Author's note: thank you so much to everyone who's followed, favorited, or reviewed this story so far - I'm really grateful :-) Hope you all enjoy this chapter...
Chapter Six: Challenges
"What time is it?" Quinn panted as she fell back against the mattress breathing hard. A sheen of sweat covered her body and she brushed her damp hair out of her eyes.
"I think the words you were looking for were 'thank you, Santana, for that amazing orgasm'," huffed Santana, pretending to be offended. Quinn rolled her eyes before turning over to look at her alarm clock. It was Wednesday morning and their flight back to Lima was scheduled for two thirty that afternoon. That meant the girls had to leave the apartment by eleven fifteen at the latest, and although Quinn's bag had been neatly packed the night before, Santana's suitcase lay open and half empty in the middle of the floor.
It's after nine," Quinn groaned. "We need to get up. I need to take a shower and you still need to pack." She tried to sit up but suddenly Santana was on top of her, pinning her to the bed, and despite the fact that her body was still cooling down after their earlier activities, Quinn felt another rush of desire. Her hips bucked against Santana's thighs of their own volition and she pulled Santana down into a wet, messy kiss, tangling her fingers in Santana's long, silky hair to hold her in place.
"Hey you," Santana chuckled, giving her a wolfish grin when they finally came up for air.
"Hi," Quinn said softly. Santana rolled her hips against Quinn and a shiver of pleasure danced down her spine. "Baby, we can't," she whined. "We'll miss the flight."
"But I want you." Santana was stubborn and determined as her hand palmed Quinn's breast, stroking her thumb over a hard nipple and causing Quinn to bite down hard on her lower lip. "We won't get another chance to do this for three days." They'd agreed that, although they'd be sharing a bed at Quinn's mom's house, they would refrain from any and all sexual activity. It wasn't a restriction Judy had imposed, but one of their own choice. They didn't want to risk being overheard - that would be excruciatingly awful and embarrassing for all of them.
"We'll find a way," Quinn said weakly, throwing their decision aside. "We'll just have to be quiet, that's all."
Santana raised an eyebrow. "You think you can be quiet?" she asked disbelievingly. To prove her point she rolled her hips again and bent her head to swipe her tongue across Quinn's aroused nipple. Quinn let out an audible moan and Santana smiled smugly. "See," she insisted, before suckling hard against the sensitive nub.
Quinn tried very hard to glare at her fiancée, but it was near impossible when Santana was causing waves of bliss to course through her body.
"At least come and take a shower with me?" Quinn begged. "Otherwise, we'll never make it to the airport on time."
Santana considered her proposal carefully as her hands stroked up and down Quinn's sides.
"I can work with that," she decided, leaping energetically out of bed and pulling Quinn with her in the direction of the bathroom.
They made it to the airport on time for their flight, albeit with still damp hair and Quinn worrying that she'd left the toaster plugged in. Santana had to convince her that even if she had, it was unlikely to spontaneously combust and burn down the apartment block within the next three days before Quinn would agree to get in the line for security. Then, just before they were due to board the plane, Santana announced that she couldn't remember if she'd packed any underwear or not and it took all of Quinn's willpower not to turn around and go home.
"I was just joking," Santana was still insisting to her highly strung fiancée as they fastened their seat belts. "I was trying to calm you down."
"Well, you have a strange way of going about it," Quinn snapped, and then instantly regretted her harshness. She clasped Santana's hand in hers and rested her head against the brunette's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she said with a sigh. "I don't mean to be a bitch, I'm just..." She broke off and shrugged.
"Nervous?" Santana supplied, and Quinn nodded. "It's okay, I do understand, you know. It's a big deal, us staying with your mom. I want it to work out, and I want her to be happy for us when we tell her about the engagement." She studied their hands which were still clasped loosely in Quinn's lap, then threaded their fingers together and ran her thumb over Quinn's engagement ring.
"We haven't talked about the logistics of telling my mom," Quinn said softly. "I mean, do you think we should tell her straight away, or should we wait? Maybe tell her at Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow?"
"It's your call," Santana told her with a rueful smile. "You know her better than anyone, so only you can make that decision. Whatever you decide is fine by me."
Quinn was quiet for a long time, lost in her own thoughts and staring out of the window as the plane taxied down the runway and took off. It was only when the 'fasten seat belts' sign went off that she tore her gaze away from the fluffy clouds below them, unclicked her seat belt, and curled her body against Santana's side. She breathed in the familiar, calming scent of her fiancée as Santana wrapped a protective arm around her.
"What did you decide?" Santana prodded gently.
Quinn bit down thoughtfully on her lower lip.
"I think we should wait until tomorrow," she said, studying Santana's response carefully in case the brunette thought she was making a bad choice, but Santana remained impassive. "I don't think it's fair to spring it on her the second we walk through the front door, and we'll only be home for a couple of hours before we go to dinner with your parents."
"Okay," Santana told her, reaching out a hand to stroke Quinn's cheek. "We'll tell her tomorrow."
"I can't help but feel bad that I want to tell your parents first," Quinn confessed, still chewing nervously on her lip. Santana ran her thumb across Quinn's mouth to stop her from abusing it any further.
"Why?" she asked, her brow furrowing with confusion.
"I know they'll be happy for us," Quinn explained with a soft sigh. "I don't know how my mom's going to take it, and I feel like if we tell her first and it goes badly then it will kind of taint us telling your parents. It's dumb, I know."
"It's not dumb," Santana replied earnestly. "Q, honestly, I've been freaking out about how your mom will react since we decided to go back to Lima for Thanksgiving." She shook her head. "Actually, no, it goes back way longer," she admitted, "to when I first knew I wanted to ask you to marry me. I don't want to be the reason you lose your mom in your life. I know she's come a long way towards accepting us, but I'm worried that we're pushing her a step too far."
"No!" exclaimed Quinn vehemently, pulling back slightly from Santana's embrace so that she could meet her gaze more easily. "We're not going to make apologies or hide who we are to protect her. She either accepts that I love you and I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you, or she loses me for good. I hope that she makes the right choice but I'm prepared if she doesn't."
Santana beamed at her and licked her lips, a gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Quinn. Then, she leaned forward and brushed Quinn's hair back so that she could bring her lips to Quinn's ear.
"I love it when you get all forceful on me," she whispered throatily. "It really turns me on... The things I want to do to you right now... But I think we've established that you're incapable of keeping quiet, so you'll just have to wait until we get back to New York." Quinn felt her cheeks color and start to burn. She was suddenly painfully aroused, and she knew she'd have no opportunity to do anything about it for quite some time. She repeated Santana's movements so that she could hiss into the brunette's ear in return.
"You're going to pay for that!"
Santana chuckled but remained calm and unruffled.
"I'll look forward to it," she said nonchalantly. Quinn glared at her and pulled back huffily to detangle herself from Santana and sit back in her own seat. She busied herself with fishing her iPod out of her bag and inserting her earbuds whilst studiously avoiding Santana's gaze. Her fiancée shook with silent laughter, a smug smile playing at her lips. Quinn continued to ignore her until Santana had calmed down.
After a while, she felt Santana shift uncomfortably in the seat next to her, and reach out to take her hand. Quinn removed her earbuds expectantly.
"I'm sorry," Santana said gently. "I was just teasing, and you look so cute when you get all hot and bothered. I didn't mean to make you mad."
Quinn gazed at her, stony faced, whilst Santana looked more and more worried. Eventually, she couldn't keep it up any longer and she burst into a fit of giggles that attracted curious attention from a few of their fellow passengers.
"I told you I'd make you pay," she said lightly, and Santana's face ran through a myriad of emotions as she realized Quinn had been playing her.
"I hate you so much, Quinn Fabray!" she whispered, her dark eyes flashing but a forgiving smile on her face as she drew her fiancée close and kissed her, open-mouthed.
"I love you too," Quinn murmured against her lips, before wriggling back into the familiar comfort of the brunette's embrace where she remained for the rest of the flight.
As the plane made its final descent, Quinn reluctantly removed her engagement ring and placed it carefully back into its box. It hurt her to do so, as it was the first time she'd taken it off her finger since Santana had placed it there. Her hand looked wrong without it.
Santana guessed why Quinn suddenly looked so miserable, and squeezed her hand reassuringly.
"It's only temporary," she reminded her. "Next time I put it on your finger, it's for good." Quinn felt a little better at Santana's words but she still felt like a part of her was missing. Not for the first time, she wondered about getting Santana an engagement ring too. Her ring felt like a symbol of Santana's love, and she hated being without it. She wanted Santana to have her own token of the love they shared, but she wanted to make it a special experience, and so far every idea she'd thought of seemed unworthy of her fiancée. She wasn't unduly worried, she knew inspiration would hit her at some point, but she didn't want to wait too long - she wanted to show Santana exactly how much she loved her.
The plane had landed and taxied to the gate whilst Quinn was lost in her own thoughts. She only snapped out of her reverie when she felt Santana shaking her by the shoulder, and she shook her head to clear it.
"Earth to Quinn," Santana was saying, a mixture of amusement and exasperation coloring her features. "Come in, Quinn."
"When did we land?" Quinn asked absently and Santana laughed.
"Where do you go when you do that?" she asked with a low chuckle. "Sometimes I think it must be nice to live in Quinn-land."
"Sometimes," Quinn agreed, and Santana laughed harder, only stopping when Quinn handed her her flight bag and urged her to move with a non too gentle shove.
They made it through baggage reclaim quickly, and hand-in-hand walked towards the meeting place where they'd agreed Judy would wait for them. As they rounded the corner, Quinn caught sight of her mother, fifty feet away and waving excitedly. She couldn't help but groan inwardly.
"Why do I feel like I'm going to face a firing squad?" she asked Santana out of the corner of her mouth. Santana just smiled and squeezed her hand sympathetically in response. Quinn squeezed back, grateful for the support. She knew that, with Santana by her side, she could face anything.