MOMMY ISSUES | Tamber

16

The front door banged open as Tara and Amber tumbled inside Tara's apartment in a whirlwind of rumpled clothing and tangled limbs. Tara's cheeks were flushed, lips swollen from heated kisses as she clung to Amber with desperate urgency.

"God, get inside me again... need you so bad, baby," Tara panted breathlessly, punctuating her plea with a searing kiss. But she froze as a pointed cough rang out from the living area. Sam sat on the couch, her face a storm cloud as she took in the disheveled, post-coital state of the couple.

Tara whispered horrified, "Sam? What the hell—"

Amber instantly bristled, shielding Tara with a protective arm across her body as she rounded on Sam with a sneer.

"I've been calling you for hours!" Sam's voice was acid-laced. "Worried out of my damn mind that my baby sister had landed in a ditch somewhere..."

Her eyes blazed with accusatory fury as they tracked meaningfully from Amber to the state of their undress. Amber bared her teeth in a caustic smirk.

"Worry not," Amber said, "she's been in exceptionally... thorough hands."

A snarl twisted Sam's lips, but before she could unleash her vitriol, Tara found her voice.

"Sam, stop! Yes, Amber and I were together, but you had no right to freak out and come here like some demented overprotective gargoyle—"

"Overprotective?!" Sam sputtered. "After seeing you catatonic and drained of life because of her sadistic—"

"She didn't do anything to me that wasn't my choice, and a long time coming!" Tara screamed over her, the room falling into shocked stillness. Tara sucked in huge gulps of air, like she had just surfaced from underwater. Her eyes darted between Sam's thunderstruck outrage and Amber's searing, unflinching pride.

"We... we were fucking, Sam. Is that what you want to hear?" Tara's voice was thick with emotion as she lifted her chin defiantly, even as tears ran down her anguished cheeks.

"Goddammit, Tara..." Sam's voice was hoarse.

"You wanna ream me for acting like a rational adult and pursuing intimacy and happiness with the woman I'm still in love with? Go ahead and judge—"

"Baby, no..." Amber said softly, but Tara powered on, unleashing months of pent-up fear and repression in a veritable torrent.

"No, Amber. I'm done with the shame spiral. Done apologizing for how I feel and what I need. Sam thinks she can swoop in and sabotage us, but this is my life. My choice." Tara captured Amber's hand in a vise-like grip, as if daring Sam to separate them again. Amber squeezed back reassuringly, unmistakable pride and rekindled devotion glowing in her regard as she drank in her self-assured, beautiful love.

Sam opened her mouth to retort but then faltered. Tara met her hollow-eyed stare levelly, her own eyes still red-rimmed but resolute. Heavy silence stretched between them, laden with portent and dawning understanding.

Finally, Sam huffed a frustrated exhale and shook her head, rising to grab her coat. As she shouldered past the couple without a word, Tara called after her weakly.

"Sam..."

But Sam didn't respond or turn back, only stalking out and letting the fractious silence fall anew.

Tara's shoulders slumped in her wake, as if strings had been cut. Immediately, Amber enfolded her, dropping featherlight kisses across her brow and temple with whisper-soft murmurs of reassurance.

"You were magnificent, my love. My warrior," Amber murmured.

"Was I, though? She looked utterly gutted," Tara replied raggedly.

"That's her own burden to bear, not yours. You've carried more than enough guilt for us both." Amber brushed Tara's bangs back with infinite tenderness, then tilted her chin up to align their gazes. "You're on the road to reclaiming your true self, and I've never been prouder. Never doubt that."

A tremulous smile spread across Tara's face. "What would I do without you?"

"Never going to find out. I'm here to stay," Amber said, her voice steady and filled with conviction.

They swayed together as one, sharing the same air as their foreheads brushed. Then Amber's hand drifted down the still-trembling curve of Tara's spine, ghosting over the taut swell of her ass beneath the bunched fabric. Her voice dropped to a liquid rasp, simmering with intent.

"Now... where were we, my insatiable goddess?"

Answering heat flared in Tara's eyes, igniting anew as their lips crashed hungrily together. She guided Amber's roaming palms up to mold over her breasts, arching into the delicious caress with a husky mewl.

"Oh, I'm sure you can remind me..." Tara said.

As they fumbled towards the bedroom in a tangle of impassioned exploration, the storm raged on beyond Tara's cloistered world of blissful reclamation.

For now, the rest could wait.