsure if she could continue to stand. “I want you,” she whispered into Laura’s breast, receiving a moan in return. “You have only five seconds to decide if you want me to take you right here, or if you want to go back to your house.”

“God!” Laura whimpered, her body on fire. “Don’t stop, please don’t stop.” It was all the incentive that Kate needed as she guided Laura to the bench she’d just vacated.

Pushing Laura down onto the bench, Kate knelt on the ground between her legs, ignoring the shock of the hard ground on her knees. Deft fingers quickly unhooked Laura’s bra, allowing her more freedom to explore the woman’s full breasts. Laura wrapped her fingers in Kate’s thick hair, holding the other woman’s head to her chest, her own head thrown back in pleasure. She could only murmur “God, Kate, God,” over and over again, any other speech beyond her.

As her mouth continued to suckle first one nipple, then the other, Kate used her hands to unbutton Laura’s pants. One hand slipped into her pants, sliding against her skin, under her underwear, until Kate felt such heat that she thought her hand would be burned. She groaned into the softness of Laura’s breast as she slid a finger between Laura’s intimate folds, parting them slowly, searching for and finding the wetness she desired. Her tongue licked the underside of Laura’s breast, loving the fullness of them against her mouth, as her finger moved slowly, instinctively knowing where Laura needed to be touched.

She felt almost reverent as she began to stroke Laura. But her need was too great to allow her to move slowly. Laura’s hips began to rock back and forth against Kate’s invading fingers, her head thrown back, her hands wrapped around Kate’s neck. Kate watched as the moonlight played off the highlights in Laura’s hair, making her seem ethereal in the realm of the forest around them. For one brief, heady moment, Kate felt as if she were making love to an entity of the forest, the moon smiling on them as they burned in their need and pleasure.

Unbelievably, Kate felt her own body reacting to Laura’s, the swell of orgasm filling her. As she felt Laura’s body tense in climax, and heard her gasp in pleasure, Kate felt her own body fall over the precipice it had been teetering on, sending her spiraling in a hard climax that made the muscles of her body liquid.

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It was the chill against her skin that finally made Laura move. Her entire body felt like jelly, her legs impossibly weak. The warmth of Kate’s head on her thigh made her desperately not want to move, but realizing that the other woman was on the ground and that the wind seemed to be bringing colder air with it, she knew that moving was going to be necessary.

One hand was still tangled in Kate’s hair. She took a minute to run it through the impossibly dark locks, marveling at the silky way the hair slid through her fingers. Many nights had she thought about touching Kate, kissing Kate, loving Kate, but never had she realized just how soft the woman would feel.

“Kate?” She said softly, her hand caressing a cool cheek. The older woman’s eyes were closed, a small smile on her lips. “Kate, honey. We should move.”

“Why?” Kate murmured, not opening her eyes.

“Because it’s cold,” she wanted to add darling but bit off the endearment.

Kate quickly lifted her head, wincing at the sudden movement. “Are you cold?” She asked anxiously.

“Only in certain areas. Other areas are very, very hot.”

Grinning rakishly, Kate leaned up and kissed Laura’s lips gently, taking the time to outline the woman’s lips with the tip of her tongue. She felt Laura shiver in response, igniting Kate’s desire yet again. “We should get up and go somewhere else.”

“My place is free.” The warmth was quickly spreading through Laura, pent up desire fighting with Laura’s fear of being so exposed to this woman.

Kate rose slowly, her knees numb from being on the ground so long. She grimaced and worked them slowly to regain circulation. “That sounds like an offer I don’t want to refuse.” Offering Laura her hand, Kate helped the other woman stand, and then wrapped an arm around Laura’s waist. She felt almost afraid to let the woman go, fearing that if she did the other woman would vanish and she’d be left alone. Suddenly she realized that she didn’t want to be alone.