Chapter Forty-Three

Lorna slowly nodded, momentarily shutting her eyes in content from the soothing sensation Nicky's gesture provided her with. When she reopened them, she pursed a smile to her lips and slightly moved back from the taller girl. A hand was lifted and she waved it over towards the window that was all the way across the room from where she was now standing. "Can ya go over and turn around please? I'll just change right here but I don't wanna be watched, hon. I'm sorry—It's not that I don't trust ya, I'm just, not ready for that," her voice hesitated somewhat between words.

Eyes softening while gazing ahead at the brunette, Nicky cupped a cheek of hers and gave a quick, yet, soft kiss onto her lips. Obviously, there still appeared to be some secrets that Lorna was holding back from her and, though not tonight, Nicky vowed she would get to the bottom of whatever those were. For now, she planted a kind smile on her face and released her hold on the girl. "Course' I will, doll. Don't apologize over it—it's okay to be honest with me about these sorta things. I want you to be comfortable and not feel like ya have to do anything just to please me."

Hearing the other's footsteps moving over towards the spot that she had directed her to only minutes earlier, Lorna breathed out in relief. Then she scrunched up her nose when she realized she was feeling relief from having her girlfriend's back turned to her and that was soon replaced with a powerful sensation of guilt. She sighed in frustration of herself. It was normal for girlfriends to get dressed in front of each other—she certainly had to be a feeble little child to be so skittish at just the thought of it.

However, as she took off her shirt and caught sight of her stomach, she remembered the true reason she wasn't fond of having Nicky watch her change. Not because she was a prude, but because of the sheer volume of fat that settled around her abdomen and gut. No one needed to be exposed to that kind of monstrosity, her mind menacingly informed her. Her lower lip sucked in underneath her top one while her hand reached down to examine the skin. The majority of it felt rather flabby and sickly. She shook her head fiercely and violently threw on the pajama shirt that Nicky handed to her.

The same type of behavior she exhibited when undressing her bottom half. Meticulously allowing her eyes to examine every inch of her thighs, easily finding all of the flaws as her fingers ran along its flesh and felt all of the fat and flabbiness surrounding them. It was sickening to her to see how huge she'd gotten. With a sigh, Lorna hurriedly picked up the pajama bottoms from the ground and pulled them roughly over her legs. She didn't know if she'd ever be able to let poor Nicky see her body. That wasn't something she wanted to subject her to—it would surely give her never-ending nightmares.

Uncomfortable at the long bout of silence, Nicky cleared her throat loudly and leaned nearer her dresser to tap her nails against the top of it. "You all good, kid? You've been real quiet and it's been about five minutes now," there was a slight nervousness that blended into her voice as she uttered her concerns.

"Yeah, s'all good," was Lorna's curt response once she'd finally been fully clothed in the pajamas. The tone in her voice instantly caused her to regret speaking in the first place. She swallowed thickly, trying her hardest to push her emotions as far down as she possibly could. Tonight needed to be light-hearted, she prompted herself. For once she wanted to let go of all the darkness for one evening and focus on just being with her girlfriend. To focus on the present and nothing else.

Making her way over to the older teen, Lorna acted on impulse. Her arms reached up to Nicky's face and cupped securely around it. She leaned herself closer until their lips and foreheads brushed gingerly together. Pushing her hands slightly up some, she deepened the kiss for several long moments—not even remotely in the mood to pull away. Neither of them pulled away, in fact. Rather she felt Nicky's hands wrap around her waist and both of them fell against the bed behind them.

Despite Nicky's usual preference of being the one on top making all the moves, she found herself underneath Lorna with her back against the mattress and quickly felt her tongue enter inside of her mouth. A mental chuckle was had. Lorna wasn't kidding when she said she wanted to take part in promiscuous activities with her tonight, she thought. Of course, Nicky had no complaints on the matter—she was craving intimacy for a long while and now she was receiving that without even having to ask for it. A dream come true, honestly.

Lorna straddled a leg on either side of her girlfriend's body, her own bent over sufficiently so that her lips were still able to reach atop Nicky's. With her tongue entered inside of her mouth, it quickly came in contact with the other's and then she slowly retreated herself from within. She absolutely had no idea what she was doing—a true virgin who's parents never discussed sexual activity with her—but her actions were being run on autopilot so she didn't have to think too much about it.

Her petite hands stroked repeatedly up and down the length of Nicky's face while her lips moved way from hers and landed on the nape of her neck, pressing multiple kisses all along it. It felt completely natural and right to be doing this with the girl her heart swelled so often for. She planted gentle pecks all along the redhead's entire neck, letting her hands follow towards it as they caressed the skin all the way down. Her lips gradually made their way to Nicky's chest and stroked over the cloth of her shirt that covered atop precisely where her heart was.

Brown eyes cautiously looked up at Nicky, who watched her with widened eyes of her own. Blatantly in shock with Lorna's actions. She had to suppress the laugh that threatened to escape. In all honesty, she was rather shocked with herself as well—she never really even let her mind ponder on intimacy or anything sexual. Sure, that likely could have been due to the effects of her uncle's touching her but even before that sex or sex-like things wasn't something that naturally crossed her mind.

"Are ya okay with this, hon?" When she received a rather enthusiastic nod in response, she couldn't resist the smile that formed from her lips. She gently and gradually ran her arms down along the rest of her body until she reached the spot right above her crotch area. Again, she shifted her head up to stare back up at Nicky. "Can I—would it be okay if I kinda, maybe, pleasure ya?"

The anxiousness that emanated from the smaller girl's voice instantly formed a soft pang in her chest. Nicky peered down at her with compassionate eyes and lifted a hand towards her. "Of course you can, Lorna. You're so sweet for asking," she gently pronounced, squeezing her hand around Lorna's when she felt it placed in her own.

Returning the hand squeeze, Lorna smiled warmly at her girlfriend and carefully released their hands so that she could place hers back near the crotch of her shorts. Her eyes looked meekly down at it as she realized she had no clue what she was about to do. She didn't know how to pleasure anyone. A lump was swallowed down to her throat when flashes of her uncle George's hand grabbing inside of her panties whirled through her mind. That certainly wasn't a pleasurable memory by any stretch of the imagination but it gave her a faint idea of what she needed to do. Pressure was felt in her chest—guilt crept up and she momentarily shut her eyes.

Now wasn't the time to allow that recollection to trigger her, she pleaded with herself. Yes, that wasn't a positive experience but it did give her an idea of how to go about pleasuring her girlfriend. And, right now, she was highly determined to go through with that quest. So, despite the opposing thoughts, Lorna forced them away and refocused on the task at hand. She opened her eyes once more and stroked her hand softly around Nicky's clothed crotch area.

For several moments, she continued the motion around it until she finally worked up the courage to remove the shorts from her legs. Before she made any sudden moves, however, her eyes shifted back up on Nicky's face—who returned the gaze with a reassuring smile on her face.

"Go ahead, baby, you can pull the shorts off. Believe me, I'm 1000% okay with this," Nicky tenderly assured the clearly shaky brunette. She expected the shakiness—even she had been shaky the first time she had sex. It only made sense that Lorna would be too.

Comforted by the encouraging words of her girlfriend, Lorna nodded intuitively and glanced back down at her legs. Her hands inched closer to the waistband of Nicky's shorts, carefully pulling them down until they fell from her feet and landed on the floor near the edge of the bed. Now all that remained was her black pair of panties. Anxiety flared slightly as she ran her thumb delicately over the silk garment. It was a lovely texture, she noted, and acknowledged that she was stalling. She closed her eyes while taking the panties slowly off of her legs and they, too, fell to the floor next to the shorts.

When her eyes reopened, she peered down and a sense of euphoria came over her. As she knelt there with her legs resting on either side of her girlfriend and stared at her bare bottom half, she felt—for the first time in her life—like a true woman. Obviously, only mature young ladies took part in sexual activities. And, now, here she was about to give her girlfriend an orgasm for the first time. That deemed her a mature woman, she mentally pronounced to herself. A smile quickly shaped onto her face.

Coming out of her thoughts, Lorna brought both of her hands down to rest atop the flesh of the older teen's hip bones. Fingers caressed repetitively up and down along it. Keeping it up with the motion, she lifted her head slightly to gaze up at Nicky. Her heart swelled when she noticed the pure bliss that oozed from her face. That meant she was doing something right. She moved both hands inwards until they came to right above her vaginal region.

Since she'd never done anything like this before, she decided to start off slow and only inserted one finger into Nicky's vagina. Her finger gradually explored around until she stumbled upon the vulva, with its soft flesh, and caressed it gently for several seconds. There was noticeable movement from Nicky, so, she quickly looked to check on her and felt relieved to see it was from pleasure and not discomfort. The expression encouraged her to keep rubbing inside of her.

Bringing her finger further up, she came in contact with her clitoris and, that time, decided to strengthen the amount of stroking she did around it. A sound erupted from Nicky's throat, causing Lorna to fasten her pace. She hoped she was doing everything right. It would tremendously appease her heart to have the ability to make her girlfriend orgasm. A sensation the redhead deserved more than anything for all of the love and care she continued to show to Lorna. To pleasure Nicky with a session of love-making certainly wasn't enough but it was a start, she thought.

Refocusing on the present situation, the slight shaking of the bed beneath their bodies caused Lorna's eyes to slowly avert upwards onto her girlfriend's face. It was blatant by Nicky's position—her hands gripping tightly onto the bed frame behind them and how her eyes were squeezed shut—that she was feeling the euphoric release of an orgasm or at least on the cusp of one. She quickly removed her finger and went in with two other ones, caressing around the inside of her vagina over and over until they made their way right back up to her clitoris.

Both fingers touched slowly and tenderly around the soft flesh, gradually speeding up until she heard a squeal escape from Nicky's throat. The sound only provided reason for further stroking of the region where her fingers rested inside of, fastening their pace until she sensed the bed vibrating so much that the frame was clacking against the floorboards beneath it. And Nicky's legs were visibly shaking from the intensity of the pleasure that whirled through her whole body.

Lorna finally ceased the motion, slowly taking her fingers out of her girlfriend's genital area and crawling up to sit beside her head. She easily noted the panted breathing coming from the older teen's mouth and was in shock with herself for being the cause of such. An arm instinctively wrapped around Nicky's shoulder, and her lips stroked tenderly over the top of her head.

Having Lorna's arm around her, Nicky immediately opened her eyes and moved her face so that their lips crashed together in a fiercely hot kiss. She cradled her hands around both of the brunette's cheeks, deepening and holding onto the kiss for several seconds until they both were out of breath and had to pull away for air. Her hands retained their grip on Lorna's face; she rested their foreheads together, running a thumb lovingly around the other's pale flesh.

"Damn, doll, ya got some magical fingers ya know that?" Nicky huskily commented, a warm chuckle quickly following.

She brushed a strand of hair from Lorna's eyes and peered her over with intensity. That was something she hadn't been expecting. Lorna hadn't seemed to be one who was particularly too familiar with sexual activities, so, to have had a rather intense orgasm at the hands of her girlfriend truly surprised her. That wasn't to say she believed Lorna wouldn't be capable of doing so—moreover, Nicky fully anticipated she would have needed some direction on how to make her come.

The brunette bounced her shoulders somewhat but said nothing. Only tightened her grasp on the taller girl. She innately allowed her head to fall onto Nicky's shoulder, her lips touching against one of her cheeks. "I had no idea what I was doing, hon. But you, uh, ya liked it?" Dark eyebrows curved curiously above both of her eyes.

Nicky snaked her arms lovingly around her waist, pulling her to lay softly atop her body, and nodded her head with a warm smile on her face. The faint apprehension that oozed from the younger teen only caused a small pang to form in her chest. She pulled her closer, kissing her temple delicately. "Babe, you're a natural," the words easily slipped through her teeth and they were only the truth. There was certainly something magical about Lorna's fingers, she mentally affirmed. "I haven't orgasmed like that ever. You have a talent, kid."

"Well, thank you, hon," Lorna murmured with a warm giggle. She snuggled closer to the redhead, lifting her head just enough so that her lips pecked the tip of Nicky's chin with an irresistible tenderness.

That giggle sounded so pure and heartwarming to Nicky's ears. Instantly causing her heart to swell up as it so often—so easily—did. Nicky looked down at Lorna with compassion trickling from her big brown eyes; she cradled a hand tightly around her cheek, chuckling good-naturedly at how reddened it got just from her complimenting the girl. She kissed it softly and nuzzled her nose against its soft flesh. "I should be thanking you, my sweet Lorna," her voice breathlessly murmured.

"How about I give you an orgasm now? How's that sound, kid?"

Nicky's offer instantly tensed the brunette's body right up. Her eyes returned her gaze, widened and unsure of how to comprehend such a suggestion. The last time her private area was touched was out of spite by her own perverted uncle. Though, deep down, she acknowledged that what he'd done wasn't of the norm, Lorna presently couldn't push away the thought that if she were to allow Nicky to touch that same area she would be passing on those perverted germs of his.

On top of that, she also wasn't prepared for Nicky to see her flabby skin. That would more than likely end their relationship faster than water evaporating on a one-hundred degree paved black-top. Her head shook profusely in response to the question since words were unable to find their way from her mouth. The room suddenly appeared to be closing in around her and no matter how much she opened her mouth to take in air, it wasn't enough for her to catch a breath.

Worry vastly formed on Nicky's face at the lack of response from her girlfriend. There was a noticeable tension in her body that she sensed as she held her against her own, which only intensified the worry she already felt. Her eyes searched meticulously over Lorna and when they landed on her face and noticed the clear struggle she was having just to take in air, her heart-rate immediately rose.

"What's wrong, doll?" Her voice softly questioned.

Nicky moved both of her hands up to frame around each of the other's cheeks. They stroked soothingly around the flesh of them; her eyes not once faltering from Lorna's. Maybe she shouldn't have suggested giving her an orgasm? Confusion etched on her face at the thought. She tried to make sense of the brunette's reaction but her mind only drew a blank. There had to be something she wasn't telling her, Nicky gradually came to realize.

Finally, movement returned to Lorna's body and she twisted her head around so that her eyes were peering in the same direction as the older teen's. It didn't take her long to observe the worried mien that melded to her face. The sight brought a rather deep breath of air from her lungs. She didn't like that she was the cause of her girlfriend's worry. That fact instantly formed a guilty knot in the pit of her stomach.

A smile pursed from her lips onto her face. Tonight wasn't supposed to have any negativity brought into it, she mutely reminded herself. The two of them were just supposed to spend the evening cuddling and maybe listening to some random stories about Lorna's foster family—not having anything heavy like a certain incident with her uncle come to light. So, she did her best to force the distressing recollection aside and reached her hands up to place around the ones that were held against her own cheeks.

Palms pressing into the tops of Nicky's hands, Lorna ran them gently up and down along the skin of them. "Sorry, hon. S'all good. I just—erm, I'm not…I don't know if I'm ready just yet to, uh, to have an orgasm. I-I just wanted to make you feel good because I love you and felt like that was the best way for me to show ya how much," she slowly began to ramble, an innate ability of hers to aide in covering up how she'd truly felt. Her cheeks heated up a bright red—she wasn't sure if that was from embarrassment or from being such a prude. Or maybe she couldn't be considered a prude now that she'd given her girlfriend an orgasm.

"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong," Nicky delicately pointed out. Eyes softened intensely as they gazed warmly down into the brunette's. She pulled her closer to her body, combing a hand soothingly through her dark waves of hair. Though a smile appeared on her face, Nicky knew better than to allow her mind to be deceived by it. She saw through the façade rather easily.

A lump was swallowed. Lorna deterred her eyes somewhat, letting them peak out the window behind the headboard of the bed. The shinning of the moon nonverbally informed her that it was at least past six in the evening already. She sighed, turning back to stare at Nicky. The girl who's arms provided her with the utmost affection and warmth right then and there. She naturally allowed her head to fall against her girlfriend's steadily moving chest and threw her own arms around her abdomen. Her eyes closed momentarily as she let herself become mesmerized by the sound of Nicky's heart beating into her ears.

"I just feel bad for saying no to your request is all. I don't want ya to be upset," she whispered into the redhead's chest.

Stroking her lips over the top of Lorna's head, Nicky placed a hand onto the bottom of her chin and lifted it sufficiently so that she could properly look into her eyes. Compassion oozed from her big brown ones; she brushed the tips of her fingers around its flesh. "I'm not upset, baby. You have no reason to feel bad, yeah? It's okay if you're not ready to experience an orgasm—I would never force you to do anything you're not comfortable with, Lorna. I love you," her breath hot over the smaller teen's forehead as she huskily murmured her words.

Tightening her grasp on Nicky's abdomen, Lorna felt her heart nearly melt from the intensity of affection that slipped through her voice. That only aided in the guilt that loomed over the previously formed knot in her stomach. She certainly hadn't deserved someone as loving as her Nicky. Nicky would always be too good for her, she acknowledged that fact long ago. "You're too good to me, hon. Thank you for being real understanding," she softly responded, reaching a thumb to tuck a strand of red hair tenderly behind her ear.

"You're my girlfriend, Lorna, I'll always be understanding with you. That's what relationships are, yeah? Now that we've settled that," Nicky stated, mirroring Lorna's actions by tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "Why don't we talk about what this foster family is like huh? Are they weird? Do they have any pets? I need to know these things, kid. Ya got me all interested since ya said how the lady gives ya the creeps." She couldn't resist the light-hearted chuckle that spewed its way from her throat.

A small laugh of her own escaped from Lorna's larynx. "Their son, Cal, is kinda weird. Not a bad weird—he reminds me of my brotha I guess, like ya know? A goofball type a weird. Piper, the daughter, is kinda on the snooty side but not anywhere as close as Mrs. Chapman. She makes me so uncomfortable. There's no pets—I think Mrs. Chapman would go insane if a dog was running around in that house. It's way too spotless for a dog or cat to be allowed in it."

Tucking Lorna's head into the crook of her neck, the redhead rested her lips over the top of it for a few seconds. A playful smirk took up form on her face at her girlfriend's revelation. She couldn't imagine what it was like having to live with a family full of complete strangers—nor would she ever want to experience anything even comparable to that. However, that hadn't negated the fact that her mind was certainly intrigued to hear more about the infamous Chapman family.

Furrowing an eyebrow, Nicky peered down into Lorna's with a searing curiosity trickling from her own. "Ah, so, Mrs. Chapman is one a those moms? A clean freak, yeah? Does she also make ya take your shoes off as soon as ya walk in the front door?"

"By clean freak ya mean she's got a bunch a maids running around the house making sure everything sparkles? Then, yes she sure is," Lorna giggled between words, shaking her head bemusedly. Laying the tips of her fingers atop the flesh of Nicky's neck right above where her head was resting, she caressed them feathery around the area which left a trail of goosebumps in her wake.

Nicky's eyes innately glazed over in empathy. She knew all too well what it was like living in a house that had similar values. Marka Nichols had more money than she knew what do with and instead of that making her a happier, friendlier, person, it only brought out how truly miserable of a human being she was. The way she treated the staff she hired to keep her house in tip-top shape only exuberated the misery she displayed. One of the multitude of reasons Nicky was highly gracious to now be living under Red's roof.

"She must be the same species of women as Marka," a snicker puffed its way out of Nicky's windpipe along with the comment she made. Laughing was the only way she could deal with the topic of her mother. Or rather mother who lacked any meaning of what a real mother was.

The comment immediately caused Lorna to grow much more serious. Her mind pondered on the fact that had Red not been as kind as she was to offer to take Nicky in that Nicky easily could have been put in the same situation that Lorna found herself in now. A lump formed in the pit of her stomach. Just allowing her thoughts to wander on what could have happened caused an uneasiness to come over her. She threw her arms almost desperately around Nicky's neck, pressing her face into its crook.

"I can't comment on that, hon. I don't know Marka other than the fact she isn't really a good mom to ya." Lorna clenched her teeth tightly together in the hopes of keeping her emotions at bay. She certainly hadn't want an argument to be stirred up between them. Nicky's mother was blatantly a very touchy subject.

Instead, she drew a finger delicately along the outline of Nicky's neck. "Mrs. Chapman is just real uppity, I think. She doesn't seem to laugh or make jokes, ya know? I don't like her. But at least she's not my dad. I don't know I hope Franny gets guardianship soon. I just want my life to go back to normal." Normal? The word repeated through her mind. That was only wishful thinking, she told herself, normal was something she'd never be able to obtain again. How could anything in her life be normal when her mother wasn't coming back?

"No, I get that kid. She sounds like a real ray of sunshine yeah?" The pair of them shared a mutual chuckle at Nicky's statement.

With a warm smile on her face, Nicky cupped a hand around one of Lorna's cheeks and used her thumb to tenderly comb a loose strand of brown hair away. Though, deep down, she still held a significant amount of worry for the petite brunette over not only what had occurred only twenty minutes earlier but also over everything she'd been generally dealing with, Nicky was grateful that the two of them were able to set that all aside for a relaxing evening of cuddles and small talk. Something beneficial for the both of them, she acknowledged.

"Do you feel comfortable there, doll? I mean aside from Mrs. Chapman? You promise you're being treated fine? I don't want ya hiding anything from me anymore. I've already lost out on being able to help you through so much so at least let me be here for you through the foster care, yeah?"

The brunette naturally found her lips pressing against the nape of Nicky's neck, nuzzling her face against it afterwards. There wasn't a place she desired to be more than right there in her girlfriend's loving and protective embrace. Her heart doubled in size at the heartfelt words that came out of Nicky's angelic mouth. She nodded her head softly, turning her body so that she was properly facing Nicky. Her head lifted up slightly in an effort for their eyes to meld into one another's.

Lorna delicately combed her fingers along the outline of Nicky's face. A smile molded onto her own. A beautiful, angelic, face was what her Nicky had. She drew tender hearts around each of her faintly reddened cheeks and slowly bent her head down so that their foreheads pressed softly together.

"Yeah, it's okay there. I'm just waiting for Franny to whisk me outta there but it'll do until she gets the guardianship thing," the comment casually came out, her finger tracing down Nicky's cheek until she came towards her lips. She touched her finger to Nicky's lips, delicately stroking the flesh of them. Her eyes glanced back up into the older teen's, letting them meld together with hers.

"I love you, hon. I don't know what I've done to deserve you as my girlfriend but I-I wouldn't wish for anything else. You're an angel. My angel. I know ya ain't religious or nothin'—I'm not really either, well I mean I believe in God, but anyway I just want ya to know that I'm real thankful to God that I get to be with you, Nicky. You, you really don't understand how much ya mean to me, hon. I think you're my soulmate."

Lorna replaced her lips where her finger once rested upon and very delicately pressed them overtop of Nicky's, softly gliding them into a warm, affectionate, kiss. Their foreheads remained resting atop one another's as well as their eyes still gazing directly into each other's. Nicky's arms wrapped securely around Lorna's waist while Lorna had one arm draped over her abdomen and the other around her neck. Neither craved to be anywhere other than where they were right now—both cradled in each other's arms, the one place both of them mutually felt safe and loved.