Page 97 of Breadwinner
Sarah gave a low laugh that turned into a muffled whimper, pulling a curse from her lips as she dug her nails into the softflesh of Nell’s hips, quietly chanting, “Don’t stop, just like that, fuck.”
The faster Nell moved her tongue, the deeper Sarah buried her mouth against her, until her thighs shook with the effort of holding herself up.
Together, they were hungry, determined, and needy. Laughter punctuated breathless moans and curses of pleasure, and the sounds of their mouths working.
“Fuck—Sarah,” Nell gasped, her own breathing hitching.
“Don’t you dare stop—” Sarah managed, but her words dissolved into a low, guttural sound when Nell slid two fingers into her, curling them in the way she knew Sarah liked. The noise Sarah made was enough to make Nell’s body clench, her hips rocking against Sarah’s mouth.
“Say it,” Nell demanded, and she alternated the thrust of her fingers with the swipe of her tongue against Sarah’s clit. Sarah’s nails sent a slight, sharp pain through her as she dug them into the back of her thighs once more.
“Fuck—I’m—right—there,” Sarah panted.
Nell didn’t let up, every movement calculated to bring maximum pleasure, pushing Sarah to her edge and holding her there until she could feel her breaking apart in her hands.
Sarah came hard, her whole body tensing, her breaths ragged, but she didn’t let Nell off the hook. Sarah’s hands held her in place, her mouth working faster now, her tongue and lips dragging every last bit of control from Nell.
“Oh, fu—Sarah...” Nell whined her name, the pleasure that had been building snapped, her thighs closing involuntarily around Sarah’s head as she rode wave after wave, her muscles trembling.
They collapsed together in a heap of tangled limbs, their skin flushed, breathing like they had run a marathon.
Sarah’s laugh came first, starting low in her chest before it spilled out in waves. Nell couldn’t help herself as her laughter followed.
“God, we’re good at that,” Sarah said, as she turned to face Nell, her eyes sparkling in the midday light. The tug of her own grin pulled at her lips as Sarah’s mouth curved into a lazy smirk. “Don’t get me wrong. What we were doing before was hot, but this?” She laced their fingers together. “This beats the hell out of that any day.”
NINETEEN
SARAH
Fuck this,Sarah thought, as she crossed one leg over the other, her foot bouncing rapidly, her thoughts swirling. She was so over this.
Jamie sat on her left, and on Jamie’s other side, Beth. It had been a very, very long weekend, but it was the final day of events for the Philadelphia Liberty Spring Classic, and the three of them looked down into an arena filled with gymnastics equipment as athletes warmed up. Lily spotted them from where she was stretching and gestured toward them with her hands in the shape of a heart, just like always.
It had been six weeks since Beth had given her that look—six weeks since heranger at the whole situation had been set to a permanent simmer. On the surface, Sarah could rationalize that it really had been nothing, an honest mistake. But that, coupled with the thousands of shards of all the little touches, glances, and glimmers of hope over the last decade, had slowly cut away at her tolerance for these moments. Now, however, wasn’t the time to figure that out. Now was family time. Time to box up those feelings for the sake of Lily. She had always tried her best to do that for her daughter.
Jamie, for her part, kept trying to make conversation flow effortlessly among the three of them, but even she was getting worn out. So, when the last medal was handed out and Lily darted off to pack her bag, Jamie sighed and looked between them before standing and grabbing her jacket.
“You two need to work out whatever it is that’s going on here.” Beth tried to protest, but Jamie cut her off. “I don’t care about knowing what it is, but as the third coparent here, figure it out before Lily catches on. Don’t ruin her success this weekend with your bad moods. If I can feel them, she definitely can, and that’s not fair to her.” Jamie jerked her head toward the hallway beyond the arena. “I’m taking Lily to dinner back at the hotel. Figure your shit out.”
Jamie stormed off before either Sarah or Beth was able to respond, leaving them staring at each other.
Beth broke first. “Sar?—”
“Not here,” Sarah said tersely, looking around. They were in too public a place to have the conversation she needed to have with Beth. She motioned to Beth to follow her, and they weaved their way in silence to Sarah’s rental car. Thankfully, the vehicles surrounding hers had already left.
The car also wasn’t an ideal place for this conversation, but she would make do. She yanked open the driver’s side door before sliding into the seat as Beth settled into the passenger seat beside her, and they each twisted their bodies to face the other as best they could in the cramped space.
“So,” Sarah began.
Beth crossed her arms, not looking at her. “Are you finally going to tell me why you’ve been giving me the silent treatment? I knew you might be a little upset, but not talking to me feels like an extreme reaction to what really was nothing.”
That did it. The low simmer that had been maintained all weekend jumped to a boil. Sarah inhaled deeply.
“Are you serious?” A cold bark reserved only for moments of complete indignation slipped out before she could stop it. “Honestly, I could be more upset. This is me holding back. And no, I don’t think it’s an extreme reaction when you looked at me the way you did when you have a girlfriend?—”
Beth’s jaw tightened. “It didn’t mean anything. It was just an old habit.”
Sarah stared at her, hurt and disbelief creeping in at her words as the confines of the rental car seemed to press in around her. The way Beth’s eyes had intentionally traced their way down to her lips that night hadn’t been a mistake. There was too much purpose behind it. To claim otherwise was simply insulting.