Page 38

Kat

Kat smiled to herself as she strode out the back entrance of the theater.

Her arms felt loose, her steps were quick, her shoulders were tall.

She could feel a rising sensation right under her ribs, and her stomach felt light and airy, not tight or sick.

It was a good sensation. Pleasant. It made her want to walk faster and grin at nothing as she went.

She’d walked the mile and a half to Jude’s apartment every day since rehearsals had started this week.

The cast had spent the first few days doing a reading, getting to know one another, and starting to block out the first act.

The other actors were intimidatingly theater-y.

The woman playing the professor’s wife had three Tonys under her belt, and the man playing the professor had spent most of his career doing Shakespeare.

The two of them had been friends for years, and they took their dinner breaks together every night, along with three of the actors playing the various dead philosophers.

They all clustered together at the beginning of rehearsals, talking and laughing, then falling silent when Kat approached.

It stung a little, but Kat got it. They were waiting to see if she was a Hollywood diva who would make their lives more difficult by thinking she was too good for live theater.

But she would win them over eventually. She would show up on time, know her lines and blocking, work hard, and prove that she was actually a decent actor, not just a name.

The thought made her grin even wider. Ever since Kat had decided that she wasn’t going to end things with Jude, she’d felt good in a way that she hadn’t in a long time.

When Kat had told Jocelyn, she’d sighed and moaned and told Kat that she was making a big mistake.

But eventually she’d conceded that they could find another publicity stunt to make sure the play sold out.

Talking to Jude had also made Kat realize that her eating habits had been sliding in a bad direction, so she’d started making sure that she sat down and had actual meals three times a day.

It wasn’t always easy, but at least her stomach had stopped feeling so twisted and nauseous all the time now that things were more settled.

She was taking care of herself, she had the role she needed, her career was coming back, and she had a girlfriend.

A girlfriend. The word still made her giddy. She, Kat Kelly, had a girlfriend. And she was someone’s girlfriend. They were girlfriends, plural. A pair of girlfriends. A matching set. It made something inside her chest flicker and dance like a candle flame.

Kat turned onto Jude’s street and let herself into the building—Jude had given her a key earlier that week so she wouldn’t have to wait on the street and potentially get recognized. Kat’s apartment was bigger, but she preferred how cozy and welcoming Jude’s place felt.

As she walked in, Kat looked around at the framed posters and the golden late-afternoon light filtering through the plants by the window, and she felt something in her release—like she’d been tense until she arrived and could suddenly take a deep breath.

Filled with an urge to capture her happiness, she lifted her phone and took a picture of the living room.

Her mouth curved into a smile as she studied it.

It looked like the warmest, homiest place she’d ever been.

“Hi!” Jude shouted from the kitchen. She was chopping a mound of vegetables, a towel thrown over her shoulder and various ingredients piled up on the wooden cart that served as extra counter space.

“Hi, sexy,” Kat said. “How did your interview go?”

“Apparently well,” Jude said, beaming. “They asked me to come in for another interview next week.”

“Jude! You’re amazing!”

“I went to the Union Square farmer’s market on my way home, and their produce is incredible. Here. Try this.” She cut a slice off a large tomato. It was so ripe that juice dripped down her wrist as she held it out.

Kat leaned forward and took the tomato slice with her mouth. Then she touched her tongue to Jude’s wrist, tracing it slowly upward, lapping the spilled juice all the way up until her tongue curled around Jude’s finger.

Jude inhaled sharply. She slid her finger into Kat’s mouth. Kat swirled her tongue over it, sucking her in farther.

“Get in the bedroom.” Jude’s voice had turned low and rough. “Now.”

Kat scurried to obey. As soon as she crossed the threshold to the bedroom, she turned, pressing herself against Jude, her mouth open and her hands diving beneath Jude’s shirt, desperate to feel skin. Jude kissed her for a second, then pulled back.

“Clothes off,” she commanded.

Kat only hesitated for a moment before undressing, blushing slightly under Jude’s unbroken gaze. Once she was naked, she moved back to Jude.

Jude kissed her, walking her backward until her knees found the bed. Jude gave a soft push so she fell back onto the comforter. Kat grabbed Jude’s shirt, trying to pull her down on top of her.

“So impatient,” Jude chided. She took Kat’s wrists and stretched them over Kat’s head, pinning them to the mattress. Then she lowered herself on top of Kat until their faces hovered inches apart. Kat lifted her head, trying to land a kiss, but Jude pulled back, smirking.

“Not yet,” she said, pressing down on Kat’s wrists a little harder. “We’re going to play a game first.”

“A game?” Kat’s brain seemed to be processing slower than usual. All she could think about was the ache building between her legs and how desperately she wanted to touch Jude.

“A game,” Jude confirmed. “These are the rules. I’m going to touch you. And you’re going to keep still.”

“Keep still?” Kat panted.

“That’s right,” Jude cooed into her ear with a cocky lilt. “Absolutely still. Because if you move a single muscle, I’m going to stop touching you.”

“That’s mean,” Kat whined.

“It is mean,” Jude said. “But I think you’re going to play with me anyway. Because I think you really, really want me to touch you.”

Kat battled her pride for a few seconds, but desire won. She nodded.

Slowly, Jude released her wrists. “Now, are you going to keep absolutely still for me?”

“Yes,” Kat said, pouting to make her feelings clear.

“Good girl.”

Jude sat up, kneeling with a leg on either side of Kat’s body.

She started running her hands over Kat’s chest and arms, so gently it made Kat want to squirm.

She managed to stay still, barely repressing a shiver as Jude’s fingertips traced ever so lightly across her skin.

They ran up her throat, into her hair, across the line of her jaw, and with each stroke Kat could feel the pressure building between her legs, making her want to writhe and grab and scream.

Instead, she closed her eyes, trying to keep her breathing regular, focused on keeping her outstretched hands from twitching.

Jude’s hands roamed lower, tracing the shape of her breasts, teasing lightly. Then they closed on her nipples, twisting them lightly between her fingertips. Slowly, the pressure increased, until Kat let out a long, low moan.

“Careful, now,” Jude warned. Her hands trailed lower. She caressed Kat’s thighs, stroking closer and closer before finally moving her hand between Kat’s legs.

Kat’s hips jerked forward before she could stop herself. Instantly, Jude’s hands disappeared. Kat let out a strangled whine.

“None of that, now,” Jude said. “I made the rules very clear. It’s not my fault you couldn’t follow them.”

“ Please, ” Kat moaned.

Jude’s half-hitch grin was cockier than Kat had ever seen it. “Please what?”

“Please touch me again.”

“Are you going to stay still this time?”

Kat tossed her head back, bouncing it off the bed as she groaned. Finally, resentfully, she muttered, “Yes.”

“You’d better,” Jude said. “Because now I have to start alllll over.”

She moved her hands back to Kat’s shoulders and arms, stroking lightly again.

It was harder to stay still this time. Kat wanted Jude to touch her harder, faster, deeper, but Jude’s hands moved at a maddeningly slow pace, teasing until she wasn’t sure she could take it anymore.

It took everything she had to keep from thrusting forward into Jude’s touch.

Then Jude leaned down and added her tongue to the mix, flicking Kat’s nipples until she had to hold her breath to keep from screaming.

Jude’s tongue moved lower, then lower still. Kat gasped, every one of her muscles tensed and strained with the effort of not moving. Jude ran her tongue between Kat’s legs, taking her time, letting her tongue explore every fold and crevice.

Kat’s exhales became whimpers, keening from her throat in quick succession, her chest heaving with exertion.

When Jude’s tongue touched her clit, she couldn’t take it anymore.

She let out a soft scream, her hands rising to tangle in Jude’s hair, her thighs clenching down on Jude’s cheeks. Jude tried to pull away.

“You moved,” she said. “That means that I—”

“Absolutely not,” Kat growled. She turned, catching Jude by surprise and flipping them both over until Jude’s back was pressed to the bed and Kat was on top of her. “If you don’t touch me right now, I’m going to lose my entire mind.”

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do about it?”

This time, Kat pinned Jude’s wrists to the bed.

“So feisty,” Jude mocked. “But how am I supposed to touch you with my wrists pinned?”

“How do you think?”

Kat climbed forward until she was kneeling over Jude’s face. Then she lowered herself onto Jude’s mouth.

Jude hummed in pleasure, her tongue darting out to lap up every drop of Kat’s wetness. Kat moaned. She dropped Jude’s wrists and Jude took her hips in her hands, pressing Kat closer.

Kat tilted her head back, groaning as the pressure hit exactly the right spot. Jude let go of her hips with one hand and reached down. Kat heard unzipping, then felt Jude’s arm start to work, touching herself while Kat rode her mouth. The thought made Kat’s entire body shudder.

“Don’t you dare come,” Jude said, her voice thick with Kat’s wetness. “Not until I say so.”

“I don’t know,” Kat panted, “if I can wait.”

“You’d better wait,” Jude said. Her tongue resumed its relentless rhythm, driving Kat closer to the edge, making her thighs tremble. “You’d better wait for me.”

“Hurry. Please.”

Jude’s arm worked faster, and she let out a groan. Kat braced her arms against Jude’s headboard, holding on to keep her balance, her entire body clenched as she tried to keep from coming.

“Not yet,” Jude said against her clit. Kat couldn’t speak anymore. She could only groan and moan and make loud, desperate sounds. Jude’s body started to tense underneath Kat’s, her muscles tightening. “Almost there.”

She sped up the rhythm of both her arm and tongue, until Kat thought she might pass out, the pleasure so intense it almost hurt. The headboard rattled under her shaking hands.

“ Now, ” Jude said, and Kat released the tension, letting it flow through her, her hips thrusting forward against Jude’s mouth as she came in waves and waves and waves.

Underneath her, Jude shuddered as she came, too, and she let out a cry that got muffled in Kat’s wetness.

Her tongue kept working, drawing out Kat’s orgasm, keeping her coming until she wasn’t sure she could take any more, and then she crested into a pleasure so intense that her thighs gave out, sending her tumbling onto Jude.

They lay there, panting and sweaty, pressed tight together.

Kat’s clit throbbed with aftershocks of pleasure.

She buried her face in Jude’s chest, clutching Jude around the waist, Jude’s arms circled protectively around her back.

She took deep breaths. And then, to her embarrassment, Kat started to cry.

“Hey. Hey, sweetheart,” Jude said softly, stroking her hair. “It’s okay. I got you. You’re okay.”

Kat shook her head, trying to convey that she wasn’t upset. “It’s just—” she tried, but got stopped by a sob hitching in her throat. “That just felt…so good.”

“I know,” Jude said. “It’s okay to cry. Let it out.”

Kat let the tears flow. It felt good to sob, another form of release, another kind of tension leaving her body.

She pressed herself closer to Jude, trying to eliminate any space between them.

She couldn’t get close enough. She wanted to fuse their bodies together, to melt into one being with this incredible person beside her.

Jude seemed to feel the same way, because she pulled Kat as tightly against her as she could, kissing the top of her hair.

Gradually, their breathing slowed and evened out, then their grip softened, until they relaxed into each other.

Kat felt like she was floating on an ocean of calm, utterly spent.

“How are you feeling?” Jude said softly.

Like I love you.

The words sprang into her head, but Kat swallowed them down. She couldn’t say that. They’d been dating for two months. It was way too soon. What was she even thinking?

Instead, she reached up and kissed Jude as deeply as she could, hoping that would be enough.