This chapter is rated M for Mature
The wind had picked up considerably since their afternoon walk, and all of the reporters on television were expecting the tropical storm to hit the Hamptons by early morning. The police were closing roads left and right, but Piper had convinced Alex that they should ride out the storm. Just to be sure, Alex made Piper check in with the neighbors, all of whom were remaining in Amagansett.
At 2 a.m. Alex awoke to the sound of something falling on the roof. "Piper? Piper, wake up."
"Hmm?" She snuggled against Alex's side, not opening her eyes.
Alex jumped out of bed and looked through the French doors leading to the balcony. "Holy shit!" She opened the door and a gust of wind blew inside.
"What the hell?" Piper brushed her hair out of her face as the wind reached the bed.
"Turn on the news," Alex demanded, shutting the door.
Piper flipped on the old television and adjusted the antennae. (It was the oldest thing in the cottage.)
"We're already feeling the effects of Tropical Storm Elijah on the coast," the reporter said from her position on the beach. "The seas are swelling to 12 to 14 feet, and it's only going to get worse over the next three to four hours."
Piper crawled to the edge of the bed and tugged on Alex's t-shirt. Alex backed up and reached for her girlfriend, not taking her eyes off of the TV.
"Margaret, we're already hearing about 15,000 people on Long Island are without power. Any idea if that number will grow?" The news anchor's expression was severe.
As if on cue, the lights flickered.
"I need you to find some flashlights." Alex stood and put on a pair of shorts. "I'm going to light candles."
Piper got out of bed and rooted through her parents' closet. "I found two flashlights. We just need batteries."
"I'll go look downstairs." She hurried down the steps as the lights flickered again. "Fuck." She looked in the pantry and in several cabinets but couldn't locate batteries. She found a lighter and several decorative candles around the living room, so she lit them and went on the hunt for supplies in the attached garage.
"I think my dad keeps emergency stuff in the shed. I'll be right back," Piper said from inside the house.
Alex couldn't hear what she'd said other than 'emergency' and 'shed.' She hunted around the garage for anything that looked like it could help them in their current predicament, and when she dug into the second box, the lights completely went out. "Piper?"
No answer.
"Piper? It's really dark in here." She felt her way against the wall and found the door leading back inside. She opened it and was relieved to see the flickering candles. "Any luck?"
No answer.
"Piper, where'd you go?" She asked anxiously.
Alex looked around the vast living room and kitchen, and when she didn't see her girlfriend, she glanced outside. Piper was coming out of a shed in the corner of the yard with a box in her arms.
She opened the patio door. "It's really windy out there. Come back inside!"
A gust of wind blew a piece of metal siding off the shed, slicing past Piper.
"Ow!" Piper dropped the box and grabbed her arm.
"What the fuck?" Alex ran outside and watched her girlfriend crumble to the ground. "What happened? Did you hurt yourself?"
"My arm," she complained.
The wind howled, blowing Alex's hair into her face. "Let me see." She twisted her girlfriend's arm and saw blood coming from her bicep. "You're cut."
She helped the younger woman up with one arm and picked up the box with the other. They walked against the wind and back into the home, having to duck from a large branch that fell from the sky.
"Sit down," Alex demanded, brushing the hair out of her face first, and then Piper's.
"It hurts." She looked down at her arm. "Alex, I'm bleeding!"
"You cut yourself." The brunette wet a rag in the kitchen sink and applied pressure to the wound. "I can't tell how deep it is."
Lightening flashed and seconds later, thunder shook the house.
"We should've left earlier today," Alex said under her breath.
"Now is not the time for, I told you so."
Alex wiped the blood away and looked more closely at the cut. "You might need stitches."
"We can't very well get to a hospital right now, can we?" She snapped.
"You shouldn't have gone outside in the middle of a fucking storm," she tossed back. "That was a stupid move!"
Alex waited for a comeback, but instead, she felt Piper's hand on her cheek and it looked like Piper was doing everything in her power to fight back tears. "I'm scared, Alex," she whispered in a shaky voice.
"I know." Alex hugged her. "I know, kid. I'm sorry." She kissed the top of her head. "I'm going to find some bandages. Just keep putting pressure on it."
Alex took a candle with her to the bathroom on the main level and shut the door almost all the way. She put the candle on the back of the toilet and her hands on the edge of the counter, hanging her head. She was on the brink of tears, but two deep breaths and a reminder to herself that she needed to stay calm for Piper's sake, allowed her to keep her tears at bay.
"Alex?" Piper called in the distance.
She jerked her head up. "Be right there." She rooted around the medicine cabinet and found ointment and a first aid kit, complete with bandages. Alex walked back to the living room as she rifled through the box. "Looks like you're in luck."
"What, is there a suture kit in there?" Piper sniffed.
"No, and you wouldn't want me giving you stitches." She held up a butterfly bandage. "I remember cutting myself on a barbed wire fence when I was young, and my mom had to use one of these to hold the skin together." She removed the rag and noticed that the bleeding had subsided, so she rubbed ointment in the cut. "We didn't have health insurance, so going to the hospital for stitches was out of the question." She lifted the back of the bandage and placed the butterfly strip over her girlfriend's cut, carefully squeezing the skin together.
"Do you have a scar?" Piper wiped her snotty nose with the sleeve of Alex's shirt.
The brunette looked at the wet marks on her sleeve and smiled. "Gross!"
"Sorry," she replied with no real sincerity.
"There's a scar on my ankle, towards my heel."
"I've never noticed it." Piper checked out her girlfriend's handiwork.
"You clearly haven't spent enough time looking at my lower leg," Alex teased, happy to redirect the conversation from her girlfriend's injury to something benign.
"True," Piper admitted. "There's just too many other places on your body where I'd rather focus my attention." She reached out to cup Alex's face. "Like your lips."
The brunette leaned in for a chaste kiss. "Feel better?"
She nodded. "Thank you."
"No more venturing outside or anywhere where I can't see you, ok?"
Another bolt of lightning was followed by booming thunder. It was still pitch black outside, so they couldn't see much except when the lightening lit up the backyard.
"Will you look in that larger box to see if there are any supplies we can use?" Piper asked, still perched on the kitchen stool.
Alex dug inside and found a big, orange flashlight and a pack of batteries. "Look!" She shoved two AA batteries into each flashlight and shined it in Piper's face.
"Alex!" she complained, whacking the flashlight away.
"We should probably get away from the windows in case a branch or something breaks the glass," the brunette said, holding out her hand to help Piper down from the stool. "What room has the fewest windows?"
"Besides the bathroom? Probably my old room."
"Let's go in there until the severe weather passes."
The women had fallen asleep in Piper's childhood bed, and when they woke up, the rain and wind had subsided. Alex kissed Piper on the cheek before getting out of bed and looking out of the high, singular window. Branches were strewn about the yard, and the shed sustained some wind damage. The pool was filled with all sorts of debris, and the lawn chairs had blown off the deck.
Alex reached for the light switch, but the power was still out.
"Did the storm pass?" Piper asked groggily from the bed. "Ow."
"Looks like it," the brunette replied. "How's your arm?"
"It's sore." She looked at the bandage.
Alex held her arm and looked closely at the wound, but she had successfully covered the deepest part with the butterfly bandage. "I'm not going to remove this thing, but I think we should get you to a doctor or a hospital to make sure it's not infected."
"Our neighbors are doctors," Piper announced. "Maybe we could walk over there in a little while."
Alex kissed her lover on the mouth. "Ok."
Alex convinced Piper to go to their neighbor's cottage alone for fear of her parents finding out that she was in Amagansett with her lover, a fact that the Chapman's did not and could not know.
Piper reluctantly knocked on the door and was greeted by Dr. Levine. She later told Alex that the doctor applauded the application of the butterfly bandage and sent her home with strict instructions on how to clean the wound. She even gave the blonde three more bandages that would suit her cut well.
Although the sun came out around noon, it was still very breezy and the lawn looked like a tornado had come through.
"Should we start cleaning up the yard?" Alex asked as she towel dried her hair after a shower.
"No, the lawn service can do that after we leave," Piper replied, putting on her black bikini.
Alex eyed her lover. "Where are you going?"
"The beach," Piper announced, pulling on a pair of linen drawstring pants. "The pool is filthy, we don't have electricity, and I'm ready for a tan."
The brunette chuckled. "Were you going to ask if I wanted to go?"
"I just assumed you would." Piper tied the drawstring a few inches below her navel.
"Have you not seen my alabaster skin?" Alex opened her robe, exposing her naked self to her girlfriend. "I have a serious aversion to laying out for the sake of getting a tan."
Piper's eyes hooded over as she stepped closer to Alex.
"Don't give me that look," Alex pleaded with a smirk in place.
"What look?" She reached out to touch her lover's breast.
"That's your sex look."
"I don't have a sex look," Piper replied innocently. "It's just my face."
"Bullshit!" Alex couldn't help stepping into Piper's personal space. "Your eyelids get heavy and your mouth falls open just a bit. It's totally your sex look."
"I don't believe I have a look," the blonde said, eyes still hooded, as she raised her other hand to Alex's bare waist. "But I do want to fuck you…so there's that."
Alex let out a low moan, and then picked up Piper's left hand, kissing her knuckles. "By all means, don't let me stop you."
If Piper hadn't made the first move, Alex surely would have, what with the way her girlfriend looked in the bikini top and loose-fitting linen pants. Her toned stomach alone was enough to drive Alex mad; she figured she could spend hours just touching and kissing her lover there.
Piper dropped to her knees and spread her lover's center. She dove right in, licking and nipping at the pink skin.
"Fuck, Piper," she breathed, placing one hand on the back of the blonde's head.
It wasn't just the sensation of Piper's tongue in her center that pushed her over the edge, it was watching her head bob up and down, clearly enjoying every second of eating her girlfriend out.
"I'm cuming, babe!" Alex shouted. "Oh, fuck, Piper…Piper, unghfuck…ah!" She flopped onto the bed, weak knees finally giving out.
Piper glanced up at her girlfriend with a cocky grin on her glistening mouth. "I love when you say my name in the throes of passion."
She smiled. "You have a good name to shout."
The blonde wiped her mouth on the towel that Alex had dried her hair with, and then climbed onto the bed, next to her lover. "I wonder if sex will ever get boring for us, or if we won't do it as often as we do now?"
Alex tucked her arm around her girlfriend and leaned down to place a kiss on her nose. "I hope not."
"Me, too." She sat up. "Ready to go to the beach?"
"Ugh," Alex complained. "I need 30 minutes."
"Suit yourself." She hopped off of the bed. "I'm going to pack a bag of snacks and drinks. We'll stop at one of the shops and get you some 500 proof sunscreen."
Alex threw the towel at her. "You're not funny!"
Piper smiled and jogged downstairs.
Against her will, Alex allowed Piper to drag her to the beach. There was a row of white-washed Adirondack chairs for rent, and Piper handed the attendant some cash to reserve two of them, along with an oversized beach umbrella.
"This is for you." Piper glanced at Alex, and then at the muscular teen, who was busy shoving the base of the umbrella into the sand. "He's hot," she mouthed.
Alex lifted an eyebrow. She could appreciate a man's body; she just didn't want a penis anywhere near her. She and Piper had had a conversation a few months ago about sexuality, and Piper admitted that she was attracted to women and men alike. This didn't bother the brunette at all—she appreciated her lover's honesty and was not the jealous type. Piper had reassured Alex that night (even though she didn't need to) that she only had eyes for her and didn't see that changing, ever.
Once their station was set up, Piper took off her sweater cover up (that didn't really cover much up at all) and her linen pants, and then applied sunscreen to her chest, arms and stomach. "Will you do my back?"
Alex squeezed some lotion onto her hands and rubbed her girlfriend's shoulders, relishing in the way her skin felt under her palms. "All done. Will you do me?"
Piper wiggled her eyebrows. "I already did you this morning, babe."
Alex smiled and waved a hand dismissively at her lover. She hadn't worn a bikini in years—since her junior year at Berkeley when she went to Santa Cruz with some friends. Fortunately, her green one still fit perfectly.
As Piper applied sunscreen to her girlfriend's shoulders, she leaned in and whispered. "Your boobs look hot in that top."
Alex noticed that Piper's obsession with her ass and her breasts was unending. Foreplay for her always began and ended by touching one or the other.
"Thank you," she replied, moving Piper's hands onto her sides after they'd slowly crept to her breasts. She had to repeat the action three times. "You're awfully handsy today."
"Not being able to touch your tits right now is damn near killing me," the blonde said in a hushed, sexual tone.
"Well, unless you pull an invisible shield out of your bag that appears to have everything else under the sun in it, you're going to have to wait for that."
Piper stepped in front of her lover. "You're no fun."
The brunette huffed and put on her wide-brimmed hat and Ray Bans. She sat in the Adirondack chair and pulled out a book from her bag. "I intend to read in the shade. You go do…whatever perky, young blondes do."
"Swimming. I'm going swimming." Piper kissed Alex on the side of the mouth and then pranced off towards the water.
Alex admired the way Piper's bikini bottom rode up on her tight, little ass, exposing a tan line where her thigh met the curve of her butt. She involuntarily licked her lips, wondering for a brief moment if she should chase after Piper and take her right there in the middle of the semi-private beach with 20 other people around.
Although she'd explored every inch of her former student's body over the past year, Alex still wanted more. She wanted to know every beauty mark, every scar, every curve so intimately that she could find them with her eyes shut.
She chuckled at herself, and then dove into a Murakami novel to try to take her mind off of sex.
Alex must have fallen asleep for a moment, because she was startled to wake up to a dripping wet Piper hovering over her. "Fuck, that's cold!"
Piper was soaking wet, both hands on either side of the arms of the Adirondack chair, leaning close to her girlfriend's face, water dripping onto Alex's chest and lap. Her hair was slicked back, curling at the ends. "The water is refreshing. Want to go for a dip?"
She couldn't resist—Alex grabbed her lover's head and kissed her with an open mouth and dancing tongue. "You are so fucking hot right now."
Piper pulled back and smirked. "There are some sand dunes over there…"
Fuck it.
Keeping her Ray Bans on, Alex threw her novel down, took off her hat and followed the blonde 30 feet away from their position on the beach, behind two rows of sand dunes that were covered with sea oats. She all but shoved Piper onto the ground, her tanned skin a stunning contrast against the white sand.
"Lay back," Alex demanded.
"Look who's bossy now."
She watched water droplets gather near her lover's belly button, and then scooted between Piper's legs, starting out with her tongue on Piper's stomach. "Salty."
"It's the ocean," Piper commented mockingly.
"I'm not sure there has ever been a time when I've wanted to fuck you this badly," Alex admitted, tugging at the blonde's bikini bottom. She didn't remove the fabric all the way; rather, pulled it down just far enough so that her mouth had access to her center. She licked her pussy, and Piper's hips bucked up.
"Alex," the blonde moaned.
The brunette used her fingers dexterously, holding the bikini bottoms in place with four fingers, and opening her lover's center with the others. She licked the inside of her lips generously, nipping at her clit when she reached the top.
"You're going to make me cum!" Piper looked up at her lover. "Those sunglasses…I can't…oh, Alex, God, ungh, ungh, ungh!"
"Shhh, shhh, shh!" Alex demanded between licks. "You have to be quiet, babe."
"It's still going," Piper moaned, not adhering to Alex's request. "Oh, God, Alex!"
After she finished cuming, Piper threw one arm over her head and reached for her girlfriend with the other. She was still panting. "That was insane."
Alex put her bikini back in place and wiped her mouth on the black fabric. She crawled up her lover's body. "I can't believe we just did it on the beach!"
"I can," Piper said, eyes shut. "You wanted me since you saw me in a bikini."
Alex rolled her eyes. "That's not an egotistical thing to say at all."
"It's true, and you know it." She hugged Alex closer.
"Yeah, it is true." She ran her fingertips up and down her girlfriend's stomach. "You're fucking gorgeous."
Piper turned to kiss her. "So are you." She brushed a long strand of black hair out of her face, and then leaned in for a more proper kiss. "Especially with those Aviators on. In fact, I might be up for round two right now."
"What the hell?" A lifeguard stepped back. "Uh, sorry…I heard someone yelling."
Piper acted as cool as possible. "It's ok. We're finished here."
"Yeah, ok…sorry." He walked away.
Alex slapped her tummy and giggled. "We need to get out of here."
They giggled on their way back to the Adirondack chairs, picked up their belongings and headed back to the cottage for what Alex assumed would be another round of sex.
Author's Note: If you haven't seen the Net-A-Porter photo shoot and video of Taylor Schilling, run to the internet. On the video at the two minute mark is what I pictured in my head when writing the Piper in a bikini in an Adirondack chair scene. Holy hotness.