Page 51 of Rivals and Liars

"Stop it, Leire. We're here now—both of us." She takes her hand between both of hers. "And we're going to be unstoppable."

"Thank you." The Spanish woman pulls her close and presses her lips to her neck.

"Now that we've sorted that out, we need to talk about what Bruno did," Kate says. "I know he's your father, Leire, but he violated our privacy, and that can't go unanswered."

"I know. I'm not expecting it to. I asked Isaac to look into our options, but I wanted to talk to you before doing anything official. I need us both to be in this together, or I won't be able to get through it."

They look at each other for a moment, losing themselves in each other's eyes.

"I'm right here, sweetheart."

"So are you. I promise I won't let you down again." Leire leans in and kisses her.

Chapter 24

"Are you okay?" Leire asks as Kate gasps, trying to catch her breath.

The Australian still feels the aftershock of her orgasm rolling through her legs, small tremors rippling through her.

When she opened her eyes, Leire was watching her, lying at her side with a shy smile, trailing her fingers across her bare shoulder and tracing lines between her freckles. Kate still struggles to describe what she felt waking up and finding her there. She'd gone to bed restless, because every time she spent the night with Leire, anxiety knotted in her stomach at the thought of sneaking out in the middle of the night. Last night she didn't have to. She could sleep without worrying about missing her alarm or about who might see her leaving, and she was so stunned by the idea that Leire noticed.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, moving closer in bed.

"About tomorrow. About not having to…"

"Run," Leire finished, and the shadow crept back into her expression for a few seconds before she managed to push it aside — because after hours talking about so many things, they'd promised each other to focus on the future from here on out. "I really want to wake up with you."

Kate smiled and shifted her shoulders, because she knew she didn't need to say how much she wanted the same thing.

They didn't have sex last night, because that wasn't what they needed from each other — so they curled up together and fell asleep almost immediately. But this morning they had something different in mind, especially the Spanish woman.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked while Kate rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, like a rock. You?"

"Amazing."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Kate's pulse sped up at her mischievous smile.

"Because I've always wondered what it would be like to make love to you in the morning, with no rush. And now I'm going to find out."

By the time the Spanish woman's kisses reach between her legs, Kate is so ready her first orgasm hits fast, barely a minute in — and because it feels too soon, she presses Leire's head to keep her there until she comes a second time.

Leire crawls up the bed, kisses her shoulder, then her jaw, and lies back to look at her.

"We haven't talked about us," she whispers, tracing soft circles over Kate's chest, still heaving.

"I thought we cleared everything up yesterday," Kate says.

"Yesterday it became clear that you don't hate me and that you're willing to give us a shot. But we didn't talk about what actually happens with us from here on out."

Kate pulls the sheet up a little and turns to face her, taking her hand and pressing it to the center of her chest.

"What do you want to happen, Leire?"

"I want us to have everything we never had. I want to enjoy all the things couples do. I want to go out with you, have a whole bunch of actual dates. And travel," she adds, thoughtful. "Visit places we choose ourselves, without a schedule dragging us along that keeps us from seeing anything beyond the hotel."

"I think that can be arranged. Only one of us will have a schedule now — I'm going to have a lot of free time."