"Do you mind if I remove your mask now?" Penelope asked as they took a seat on the bed. There was something hauntingly familiar about the woman, and she just couldn't put her finger on it. She knew, though, that she didn't want to be anywhere else but in her arms that evening, no matter who was behind that mask.
"I'm not certain that you'll like who's behind my mask," the woman said sadly, her head hanging low. Penelope reached out and cupped the woman's chin, raising her face so that she would look at her.
"There's a spark between us, I don't think that anything you're hiding behind a scrap of silk will change that. Do you?" she asked as she reached behind the woman's head and tugged on the ribbon that held it in place. As Penelope watched, the woman's eyes fluttered closed, a pained look overtaking her features, almost as if she was anticipating Penelope rejecting her.
And then, the mask was floating down to her lap, and Penelope found herself staring at a ghost from her past. A tight gasp escaped her lips, even as a smile began to grace her features. "See, I knew this would backfire on me. I'm sorry, I'll go."
Erin went to rise, but Penelope was faster, her hand grabbing tight hold of her wrist as she held the woman on the bed. "No, don't leave me. You've already gone away once, and I need to know if you're really here, or if this is just some delusion of the revelry this evening." Before Erin could say another word, Penelope was pushing her back onto the mattress and capturing her lips in a hungry, yearning, kiss.
She could feel the exact moment that Erin gave in to her, since the woman's body relaxed beneath her, her hands reaching up to pull at the ties on Penelope's mask. "I couldn't stay away any longer. Everything had gone to Hell, I missed you so much, and I missed David, and there was nothing left for me in the new life the Marshals tried to create for me. I know that I'm risking my life, if John had any partners, but I'd rather breathe my last few moments on this Earth as a free woman, in the presence of those that I love, than locked in a cage of fear and doubt. And then you were here, alone, and I reacted boldly. Love me tonight, even if the morning brings about something different?"
The torrent of words swept across Penelope's brain and she cuddled up close to Erin, reaching up to run her fingers through the woman's hair. "I don't think that the morning will change anything, Erin. I missed you, too. I didn't realize that those feelings are deeper than I thought them to be until you kissed me, but there they are. I want to shelter you, protect you. Even if you are a little bit older than I am."
That brought a light laugh to Erin's lips and she nodded before kissing Penelope once more, her tongue fluttering out to tease at her mouth. "Older just means I'm a little more experienced, and that I know what I want. Right?"
"Exactly, my sweet nightingale. You've let your hair grow in the time that you've been gone from us," she said as she helped Erin to sit up.
"And you've lost some weight. It makes you look different. Not better, not worse, just different."
It was so sweet, the way that Erin was trying to make certain that Penelope wasn't insulted by the comment on her weight, and she gave the older woman another quick kiss before helping her to her feet. "Yeah, I went mostly vegan. There are a few things that I can't give up, but treats every now and then never hurt anyone."
Slowly, she began to undress Erin, pressing soft kisses to the bits of skin that she uncovered along the way. "I wrote a book while I was away. Published it under a pen name, and it's making me a little extra money. My main character, Paulina, was based on you. For some reason, I made her vegan. I guess now I know why."
"Wait, are you talking about It Is Finished? You wrote that?"
"You read that?" Penelope nodded quickly. "Did you like it?"
"Um, I really want a sequel. So, that would be a yes." Erin gave her a wide smile before shrugging her shoulders, letting the straps of her bra fall off her arms so that the garment would land on the floor. "Though if we end up together, and I can see you like this all the time, neither of us may be getting out of bed any time soon, and there goes any opportunity for writing said sequel."
A soft sigh escaped Erin's lips as she caught her staring, and Penelope shook her head before pressing a tender kiss over the woman's heart. "I've learned to accept my body's limitations of aesthetic beauty, Penny."
"Hmm, well, that's funny, because you look like a goddess to me. And I would wager good money that Dave told you much the same." Erin bit her lip as she gave a small nod. "See, you should listen to us. You are gorgeous." As she breathed out that last sentence, she hooked her fingers into the elastic of Erin's panties and drew them down her body, revealing the soft thatch of blonde hair that covered her mound.
"Well, now that you've managed to bare me physically and emotionally to you, may I reciprocate?" There was something tender and hesitant in Erin's voice, and Penelope found herself nodding as she let her arms fall to her sides, offering herself up to Erin. "I missed seeing all the fun things you'd wear in your hair. That's how I knew who you were tonight. Your ears were a dead giveaway. I missed your laugh, and your stationery, and the fact that you never treated me with pity when I returned from rehab." As Erin spoke, she methodically stripped Penelope, taking time to look and memorize.
"There was nothing to pity, Erin. You were fighting a battle with a demon that is so hard to vanquish. And I admired you so much for coming back and not letting it get you down. Your strength is what helped me through everything that happened these last two years. A small part of me wished that I could have been the one to kill Curtis, for hurting you."
Erin nodded as she knelt on the floor, looking up at Penelope. There were tears in her eyes, and suddenly Penelope had this overwhelming urge to hug her tightly, and squeeze out all the woes of her heart. "You look like I feel, Penny," she breathed out. "Help me up?"
She nodded mutely, grasping Penelope's hand and letting her pull her to her feet. Then, they were embracing tightly, and Penelope seemed to lose the sensation of where she ended and Erin began. "I have you," she whispered in the older woman's ear when she realized that they were both crying.
"I know, I know." Somehow, they both got onto the bed and Penelope sighed as she began to pepper Erin's face with soft kisses, needing to be tender in that moment. "Love me," Erin whispered in her ear, and Penelope nodded before dragging her lips down the column of Erin's neck, keeping her movements slow and decadent and loving.
The moment her lips came in contact with Erin's nipple, the woman bowed up and offered her chest to her. "There is so much more to come," she said as she pushed that hard bud back and forth with her tongue.
Penelope was expecting high pitched coos and grunts to slip from Erin's lips, but she was surprised to hear a low groan tumble out of her. "Don't tease me, Penny."
"But I can't love on you without teasing you a little, darling. Do you like darling? Or would you prefer sweetheart or baby or cheesecake?"
"Cheesecake?" Erin asked, her brow furrowing as she tried to sit up. Penelope nodded as she pushed Erin back onto the mattress. "No, that's not me. Though it would be sweet for Jennifer, perhaps. I did like it when you called me nightingale, earlier."
"All right, my sweet nightingale, I am going to make you fly to the heavens," she said as she began to make her way farther down Erin's body, swirling her tongue around Erin's belly button before gently parting her legs and pressing her lips against her mons in a reverent kiss. Erin whined as she raised her hips, once more offering herself to Penelope. This time, she took the hint and began to eat Erin out, focusing on her clit, using the moves that she had always found pleasurable.
Penelope could tell the moment that Erin had found the pinnacle of her pleasure, as her body bowed up as her hands grabbed hold of the covers in a tight grip. A strangled gasp escaped her lips, and yet Penelope pushed her on, knowing that she could drive the woman wild if she tried. Finally, though, she flopped back on the bed, gasping and whimpering. "Thank you, Penelope," she murmured as she curled her body around Erin's.
"You are most welcome, my lovely nightingale. Now, we're meeting for breakfast in the morning. Are you going to be okay accompanying me?"
"Yes." The firm, quick, answer told Penelope all she needed to know, and Penelope wrapped an arm around Erin's waist, tugging her close as she fit her chin over the older woman's shoulder. "I want to return to life."
"And I want you by my side."
"Good, because that's where I'm going to be." Penelope kissed her once more, and then they were pulling the covers up around their shoulders before twining their legs together, leaving no room for anyone or anything between them as the gentle call of sleep fell over them.