A Tale Divided: Part 2 - A Matter of Time
Emma drifted awake, feeling drowsy and sluggish as the remnants of a chaotic dream left her. It took her a few moments to place where she was, and that was when she found Jenny peacefully asleep beside her, both of them having shifted from their respective sides of the bed to the middle at some point in the night. She rolled onto her side and rested her head on her arm as she watched Jenny sleep. She looked beautiful, and Emma found herself wanting to reach over and brush her fingers along the smooth skin of her bare shoulder. She felt heat travel up her neck at the thought, and tucked her hand by her chest to make sure it obeyed.
It was early, of that she was sure. The mere sound of birds filtering in from outside told her so. She looked back at Jenny for a few more minutes before mustering up the courage she needed. With one last deep breath for confidence, she silently shifted until she could rest her head on Jenny’s shoulder, and curl a hand in a loose fist on her stomach. When she felt Jenny stir slightly, she quickly closed her eyes and prayed that Jenny couldn’t feel how fast her heart was beating.
With her eyes closed, she felt the hesitancy in Jenny’s movements, and her own nerves returned. What if Jenny awoke and realized that this wasn’t what she wanted? What if all of this ended up being a dream, one that was about to shatter into a million pieces? She shouldn’t have moved closer, Emma decided, she should have stayed where she was until it was a normal hour to say a polite goodbye and go home. She forced her eyes to stay shut as the seconds stretched on like hours in her mind. Her breath caught when Jenny stopped stirring and made a happy, sleepy little sound. A hand came up to rest on her wrist, and another hand ran down her back in a soothing caress, like Jenny had been waiting for this. Emma hid her smile, and as warmth enveloped her, slipped back into sleep. It hardly took getting used to, being in Jenny’s arms like this.
Her mind was quiet the next time she opened her eyes. She’d barely moved away from Jenny, but the sun had become a little more adamant about getting through the mostly closed blinds, and slivers of light now painted the floor and wall in a bright whitish-yellow. She took a breath and grudgingly moved away, rolling onto her back instead, as her arm prickled from being slept on for so long.
“No, stay,” Jenny urged sleepily beside her, and her arms reached out to find her, making Emma bite down a giggle. Emma reached up and gently tucked a lock of hair that had fallen across Jenny’s cheek back behind her ear. She then turned around to lay on her other side and tugged on Jenny’s hand to bring her closer, and her entire body awoke as Jenny leaned invitingly against her and wrapped an arm securely around her waist.
“This is a really big bed,” Emma found herself saying, now that she was facing a large portion of the empty mattress. Her lips curled into a silly grin when Jenny shuffled even closer, pressing against her, and made a happy little humming noise as she nuzzled Emma’s neck before placing a kiss behind her ear.
It felt like they’d done this for years, by the ease with which this came to them.
She stayed awake, far too alert to sleep any longer, and listened to Jenny’s quiet breaths. After a while, she carefully rolled onto her back again, and watched Jenny fit herself closer while still in the hold of sleep. The calmness in Jenny’s features was a rare sight, one that eased Emma’s mind and let her thoughts wander. The room was brighter now, and she appreciated the light so that she could see Jenny’s features clearly. She decided at that moment that she thoroughly enjoyed waking up in this room, with Jenny curled up beside her. She liked the way the sun moved across the smooth wooden floor, splashing slivers of light to wake them up slowly. She wondered what it must have been like when Jenny had first moved in, and took her time looking at the few posters and pictures she had up. Jenny hardly ever mentioned her life before Cologne, so in the quiet hours of the morning, Emma mused about the stories behind them, and what had made them special enough to make it onto the walls of her new room.
She smiled when Jenny’s eyes closed tighter for a moment as she shifted closer and nuzzled her shoulder for warmth. She liked how Jenny held onto her as she slept. It always made something in her stomach flutter. She couldn’t help but picture introducing Jenny to her family as someone other than her friend, but as the most wonderful, kind, stubborn person in the world. The thought made her smile into the quiet room. Reaching down with her free hand to ghost over Jenny’s, she imagined taking her hand when they weren’t alone, even in the middle of a busy school day, just because she felt like it. It seemed nice, the scene that played in her mind just then.
If she was being honest, it wasn’t that long ago that she’d doubted herself, and whether any part of what she felt was true for Jenny as well. The memory brought a bitter taste to her mouth, reminding her how she’d hoped to herself that her own feelings hadn’t been true. It would have been easier, she’d told herself at the time, if her feelings for Jenny had only been a phase, some part of adolescence she needed to get out of her system before carrying on with her life.
It hadn’t taken more than a glance from Jenny to see how faulty that line of thought was. She smiled now, looking at that same wonderful girl curled against her, trusting her completely as she slept. It made her wonder how she’d tell her parents about the two of them, how they’d react, and if she was really, absolutely sure about it all. As Jenny’s knee moved on top of her leg under the blanket, she sucked in her bottom lip and the flutter in her stomach made it clear to her that she’d been sure for weeks now. It was amazing how many of the impossible decisions she was faced with were answered by one of Jenny’s simple, quiet gestures.
She heard Jenny take a breath, and watched her try to drag sleep from her eyes with a pass of her hand. Jenny pressed closer and pushed her hand across Emma’s stomach until it could reach her arm again. There, it curled across the warm skin and held on lightly as her breathing calmed, pulling her back toward sleep. Emma smiled lazily at the motion, loving each new thing she learned about her. After a few moments of quiet had passed them, she trailed her fingertips along the length of Jenny’s arm, watching goose bumps form in their wake. She moved her touch higher, feeling the smooth, warm skin of Jenny’s cheek and neck. When she pulled her hand back, Jenny’s eyes fluttered open, and they were bluer than Emma had ever seen them. They quickly closed again, and the smile on Jenny’s lips was contagious.
It had been a smile of relief, like Jenny had confirmed that the night before hadn’t only been a dream. As Emma resumed her soft touches, Jenny hid her grin in the pillow and pressed herself closer for warmth.
“Good morning,” Emma said softly as Jenny’s long hair tickled her arm.
“Morning,” she replied with a smile still on her face, and Emma quickly added that slightly raspy morning voice to the list of things she was falling in love with.
Time slipped by unnoticed as she drew invisible lines on Jenny’s skin, watching her shy, encouraging smiles and quick intakes of breath. Her movements stilled when a low rumbling growl emanated from Jenny’s stomach, and she did her best to hold back laughter. “Are you hungry?” she whispered with amusement in her eyes as she rested on her elbow and leaned her head against her hand.
“I hope that’s all that is,” Jenny replied sheepishly as she looked down at her stomach. She laced her fingers with Emma’s and asked, “And you?” before rolling onto her stomach and resting her chin on the backs of her hands. “Would you like something to eat?” she offered before looking up to find Emma’s dreamy gaze directed at her.
Emma shrugged and nodded, resting her head on the pillow again.
“Bring in the next two trays, quickly, and set those in the kitchen, we don’t have time for mistakes,” a voice filtered in through the window from the driveway, breaking their blissful escape from reality. Carts rolled noisily up the driveway as a few more people gave out orders, and then the sounds of tables being set up and pushed together drifted up from downstairs.
Jenny sighed as she rolled closer to Emma to hide from the world. Her words came out muffled and incoherent against Emma’s neck, which elicited tingles to Emma’s entire body. Emma brushed the long, dark hair away from Jenny’s face to get her attention. “I forgot about Stephan’s stupid bank luncheon,” Jenny said again with a pout on her face.
“He’s entertaining a lot,” Emma noted just to be saying something as their legs moved together under the blanket to find a more comfortable position.
“The bank’s trying to win over some big shot clients that are here for a week,” she explained as she played with the fabric of Emma’s shirt. “They’re trying to show them a personal touch in the cold, heartless world of banking,” she added as her fingers ghosted along Emma’s collarbone, causing her breath to hitch audibly. She cleared her throat and forced herself to sit up in bed. “I’m…” she began, but the rest of the words melted on her tongue when she looked back at Emma’s lips.
“You’re…” Emma supplied to help her out. She watched Jenny’s gaze flicker up to catch her eyes for a moment before slipping down again, which made her lips curl upwards in a small, victorious grin.
“Uh…m,” she stuttered before clearing her throat, something Emma realized was an adorable nervous habit. “Going. I’m going to get us some food,” she announced as she looked down at the sheet to keep from staring at Emma again. She rose from the bed and pushed a hand through her hair to make herself look far more composed than she felt. At the doorway, she turned back to the bed. A shy smile laced Emma’s face, so she flashed one back, before nearly walking into the door frame on her way out.
Jenny mumbled curses under her breath as she made her way down the hall, since the feeling of complete stupidity was new to her in relationships. No one had ever made her so clumsy and tongue-tied in the past. Before the cycle of self-deprecation could continue, an audible string of curses floated out of Ben’s room, bringing her to a stop at his partially open doorway. He stood in front of his floor-length mirror, wearing black dress pants and a stiff, button-down shirt he was currently fumbling with.
“Hey,” she said to him from the doorway.
“This is one of those moments where you should feel supremely lucky not to be a member of this family,” he told her as his fidgety fingers tried to coax a small blue button into the slit on the other side of the shirt.
“You’re going to the luncheon?” she asked unnecessarily as she ventured into his room to help keep him from doing the superman and sending six buttons flying in all directions in his room from his bubbling frustration.
“No, I dress like this for fun all the time,” he replied sarcastically with an eye-roll of disdain as she finished buttoning the shirt for him. “Benjamin, it is your duty as my son to be at this luncheon. We are a family, and must show that to these associates,” he quoted his father in a mocking voice before snorting sullenly. “My duty as his son. Give me a break. The man only remembers we’re related when his bosses demand it.” Jenny looked up at him carefully with a gentle, understanding smile, and he quickly came back out of his head. “You know, if you want, I can get him to invite you to this thing,” he suggested with mischief in his voice as he wiggled his eyebrows.
Jenny threw a lopsided grin his way. “Don’t you dare,” she warned, before trailing back to the doorway. “You owe me for Thursday, anyway.”
“Fine,” he agreed, “but this makes us even.”
“At least until the next time you have to sneak out on him to meet your secret girlfriend,” Jenny noted, elongating the last few words in a playfully obnoxious voice.
Ben stuck his tongue out at her and turned back to the mirror. He audibly cleared his throat once Jenny continued down the hallway and quietly whispered, “She’s worth it,” to his reflection.
As Jenny fit each item onto the breakfast tray, her gaze bounced to the staircase and back, half expecting to see Emma rush down the stairs at any moment, realizing her mistake of spending the night together again. She reached for the sandwiches as her thoughts drifted to the images she’d captured of the girl in her bed, of reaching for her throughout the night just to make sure she was still there, and waking up to find her snuggled close. With one last glace at the empty staircase, she picked up the tray and carefully made her way around the catering company’s supply boxes. She watched the hot tea swirl inside the two mugs as she climbed up the stairs. Her nerves returned with each step she took, making her wonder if perhaps she’d missed Emma sneaking out, and that in fact, in eight steady steps she’d find her bedroom empty. She tightened her grip on the tray and exhaled shakily before gently pushing the door open, ready to face the truth.
Emma lay quietly in the middle of the bed where she’d left her, only she’d moved a little further to curl into Jenny’s pillow. Jenny wondered silently if it was because she’d missed her scent, though she’d never dream about saying it out loud. It was enough when Emma looked up at her and smiled lazily. Jenny set the tray down at the foot of bed so as not to drop it, and stood back up as she placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head a little to the left.
“What happened to ‘this is my side of the bed?’” she teased as she took in the sight of Emma resting so comfortably between her sheets.
Emma blushed and smiled as she sat up. She politely accepted the cup of tea from Jenny with a quiet “Thank you,” and tried not to think about how her insides tingled as their hands touched, because pouring hot tea on herself wouldn’t have been wise.
“I…I didn’t know if you like sugar in your tea, so I brought some in case,” Jenny mumbled nervously. She barely noticed how hot the mug in her hand was getting as she watched Emma spoon little hills of sugar into her mug.
They ate quietly, with smiles pulling at their lips whenever their gazes met, while the house roared to life with caterers preparing an artificial show of personal touch downstairs. Jenny felt Emma’s eyes on her as she took another bite of her breakfast. Feeling brave, she met her gaze and held it. Emma looked stunning, still slightly disheveled from sleep like she was. Before she knew it, she was staring back at Emma’s lips, and they were smiling at her.
Emma giggled sweetly as she reached over and brushed crumbs off the side of Jenny’s lips. A wave of heat passed through Jenny at that sound, and she felt her heart sing.
“I’m happy you stayed,” Jenny said after a moment. She quickly took a sip of her tea and accidentally burned her tongue on the hot liquid, but did her best to play it cool.
“Me too,” Emma replied. She reached forward and rested her hand on Jenny’s, and watched how Jenny’s fingers separated so that hers would fit between them. She smiled to herself at how easy all of this seemed when there wasn’t anyone else to worry about. They fell quiet again as they finished their breakfast. Emma looked around the room, noting how it flooded with light in the mornings, making it warm and welcoming. As her gaze moved back to Jenny’s, she caught her dream-like smile. “What time is it, anyway?” she asked at the tail-end of a yawn as she trailed sleep away from her eyes. She scanned the room for a clock on one of the walls, but came up empty.
“I don’t know,” Jenny answered as she resumed playing with Emma’s fingers. “There wasn’t a clock in here when I moved in, and I haven’t gotten one yet,” she explained with a shy little shrug. In order to check the time, she’d have to move away from Emma, and she wasn’t ready for that just yet. “I-I can go check,” she added despite herself, and looked down when Emma’s fingers tightened around her own.
“No, don’t,” Emma urged quickly. “I don’t want to let go yet,” she added, almost too quietly for Jenny to hear. “But we should get you one,” she continued a little louder.
“Does that mean you’re coming with me to pick one out?” she wondered aloud as she turned Emma’s hand over to trace lines on her open palm.
Emma chuckled and looked down at the bed sheet between them. “Sure,” she replied sweetly as she met Jenny’s eyes again. “It’s a date.”
Jenny felt warmth climb to her face as her heart tightened delightfully. She watched Emma’s smile for a moment, before pushing the tray to the center of the bed with her free hand, clearing room for her to move closer. She moved slowly, easing into Emma’s personal space. Her breath caught when Emma’s hand landed on her thigh, inviting her closer. She couldn’t help but grin as she leaned through the final whisper of distance. Just as her eyes started to close in anticipation of a kiss, a familiar melody began to play in the otherwise quiet room.
“That’s your phone,” she breathed with her lips mere millimeters from Emma’s.
“It’s okay,” Emma insisted as she waited impatiently for the ring to end. Before she could speak again, the melody started a second time. She sighed softly, and the gentle wave of sweet air tingled on Jenny’s lips. She looked apologetic as Jenny reached for her bag so she could fish out the small phone. “Hello?” she spoke quietly after reading her home phone number on the screen. She watched as Jenny rose from the bed and looked around her room for something to do. “I’m fine, Papa,” she assured him with the slightest hint of impatience. “Yeah, she’s…” Emma trailed off as she lifted her gaze to Jenny’s while her father continued talking. “Uhm,” was all she could think to reply at his suggestion, “I can ask.” Jenny glanced at her with piqued interest, but stayed quiet. Emma rolled her eyes and smiled. “There’s always a ton of food,” she said to her father after a moment. “Okay, okay, tell Mama I promise to ask.” With another tight smile, she added, “I’ll do my best,” before saying her goodbyes and hanging up.
“They want you home?” Jenny asked before Emma could say the words herself, and felt defeat weigh down her shoulders.
Emma nodded. Her eyes were soft as she reached a hand forward for Jenny to take, and Jenny accepted it as she sat back down. “They want you to come with me,” she said through a hopeful smile as she tried to keep her voice steady with Jenny’s hand resting in hers again. “They’d love to have you over for lunch,” she added, per her mother’s request.
Jenny’s eyes blinked big in surprise. “Oh,” she answered dumbly, before lowering her gaze to the sheet between them in hesitation. “Uhm, that’s…that’s really kind of them.”
The almost-grin curling one side of Emma’s lips was one of hidden amusement, as she knew this was a discussion her parents almost always won, whether or not they were in the room to fight for it. “Unless you want to stay for the bank luncheon, of course,” she added cheekily as Jenny seemed to search for words.
Jenny raised her gaze back to Emma’s and rolled her eyes, and then beamed as Emma giggled sweetly. She looked down to see Emma’s touch trail up to her wrist and tickle her skin. The tingly touch brought back her unwelcome nerves. “I’m just…” she trailed off, wishing she didn’t sound so stupid with broken sentences spoken in such a hesitant voice. “I’m not so good with parents,” she admitted quietly as old ghosts returned.
“I want you to come, if you want to,” Emma replied softly as she watched Jenny pick at the sheet nervously. She leaned forward and pressed an innocent kiss to Jenny’s cheek, before biting her lip and leaning back enough to look at her.
Jenny met her gaze with questions in her eyes, like she was looking for something only Emma could solve. Emma smiled reassuringly and reached up to trace her jawline, finding the spot that always seemed to make a deep, shy smile come out of hiding.
“It’s just lunch,” she whispered, and before she could pull her hand away, Jenny reached up and held it in place so that the touch wouldn’t end. “And there’s ice cream,” Emma thought to add with big, child-like eyes and a goofy grin.
Jenny laughed despite her bumbling mood. “Ice cream?” she asked with a hint of mischief in her voice. Emma grinned as butterflies returned to her stomach, now that Jenny was working her way out of her head. “Do you think I’m that easy?”
“I hope so,” Emma replied simply, unprepared for those blue eyes to grow wide to pair with an incredulous gasp, which led the air in her lungs to kick out in one go as Jenny pushed her shoulders down on the pillows and tickled her sides. Emma erupted in laughter as she held onto the collar of Jenny’s shirt and writhed beneath her.
When Jenny slowed her movements, her answer came in Emma’s shining eyes. “Okay,” she agreed.
Emma looked up joyfully for a long moment before answering. “Okay.” A smile curled her lips as she surged up and kissed Jenny on the lips, their first kiss of that day, and felt Jenny smile in return.
.
Emma awoke slowly, letting her eyelids flutter open to ease her way into the morning light that had crawled across the wooden floor of Jenny’s bedroom, and up the bed until it warmed her skin and roused her. She filled her lungs with air and released it again as she rolled onto her back and felt a delightfully familiar soreness in her muscles. She looked up at the ceiling of the quiet room for a moment, before pushing up on her elbows and scanning the space, not finding Jenny anywhere. What she did find was a small piece of white paper resting atop Jenny’s pillow, and she snatched it up quickly.
Penned on the note was one simple line. ‘Don’t move.’ She couldn’t help but smirk at the familiar handwriting as she sat up in bed, pulling the sheet up with her and tucking it under her arms so it would stay. She did Jenny the honor of following the rule for a good few moments, before she leaned over the edge of the bed in search of her clothes that had been quickly and efficiently discarded there the night before, but the smooth floor beside her was empty. She slumped back down against the pillows when she found the clothes in question resting in a pile on the sofa clear on the other side of the room, quite out of her reach. Crossing her arms, she racked her brain for a loophole Jenny wouldn’t have thought of, as the smooth, warm sheet covered her in the large bed.
When the perfect idea came to her, it pulled her lips up in a wicked little grin. She reached under her pillow, since there was usually a forgotten shirt hidden there, but her expression fell when all her fingers found was another small piece of paper. She couldn’t help but grin as she rolled her eyes after reading the second note, as the slanted handwriting somehow managed to capture exactly the way Jenny would have spoken the next command: ‘I mean it.’
“Well played,” she whispered to the quiet room as she grinned at Jenny’s thought-out sneakiness. She pulled the sheet a little higher across her chest and made herself comfortable.
Jenny bit down on her lip as she steadied the heavy tray in her arms and pushed against her bedroom door to open it. She grinned when she saw that Emma was still covered in only a thin sheet on her bed. Well aware of Emma’s gaze roaming her body, she took slow steps to the bed and set the tray down, amazed that she hadn’t spilled anything. She pushed the tray to the foot of the bed and took a seat in front of it, blocking Emma’s way, and then rushed forward for a kiss.
“Good morning, my love,” she said a little hoarsely against Emma’s lips.
“Morning,” Emma replied sweetly as she pulled the sheet up a little higher and kissed her again.
Jenny leaned back again, and reached behind her for a piece of the breakfast she’d prepared for the two of them. Making sure Emma was watching, she placed the soft, sweet pastry in her mouth. When she saw Emma’s eyebrows quirk up, she pursed her lips in a tight grin. Leaning back on her hands, she let words come slowly from her mouth. “Did you want some too?” she asked innocently, before licking crumbs from her bottom lip. When Emma nodded slowly, she tilted her head to the side and offered, “So come get it,” in a voice thick with suggestion.
Emma smirked and leaned forward with one hand keeping the sheet pressed against her chest. She stopped millimeters from Jenny’s lips, and held her smile back as she heard Jenny’s breath hitch. Those clear blue eyes filled with lust as she held her position, making something low in her stomach flutter at being able to cause such a reaction. She yelped into laughter when Jenny’s arms wrapped around her and pulled her forward, until she was pinning Jenny to the mattress with her weight, and somewhere in the distance, she heard ceramic mugs clink softly from the movement. Her eyes danced with mirth as she reached over and took a bite of the pastry from the tray.
“Is it good?” Jenny asked as her hands stroked down Emma’s naked back before she touched a kiss to her jawline. Emma hummed her answer into their pressed lips as a lock of blonde hair fell into her face, tickling Jenny’s nose. Jenny giggled sweetly as she tucked it behind her ear again. She passed the backs of her fingers down Emma’s cheek, feeling soft, warm skin press into her hand to deepen the contact, until Emma’s lips were leaving a warm kiss on her knuckles. Her dreamy expression fell when Emma started moving off of her, and she quickly tightened her grip, leaving Emma to fall on top of her again. Emma laughed as she pretended to fight the hold, and Jenny pressed a kiss to her cheek as she soaked in the sound. “You’re not going anywhere,” she whispered warmly.
Emma stayed quiet as she held Jenny’s gaze, feeling how much she’d missed waking up beside her the last few days. Before she could put it into words, she saw Jenny push the breakfast tray to the other side of the bed. “I thought you were hungry,” she said, looking quite quizzical at the girl beneath her.
A wicked glint flashed into Jenny’s blue eyes. “I am,” she answered simply before turning them over in one smooth motion.
Emma yelped and clung onto Jenny until she was on her back, and Jenny was smiling down at her, and she couldn’t tell whether she was breathing or not, but she didn’t particularly care. She threaded her fingers into Jenny’s hair as they kissed, and giggled a little when Jenny’s kisses moved down to the top of her chest, and that soft, dark hair tickled her skin. She bit her lip as the sheet covering her was pushed down, and warm little kisses were left in its wake, making her stomach tingle delightfully. As the kisses dipped lower, Emma’s eyes fluttered shut, and her lips parted in a gasp.
Emma took a sip of her lukewarm tea before reaching for one of the pastries on the plate beside her. As she lifted one up, Jenny took it from her and bit into it, before offering Emma an impish little smile. Emma felt a puff of surprised laughter spring from her lips as Jenny nestled against her again. “The service here could use some work,” she noted as she took the sweet bread back and tore off a part of it.
“Yes, it could,” Jenny offered in reply, before pressing three kisses to her shoulder.
Emma poked her side and giggled. Her smile turned into a frown when she looked up at the clock across from the bed. “Jenny,” she said with her gaze still on the clock, waiting for something to happen.
“Mmh,” she replied dreamily, and Emma could hear the lazy smile in her voice.
“It’s 8:37,” she said. Jenny looked at her lovingly. Emma shook her head and pointed up to the clock above the desk. “Your clock died,” she explained, knowing that it was so far past 8:37 that the idea was laughable.
Jenny looked up at the clock and smiled at its unmoving minute and hour hands. “Yeah, it was 8:37 when I left to get breakfast, too,” she replied, and closed her eyes when Emma laughed quietly beside her. It was the same laugh she’d heard when the two of them were standing at an empty aisle of a store once, trying to pick out a clock for her room. They must have spent hours at that store as the workers gave them strange looks, but still they debated nearly every option the store had to offer. Emma had stressed that this was an important decision, and picking the right clock would make Cologne that much more enjoyable for Jenny, so whatever they’d end up with had to be perfect. Jenny had bitten her lip to keep from confessing to Emma in the middle of that store that she was perfect.
“Remember how difficult you were about where to hang it?” Emma asked as she ran her hand down Jenny’s thigh, making her jump out of her reverie. “My arms were sore for days afterwards from holding it up against the wall for you to decide. And I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to stand on that stool we were using.”
Jenny giggled but otherwise kept quiet as blush rose up to her face. “I had my reasons,” she answered vaguely.
“Yeah?” Emma wondered aloud.
“Yeah,” she replied, hoping to keep that story to herself. She lifted the pastry to take another bite, when Emma took it away and looked at her expectantly. Her gaze fell to the sheet tangled between their legs then. If she was going to confess her reason, she couldn’t do it with her eyes on Emma’s. “When you h-held it up,” she began gingerly, before stopping to lick her lips and clear her throat. “Your shirt, it uhm…it rode up a little,” she finished in a near whisper and shrugged guiltily, unable to meet Emma’s gaze. When Emma didn’t say anything, she took a breath and turned to look at her.
Emma’s eyes were still smiling, but her mouth hung open in complete disbelief. Jenny couldn’t help but grin, before leaning forward and licking into her mouth, because why else was it hanging open? Emma moaned against her lips like she had something to say, but after a moment, she wrapped her hand around Jenny’s neck and pulled her closer, until they both broke away for air.
She laughed quietly as they took heavy breaths. She tucked Jenny’s hair behind her ear and licked her lips. “We should get it a new battery,” she decided, and giggled again when Jenny flashed her a brilliant smile.
“It’s a date,” Jenny agreed, before cancelling out the distance between them again. Their kisses were slower, and she felt her breath catch each time Emma’s teeth grazed over her lip, which only made Emma want to do it again. “Promise me something?” she asked, and the words came out breathy and hoarse as she took in Emma’s dark, wanting eyes.
“The world,” Emma replied dreamily, in the voice that still filled Jenny’s heart.
“What?” she asked as Emma’s thumb passed down her neck.
“I promise you the world,” Emma said softly, before kissing the tip of Jenny’s nose to see her smile.
“I don’t need the world,” Jenny replied warmly, watching the brown in Emma’s eyes dance among the green.
“Then what would you like?” she asked hardly above a whisper.
Jenny’s smile was slow and deep. She kept her gaze locked with Emma’s for as long as she could, before catching Emma’s lips in a kiss. She had words on her tongue, but they soon melted onto Emma’s without her needing to speak them at all. Emma’s hands locked behind her neck, pressing their bodies together, and she sighed into her mouth in return. She pulled away abruptly after a minute, but leaned in again to press one last innocent kiss to Emma’s lips to get the pout off of her face.
“We,” she said, before remembering that she should probably breathe for a moment before talking. Emma took that opportunity to leave a trail of kisses on her jawline. “We…I promised your parents we’d be there for lunch,” she said, not particularly wanting to act on that idea at that exact moment.
Emma pulled her close again and kissed her soundly. “It’s only 8:37,” she reasoned smoothly, motioning to the clock on the wall for confirmation. “We have plenty of time.”
Jenny couldn’t help but chuckle into her mouth, unprepared for when Emma turned them over and pinned her to the bed. Her eyes flew open when Emma’s leg pushed between her own, and Emma easily swallowed the sound that rolled gracelessly from the back of her throat at the contact. Emma reached for the sheet rumpled on their legs and threw it over them, letting the sun crawl further across the smooth wooden floor, until it reached a certain pile of clothes on the sofa across the room.
To be continued…