Sue said nothing, and they walked inside the church to sit down. The evening sun was filtering through the windows, dappling the wood floor and the smiling faces of Those Who Should Have Died Years Ago, shaking hands and exchanging hugs. Sue touched Kate's arm and the younger woman looked at her. Their eyes met, and that same sensation that Kate had experienced the first time they had looked at each other --- that strange, rippling wave of electric heat and sweet serenity --- washed over her spirit and caused her breath to catch in her throat. Their eyes held the moment.
"I completely forgot what I was going to say," Sue whispered with a breathless smile.
For a moment, the look lingered. And then the meeting began. Sue faced forward, and the two women tried their damndest to concentrate. But every few moments, their eyes would meet. And breathless became electric became satin became want became peace.
Peace. That, above all else, was what Kate felt when she was around Sue. Everything was natural, easy. In fact, it was a little too natural. When they had spent the previous day together, there had been so many moments that Kate had caught herself reaching up to lightly stroke the back of Sue's neck or brush the hair away from her face; the sort of absent-mindedly tender gestures of lovers, of partners, of years-upon-years-building-comfort-and-trust. Not the touch of a new acquaintance; a friend, or possibly more. Not any touch that Kate had a right to share with the woman.
And it was more than just these moments of automatic, natural tenderness; when Sue spoke, Kate sat in rapt attention. She found Sue absolutely intriguing; a brilliant sense of humor, and an amazing mind. And when she thought about it, Cheryl was absolutely right; Sue was far more fragile than she liked to let on. Which made her not only human... but soft. There was a softness to her voice, to her eyes. A gentility not immediately noticed.
Though Kate had talked very little during that day, it was not for lack of trying on Sue's part. Kate had simply been too nervous to speak. Her mind had been blank. On the ride back to Kate's house, she had apologized for this, but Sue dismissed it with a wave of her hand. "You have nothing to apologize for, Kate. I loved today. I've heard you share in so many meetings, and it's made me long to know even more about you. Hopefully, when we're more comfortable together, you'll let me in." But Kate was comfortable. Very comfortable. That, she thought, might be part of the problem.
The meeting continued on, and Sue and Kate continued their moments of breathless timeless looks. Eventually, Sue shook herself and moved her chair slightly, so that her back was to Kate, taking away the temptation to look at her. Kate smiled and focused back upon the meeting. After five minutes, Sue leaned back and whispered, "Can you come back with me after this? Watch a movie at my house?"
Kate nodded, her skin tingling from the sensation of Sue's warm breath in her ear. The rest of the meeting seemed to drag on forever.
The ride to Sue's home passed in silence, and Kate looked out the window at the night glow of the city. They wound their way past stores, stations, and homes before pulling up in front of Sue's small two-bedroom home at the other end of town.
When Sue let them in the front door, Kate found herself standing immediately in the front room. Sue flipped on the dim overhead lamp and motioned for Kate to sit on the couch to her right, as she disappeared into the bedroom.
"Do you remember what you said to Durita, the first day that we met?" Sue called out to her.
"No..."
"You said, 'A woman would have to throw herself in my lap, in order for me to even consider the possibility that she might be attracted to me.'" Sue emerged from the bedroom carrying a small, square pillow in her arms. "Well, baby... consider this the extent of my 'making a move'," and she tossed the pillow into Kate's lap with a grin, laying her head upon it as she stretched out along the sofa.
Kate turned the light off as Sue turned the television on and began the DVD. Kate could not concentrate on the movie, for the life of her. All she could do, was stare at the woman in her lap, in the flickering darkness. She wanted to reach out, to reach over.... She wanted nothing more in the entire world, than to simply stretch out her hand, and bring it to rest lightly upon the woman's shoulder. There was nothing more she longed for. No deeper yearning in her heart. Her mind had not leapt on, towards the Sex to Come. She just wanted to touch her. She just wanted to be close, to be connected. She couldn't remember the last time something so simple had even entered her mind.
She brought her right arm up and laid it across the back of the couch, lightly running her fingertips over the embroidered fabric as she stared blindly at the television screen. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Sue's hand slowly rising... slowly lifting... slowly brushing against her own.
Kate watched as Sue's long, elegant fingers gently interlaced with hers. But the fingers did not remain. They wove through, they touched, they entwined, and then they slipped away...they trailed over the back of her hand...they caressed the soft flesh of her palm. Kate let out a soft moan, and Sue gasped at the sound. But the two women did not move.
Kate slowly raised her hand off of the couch, her fingertips brushing against Sue's. Soft flesh kissed and teased soft flesh as their hands and fingers danced. They were speaking to each other, they were seducing each other. And both of them knew it.
This is the way I will be with you, said their hands to each other... I will be soft, gentle, tender... This is the way I will touch your breasts, your lips, your stomach, your thighs... Feel how softly my fingertips dance across your palm... That is how soft I will be with your sex... But now, feel this.... Feel how fierce I am becoming, how wanton, how desperate.... Feel the way I cling to your wrist, lock my fingers with yours, the pressure, the force, the grip I hold you in... That is the heat of my desire, that is the depth of my yearning, I want you, I want to breathe you, taste you, take you... Feel my hand slipping into your hand.... Feel my hand caressing you... grabbing you... loving you... exciting you.... This is the way I will be with you, this is the lover I will be...
Kate's breathing had become little more than ragged gasps, and her eyes were glued to the rapid rise and fall of Sue's chest. She had never experienced anything so erotic in her life. When Sue suddenly raked her nails across Kate's palm, Kate groaned, and with that Sue flipped over and hovered above Kate's breathless form.
"I can't take this anymore," Sue said with a grin, and suddenly her lips were on Kate's, her tongue was tasting and teasing their flesh. Kate moaned and parted her mouth to envelop Sue's heat. She ran her hands up the woman's back, and pulled her harder against her, wrapping her legs around the smaller woman's body as their tongues swirled against each other.
Sue finally broke the kiss and led Kate back into her bedroom. She pulled the younger woman down upon the bed with her, holding her tight in her arms. For the next hour, they didn't speak. They kissed, they clung, they touched. They looked in each other's eyes.
Slowly, Sue pulled down on the zipper of Kate's jacket, and Kate closed her eyes with fear. What if she didn't like what she saw... What if she wasn't beautiful enough, soft enough... anything enough... When she opened her eyes, Sue was staring into them with warmth and passion. She slipped the jacket off of Kate's arms and tossed it on the floor by the bed, gently pushing Kate back amongst the pillows. She kissed Kate's shoulders, the hollow of her neck, her chin and cheeks.
"God you're beautiful," she whispered in Kate's ear, nuzzling her cheek with her nose. Kate felt tears coming to her eyes. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever known, Kathryn," Sue continued, running her hand lightly across Kate's tummy, tracing the soft curves of her breasts. "Inside, and out." They kissed again, as Kate reached up and began unbuttoning Sue's shirt.
"I need to feel you... against me.... your skin against my skin... please..."
Sue slipped out of her shirt and tossed it beside Kate's, and Kate smiled inwardly at the very sensible sports bra Sue was wearing underneath. Then that, too, was gone, joining the other clothes on the floor, and Kate's breath caught in her throat at the soft, small, porcelain body in front of her. She reached out and cupped Sue's breasts in her hands, running her thumbs and fingertips over her nipples, circling, tracing, teasing. Sue's head fell back and she moaned. She pulled the younger woman up, towards her, and undid the clasp of Kate's bra. When there was nothing left to form a barrier, they fell into each other, flesh against heat against silk against peace.
"Oh God.... Lover...."
"Jesus, Kate... Oh baby, you feel like heaven..." They kissed again, and the kiss became deeper, and the kiss moved on forever. For moments that lasted a lifetime, they kissed, they moved, the caressed. But that was all.
As Sue lay upon her side and wrapped Kate up within her arms and legs, their breathing slowing to a synchronized rhythm, their bodies soft and strong against each other, Kate realized that this had not been anything like The Script that she was used to. Before she drifted off to sleep, she stifled a laugh at the memory of the Razor Dilemma. Well, Sue hadn't seemed to mind...
