Doublecrossed (36 page)

Callie blinked, eyes opening wide. “You want to marry me?”

“Yes, I want to marry you. I can’t imagine my life without you. I want to tell everybody I love what you mean to me.”

“Get married,” Callie said, as though she were testing out how it sounded. “Married.”

Regan jumped out of bed and dashed for her bag where she rooted around, grasped something and ran back to bed. She took a steadying breath while she fumbled under the covers. “I’m so glad you came to Boston. And I’m so glad we were the first state to legalize marriage between women. Isn’t Massachusetts wonderful?”

Callie nodded slowly. “Yeah…it’s the best place on earth. What are you hiding there?”

Regan’s hand slipped out of the covers and held up an emerald ring set in gold. “Will you marry me?”

Tears welled up in Callie’s eyes and she clutched Regan, holding on tightly. “Yes, yes. I’ll marry you right this minute.”

With trembling hands, Regan slipped the ring onto her finger, then kissed it tenderly.

“It’s so beautiful. How did you know I’d love it?”

“You’ve told me you like Delaney’s, but that you liked emeralds better than diamonds. I pay attention to every word you say.” She knew she was gazing at her with a lovestruck expression, and that’s just what she wanted. Callie needed to know what was in her heart. They kissed, gently, almost chastely.

When they broke apart, Regan gazed at her for a moment, marveling at her beauty. Callie grasped her face with both hands and began to kiss her in earnest. Her kisses were full and warm and covered Regan’s lips completely, making her want more and more. After just a few moments, Regan could feel the desire burning in her heart, as insistent as any physical need she’d ever had. This was what true love felt like. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind or in her body. She was Callie’s.

Long moments later, they broke apart. “Did you say you’d marry me?” Regan asked lazily.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes. I’ll marry you.”

“That’s good. Because I’d have to kill myself if I couldn’t have you now.”

“You’ve got me,” Callie pledged, wiping away a few tears as they formed. “Forever.”

Callie and Regan sat on a bench in front of a cafe on Commercial Street in Provincetown. The day was lovely, warm and dry. They’d been on a run, and were still in their running clothes. Callie reached over and tucked a few hairs behind Regan’s ear. “I really made you work for your lunch, didn’t I? Your hair couldn’t stay in its ponytail.”

“I think I did just fine.” Regan leaned hard against the bench, stretching her arms straight in the air as she performed some of the unique exercises she indulged in after running. “One of these days I’m gonna beat you, and then you’ll know how it feels to see me in the distance.”

Leaning over to drape herself across Regan’s lap Callie batted her eyes seductively. “That’d be great. I’d love to be behind you, watching your adorable butt. You know, sometimes I hold back just so I can leer at you.”

“But you always find a way to pull out another gear and dust me.”

Giggling, Callie sat up and flipped her hair over her shoulders. “I can see your butt at home.”

“You know, it was just a year ago that we were here, watching people walk down the street. I remember not being able to look at other women because I was mesmerized by the sun shining on your hair.”

With a bright grin, Callie patted her cheek. “And now you can’t look at other women because I’d strangle you.”

Regan’s grin matched hers. “That’s pretty harsh. Not to mention unfair.” Whatever chart measured cuteness didn’t have a number high enough for how Regan looked when she played like this. “Your last lover could have sex with other women. I can’t even know they exist.” Being able to tease each other about their exes was new. It was still a little touchy, but it felt healthy to toy around these possibly dangerous topics.

She leaned forward and cupped Regan’s face in her hands. They were just a couple of inches from each other and Callie could see so many flecks of color in Regan’s eyes she almost lost track of what she wanted to say. “It’s perfectly fair. Marina could have had sex with my mom at ten and come home and be perfectly normal at noon. You, on the other hand…” She had to have a quick kiss. Lips that luscious couldn’t be ignored for long. “Would feel guilty about looking at another woman’s body for more than two seconds. When you feel guilty you behave differently. So…no checking out chicks for you.” Another longer kiss followed, and she couldn’t make herself pull away. Being close to Regan’s sweet face was always a treat, and being able to kiss her openly was extra special.

“Is that really the reason?”

“Of course not. First off, I’d never tell you what you can or can’t do. I just want you to know that if you looked at another woman it would slay me.” Just thinking about it made her feel like she’d choke up.

“No worries.” The certainty in Regan’s eyes was enough. It spoke volumes. “How about you?”

“How about me what?” She’d forgotten what they were talking about. All she could concentrate on were Regan’s tantalizing eyes.

“Can you look at other women? What’s your rule?”

“Oh.” She pulled away, flipping her runaway hair back again. “I’ve got the best looking woman in the world in my bed every night. I have no interest in looking at the runners up.”

Regan took her hand and squeezed it against her chest. “So…should I be worried if I ever catch you looking?”

“That’s a laugh. The only thing I look at is the clock to check when you’re coming home. I start at about three and keep doing it every two minutes until you finally hit the front porch.”

“I love that you come to the door to meet me every night. It makes me so happy.”

Leaning into Regan’s body, she said, “I’m really not kidding about the clock. I’m so addicted to you it amazes me.”

“Same here.” She buried her nose in Callie’s hair and took a deep breath. “Every part of you turns me on.”

Callie looked up and playfully asked, “Time to get our moneys worth from our room?”

“Have I ever said no?” Regan smirked, looking proud of herself.

“Not even once.” She kissed her softly, staying very close. “You can, you know. You don’t have to fulfill all of my needs.”

“Of course I do! You fulfill all of mine, so it’s only fair.” She was grinning happily, showing she was barely kidding. “Besides, you’ve never suggested making love when I wasn’t one hundred percent in favor of it.”

“You make the first move more than I do.” Turning to make eye contact she added, “I love that.”

Increasing the strength of her hold, Regan murmured into Callie’s ear, “I couldn’t be happier.”

“Goosebumps!” she giggled, showing Regan the evidence now covering her arms. “You know, coming here might not have been the best idea for a mini-vacation. We don’t want to look at other women and we barely leave our apartment when we’re at home, so we clearly aren’t looking to meet people here.”

“We’ll start socializing. I just need a few months or years or decades to focus on you.” Kissing Callie’s ear, Regan asked, “What’s longer than a decade?”

“Dunno. On second thought, I think it was good to come. We can kiss and hug in public here.”

“We do that at home.”

“Not like this, we don’t.” Callie slithered out of Regan’s hold and put a hand on each shoulder. Looking at her with the full force of her sensuality, she pressed her hard against the bench and leaned in, compressing their lips together. She felt Regan twitch, the way she often did when the first flush of desire hit her. Callie stayed right there, opening her mouth just enough to let Regan’s tongue make a dainty entrance. That did it for her. Regan’s tongue had been on nearly every surface of her body, but feeling it enter her mouth turned her on each and every time.

Looking thunderstruck, her eyes slightly out of focus, Regan drawled, “I don’t think we can make love on the street—even here.”

“We’re not making love. We’re having foreplay.”

“I love foreplay,” Regan said, sounding oddly wistful. “It’s one of my favorite things on earth.”

Callie grinned mischievously. “I think I’ll start you off in the shower today. I’ll strip off all of your clothes as soon as we get into our room, then guide you into the bathroom. I’ll get my clothes off while the water warms up, then I’ll force you up against the glass and lather up my hands.” She leaned close and whispered, “I love to take you from behind.”

Glassy-eyed, Regan nodded. “I love when you do that. I can clear my mind and just feel. I’m not distracted by looking at your beautiful face.” She blushed, looking prettier than Callie could fathom. “When I look into your eyes when we make love I can hardly think.”

“You don’t have to think today. I’ll do all the thinking.” Callie petted her dark hair, smiling when Regan automatically leaned into her touch. “You’ve been doing an awful lot of the heavy lifting around the bedroom. You can be on vacation this weekend.”

Grinning, Regan shook her head. “That’s not work. That’s play, and you know I love to play.”

“I’m learning. I’m definitely learning. I thought you were a pretty serious woman, but you’re actually pretty goofy.”

“Yeah, that’s me. You had bad timing in meeting me at my low. But I’m back and better than ever!” She stood and grasped Callie by the forearms, lifting her to her feet. “Time to play.” She led the way down the crowded street, calling out, “Make way. Gotta make love to my gorgeous fiance. Clear the path, please. Lovemaking in progress.”

Callie laughed at her antics, turning to silently apologize to the women they’d blown past.

Turning onto a quiet street, Regan kept talking. “Did I ever tell you about the time I made love to a firefighter?”

“Why, no, I don’t think you have.” Callie smiled at her, feeling the love she had for Regan thrum through her body. This was Regan’s new game, and it was adorable. She made up sexual experiences out of whole cloth and described them in detail. So far each had involved a woman in some sort of uniform, and required Regan to spend a while taking said uniform off—slowly and sexily. Callie assumed she would always have a fetish for voyeurism, but she hadn’t felt the need to exercise it in the time they’d been together. Just being with Regan was enough to drive her desire. And having her put her efforts into thinking up new scenarios just for her was utterly charming.

“Well, I did. She’d just come from fighting a four-alarm fire, and she had every piece of equipment on. Hat, coat, big yellow suspenders… She was smokey and sweaty and tired, so I knew I’d have to get her in the shower before I had my way with her.”

Callie thrilled at hearing the things that sprang to Regan’s mind, and from the sparkle in her eyes she could tell that Regan loved the game. The stories were about things she doubted Regan would have ever done, but it let her flex her creative muscles and it never failed to turn Callie on. Regan usually started off playfully, then started to get into it when her imagination began to run wild.

They reached their bed and breakfast, chasing each other up the stairs to surprise the cleaning woman, who was just about to get to work on their room. “If you’d leave us a couple of towels, we’re good,” Callie said, slipping into the room and pulling Regan with her. “Actually, we can re-use the ones we have. Conserving water and energy is important.” She closed the door and leaned against it, slapping her hand over her mouth to dampen her laugh. “How obvious was I?”

“Very.” Regan leaned against her, pressing her against the wood. “She’ll know just what we’re doing when she hears your screams.”

“Or yours.” She looked into Regan’s lovely face, pausing to admire the strong, elegant bone structure. It still amazed her that someone so compellingly beautiful loved her. But love her she did. Wonderfully. She wrapped her arms tightly around Regan’s waist and hugged her until she grunted. “Save the firefighter for another day, will you? I want to take a quick shower and then go to bed. I have a huge need to put my hands on you and I don’t want to use up all of the hot water.” She kissed her tenderly. “This is going to take a while.”

“Nice and slow?” Regan continued to press against her, and now her voice was low and sexy. Whenever Callie made the first move Regan tended to respond coyly. It was like she wanted to be seduced, and Callie found this facet of her personality completely alluring. She looked into her eyes, which were now hooded and shy.

“I do. I want to make love to you.” They kissed, gently, for a long time. “Sometimes I want to have sex with you, sometimes I want to make love and today I want to worship you. Get ready to have me kneeling at the altar of Regan.”

In a split second Regan’s eyes filled with determination. Even though she didn’t look strong—she was. Very strong. Years of unloading deliveries at the restaurant had built an ample supply of wiry muscle. She swooped Callie into her arms and strode purposefully for the bath. Callie lay her head on her shoulder and relaxed completely. Regan was in charge and everything was perfect. Simply perfect.

The End

Novels

Arbor Vitae
All That Matters
Cherry Grove
Girl Meets Girl
The Lies That Bind
The Legacy
Doublecrossed

Serial Novels
I Found My Heart In San Francisco