Displaced

Chapter 130

Gabriela blinked the sleep from her eyes, her vision slowly sharpening to reveal a view of a ceiling that was still somewhat new to her but getting more familiar by the day. Slowly and carefully, so as not to disturb her still-slumbering partner, she reached up with her free left hand and brushed away the hair plastered to her face with sweat. Her whole body was covered with the stickiness of a busy night's sweat compounded by early morning humidity. She needed a bath.

Unfortunately, getting up at that moment was out of the question, as her entire right side was currently busy acting as a makeshift pillow for a certain former Ubran. The Batranala had draped herself over Gabriela at some point in the night, likely aided by the way the mattress had sunk to the floor in the middle, squeezing them together.

She sighed internally. This was what, the fourth bed frame they'd broken in a week? This one they'd cracked right in two, straight down the middle, though the others had been pulverized in other ways. She imagined that replacing them so often had to be expensive, though Chitra would just laugh it off and tease her when she brought it up. For the moment, though, her partner remained largely silent, the only noise she made being the sound of her soft breathing into Gabriela's shoulder.

Gabby turned her head and studied her lover's face just millimeters away. Chitra's cheek smushed up against Gabby's shoulder, the pressure forcing her soft lips open so that she drooled all over Gabby's collarbone.

Gabby couldn't help but smile. In some ways, this was the view of Chitra that she loved the most, as it was the only time the other woman ever lacked that aura of dignity and competence, the one that said that broadcast to everybody around that she was always in control no matter the situation. Gabby felt as if she were witnessing something secret, something only she got to see.

The sleeping woman's eyes fluttered and slowly opened. She moved her head off Gabriela's shoulder and placed it higher on their shared pillow, the tip of her chin now just barely touching the top of Gabby's shoulder. She smiled, and Gabby felt her heart flutter. Gabby turned her gaze back to the ceiling, unready for such feelings so soon after waking.

"Sleep well?" Chitra asked.

"Well enough," Gabby allowed.

"I can see that," Chitra hummed. She pulled herself in against Gabriela's neck and inhaled deeply. "Mmmmm... you smell wonderful."

"I stink. I need to wash."

"Why wash, when you will just get sweaty again right after?"

"What are you—?"

A small nibble on her neck answered her question before she could even get it out. Her pulse quickened and her face grew hot. "Already?"

"You know I can never get enough of you." Chitra's hand caressed Gabriela's flank, slowly sliding up Gabriela's side before moving up and in to fondle her breast, her smooth fingertips running over the many teeth marks left during the night's escapades.

"I really should have known you'd be a biter," Gabby sighed.

"How else am I supposed to let all those trollops out there know that you're already spoken for?"

She bit down harder, eliciting a soft moan when she sent an equal mix of pleasure and pain cascading through Gabby's body and mind.

"You know full well that nobody out there covets me except you," Gabby told her. "They all just see something to fear, or maybe just a plain, ordinary woman at best."

"Then they are blind—blind to all that makes you the most wonderful thing I've ever known. But..." Chitra reached out and gently turned Gabby's head back towards her, then leaned in again, lips meeting lips. The kiss was deep, passionate, and seemed to go on and on forever. When it finally did end, Gabby found herself panting, her heart racing and her body flush with heat and yearning. "...that suits me just fine."