Caroline caressed the steering wheel, briefly resenting the synthetic material which was so different in texture to the supple warmth of Kate's skin. The car rumbled quietly through empty roads, the eerie twilight dark enough for street lights which glowed like an illicit trail of phosphorous to guide her home. She was relieved that no one was about, a guilty lover scurrying around at 4am before anyone understood her secrets.

It had been awkward when she'd left, mostly because she hadn't known how to do it with any sort of grace. They'd hugged behind the safety of the front door, Kate in her dressing gown with enough cleavage on display to give Caroline more to remember, and Caroline in her suit, hair a lustrous, shagged mess and skin smelling of sex, sweat and Kate.

She brought her fingers to her mouth, touching her lips softly, the scent of Kate mixing with the sandalwood hand soap from Kate's bathroom. She moaned quietly. God she had missed this, this exquisite feeling of giving and receiving, tasting and touching.

She was glad to be alone with her thoughts. Kate really was a surprise. She would never have guessed the vocabulary that turned Kate on, the passion she demanded. Caroline really was going to have to step up to give Kate what she wanted in that department... and a flash of her own inadequacy taunted her momentarily. Perhaps she wasn't up to it? She shook her head, not even willing to admit that failing just yet.

Indicator switched on out of habit, Caroline focused on turning the corner safely, the distraction changing the direction of her thoughts as well.

The last time they'd had sex, in the early hours of the morning, was different. The urgency was still there, but it had morphed into something else, a connection that reached deep inside her heart. Watching each other as they caressed and explored, teased and joked before the more serious sensations of desire took hold, the gentle intensity of it was startling. Chasing their desires all night was equally astounding.

Caroline shifted in her seat, trying to get more comfortable while still wired and turned on, despite her exhaustion. She wondered if this was what it was going to be like from now on, with Kate inspiring a constant skein of arousal in her blood. How was she going to run meetings that included Kate, or pass her in a corridor, without giving it away? This really was going to test the limits of her self-control. She huffed, thinking about what the last week had been like, and the extra scheduling it had taken to avoid the all too distracting presence of the languages teacher.

She tightened her grip on the wheel, narrowing her eyes at the dark grey path winding in front of her, which suddenly morphed into the sensuous trail of Kate's thigh and hip and torso as she rolled over, the candlelight flickering as it lit the hills and hid the hollows Caroline explored with her hands, her eyes, her mouth in equal measure.

Her big miscalculation had been about language. Now she had time to reflect, of course the vernacular used in bed would be important to someone who specialised in languages. She flushed slightly at the newly imprinted memory.

"I noticed you wore your blue suit tonight." Kate licked a slow circle around Caroline's nipple.

"The blue suit, and those heels... for me." She brought the hard nipple into her mouth, sucking slightly as Caroline hissed in response. "You look so powerful, so sexy in that suit." She nibbled at the hard flesh as Caroline started to writhe. "I am completely conflicted. I want to see you strut around in those heels, that skirt, wondering what sexy underwear you have underneath," she nibbled again, "feel you up, run my hands over your glorious arse, your beautiful tits," she bit harder this time, "but I also want to rip it off you and have you, whenever I see you wearing it."

Caroline moaned, arching her back and pushing her breast further into Kate's mouth.

"I can imagine fucking you, up against a wall, my mouth on you."

"Kaaate!"

"Or even better, you fucking me up against a wall, your teeth at my throat and your fingers deep inside me," she purred, biting again, "I can see you playing with my tits, whispering the erotic things you're going to do to me before taking me, right there in your office!"

Caroline cried out, eyes springing open and she grabbed Kate by the shoulders, rolling on top of her, pinning her to the bed. She moaned, ground herself onto Kate's leg and captured Kate's mouth in a passionate kiss. Time stalled and she had no idea how much of it had passed when they finally came up for air, gasping into each other's mouth.

"What you say...I mean... I can't... Christ you're sexy Kate!"

Caroline moaned out loud, squirming in her seat as the throbbing between her legs started up again. She tapped the steering wheel, trying to excise the growing tension in her body.

"What are you doing to me Kate?" she muttered, glad no one was there to hear.

Turning slowly into her driveway, the tyres on the gravel sounded too loud for the slumbering neighbourhood. She quickly turned off the engine and sat for a moment, fearing lights appearing from her mother's flat.

As quietly as she could, she stepped out of the car and using both hands, closed the car with as little noise as possible and tiptoed to the front door. Stepping out of her shoes, she picked them up and crept up the stairs to her bedroom. When the door closed behind her, her shoulders slumped for a moment, praying to gods she didn't believe in that she'd made it home without her boys and her mum any the wiser.

Dumping her shoes and bag by a chair, she undressed. As each item of clothing came off, memories of Kate stripping her replayed in her head, each one compounding the slight flush rising up her chest and neck.

As she slid into bed, the cool sheets working to offset her warming body, she realised she was too wound up to actually sleep. She lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling, revisiting the evening.

Kate held her in strong arms, long fingers combing gently through messy blonde hair as Caroline drew parallelograms on Kate's body with her fingertips.

"That wasn't the first time you've done that, was it?" Kate asked, her voice open and soft.

Caroline snuggled against Kate's chest. "No, no it wasn't." She rotated through the regular polygons before tracing irregular ones on the soft skin. "Well, not like that, exactly, but yes, I have been with women."

"Well, I guessed. And then you said earlier..."

"I did. I dated a couple of women when I was at Oxford, but the last one... meant the most. Mia was doing her PhD in Epidemiology when I was doing mine in Physical Chemistry, and she needed a tutor for her stats. That's how we met. I knew instantly, if I'm honest, but we were both so focused on our work that it took a while for us to... you know."

Caroline abandoned the polygons and moved onto tracing fractal geometry, factoring in non-integer dimensions on the fly. "Anyway, we were together for nine months before she finished. She was offered a prime job in Berlin, working for a pharmaceutical company." Her voice dropped, barely heard by Kate, "She left. It was awful for a while."

Caroline smiled wanly. "And that's when I met John. And John's a fairly standard story. Not much of interest there, I'm afraid."

"I'm sure there is, but there's time for that another day." She moved to see Caroline's face more easily. "So, are you... bi?"

"No, no, not really. Well yes, I suppose. But, no." She sighed. "I don't know Kate. I was... a lesbian, or bi and then I wasn't and now," she sighed even more heavily, "I have no idea."

"Oh. Okay. It can change."

Kate's gentle allowance of this gave Caroline room to breathe. She was so used to rigid definitions and strict guidelines that the mutability of her own sexuality was fraught with emotions and trauma and she'd avoided even thinking about it for decades — until very recently.

"So tell me more about Mia? What was she like?" Kate asked innocently.

"Mia," Caroline paused, then a soft smile appeared. "She was clever, and bold, and knew what she was doing. We were both fairly serious about life back then—"

Kate giggled. "Noooo, really?"

Caroline tapped Kate gently on the arm. "Stop it. I'm light and fun and you know it."

Kate continued to giggle. "Oh, we all know that Caroline. Absolutely." She squeezed Caroline gently and kissed the top of her head. "So how did you...?"

"Oh. Well, she took the lead, obviously, and at that stage, it was easier to follow. I was young, and..."

Kate lifted her head, peering at the blonde in her arms. "Really? I thought you'd be in charge in the relationship? You'd always given me that idea. I mean, at school you are so... so... well, head bitch in charge."

"Kate!" Caroline lifted her head to look at Kate more clearly. "Head bitch in charge? Is that what they call me in the staff room? I thought I'd heard them all," she said, a little miffed about the nickname.

Kate laughed. "No, it's just what I call you." She moved to kiss Caroline on the lips, before smirking "But perhaps that's just wishful thinking on my part."

"What do you mean... Oh. Oh, I see." She didn't, not really, but she thought she might have caught on. "Really? Is that what..."

"Oh yes, Caroline. I LOVE you being commanding." And to make her point clear, she caught Caroline's hand and moved it between her legs, the huskiness in her voice leaking out. "I really like it when you're in charge."

Caroline nodded and ever so gently, ever so slowly, rolled on top of Kate. She carefully explored Kate's body, watching and noting changes in sound, in rhythm, in response. She couldn't remember the subtleties of other lovers; she'd spent too long with the last one to remember the early days, but here she was, shedding the performative skins of duty and habit, connecting with someone who was entirely present with her, who accepted her for who she truly was, who relished it, who matched and even returned her desires. It was the first time in years she wasn't playing a role someone else had assigned her. She wasn't mother, daughter, wife or even head teacher. She was just Caroline. She focused her attention, gently building the tension, allowing desire to blossom, and tenderly coaxed Kate to a long climax.

Caroline rolled over in bed, hugging a pillow to her chest. What had started as one type of instruction from Kate had changed into something different for Caroline. She had thought of that part of the night as being about language, but in reflection, she had learned so much more about herself. She had no idea what she was going to do about that revelation. It took another hour for her to fall asleep, the animals in the garden already playing in the daylight before she managed to let the evening go.