Uncommon Romance (2 page)

Ash had dinner waiting by the time June made it home. Traffic was worse than usual, and the delay reflected in June’s mood. She wished, not for the first time, that she had some discernable talent that would allow her to work from home like Ashlyn did. She didn’t suppose, however, that their monthly expenses could take the hit of two erratic-artist paychecks.

She dropped her files on the coffee table, slipped out of her shoes, and joined Ash in the kitchen.

“Looks great.” She kissed Ash on the cheek and snagged a piece of cubed chicken that was destined for the salad Ash had prepared. “You want a glass of wine?”

“Wait.” Ash grabbed the waistband of her skirt and pulled her back. She looped her arms around June’s neck and pressed her lips to June’s leisurely, taking time to explore as though it’d been years since they had spent time together. In reality, it’d been that morning. In the shower. And Ash hadn’t stopped at June’s mouth. “I missed you.”

“Mmm.” June hummed against Ash’s lips. She never got tired of kissing this woman. They fit together perfectly. “Missed you, too.”

Ash spun out of June’s embrace, her paint-speckled smock flaring out at the bottom with the movement. It appeared that she’d removed her pants, as she often did, when she left her studio.

June slapped her lightly on her ass. “Did you lose something?”

Ash laughed and flipped the tail end of her shirt up, showing June her bare bottom. June wondered if she’d spent all day without underwear. It wasn’t an uncommon event, but it wasn’t something June could dwell on either. If she did, she’d never leave for work in the morning.

“I hung them on the line,” Ash said.

June glanced out the window. As expected, Ash’s denim overalls were draped over the clothesline in the backyard. She didn’t know anyone else their age that had a clothesline, but none of them had a wife like Ash either. She immersed herself in her work until her clothes were covered in the evidence. On her way in from her backyard studio, more often than not, she stripped them off and sprayed them with the hose to remove the bulk of whatever she’d gotten into that day. Today it looked like rust-colored paint. Or blood. June could never be sure.

“Productive day?”

“Mmm-hmm. I’m going back out after dinner.”

June molded herself to Ash’s backside and glided her hands up her bare thighs to rest on Ash’s waist. She nuzzled the collar of her smock to the side and kissed her neck lightly. “Are you sure?”

Ash dropped her head to the side, opening the line of her neck to June. She obliged Ash by kissing it again and again until Ash’s body went limp and languid against her.

Ash moaned. “I really should.”

“Okay.” June didn’t stop kissing Ash. She tried to never come between Ash and her creations. She’d chosen to share her life with an artist, and that meant she had to make certain concessions, like accepting that Ash would disappear into her studio for days at a time. During those times, June was lucky if she came into their bedroom to sleep. That Ash had stopped working to fix dinner was a surprise, now that June knew she was mid-creative burst. “What are you working on?”

“I’ll show you when it’s done.” Ash stepped out of June’s embrace and turned to give her one last kiss, then gathered their plates and carried them to the table.

June followed with two glasses of water. She’d have preferred a glass of wine, but Ash wouldn’t drink while working, and June wouldn’t drink alone. Besides, this way she’d be clear-headed when she reviewed her files later. “Do we need anything else?”

Ash looked over the table. “I think we’re good.” She’d made a simple dinner—green salad with chicken on top. She held out a chair for June to sit. She was oddly chivalrous about some things. She also routinely opened doors, wrote poems, and woke June with kisses. For her part, June bought flowers, made romantic playlists, and booked weekend getaways.

June tried the salad. Ash had added a light raspberry vinaigrette that gave it an odd tang. She let it settle on her tongue before washing it down with a sip of water. She decided, on the second bite, that she liked it. “Delicious. Thanks for cooking.”

“My pleasure.” Ash was halfway through her salad. “I was starving. Forgot to eat lunch today.”

That happened sometimes. Only when it did, she usually forgot dinner, too. June would arrive home to find Ash still in her studio, having completely lost track of time. On those nights, June would fix a quick dinner and deliver it. Ash barely registered her presence. She’d leave the plate with a stern reminder for Ash to eat, which she fully expected to be ignored.

“I’m glad you remembered to eat tonight.”

Ash smiled and looked at June the way she sometimes did, with her head tilted to the side and her eyes thoughtful. She paused with her fork in the air for a moment as she regarded June like she was just now really seeing her for the first time. It was unnerving to be under that much scrutiny at random intervals from the woman who knew her better than anyone else in the world. She’d asked Ash once what she saw during those times. She said she was just overwhelmed with how much she loved June and had to take a moment to be thankful.

“Okay?” June asked.

Ash lifted her fork slightly in an impromptu toast, then slipped it between her lips. When she finished chewing, she asked, “How was your day? Anything interesting happen?”

June thought out the meeting she’d attended and her new client, Katerina VanderVort. “Mostly routine.” She kept her answer vague. She didn’t want to distract Ash when she was working. They’d have plenty of time to discuss Kat’s actions and June’s reactions, all of which surprised her a little.

“Mostly?” Ash’s mouth curved into a teasing smile. She’d picked up on June’s attempt at diplomacy and wasn’t falling for it. “Tell me about the part that doesn’t fall under the heading of ‘mostly.’”

“I was invited to a meeting to woo a potential new client.”

“Oh yeah?” Ash moved to the kitchen and refilled her salad. She spoke loud enough for her voice to carry to the dining room. “That’s a big deal, right?”

“Yeah, it is.” June wasn’t nearly as excited about the opportunity as she should be.

Ash rejoined her, her plate full of salad and two slices of homemade buttered bread. She slid one slice onto June’s plate. June hadn’t noticed the bread earlier. Ash liked to bake when she had time. “So did he sign on the dotted line, or whatever it is you have people do?”

“
She
asked for another meeting.” June debated the best way to reveal Kat’s forward behavior. She’d definitely tell Ash eventually, but was this the best time?

“She? Nice. Girl power.” Ash raised her fist in salute. “Are you going to the next meeting?”

“Yeah, she requested me,” June said.

“You sound like that’s not a good thing.”

“No, it is. I’m just not crazy about how it happened.”

Ash looked at her and took a big bite of bread. She’d do that sometimes, fill her mouth so June had to keep talking. She was tired of dragging the information out of June.

“The client hit on me. A lot.”

Ash swallowed hastily, her eyes narrowed and heated. “Bastard. I’ll kill him.” Jealousy made Ashlyn forget details.

“Her. The client is a her, remember? Katerina VanderVort.”

“That’s right.” The flash of anger was replaced by a curious, if not a little devious, smile. “Katerina?”

“Yeah, she told me to call her Kat.” June pushed her salad around with her fork. She wasn’t nearly as hungry as Ash, but she’d remain at the table for as long as Ash did.

“Kat?” Ash laughed lightly. “Is she hot?”

June nodded reluctantly. Ash was laughing now, but she didn’t want to give her wife any cause for genuine jealousy, either. “She is. She’s dark, like Mediterranean. She doesn’t match her Scandinavian last name at all.”

“Did you ask her why?”

“No, I was too busy trying to get her to stop touching me.”

“Wait, she touched you?” The jealousy June feared threatened to surface again.

“Sort of. She sat really close, like close enough for our legs to touch.”

Ash smiled again, then slid her chair closer to June. She stopped about a foot away. “Like this?”

June shook her head. “Closer.”

Ash shifted again but stopped before they touched. “Like this?” Ash leaned in intimately close and spoke directly into June’s ear. Her hot breath puffed against June’s skin, and she almost forgot what Ash was asking.

“Closer.” Her answer came out hushed and secretive.

Ash moved until her chair touched June’s and their legs touched from floor to knee. She slipped her bare foot over the top of June’s and caressed it. “Like this?” Ash whispered the question with her lips pressed to June’s ear.

June nodded, but she couldn’t force herself to speak. The words were trapped in an emotional bunch in her chest.

“And you liked it.” Ash worked the buttons on her blouse open in the middle until she was able to reach her fingers in and touch skin. June jumped at the contact. Ash rolled the backs of her fingers over June’s abs, tickling and teasing. “Didn’t you?”

June gasped and found her voice once again. It was shaky and uncertain, but it worked. “I did.”

Ash pulled her shirt free from her skirt and smoothed her palm flat against her stomach. She draped her other hand over the back of June’s chair and played her fingers through the ends of June’s hair. She pushed the hair out of the way and bent her mouth to June’s neck. Her kiss was hot and open mouthed, and she sucked hard on the skin where neck met shoulder. “Did she do this?”

She moaned and reflexively clutched Ash’s head to hold her close. She held her body tense and perfectly still. “No.”

Ash worked her way up until her mouth was once again upon June’s ear. She sucked the lobe into her mouth and breathed hot air over the wet skin. Excitement rushed to the surface and June groaned.

“You wanted her to.” Ash massaged her hand through June’s hair. The touch was rhythmic and lulling and robbed her of her ability to focus on anything but Ash’s fingers against her skin and in her hair. Ash nipped the sensitive skin behind her ear. “Didn’t you?”

“Yes.” June answered in a desperate gasp. Ash drew her faster and higher than anyone else ever could.

Ash slipped her hand out of June’s shirt and rested it on her thigh. She glided up June’s leg, slipping beneath her skirt and not stopping until she brushed against her panties.

June held her breath and waited. She was turned on and so wet, she was sure Ash could feel it through her underwear. She wasn’t sure how Ash would react, but hoped it would excite Ash the way it was affecting her.

Ash rolled her knuckles over the fabric over and over, drawing all the moisture in her body to her cunt. Ash breathed, steady, even, and hot in her ear, but she didn’t progress further.

God help her, Ash was going to make her beg.

June held out until the wanting overwhelmed her. She couldn’t imagine being more turned on than in that moment. She gulped air and forced herself to form words. “Ash…” The name was all she could manage. Nothing else would come out, no matter how hard she tried.

“Yes?” Ashlyn continued to roll her fingers over her panties without urgency or apparent agenda. She was going to drive June mad.

“Please.”

“Please?” Ash’s voice washed over her, seductive and full of promise. “Please what? Touch you the way you imagined that other woman would? Push my fingers into you and fuck you like you fantasized she would? What’s her name?”

There were too many questions and June didn’t know what to answer first. She didn’t want Ash to fuck her like anyone except herself. She was the only one who really knew June, who knew how to take her through orgasm every time. Still, Ash didn’t do what June wanted. She didn’t slip her fingers into June’s panties to feel firsthand how very turned on she was. By the time Ash finished with her, this pair of panties would be completely wrecked.

“What’s her name, June? Tell me again.”

June wanted to thrust against Ash’s fingers but knew from experience, could tell by the tight pull of Ash’s other hand in her hair, that would be a very bad idea. She held still even though every instinct in her body told her to move, to rut against Ash until she came in a heaping, sobbing mess on her wife’s hand.

“Kat, her name is Kat.” Kat’s face flashed before her, dark and dangerous and inviting. A new flood of arousal hit her core. “God, Ash, please.”

“What did you want her to do to you?” Ash stared into her eyes, her focus intense and heated. Her pupils were blown wide, and June knew if she dared to reach between Ash’s legs, she’d find her just as desperately wet as she was. But first she needed to remain still and let Ash have her way.

She couldn’t think beyond the brush of Ash’s fingers and the tug of her hand in her hair.

“June, tell me what you want her to do.”

“You, I want you.” June shook her head, and Ash’s grip on her hair caught when she moved too far in either direction. It snapped almost hard enough to be painful, but then Ash released her hold and stroked her hair over and over again.

“Yes.” Ash licked a line from her shoulder to her ear, then spoke in her ear, her voice low and dangerous. “But you want her, too. Tell me what you want her to do.”

“Jesus.” June wanted Ash inside of her so badly she no longer held back. “Please, yes, I wanted her to fuck me.”

“Good girl.” Ash pushed her panties to the slide and thrust her fingers into June hard and fast. “So wet.”

June sobbed with relief when Ash finally entered her. “Yes.”

It didn’t take long, just a few sharp thrusts and the combined bite of Ash’s teeth at her throat and hand in her hair, before the knot of tension inside June’s cunt built to the brink of exploding. Her body tightened to the point of painfully rigid, then crashed apart.

The entire time, Ash alternated nips on her skin with sweet, hot whispers in her ear telling her how hot she looked, how badly she needed to feel June come.

June slumped against the chair, and Ash released her hair and pulled her hand free of June’s folds. Ash held her while she recovered, sprinkling her face and neck with light kisses. “You’re so beautiful. I could watch you do that all day.”