Scratch 3/3 - Chapter Three (Part Three)
Scratch - Chapter One
Scratch - Chapter Two (Part One)
Scratch - Chapter Two (Part Two)
Scratch - Chapter Three (Part One)
Scratch - Chapter Three (Part Two)
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Erica slipped her hand into Renée’s and allowed herself to quietly be led to whatever destination the brunette had planned. Her eyebrows had risen up in a mixture of confusion and curiosity when Renée handed money over for two tickets into Denver Zoo.
Renée had led her around the zoo, telling her stories of her experiences with the animals in Africa as she snapped away with her camera, getting Erica into a few of the shots and even managing to convince an old couple to take their picture together in front of the Giraffe pen.
“Thank you,” the brunette smiled gratefully at the couple as they handed back her camera, “You want to go grab something to eat before we continue looking around,” instead of replying the blonde merely studied her suspiciously, making Renée shuffle uncomfortably on her feet, “What?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a great time, I really am, but...” she let out a shaky breath and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear.
“You don’t really get why I brought you to the zoo?”
Erica nodded, “Well, yeah...”
Renée smiled shyly and rolled her eyes, “Okay this is going to sound really lame and oh so cheesy, so you have to promise not to laugh at me.”
Erica’s hands moved to the brunette’s waist and she pulled their bodies closer, “I promise not to laugh, so tell me, why the zoo?”
Renée smiled, “When we were at my studio and I showed you my photographs of my African trip you said that you’ve always wanted to go. So...” she held her arms out as if to gesture their surrounding, “I know it’s not quite an African safari, but it’s as close as I could come to recreating my trip for you,” she watched Erica’s mouth turn up into a smile and shook her head, “It’s lame right?”
The blonde silenced her with a kiss, “No, it’s not lame at all. It’s thoughtful and amazing.”
Renée smirked, “Well what can I say, I like to impress blondie.”
“You always have to ruin a moment by being an ass,” Erica nudged her playfully and smiled.
“Yeah well this is only a temporary solution, so I get to be a little bit of an ass. When we go to Africa together, then I’ll be nice.”
“Go to Africa, together?”
Renée shrugged and suddenly looked a little unsure, “Well I was thinking you know, that maybe sometime in the future, I could take you back to Africa, and we could do the whole safari, nature reserve thing together... if you want to of course?”
Erica smiled brightly, “Of course I want to,” she pulled Renée in for a deep kiss, “I can’t believe you even thought about it, and bringing me here... it’s amazing. You’re amazing.”
Renée blushed and flicked her eyes down to the ground, “Thanks.”
The blonde pressed her fingers under the brunette’s chin and gently tilted her head up so that their eyes can meet, “No, thank you.”
Renée’s nervous smile was instantly replaced with her normally larger grin at hearing the blonde’s sincere words.
They headed to one of the zoo’s smaller diner’s and grabbed some lunch; enjoying mindless chitchat and wondrous planning of their trip together. They tossed their leftovers in the trash and headed out of the diner, preparing themselves to finish their exploration of the zoo.
“Renée Parker is that you?”
Erica stopped mid-step to see a beautiful red-head smiling happily at Renée, a slight look of surprise mixed in with her delight. Renée on the other hand looked mildly uncomfortable as she tugged on the blonde’s hand and stopped closer to the woman.
“Hey Mel,” Renée offered her a smile, “Long time no see, how are you?”
The red-head’s eyes never glanced over at Erica once as she continued beaming happily at the brunette, “Oh you know me, as long as the suns shining I’m good. How are you?”
“Good thanks” Renée felt Erica squeeze her hand and turned her attention to the blonde, giving her a smile before looking back at the red-head, “Great actually. Mel this is Erica, my girlfriend. Baby this is Mel, we used-”
“To be a couple,” Erica lifted her gaze to meet the red-head and thought her natural urge to glare at her, instead offering a small smile.
“Nice to meet you.”
“You to,” The red-head glanced over her shoulder, looking at a tall dark-headed man and a small red-headed little girl, “Anyway I’d better get back, I just thought I’d come over and say hello,” she flashed a small smile at Erica before locking eyes with Renée again, “It was great to see you Renée, you should call me sometime, we can get together for coffee and catch up.”
“That’d be great,” Renée nodded her head and smiled, watching the re-head walk over the man and child before pulling on Erica’s hand and leading her back in the direction they were headed before they were interrupted, “I’m sorry about that.”
Erica glanced over at the brunette and shrugged, “It’s okay, you didn’t know your ex was going to be around,” the blonde studied the change in Renée’s body language and turned the brunette to face her, “Do you want to talk about it? Because clearly seeing her has thrown you a little.”
Renée look a deep breath and indicated to the bench, sitting down on it and turning to face Erica, “Remember back to that first night when I met you in the bar and you told me a little about why you’d left Seattle?” Erica nodded, “Well I told you back then that it always hurts more the first time someone lets you down, especially if they turn out to be ‘straight,’” the brunette rolled her eyes and punctuated the word with air quotes, “Hurts even more if that’s true and they’re supposed to be your best friend, right?”
Erica’s mind flashed back to her first night at Sky’s, where Renée used her impressive dart skills to get to know the blonde and tentatively asked about her reasons for leaving Seattle. She’d been vague with her answers that night and all that the brunette had replied with was “the best part is once you fall down you can pick yourself up again and this time you’ll be a little bit wiser.”
After that incident the only other time Renée had broached the subject again was on their first date, she’d pushed Erica to trust her with what had happened with Callie and had expressed a desire to be the blonde’s ‘person,’ to listen to all her thoughts and feelings on the situation and offer advice when needed. She’d shot Renée down and told her to mind her own business, the brunette’s words never really penetrating her mind... until now. She could hear the pleading tone in Renée’s voice as she desperately tried to explain to the blonde that she knew what she was going with, her words, “I definitely know what it’s like to be heartbroken by a woman you thought was your best friend,” were now suddenly all clear.
“Mel was your Callie,” Erica breathed the words out and let them linger between them as she tried to grasp the reality, “That’s why you pushed so hard to get me to open up to you, it wasn’t because you were being interfering, it was because you’d been through it.”
Renée shrugged sadly, “First loves are supposed to be great, and in some respects they are, but me and you, we got dealt faulty hands. I just wanted to explain to you that you weren’t alone in that feeling of complete betrayal and despair, that horrible ache of knowing someone you cared about, trusted, who was supposed to be your friend, supposed to care as much as you did, let you down.”
Erica scooted closer to Renée and pulled her hands into her lap, running her thumb over her smooth skin, “I’m sorry I was a bitch, I didn’t know, I didn’t think.”
“It’s okay blondie, how were you to know. We hadn’t really known each other that long and I do move forward a little fast sometimes. It was a bad move on both our parts.”
“So you and Mel, you were together for a long time?”
Renée nodded, “I already knew I was gay when I met her, like I said I was eighteen when I came out. Me and Mel met at college, she’d transferred here from Florida and for some strange reason we just clicked,” Erica nodded and smiled, “We became fast friends, there was that crazy sexual tension, and I obviously figured it out, I knew I was attracted to her. I geared myself up to tell her one night and before I could get the words out she’d kissed me, I guess I wasn’t the only one having those feelings.”
“What happened after that? Did you talk about it?”
Renée chuckled, “I think all we did for like a week was talk about it, and although she was a little scared, and I was terrified we’d lose our friendship, we both knew that they feelings we had for each other had to be explored. We dated for about six months before things got bad. I thought everything was great, I was head-over heels in love and although at times she seemed a little freaked out, I was pretty convinced she had feelings for me.”
Erica watched as Renée let out a chuckle and shook her head, “She broke up with you?”
Renée shook her head, “I wish. She used to leave a key to her apartment underneath her doormat, so that I could let myself in. I guess she wasn’t expecting me that day, because when I let myself in I was greeted with the haunting image of her and our good friend Matt going at it like rabbits.”
The blonde frowned, “I’m so sorry, that must have been horrible. What did you do?”
“I was kind of frozen I guess, I felt stuck, I just stood there looking at them and when I turned to leave her damn shitty floor squeaked and they both saw me,” Renée turned her face towards the sun and let out a breath, “Before I had the chance to make a run for it, they’d grabbed some clothes and Mel was apologising and leading me over to the couch. I sat in shock and had to listen to them explain how they’d been having an affair behind my back for the last three months.”
“What fuckers! And the bitch had the courage to come over today and say hello!”
Renée grinned a little at the blonde’s outburst, “They’re married now, and if you can believe it I even got invited to both the wedding and their baby shower,” Erica snorted in disgust, “It hurt like a bitch because even before all of the relationship stuff we were friends, and she didn’t even have the decency to tell me how she was feeling.”
“I know how that feels.”
“I know,” Renée held the blonde’s blue eyes, “That’s why I tried to get you to open up to me. I thought I had to deal with my pain on my own, but I didn’t. I had a great set of friends who sat for hours listening to what I had to say and giving me advice and by the end of it I really did feel like I was strong enough to pick myself up and try again, but this time I’d be a little wiser.”
Erica lifted the brunette’s hand to her lips and kissed across her knuckles, “You were trying to help me stand back up and I wouldn’t let you.”
“Maybe you weren’t ready then, I should have let you decide when and where.”
Erica shook her head, “I think just being with you, and this today, hearing your past, has helped. I think I’m back to standing on my feet again.”
Renée beamed a smile at her, “Think you’ve finally let go of all the hurt of the past?”
The blonde smiled, “Yeah, I think I have let it go now. It was an experience I should be grateful for and I should keep hold of the good parts and learn from the bad.”
“Exactly blondie,” she leaned in and planted a kiss on the blonde’s lips, “Look at you all wise and all.”
Erica nudged her playfully, “Shut up,” they sat in silence for a few moment before the blonde spoke again, “Renée?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m ready to tell you about Callie.”
Renée lifted a hand to tuck a stray curl behind Erica ear before giving her a reassuring smile, “I’m all ears.”
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Erica sat waiting on Renée’s couch, kicking off her shoes and letting her feet breathe after their fun, but slightly tiring day at the zoo.
“Hey, no falling asleep blondie,” Erica opened her eyes and smiled as Renée passed her a glass of wine.
“I wasn’t sleeping, just closing my eyes,” she sipped at her wine, “You have the world’s comfiest couch.”
Renée settled onto the couch next to her, “When I first moved in here I only had a small amount of money saved up for furniture and I thought I’d go for a comfortable couch and a comfortable bed.”
Erica rolled her eyes, “Oh, what a surprise.”
Renée winked at her and took a final sip of her wine before she placed her glass down on the coffee table. She reached over and took the blonde’s glass, placing it next to her own before shuffling closer to her, “If you think this couch is the most comfortable thing in the world blondie, you should try my bed, I guarantee that once you’re in it you’ll never want to leave.”
Erica let out a low breath as Renée’s body moved closer to her own, “Why don’t we test that theory then.”
Renée wasted no time capturing the blonde’s lips with her own, their tongues lapping together in a hungry dance. Hands were roaming freely, testing and teasing with their gropes for response. Erica let out a gasp as the brunette’s soft lips made their way across her jaw and settle on the sweet spot below her ear; her magnificent tongue swirling against her skin as teeth grazed enough to make her body arch in anticipation.
Erica pushed at Renée’s shoulders, getting a look of confusion shot back at her, “You promised I could try out your bed remember?”
Renée jumped up from her position on the couch and grasped Erica’s hand in her own, giving her a smile before leading her down the hallway and into her room. Once they entered Renée dropped the blonde’s hand and turned to face her.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Erica moved closer, running her hands up the brunette’s arms and linking them around her neck, “I’m sure,” she watched Renée’s grey eyes glimmer in acknowledgement and closed the space between, returning to the brunette’s lips with sweet, tender kisses.
Renée’s hands ran along her back as their kiss intensified, dropping to the hem of her shirt and snaking under the material to scratch lightly on the skin of her lower back. Erica’s lips fell away from the brunette’s as her head lolled back; a moan escaping from her kiss bruised lips.
Renée’s lips returned to their earlier spot on her neck and continued their sweet torture of kisses, nips, and skilful tongue swirling. Erica took in a shaky breath as Renée’s hands climbed higher up her back, settling on her bra strap and releasing the clasp with ease.
Her hands tangled into Renée’s dark tresses, and tugged the woman back to her mouth, kissing her feverously as her own hands began the busy task of unbuttoning Renée’s shirt. The brunette pulled away from their kiss, panting lightly as she searched out Erica’s blue eyes. Her fingertips skimmed back down the smooth skin of the blonde’s back and grasped at the bottom of her shirt.
Erica lifted her hand to cup Renée’s cheek, running the pad of her thumb across the woman’s pouty bottom lip, reassuring her that it was okay for them to continue. As Renée guided the material slowly up her body she lifted her arms and closed her eyes as the material was pulled over her head and away from her flushed body.
Renée’s eyes instantly trailed a path from her face, down her neck, over her chest, and down to her stomach before returning to her eyes, “You’re beautiful.”
The red flush covering Erica’s skin intensified at the brunette’s words and she fought against the urge to drop her eyes to the floor in disbelief. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she reached up to her own shoulders and guided the dark material of her bra away from her breasts; enjoying the way Renée’s lust filled eyes dropped at once to take in the newly exposed skin.
Renée tentatively lifted her hand, allowing her fingertips to run across the blonde’s clavicle, down the valley between her breasts before tracing their way back up, her palm sliding over the blonde’s already puckered nipple.
Erica groaned as the brunette’s hands teased her breasts, her lips moving in to find hers again as she continued her introduction to pale flesh. When Renée’s lips glided down her neck and began a tortuous trail down her chest, Erica stepped away from the brunette’s embrace and confidently reached out to push Renée’s shirt away from her body; her eyes instantly greeted with the vision of the brunette’s naked breasts.
Renée caught Erica’s eye and smirked, “Like what you see blondie?”
The blonde licked her lips and nodded, “You bet,” she reached out and tugged Renée forward by the belt loops in her jeans. Her hands effortlessly worked the button and zipper and she forced the material down the brunette’s long legs.
Renée watched as Erica rocked back on her heels and let her blue eyes drink in the sight of her nearly naked body. Giving the blonde a playful wink, she grasped her panties and pulled them down her own legs, stepped out of them and threw them at Erica as she took a few steps back towards the bed.
She beckoned the blonde with her finger, her voice coated in a husky tone, “Strip and get over here blondie.”
Erica faltered for a minute as her eyes stayed glued on Renée’s naked form crawling onto the bed. Her fingers fumbled with the button to her own slacks and as she shimmied out of them a wave of nervousness ran through her body. Renée was experienced, she’d been gay and out for the majority of her life and that meant that any relationships she’d had previously would have been with beautiful woman. She on the other hand had thought herself straight until recently and only then did she date few men. Falling for Callie had seemed easy to begin with, she wanted her, she accepted it, it was really that simple. But wanting Callie and being with Callie had turned out to be two very different things. Even sex with Callie hadn’t gone the way her mind thought it would, they’d both fumbled and stumbled, unsure of what the other liked. It had been awkward the first few times.
But Renée was Renée, she wasn’t Callie and undoubtedly the things she’d learnt in her short term sexual relationship wouldn’t necessarily apply to the brunette currently waiting for her to join her on the bed.
“Erica? Baby?”
The blonde snapped out of her trance and looked up to find Renée’s eyes filled with concern. She held her hand up when she saw the brunette move to get up off of the bed, “No! Stay there, I was just thinking...” she bit her lip, “Fuck it, never mind,” she grabbed the sides of her own panties and guided them down her legs, moving towards the bed.
Renée instantly drew their lips together, kissing the blonde softly, “What were you just thinking?”
Erica frowned a little, “You’ve done this lots of times...” Renée quirked a brow, “Sex, with girls, and I haven’t. Just Callie and that hardly went smoothly.”
Renée offered her a smile and reached up to cradle the blonde’s face in her hands, “One piece of advice, I’m not Callie, so any fears you had then, let them go. This here, is me and you, and trust me, you’ll soon figure out what I like, so just don’t over think it.”
“No over thinking?”
Renée nodded, “No over thinking,” she watched as Erica’s gaze fell to her lips and carefully guided the blonde back down onto the bed, covering her lips with her own.
They both moaned as their heated skin brushed together for the first time, Renée’s leg settled perfectly between the blonde’s and she hissed at the wetness she felt against her thigh. She kissed Erica deeply, pulling back to lightly nip at her lip before consuming her with another toe-curling kiss.
Erica moaned against Renée’s lips as she felt the brunette’s hands flow over her body, her gentle fingertips marking every inch of her skin as they traced elegant patterns. Renée couldn’t stop herself from moving back to the blonde’s neck, immediately finding the sweet spot that drove Erica’s hips to rock against her thigh. Her teeth and tongue soothed over the blonde’s racing pulse point and sucked the skin into the warm craves of her mouth until she was sure she’d left behind a mark.
The blonde grasped out Renée’s name as the woman’s lips moved over her chest, a warm mouth and skilled tongue working against her breasts, and teasing her hardened nipples until she let a plea for more.
Renée felt her spine tingle at the blonde’s breathy request and danced her fingertips down the blonde’s stomach as her mouth returned to capture puffy lips. Her nails skimmed over soft curls before sliding into slick silk.
Erica’s hands grasped at the brunette’s back as two, long fingers entered her. She was overcome by her body’s sensations as Renée’s fingers worked away inside her, her mouth teasing her neck and her free hand working over her sensitive chest.
Renée felt the blonde’s nails dig into her back as her thumb brushed over her clit. Erica’s muscles began to clench around her fingers as the blonde allowed a litany of swear words to fall from her mouth.
Erica growled in frustration when she felt the brunette’s fingers leave her core, “What the fuck Renée?”
The brunette simply lifted her fingers to her mouth and murmured out her pleasure at tasting the blonde as she held Erica’s gaze. Knowing exactly where Renée way heading the blonde grasped her shoulders and pushed; desperately wanting her release.
Renée chuckled against her stomach, making sure to continue her path of kisses, stopping briefly to dip her tongue into the blonde’s belly button. Reaching her destination she eased the blonde’s legs over her shoulders and lowered her mouth to Erica glistening core.
Erica couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling back in her head as Renée’s mouth teased every inch of her. The brunette’s mouth was working away at her bundle of nerves while those two delicious fingers returned inside of her; their pace alternating to match the rhythm of the tongue working her into a frenzy.
Renée felt the blonde’s grasp on her hair tighten and immediately reached out to entwine her free hand with Erica’s; silently encouraging the blonde to let go. Erica cried out as her body reacted to the brunette’s touch, her back arched, her muscles clenched and suddenly she was undone; floating in a mixture of bright colours.
Erica opened her eyes, breathing deeply, to find Renée slowly kissing her way back up her body. Without thinking she grabbed the brunette’s face and guided their lips together; moaning against Renée’s mouth as she tasted herself on her tongue.
“Wow...”
Renée smiled down at her, “Yeah?”
Erica closed her eyes and bit at her bottom lip, remembering the way the brunette had made her feel, “Oh yeah, definitely wow.”
Renée dropped a kiss onto her lips before rolling to lie next to the blonde. Erica opened her eyes at the missing body contact and instantly positioned herself to hover over the brunette’s body. She smiled wickedly at her before claiming her lips, “My turn.”
Erica took her time, teasing her mouth and hands over the brunette’s body, listening and watching for any responses she could draw from Renée’s perfect mouth. She teased the brunette’s ear with her teeth, finding that it made Renée mutter the word “fuck,” like a prayer. Her blue eyes studied in fascination the way her fingers worked against Renée’s nipples; loving the way it drew a breathy whimper from the brunette every time she pinched the sensitive buds between her fingers.
She devoured Renée’s breasts with her mouth as her fingers succumbed with the need to reach their destination. She worked the brunette’s throbbing clit, circling it for a few moments before sliding her fingers into her entrance, thrusting a few times and repeating the process.
“Quit fucking teasing blondie,” Renée growled low in her throat and pulled the blonde closer against her body.
Erica took the brunette’s open invitation into her mouth and kissed her deeply as her fingers worked a rhythm inside her slick core. It didn’t take long for Renée’s kiss to turn sloppy, her mind buzzing with the pleasure the blonde was having over her body.
Erica nipped a pathway along the brunette’s jaw and settled on teasing the thunderous pulse in her neck as her fingers picked up the pace. Renée felt the blonde’s fingers curl, hitting that spot that drove her crazy; her body arched, shuddered and relaxed in turn.
Renée felt Erica move into the spot next to her, pulling the brunette closer against her body as their limbs tangled together. Their eyes met and they both smiled sleepily, breathing in and celebrating the post-coital state.
As Erica snuggled into Renée’s neck, and felt the brunette loving hold her safe against her body, she found herself amazed at how fast the loneliness she first felt when she arrived in Denver had seemingly disappeared. It had been hard, starting over from scratch. Learning to live her life again, to trust, to love, it had all been a challenge. But like Renée had said to her during their first meeting, you really do have to fall down in order to learn to pick yourself up and try even harder than before.
Life and love was like riding a bike, it was all about finding the perfect balance. She may have wobbled before, and even fallen off a few times, but all of that had led her to this point, and she had to admit as she breathed in Renée’s scent, she had become a little wiser and this time she was pretty sure she’d found out just how to keep her balance.
Scratch - Chapter Two (Part One)
Scratch - Chapter Two (Part Two)
Scratch - Chapter Three (Part One)
Scratch - Chapter Three (Part Two)
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Erica slipped her hand into Renée’s and allowed herself to quietly be led to whatever destination the brunette had planned. Her eyebrows had risen up in a mixture of confusion and curiosity when Renée handed money over for two tickets into Denver Zoo.
Renée had led her around the zoo, telling her stories of her experiences with the animals in Africa as she snapped away with her camera, getting Erica into a few of the shots and even managing to convince an old couple to take their picture together in front of the Giraffe pen.
“Thank you,” the brunette smiled gratefully at the couple as they handed back her camera, “You want to go grab something to eat before we continue looking around,” instead of replying the blonde merely studied her suspiciously, making Renée shuffle uncomfortably on her feet, “What?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m having a great time, I really am, but...” she let out a shaky breath and tucked a wayward curl behind her ear.
“You don’t really get why I brought you to the zoo?”
Erica nodded, “Well, yeah...”
Renée smiled shyly and rolled her eyes, “Okay this is going to sound really lame and oh so cheesy, so you have to promise not to laugh at me.”
Erica’s hands moved to the brunette’s waist and she pulled their bodies closer, “I promise not to laugh, so tell me, why the zoo?”
Renée smiled, “When we were at my studio and I showed you my photographs of my African trip you said that you’ve always wanted to go. So...” she held her arms out as if to gesture their surrounding, “I know it’s not quite an African safari, but it’s as close as I could come to recreating my trip for you,” she watched Erica’s mouth turn up into a smile and shook her head, “It’s lame right?”
The blonde silenced her with a kiss, “No, it’s not lame at all. It’s thoughtful and amazing.”
Renée smirked, “Well what can I say, I like to impress blondie.”
“You always have to ruin a moment by being an ass,” Erica nudged her playfully and smiled.
“Yeah well this is only a temporary solution, so I get to be a little bit of an ass. When we go to Africa together, then I’ll be nice.”
“Go to Africa, together?”
Renée shrugged and suddenly looked a little unsure, “Well I was thinking you know, that maybe sometime in the future, I could take you back to Africa, and we could do the whole safari, nature reserve thing together... if you want to of course?”
Erica smiled brightly, “Of course I want to,” she pulled Renée in for a deep kiss, “I can’t believe you even thought about it, and bringing me here... it’s amazing. You’re amazing.”
Renée blushed and flicked her eyes down to the ground, “Thanks.”
The blonde pressed her fingers under the brunette’s chin and gently tilted her head up so that their eyes can meet, “No, thank you.”
Renée’s nervous smile was instantly replaced with her normally larger grin at hearing the blonde’s sincere words.
They headed to one of the zoo’s smaller diner’s and grabbed some lunch; enjoying mindless chitchat and wondrous planning of their trip together. They tossed their leftovers in the trash and headed out of the diner, preparing themselves to finish their exploration of the zoo.
“Renée Parker is that you?”
Erica stopped mid-step to see a beautiful red-head smiling happily at Renée, a slight look of surprise mixed in with her delight. Renée on the other hand looked mildly uncomfortable as she tugged on the blonde’s hand and stopped closer to the woman.
“Hey Mel,” Renée offered her a smile, “Long time no see, how are you?”
The red-head’s eyes never glanced over at Erica once as she continued beaming happily at the brunette, “Oh you know me, as long as the suns shining I’m good. How are you?”
“Good thanks” Renée felt Erica squeeze her hand and turned her attention to the blonde, giving her a smile before looking back at the red-head, “Great actually. Mel this is Erica, my girlfriend. Baby this is Mel, we used-”
“To be a couple,” Erica lifted her gaze to meet the red-head and thought her natural urge to glare at her, instead offering a small smile.
“Nice to meet you.”
“You to,” The red-head glanced over her shoulder, looking at a tall dark-headed man and a small red-headed little girl, “Anyway I’d better get back, I just thought I’d come over and say hello,” she flashed a small smile at Erica before locking eyes with Renée again, “It was great to see you Renée, you should call me sometime, we can get together for coffee and catch up.”
“That’d be great,” Renée nodded her head and smiled, watching the re-head walk over the man and child before pulling on Erica’s hand and leading her back in the direction they were headed before they were interrupted, “I’m sorry about that.”
Erica glanced over at the brunette and shrugged, “It’s okay, you didn’t know your ex was going to be around,” the blonde studied the change in Renée’s body language and turned the brunette to face her, “Do you want to talk about it? Because clearly seeing her has thrown you a little.”
Renée look a deep breath and indicated to the bench, sitting down on it and turning to face Erica, “Remember back to that first night when I met you in the bar and you told me a little about why you’d left Seattle?” Erica nodded, “Well I told you back then that it always hurts more the first time someone lets you down, especially if they turn out to be ‘straight,’” the brunette rolled her eyes and punctuated the word with air quotes, “Hurts even more if that’s true and they’re supposed to be your best friend, right?”
Erica’s mind flashed back to her first night at Sky’s, where Renée used her impressive dart skills to get to know the blonde and tentatively asked about her reasons for leaving Seattle. She’d been vague with her answers that night and all that the brunette had replied with was “the best part is once you fall down you can pick yourself up again and this time you’ll be a little bit wiser.”
After that incident the only other time Renée had broached the subject again was on their first date, she’d pushed Erica to trust her with what had happened with Callie and had expressed a desire to be the blonde’s ‘person,’ to listen to all her thoughts and feelings on the situation and offer advice when needed. She’d shot Renée down and told her to mind her own business, the brunette’s words never really penetrating her mind... until now. She could hear the pleading tone in Renée’s voice as she desperately tried to explain to the blonde that she knew what she was going with, her words, “I definitely know what it’s like to be heartbroken by a woman you thought was your best friend,” were now suddenly all clear.
“Mel was your Callie,” Erica breathed the words out and let them linger between them as she tried to grasp the reality, “That’s why you pushed so hard to get me to open up to you, it wasn’t because you were being interfering, it was because you’d been through it.”
Renée shrugged sadly, “First loves are supposed to be great, and in some respects they are, but me and you, we got dealt faulty hands. I just wanted to explain to you that you weren’t alone in that feeling of complete betrayal and despair, that horrible ache of knowing someone you cared about, trusted, who was supposed to be your friend, supposed to care as much as you did, let you down.”
Erica scooted closer to Renée and pulled her hands into her lap, running her thumb over her smooth skin, “I’m sorry I was a bitch, I didn’t know, I didn’t think.”
“It’s okay blondie, how were you to know. We hadn’t really known each other that long and I do move forward a little fast sometimes. It was a bad move on both our parts.”
“So you and Mel, you were together for a long time?”
Renée nodded, “I already knew I was gay when I met her, like I said I was eighteen when I came out. Me and Mel met at college, she’d transferred here from Florida and for some strange reason we just clicked,” Erica nodded and smiled, “We became fast friends, there was that crazy sexual tension, and I obviously figured it out, I knew I was attracted to her. I geared myself up to tell her one night and before I could get the words out she’d kissed me, I guess I wasn’t the only one having those feelings.”
“What happened after that? Did you talk about it?”
Renée chuckled, “I think all we did for like a week was talk about it, and although she was a little scared, and I was terrified we’d lose our friendship, we both knew that they feelings we had for each other had to be explored. We dated for about six months before things got bad. I thought everything was great, I was head-over heels in love and although at times she seemed a little freaked out, I was pretty convinced she had feelings for me.”
Erica watched as Renée let out a chuckle and shook her head, “She broke up with you?”
Renée shook her head, “I wish. She used to leave a key to her apartment underneath her doormat, so that I could let myself in. I guess she wasn’t expecting me that day, because when I let myself in I was greeted with the haunting image of her and our good friend Matt going at it like rabbits.”
The blonde frowned, “I’m so sorry, that must have been horrible. What did you do?”
“I was kind of frozen I guess, I felt stuck, I just stood there looking at them and when I turned to leave her damn shitty floor squeaked and they both saw me,” Renée turned her face towards the sun and let out a breath, “Before I had the chance to make a run for it, they’d grabbed some clothes and Mel was apologising and leading me over to the couch. I sat in shock and had to listen to them explain how they’d been having an affair behind my back for the last three months.”
“What fuckers! And the bitch had the courage to come over today and say hello!”
Renée grinned a little at the blonde’s outburst, “They’re married now, and if you can believe it I even got invited to both the wedding and their baby shower,” Erica snorted in disgust, “It hurt like a bitch because even before all of the relationship stuff we were friends, and she didn’t even have the decency to tell me how she was feeling.”
“I know how that feels.”
“I know,” Renée held the blonde’s blue eyes, “That’s why I tried to get you to open up to me. I thought I had to deal with my pain on my own, but I didn’t. I had a great set of friends who sat for hours listening to what I had to say and giving me advice and by the end of it I really did feel like I was strong enough to pick myself up and try again, but this time I’d be a little wiser.”
Erica lifted the brunette’s hand to her lips and kissed across her knuckles, “You were trying to help me stand back up and I wouldn’t let you.”
“Maybe you weren’t ready then, I should have let you decide when and where.”
Erica shook her head, “I think just being with you, and this today, hearing your past, has helped. I think I’m back to standing on my feet again.”
Renée beamed a smile at her, “Think you’ve finally let go of all the hurt of the past?”
The blonde smiled, “Yeah, I think I have let it go now. It was an experience I should be grateful for and I should keep hold of the good parts and learn from the bad.”
“Exactly blondie,” she leaned in and planted a kiss on the blonde’s lips, “Look at you all wise and all.”
Erica nudged her playfully, “Shut up,” they sat in silence for a few moment before the blonde spoke again, “Renée?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m ready to tell you about Callie.”
Renée lifted a hand to tuck a stray curl behind Erica ear before giving her a reassuring smile, “I’m all ears.”
----------------------
Erica sat waiting on Renée’s couch, kicking off her shoes and letting her feet breathe after their fun, but slightly tiring day at the zoo.
“Hey, no falling asleep blondie,” Erica opened her eyes and smiled as Renée passed her a glass of wine.
“I wasn’t sleeping, just closing my eyes,” she sipped at her wine, “You have the world’s comfiest couch.”
Renée settled onto the couch next to her, “When I first moved in here I only had a small amount of money saved up for furniture and I thought I’d go for a comfortable couch and a comfortable bed.”
Erica rolled her eyes, “Oh, what a surprise.”
Renée winked at her and took a final sip of her wine before she placed her glass down on the coffee table. She reached over and took the blonde’s glass, placing it next to her own before shuffling closer to her, “If you think this couch is the most comfortable thing in the world blondie, you should try my bed, I guarantee that once you’re in it you’ll never want to leave.”
Erica let out a low breath as Renée’s body moved closer to her own, “Why don’t we test that theory then.”
Renée wasted no time capturing the blonde’s lips with her own, their tongues lapping together in a hungry dance. Hands were roaming freely, testing and teasing with their gropes for response. Erica let out a gasp as the brunette’s soft lips made their way across her jaw and settle on the sweet spot below her ear; her magnificent tongue swirling against her skin as teeth grazed enough to make her body arch in anticipation.
Erica pushed at Renée’s shoulders, getting a look of confusion shot back at her, “You promised I could try out your bed remember?”
Renée jumped up from her position on the couch and grasped Erica’s hand in her own, giving her a smile before leading her down the hallway and into her room. Once they entered Renée dropped the blonde’s hand and turned to face her.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Erica moved closer, running her hands up the brunette’s arms and linking them around her neck, “I’m sure,” she watched Renée’s grey eyes glimmer in acknowledgement and closed the space between, returning to the brunette’s lips with sweet, tender kisses.
Renée’s hands ran along her back as their kiss intensified, dropping to the hem of her shirt and snaking under the material to scratch lightly on the skin of her lower back. Erica’s lips fell away from the brunette’s as her head lolled back; a moan escaping from her kiss bruised lips.
Renée’s lips returned to their earlier spot on her neck and continued their sweet torture of kisses, nips, and skilful tongue swirling. Erica took in a shaky breath as Renée’s hands climbed higher up her back, settling on her bra strap and releasing the clasp with ease.
Her hands tangled into Renée’s dark tresses, and tugged the woman back to her mouth, kissing her feverously as her own hands began the busy task of unbuttoning Renée’s shirt. The brunette pulled away from their kiss, panting lightly as she searched out Erica’s blue eyes. Her fingertips skimmed back down the smooth skin of the blonde’s back and grasped at the bottom of her shirt.
Erica lifted her hand to cup Renée’s cheek, running the pad of her thumb across the woman’s pouty bottom lip, reassuring her that it was okay for them to continue. As Renée guided the material slowly up her body she lifted her arms and closed her eyes as the material was pulled over her head and away from her flushed body.
Renée’s eyes instantly trailed a path from her face, down her neck, over her chest, and down to her stomach before returning to her eyes, “You’re beautiful.”
The red flush covering Erica’s skin intensified at the brunette’s words and she fought against the urge to drop her eyes to the floor in disbelief. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she reached up to her own shoulders and guided the dark material of her bra away from her breasts; enjoying the way Renée’s lust filled eyes dropped at once to take in the newly exposed skin.
Renée tentatively lifted her hand, allowing her fingertips to run across the blonde’s clavicle, down the valley between her breasts before tracing their way back up, her palm sliding over the blonde’s already puckered nipple.
Erica groaned as the brunette’s hands teased her breasts, her lips moving in to find hers again as she continued her introduction to pale flesh. When Renée’s lips glided down her neck and began a tortuous trail down her chest, Erica stepped away from the brunette’s embrace and confidently reached out to push Renée’s shirt away from her body; her eyes instantly greeted with the vision of the brunette’s naked breasts.
Renée caught Erica’s eye and smirked, “Like what you see blondie?”
The blonde licked her lips and nodded, “You bet,” she reached out and tugged Renée forward by the belt loops in her jeans. Her hands effortlessly worked the button and zipper and she forced the material down the brunette’s long legs.
Renée watched as Erica rocked back on her heels and let her blue eyes drink in the sight of her nearly naked body. Giving the blonde a playful wink, she grasped her panties and pulled them down her own legs, stepped out of them and threw them at Erica as she took a few steps back towards the bed.
She beckoned the blonde with her finger, her voice coated in a husky tone, “Strip and get over here blondie.”
Erica faltered for a minute as her eyes stayed glued on Renée’s naked form crawling onto the bed. Her fingers fumbled with the button to her own slacks and as she shimmied out of them a wave of nervousness ran through her body. Renée was experienced, she’d been gay and out for the majority of her life and that meant that any relationships she’d had previously would have been with beautiful woman. She on the other hand had thought herself straight until recently and only then did she date few men. Falling for Callie had seemed easy to begin with, she wanted her, she accepted it, it was really that simple. But wanting Callie and being with Callie had turned out to be two very different things. Even sex with Callie hadn’t gone the way her mind thought it would, they’d both fumbled and stumbled, unsure of what the other liked. It had been awkward the first few times.
But Renée was Renée, she wasn’t Callie and undoubtedly the things she’d learnt in her short term sexual relationship wouldn’t necessarily apply to the brunette currently waiting for her to join her on the bed.
“Erica? Baby?”
The blonde snapped out of her trance and looked up to find Renée’s eyes filled with concern. She held her hand up when she saw the brunette move to get up off of the bed, “No! Stay there, I was just thinking...” she bit her lip, “Fuck it, never mind,” she grabbed the sides of her own panties and guided them down her legs, moving towards the bed.
Renée instantly drew their lips together, kissing the blonde softly, “What were you just thinking?”
Erica frowned a little, “You’ve done this lots of times...” Renée quirked a brow, “Sex, with girls, and I haven’t. Just Callie and that hardly went smoothly.”
Renée offered her a smile and reached up to cradle the blonde’s face in her hands, “One piece of advice, I’m not Callie, so any fears you had then, let them go. This here, is me and you, and trust me, you’ll soon figure out what I like, so just don’t over think it.”
“No over thinking?”
Renée nodded, “No over thinking,” she watched as Erica’s gaze fell to her lips and carefully guided the blonde back down onto the bed, covering her lips with her own.
They both moaned as their heated skin brushed together for the first time, Renée’s leg settled perfectly between the blonde’s and she hissed at the wetness she felt against her thigh. She kissed Erica deeply, pulling back to lightly nip at her lip before consuming her with another toe-curling kiss.
Erica moaned against Renée’s lips as she felt the brunette’s hands flow over her body, her gentle fingertips marking every inch of her skin as they traced elegant patterns. Renée couldn’t stop herself from moving back to the blonde’s neck, immediately finding the sweet spot that drove Erica’s hips to rock against her thigh. Her teeth and tongue soothed over the blonde’s racing pulse point and sucked the skin into the warm craves of her mouth until she was sure she’d left behind a mark.
The blonde grasped out Renée’s name as the woman’s lips moved over her chest, a warm mouth and skilled tongue working against her breasts, and teasing her hardened nipples until she let a plea for more.
Renée felt her spine tingle at the blonde’s breathy request and danced her fingertips down the blonde’s stomach as her mouth returned to capture puffy lips. Her nails skimmed over soft curls before sliding into slick silk.
Erica’s hands grasped at the brunette’s back as two, long fingers entered her. She was overcome by her body’s sensations as Renée’s fingers worked away inside her, her mouth teasing her neck and her free hand working over her sensitive chest.
Renée felt the blonde’s nails dig into her back as her thumb brushed over her clit. Erica’s muscles began to clench around her fingers as the blonde allowed a litany of swear words to fall from her mouth.
Erica growled in frustration when she felt the brunette’s fingers leave her core, “What the fuck Renée?”
The brunette simply lifted her fingers to her mouth and murmured out her pleasure at tasting the blonde as she held Erica’s gaze. Knowing exactly where Renée way heading the blonde grasped her shoulders and pushed; desperately wanting her release.
Renée chuckled against her stomach, making sure to continue her path of kisses, stopping briefly to dip her tongue into the blonde’s belly button. Reaching her destination she eased the blonde’s legs over her shoulders and lowered her mouth to Erica glistening core.
Erica couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling back in her head as Renée’s mouth teased every inch of her. The brunette’s mouth was working away at her bundle of nerves while those two delicious fingers returned inside of her; their pace alternating to match the rhythm of the tongue working her into a frenzy.
Renée felt the blonde’s grasp on her hair tighten and immediately reached out to entwine her free hand with Erica’s; silently encouraging the blonde to let go. Erica cried out as her body reacted to the brunette’s touch, her back arched, her muscles clenched and suddenly she was undone; floating in a mixture of bright colours.
Erica opened her eyes, breathing deeply, to find Renée slowly kissing her way back up her body. Without thinking she grabbed the brunette’s face and guided their lips together; moaning against Renée’s mouth as she tasted herself on her tongue.
“Wow...”
Renée smiled down at her, “Yeah?”
Erica closed her eyes and bit at her bottom lip, remembering the way the brunette had made her feel, “Oh yeah, definitely wow.”
Renée dropped a kiss onto her lips before rolling to lie next to the blonde. Erica opened her eyes at the missing body contact and instantly positioned herself to hover over the brunette’s body. She smiled wickedly at her before claiming her lips, “My turn.”
Erica took her time, teasing her mouth and hands over the brunette’s body, listening and watching for any responses she could draw from Renée’s perfect mouth. She teased the brunette’s ear with her teeth, finding that it made Renée mutter the word “fuck,” like a prayer. Her blue eyes studied in fascination the way her fingers worked against Renée’s nipples; loving the way it drew a breathy whimper from the brunette every time she pinched the sensitive buds between her fingers.
She devoured Renée’s breasts with her mouth as her fingers succumbed with the need to reach their destination. She worked the brunette’s throbbing clit, circling it for a few moments before sliding her fingers into her entrance, thrusting a few times and repeating the process.
“Quit fucking teasing blondie,” Renée growled low in her throat and pulled the blonde closer against her body.
Erica took the brunette’s open invitation into her mouth and kissed her deeply as her fingers worked a rhythm inside her slick core. It didn’t take long for Renée’s kiss to turn sloppy, her mind buzzing with the pleasure the blonde was having over her body.
Erica nipped a pathway along the brunette’s jaw and settled on teasing the thunderous pulse in her neck as her fingers picked up the pace. Renée felt the blonde’s fingers curl, hitting that spot that drove her crazy; her body arched, shuddered and relaxed in turn.
Renée felt Erica move into the spot next to her, pulling the brunette closer against her body as their limbs tangled together. Their eyes met and they both smiled sleepily, breathing in and celebrating the post-coital state.
As Erica snuggled into Renée’s neck, and felt the brunette loving hold her safe against her body, she found herself amazed at how fast the loneliness she first felt when she arrived in Denver had seemingly disappeared. It had been hard, starting over from scratch. Learning to live her life again, to trust, to love, it had all been a challenge. But like Renée had said to her during their first meeting, you really do have to fall down in order to learn to pick yourself up and try even harder than before.
Life and love was like riding a bike, it was all about finding the perfect balance. She may have wobbled before, and even fallen off a few times, but all of that had led her to this point, and she had to admit as she breathed in Renée’s scent, she had become a little wiser and this time she was pretty sure she’d found out just how to keep her balance.