Delphine twisted the cork of the champagne bottle (and it was champagne: she may be living in a rather dingy american apartment full of equally dingy american take out boxes, but she had still retained some of her father's principles). She continued to press at the cork until it gave with a gentle sort of thunk noise, the gas from within snaking out of the neck as the pressure was released.
She wished she had some company. 2AM or no, she still would have liked someone to share in her celebratory drunkenness on overpriced imported wine, yet her timetable as of late had not really leant itself to making new friends. Moving to a new city half way across the world Delphine had hoped to meet at least someone who she could get to know, with whom she could share moments like this, however working the ER in the time slots abandoned by all the other, more senior, doctors had meant that her life consisted of waking up at hours of varying ridiculousness, going to work, getting home at equally ridiculous times, falling into an exhausted sleep, and repeating the process ad infinitum.
But no more, she reminded herself as she watched the pale yellow liquid stream into her glass, a layer of tiny bubbles threatening to spill over as she sucked them up with a smile. Hence the champagne.
Tonight marked, or this morning, or whatever you wanted to call it, the last of her ER shifts. She had finally completed her six month training stint after only a few hundred stab wounds, burns, head injuries, 'it-turned-out-to-be-nothing's and 'I-swear-I-slipped-and-fell-on-it-in-the-bathroom's. At last she would be able to start her rotation in the immunology department: her passion, her calling, and the whole reason that she had moved across the Atlantic in the first place. The hospital was renowned for its immunology research and being offered a place as a student doctor was too great an opportunity to let slip.
Which is how she ended up here, in her dimly lit apartment at 2AM, gleefully sipping champagne that tasted like home. She looked around the room as the bubbles sprung open on her tongue. She looked at the clutter of books in the living area, through the archway to the bedroom where she could just make out several misshapen piles of clothes. She sighed slightly at the shadows in the place. The joy that filled her was slightly dampened by the persistent loneliness that she had been trying to ignore for the past few months.
She glanced over to the cheap phone dock speakers that sat on an end table next to her sofa and smiled slightly, thinking of the person who had become a sort of unknowing friend in this strange city.
She had first heard it as she was unpacking one of the many boxes of books she had brought over from France many months ago. Her windows were flung open to catch the spring breeze and soon it was as if she was surrounded by music. Retro strumming of an electric guitar, drums, a faint bass line, and a voice.
She recognised the voice of the singer on the track that was obviously being played louder than it ought to be. It was Blondie: she knew the song from her childhood when her father would play it in their flat, but what she did not recognise was the voice that accompanied it. Slightly croaky but deep and pure, a woman was singing along to the song. She had a nice voice, any lack of ability made up for by sheer enthusiasm, and Delphine had smiled as she slowly unpacked her books as the woman sang loudly that she was always "touched by your presence, dear".
From then on, the woman's singing became a regular fixture in Delphine's life whenever she was at home. The music changed a lot: Delphine rarely heard the same song twice, and she was often astounded by the woman's various music tastes. While she would recognise some songs, generally the older ones (Delphine's favourite of these probably involving hearing the woman enthusiastically join in with the Kinks as she sang that she'd 'never ever kissed a woman before'), there were many that she didn't know. Occasionally jazz would play and she would be surprised by the woman's skill at singing along with the smokey voices of the artists. Sometimes she would enjoy a song so much she would get out her phone and shazam it, the woman and her exuberant singing becoming like her own private radio.
The woman sang an eclectic repertoire and at various hours in the day, yet what remained constant was the volume - always loud - and the voice. The voice was charmingly enthusiastic, reaching down whole-heartedly to accompany her soundtrack's low notes, sometimes endearingly off-key, occasionally singing along with the instruments on the songs with 'do-do's or actual imitations of the instruments themselves. It became apparent to Delphine after the second or third time this happened that the music was coming from below her, from the apartment underneath her own, and she actually developed the habit of leaving her windows open, even in rather unforgiving weather, just to hear the woman sing a little clearer. It had become one of Delphine's favourite pastimes, hearing this woman sing, and now as she eyed her phone dock a wicked little smile grew on her face.
What a perfect way to celebrate, she thought to herself. The woman always seemed so happy, so free, when she sang. Delphine had always been more than a little self-conscious about her singing voice, and was normally wary of ticking off her american neighbours, however tonight, shrouded in a celebratory glow, slightly loosened up by the glass of champagne she had now drunk, she walked over to it and locked her phone in, poking at the screen until she brought up her music, smiling as she pressed on a song and a lone guitar began to be heard. She pushed the volume up as high as she could bear and half-walked half-danced back over to the bottle, pouring herself another glass as she began to sing along to the words of the song.
She took a sip, then left the glass on the counter as she marched happily into the middle of her living room and started to dance. Now Delphine had never been very happy dancing in clubs or discos but she enjoyed it immensely when she was on her own, nobody to cast any judgement but herself, and she sang along tunelessly and enthusiastically with Bowie, even picking up the tv remote to use as a microphone as she sang about the starman waiting in the sky. Her accent sounded slightly out of place next to the song, but she didn't take any notice, that is until she made out a loud and rather frustrated knocking sounding over the noise of the music.
With a quick "merde" under her breath, Delphine quickly turned the music down to a more acceptable level and headed over to the door, an apology already on her tongue for the noise, seemingly forgetting that she was only wearing boxer shorts and a tank top. She opened the door to a rather dazzling sight. A small woman, dark hair twisted into locks, cat-eye glasses framing dark, sleepy eyes, a small nose ring, attired similarly to herself in shorts and a tight t-shirt. She was breathtaking.
"Hey I -"
The woman cut herself off as she saw Delphine, her eyes bulging slightly as they made the irresistible sweep up and down the blonde's body, words seemingly getting caught somewhere between her brain and her tongue.
If Delphine hadn't been checking her out quite so much, she would have probably noticed this, but as it went neither of them really noticed the silence that had fallen between them until the small woman seemed to catch herself, shake her head slightly, and remind herself of why she was standing on a stranger's doorstep in the early hours of the morning. She checked herself.
"I live downstairs from you - sorry for not introducing myself to you before, by the way - and I was just wondering, um…"
She trailed off slightly, but when Delphine said nothing but continued to stare at her, continued in a deadpan, "why you were playing Bowie in the wee small hours of the morning and by the sounds of it clubbing several cats to death."
Delphine raised on eyebrow at that. "Was my singing that bad?" She asked. At another time she might have been embarrassed by the brunette's comment, but something about the early hour, the alcohol in her system, and the sudden appearance of this beautiful woman was making her more confident.
The woman smiled. "Well maybe not clubbing them to death exactly, but somewhere in that area." Delphine smirked. "And it's not that I don't like Bowie - I think he's wicked cool actually - it's just that from directly below you…"
Delphine cut her off. "You live below me?"
The woman looked confused. "Yeah…" She said slowly. "And I was sort of trying to sleep." She said it with no small amount of exasperation, but a small smile tugged at her lips.
The woman's eyebrows knit together in confusion as Delphine started to giggle. The sight was so lovely that she forgot for a second that she had just been woken up insanely early by some truly horrible singing, and she smiled big, all her teeth showing.
"You… you live directly below me?" Delphine managed between giggles as her laughter subsided.
"As has been established," the woman said with a smile, showing all her teeth and tilting her head slightly to the side.
Delphine laughed once more. "Then you cannot be the one to tell me to turn my music down, when I have been hearing you singing at every hour of the day and night for the past six months."
The woman's smirk receded, her mouth forming a small 'o' shape. "You heard that huh?"
Delphine smiled. "I may sing like a cat, but I am not deaf. So I suppose we are even, non?"
"I guess so," the woman said with a slightly embarrassed smile. A beat, then she stuck out her hand into the space between herself and where Delphine was leaning against the doorframe. "Cosima."
"Cosima," Delphine repeated, liking the way that the word fit in her mouth. "Delphine. Enchantée." She reached out and grasped the small woman's hand in her own.
"Enchantée," Cosima repeated, her American accent mis-forming the word atrociously. Delphine loved it.
"You know," she said, "I am really very sorry that I woke you up so early. I was celebrating and I got a little carried away."
Cosima tilted her head again, intrigued. She shifted slightly to lean against the doorjamb "What were you celebrating at 2 in the morning to make you make that sort of noise? Must have been pretty big."
Delphine blushed slightly. "Oui, it was. I have just been released from my obligation to work in the Emergency Room of St. Aidan's hospital."
Cosima's eyebrows raised. "No way! You're a doctor?"
"Oui," Delphine replied with a smile. "Is this surprising?"
"No, no," Cosima replied quickly, "It's just, you're French."
"Oui."
"And a doctor."
"Oui."
"And like, painfully hot." Delphine looked somewhat surprised. Cosima continued, "I mean people so perfect arent meant to actually like, exist."
Delphine laughed at that, leaning forwards very slightly and then swaying backwards. "I am far from perfect, Cosima."
"Oh yeah?" The smaller girl said, leaning against the doorframe with a charmingly toothy smile. "Prove it."
Delphine bit her lip for a second, smiling slightly. Her eyes sparkled at the challenge. "As you have heard, my singing is terrible."
"Yeah but that's like, hella cute. Try again," Cosima said with that toothy grin.
"Eum, I can never remember the difference between Hamlet and Macbeth."
"One's basically The Lion King. The other one's Scottish. Both overrated. Next?"
"I talk during movies."
"Definitely a good thing."
"I have watched the original series of Star Trek back to back multiple times."
"Be still my heart!"
"I like One Direction!"
Cosima seemed stumped on that one. She pursed he lips slightly, trying not to laugh. "Ok fine you win," she said at last with a smirk. "That definitely counts as a deal-breaking character flaw."
"Thank you," Delphine said proudly. "They are catchy."
Cosima laughed. "Sure, sure."
They looked at each other for a second, both smiling a little stupidly. Delphine bit her lip, thoughtful, then asked, "do you want to - if you do not need to get back to sleep-"
"I think you've succeeded pretty well in waking me up completely to be honest."
"Then would you like to come inside? I have most of a bottle of good champagne left. Drinking it alone seems sort of sad, non?"
Cosima grinned. "Well we couldn't have that, could we?"
"Non, it would be terrible," Delphine said. Cosima would have sworn she actually batted her eyelashes. She sighed dramatically.
"I guess it's only right of me to help you out, then," she said, flouncing abruptly past Delphine into the apartment.
"Merci, Cosima," Delphine said with a grin as she closed the door. "I will get you a glass."
As she was moving around the kitchen, she heard Cosima call from the living room. "Wow, Doctor… What's your last name?"
"Cormier," she called back. She heard the other woman laugh.
"Wow that's like, super French. Doctor Cormier…"
"Yes, Cosima?"
"Your place is a mess."
Delphine walked back out into the living room, holding a glass of champagne out to Cosima. "Do you make a habit of barging into people's homes in the early hours of the morning and insulting them?" She asked, the smile on her face as she passed the drink to the smaller woman evidence of her good humour.
Cosima grinned back at her as she took the champagne, their fingers brushing for a second longer than was necessary. "Excuse you, I hardly barged," she said. "You were the one doing the puppy dog eyes." She took a sip and sat down on the sofa. Delphine followed. They sat close.
"Puppy dog eyes?" Delphine repeated, slightly unfamiliar with the phrase.
"Yeah you know," Cosima said. She then widened her eyes, biting her lip slightly, looking equal parts adorable and comical. Delphine laughed at her.
"I did not do that," she objected.
"Sure you did," Cosima said, teasing smile back in place. "With the perfect hair as well. Very puppy dog."
"I thought we have established that I am not perfect," Delphine replied, biting her lip.
"Oh yeah. Soz. One-direction-loving hair."
Delphine laughed. She didn't know why, maybe it was the late hour, but chatting to this stranger, casually flirting back and forth, it felt good. Comfortable. This certainly wasn't the way she expected this evening to go, but looking at the beautiful girl sitting next to her, she wasn't complaining.
They were almost facing each other now, each of them having brought one knee up onto the sofa cushion and spreading an arm along the back of the couch. Cosima's index finger played absent-mindedly with Delphine's, and the Frenchwoman felt a slight ache between her thighs as she watched the movements of the other woman's hand. She examined the long, nimble fingers and shut her eyes for a second to push down the sudden urge she had to feel those fingers trace her lips, her nipples, the hot space between her legs whose throbbing was becoming more and more demanding as their fingers continued to flit around each other.
Her eyes fell on the black outline of a shell-shaped tattoo on Cosima's wrist, and Delphine deposited her glass on the coffee table and brought up her other hand to gently turn Cosima's palm upwards and trace the spiralling trajectory of the ink. "What is this, Cosima?" She asked after a few times of trailing her fingers around the pattern, seemingly unaware of the other woman's shaking breaths and closed eyes at the sensation of her fingers on her wrist.
Cosima gulped, opening her eyes and looking at Delphine rather shakily. When she spoke, her voice was husky, and her eyes were dark as they bore into Delphine's in a way that shot another pang of longing to her already swollen sex. "It's a nautilus shell. The golden ratio."
"Ah, so you are a poet," Delphine replied, a coy smile on her lips.
"A poet of science, totally," Cosima replied, leaning a little closer to Delphine and breaking their intense eye contact to look down at the tattoo on her wrist, her other hand reaching up to cover Delphine's as they both traced the spiral gently with their index fingers. "It's sacred geometry. The natural and unpredictable unfurling together time and time again to create perfect islands of order. In plant leaves and in the way the universe is expanding and in every molecule of our DNA." She paused for a second, looking back directly into Delphine's eyes as their hands stopped their spiralling motions and Cosima's fingers began to seductively slide up and down her hand. When she spoke again, Delphine was almost knocked down by the rawness of her voice, the obvious want in her eyes. "What's more poetic than that?" She asked.
As soon as those words fell from the brunette's mouth, Delphine was a goner. She let out a little whimper and without any other preamble, brought her hands to either side of Cosima's face and kissed her hard. She felt the other woman sigh into the kiss, the sexual tension they had been building ever since she opened that door finally finding some sort of release.
Cosima kissed her back desperately, pulling her closer, her hands rubbing up and down her back as she desperately sought to feel the Frenchwoman's skin on her fingers. Delphine swept her tongue across Cosima's lips and they parted eagerly, the smaller woman's reaching out and making a contact that made them both moan into each other's mouths. Their tongues slid wetly against one another and it was unrefined, sloppy even, but full of passion and urgency. Delphine nibbled slightly on Cosima's lower lip and the brunette woman broke away with a high-pitched moan, gasping for breath.
Cosima surged forwards then until she was straddling Delphine, pinning her against the back of the sofa. From this position of power she ground her hips downwards slightly, resulting in a gasp and an involuntary thrust of the hips from the woman below her. She then leaned down and began to nip and suck her way down Delphine's long neck, her hips grinding down in a steady rhythm that did nothing but tease the taller woman, who could feel her wetness soaking through her underwear, her sex begging to be touched by this dynamic woman. A series of short moans were drawn from her lips as Cosima's teeth marked lines down her neck, her tongue and lips soothing the bruised spots. "I never…" She gasped. "I never do this," she said breathily, her hands pushing up Cosima's shirt and lightly scratching up and down her spine.
"Nor do I," Cosima mumbled between kisses, one hand tangling in Delphine's hair as the other reached down to cup and squeeze a breast.
Delphine's head lolled back against the sofa as she felt the other woman tease her nipple through her shirt with light pinches and rubs. "I mean I - ohhh," she sighed as Cosima ground her hips down particularly forcefully, a delicious pressure teasing her erect clit. "I hardly even know you," she gasped as Cosima began to play with her other breast through her shirt.
Cosima straightened up to look her in the eye, stilling her gyrating hips slightly, but continuing to play with Delphine's nipple through the thin material of her shirt. "My surname is Niehaus," she said, kissing the other woman once on the mouth. "I'm studying for my PHD in evolutionary development." Another kiss, longer this time, Cosima's tongue sweeping lightly over Delphine's lips. "I'm adopted and I have a niece called Kira." When she bent to kiss Delphine she was met with an open moth, Delphine's lips and tongue claiming her and causing her hips to jerk downwards into Delphine's. She moaned as she started to grind again, her hands darting to the hem of the other woman's shirt as she helped her to remove it, gasping when she saw her hard, pink nipples standing alert atop her perfectly rounded breasts. Delphine took advantage of her temporary stupor to remove her of her own shirt, giving a small noise of approval as her breasts were freed, neither of them having been wearing a bra. They pushed their torsos together, kissing hotly as their nipples brushed together. "And," Cosima continued, grinding fervently into Delphine, "I don't think I've ever been as turned on as I am right now."
Delphine let out a hissing "yesss" and then, with an almighty show of strength, flipped Cosima over so that the smaller girl was now sitting against the back of the sofa. Delphine positioned herself over her and began to kiss down her neck, reaching her sternum and leaving a wet trail behind her as she slowly circled under Cosima's left breast, leaving hot kisses in her wake. Cosima was gasping and squirming at Delphine's slow teasing, and after a couple more moments she grabbed the blonde head and pulled Delphine's mouth to her nipple. Delphine smirked slightly, sucking the erect nipple into her mouth, licking it over with her tongue as her right hand pinched and pulled Cosima's other nipple, listening contently to the other woman's ragged breathing and occasional moans.
She swapped breasts briefly, giving Cosima's right nipple the same treatment as she had the left. Cosima's hips were squirming under her as she moved to kneel between her knees, kissing a path down her toned stomach, pausing to dip her tongue into her navel and eliciting a gasped "oh shit!" from the other girl. Eventually, she reached the waistband of Cosima's shorts and started to kiss light pecks across the length of skin just above the clothing. "Cosima," she murmured between kisses, the scent of the smaller girl's arousal heavy, causing her heart to race and her clit to throb.
"Delphine," the other girl answered desperately with a jerk of her hips.
"Cosima I want to taste you," she said, still kissing along Cosima's waist, shifting her eyes up to make contact with the other woman's.
"Yesss," Cosima groaned, frantically shifting her hips upwards and pushing at her shorts and panties in an effort to rid herself of the clothing as quickly as possible.
Delphine aided her in the removal of the last of her clothes and watched, mesmerised, as Cosima spread her legs further apart to welcome her in. She leaned forward to nuzzle into the mound of dark hair between Cosima's thighs and inhaled deeply, savouring the heady scent of her arousal. She looked up again, eyes finding Cosima's and locking with them. "Do you want that, Cosima?" She asked slowly, seductively, one finger gently tracing Cosima's inner thigh, feeling the arousal that had overflown from her gushing sex.
"Yes I want that, Delphine," Cosima gasped. "Please. I need it."
"You need me to lick you?"
"Yes!"
"You need me to eat your pussy, Cosima?"
Cosima moaned at the sound of her name falling so seductively from the Frenchwoman's mouth, her hips bucking desperately seeking contact. "Yes!" She managed to gasp out.
"You need me to fuck you with my tongue until you scream my name?" Delphine's eye contact did not waver, nor did her teasing finger on the inside of Cosima's thigh.
Cosima couldn't take any more. "Yes! Yes please fuck me Delphine! Please! I need you to fuck me!" Her voice was strangled and desperate and she pushed Delphine's head down, craving any kind of contact on her swollen sex.
She could feel Delphine chuckle as her head was pushed south, and very faintly heard her say, "your wish is my command," but then all sensations other than that of Delphine's tongue parting her swollen lips and sweeping slowly through her folds vanished.
Cosima felt Delphine moan, vibrations surging through her pussy, and she nearly cried out with frustration when the Frenchwoman slowly circled around her clit, refusing to give it any substantial contact. Delphine's slow, languorous licks through her pussy were driving her insane, and with a growl she pulled Delphine'd head again, forcing her to put her mouth on her impossibly swollen clit. She moaned loudly and could swear she heard Delphine chuckle again as she pulled her clit between her lips and sucked. The teasing was over.
Delphine lashed her tongue across Cosima's clit, sucking it hard in a fast rhythm, and Cosima was moaning incoherently. Only the occasional "fuck" or "shit" or "Delphine" could be properly made out. The taller woman slowly snaked her left arm up and began squeezing Cosima's breast, and then Cosima felt two fingers enter her suddenly. She was so achingly wet that the fingers slid in and out with total ease as Delphine pumped them into her in time with the sucking of her clit.
Cosima's hips were jerking up to meet each of Delphine's thrusts, and she managed to garble, "more, Delphine! Fuck me harder! Give me more fingers! Please fuck me fuck me fuck me…" Her voice retreated, her lips just silently repeating 'fuck me' as Delphine obliged her request, adding a third finger and pumping in and out more forcefully as she sucked harder at Cosima's clit.
Cosima was about to come. She was teetering on the edge of something enormous and Delphine could feel it. In one movement, she pinched Cosima's nipple with her left hand, curled her three fingers upwards inside Cosima, hitting up firmly against her spongey g-spot, and ever so gently bit down on her clit.
Cosima came. She came with a scream of "fuck! Yes! Delphiiiine!" As she slammed her hips up and down frantically, and Delphine watched in awe as her face contorted into one of pure pleasure, her sex spasming over and over, releasing copious moisture onto her hand as the voice she had been serenaded by for months screamed her name. The orgasm seemed to last for several minutes as Delphine stared up at Cosima's enraptured face, gently removing her hand as it receded and trailing a few gentle, soothing kisses along her folds to bring her down. They were silent for a long time as Cosima's head lolled back, eyes closed and Delphine casually started licking her copious arousal off her fingers.
When Cosima finally opened her eyes, she looked down to see Delphine sucking quietly on her middle finger, a satisfied smirk on her face. "Shit," the smaller girl gasped. "You're so fucking sexy." Delphine beamed, removing her finger from her mouth and moving up to sit on the sofa, curled into Cosima's side. She was painfully aroused, but Cosima looked so serene post-orgasm that she put aside the throbbing between her thighs for a little while and kissed the other girl tenderly.
Cosima moaned as she tasted herself all over Delphine's lips. The flavour seemed to revive her, since Delphine suddenly found herself lying horizontally across the sofa, pinned down bu Cosima and being kissed passionately. "You just made me come so hard Delphine," Cosima murmured as she hastily sucked a breast as far into her mouth as she could. "I want to make you come now."
"Yes!" Delphine replied desperately as she pushed her own shorts, soaked through with her own arousal, down off her legs, leaving her naked under the smaller girl. Cosima smirked slightly at how the tables had turned but paid more attention to slowly parting Delphine with her right hand and drawing a circular pressure over her clit. Normally, Cosima was just as much a tease as Delphine, but she sensed the urgency in the other woman, how desperate she was to come. She was incredibly wet and Cosima decided to just give her what she wanted, to save her payback for another time.
Delphine moaned and keened as her clit was rubbed by the fingers she had been so admiring. "Please, Cosima, merde, inside," she managed to gasp out. "I need you to fuck me so badly."
Cosima groaned as she heard this and immediately slipped her hand down to thrust three fingers easily inside Delphine's swollen, hot cunt. Delphine cried out in pleasure, digging her nails into Cosima's biceps, arching her back and wrapping her legs around the other woman, meeting her every thrust with a grind of her hips.
Cosima fucked her like this for a few minutes, the only sounds in the room their jagged breaths, the wet noises of Cosima's fingers plunging in and out of Delphine's pussy, and the high moans Delphine would let out each time Cosima thrust particularly hard. Cosima was bracing her hand against her thigh as she moved atop Delphine, and she managed to gasp, "put your legs over my shoulders" between her pants of exertion. Delphine obliged and moaned enthusiastically at the new pressure this position offered. Cosima was curling her fingers with every thrust, meeting her g-spot perfectly. She felt like she was on fire. Wave after wave of hot pleasure was radiating out from her sex with every thrust Cosima made and as Cosima reached her thumb up to make a brief, glancing contact with her clit, she was overcome with the exquisite throbbing pleasure of a powerful orgasm. Her pussy contracted forcefully around Cosima's fingers, but instead of easing her down, Cosima continued to pump into her, and Delphine felt another orgasm rapidly overtaking her first.
As Cosima's thumb tapped out what could have been an ancient and holy rhythm on her clit, Delphine came for a second time. She let out a long, wordless scream and was vaguely aware of the feeling of liquid gushing out of her pussy before she blacked out.
She came to a few seconds later. Cosima was wrapped around her protectively on the cramped seat of the sofa and was writing nonsense letters on her stomach with the wet fingers of her right hand. Delphine swallowed. "Wow." She said quietly.
Cosima raised her head with a cheeky grin. "Wow? That's all the super hot French dirty talk expert has to say after I fuck her brains out? Wow?"
Delphine opened her mouth to reply with a witty retort, but then closed it again. "Yes," she replied simply, snuggling tighter into the smaller woman's embrace.
They were disturbed a few seconds later by an andry pounding on the door. Cosima raised her head and looked over at the front door suspiciously. "Probs a noise complaint," she said smoothly. "You were pretty loud there, Cormier."
Delphine turned red as Cosima continued, a cheeky grin on her face. "Why don't you invite them in? You do seem to react very positively to noise complaints."