Thanks for the well wishes. BTW I paid for that snow day by spending about 30 minutes digging my car out of its spot yesterday morning, thanks to the 12+ inches of snow and drift caused by the city plows. Oh well I survived.
Okay for real this will be the last super-fast update for a bit (I had most of this chapter written ahead of time). That being said, back to the drawing board and I hope you guys enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.
Oh! And thanks for the review mentioning Paige being happy and settled in at Stanford. I felt bad that I gave the indication earlier in the story that she didn't have a full life in California without Emily so I'm happy to see these chapters have helped clarify what I had in mind.
Anyway less explaining and more story!
The final embers of sunset were still painting the sky by the time we got to the beach, but night was settling in quickly. I couldn't keep my hands off Paige the minute we got to the beach, and she seemed more than happy to invite and reciprocate my touch as we drank some kind of rum cocktail one of the team captains had concocted. I was proud to be on Paige's arm, and she in turn seemed honored I was there with her.
There was a huge bonfire going, but after mingling with the group and letting our hands graze for hours, neither of us acknowledging how we moved closer so our shoulders and arms were touching, Paige leaned over to me.
"I have something I want to show you." Paige said quietly, breathing the words into my ear. It turned me on to have her get so close and I agreed, letting her pull me up from the beach towel. She grabbed the towel, shaking it a bit and taking it with her.
"McCullers where are you going?" Her teammates Lisa asked.
"The tree nook." She replied cryptically, although Lisa nodded in understanding. We walked about a quarter mile away, up a steep and sandy path on a hill. When we got to the top, Paige led me through some trees, and we emerged at the edge of a twenty to thirty foot cliff overlooking the beach and party. She laid the blanket down and we sat next to each other again, the angle allowing us to see down, but the trees secluding us from the rest of the party.
"This is beautiful." I said, gazing down at the bonfire from our vantage point.
"Yes it is." Paige assured. I turned to look at her and realized she had been looking at me when she said it. I decided to tease her a bit.
"I'm sure this is where you bring all the girls huh?" Two things happened at once. I saw a flash of brief panic in her brown eyes as I moved closer and leaned in to kiss her. The expression had happened so quickly I almost didn't catch it, because as I pulled away from our kiss she had a lazy grin on her face. She hadn't realized I was joking at first.
I noticed the hopeful look in her eyes, the way my heart was beating faster, and decided I didn't really care if she had brought someone else up here once. I was here with her now. I was hers if she wanted me still.
"Is this okay?" I asked, cupping her cheek and brushing her lips with my thumb. She nodded as she leaned in to kiss me, this time our kiss deepening as her tongue flicked expectantly at my lips. I opened my mouth and deepened our kiss. One hand grabbed her hip and the other landed on her chest. I could feel her heartbeat quickening and felt myself falling in love yet again. We still had an incredible effect on one another.
As we made out, pressure started building. I needed some kind of release. I needed to be closer. I broke away from our kiss, moving so I was sitting in her lap. I wrapped legs around her waist, pressing my center as tight as I could against her torso.
"Paige…" I purred, running my hands through her hair as we began to kiss again. Her strong hands and arms wrapped around me, holding me against her and running up and down my back, moving between gripping my hair and stroking my neck and ears.
I started to grind down against her, moving slow at first but then faster as I felt her hips starting to rise and meet mine in an unmistakable rhythm. I let my hands wander down to her front, lightly moving against her chest and stomach.
"We shouldn't do this here, right? We could get caught..." I reasoned, even as I was trying to unbutton her shirt. She seemed to nod in agreement as she lifted my shirt off, exposing my bikini top. A complete normal attire for a beach party.
Paige left one hand at the small of my back to keep me from falling backward, as the other wandered to grab one of my wrists. She pressed my own hand against the outside of my shorts. I nearly fainted when she moved my hand and silently encouraged me to touch myself through my own shorts.
"I can tell you need it, but you're right; someone could come find us any moment…" I moved my hand faster against the outside of my shorts. They were thin, flimsy material and I could almost feel my soaked panties through them. Soaked panties I wanted Paige to pull off with her teeth, voyeurs be damned.
"Do you want to come?" She asked in my ear. Do I want to come? I was nearly there just imagining what Paige might do to me, the beach breeze caressing our skin and the party below us and oblivious. I nodded, too far gone. My breath was ragged as I imagined Paige taking me right now.
"Say yes please." She commanded, not roughly but calmly. Like a directive she expected would be followed without dispute or hesitation. Her fingernails were now lightly scratching up and down my back.
"Yes please." In one swift and smooth maneuver, Paige lifted me and laid me down on top of the blanket. Then she lied flush on top of me. She grabbed my hand again and slipped it under my shorts and swim bottoms. I couldn't believe the waves of electric pleasure that coursed through my body. I started to touch myself as she started to grind down on me, panting and moaning. Every time her leg bumped against my center, my hand put more pressure on where I needed it most.
She watched my reaction, and our eyes locked as we moved against each other again and again. I could feel myself starting to tremble. I started to close my eyes but Paige touched my cheek and told me no.
"Look me in the eyes." I obeyed and started to feel the pressure build to an impossible level, her pace steady and deliberate. Finally one more brush against my slippery clit and I was done, convulsing under her. She seemed to come too, just from grinding against my leg. We kept eye contact for a few moments more before she grinned and leaned down to kiss my neck.
"That was crazy." I said, even as I pulled her down so her face was nestled against my neck. We both started laughing at ourselves.
"I can't believe I came just from that." Paige quietly mused. "Only you could do that to me Emily Fields." She added, kissing my neck. We laid against one another, recovering from our mutual orgasms. Finally Paige raised her head and looked into my eyes.
"We should get back down to the party." She suggested, grabbing my shirt and hand it to me before buttoning up her own.
"Good point. Won't your teammates rib you for this?"
"Rib me for what? We were just enjoying the view up here…" She smirked, kissing me slowly.
We walked back to the party in a comfortable, post-coital silence and I was struck by a sudden, inexplicable stab of sadness. I tried to understand where the feeling was coming from? It was sad I only had one more full day with Paige. But it was bigger than that.
Even though I was getting my life together in Rosewood, this is what I could have had. If I hadn't injured myself, this could have been us every weekend. If I hadn't been so entranced by Alison, so relieved to realize she really hadn't been the enemy.
"Hey what's wrong?" Paige asked, noticing me frowning at my thoughts.
"It's stupid…I was just thinking this could have been us for the past two years. I'm barely getting myself together, and you seem so much happier now than you ever have." I explained, looking up at Paige. She shook her head.
"Em…don't do that. Everything that's happened…it's led us back to one another. Maybe if you'd come here with me, we would have broken up. Maybe we wouldn't be the same people. Maybe you would have still been thinking about Alison…" She added, the last part barely above a whisper as she looked down.
"No Paige…" I teared up at the thought of her still thinking she was the second choice.
"I know you loved her. She's a part of who you are. I mean when I say that everything has led us back. Including your relationship Alison." She said it firmly and without a note of bitterness. "All I care about…is you being here with me now." She added.
"You're right." I said.
"I almost always am." I quickly kissed her, both surprised and relieved at how quickly she could dismantle the sad mood I had briefly fallen in. We walked back to the bonfire, ready to appreciate the rest of the party and our time together.