Love Comes When You Least Expect It

Hi all

Sorry for yet another long period of radio silence. I'm afraid that I've been dealing with the death of a parent, and the forced isolation due to Coronavirus hasn't helped. However, I've come to realise that my writing was one of the things that has kept me going in the past, and I've finally gotten round to writing again.

I have to be honest, I really wasn't sure how to continue my "Love Comes When You Least Expect It" series, certainly not in such a way that would do justice to the previous instalments. I toyed with a number of different scenarios, but none of them felt right. This is the first one I've done that I've managed to see through to the end, and it actually feels right.

To give you all a heads-up, there is a small section of the story that involves Water-sports. I don't know how my long-time readers will feel about the sudden inclusion of this particular fetish into my work, so I have deliberately marked that section out by putting it all in italics, and a row of W's, in bold, so if you want to skip over that bit, you can. It won't make a difference to the story.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy. And hopefully, there will be more on the way in the not-too-distant future!

Take care

GT

****

Clip clop, clip clop.

Laughter.

"Easy Shaun, she's a bit frisky today!"

Clip clop, clip clop

.

More laughter.

Then a whinny, a small scream, followed by a thud, and a dull crack. Then another, even louder scream.

The blank expression, the lifeless eyes... the blood.

Maddie woke with a start, to find herself lying on the couch, her Employment Law case book was on the floor, where she had discarded it, and her laptop on standby on the coffee table in front of her. She was covered in sweat, and her skin felt hot and clammy.

And her mood felt the lowest it had been all week.

Even after all these years, her nightmares still came to her. Even a short afternoon sleep was enough to bring one on.

Luckily, before she could ruminate further, the front door opened, and a familiar voice called out.

"Maddie? It's me! I'm home!"

Issy practically danced into the flat, hanging her handbag on a coat hook by the door as she did so. Although her hair was a little wet from the rain, the angelic, rather cheeky grin she wore made Maddie feel heaps better.

"Hi Is!" Maddie called back tiredly. She knew better than to get up to greet Issy, because within seconds, her girlfriend of two years had pounced on her, pinning her to the couch and giving her a big, very wet kiss.

As they kissed, Maddie's hand slipped down the back of Issy's jeans and firmly squeezed her ass, eliciting a squeal of delight from her. In turn, Issy put her hand up Maddie's T-shirt and started gently groping her boobs, a fairly easy task considering she wasn't wearing a bra.

After a moment, though, Issy drew back, and her smiling face became one of slight concern.

"Mads," she said. "You're quite sweaty. Is everything all right?"

It took Maddie a moment to consider an answer.

"I'm all right now," she began. "But I just had another nightmare."

"You were just sleeping? Did I wake you?"

"No, no. The nightmare did."

"How far did it get this time?"

"To the end."

"Fuck..." Issy took her in her arms and held her tight. They just sat like that for the next few minutes, gently swaying side to side as they hugged. Maddie buried her face into Issy's hair, taking in that lovely smell that she could still never quite get enough of.

"Will you still be all right to continue with tonight's plans?"

"I should be. Just give me a bit of time, it'll be like it didn't happen."

"Okay."

After a few minutes in her lover's embrace, Maddie was feeling better. She snuggled up with Issy and nuzzled her neck.

"When's she getting here?" she asked.

"I told her to aim for about 6pm. She should be here in about an hour or so, hopefully."

"Brilliant! You wanna talk game plan?"

"Yeah, sure," Issy stretched out on the couch and put her feet up on the coffee table. "Do you think we should play it nice and slow? Ease her into it? Or should we drop her in the deep end? Get her to do some of the more intense stuff on the first go?"

"Oh, deep end for sure," Maddie said. "I really don't think she wants to be eased in completely."

"Yeah, I think I can see that," Issy agreed.

Maddie clapped her hands together gleefully.

"Ooh, I'm so excited!" she exclaimed.

"You and me both, babe!" Issy squealed, as they hugged excitedly.

****

What was about to happen had only been about a month or so in the making. Not really a lot of time in the grand scheme of things. Although when one considered that Maddie and Issy lot longer than what they were used to.

Shortly after they had gotten together, two years previously, they had successfully gotten into the same university, in London. Maddie was studying Law, and Issy was doing English Literature. Although they had considered staying in Halls of Residence, Issy's father had instead leased a small two-bedroom flat for them both, so that they could be together. Maddie had been overwhelmed by such a generous gesture, but he had simply waved aside her efforts to thank him, good-naturedly suggesting that she could repay him by looking after his daughter for him.

The following two years had been a bit of a blur -- a combination of late nights, studying and doing essays and coursework, going out to the clubs with friends from their courses, and the occasional night on the couch, watching TV together.

Although they were now a lot more settled in their relationship, and it was no longer the whirlwind romance of their teenage years, they were more content than ever before. Somehow, even though things had changed a bit, the magic never seemed to go away. There were always new things that they would learn about each other, and the love that they felt never seemed to go away. They never fought -- for some reason, their minds always seemed to be on the same page, and even things that they disagreed on weren't a problem. They always talked things through. And they always seemed to know what they want.

A month ago, however, something had happened that was to alter the course of their relationship for good.

It had been their 2

nd

anniversary of getting together, and since it was a Friday night, they had decided to go out to a club that was popular with the LGBT community. They'd been to this club on several occasions before, usually in a large group, and had enjoyed the atmosphere. Although the drinks were a bit pricey, it was worth it for the live music, easy-going atmosphere and the extremely attractive pole dancer who always came on a Friday night.

On this particular night, though, they had arrived and, within five minutes, come upon a most unwelcome scene.

Not too far from the bar was a very short, nervous-looking young girl of about 18, with frizzy, brunette hair and a slender frame, nursing a half-drunk pint. On either side of the girl were two older women. And it was quite obvious from their body language -- hand on her arm and invading her personal space -- that they were making quite an aggressive advance on her. And she could not have looked more uncomfortable.

As if thinking the same thing, Maddie and Issy had moved as close as they could to where the girl was at the bar, and while Maddie ordered two cokes (they had decided to order soft drinks in case they needed to leave quickly), Issy strained to hear what the women were saying.

It didn't bear repeating. But it was obviously not the sort of flirting that Issy would have been comfortable with in any venue. Especially when she was trying to enjoy a night out on her own.

It was a good thing she listened carefully, because it meant that she caught an important detail.

"What's your name, baby?" one of the women had asked.

"Umm... Emily," the girl had replied timidly, her voice betraying a hint of an Estuary accent.

Hearing this, Issy formulated a plan. Through a hurried whisper in her ear, she had brought Maddie up to speed with it. And as soon as they had gotten their drinks, they had advanced straight for where the three women were standing.

"Em! There you are!" Issy had exclaimed, barging past the two women and throwing her arms round the very confused looking girl. After a moment, though, the girl had caught on, and with as much enthusiasm as she could muster, she hugged her back.

"Where've you guys been? I've been looking for you all night!"

"Yeah, sorry, we got lost in the crowd," Issy lied, ignoring the very pissed off expressions of the two women who had been flirting with Emily. "I'm glad we found you, though!"

"Yeah, same! Where's everyone else?"

"They said they were heading to the Golden Lion just up the road. We told them we'd catch up as soon as we found you."

"Cool!" Emily took a final gulp of her pint and laid it on the table, while Maddie and Issy drank their cokes in one go. She turned to the two very annoyed looking women who had been flirting with her. "Have a good night, ladies!"

"Night," one of them muttered dispassionately. The other gave Maddie a filthy look. Maddie responded by giving her a knowing wink.

Emily followed Maddie and Issy outside the club. Once they were on the street, she broke down crying.

"Thank you!" she wept as she tearfully hugged both girls at the same time. "That was awful!"

"Are you all right?" Maddie asked, taking her by the hand.

"I will be," Emily said after a moment.

"Who were those women?" Issy asked.

"No idea," Emily replied. "They obviously clocked that I was on my own, and cornered me at the bar.

"You came in alone?" Maddie asked.

"Yeah. I know, stupid, right?"

"Well, the wisdom of going into that club alone notwithstanding, you still have a right to be in there unmolested."

"Oh no, they didn't molest me or anything. They just hit on me in a very creepy way."

"That's not what I -- never mind," Maddie said, embarrassed.

"What brought you to the club, if you don't mind me asking?" Issy asked.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story. Mind if I tell you over a drink?"

"Sure," Issy indicated. "We told those women that we were going to the Golden Lion. That's just a block up the road. We can go there anyway."

"A block?" Emily asked quizzically.

"She's American," Maddie explained, cheekily.

"Shut it, babe!" Issy playfully cuffed Maddie over the back of the head.

They made their way over to the Golden Lion, and mercifully were able to get a table -- despite it being a Friday night, and a little busy, they had arrived just as a large party left.

Once the three girls had gotten their drinks -- this time, Maddie had ordered her usual Bulmers, Issy a Budweiser, and Emily had gotten a pint of Guinness -- the conversation continued.

"I'm assuming you two are a couple, then?" Emily asked. "How long you been together?"

"Oh, today's actually our two-year anniversary," Issy said. "We were out celebrating when we ran into you."

"No way! Two years?" Emily echoed. "That's pretty awesome! How did you guys get together?"

Maddie turned to Issy and smiled. "You wanna tell her, or should I?"

"You tell her. I wanna hear your version this time!" Issy giggled.

"Well..." Maddie began. "It was a bit of a weird one. One day, we were meeting for the first time up on a hill in the Derbyshire countryside. We had a drink that night. The next day, we were together."

"Really? That quickly?" Emily seemed quite shocked.

Issy smiled, leaned over and kissed Maddie on the lips. "When you know, you know. Except that there are a few things that Maddie left out."

"Issy, no!" Maddie laughed. "You really think that we should be sharing that stuff with someone we just met?"

"I dunno," Issy smiled. She looked at Emily. "Something tells me that she's an open-minded person."

"I certainly try to be," Issy

Smiling at her girlfriend, Maddie turned back to Emily. "So what's your story then? What were you doing in a famous lesbian bar on your own?"

Emily's face fell a little. She seemed a little unsure how to respond.

"Well, I... I dunno. If I'm being honest, I've been struggling a little with my sexuality recently. Up until now, I dated exclusively boys. But over the last year or so, I've started being curious about doing stuff with girls. I suppose you could say that I'm bi-curious. Tonight, I finally mustered up the confidence to go out and see if I could have a one-night stand with another woman. Then I went into that club and realised I was completely out of my depth."

Issy nodded understandingly.

"Dealing with your sexual orientation can be pretty tough," she said. "I'm really sorry that your first attempt led to that. I hope those two bitches don't colour your first impression of us lesbians."

"Oh no, of course not," Emily said quickly. "Your saving my bacon back there pretty much dispelled any notions I was getting that that behaviour was common. But if I'm being honest, I'm starting to wonder if going was a good idea at all. I like to think that everything happens for a reason, and I'm pretty sure that the universe was sending me a pretty clear sign that I'm not ready to explore my sexuality yet."

Although they both nodded in agreement, Maddie and Issy shared a look whilst Emily was distracted. They didn't need to say anything to know that they were thinking the same thing.

Once they were finished, more drinks were ordered, and the conversation continued to flow. Emily got to hear about life in Derbyshire, both Maddie and Issy's families and some more details of the fun things they had gotten up to together in the two years they'd been an item.

In turn, Emily revealed that she had been born in London and lived there her whole life, that she had been raised by a single mother from a lower-middle class family rather like Maddie's. She was currently training to be a nurse.

Eventually, though, the night began to wind down a little, and the girls -- already slightly drunk -- decided to make their way home for the night. Maddie and Issy offered to walk Emily to the flat she shared with her mother, and she agreed. It felt like the right thing to do.

It was a fairly long walk, but they didn't mind. They liked walking through London on a Friday night, seeing everything lit up and all the people out on the town. Eventually, though, they arrived at the door to Emily's home.

"Thank you so much, both of you," she said as she gave Maddie a hug. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't intervened for me. And thank you for having me along for your anniversary. I hope I was great company!"

"No, you were great!" Maddie assured her. "And it was no problem at all. You would've done the same thing if the situation had been reversed, I'm sure."

After their hug, Emily turned to hug Issy. However, she found that Issy was looking at her with a very unusual expression that made her pause. Once again, Issy looked over at Maddie, and they made eye contact. Again, neither girl needed to say anything, because they both knew what they were thinking. Wanting to ensure that Issy understood exactly what her thoughts were, though, Maddie gave her a subtle nod of approval.

"What?" Emily said, nervously -- unaware of the silent conversation the girls had just had.

"Nothing," Issy murmured. She stepped forward, put a hand on Emily's cheek, leaned forward, and kissed her.

Emily's eyes fluttered in surprise. It took her a moment to even process what was happening. But she didn't recoil.

After a few seconds, Issy leaned back. Emily was silent, in a bit of a shocked daze. After what felt like an eternity, she nervously turned to look at Maddie.

She seemed surprised to see that Maddie was beaming at her.

Then Maddie stepped forward and kissed her as well.

Like the first one, Emily's kiss with Maddie was quite brief. But it was sweet and tender, and she didn't resist.

Maddie leaned back again, and Emily held a hand to her mouth, looking very unsure of herself and more than a little surprised by what had just happened. Maddie and Issy just kept smiling at her.

"You... you... kissed me?" she murmured.

"We did indeed," Maddie grinned.

Issy didn't say a word. Instead, she pushed Emily against the wall beside her entrance door, and kissed her again. This time, Issy's tongue snaked its way past Emily's lips. Emily found herself kissing back, allowing Issy's tongue to find its playmate.

Once they broke apart, Emily again turned to face Maddie, and this time was ready for her. They shared another passionate kiss, their tongues also wrestling like mad.

Finally, the two broke apart. As Emily tried to process what had just happened, Issy reached into her handbag and took out a pen and a pad of post-it notes. She scribbled down two phone numbers and removed the note.

"The top one is my phone number, and the bottom one is Maddie's. Call us sometime," she said, placing the sticky part of the post-it note over Emily's mouth. "Later, lover girl," she kissed the part of the note where Emily's mouth would be, and Maddie did likewise. Then, taking each other's hands, the couple turned and began to walk off, leaving the completely dumbfounded and exhilarated Emily in their wake.

****

Getting home that night, the two girls had been shaking with excitement and apprehension. Although they were both worried about whether they had ended up scaring the poor girl with their forwardness, they were also really looking forward to seeing whether she would get back in touch.

That said, they also needed to have quite a serious chat about what this all meant for them.

Although both girls had entertained the notion of possibly having a threesome with another girl, they had only briefly discussed what would happen if they met a girl that they both really fancied. Polyamory was something they weren't entirely sure about, and truthfully, they had both had some reservations regarding what would be okay for them.

But this felt very different. Both girls had felt something when they'd kissed Emily. Whatever that something was, they both knew that it was something they wanted to explore. And that they wanted to explore it together.

They didn't have to wait long to get their next chance, Emily had already messaged them by the time they got home that very evening, asking if they could meet up.

Over the next couple of weeks, they had met up with her several more times, usually either going to a pub or a coffeehouse. These meetings were always fun -- they mostly just got to know her better, and talked about life. When she wasn't in a nervous state, like she had been that first night, she was very funny, and usually shared hilarious stories about her friends and family -- particularly some of those of her grandparents, who had certainly lived some interesting lives, growing up in post-War London.

The second time they met her, the topic of sex -- and the fact that they'd both kissed her -- was barely mentioned at all. Emily did seem like she wanted to talk to them about it, but was too embarrassed. When it came time to say goodbye, though, both girls kissed her again. The same thing happened at every subsequent meeting. Always when they said goodbye. Always one girl right after the other. And it became one of those unspoken events that Emily couldn't quite bring herself to ask about. She seemed to go along with it.

Eventually, though, Maddie and Issy had decided to try something a little bit different. So they had suggested that they go see a movie together. Emily had agreed.

So, on Wednesday that week, the three had gone to an Odeon near where the couple lived. What the movie was called, who was in it, or what happened in it was not important to the girls, however. What was important was what went on during the movie.