Page 30 of Falls From Grace
“How did today go?”
“Great.” She grinned. “He’s amazing. We had a fun day, didn’t we, kiddo?”
“Fun!” he agreed. “Woot woot!”
Savannah laughed.
“Did you teach him that?”
Brynn shrugged with a lopsided smile.
“I’m a great influence. Kid’s gotta party.”
“Hide!” Tucker jumped off her, landing on Brynn’s leg and wobbling. She winced slightly and righted him and he jumped out of the fort. Brynn tried to follow him out but, “uh-uh, hide!” he shoved the blanket back down in her face. “Mama, Bwynn, hide!” He raced away.
“Uh,” Brynn looked over at her, “this is the only hiding place he knows isn’t it?”
“I think we’re stuck here,” Savannah acknowledged. Their eyes met and Brynn chuckled, Savannah joining in awkwardly. This was less than ideal. They waited a moment, listening, both faces turned toward the doorway of the fort rather than looking at each other.
“Hiding, where are you?” Tucker called out happily from somewhere in the room. They smiled at each other again. The tiny fort felt increasingly small as she belatedly noticed their knees were almost touching. She shuffled back an inch, but there was nowhere further to go.
The blanket fort was dim and close, lit with a soft glow from a small string of golden fairy lights. The lighting was beyond flattering; Brynn’s skin glowed and her hair and lips shone.
She was gazing at Savannah with sparkling eyes and not looking away. She placed one finger against her lips in a teasing hush gesture. Suddenly Savannah wasn’t in control of her own thoughts anymore. She thought about how easy it would be to lean across and kiss her, right here in their hiding place, where no one could see. She thought about how badly she wanted to take that long lovely finger and bite it, then pull it into her mouth and slowly suck, imagining the sound Brynn would make if she did. God, those were beautiful hands. Savannah knew just by looking at Brynn how strong and capable they’d feel against her body. She swallowed hard.
Brynn leaned in even closer towards her. Savannah got a hit of her scent: clean laundry detergent, honey shampoo and warm skin.
“You okay?” Brynn murmured quietly, her tone unbearably intimate this close. Savannah nodded mutely, her breathing shallow. “You’ve gone all flushed.” Brynn gestured helpfully with that same finger at her throat and face, and Savannah felt hot all the way through her body.
“It’s the fort,” she reached for an excuse. “It’s a bit claustrophobic.”
Brynn whipped open the fort for her. She started to laugh.
“I think you can leave.” She swiveled her long limbs aside to let Savannah clamber out on wobbly legs to see her son happily absorbed by reading an upside-down book a few feet away.
Savannah pulled her sweater up over her head, feeling a bit like her body might burst into flames at any moment. Pulling at her t-shirt, she swung around to look at Brynn. Was there something knowing in the other woman’s face, or was she just being paranoid? God, she was not handling this.
She thanked Brynn briskly, made a time for her to come again the next day and hustled her out the door claiming exhaustion. Brynn looked slightly startled at her hasty expulsion, and Savannah would have felt guilty if she wasn’t doing it for the sake of Brynn’s marriage. Another few minutes with those dark eyes on her skin and god knows what she’d want to do.
All evening she tapped out a frantic rhythm with her fingers, against the dining table, her hip, the bathtub, and - after Tucker had been tucked into his own bed - she tapped it against her thighs, the rhythm turning sultry when she slipped her hand between them, and by the time she came, shuddering with her back arching off the bed, the rhythm in her head had turned into a song.
“Woah…” said Noah a few days later, staring at her with wide eyes. She looked back, slightly breathless, electric guitar still clutched against her lower abdomen. “That was… um, forgive me, but sexy as fuck.” He grinned broadly; she grinned back. Oh god, she was writing about his wife - this was so twisted - but damn, she knew an excellent song when she heard it, and so, apparently, did he. The crush was going to stay innocent and harmless. The song was anything but. “Let’s lay it down right now!” he said jubilantly. “It’s perfect as it is. I’ll just add a little -” he thrummed a slow and dirty rhythm with the bass, “and it’s done.”
“Okay!” she agreed. Coral’s dubious advice was definitely paying dividends. Brynn smirked at her with a teasing crooked grin and a lyric got written. They verbally sparred, leaning toward each other over the kitchen island, so close and yet so far, and a riff sprung into her head. She’d tossed and turned at nights and blushed and held back her sighs in Brynn’s presence until this song had teased its way all the way out, a catharsis that was as much about the edging as it was about the pay-off. She’d leaned hard into the agitation of a growing want and this was the result. Three-and-a-half minutes of the sex part of sex, drugs and rock and roll.
“Hang on a sec.” Noah pulled out his phone and held it up to his ear. “Brynn!” he exclaimed after a moment. “Come down, we’re laying an awesome track. We gotta hear your opinion…. okay… okay, yep great, see you in a sec!”
“No!” Savannah gaped at him, but he’d already hung up the phone. “I-” she struggled for a reason. “It’s not ready. I mean, she’s got Tucker with her, it’s not really meant for my son to hear-”
“She just said Tucker was asleep.” Noah shrugged. “It’ll only take a few minutes. Come on, it’s our tradition now!”
Savannah sucked in a deep breath. She hadn’t bargained for this. Singing about her unrequited desire in front of Brynn herself? This was - the door to the band room swung open - oh god, actually going to happen.
Brynn walked in, looking appealingly rumpled, her hair out and slightly mussed, wearing one of Noah’s long-sleeved t-shirts, the white one that offset her warm tanned skin and showcased her beautiful collarbones.
“What’s up?” she said, shooting them both a blazing smile. “You got something new?”
“Get ready to drop your panties,” Noah said with a grin and Savannah died. “This song is fucking hot.”
