Page 10 of Bliss

Callie

Because of the low visibility, traffic was moving at half the speed limit of 45 m.p.h., so it took them twice as long as it should have to get back to Callie’s apartment. It was a long, stressful ten minutes, but as soon as Alex pulled into the parking lot, the tension began to unleash its iron grip on Callie’s body, allowing her to relax.

After parking in the same space she’d vacated nearly half an hour ago, Alex cut the engine and reached behind Callie’s seat to grab the umbrella. “I’ll come around to your side to help you get out.”

Callie’s heart fluttered as she watched Alex jump out and race around the Jeep , holding the umbrella low over her head. When they had left earlier, and Callie thought the rain was coming down hard, she could still clearly make out Alex’s form after she’d helped her into the car and walked around to the driver’s side. But now, she could barely see her, and she knew if it wasn’t for her light-colored shirt, she wouldn’t be able to see her at all.

As soon as Alex opened Callie’s door, she stepped up next to her, holding the umbrella up to offer Callie cover.

“Can you hold this for me?”

“Yeah, of course,” Callie answered, as she took the thick, rubberized handle of the large umbrella. As she twisted in her seat, preparing to step down on the running board, Alex wrapped her left arm around her back, gripping her ribs, and slid her right arm under her thighs behind her knees.

Callie released an involuntary squeal as Alex effortlessly hoisted her up off of the seat and into her arms, cradling her against her torso. She quickly swapped the umbrella to her left hand, being sure to keep it above both of their heads, and threw her right arm around the back of Alex’s neck.

“Alex, why are you carrying me?”

“The standing water got really deep. I don’t want you to ruin your cute boots.” She used her hip to bump the passenger door closed, then set off at a brisk pace for the building.

Callie craned her neck to look down, and her heart fluttered again. When they had left, the water was less than half an inch deep. But it had to be at least two-inches deep now, and with every quick step that Alex took, the water splashed up, saturating the bottom few inches of her jeans.

When Alex stepped up onto the curb, and stopped in front of the apartment building entrance, Callie gripped the back of Alex’s neck. Alex smiled as she allowed Callie to pull her into a tender kiss.

But just as she was getting lost in the sweet warmth of Alex’s mouth, and the mesmerizing twists of her tongue and gentle suckles of her lips, she tilted the umbrella just enough that the rain poured over their heads.

“Shit,” Callie gasped, as she pulled away and righted the umbrella. Giggling, she wiped a hand over Alex’s wet hair and cheek, then wiped the rain off of her own forehead and cheek. “Sorry.”

“It was worth it.”

Alex lightly kissed her lips, then gently set her on her feet and took the umbrella from her. After pulling her keys out of her pocket and hitting the button on the key fob to lock her Jeep , she pulled the door open, motioning for Callie to walk in ahead of her. After Alex shook out and closed the umbrella, and joined Callie in the lobby, she accepted Callie’s offered hand.

They rode the elevator and walked down the hall to Callie’s apartment in companionable silence, neither speaking until Callie unlocked her front door and they walked inside.

“I’m going to take my boots off and leave them here so I don’t track water through your place.”

Callie bent to unzip her ankle boots to do the same. After their shoes were lined up on the doormat to dry, Callie hung her rain jacket on a hook by the door, then took Alex’s hand, saying, “I’m going to give you a pair of sweats to change into, and I’ll use my blow dryer to dry your pants for you.”

Alex followed her lead, passing through the living room and down a short hall to her bedroom. But when Alex slipped her hand from hers, she stopped, turning to see her standing just outside of the bedroom.

“What are you doing?”

“Well,” Alex motioned past her to the dark bedroom, “that’s your personal space. I wasn’t sure if…”

Callie smiled as she took her hand again, and after flipping the light switch, turning on a floor lamp next to a long chest of drawers, she said, “I have nothing to hide or to feel ashamed of if you see it.”

Alex took a few steps into the room, and as Callie released her hand, and turned to open a dresser drawer, she noticed Alex tentatively glance around the room.

The queen-size bed was made with a light blue summer quilt dotted with little white daisies, and the nightstands and dressers matched the gray-washed oak headboard. The nightstands were topped with matching black glass bottle lamps with light gray shades, and a water carafe and glass and a stack of books were neatly arranged on the nightstand on the right side of the bed. Her dresser top was organized with a black jewelry box and a wood tray topped with a bottle of her favorite perfume and a small jewelry dish for pieces she tended to wear often. Her walls were adorned with watercolor paintings of subtle female nudes in soft grays and pinks.

“This room feels good. Comfortable. Relaxing.”

Callie smiled as she stood upright, holding a pair of sweatpants, and glanced around the room. “That’s what I was going for.” She offered the pants to Alex. “Wearing each other’s clothes on our dates seems to be becoming a thing we do.”

Alex laughed as she nodded and accepted the light gray sweatpants. “I brought an extra rain jacket with me, thinking you might need it. I wasn’t expecting to be the one needing to borrow clothes from you tonight.”

The thoughtful gesture spawned another flutter in Callie’s chest. “That was sweet of you. Thank you.” She lightly kissed Alex’s lips, then stepped around her, taking a step backwards towards the door. “Can I get you a drink while you change? Maybe something hot, like tea or coffee?”

“Either sounds great, thanks.”

Callie continued to stand there, staring into Alex’s eyes, growing warmer by the second and making her feel as if she’d had a large drink from the whiskey pools staring back at her. But when she felt a tug low in her belly, she resisted her body’s impulse to fold herself around Alex and turned and left the room instead.

When she was alone in the kitchen, she gripped the edge of the counter and started taking long, deep breaths to calm her racing heart and cool the heat burning through her veins. She hadn’t felt this level of attraction and arousal in a really long time, not even with Britton in the last year-plus of their relationship.

At the time, Callie thought her lack of interest and pleasure when having sex with Britton was just due to exhaustion. She went through the motions and tried to appear invested in the moment, but Callie couldn’t remember the last time Britton had succeeded in bringing her to climax. After they broke up, and Callie spent day after day analyzing their relationship, she realized she had been faking her orgasms because she didn’t want Britton touching her. She didn’t want to have sex with her. She had fallen out of love and attraction with the woman who’d once made her heart race and her body pulse like a distress beacon.

Her heart was racing and her body was pulsing again, and Alex was the cause. Callie’s body, mind, and heart felt alive in a way they hadn’t in a long time. She wanted Alex in every way.

“Are you okay?” The concern in Alex’s voice registered before the words, further warming Callie, just with a different kind of heat — comfort, rather than arousal. But the arousal was still there and further stoked when Callie took in the sight of Alex wearing the sweatpants that were much more form-fitting on her muscular thighs than on Callie’s thinner legs.

Callie released the counter, nodding, and walked over to take the jeans draped over Alex’s left arm. “I’ll dry these for you.”

“I can do it, if you show me where the blow dryer is.”

“I want to do it for you.”

“Okay. Do you want me to make us something to drink?”

“Oh.” Callie blushed as she looked over at the stove and coffee maker, neither of which was turned on. “I was thinking and…” She nodded. “Yes, if you don’t mind. You choose. Tea is in the cabinet above the coffee maker, and the coffee is in that gray and white ceramic jar next to the tea kettle and mug tree.”

“Got it.”

Callie watched her cross the kitchen, and as if having a mind of their own, her eyes dropped to Alex’s backside. The sweatpants hugged the firm, rounded muscles like a glove, and her striped button-down covering the top half of her ass only enhanced the appeal. She released a quiet, involuntary moan, and Alex looked over her shoulder. Callie’s eyes shot up, and when they locked with Alex’s, her cheeks blushed beet red. Alex’s knowing smile caused Callie’s insides to lurch forward, desperate to touch and be touched by her.

Callie cleared her throat, rasped, “I’ll be back,” and quickly left the kitchen.

In the bathroom, she fumbled with plugging in the blow dryer, then got to work drying the bottom several inches of both pant legs. The upper two-thirds of the jeans were still warm from Alex’s body heat, and Callie could faintly smell Alex’s cologne wafting from the fabric with every pass of the blow dryer. Her eyes slanted as she inhaled deeply, breathing in the warm, woodsy scent. As her clit spasmed, she blinked hard and quickly looked at the open bathroom doorway, half expecting Alex to be standing there, watching her struggle with her lust. She sighed as she looked back at the damp jeans.

A vigorous crack of thunder suddenly rumbled like a runaway freight train, and as Callie shrieked and jumped five inches, startled by the loudness, the lights went out and the blow dryer stopped blowing hot air.

“Shit.” Callie quickly flipped the switch on the blow dryer to the Off position and blindly set it down. “Alex,” she called out into the pitch black.

“On my way, babe,” Alex answered, just before Callie saw a light faintly illuminate the hallway. A few moments later, Alex entered the bathroom, holding her cellphone angled down with the flashlight feature turned on. “Are you okay?”

Callie nodded as she leaned into Alex’s embrace. “It just startled me.”

Alex lightly kissed her cheek, and asked, “Do you have candles or lanterns or flashlights?”

“I have some candles in the living room and spares and flashlights in the hall closet.”

Thunderstorms didn’t necessarily scare Callie, but their potential to spawn tornadoes did. The weather had been consistently warm, and she didn’t remember seeing any advancing cold fronts on the weather report she watched earlier today, and despite the strong winds, the likelihood of a twister whipping a trail of destruction through town was slim. Even so, she was even more grateful that Alex hadn’t canceled their date due to the weather, as she had worried that she might have. While Alex’s company gave her comfort, she also felt a little guilty because Daphne was all alone. She’d never had a pet of her own, not even growing up, but she’d witnessed plenty of her friends’ pets shake and cower during similar storms.

After collecting a box of tea light candles and a couple of flashlights, they carefully walked out to the living room, Alex’s cellphone still lighting the way. Callie collected a long lighter from a carved wood box on the coffee table and lit several votives and tea light candles and a few tall tapers, each little flame helping to fill the room with a soft, golden light. She looked around the room, and deciding it was well-lit, she turned to face Alex and smiled. Alex had put her cellphone away and was watching Callie with an affectionate smile.

“Hi.”

Alex’s eyes seemed to twinkle as she closed the distance between them. “Hi,” she quietly answered, while looping her arms around Callie’s waist, pulling her in flush against herself.

The contact instantly caused her body to begin pulsing again, and her skin heated as if they were standing too close to the candles. As she threaded her arms around the back of Alex’s neck, their lips brushed with a tender kiss that sent a wonderful, tingling sensation dripping down her body like the musical stones in a rain stick.

“Alex,” she breathed the name against Alex’s mouth. “I’m…” She trailed off, swallowing the rest of her words as she looked down.

Alex bent to plant a kiss on the tip of her nose, making her smile, and she slowly looked up, meeting her warm, whiskey eyes.

“What is it, babe?”

As she opened her mouth to answer, another loud crack of thunder shook her. Callie pressed in closer to Alex, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from moaning when Alex’s strong arms tightened around her. The embrace was solid, almost possessive, and it made her feel both safe and even more aroused. She wanted Alex, wanted her with every fiber of her being, but her heart gave her pause. Her heart needed to hear what it thought it felt in return from Alex.

“Alex, I’m falling for you. And that scares me a little.”

The gentlest smile graced Alex’s lips as she lifted her right hand and brushed her fingers through Callie’s hair before resting her hand on the side of her neck, stroking her thumb over Callie’s jawbone. “I’m falling for you too, Callie. Would you like to sit and talk about why that scares you?”

“Knowing you feel the same helps.” She layered a hand over Alex’s as she turned into her touch, kissing her palm, then laced their fingers together and took a step towards the couch. After they were sitting pressed hip to hip, Callie explained, “It has only been a week. I’ve never felt this strongly for someone so quickly. And if I’m being honest with myself, I’ve never felt exactly like this about anyone before. But that’s not because I’ve never been in love before, because I have. You make me feel…”

She looked at the coffee table and watched the golden glow of the candles dance on the polished wood, thinking about how to best explain how she felt. “I feel complemented in a way I’ve never experienced before.” She turned to look at Alex, who was validating her feelings by how attentive and patient she was being. “I know it’s a cliché, but I feel like we’re two puzzle pieces that fit together.”

“Isn’t there a quote that goes something like, ‘Clichés are clichés because they are true?’” Alex smiled as she lifted their joined hands and kissed Callie’s knuckles. “I don’t believe it’s reasonable to have an expectation of a predetermined length of time for how deep and meaningful relationships become or don’t. How well we connect to another person depends on how open and honest we are with both ourselves and the other person. And while it takes time to share yourself with someone, time isn’t a cause of the closeness or lack thereof, it’s just a byproduct.”

Callie allowed her words to sink in for a few moments, ruminating on the truth of Alex’s observation and how many times she’d allowed the expectations of time to blind her from the true condition of her relationships in the past. Time didn’t reveal the truth. Time didn’t heal wounds, whether physical or emotional. Everything took time, but time was just a byproduct. Time couldn’t be quantified in these matters and it was unreasonable to expect to be able to.

When she looked up into Alex’s eyes, she knew she’d found a person who’d never shackle her with the proverbial ball and chain of time. They didn’t need to rush or slow down or set their expectations of growth by a clock or calendar. They still had so much to learn about each other, but Callie knew what she needed to feel safe in continuing to give more of herself to Alex. She trusted Alex to value and respect her, to not purposefully hurt her, and to make amends when she did.

As she leaned in, and their mouths met in a warm, tender kiss, the sky shook with another vigorous rumble of thunder, mirroring the quake of pleasure that caused Callie’s breath to catch in her throat.

Alex wrapped her arms around her, firmly gripping the back of her shoulders, and with their mouths still touching, she asked, “Are you okay?”

The huskiness of her voice sent a shiver down Callie’s spine. She slowly opened her eyes, took a long drink of Alex’s whiskey pools, then swung her right leg over her lap, straddling her, and grabbed the sides of her face. As she bent down, drawing Alex into a deep, passionate kiss, Alex’s hands slid down her back to her hips, pulling her down onto her lap. The contact caused the tight bundle of nerves between her thighs to spasm, eliciting a quiet groan.

While the storm continued to rage outside, thunder rumbling and strong winds driving heavy raindrops against the windows and sliding-glass patio door in curtains of harmless machine-gun fire, Callie’s desire crashed through her body, seeking completion in Alex. One kiss, one touch wasn’t enough. Her body wanted to feel every inch of Alex against her, inside her, fully possessing her. She wanted to give herself to Alex and for Alex to give herself in return.

Panting for air, Callie broke from the kiss and started fumbling with the small mother-of-pearl buttons of her pink chiffon blouse. Alex captured her hands, kissed them, then took over the task with steadier hands. The buttons on Alex’s shirt were larger and easier to loosen, and they finished unbuttoning each other’s shirts within moments of each other.

Callie gripped the sides of Alex’s shirt in her fists, pulling herself in flush against her and kissed her long and hard. As Alex gently slipped Callie’s blouse off her shoulders, pleasure rippled throughout her body, eliciting another moan. She quickly pulled away to rip the shirt off, discarding it on the floor, then helped Alex out of hers. As she was leaning in for another kiss, Alex gripped the bottom hem of Callie’s white camisole, so she lifted her arms, allowing her to take it off.

Alex’s chest expanded with a deep breath as she trailed her fingers over Callie’s clavicle, down her sternum, and over the top of her breasts, brushing her fingertips over the lace fringe of her white demi bra. Callie’s breath caught and her skin erupted in goose bumps. Leaning into Alex’s touch, Callie watched her gently trace the shape of her breasts, down her flat stomach, and up her sides.

As she slipped her hands around her back to unhook Callie’s bra, Alex pressed a kiss against her hammering pulse on the side of her neck, and whispered, “May I remove this?”

“Yes,” Callie breathlessly answered, and Alex latched onto her neck, sucking and nibbling the sensitive skin.

As soon as Alex unhooked her bra, and slid it off her shoulders and away from her body, Callie felt her nipples harden, just before Alex’s warm hands covered her breasts. She groaned as Alex’s fingers slightly dug into her breasts and her thumbs tracked circles around her nipples, sending sharp pulses of pleasure through her nerves.

Callie gripped Alex’s strong shoulder in one hand and tangled her other in Alex’s silky hair. “Fuck, Alex, that feels … so good.”

Alex smiled as she leaned in, taking Callie’s right nipple into her mouth, sucking it so hard Callie gasped and fell forward, having to press into Alex’s shoulder to catch herself.

“Too much?” Alex mumbled, with Callie’s nipple held between her teeth.

“No. Not too much.” Callie took a few panting breaths. “That was… Do it again.”

Alex’s smile grew, before she firmly sucked Callie’s nipple with such vigor it made Callie’s body spasm and her head swam in slightly painful bliss.

With labored breath, and weak hands, she pried Alex off her breast, holding both of her rosy cheeks, and breathed, “Bedroom. Let’s go to the bedroom.”