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Her eyes shut. “I never forgot.”

Elle’s fingers parted over Arianna’s areola, inviting a kiss straight to her nipple. Arianna squirmed in delightful excitement.

“Can I take you to bed now, Aria?”

She flung her arms around Elle, knocking them both into the entryway while a wayward kiss landed somewhere between their cheeks and mouths. “I was getting impatient.”

“Isn’t there some kind of Chinese proverb about impatience?” Elle half-carried Arianna into the suite, anxious to get their clothes off but also valiantly attempting to be a gracious hostess who wouldn’t let her guest fall flat on her face. “Something about rice gruel? Asses beneath burdens? Fuck, I don’t remember.”

“Me neither.”

Arianna beat her to the bed, where she yanked her turtleneck over her head and shed her bra to the floor. Before I lose the gumption. She was half-naked in Elle’s dark hotel room. How much farther would she go to combat her recurring loneliness?

She expected Elle to come up behind her but was still surprised to feel that backward embrace and those strong, needy hands on her chest. Arianna’s head rolled to the left, allowing a heavy kiss to land at the base of her neck.

“I don’t remember any language.” Arianna didn’t even know which language she said that in. Not until Elle said nothing in response, a sure sign that Malay had fallen into the room.

It reminded Arianna of her mother, and how big of a heart attack she’d have to see this.

“What are you thinking about right now?” Elle growled against Arianna’s shoulder, groping her body until the light red bruises of heavy courtship remained behind. “Tell me what you like. A hardworking woman like you deserves what she wants once I’m on top of her.”

Arianna gasped from the pleasure already rippling through her. No one had ever squeezed her breasts so hard that she felt kept and treasured in someone else’s embrace. “My mother…”

Elle’s grasp lightened. “I’m sorry?”

Reality crashed back into Arianna’s head. “When will I stop saying things on my mind?” she chastised herself in Mandarin.

“I actually wouldn’t mind if you kept at it.” Elle took the opportunity to unzip the back of Arianna’s pencil skirt. “It’s very amusing.”

Arianna helped her push down the skirt. “I don’t want to ruin the moment.” When she looked down, she could hardly see the skirt pooled at her feet past her sharp but soft nipples. “Especially by bringing up my mother.”

Elle removed her jacket. Arianna was there to meet her when she turned back around, pulling her into a kiss before she lost her nerve. She was standing half-naked in an American woman’s hotel room in Los Angeles. What am I doing? She lost herself in the kiss that met her halfway. I’m going to blow everything up in my life. For what? A beautiful woman who knew how to kiss as good as this? Arianna pretended that it hadn’t been over a year since she last kissed a woman, and that had been during an event in one of the few lesbian bars she showed her face in. Made out with a stranger who introduced herself as Key Lime Pie, went home alone. When was the last time she had sex? Two years? Two and a half?

I’m having sex right now. Her arms firmly locked around Elle as they continued to ignore the bed in favor of standing in the middle of the dark hotel suite. So get over yourself.

“I want you.” Elle grabbed Arianna’s ass, making her grateful that she always packed one very nice pair of underwear because a woman never knew when it would come in handy. “Have I mentioned that yet?”

Arianna’s hand began at Elle’s clavicle before roaming down her chest, catching every button of her blouse along the way. “What do you want with me, Ms. Sparrow?”

The way Elle bit her bottom lip made Arianna silently giggle. “I want to serve you for a change. You’re always so above and beyond with me. Imagine all the times I’ve thought about making you feel comfortable.”

“You know what the one thing any kind and considerate person can do for a flight attendant?” Arianna sweetly asked.

“You tell me.”

She could hardly speak it without blushing. “Get her off her feet.”

Almost instantly, Arianna was lifted an inch off the ground, her squeals of excitement reverberating between her and Elle, between her and the bed, between her and infinity.

At that moment, it was the happiest Arianna had been. The moment was far from over.

Elle wasn’t strong or big enough to carry Arianna to bed. She didn’t have to, since Arianna did a grand job of stumbling over the edge once she was released from a beautiful woman’s grasp. She fell forward, catching herself on her forearms and spreading her legs for balance. It was the perfect opportunity for Elle to creep up behind her, parting Arianna’s thighs with her knee and covering the bare canvas of Arianna’s back with kisses.

“I’m only wearing underwear,” Arianna said. “This is the kind of woman I am now.”

The elastic of her underwear snapped against her waist. “You don’t need them, right?”

“You still have all your clothes on!”