Undaunted

I answered by unzipping her jeans, but all I could do was hold on to her waistband when my bra came off next. I felt her thumbs on both of my nipples, roughly rubbing and gently pulling on the sensitive nubs as I moaned against her lips.

Shaie gave both of my breasts a hard, little squeeze before her hands moved to support my back as she lowered me onto her bed. She took the rest of my clothes off, pulling urgently at my jeans and panties until I laid naked on her soft sheets. My eyes followed her as she moved off the mattress, taking in every gorgeous bit of flesh she bared as she quickly undressed in front of me.

Her lips broke into a slow smile once she was as naked as I was and I smiled back as she slid on top of me. I closed my eyes as I met her kiss, sighing when her soft, warm mouth began to trace a path from my jaw to my earlobe before moving downward to my neck. I shivered when the tip of her tongue drew a wet circle on the pulse at my throat, then I gasped as her teeth clamped down on the soft skin.

The firm muscles of her right thigh pressed against my center and I gave a soft cry, feeling my own slickness slathered up against my clit as her hips began to move.

But there was something different about Shaie this time.

Her mouth savored rather than devoured, and her hands caressed instead of the usual possessive way they touched my skin. She stoked my desire, slowly and steadily, but it was as if she didn't want to hurt me for some reason—as if I were this fragile thing she didn't want to break—and my body strained desperately against hers in protest.

I didn't want to be savored tonight. I wanted to be fucked.

I cupped her jaw, bringing her lips back to mine before my hands slid down. I gripped her ass, pressing her harder against me while I started grinding my clit wantonly on her thigh. My tongue slashed against hers, coaxing and pleading for her to meet my urgency.

Shaie gave a low growl as my nails dug into her flesh, and I knew I was close to getting what I wanted. I couldn't help but give the soft, round cheeks a sharp, little slap as I bit her lip just hard enough to make her gasp.

I grinned at her as she drew her head back and gazed down on me, her eyes now dark golden pools of wild desire. Slowly, her surprise gave way to a sexy smile, and there she was.

The Shaie I knew. The Shaie I was familiar with. The Shaie I could deal with.

"Oh, you asked for it," she warned playfully with a slight shake of her head and I lunged at her, forcing her to adjust her position as I decided to beat her to the punch and began kissing her again.

Shaie grabbed at my left breast as her lips met mine with equal fervor, and we moved around as our hands roamed over each other, both of us wanting to come out of this kiss on top.

I ended up finally pinning her with my hands on her wrists near the foot of the bed, both of us a bit out of breath as I straddled her. And then I felt Shaie relax underneath me, giving up the fight and smiling as I leaned over her.

"Yeah, I did." I grinned at her, bringing my lips to her ear as I softly added, "But you're gonna get it first."

I kissed the smooth skin of her neck, my tongue tracing soft, wet lines downward until my mouth found the turgid nipple of her left breast. I heard Shaie sigh as my lips closed around it and sucked, twirling and pulling on the rosy nub while my hand found her slippery warmth.

"Fuck, yes!" Shaie moaned happily as I spread her pussy lips apart, using my middle finger to drag her juices to her clit before circling it the same way that I was swirling her nipple in my mouth.

Her hands ran over the skin of my back as she continued to gasp and writhe beneath me, all the while allowing me to play with her sensitive spots to my heart's content. My mouth left her breasts as Shaie began moving her hips in an eager effort to get my finger inside her.

I shook my head at her, smiling before I started trailing kisses down to her stomach. My hands reached to play with her breasts as my mouth inched with deliberate slowness closer and closer to her waiting pussy.

Shaie's groan was a mixture of pleasure and frustration, and I was unprepared when she suddenly sat up and grabbed me by the waist. Quickly, she whirled me into position, not stopping until my face was right above her cunt—and hers, directly below my own soaking warmth.

I felt the excitement build up in me as I realized what she wanted to happen but Shaie wasted no time, her hands on my lower back keeping me in place as her mouth hungrily latched onto my cunt.

"Aaahh!" I cried out the instant her tongue grazed against my clit. The muscles on my arms went weak, bringing my face closer to her wetness. I recovered quickly, however, and responded by dragging my own tongue from her clit down the length of her slit, and then back again before fixing on her swollen nub.

Soon, we were going hard at it, each of us giving as good as we were getting and both of us racing to make the other come. Our cries of pleasure mixed and grew louder as we devoured each other's cunts, and I nearly caved when Shaie began to fuck me with her mouth, her tongue darting in and out of my wet hole as she gripped my ass and spread the cheeks wide.

I managed to hold my ground and I hooked my arms around her thighs, knowing that I had the advantage of easier access and better leverage. I slid two of my fingers deeply into her, my tongue repeatedly flicking at her clit while I began to suck her. I began to fuck her earnestly and Shaie finally released me, her head falling back on the mattress in ecstasy.

"Yes, yes! Fucking yes!" She half-moaned, half-growled, her nails digging into my hips as she gave herself fully to my ministrations.

I felt her begin to tighten around my fingers and I moaned in satisfaction while I synchronized the rhythm of both my mouth and my hand. I grew more desperate as I continued to lap up her juices, now sensing that her pleasure was close. And then it came, her orgasm flooding my fingers and smearing my cheeks, her thighs keeping my head still as Shaie mindlessly ground her pussy against my face.

"Oh my God!" Her cry was long and deep-throated, and her palm struck against the soft skin of my ass in reflex as she crested.

I lifted my head as soon as her legs allowed, smiling while I tried to catch my breath. But Shaie moved quickly, not giving me any time to relish my victory as I found myself now pinned beneath her. She had my legs spread apart in an instant as three of her fingers entered me slowly but smoothly, showing me just how wet her mouth had gotten me.

"Fuuuuck!" I hissed, my eyes meeting Shaie's gaze as she plunged as deep as she could go. She kept still as my pussy adjusted around her and, soon, I was thrusting my hips against her, my slippery warmth slowly dragging up and down the length of her fingers.

Shaie's hand matched the movement of my hips, her rhythm steadily increasing until she was pounding into me. I felt every movement of her fingers as they grazed my G spot over and over, continuously drawing out sounds of pleasure from the back of my throat.

Her eyes held mine as my orgasm neared, and I watched as a particular softness began to mix with the wild look in those golden orbs. It was the same one I had seen earlier on the dance floor and I closed my eyes against it once more, biting my lower lip until my orgasm reached its peak, bursting into a torrent of pure pleasure that had me clutching at Shaie's shoulders as it suddenly hit me.

"Oh my God, I'm in love with you."

Shaie's voice was soft and tinged with wonder, but I heard the words loud and clear even through my mindless haze. My arms wrapped around her tighter as my hands balled themselves into fists, and I buried my face against her neck, hiding the sudden tears that I couldn't seem to keep from spilling.

It felt like it was the worst thing Shaie could have possibly said to me at that moment. Things had been going so well between us that I was afraid any change might ruin it, and—from the moment they left her lips—I knew that Shaie's words had just changed everything.

==========

Part Two

SHAIE

I did not start this out this day knowing that I was in love with Jamie, and I sure as hell had no idea that I would be declaring it by the end of the night.

I knew I liked her. I mean, of course, I liked her. A lot.

Dating Jamie had been interesting. What we had wasn't exactly casual, but it wasn't heavy or drama-filled either as I had initially feared it would be. Jamie was actually quite easy and fun to get along with once she had let her guard down, and it had been a pretty amazing couple of months with her.

Did I constantly find myself thinking of Jamie even when we weren't together? Yes. Did I always look forward to any time that I get to spend with her? Again, yes. But I wasn't one to regularly inspect or analyze my feelings, and I figured that was just a normal reaction to a person whose body and company I immensely enjoyed.

And that was how I felt as I headed to the club to see Jamie tonight. Normal. Just a regular Jane who was excited by the thought of spending time with the woman that she was exclusively dating.

I made my way towards the club's entrance, stopping at a good distance when I saw Jamie talking with her ex outside. I was far away enough that I couldn't hear their conversation, but it seemed to me that Jamie had the situation under control. Still, I wanted to be around, just in case.

Jamie had opened up somewhat about her ex to me but, while I did believe her accounts, I was also aware that some of the things she had told me about Joan might have been coming from a biased perspective. They were exes, after all, and—to be honest—it was a little hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that anyone could ever be that purposely devious and manipulative.

Until tonight.

There was a brief moment when Joan happened to glance towards my direction and, while the woman's eyes had betrayed nothing when she saw me, the sudden smirk that had crossed her lips before she averted her gaze gave her away. I could tell the exact moment when Joan had gotten the idea to try and kiss Jamie right in front of me, and I had absolutely no doubt that it was all done for my benefit.

It might have worked, too—if I didn't know for a fact that Jamie wanted no part of her ex at all.

Jamie left hurriedly then, too upset to notice that I was there, and I watched a smug grin spread slowly on Joan's lips as her eyes fell back on me. I had no idea what Joan thought she was trying to prove to me after the way she had just been rejected, but I knew then and there that Jamie had been right about everything regarding the woman's character—and that restraining orders alone wouldn't be enough to get Joan to stop.

I began to walk towards her instead of following Jamie inside the club as I had initially intended.

"What's your problem?" Joan asked antagonistically as I neared. I stopped about a foot away from where she stood, noting how she folded her arms in front of her and raised a dark brow at me in defense.

"You're going to leave Jamie alone." I told her with a calmness borne out of sheer certainty.

Joan visibly straightened as I spoke. She was only a couple of inches taller than Jamie—meaning that I still had a good three inches over her—but Joan wasn't the type of person who was easily intimidated.

"Or what?" She scoffed, her smile only growing more derisive by the second. Joan was actually very pretty, but there was nothing attractive about her as she continued to taunt. "Am I supposed to be scared of Jamie's nameless rebound now or something?"

"My name's Shaie," I replied simply, willfully ignoring the other thing she had called me. "Shaie Peralto."

I rarely threw my last name around—I liked to think that I had managed to pave my own way well enough without using its weight—but I decided to make the exception this time. Anyone worth their salt in the corporate world would be able to associate it with one of the biggest security firms in the state (if not the country), and if Joan didn't... well, then I figured she could try and find out soon enough.

But surprised recognition did register in Joan's deep blue eyes, and she hadn't seemed so smug even as she defiantly tilted her chin up and said, "You're deluded if you think I would ever care who you are."

"You should." I shrugged, knowing full well that I would have no problem seeing through with my veiled threat if necessary. "I'll only say this one more time: Leave. Jamie. Alone."

I turned away then, having said all that I had needed to say and not really caring to hear Joan's response.

I headed inside the club to look for Jamie—only to immediately find her leaning against a wall near the entrance. She seemed... exhausted, as if she was trying to muster up whatever energy she still had left, and all I could think of was how she was probably one of the strongest women I had ever known.

I had only dealt with Joan for all of two minutes yet I could already feel the stress that accompanied the short interaction as it left my body, and I knew that must be nothing compared to how Jamie felt every time that she had had to deal with her ex over the last four years.

Standing there and looking at her in that moment, I felt a myriad of emotions surge within me. Sudden and overlapping, they expanded in my chest until I thought my heart would burst. It wasn't a foreign feeling—I had felt this way a few times before in the last two months—but it had always been fleeting and I hadn't dared give it much thought.

Well, it wasn't so fleeting this time. The feeling stayed with me, bubbling under the surface throughout the night. There were moments—like while we were dancing, for one—when it had threatened to boil over, but something would always bring it back down to a simmer and the feeling had remained contained and safely undefined.

Right up until it just wasn't anymore.

We were having sex and I was looking at Jamie, watching and loving the way she responded to my touch. The way she felt around my fingers and the way she tilted her head back and closed her eyes, her lips slightly parted and her breath held, as she neared her pleasure. The way she would always cling to whatever part of me that she could when she finally came...

And then, it hit me: I was in love with Jamie.

Admittedly, it wasn't exactly an ideal time to tell someone you loved them for the first time while you were right in the middle of fucking. But the words came spilling out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I immediately knew that it wasn't just some heat-of-the-moment fluke.

The feeling that had gnawed at me all night—the feeling that had frequented me throughout the past few weeks—had a name at last, and it all just made absolute sense.

But then we avoided the subject after, both of us cautiously silent as we settled ourselves in for the night. I still wasn't sure whether that silence was a good thing or not as I lay staring at the ceiling above my bed almost an hour later, but at least Jamie hadn't bolted out the door the first chance she got.

I felt her warm breath on my shoulder, and I could tell from its cadence that Jamie had long fallen asleep. She stirred against me, instinctively pressing herself closer, and I let out a breath, finally allowing myself to relax as I rested my cheek on top of her head and closed my eyes.

I might not have the slightest clue as to what Jamie thought or how she felt about what I had said, but neither of us was going anywhere tonight. Besides, love was still an all-too-new feeling for me, and I was more than willing to let that discussion wait until the morning.

*****

"Are you serious right now, Shaie?!" My best friend, Lucy's voice pierced through my head, gaining my attention.

She didn't seem mad as she stood in front of me with an evening dress on each hand, but she definitely looked exasperated as she glared at me incredulously. It was Saturday afternoon, and Lucy had invited me over for lunch to help her decide which dress she was going to wear for Tony and Marnie's rehearsal dinner later.

"What?" I asked, sitting just a bit straighter on her bed.

"You. Spacing out on me for the fourth time in the last 90 minutes." She pointed out, deadpan. "What's up?"

"Nothing," I sighed, a little embarrassed by the fact that I had been spacing out. "I just have a lot on my mind right now, I guess."

Well, not a lot, really. Just one specific thing that kept breaking off into a hundred different tangents.

I had woken up that morning to find Jamie just about completely dressed. It was strange because she usually liked to sleep in, and she was putting her shoes on as she sat on her side of the bed. For a moment, I thought she was about to sneak off, but she had turned to me and smiled when she had heard me stir.

"Good morning," Jamie had greeted softly, brushing off a few curls that had fallen across my forehead. "I didn't want to wake you up yet until I absolutely had to."

"You have somewhere else to be this morning?" I had smiled back while I stretched out my limbs, glad that last night hadn't scared her away.

"Yeah," Jamie had replied. "I have to pick up my dress and make sure it's all good for tomorrow. Plus, a bunch of other little errands before the wedding rehearsal—but I'll see you later tonight at the dinner, right?"

She had turned towards me again and waited for my response, kissing me lightly on the lips when I had nodded as I sat up. Jamie had given me another kiss before she left, and I had lain back down on my pillow when I heard the door close behind her.

For some reason, I had begun to grow uneasy, although I couldn't quite put my finger on why I felt that way. Jamie seemed fine. I mean, she didn't seem anxious or upset about last night. She was the same way with me that she had been these past two months, actually.

And yet I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right, and that feeling had been nagging at me ever since. It had constantly distracted me all day, even now that I was supposed to be helping Lucy out.

"Like what?" Lucy prodded, managing to pull back my attention before it wandered off again.

She brought her hands down to her sides and walked towards me, prompting me to stand and move away as she got closer. I wasn't really in the mood to be pried at the moment.

"It's nothing!" I said, frowning when Lucy narrowed her blue eyes and tried to peer into my face. "Look, I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

When my friend merely continued to study my features, I decided to bring the subject back to the reason I was there in the first place.

"This one." I told her, touching the dress she held in her right hand. Both of them would look perfect on her actually, having been handpicked by Lucy's personal stylist as part of her new wardrobe, and it was really just about making sure that Lucy would neither be overdressed nor underdressed tonight.

There was a short pause before Lucy glanced at the dress I had picked and considered it again.

"Okay," she finally said, laying the dress down on her bed. Then she moved to return the other one and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, how are things between you and Jamie?" Lucy suddenly called out from her closet, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. I should have known she wouldn't just let the matter drop.

"Fine." I answered simply. "Are we all good with the dress?"

"Pretty much," Lucy replied, coming out and heading towards her dresser. She opened a drawer and started casually rummaging through it. "I just need you to help me pick out the earrings to go with it. Wow, two months have got to be some kind of a record for you!"