Bernie listens at the door of the bathroom, the faint strains of Solomon Burke’s voice filling the air, mixing with the smell of Serena’s perfume. She can’t keep the smile off her lips as she presses her forehead briefly to the door and inhales. She’s sure in this moment that she’s never been happier in her entire life.
Her hand turns the doorknob and she lets the wooden door quietly push forward, careful not to let any of the steam out of the room. When she closes the door behind her, she leans back against it and looks at the woman before her in the bath. The room is dark, lit by one solitary candle balanced on the counter and just bright enough to cast a warm glow over Serena. Her eyes are closed, her head propped against a rolled up towel, her beautiful figure concealed by a cloud of bubbles, some having dissipated, leaving dips and valleys across the water’s surface.
Bernie crosses silently to the edge of the tub, unsurprised when the other woman doesn’t stir. She’s always managed to take her by surprise, accused of being a “Stealthy Infiltrator” on numerous occasions. Yet somehow, Serena has easily forgiven her in the past when she apologizes with a featherlight kiss.
Bernie carefully reaches out a hand to caress the top of the water, collecting several bubbles on her fingertips as she watches the candlelight flicker across her lover’s face. She is amazed at how much she loves this woman. She’s amazed that of all the people walking the earth, that this very one had been waiting for her in Holby all this time for her to arrive. It feels almost surreal.
She rolls up one silk sleeve and dips her hand further in the water until her fingertips meet the slick skin of Serena’s ankle and slide easily along it. Serena’s eyes startle open and though the look of shock on her face gives Bernie a momentary feeling of regret, Serena’s lascivious smile is all the confirmation she needs.
Serena watches her intently through a half-hooded gaze, her eyelashes fluttering when Bernie’s hand graces her calf, over the back of her knee and along the inside of her thigh. It travels further still until Bernie feels Serena’s thighs gripping her hand like a vice, and she stops, smiling down at her lover whose cheeks are unmistakably red in the firelight.
Bernie tries to extract her hand from between Serena’s legs, but she’s caught decidedly off-guard when Serena’s wet hands reach up and grab her shoulders. She finds herself pulled forward, her lips meeting her lover’s and easily worked open by Serena’s tempting tongue.
“You’re getting me all wet,” Bernie finally rasps when their lips part for breath.
“You started it,” is Serena’s equally breathless reply before she pulls Bernie down into the hot water, clothes and all.