Marissa opened her eyes to see sunlight creeping in around the edge of the curtains. It was morning and somehow she had fallen asleep. She had moved in the night and now rested on her side and Bianca was spooned in behind her. She lay still, content in the comfort of Bianca's embrace, not wanting to disturb her; her girlfriend needed to rest after the trauma of last night. But as she lay there, Marissa became more and more aware of Bianca's presence and the way her sleeping form pressed up against hers. She could feel the tickle of moist breath at the nape of her neck, and the weight of a hand on her stomach, slipped under her t-shirt, warming bare skin.

Every so often Bianca would sigh on her sleep, or sometimes she would shift her body slightly before relaxing once more. Marissa's heart skipped a beat at any little change of contact; the twitch of a finger, or the puff of air on a different part of her neck. With every change in Bianca's position, Marissa's felt a change of her own. It had built up slowly, almost unexpectedly but now it felt like every nerve in her body was being pulled towards the warmth of Bianca's body, every inch of her now hyper aware of her presence and any little change it made.

As if sensing the need in Marissa, Bianca let out an unexpected moan. The hand, that suddenly became the centre of Marissa's universe, slipped a little higher to warm a new patch of skin; as her body pressed closer.

Marissa barely bit back a moan of her own.

Then her breath caught in her throat when she realised that Bianca's hand was still moving, fingers were caressing her skin and suddenly the warm breath on her neck was replaced by a trail of soft kisses. Bianca was awake.

Marissa quickly rolled over, trying to regain some control over her senses. It wasn't the right time.

"'Morning." said Bianca, greeting her with a sleepy smile.

"'Morning." replied Marissa. Her voice was a little breathless as Bianca's hand, still under her shirt, was now tracing a slow, ticklish path up her side. It was an almost thoughtless act on Bianca's part but it was having a profound effect on Marissa.

"I miss this." said Bianca with a sigh, "Waking up with you."

Marissa sighed too. She was trying to stop her body from reacting to the teasing path Bianca's touch was burning into her skin. She briefly wondered if would be better to just get up and step away from the bed, fleeing from those tormenting fingers, but Bianca had other ideas.

Bianca moved closer, tipping her head slightly to capture Marissa's lips with her own.

It was a slow lingering kiss, perfectly matching the slow lingering trail Bianca hand was mapping out along Marissa's side.

"So you feel better this morning?" asked Marissa, trying to keep her voice from hitching as her body began to do strange things under Bianca's torturous caresses.

"Mmm-hmm." confirmed Bianca, not really wanting to speak; "Thanks to you."

Smiling she leant in for more soft kisses.

Marissa was about to ask another question, instead a groan escaped her lips as Bianca used her fingernails to trace a path along her spine.

"God," gasped Marissa, "Do you have any idea what you are doing to me?"

"Maybe a little." said Bianca, a rakish smile pulling at the corner of her mouth. "I just love the softness of your skin."

As she spoke her fingers slipped down to Marissa's stomach, tracing a path back to her hip.

"Oh god." gulped Marissa.

Marissa looked into Bianca's eyes, the pain of last night was gone. All that remained was love, and more than a hint of lust. Marissa finally realised that the light caresses that were tormenting her so, were more calculated than they had first appeared. This wasn't just happening to her, Bianca was feeling it too. This was something they both wanted.

"Do you want me to stop?" Bianca asked.

Marissa shook her head vehemently.

Bianca smiled, and rolled Marissa onto her back. She kissed her deeply, savouring the taste of her mouth, as she pulled Marissa's arms up above her head and rested them on the pillow. Marissa didn't resist.

"Don't move." said Bianca softly, while her hands slid back down to Marissa's waist.

She kissed her again, this time more tenderly, as her hands began a path up Marissa's sides gathering the shirt up as they went, just enough to expose the smooth expanse of her stomach. Then Bianca pulled back and they both looked down to watch the measured meandering path Bianca's finger traced from Marissa's ribcage across her stomach, down to her navel, slipping briefly just inside the waistband of her shorts and along to her hip.

The scene was so incredibly intimate and so incredibly erotic.

Bianca waited until she caught Marissa's eye again before asking her next question.

"Do you trust me?"

"I do." breathed Marissa without hesitation.

Bianca's finger swirled around her belly button once more and then slid up under her t-shirt on a teasing path between her breasts and back down.

Bianca kept Marissa's gaze.

"I love you." she said, in such a way that there could never be a doubt.

Marissa nodded, but the anticipation burning through her body was so much she could no longer speak.

Bianca's bent down to kiss her once more, a brief taste of her mouth before journeying across her cheek and down along the curve of her neck, at the same time she slid her hand along a slow path up over Marissa's ribs and under her shirt.

Marissa closed her eyes, surrendering to the moment,

"Oh god, Bianca!"

…

*Knock, knock, knock.*

"Bianca, are you awake? I need to talk to you"

With a curse, Bianca collapsed on top of Marissa, her head sinking despairingly against her shoulder while Marissa let out a moan of frustration.

"Not now, Kendal." begged Bianca.

"Yes now." said Kendal as she opened the door. "It's urgent... You had better be descent."

Bianca reluctantly rolled off her girlfriend, allowing Marissa the opportunity to quickly straighten her nightclothes.

"What do you want?" Bianca asked, unable to keep the annoyance from her voice.

"I came to see how you were feeling." said Kendal, confused by her reception and then she noticed Marissa seemed a little flushed and realised she may have interrupted a little more than she expected.

Suddenly feeling very awkward she continued,

"Um… I'm off with mom in half an hour for to the Good Morning America interview and wanted to check if you are still okay about going to LA. Mom said she would go in your place if you don't feel up to it."

"No, I'll be fine." said Bianca. "It was just that last night… It was a shock… I expected them to show it, because they always show the rape. I just didn't think they would show so much and make it so violent… so real…To see it all on screen like that and in front of all those people…" Bianca shuddered and a hint of pain returned to her face, but she rallied quickly. "But this morning I feel better. I feel more like my old self." She turned to give Marissa a grateful grin. "It must be the company."

"I'm glad" said Kendal, "And I'm so sorry for interrupting whatever..." embarrassed she gave a general wave in their direction rather than say the words. "The thing is, if you are going to LA, then we need to do your physio before I leave or it will mean three days without. And if that happens Frankie will have words."

Bianca sighed and sat up in bed.

"You're right," she said reluctantly, "Just… I'll need a minute to freshen up."

"That's fine." said Kendal crossing her arms across her chest, clearly intending to wait.

Bianca turned to Marissa.

"I'm sorry about all this." she said sharing a soft kiss.

Marissa grasped the collar of her robe and pulled her back for a deeper kiss.

"We shall continue this later." she said as she rested her forehead against Bianca's.

"Yes we will." agreed Bianca her rakish grin returning, as she stole one last kiss.

As Bianca disappeared into the bathroom Marissa turned back towards Kendal.

"You do know you have the worst timing EVER!"

…