Inversion
There’s an ache in you, put there by the ache in me.
Taylor Swift
It turns out, life picked that exact moment to get complicated (shocking). Because Elide still had four very busy hours left at the vet clinic. And Elide, in her infinite wisdom, had forgotten that she and Maureen needed to attend a Save the Pigeons! fundraiser that evening because Maureen claimed it would be good karma for the clinic.
Yes – Save. The fucking. Pigeons.
Elide thought it sounded like an exercise in masochism. She wasn’t wrong.
After three hours, one uncomfortable cocktail dress, and approximately six mediocre canapes later, Elide finally made it back to Manon’s apartment. It was only when she finally collapsed onto the couch that she saw the texts.
Abraxos’ Mom
Abraxos' Mom: Have to deal w shit at the new club, going to be back so fucking late
don’t bother waiting up
left over fried rice in the fridge, eat it or I will
Elide: kay
kick all the asses
Fuck goddamned it. Tonight of all the nights, the universe decided to have a sense of humor. Curled on the couch, Elide did bother to wait up (well, at least, she tried). At some ungodly hour, she heard keys rustle in the lock, heels click across the floor, and – “El, damn it. I told you to go to sleep.”
mgmghgm she mumbled into the couch cushion.
“Idiot.” Manon replied, fondness curling around the word, before gently picking Elide up and carrying her to bed.
On Saturday morning, the universe decided to give Elide a reprieve. No exploding text chains. No six am alarms. No morning run. Just her and Manon, curled around each other in a warm bed. “Why are you watching me Lochan?” Manon murmured, voice heavy with sleep.
“Cause you’re cute.”
“Serial killer.”
“That how you talk to the girls you get into bed?”
“What do you want to know about the things I get up to in bed?”
“Everything.”
That got Manon’s eyes to snap open. “Umm?”
Sitting up, Elide shoved her ungodly mass of hair to one side and said, “So. There’s something I want to talk about.”
Manon groaned. “It’s – ” she checked the time, “9 am. Can it wait?”
“I love you.”
“What?” Manon sat bolt upright, eyes wide.
Smiling, Elide couldn’t stop smiling, she said, “I, Elide Lochan, love you, Manon Blackbeak. Not like family, and not like a friend.”
“Ummm.” Manon said for the second time that morning.
Elide took advantage of that very rare, shock-induced silence. “I was talking to Aelin yesterday about … you know what, it doesn’t matter. I was talking to Aelin and I realized something. I thought I needed time to get over being in love, but it wasn’t love, what I had with him. It was wanting something to be what it never could.
Because I’ve known love, Manon. All those years. All of us. I’m standing there and it’s like the whole world goes clear. And all I can think is, why the hell did I keep you waiting? You – you’re the love of my goddamned life. I’ve been so lost inside my own head, but every time I turn, there you are. I want to be with you, if you’ll still have me.”
And Manon sat there, eyes wide, fixed on Elide’s face. Frozen.
“Umm, Manon?” Elide eventually asked, her fingers twisting in the bed sheets, a fear like she had never known driving her heartbeat.
This time, are you going to say it back?
Please don’t let me be too late. I’d give almost anything, for you, anything. Just don’t let me be too late.
“Yes.” Manon finally breathed in reply, eyes tracking over every inch of Elide’s skin. “Oh my god yes.”
“Yes?” And Elide laughed, her heart igniting up inside her chest, “Yes!” She leaned forward, her body braced on top of Manon’s, just inches apart now. Finally, only inches apart. And Manon lay beneath her, hair spread outward like a halo, a smile breaking across her face, delicate and rare.
“Say it again?” she whispered.
And so Elide did. Nudging their noses together, smiling wild and bright, Elide said, “I love you, Manon Blackbeak.”
Manon’s eyes fluttered shut, like she could drown in the sensation forever. Carefully – more careful than anyone believed she could be – Manon settled one hand on Elide’s hip and the other on her jaw, cradling Elide between her palms. “Can I kiss you?” The question came out hesitant, uncertain, trying anyway.
“Hell yes.”
And so Manon Blackbeak was laughing the first time she kissed Elide Lochan, grinning against her mouth. And Elide ignited, body shifting against Manon’s with a soft gasp as the kiss turned slow and gentle, igniting all the dark places.
When Manon pulled back, those amber eyes gauging Elide’s reaction, Elide leaned right back in, letting the second kiss consume her whole as Manon kissed her with a wild, deep hunger, as Elide buried her fingers in all that slivery hair, soft as corn silk. Pulling back for air, Elide gasped “fuck” as Manon kissed down her jaw, licked up her neck, whispered I love you too against her pulse.
Settling her legs over Manon’s hips, Elide couldn’t stop herself from grinding down, from moving with the kiss, from wanting to feel every inch of Manon against every inch of her. Manon bucked against her, back lightly arching with the sensation, a soft groan in the back of her throat. And Elide – Elide tried to chase that sound, tried to make it happen again and again, as their bodies shifted together, steady and unstoppable.
Shit might have really escalated past the point of no return if Abraxos hadn’t decided, right at that moment, that he’d waited long enough for breakfast. Jumping onto the bed, he barked. And being a wolf hound, he barked really fucking loudly.
It still took Manon a solid thirty seconds to break the kiss, falling back against the pillows, breath ragged. “Fuck.” She exhaled, amber eyes blown to black. “I mean, fuck.”
Abraxos barked. Loudly. Again.
Elide did not help matters much because Elide did not move. She was really rather enjoying the sensation of Manon’s hips nestled between her legs. She didn’t want to leave this bed. She … never wanted to leave.
“El,” Manon groaned, pressing a hand against her face, “I need to feed the dog.”
“I know.”
“That means I need to get up.”
“I know. But …”
Lightly rolling her hips against Elide's, Manon smiled up at her and said, “We can come back here. After.”
“Yeah?”
“Scouts honor.”
And Abraxos interrupted this really touching scene by starting to howl. Because clearly his humans were not getting the message. It worked. They scrambled to their feet, heading for the kitchen in record time, as Manon muttered, “Okay, okay, you dumpster fire of a pet, shut up. I’m finally kissing Elide in my bed and this is how you act? Disowned.”
Leaning against the counter, Elide watched Manon try to function and fail so very badly. Smiling, a delicate little thing, Elide asked, “You’ve been thinking about having me in your bed?”
And Manon stopped. And Manon stared. And stared. “Is that even a question? Shit, yes Lochan.”
“Good.” Elide bit down on her lip but she couldn’t bite back the grin. “Because I’m not about to win any awards for purity of thoughts.”
Manon spilled dog food everywhere. Staring down at the mess she’d made, Manon finally shrugged and said, “fuck it,” pouring the rest of his breakfast onto the floor too. Abraxos ate, but not without casting some major side-eye first.
Just as they were finally about to head back to bed and get this goddamned show on the goddamned road, Manon checked her phone and froze.
“What?” Elide asked, half-dreading the answer. “Matron? Cousins? Miami in actual flames?”
“Your special penguin exhibit.”
“My what?”
“Your special penguin exhibit at the zoo. It’s today. I set a calendar notification.” Manon flashed her the phone screen, and right there, in big, bold letters: ELIDE’S UNGODLY SPECIAL PENGUIN EXHIBIT THAT WE, YES WE, MUST ATTEND.
“Awww, you set a calendar notification for me?” Elide pressed a hand to her chest, something warm and bright burning beneath her ribs.
“Yeah, and look at the one right next to it, BUY MORE WHISKEY.”
Elide swatted at Manon’s shoulder, “Way to ruin a cute moment, Blackbeak.”
“Self-preservation is an important trait, El.”
“You love penguins.”
“Not the way I love you.”
“Oh.” And the entire morning bloomed between them once more, the heat and the press of Manon between her legs and the way Manon’s tongue slipped inside her mouth to paint her with lines of fire.
Taking a step closer, and another step closer, until she could wind her arms around Elide’s waist, Manon murmured, “You still want to go?”
Scrunching her face up, Elide winced as she replied, “Does it make me a really shitty person if I say yes? Because oh my god do I also want to keep doing everything we’re getting up to in bed, but there’s this really famous ornithologist coming and she like never visits the US and I’m like, kind of in awe of her, and the baby penguins are hatching…”
Nudging their noses together, Manon kissed Elide on the cheek, “Let’s go look at penguins. Incompetent little penguins.”
“I owe you. 100%. Anything you want.”
“Anything? Well, I can think of a few ways for you to make it up to me.” Manon murmured, kissing her way down Elide’s neck until Elide arched agnaist her body, hands tangling everywhere, everywhere. “Do I have to keep my hands to myself during this little excursion?”
“We cannot screw against the penguin enclosure!”
“Well damn, there go my afternoon plans.” Manon shot back, laughing too hard, barely holding it together.
“No traumatizing the little babies.” Elide carded her fingers through Manon’s hair, resolve dissolving away like mist into air.
“I promise to behave myself.” Except Manon’s fingers were playing at the edge of Elide’s t-shirt, yearning for bare skin.
“Lies”
“Guilty.” Manon replied, kissing Elide’s throat until she laughed and tried to squirm away, never really wanting to leave. “Okay. I am going to take a shower. Alone. Door shut. Because Jesus – I just …” Manon deliberately let go, hands held carefully at her sides. She exhaled, those hands shaking.
Elide took her own careful step away, tucked her own hands carefully behind her back. “Okay. Have fun with that.”
“I will.” Before the thin restraint thrumming between them could snap completely, Manon turned and walked into the bathroom. No looking back, that would be a very bad idea.
And Manon might have promised to behave, but Elide had made no such promises. Right before the door shut completely, she called out, “Don’t take too long getting yourself off! We have to go soon.”
“Fuck you!” Manon yelled back.
“That is the idea.”
Manon might have taken her sweet damn time showering, and Elide might have sat on the floor beside Abraxos, cuddling him close, unable to comprehend the radiance inside her chest. She stole that damn turtleneck and wore Manon’s perfume because she could and now when she looked into the mirror, all that remained across her check was a thin red line. A memory. I can walk forward. It lives with me. And I walk ahead.
Somehow, they managed to behave themselves on the way to the zoo, hands tangling over the center console of the car, Elide’s thumb tracing patterns over Manon’s wrist. And maybe when Elide bought the tickets, Manon stood a little too close for just really good friends, her arms slipping around Elide’s waist. And maybe Elide really liked it. They wandered through the zoo, still holding hands, like teenagers when life does nothing but unspool and unspool, all this potential this promise this goddamned hope. Elide had forgotten how good it felt. Hope.
Unfortunately for Manon, that’s exactly when Elide saw her lil babies. Also unfortunately for Manon, Elide did not let go of her hand when she ran towards them, which nearly resulted in a dislocated shoulder and definitely resulted in some non-child appropriate language. And sure, Manon had promised to behave, but there’s a lot of space between hands off and fucking against the penguin enclosure. That space looks something like Manon pressing herself against Elide’s back, hands tucking into the front pockets of her jeans, teeth lightly tugging at her ear lobe, hips rocking. Soft. Subtle. Unmistakable.
“Manon.” Elide exhaled, trying so damn hard to hold her own body still.
“What?”
“This is not playing nice.”
“Are you wearing my perfume?”
“Yeah.” Her breath hitched, hands braced on the railing of the enclosure.
“I like it.” Manon nipped at Elide’s neck, tongue darting out to sooth her skin. “I like smelling my perfume on you.”
“Noted.” Elide swallowed, so fucking far from steady.
“That’s my girl. Now," a hand slipped just underneath the hem of her shirt, darting across bare skin, "let’s go listen to a penguin lecture.”
It turns out a darkened auditorium is a terrible place to be when a lifetime of sexual tension is about to go critical. Sure, Manon played nice while the famed ornithologist Dr. Rosenblaum gave her famed presentation, but Elide still had to try and function around the sensation of Manon’s fingers running in mindless patterns up and down her thigh. She listened to the lecture and she looked at the pictures of the little penguins living their happy little penguin lives and … her core ached with a white-hot intensity. Her whole body thrummed with such unbearable yearning.
It was really fucking distracting.
When the lecture ended and the lights came up, Elide did not look at Manon. Because they could not fuck in front of a penguin enclosure, and they really could not fuck in the middle of a crowded lecture hall.
“Do you want to go chat with her?” Manon asked. “It looks like she’s taking questions.”
“Nope. Let’s go.”
“You sure?”
Elide’s hand pressed down hard on Manon’s thigh in a way that was not remotely fucking subtle. “Yes.”
“Okay, yeah, getting out of here now.”
Except the second they got home, they realized that they were out of dog food (thanks Manon), so it was off to the store, and then feeding Abraxos, and then feeding themselves, and then Elide showered and long story short, it was 7 pm before they sat side by side on the couch, just inches apart.
“So.” Elide cleared her throat. “Umm, Netflix and Chill? I’ve heard it’s all the rage among the youths.”
“Are you propositioning me?”
“Yes. Absolutely.”
“Good thing I’m a cheap date.” Manon leaned in to kiss her.
“Bullshit.” Elide murmured against her lips. “You have the most expensive taste in whiskey.”
“Shoot me for having standards.”
“Stop talking.”
They didn’t make it to Netflix, but they did make it bed. Curled on their sides, kissing softly, legs intertwined. When her hands tangled around the edge of Elide’s shirt, Manon asked, “Is this okay?” Her voice didn’t sound quite steady.
“If you stop now, I swear to god…” but Elide didn’t bother to finish that threat. She just sat up and tugged the shirt over her head, fully aware that she’d abandoned her bra long ago. Then it was Manon’s turn to sit upright, to whisper “fuck,” her eyes trailing over Elide’s stomach, her breasts, lingering there, eyes blown black.
“El …” Manon didn’t move, not a damned inch, her palms pressed into the bedspread.
Laying back, Elide tugged Manon to settle over her body, legs straddling her hips. “I want you to touch me.”
Something in Manon’s eyes snapped. Her hands slipped down Elide’s shoulders, thumbs brushing over her collarbones, cataloguing every twitch and gasp. But when she reached the curve of Elide’s breasts, Manon slowed, came to a stop.
“What is it?” Elide asked, hanging onto coherence by one single thread.
“I – ” Manon tried to talk, but she lost herself in staring down at Elide. “I’ve wanted this with you for so long, and now it doesn’t feel … how can this even be real?”
And Elide knew Manon, her laughter, her arrogance, her joy. And this was Manon hesitant, Manon uncertain, Manon yearning and yearning. “Give me your hand.” Elide whispered in reply. When Manon did, Elide carefully placed it on her own breast, whispering, “I want you, Manon. I just want you.”
Bowing her head, Manon pressed her lips against Elide’s neck, just breathing there, just grounding herself down. “Baby. God, I want you so badly. I don’t know how to tell you how badly I want you.”
“Then show me.” Elide dragged her nails down Manon’s spine, praying the motion left marks.
Manon had never met a challenge she couldn’t accept. Manon never cracked, she never cracked, but Elide … for Elide …
Kissing along Elide’s jaw line, Manon began to mark a slow trail down her body, lingering at her throat, the dip between her collarbones, the flushed curve of her breasts. Flicking her gaze up to watch Elide’s face, Manon tongued at a nipple until Elide shivered at the touch, hips shifting restlessly.
“Manon.” Elide gasped, her palms sliding helpless and desperate over the other woman’s back. Grinning, Manon carried on, running her tongue over one breast, then the other, tasting every inch of skin. Lost to it, Elide ground her hips against Manon’s, desperate for friction and fucking lighting up. When Manon took a nipple between her teeth, Elide’s breath hitched, froze, and her head fell back. Senseless. Glorious. Agony.
Patiently taking Elide’s other nipple into her mouth, Manon whispered against overheated skin, “Easy there Lochan, I want to take my time with you.”
“Oh fuck me.”
“Now you’re getting the idea.”
Tugging Manon’s head down, Elide kissed her with a fierce hunger and their hips rocked together, a steady, building grind that felt like glory and the edge of something greater. Manon stared at Elide and breathed her name like a prayer, El, pressing a thumb against Elide’s lower lip and groaning when she sucked it into her mouth. “God, the things I want to do to you.”
“Then do it. All of it.”
“Babe, I – ”
“I don’t think you understand.” Elide kissed Manon like how she wanted to get fucked, tongue and teeth and wild yearning. “I want you on every inch of me.”
Pinning Elide’s arms above her head, Manon ground down against her hips with reckless abandon. “Yes, fuck.” Elide cried out, straining into the other woman’s touch.
“Just you wait babe,” a kiss to her throat, “until I have my tongue between your legs.”
“Fuck, please. Please.”
“You want me to lick you open?”
In response, Elide gasped, her legs twinning tight around Manon’s hips.
“I asked you a question, baby. Do you. Want me. To lick you? Get my tongue inside you until you’re coming in my mouth?”
“Manon!”
“Answer me.”
“Yes, god, yes.”
“Good girl.” And that made Elide whimper, fucking whimper, as Manon kissed down her body, stopping to suck at a nipple again and murmur, “Such a good girl.”
“Please.” Elide begged, her vision whiting out, her core an aching, pounding heat.
Moving to the soft plane of Elide’s stomach, Manon swirled her tongue over all that skin, painting restless patterns. “I dreamed about you,” her lips charted the path of her words, “I knew I shouldn’t. But I did. And then I would wake up and I couldn’t stop.” Lightly biting at Elide’s hip bone, Manon murmured, “I wondered and wondered how you’d sound beneath me. How you’d gasp. How you’d say my name. What you would taste like, coming against me. I look at you, Elide Lochan, and I can’t breathe.”
And there was no holding onto her sanity after hearing a thing like that. Elide did gasp, did breathe out Manon’s name, rocking their bodies together and aching. And then Manon drifted a hand up Elide’s thigh, slow and steady, giving her all the time in the world to pull away. She didn’t. She just begged please.
Pressing her lips against Elide’s stomach once more, breathing there rough and ragged, Manon traced her fingers over soaked underwear. “Fuck you’re wet. You’re so ready for me baby, aren’t you?”
The only sound Elide could think to make was a low groan, her hands clenching desperately at the sheets. Grinning feral and bright, Manon slowly pulled Elide’s underwear down her legs, stopping every few inches to press a kiss against her thighs. The sound of Elide’s inhale, exhale, inhale echoed in the room. Finally tossing the underwear to the side, Manon licked up her right thigh, murmuring, “So damn wet. I’m going to fuck you on my tongue and then I’m going to fuck you on my fingers until you’re calling out my name.”
“That won’t … be hard … to accomplish.” Elide gasped out, one second from completely falling apart.
In response, Manon parted Elide’s legs wide and licked right through her core. Arching under the touch, Elide cried out and burrowed her hands into Manon’s hair. Helpless. She ground into her mouth, lost in how good it felt to be touched like this. Helpless. She sought more, deeper, everything. Shifting her grip, Manon pretty damn effectively pinned Elide’s hips down, tongue slipping inside her entrance until Elide begged, Manon please, Manon. Her hips desperately tried to buck, needing the movement, needing to ride Manon’s tongue.
Gripping Elide’s legs tighter, Manon stilled her, shifting to press her tongue against Elide’s clit, massaging it in soft circles. The warm, wet pressure did filthy things to Elide’s brain and she felt an orgasm building, unstoppable, in the base of her spine, lightning following thunder. “Manon,” she gasped, gripping her hair tighter, “I’m going to come. I can’t – I’m going – I’m – ”
Hips shuddering, fucking, body bowed in a silent cry, Elide came in Manon’s mouth. And Manon licked her through it, tonguing her clit to the fine edge between pleasure and pain. Whiteout. Every single sense whited out, leaving nothing but an orgasm so deep it left her legs twitching, lungs gasping for air.
Barely giving Elide time to recover, Manon flipped her onto her stomach and pushed her tangle of brown hair to one side. Tossing her own shirt and yoga pants somewhere into the waste land at the end of the bed, Manon said, “I told you that I wasn’t done with you.” Every word punctuated with a kiss down Elide's spine. “I promised to fuck you hard.” That was all the warning Elide got before Manon parted her legs and pushed two fingers straight into her core.
“Fuck!” Elide cried out, hips spasming, fingers clutching at the sheets.
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No, god no, please no.”
“Good.” Manon pressed her forehead against Elide’s spine, stilling inside her. “You feel so fucking good around my fingers. You feel … god.” Kissing down Elide's back, Manon started to fuck her with slow, deep thrusts, and Elide matched her motion for motion, grinding herself back onto Manon’s hand. Taking a fistful of Elide’s hair, Manon pulled her head up and whispered in her ear, “Say my name.”
“Manon.”
“Louder.”
“Manon!”
“And what do you want?” But Elide was too far gone to answer, lost in the snap of her hips against Manon’s hnad. Pulling her fingers out and ignoring the keening noise Elide made, Manon said, “Answer, or I’ll stop touching you and you can just watch me fuck myself.”
“Dear god,” Elide gasped.
“I’ll take the compliment, but it’s not what I want to hear out of your mouth.”
“Fine - I want you to get your hand back between my fucking legs and I want to come around your fingers and then taste myself on your tongue.” To emphasize the goddamned point, Elide started rocking her ass against Manon’s hips. “Clear enough?”
Done with wasting time, Manon pushed two fingers back into Elide, deep and fast, gasping at her wet heat. “Fuck El,” Manon bit out, setting a brutal pace. Elide matched her thrust for thrust, crying out in pleasure when Manon shifted a knee behind her hand, taking Elide harder. The filthy sound of their bodies coming together filled the room. It didn’t take long before Elide’s legs started to shake, the orgasm spiraling through her, spiraling and spiraling until she snapped, nothing but ignited nerve endings and breathless whimpers as her core clenched around Manon’s fingers.
Easing Elide through it, Manon gently pulled out and rolled her onto her back, brushing loose strands of hair off her forehead. Through the haze of her orgasm, Elide watched Manon lick her fingers clean. Sweet fucking god. Then, true to her word, Manon pressed their bodies together and kissed her, deep and dirty.
Barely pausing to break that kiss – the best fucking kiss of her fucking life – Elide turned onto her side and took Manon with her. Eventually, she found the bandwidth to say, “Hi.”
Laughing against Elide’s mouth, Manon mumbled, “Hi back.”
“How do you still have underwear on?”
Nipping at Elide’s lower lip, Manon said, “Why yes Manon, that was an amazing fuck, thank you, five stars, I can’t believe – ”
“Less talking. More nudity.” It took Manon another minute to get that damned underwear off, but only because it took Elide almost the entire minute to stop kissing her. But eventually, Manon summoned the muscle coordination necessary to tug it down, kick it away, and then Elide had a naked Manon Blackbeak kneeling on the bed. Which, hell. Holy hell.
Sitting up, Elide dragged her fingers across the plane of Manon’s stomach, feeling muscles twitch under her touch. Hesitant, she stopped just beneath Manon’s breasts, fingertips shaking.
She had thought that she was over this. Over everything. Over Manon.
She had lied and she had lost and now …
“El?” Nudging Elide to lay down, Manon settled just above her hips, until Elide could feel the other woman’s slick core pressing against her stomach. Taking Elide’s hand in her own, Manon brought it up to cup her breast. Achingly, infinitely tender. The world thinks it knows you, Manon Blackbeak, but I see clearly.
Massaging Manon’s breast beneath her palm, Elide carefully ran a thumb over her nipple and watched Manon’s head tip back in pleasure, a soft breath hissing out between her teeth. Pulling Manon back down to kiss her, Elide said against her mouth, “What do you want? I’ll do anything you want.”
Pressing Elide into the mattress, Manon kissed her deep, fucking with her tongue. Eventually, she found the presence of mind to get out, “Fingers, your fingers. Start with two, I can take it.” And Elide whimpered into Manon’s mouth at that, their hips rocking together in a fast, rough rhythm. Rolling them, Manon settled onto her back, staring up at Elide through her eyelashes. Which, you know, destroyed Elide’s final two brain cells.
It should have been easy. It should have been simple. She knew the mechanics. She knew how badly she wanted to make Manon feel good. But an anxiety crawled through her, stilling her body, gripping her limbs. “El?” Manon sat up, eyebrows furrowed in concern. “What is it? Do you want to slow down or stop?”
“No. No.” Elide shook her head to emphasize the point. “It’s just … you’re going to think it’s stupid.”
“It’s not.” Gently cupping Elide’s cheek, Manon said, “Hey, look at me. Whatever it is, it’s not stupid. Tell me, baby.”
Closing her eyes, because it made breathing easier, Elide murmured, “I haven’t, you know, been with a woman in a while. And you’re really fucking good at this. I don’t want to … disappoint you.”
“El.” Manon curled their bodies together. “Open your eyes? Good, because I want you looking at me when I tell you that you could never disappoint me.”
“But I might be bad at sex.” Elide protested, trying to ignore how her cheeks flamed red.
“First of all,” Manon kissed one of those cheeks, “I’ve been banging you for about, oh, the last half hour and let me say, you’re not bad at sex. Second of all, I’m not worried about good or bad. It’s just – I want you. I want to be with you. I want to explore touching you. I want you to explore touching me. I want to learn exactly how good it feels to be with you.”
“Okay.” Elide rested her forehead against Manon’s, exhaling out a shaky breath. “You promise?” Those last words came out hesitant, vulnerable.
“Swear.” And then, “El, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want. We can stop right now and watch Netflix or sleep or – ”
“I want to fuck you.”
Manon blinked. “Well alright then.”
“Also, I love you.”
And Manon laughed, kissing her cheek, a chaste, little thing. “I love you too.”
They lost themselves in another kiss, bodies shifting together, rhythm and flow. Settling between Manon’s hips, Elide gently rocked against the other woman’s body, learning the push and the pull of them. Finally convincing her brain that she should sit up, Elide carefully knelt between Manon’s knees and starting running her thumbs in soft patterns up her thighs. Manon arched under the touch, her eyes slipping closed. It was madness, the closest Elide had ever come to glory, here and now, Manon beneath her, spread open and twitching under her hands.
“Elide.” She breathed the name like a prayer.
“Yeah, Manon. I’m here.”
“El, I want you so badly.”
“I know the feeling.”
Gazing up at Elide, Manon asked, “Still nervous?” Elide’s small nod was all she needed. Taking one of Elide’s hands in her own, Manon toyed with her fingers and said, “Can I offer a suggestion?”
“I’m all ears.”
“What if I show you how to touch me? Would you like that?”
A flash of longing split through Elide, clean and fierce as lightning. “Oh god yes please.”
“Okay.” Manon leaned in closer, her breath a little ragged against Elide’s jaw. “Whatever you like, whatever you don’t like, I need you to tell me. Alright?”
“Yes.” Elide responded. “God yes. And you will too, right?”
“I promise.”
“Good, okay.” Elide’s breath was also a little ragged, a little fast. Because sweet Jesus. The longing split into her like lightning.
Bracing one foot on the bed, Manon spread her knees wider and Elide almost whimpered out loud. “First,” Manon nipped at Elide’s knuckles, “lick these fingers for me baby.” Elide really did whimper at that, sliding two fingers into her own mouth.
Biting down on her lip, Manon’s eyes fluttered shut for a moment. “Good, you’re so good. Now, come here.” Delicately kissing Elide’s fingertips, Manon guided their hands down and pressed Elide’s fingers into her core. Elide groaned at the contact, her sanity hanging by invisible threads. “That’s it baby, just like that.” Manon bit out, showing Elide how to massage circles around her clit, how to dip into her entrance, how to tease and touch and – “Fuck, don’t touch my clit long, I won’t last if you – oh sweet fuck, god.” Manon groaned, her hips jerking under Elide’s fingers.
“Like that?” Elide asked sweetly.
“Yeah,” Manon eventually gasped out, her chest arching off the mattress. “Inside, go inside me baby.” Curling herself protectively over Manon, Elide kissed her softly and pushed two fingers into her core. For the longest span of a breathless moment, she just stayed there, reveling in the sensation of Manon’s wet heat around her, lost in knowing that she got to hold her this close. There’s no undoing how deeply I am bound to you. So be it. So let it be.
I love you.
Kissing Manon’s shoulder, her neck, her jaw, Elide started to move her fingers, a deep, steady rhythm, and Manon rocked in time, meeting every thrust. “You’re so good baby,” Manon murmured, “you feel so good inside me.” When Elide started to speed up, wanting – needing – to feel Manon come around her, Manon lightly gripped her wrist and slowed them back down. “Easy. Please. I just want to feel you.”
Their kiss turned messy, half breath, half longing. Taking Elide’s left hand, Manon guided it down and said, “I’m so close baby. Put your thumb on my clit. Rub it in circles while you fuck me.”
And so Elide did, gasping when Manon bucked against her, the walls of her core slamming down. It only took another minute, a glorious, divine minute of losing herself in Manon Blackbeak’s body, before Elide felt her surrender. Biting into Elide’s shoulder and scrapping nails down her back, Manon rode out her orgasm. Her body shivered and shivered, caught in the aftershocks, as a small, breathless whimper slipped free.
As Manon’s body eased around her, Elide slipped her fingers free and laid her head against Manon’s chest, playfully licking at her breast, reveling in the achingly soft skin.
Manon groaned, her fingers tangling into Elide’s hair, “I might need a minute before we do that again, babe. It was fun. Very, very, fun. But god…” Stretching, Manon shifted her legs so that Elide could settle between the cradle of her hips.
“Just fun?” Elide kissed Manon’s breast again. Because it was there. Because she could. Because she fucking loved Manon Blackbeak’s tits.
“Mhmmhm.” Manon responded, eyes slipping closed even as one hand started to drift up and down Elide’s spine, tracing mindless patterns. “Good, clean fun.”
“Hmm, so that’s why you reek of sex right now.”
Manon clicked her tongue, “So crude.”
“What can I say? I’ve been under the influence of a wild, dangerous woman.” Shifting, Elide took Manon’s nipple into her mouth, softly licking the bud till it peaked. “She took me to bed and undid me. Completely undid me.”
“Fuck, El.”
“But I’m glad you had fun.”
“I’m never going to hear the end of that, am I?”
“Probably not.” Elide laughed against Manon’s skin. “So. You got any plans for the rest of tonight?”
Manon cracked one eye open, “You have work tomorrow, babe.”
“You have no sense of adventure.”
“I run Miami’s nightlife. I think my ‘sense of adventure’ is doing just fine.”
“Sure Blackbeak. Well, since you’re already a kill joy,” Elide lightly poked Manon in the ribs, “wanna watch the new documentary about sloths on Netflix?”
Closing her eyes again and looking like she was praying for deliverance, Manon eventually said, “Netflix. Has a sloth. Documentary?”
“Hmm.” Elide nodded happily. “Just dropped yesterday. It’s like three hours long, but we can watch it in segments.”
Rolling them over, Manon pinned Elide’s hands against the mattress and said, “We’re already in bed, baby. Why bother with Netflix?”
“I thought someone needed a moment to recover?”
“Fucking hell.” Manon laughed, kissing Elide’s throat with a soft groan. “Sloths?”
“I could be persuaded otherwise.” And Elide grinned, bright and wild, as they began to shift together again, bodies slotting into place.