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“And she was okay with that?” Lydia was suddenly nervous.

“It doesn’t matter either way,” Halle said in a whisper, moving closer.

Lydia’s heart drummed dramatically. Halle, being so close, completely unravelled her and depleted her resolve. “I–”

“Good night, Lydia.” Leaning forward, Halle dropped the softest kiss on Lydia’s cheek.

Lydia watched Halle leave, stunned by how affected she felt. Given an extra few seconds, Lydia would have dragged Halle to her flat and picked up from where they left things in Halle’s kitchen. But once again, Halle kept her promise and kept things in the friendzone.

Letting out a stuttered breath, Lydia headed inside. Monty didn’t move, which was fine. Lydia had something to take care of.

Kissing the top of Monty’s head, Lydia headed straight for her bedroom. With her heart still beating hard, she stripped. Crawling under the bed covers, Lydia reached over blindly to the bedside table where her toys lived.

It had been a while since she’d indulged in a night of self-care. It wasn’t the ideal time. Lydia was still bleeding slightly, and under those circumstances, she wouldn’t usually entertain doing anything sexual, but this was an emergency situation.

Having the foresight to grab a towel from the bathroom, Lydia raced back to bed, repositioning herself. Switching on her Cstar vibe, Lydia took a deep breath. It wouldn’t take long, which was fine. The exact reason she’d chosen this toy. Lydia always came hard when her clit was stimulated and that’s what the Cstar was for.

For once, she was happy Cathy had overshared and introduced her to this little beauty. Tonight wasn’t about soft and sensual. Lydia needed it quick and powerful.

Flicking through the vibration setting, Lydia stopped on her favourite. A strong pulse. Pressing it close to her clit, she sucked in a breath. It was always a shock the first time the vibe made contact.

Screwing her eyes shut, Lydia’s mind focused on the thing she wanted the most. Halle Cartwright touching her. In her mind’s eye, Halle was the one sucking on her clit deliciously, with an unparalleled skill. “Oh God, yes.” Moving the vibe a little higher, Lydia’s back arched. “Yes, Halle, right there.”

Only a couple of minutes passed between Lydia pressing the vibe to her clit and her screams of ecstasy. Breathing heavily, she tossed the vibrator to one side, bringing a hand to her face. Her face was hot, but it was more than the lasting effects of the orgasm that had ripped through her pussy with a force she wasn’t expecting. It was Halle. The effect that woman had on her. Should she feel bad for thinking of Halle that way? Maybe, after all, it was Lydia who had stopped things from progressing past friendship.

Would Halle be upset if she knew how Lydia used her to reach climax? Would she be turned on? “Oh, Lyds, what are you doing?”

Chapter 17

Considering the adventure in Norway was going to cost a bloody fortune, and she’d just spent that already on buying a house, Lydia opted to wait a year or so to commit. Instead, she’d focused on the smaller experiences. Namely, skydiving to begin with.

Winter wasn’t the ideal time of year, but looking at the advanced weather forecast, the UK was supposed to get a week’s worth of winter sun. Clear skies and little wind. That was good for hurtling towards the earth at terminal velocity, right?

Now and then, Lydia questioned her sanity, especially after any length of time talking to Cathy, who was vehemently against the idea. But, in the end, curiosity won out. Enough that one Saturday morning, Lydia googled the closest place to skydive and booked herself a slot for the following weekend.

Nerves steadily built throughout the week. But Lydia was determined to do it. The Friday before the big jump, Lydia set herself up for a night of relaxation. Meditation had never held much appeal, mostly because Lydia ended up giggling nervously, 9 times out of 10. Was she really that uncomfortable in her own head?

Friday, however, she was giving it another go. Her body was overly excited and terrified for the following day, Lydia would try anything to calm down. Even Monty was picking up on her anxiety. His little yips of unease sealed the deal; so, Lydia lit some candles, dimmed the lights, and opened up the meditation app she’d downloaded the previous day.

It took her several seconds to stop the automatic grin from becoming a laugh, but eventually she did it. The melodic female voice ensconced her living room. Lydia concentrated on it, letting the velvet voice fill her up. It wasn’t so much a meditative state as a light slumber, but at least she was chill now.

Peeking out from heavy eyes, Lydia bit her lip to stop the bark of laughter breaking through the tranquillity. Monty was sitting beside her, eyes closed, head up. He was doing a better job of it than she was. Shaking her head, Lydia refocused just as the bodiless voice told her to feel her body. How did one feel their body? Did she mean physically? No, surely not. Thankfully, the app clarified she was supposed to feel her body through her mind’s eye, whatever the bloody hell that meant.

Just as Lydia was settling into the music, and not feeling so weird about sitting on the floor internally checking out her own body, everything went dark and silent. Wow, had she reached a total state of transcendence?

Lydia’s mobile rang, scrapping any notion she’d travelled into the depths of her psyche. Opening her eyes, Lydia reached for the phone, accepting Halle’s call. Forgetting it was hooked-up to her Bluetooth speaker, Lydia was certain she had a minor stroke when Halle’s voice boomed through her apartment.

“Lyds, you okay? The power’s out.”

“Hey, yeah, hang on a sec.” Fumbling through to the phone’s settings, Lydia finally disconnected the device. “I’m going to put you on speaker so I can use my phone lamp to find my candles.”

“Oh, no, it’s cool. The power is back,” Halle commented, leaving Lydia frustrated. Her power was not back on. Heading to the window, Lydia curtain twitched, checking the buildings in her street. Every light was back on, apart from hers. “Shit!”

“What’s up?”

“I still don’t have power. Everyone else’s back on, by the looks of it.”

“Hold on, I’ll be there in 10.”