Like Bees to Honey | gxg

24. Crossing the Line

Sabina's worry that she wouldn't know what to do had been wasted; Mel kissed her back with such enthusiasm that it was impossible to mess it up. They tangled together, Mel's hand in her wet hair pulling her closer, and for a long time it was impossible to think. Sabina could only taste her lips, feel the heat of her skin under her hands, hear the sound of their connected breath.

Eventually, Mel pulled away, but only far enough that Sabina could see her smirk. "I thought you'd never admit you're crazy for me."

Sabina laughed, giddy, and flicked water at her. "If you were so confident, you could have kissed me at any point all day."

"But it was more fun to make you say it."

"You are the most annoying person I've ever met," Sabina said, and kissed her again.

Cool waves washed over their shoulders, and Sabina hooked a heel into a silty crevice to hold them still. She couldn't get enough of the way Mel handled her, not delicately but like she was precious, smiling against her jaw when Sabina needed to catch her breath. It astonished her how fiercely her body responded to the intimacy of their naked proximity. Another thing her imagination had failed to predict.

Mel pressed her lips softly to the wave-kissed hollow at the base of Sabina's throat. "You know," she murmured, her breath sending shudders racing over Sabina's skin, "most people kiss someone before they take their clothes off."

"I'm sorry, are you complaining?"

"Does it sound like I'm complaining?"

"You are talking a lot when you could be kissing me."

Mel laughed softly. Her palm framed ribs, then a curve of hip. "I'm definitely not complaining." Her voice was smokier than the air, thickened by the same fire that burned in Sabina.

When their lips met again, the texture of it had become something wild. Feeling bold, Sabina moved her hands lower. The touch made Mel swear, which was an unexpected delight. Sabina's boobs might have looked nice but they contained basically zero erogenous potential, and she had long harboured a secret suspicion that boob-touching was an activity that was only really fun for the toucher. She was glad to learn she was wrong about that. It was incredibly fun to touch Mel's boobs and feel her tremble all the way down to her toes.

It wasn't the first kiss Sabina had dreamed about. It was weirder and more annoying and better in every way than she could have predicted. Except for the location. She could have picked a less difficult location. Night settled and the lake settled too until it lay flat as glass around them, but even so, they couldn't float here forever.

"My arm's numb," Mel said regretfully, flexing her fingers on the rope with a wince.

"We should get out."

"We probably should."

But the shape of her kiss-bitten lips and the way her ribs lifted under Sabina's hands as she spoke made her need to lean in and claim that mouth again.

Their fingers were raisins by the time they could pull apart long enough to seriously consider getting out of the water.

"You go first," Sabina said. The cover of the water had made her bold, but her self-consciousness resurfaced at the thought of Mel watching her scramble naked up the cliff in the moonlight.

"You wanna enjoy the view, huh," Mel said, flashing her that sly smile. "I guess you just couldn't believe I had a nice butt until you touched it yourself."

She didn't wait for Sabina to fumble for a comeback before she slung herself easily up the rope and disappeared over the top. Sabina followed more slowly. The rope cut into her softened palms and her wrinkled toes struggled to find purchase on the rock.