‘That’s impossible. No matter how this ends, being with you will change everything between us.’
Helena’s heart stuttered. Because Cynthia was right. They couldn’t join together without being irrevocably altered.
‘I don’t want to lose you as a friend.’
Cynthia’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I don’t want to lose you either, Helena.’
Frustration bubbled. ‘This is impossible. How can I pretend that I don’t want to taste every inch of you? I want to swallow your screams of passion and make them mine. I want to lick you until you spin apart and hold you as you come back together. I want to discover all your secrets.’
‘Will you let me discover yours?’
Helena hesitated. Because there were certain hidden memories she didn’t want to share with anyone. And yet, perhaps that was the answer. If she revealed those truths to Cynthia, she would understand. She would see why Helena could only give her this moment and nothing more. And she would be grateful that their souls weren’t truly bound to each other.
‘Yes.’ It was the perfect solution, if Helena was brave enough to pull back the shield hiding her deepest wounds.
Cynthia shifted on the bed, making space for Helena.
Helena shrugged out of her robe and climbed next to Cynthia, twisting her torso to face the woman who so easily dismantled all Helena’s armour. ‘If you want me stop…’
‘I don’t want you to stop.’ Cynthia tangled her fingers in Helena’s wild curls and tugged her closer, pressing her lips against Helena’s, tracing the seam. Seeking entrance.
Helena opened to her, and their tongues danced and flicked, teased and tasted. She bit Cynthia’s lip and delighted in her gasp.
The dam holding them apart broke as Helena tugged down the sleeve of Cynthia’s shift. Her breasts were full and glorious and tipped with nipples as red as hawthorn berries. Dipping her head, Helena gave in to temptation and licked the puckered skin.
Cynthia cried out, and Helena reached up to cover her mouth. The last thing she wanted was Aunt Rowan or Ellie coming to investigate.
‘Shh. Ellie was lying. They aren’t that far away, and the walls are thinner than you think.’ She thrilled when Cynthia licked her finger, nipping the pad.
Returning her attentions to Cynthia’s breasts, she laved, suckled, and nibbled one side, then the other.
‘My turn.’ Cynthia gasped, wrapping long legs around Helena’s waist and twisting so she was on top. Nimble fingers unbuttoned Helena’s shift. Her thumbs paused on Helena’s sternum and traced the raspberry-coloured star.
‘It’s just a birthmark.’
Leaning forward, Cynthia’s hair tickled Helena as she pressed a kiss against the stain. ‘It’s beautiful. You are beautiful.’
Helena glanced down to look at herself, trying to imagine her body through Cynthia’s eyes. Cynthia pushed aside the cotton covering Helena’s breasts. They weren’t as full as Cynthia’s. Her nipples were a brighter red, the same colour as her star, and excruciatingly sensitive. When Cynthia brushed her thumb over an aching tip, Helena had to bite the heel of her hand to muffle her own scream.
Cynthia noted Helena’s reaction and smiled. ‘You have such beautiful breasts.’ The hungry look in her hazel eyes caused a rush of warmth between Helena’s thighs.
Cynthia’s mahogany hair fell across Helena’s skin like skeins of silk as she lowered her head and sucked a nipple into her hot, wet mouth.
Helena squirmed, needing friction. She gripped Cynthia’s leg, pulling it up against her core. Writhing against Cynthia’s thigh, she lost herself in the spinning sensation. She was supposed to be showing Cynthia the glory of sexual congress, but the contradictory woman had once again shaken Helena’s plans into chaos.
When Cynthia employed teeth to nip and nibble, Helena was swept higher on a cresting wave. She ground out her pleasure, as Cynthia sucked harder, pinching Helena’s other nipple then brushing soft caresses over the sensitised flesh.
‘You are… so good… at this…’ Helena panted as pleasure swept her higher.
Cynthia growled her response, hiking her leg up, increasing the pressure against Helena’s drenched folds as she rocked forward.
Helena was balanced on a sharp edge of need. Cynthia took her mouth in a brutal kiss.
‘Show me how much you want this. How much you want me.’ Cynthia’s demand was impossible to resist. She reached down between them, tracing Helena’s entrance, wetting her fingers on Helena’s need. Exploring her soft folds with gentle strokes. Helena focused on the pleasure blooming in her core, the wave building higher, the velvet softness of Cynthia’s tongue as she licked from Helena’s clavicle to her jaw, the sharp bite of Cynthia’s teeth sinking into Helena’s exposed neck. And her wicked fingers as they found her clitoris, circling endlessly in perfect rhythm. It was too much. It wasn’t enough. It was everything.
She shattered against the shore of intentions, sinking into the sand only to be sucked back to the heart of the sea to rise again. Cynthia rocked her past the first orgasm and eased her into the second.
‘Stop. Please. You must…’ Her body turned liquid, her bones dissolving into jelly.
