"âĶI wish I was."
A wave of passion thawed through her chest and rushed straight to her heart when a soft hand traced a path across her stomach, stroking little love hearts into her skin. Goosebumps rose on her arms and tingles shivered through her whole body at the gesture, and though her conscience was screaming at her not to, Rachel couldn't help but roll further into the touch and curled onto her side until she was face to face with her partner.
An understanding smile graced the lips before her and the arm wandered higher until a palm came to rest in-between Rachel's shoulder blades and pulled her closer until her face was tucked snugly into a hot neck.
As if by instinct, Rachel parted her lips and pressed the softest of kisses to the sweaty skin within her reach and smiled at the contented hum that she heard from above. It was a sound she'd never tire of hearing, so she kissed again â selfishly so â because she was in love with this neck and wouldn't ever pass up an opportunity to kiss it.
Two hands quickly found their way around Rachel's body and pulled her impossibly closer, then slipping a leg between her two and hooking her ankle under Rachel's calf. A quiet 'I love you' was murmured between them and their lips connected. Behind fireworks and supernovas, it was like their first kiss, every time, and Rachel whimpered weakly against the lips that were so needily pressing on hers. She tilted her head and allowed her lover to deepen their kiss and released a quiet sigh at the feel of a deft tongue grazing her lower lip.
A million miles away, in her rational mind, Rachel knew this was wrong. She knew it every time it happened, but just like she'd done today, she always came back, to this apartment two hours from her own home in Allentown and slipped into an adulterous shame in a world far from the reality of her husband and son. And despite knowing the pain it would inflict on her family if they ever found out about her lover, she couldn't ignore how rightit felt to be in these arms and to kiss these lips and to love this soul.
Nothing burned in her like desire, and the embrace she often returned forced her to face the unfortunate truth that her heart was quite stuck here, in Manhattan in this room, in the person lying beside her, and there was nothing she could do to save herself.
Her thoughts often got the best of her in times like this, when the two of them lay in silence and kissed each other until one of them pulled away for air and neither of them could ignore it. They tried their best, because their time together was always limited and they didn't want to spend it with guilt on their shoulders.
But today was different, because Rachel was carrying a little more this time and finding the right moment to articulate what was on her mind was drifting further and further away with each passion-filled kiss. But the sun had set long ago, and she knew that Peter would probably be waiting up for her.
Rachel always worked late on Thursdays and on occasion stayed over night at the office planning projects with various musicians. It wasn't for her. It was never for her. On this day, though, she'd left work early just to come here and spend one last night in beloved arms before they were to part for several weeks.
A husky, familiar voice murmured something against her lips and broke the kiss with a gasp and Rachel pulled back to gaze into rich hazel eyes that shone at her with utter adoration and affection.
It made her heart flutter.
For a moment she stopped listening and her eyes washed over the face only centimeters from her own. For years she'd admired it, all through high school she'd been envious of that perfect nose, the captivating eyes and the damn sexiest jaw she'd ever seen in her life. The same blooming blonde hair that had cascaded over shoulders when it wasn't pulled back in a ponytail, making Rachel's knees weak, was now tangled between her fingers, giving off a sweet vanilla scent. Skin, that was constantly glowing, and nimble hands that were much more gentle than she'd ever expected were now pressed against her â holding her.
She really was the prettiest girl she'd ever met, but rather than her being Rachel's best quality, Quinn Fabray had played a crucial part in becoming her worst.