Page 37 of Learning Curves

Michelle slow-blinked, her mouth forming the word “no,” although no sound left her lips.

“A lot. Too many to count. I love you in tweed so fucking much.” She ran her hands over it before sliding the jacket off Michelle’s shoulders, baring the simple white top she wore beneath.

It didn’t escape her notice that Michelle was dressed in black, gray, and white today, just like her home, but that was another observation for later.

Because right now, her gaze had settled on the hard points of Michelle’s nipples, visible through her bra and shirt. Audrey circled one, then the other with her finger, and Michelle’s eyes fluttered shut, her chest heaving below Audrey’s touch.

Michelle’s blouse scooped low enough in the front to reveal her collarbones, which were works of art all their own. Audrey traced them with her fingers before repeating the action with her tongue. Michelle’s smooth skin tasted vaguely of salt.

“Audrey ...” Michelle sounded like she could hardly breathe. Her hands clenched around Audrey’s waist, holding on for dear life.

“Shh. I’ve got you.”

And Audrey reached for the zipper on her pants.

Michelle was about to lose her mind. Audrey’s fingers brushed against the sensitive skin on her stomach as she lowered Michelle’s zipper, and she let out an embarrassingly needy sound, her hips arching into Audrey’s touch.

Good lord, it had been so long since she’d been touched by anyone but herself, even longer since anyone had lit her on fire like this.

Right now, Michelle’s body existed solely to want, to need , and oh how she needed.

Her core ached with it, and her blood felt like it had been electrified, shooting sparks through her veins.

She trembled, nearly undone by the brush of Audrey’s fingertips as they traced patterns over Michelle’s bare skin.

It was exhilarating and so different from what she was used to. Michelle hadn’t slept with anyone new since she was in her early twenties ... over twenty years since she’d been with anyone but Kelly.

“Okay?” Audrey murmured against her neck.

Michelle realized her body had tensed up when Kelly entered her thoughts. She nodded a bit desperately, clutching Audrey against her. “I ... it’s just ... it’s been a long time, a really long time since I’ve been with anyone new. It’s a bit overwhelming.”

“Do you want to slow down?” Audrey’s hand, which had been inside Michelle’s trousers, retreated. “Or we could talk first, if you like.”

“No. We can talk later. Just ...” She blinked, focusing on Audrey over the haze of arousal that had overtaken her body. “Kelly and I met at uni. That’s how long it’s been.”

“That’s a long fucking time.” Audrey was kissing her collarbones again, and it was almost more than Michelle could take.

“Such a long time.” She inhaled harshly as Audrey trailed a finger over the front of her underwear. Michelle was already so wet, achingly wet. Could Audrey feel it? “Please don’t make me wait any longer.”

“I won’t,” Audrey whispered, her lips warm and damp against Michelle’s neck. “And just so you know, I’ve been tested recently. I’m good to go.”

“Oh.” Michelle swallowed, trying to think past the need throbbing in her core because, yes, this was an important conversation, one she hadn’t had in so long she’d almost forgotten. “I’ve been tested, too, since my divorce, and there hasn’t been anyone since.”

“Good,” Audrey murmured.

Michelle’s trousers were on the floor almost before she realized what was happening. Audrey rubbed her over her underwear, and Michelle let out a noise she didn’t even recognize as coming from her own throat. She was dangerously close to losing control.

Desperate, she reached for Audrey. Her dress still clung to her shoulders, gaping open in the back from where Michelle had unzipped it. She pushed at the fabric on Audrey’s shoulders, and the dress slipped to the floor, leaving Audrey in a flesh-toned bra and gray cotton underwear.

Somehow, seeing Audrey in her everyday underwear—an unmatched set—felt even more intimate. It spoke to how spontaneous this encounter was.

“Gorgeous,” Michelle whispered.

“So are you ... and overdressed.” Audrey lifted Michelle’s top, sliding it up and over her head. Now they were both in their bra and underwear. Michelle’s was seamless and black, not the sexiest set she owned, but the way Audrey was looking at her, she had never felt more desirable.

It was a heady feeling. So heady that Michelle felt herself unfastening her own bra. It dropped to the floor, and before she could lose her nerve, she dropped her knickers too.

“God, Michelle, you are stunning .” The look in Audrey’s eyes backed up her words, and it was almost more than Michelle could take.

Then Audrey’s hands were on Michelle’s naked body, scratching lightly against her skin, and Michelle couldn’t think of anything except how arousing it was and how badly she needed more.

She looked down, her gaze catching on the turquoise ring on Audrey’s middle finger, the same ring from her fantasy, and now it was on her body.

Oh , this was going to be even better than she’d imagined . ..

She nudged Audrey toward the bed and pushed at her shoulders so Audrey landed flat on her back, legs slightly parted. Somewhere between the university and Michelle’s bedroom, her ponytail had come loose. Now honey-brown hair spilled messily around her face.

Michelle crawled onto the bed and straddled her. As she looked down at Audrey, her mind flashed back to the way that hair had spilled over her stomach the night she’d unknowingly fantasized about Audrey in this very bed. “Audrey,” she hissed in a strangled whisper.

“Michelle,” Audrey responded, her voice awed as she stared up at Michelle.

She moved her hips, frustrated that Audrey still wore her underwear, as that thin layer of cotton separated their bodies.

But before she could remove it, Audrey had flipped them.

Now Michelle was on her back with Audrey’s warm weight pressing her into the duvet, and if she weren’t so desperately aroused, she would have wanted this moment to last forever.

“Take these off,” she whispered, pushing at the band of Audrey’s underwear.

Audrey lifted her hips, shimmying out of them in a move so sexy, Michelle could only stare.

Then Audrey sat up, her bare flesh pressed against Michelle’s as she unhooked her bra, and again, Michelle made a sound she didn’t even recognize, a guttural groan of appreciation for the gorgeous woman currently straddling her.

Michelle skimmed her hands up Audrey’s sides to cup her breasts. They were so firm beneath Michelle’s touch. Her thumbs swept over Audrey’s nipples, and they contracted into hardened buds.

“Touch me, Michelle.”

“My pleasure,” Michelle murmured as her hands swept down Audrey’s sides, leaving gooseflesh in their wake.

She gripped Audrey’s ass with one hand, the other trailing through Audrey’s damp curls to slide between their bodies.

As her fingertips found Audrey’s wetness, Michelle felt an answering clench deep inside herself.

If she’d been overwhelmed with need before, now it had reached levels she hadn’t known possible, a gnawing hunger that begged to be sated. The only thing greater than her own desire was the need to see Audrey come undone, her features shattered with pleasure as she came apart in Michelle’s arms.

“I need your fingers ...” Audrey moaned, hips rocking into Michelle’s touch.

Her fingers. Her clumsy, inadequate fingers. Kelly’s mocking face flashed through her mind, and Michelle flinched as if she’d been dunked beneath a cold shower.

“Whoa. Hey, what happened?” Audrey’s hand cupped her cheek.

“I can’t ... I might not be able to ...” Michelle turned her face away from Audrey’s concerned gaze as mortification scorched her skin. She was ruining this. Just like you ruin everything, Kelly’s voice whispered in her ear.

“It’s okay,” Audrey said quickly. “There’s so much more to sex than achieving an orgasm, if that’s difficult for you. We can—”

“That’s not it,” she interrupted. “It’s just ... I’m not very good with my hands. I might not be able to satisfy you.” There. She’d said it. And now she wanted to crawl under the covers and disappear.

Audrey let out a shocked laugh, and Michelle couldn’t take it. She slid from beneath her, rolling away, only to be stopped by a warm hand on her shoulder.

“Michelle ... look at me. Please.”

She forced herself to meet Audrey’s gaze. If Michelle had been nothing but need before, now she was nothing but shame. It burned through her body until she knew her cheeks must be bright red. Her skin crawled with discomfort, and she drew her knees up, curling in on herself.

“I don’t know where you got this idea in your silly, beautiful head,” Audrey said. “But I’m sure it’s not true.”

“Remember how I kept putting my fingers through the clay?” she managed in a broken whisper. “At the pottery wheel.”

Audrey made a sound of disbelief. “I’m not made of clay. I don’t even see the comparison, to be honest.”

“Kelly used to say ... I couldn’t please her.” And now she’d just brought up her ex during her first time with Audrey. Michelle was furious with herself.

“Michelle.” Audrey gripped Michelle’s hands and brought them to her mouth, kissing her knuckles.

Michelle only barely kept herself from whimpering at the sensation.

“That sounds like a Kelly problem. If for some reason—which, for the record, I highly doubt—you aren’t good with your hands, there are other ways, right?

I could come from grinding myself on your thigh, or you could use your mouth.

I already know your tongue is fucking amazing, and in my opinion, your fingers are, too, so please get your ex-wife out of your head, okay?

One way or another, you’re going to make me come. I’m not worried about it in the least.”

Michelle swallowed over the painful lump in her throat. “I’m sorry.”