Chapter eighteen: I'm falling in love with you
Lara awoke due to a soft tingly feeling on her stomach which felt as if someone was tracing soft patterns with a single fingertip. Knowing that that someone beside her was Dana, she decided to keep her eyes shut, trying to make out just what pattern Dana was tracing on her skin. As she was trying to concentrate on the line the fingertip was drawing, the redhead found it quite difficult to make out a pattern, since the sensation Dana's finger was causing turned out to be quite distracting. She could hardly keep herself from sighing in utter contentment. Her girlfriend's forehead rested against her shoulder, her calm breath caressed her skin and once in a while the tennis player would place a gentle kiss on her upper arm.
"A heart...," she guessed after a while, her voice still thick with sleep. She could feel the other woman smile against her skin.
"You're awake?" Dana wondered, still tracing small hearts around Lara's belly button.
The sous chef nodded, opened her eyes and found her girlfriend's blue ones looking right at her. "It's a heart," she repeated with a smile.
The athlete smiled back at her, now bracing herself on her forearm.
"Does it have a deeper meaning?" Lara asked, putting a stray strand of her lover's hair behind her ear.
Dana's smile turned into a grin. "Maybe," she whispered.
"Maybe what?" The redhead raised a brow.
A slight blush crept over the brunette's cheeks. "Maybe it does have a deeper meaning," she said with a slight giggle attached to her voice.
"What does it mean then?" Lara prodded, watching the shy grin on the other woman's face.
Dana hesitated, seemingly searching for the right words. "I think, well, I'm falling in love with you, Lara," she admitted after a short silence, averting her eyes as if embarrassed.
The simple statement caused Lara's heart to skip a beat. She could feel pure happiness well up inside herself and felt a silly smile form on her lips. Hugging Dana close to herself and taking in her scent, she brushed her lips against the tennis player's ear before whispering, "I'm falling in love with you, too, Dana."
"Really?"
Lara inwardly shook her head at Dana's insecurity that used to show itself in the oddest moments. "Really," she said, confirming her statement with a kiss on the brunette's cheek.
The tennis player giggled. "Just one?"
"Oh, are we demanding for more kisses?" Lara asked, raising her brows.
Dana nodded, saying, "Oh, yeah!" before closing her eyes and pursing her lips.
The redhead laughed at the cute display before willingly complying her lover's demand for more kisses. She started at Dana's supple lips, then started trailing kisses along her jawline and down her neck while rolling Dana onto her back and moving on top of her. The athlete sighed, wrapped her arms around Lara's back and tilted her head backwards.
"It's an interesting taste," the sous chef observed, running her tongue along her girfriend's collar bone and up her neck, tasting her skin which was covered in a layer of dried sweat.
"What is?" the tennis player asked, softly panting.
Lara smiled and nibbled the athlete's neck a little longer, using her teeth to add a little extra pleasure. Dana let out a low moan. "Your skin, Dana," Lara said, feeling all warm and fuzzy. "It's somewhat salty."
There was no response coming from the brunette, but Lara hadn't really expected her to say something in return and so the redhead continued to nibble on her lover's neck, causing her to sigh in pleasure once in a while. Lara enjoyed the shared intimacy, loving the feeling of their naked bodies intertwined as well as the sensations Dana's hands were causing on her back. She placed one last tender kiss on the other woman's delicious lips and sat up, straddling her hips. She felt Dana's hands sliding down her sides until they rested on her hips. Their eyes locked and both women smiled at each other. Taking in the sight of the woman beneath her, her long dark tresses spread onto the pillow, her naked chest rising and falling as she was breathing calmly, Lara felt her throat go dry. She couldn't even begin to find the words to describe what she saw and felt at that very moment. Staring into the athlete's intense blue eyes, she found herself completely speechless, something she had never experienced with any of her former girlfriends.
"What is it?" the tennis player asked in a soft whisper.
The chef's smile brightened at the question. "You're just so beautiful, Dana," she answered at which Dana blushed slightly.
"So are you, Lara."
Lara smiled at the words and started to caress her lover's tanned stomach, eliciting a soft purr of contentment. As Dana closed her eyes again, the redhead started to mimic her earlier gesture, trailing a small heart around the athlete's belly button. The action caused Dana to giggle.
"Does the heart have a deeper meaning?" she asked jokingly, repeating Lara's earlier question, keeping her eyes closed. "Or are you just drawing it for the fun of it?"
Once again the sous chef couldn't help but smile. "It does have a deeper meaning," she stated, intertwining her finger's with the tennis player's.
Dana's eyes snapped open and she smiled a bright smile. "What does it mean?"
Lara chuckled lowly. "I'm falling in love..." she began before bringing their intertwined hands up to place a kiss on her lover's. "...with you."
Although she had heard those words from the taller woman before, Dana blushed and began to giggle. Another smile lightened up the chef's features as another comfortable silence engulfed the lovers. They continued to admire each other for a while before Lara leaned down slowly, bracing herself on her forearms on each side of Dana's head, her red hair tumbling down into Dana's face. Their faces were only a few inches apart; Lara could feel the other woman's calm breath on her skin. The tennis player smiled an amorous smile and began to play with the chef's hair.
"I like your hair," she whispered.
The redhead only nodded at that, playfully nudging her girlfriend's nose with her own, eliciting another happy giggle. Closing the final distance between them, the sous chef leaned down to kiss the other woman, closing her eyes. They kissed slowly, tenderly, deeply, knowing, as if by a silent agreement, that this wasn't about having sex, but about being simply close to each other. Dana moved her hands behind her lover's head, running them through her red hair. Lara sighed into the kiss, feeling as if her heart was about to explode with all the happiness and love she was feeling. Neither woman seemed to be willing to break the kiss, but it ended anyway, leaving them both panting and speechless.
"Enough with the falling," Lara said after a while, earning herself a confused stare.
"What-" Dana began, but the redhead silenced her with another brief kiss.
Leaning towards the athlete's ear, Lara whispered, "I'm not falling anymore, Dana, that happened some time ago." She paused, noticing that Dana's breathing had slowed down. "I'm in love with you, Dana Fairbanks, head over heels in love with you."
As soon as she had said those words, Lara found herself in Dana's embrace, feeling a soft kiss being placed on her left ear, followed by, "I'm in love with you, too, Lara Perkins."
They rolled over, lying side by side, facing each other, still comfortably wrapped in each other's arms.
"Let's stay in bed," Dana suggested with a contented sigh.
"Hmm, until we have to get up and go to work," Lara replied, earning herself a warning look from the brunette.
"Don't remind me, Lara, I wanna enjoy this," Dana said, snuggling closer and resting her forehead against Lara's chest.
The redhead placed a small kiss on the smaller woman's head and tightened the embrace. "I'm sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes.
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at kickboxing.gurl: I love that episode, too. It finally showed the hot side of Dana and Lara which I would have liked to see more often. And yeah, Dana can also be cool :D.
at WolfgalX: Did they really make out in that many places, hmm, okay, the parking lot, the locker room, The Planet, ..., okay, they really did :D, and yeah, I would have a hard time getting them out of my head if I'd walk in on them, so...you'll see what will happen.
at auggy1984: Hey, haven't heard from you in a while. It's nice to see you back and thank you. :)
at Aqua Bubbles: What a coincidence, huh:D Well, hopefully you enjoyed the chapter.