Lily was certain she wouldn’t sleep. Her mental review of every step she’d taken up on the mountain—every physical sign she’d assessed, every med she’d administered, every decision she’d made—was only the beginning. She’d search for what she had failed to do, even knowing far too well that sometimes there was nothing she could do. That postmortem would have kept her awake even if the strangeness of her surroundings and the faint sound of Chase’s footsteps in the other room weren’t enough to drive any remnant of fatigue away. Still, she was glad she’d come here and not gone back to the lodge, where she would be lying in a bed nearly as strange as this one, without the stirring of excitement of being near Chase. Smiling at that thought, surprised as always that a near-constant state of arousal could also be so delicious, she closed her eyes. Even the semblance of rest would be better than none.
When she opened them again, her unerring internal clock told her she’d slept till an hour before dawn. Close to four.
She rolled over to check her phone out of habit: 3:57.
She might be in a world very different than her own, but her body still worked the same. So did she. Somewhere in the hours she’d been asleep, her mind had settled the issue of what had gone on the night before. She’d told the students the truth—they’d all done everything they could.
The cabin was not completely silent. Things that she hoped were acorns or stout twigs clattered on the roof. Those sounds certainly weren’t the skittering of little feet. She eyed the window as a distant woof that probably didn’t emanate from a Labrador sounded quite clearly. And close. The top of the window was down six inches, letting a breeze in, but hopefully nothing more. The screen might keep mosquitoes out but wouldn’t provide much of a barrier to anything else. Her heart raced for a second and then settled. She’d had almost a month to get used to the night sounds in the mountains, and to appreciate that the wildlife had no more interest in running into her than she did with them. This land, which a few weeks ago she’d considered completely foreign, had become familiar in so many ways, and she was no longer a stranger in a strange land.
Lily turned on her side and peered through the open bedroom door into the main room of the cabin to where Chase slept twenty feet away. Moonlight sent shadows dancing around the sofa. She’d been close enough to Chase to kiss her—more than once—and for far longer than was wise, but this moment struck her as more intimate than when they’d touched. They were alone—not just far away from the lodge and Sarah and four dozen restlessly simmering teens, but secluded in the untouched wilderness where the outside world with all its misery and guilt could not encroach.
Right here, right now, Lily was completely free. And Chase, with the excitement she roused and the ecstasy she promised, slept only steps away. Waiting for Lily to take those steps.
Lily sat up and strained to catch some sound from the other room. She smiled to herself. Chase didn’t snore. Or maybe the silence meant something else. Maybe Chase was as awake as she was. Maybe Chase was thinking of moonlight walks and midnight swims and kisses that promised endless pleasure. Lily shifted restlessly. Imagining Chase lying in the semidarkness, thinking of her, perhaps listening for her as she listened for Chase, perhaps aching as she ached, birthed a heavy longing deep within her.
Her heart skipped a beat. Her throat tightened even as she went liquid inside. If she walked out into the other room right now, Chase would welcome her. Oh, Chase’s kiss the evening before had been delicate and careful. Not chaste. Never that, not when Chase touched her. But restrained. Chase had held back, had ended the kiss, even as her eyes had smoldered. Knowing that Chase was excited by her, that Chase wanted her, aroused her more than any of the sex she’d had in the past. She’d never been wanted the way Chase wanted her. Never wanted a woman to desire her the way Chase desired her. With undisguised ferocity. Seeing that fierce craving in Chase’s eyes and feeling the way Chase’s body trembled when they touched ignited something within her. A hunger, a yearning, beyond anything she’d ever known. Imagining Chase’s kiss, aching to make Chase shudder beneath her hands, caused a pulse to beat heavy and thick between Lily’s thighs. Insistent, persistent, urgent. Clamoring for her to touch. To be touched.
To be filled.
Lily swung her legs out of bed, reached automatically for her shorts, and then stopped. She’d gone to bed in panties and a T-shirt. The breeze coming through the window was faintly cool, but the cabin itself still held the heat of the day. Barefoot, and only in what she’d worn to sleep in, she made her way into the other room by moonlight and over to the sofa without running into anything. Chase lay on her side in a light ribbed tank with a pale sheet draped over her hips and legs. Her face in repose lost none of its strength, despite the softness that cloaked the bold planes of her jaw. A shimmering band of bare skin lay exposed along her lower abdomen, and Lily’s stomach clenched. She closed her hands against the seething need to reach out and stroke the sensual perfection of her.
Kneeling, she whispered, “Chase?”
“Couldn’t sleep?” Chase murmured, her gaze meeting Lily’s.
The instantaneous connection, raw and primal, slammed through Lily with the force of an avalanche cascading over everything in its path. She shivered, drawn into a place beyond thought, adrift in sensation.
“I did sleep.” Lily struggled, and failed, to control the need in her voice. “Then I woke up and started thinking about you.”
“Oh?”
Chase watched Lily, a half smile and her satisfied silence only making her all the more desirable.
“Yes,” Lily said, pushing the covers down with one hand to expose Chase’s bare thighs. Chase, like her, had gone to sleep in just the tank and a pair of bikini briefs. She left her hand on Chase’s thigh. “I started thinking about kisses, and the way your body feels when I touch you, and the way mine feels when you touch me.”
“Are you going to tell me about it?” Chase asked hoarsely.
“No.” The taut need in Chase’s voice drove Lily forward, instinct her only guide. She rose above Chase and pressed both hands to her shoulders until Chase turned fully onto her back.
Lily put a knee on the sofa and slid the other across Chase’s hips, straddling her. “I thought I’d show you instead.”
Chase groaned, grasped her waist, and pulled her down into a bruising kiss. Chase’s mouth was hot and hard and demanding, and Lily fell into it. She stretched out along the length of Chase’s body, sliding her thigh between Chase’s. She braced herself on her elbows on either side of Chase’s shoulders, her breasts against Chase’s, their bodies touching everywhere.
Chase lifted the back of Lily’s T-shirt and stroked her back, down to her hips, and beneath her panties. Her palm, hot and firm, clasped her rear possessively.
Desire curled between Lily’s thighs, and she pressed against Chase’s leg.
Chase tugged at Lily’s tee. “Can we take this off?”
“Yes,” Lily gasped, leaning back to pull the shirt over her head. Then she pushed at Chase’s underwear. “These too.”
Chase bridged her back and pushed them down as Lily rose to her knees and pulled hers off, lifting one leg and then the other to strip them down her calves and drop them on the floor. Then they were naked together, and everywhere they touched was fire. Lily played her fingers over the taut muscles and smooth skin of Chase’s middle until she reached her breasts. Caressing her, molding her breast in one hand, she kissed Chase’s jaw and the side of her neck, found her mouth again. Chase’s hands roamed over her as if she couldn’t touch her enough, sliding down her back, clasping her hips and drawing Lily hard against her, forcing Lily to rock against her thigh until every stroke was blissful agony.
Lily threw her head back and swallowed a cry as the pressure turned to a rush of electrifying pleasure. “Chase…”
“Don’t stop, Lily,” Chase said, an order and a plea. “Don’t stop.”
Lily reached out, blind with the surge of release, and Chase’s hand gripped her. Her hips rolled of their own accord, hard sharp thrusts until she came with a jolt, her body bucking with each titanic contraction. Cries ripped from her throat as her neck arched and her eyes lost focus.
Chase sat up, her arms around Lily’s waist and her mouth to Lily’s throat, holding her as she shuddered.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” Chase gasped. “More beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen.”
Lily draped her arms around Chase’s shoulders and rested her forehead against Chase’s, panting for breath. “God, I don’t know where that came from.”
Chase chuckled. “I think you do. At least I hope so.”
Lily laughed shakily. “All right. Yes. You’re fantastic.”
“I haven’t even gotten started.” Chase lowered her head and brushed a kiss across Lily’s nipple.
Lily tightened inside again but managed to keep the quaver from her voice. “Well, you’ll have to be patient.”
Chase snorted. “Not likely.”
The predawn sky had begun to lighten, and Lily read the stubborn set of Chase’s features. She smiled. Chase liked to be in charge. Not that she would mind that, but right now she had something else she wanted. Very much. Lily finally gathered her strength and pushed Chase back down against the sofa, holding her there with a palm against her chest. “Be still.”
Chase could have easily ignored her command, but she obediently relented. Her body beneath Lily quivered with the effort, and Lily instantly wanted to come again. She bit her lip and took a deep breath. “I’m not done with you.”
“Please.” Chase gritted her teeth. “Lily. Come on.”
“Not yet,” Lily said sweetly and, before Chase could protest or stop her, slid to her knees by the side of the sofa and pushed Chase’s knee up. “Now,” Lily murmured as she leaned down to kiss her between her thighs, “I’m going to have you.”
“Ah, fuck, Lily.” Chase’s fingers came into her hair, gently, and simply held her head, not pressing her to go anywhere or do anything. The tender sense of claiming nearly burst Lily’s heart.
“You can have whatever you want, Lily,” Chase whispered.
Lily kissed her again, brushing her lips feather light across her clit until Chase shuddered.
“There,” Lily murmured. “That’s what I want.”
“Please,” Chase said. “Take anything you want.”
And Lily did.
* * *
When Lily woke again, she was tangled around Chase on the sofa. They’d somehow managed to fall asleep on the narrow cushions, legs entwined and arms around each other. Her head was tucked beneath Chase’s chin, and she could feel Chase’s heart beat under her cheek.
“Chase?”
“Mmm?” Chase brushed a kiss into her hair.
“I think I’m supposed to be at the clinic this morning.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I better call Sarah. Can you radio her?”
“I checked in last night with both Natalie and Sarah before I went to sleep.”
Lily raised her head and propped it on her bent elbow. “I didn’t hear you.”
“You went right to sleep.”
“No, I didn’t. I was lying awake for a long time thinking about…things.”
“You must snore when you think, then,” Chase said.
Lily punched her in the arm. “I do not snore. I’ve had it from very good sources that I do not snore.”
“Uh-huh.” Chase grinned at her. “All the same, Sarah knows you’ll be late this morning, and if there’s anything urgent, she’ll let us know right away.”
“Oh God,” Lily said. “Sarah knows I’m here with you.”
Chase pushed herself up until her back was supported against the arm of the sofa and Lily was cradled against her chest. “That’s a problem for you?”
“No, not in theory. I just prefer my private life to be private.”
“Sorry, but technically we were both on duty last night, and I needed to check in.”
“Of course, and I understand. It’s fine.”
“It doesn’t sound fine. Are you having second thoughts?”
“About that,” Lily said, “I don’t do things that I’m going to regret the next day. This was not an accident or the result of some lack of control. I intended to sleep with you last night.”
“Is there some reason you didn’t tell me beforehand?”
“I intended it when I came out here with you. I didn’t intend it earlier.”
“Okay.” Chase kissed her. “So we’re good.”
As long as what you said still goes—no obligations or expectations. Lily didn’t insult Chase with the words—she trusted Chase to be honest with herself as well as Lily. And she needed to do the same. No obligations, no expectations, no regrets.
“We’re good. Last night was amazing.”
Chase deftly rolled Lily over and settled on top of her. Her weight was unexpected and unexpectedly arousing. Lily opened her legs for Chase to settle between them.
“It’s still really early,” Chase said.
“Then let’s not hurry.”