Hey folks – thanks for your patience. Real life getting in the way and all that. A small amount of angst going on but not too much. I promise a happy ending.

Part Eight

Sarah rolled away from Caroline and allowed her time to catch her breath.

'How… how did you do that?' Caroline whispered.

Sarah laughed softly. 'Everyone has to be good at something,' she said. 'I happen to be very good at analysing what sexy women need.'

'Have a lot of sexy women pass through your hands do you?' Caroline raised her head from the pillow to look at the dark eyes that she found utterly captivating.

She was surprised when darkness clouded the coffee coloured orbs.

'No,' Sarah said quickly but then forced a smile. 'I'm actually a little out of practice.'

'Oh God,' Caroline wailed. 'I can't wait until you're back up to full speed.'

Sarah rested against the pillow as though deep in thought.

Caroline rolled over and pushed herself up on her hands and steadied her body over Sarah's.

'What's going on in that head of yours?' she asked the question but was sure she did not want to know what went on inside the head of a therapist.

'Jut thinking I can't believe that I got so lucky,' the smile returned to Sarah's face. 'This is the best Christmas present ever.'

Caroline smiled back and kissed her. But her mind played tricks with her emotions. She remembered a previous Christmas, kisses, declarations of forever love, naked bodies and more emotion than she could cope with.

She pulled away quickly, as though she had been electrocuted.

'Are you alright?' Sarah looked shocked. She reached out to stroke Caroline's cheek.

'Yes,' Caroline said and shook her head as though trying to clear it. She lowered her mouth to Sarah's neck but felt resistance.

'Hey,' a gentle voice said. 'We don't need to do this right now.'

Caroline pulled away from the soft skin and looked at her eyes. 'What do you mean?'

Sarah kissed Caroline swiftly and tenderly. 'You know exactly what I mean.'

Caroline rolled away and lay beside Sarah, she searched for her hand and squeezed it tightly. Her heart melted as the fingers squeezed back.

'I should be able to do this,' Caroline said apologetically. 'I should be able to…'

'Hey, listen to me,' Sarah became serious. 'It's OK. I understand.'

'I feel like an idiot,' Caroline muttered.

'Please don't,' Sarah wrapped her arm around Caroline's torso and pulled her closer in a warm embrace. 'I understand; the truth is that we hardly know each other and we were two people caught up in lust. I probably needed that as much as you did. I know that's a strange thing to say but I needed to know I was still capable of feeling something for someone and being able to follow through with… well – you know.'

A single tear slid down Caroline's cheek.

'Is this all messed up now?' she wondered out loud.

'Definitely not,' Sarah said firmly. 'We're just going to do things back to front and start dating now. We just did the sex first,' she laughed. 'It's OK,' she assured.

'You want to take me out on a date?' Caroline asked.

'Yep!'

'Me and you, on our own?'

'Yep!'

Caroline turned her face away. 'I have no idea if I can even do that,' she said.

'Well, I'm willing to try if you are,' Sarah rested her head on her elbow. 'I think part of you does want to because you were very… assertive, earlier today.'

'Why do I feel so guilty now?' Caroline asked glumly, her face still turned away.

Sarah said nothing.

They both knew why.

They both understood the implications of what was happening between them.

Sarah sat up and Caroline missed the arm that had been slung across her body.

'I need to get dressed,' Sarah said in a matter of fact tone.

She pulled on her underwear and then the rest of her clothes.

Caroline watched her.

She thought that Sarah was beautiful and everything about the woman was enchanting. The way she moved, the way she flipped her long hair out of her collar, held Caroline's attention like nobody else could. She enjoyed looking at the curve of Caroline's buttocks and the shapely legs as they met her hips and flat stomach that had the tell-tale signs of childbirth which to Caroline made her even more beautiful.

'You are an incredible woman, Sarah,' Caroline said.

'Shut up – you smooth talker,' Sarah threw Caroline's top towards the blonde lying on her bed, 'Get up and we can have a cup of coffee, which was always my intention before you got all amorous.'

'Well,' Caroline was suddenly buoyed. 'It was your fault because you were so beautiful.'

'Yeah, yeah, yeah,' Sarah blew a raspberry. 'Decaf?'

'Hell, no,' Caroline said. 'I need as much fuel as I can get.'

'Fair enough,' Sarah said. 'Take your time, I'll see you downstairs.'

Caroline knew that take your time meant, 'you can use the en-suite,' and she did.

The tiles were a vibrant pink and white and the place smelled newly cleaned and everything sparkled. It was Sarah's style all over with her obvious OCD mixed in.

Caroline stood in front of the sink and wiped her face. She looked at her sated eyes and sent up a silent prayer to whoever was listening that she would be able to move forward with her life.

000

Downstairs Sarah brewed the coffee and fidgeted nervously clicking her index finger against her thumb.

'Shit!' she muttered. 'Stop it, stop it!'

She took a deep breath and set about making the coffee as a distraction.

Caroline was moving about upstairs. Sarah could not admit how much she liked the idea of the woman being in her house and being around her. She wanted more of this but once again she felt like she was jumping into a relationship where she was the only person that was into it.

'I can't do this again,' she muttered to the Anakin Skywalker action figure that sat on the kitchen table. 'I've got into a bit of a mess here!'

Anakin stared back at her with unemotional eyes.