Chapter 18
“Honey, I’m home!” Tessa called as she came through Jamie’s front door.
“In the kitchen!” Jamie replied.
Tessa walked in and set her work bag on the counter. Jamie sat at the kitchen table in front of her laptop. She was reclined in her chair, eyes fixed on the screen with her brow knit over them., thumbnail between her teeth. From the green glow on her face, Tessa knew she was watching game film. It would have been more annoying if she wasn’t sexy with her thighs spread out. It should have been illegal for her to look like such a ride in bike shorts and a sports bra, with only a zip-up hoodie over it.
“Film again?” she said.
“It’s all I can do since I can’t train,” Jamie said.
Tessa crossed her arms over her chest. “Is that what you’ve been doing all day?”
“No. I went for a slow jog and did some light weightlifting, all cleared by my doctor. I also did the laundry and the grocery shopping. Pasta sound good for dinner?”
“Come off it, Jamie, you know the answer to that.”
“One of these days you might say no,” Jamie said through a chuckle.
“Oh, aye, when hell freezes over, you mean.”
She strode over and claimed Jamie’s lips in a kiss. Jamie’s muffled surprise faded in her throat as she leaned into it, a soft moan escaping her instead. Tessa had almost forgotten what it was like to be with Jamie. Kissing in the rain in Liverpool had been hot, but restrained, since they both knew it couldn’t go further. Now, on Tessa’s first night as Jamie’s official guest, there was nothing to stop them from going there again.
Jamie drew back and held Tessa’s gaze. “Go get comfortable, love. We’ll have dinner and then. . . whatever we want.”
“I like the sound of that,” Tessa said with a smile.
She left, making sure there was an extra sway to her hips as she walked. She knew Jamie noticed when she heard a deep sigh. Jamie was a sucker for women in skirts. And Tessa had worn one that hugged her ass in a way she knew drove Jamie crazy. It did to Jamie what seeing Jamie in bike shorts did to Tessa.
She jogged up the stairs and made her way to Jamie’s bedroom. Jamie had stacked Tessa’s bags in a neat pile in the corner of the room. The oddest thing was that Tessa didn’t see any trace of Jamie in the room. The furniture was basic, the bedding was a neutral beige, everything had its place. There were no photographs in the entire room, not even on the walls. It was so bland, it might have been mistaken for a hotel room if she didn’t know she was in Jamie’s house.
But Jamie had been that way last time too. Despite being at Arsenal for years, she had never truly settled in her flat in that part of London. Tessa assumed it was the same when she lived in Manchester. Mainly because Jamie always said she preferred it that way. As a footballer, things could always change. Tessa wondered if perhaps Stanmore was the club Jamie might finally call home.
She changed into joggers and a tank top, letting out a groan of relief at finally shedding her bra after wearing it all day. After donning some fuzzy socks, she made her way back to the kitchen. It did not surprise her to find Jamie once again watching film of herself.
Tessa cleared her throat and Jamie glanced up. She grinned.
“You look cute,” she said.
“Thanks,” Tessa replied. “Cute enough to close your laptop?”
“Can you give me like, ten more minutes? Then I’m all yours, Tess, I swear.”
She sat up a little and her jacket rode up, revealing her sculpted abs. Tessa’s mouth watered at the sight. An idea came to her, and she smirked.
“Oh, no, babe, you keep watching,” she said. “Don’t mind me.”
Jamie raised an eyebrow. “You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. I’ll. . . re-do your plaits. Looks like they came loose during your jog.”
“Alright, thanks,” Jamie agreed, and turned her gaze back to her screen.
Tessa stood behind her and tugged the elastic off the ends of Jamie’s dark brown braids. She worked them loose with swift fingers. Jamie muttered something under her breath, backed up the video, and watched herself take a diving header, only to miss the goal by inches. It skipped past the post.
“My form is shit here,” she said. “I should have gone earlier and put my body left. It’d have been a goal.”
“You made a snap decision,” Tessa replied. “Of course it’s clearer in hindsight.”
“I’ve got to be better.”
Jamie’s hair flowed in waves over her shoulders. Tessa let her fingers dance over Jamie’s skin, exposed by her jacket hanging off her arms. She moved as if she was gathering Jamie’s hair up to do it into one plait, but she took her time. Gooseflesh followed her touch.
She didn’t quite have Jamie’s undivided attention yet. So, she started a scalp massage. Jamie’s eyes fluttered, and Tessa knew her plan was working.
“That’s not plaiting,” Jamie said.
Tessa shrugged. “Call it an added bonus.”
“Well. . . it does feel nice.”
Tessa smiled to herself. She let her hands wander south, toward the nape of Jamie’s neck, which she knew was sensitive. She brushed the pads of her fingers across Jamie’s hairline, adding the slightest pressure to give it the massage sensation. When that failed to get a reaction, Tessa pulled out the big guns. Her mouth.
She bent down and placed a feather-light kiss on Jamie’s neck. Jamie’s muscles visibly relaxed at the contact, so Tessa pushed her luck. She pressed her lips behind Jamie’s ear. She trailed down her neck to her shoulder, but stopped when she heard a rumble of laughter from Jamie’s chest.
“I believe you’re trying to distract me,” Jamie said.
“Is it working?” Tessa asked.
“Somewhat,” Jamie chuckled. “But Tessa, I don’t know if I can make love tonight. The doctor warned me about exerting myself too much, and I’ve already exercised.”
“Is that all?”
Tessa stepped around the chair to stand in front of Jamie and reached for the zipper of Jamie’s hoodie. Jamie’s eyes darkened as she looked at Tessa.
“What if I do all the exerting tonight?” Tessa said. “You stay right there in that chair, and if I make you come before that video is over, you have to put it away and make dinner with me. Deal?”
“Deal,” Jamie agreed, and yanked Tessa in close for a searing kiss.
Tessa moaned into her mouth, a fire that she’d thought long buried coursing through her body. It consumed her from the inside out. Her desire for Jamie overtook every thought, every doubt, every feeling she’d ever had. How had she lived the last three years without Jamie’s sweet lips? It shouldn’t have been possible to survive.
Her hands fumbled for Jamie’s zipper and she tugged it down. Jamie’s chest flushed pink beneath her black sports bra. It heaved with every panted breath. Tessa dragged her gaze back to Jamie’s, finding their usual blue much darker. Molten, even.
Slowly and seductively, Tessa slid Jamie’s jacket from her alabaster shoulders and let it drop to the kitchen floor. Jamie crossed her arms over herself and tugged her bra off. With her round, perfect breasts free, her pink nipples hardened as the fresh air hit them. Tessa only let a second go by before taking one in her mouth.
Jamie’s head fell back, exposing the long column of her throat. She had two freckles between her shoulder and her jaw that Tessa loved to kiss. Knowing what she knew now, she wondered if the old wives tale that freckles indicated where a lover kissed you in a past life was true. Perhaps they marked where Rosie or Aisling or Verity had peppered their affection before.
Tessa flicked her tongue over Jamie’s nipple and she keened. Her back arched away from the chair and her hips rocked toward Tessa as if demanding more contact. Tessa eased her back down, but continued to tease her.
Tessa let her hand wander over Jamie’s washboard abs. Her fingers toyed with the waistband of Jamie’s shorts. Jamie’s breath hitched.
“Please,” she whined. “Touch me, Tessa. It’s been so long.”
“What’s the rush, now?” Tessa teased as she pressed a kiss to the valley between Jamie’s breasts. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
“I’ve waited three years to feel you like this,” Jamie said on an exhale. “And. . . I haven’t had anyone since you.”
Tessa paused. She lifted her head to look Jamie in the eyes again.
“Catch yourself on,” she said. “No one?”
Jamie shook her head. “No, Tessa. It’s always been you.”
For the first time, Tessa truly regretted her post-breakup slut phase. Knowing Jamie couldn’t bring herself to be intimate with anyone else proved the kind of hurt she had carried from the moment she left London. Tessa had used it as an excuse to justify any and all behavior. She swallowed. Then she kissed Jamie again, hoping to show her how touching it was since she didn’t have the proper words.
Jamie pawed at Tessa’s top. She took hold of it and lifted it over Tessa’s head so that they could press into each other, skin to skin. Tessa’s soft, willowy frame molded to the contours of Jamie’s lean body. Jamie braced Tessa against her with her hands. The contact sent a jolt of warmth right to Tessa’s core. She trailed kisses down Jamie’s neck again, nipping softly at the sensitive spots behind her ear and above her collarbone. Finding those freckles with her tongue.
When she reached for Jamie’s shorts again, Jamie lifted her hips. She helped Tessa tug them down over her bum and thighs, along with her knickers. Tessa slid them past her ankles and tossed them away. She drew back to take in the glory that was Jamie’s form.
Jamie was the perfect balance of curvy and muscular, with tanned, muscled arms and a perfect six-pack. But her breasts were full and round. Her thighs were thick and soft. Tessa knelt between them, skimming her palms up them and inching them further apart. Her mouth followed. Jamie sucked in a gasp as Tessa neared the apex.
Heat radiated from Jamie’s core. Tessa could feel it as she got closer and closer to where Jamie needed her most. If her squirming hips were any indication, at least. A desperate moan fell from Jamie’s mouth as she laced her fingers in Tessa’s hair.
“Please, baby. . . ” she sighed.
Tessa finally gave in and put her mouth on Jamie’s clit. Jamie groaned with relief. She tugged lightly on Tessa’s hair, urging her even closer. Tessa held back a laugh. She opened her mouth and worked Jamie’s entire slit, running her tongue from opening to clit and back again. Jamie’s hips rolled with Tessa’s rhythm. Tessa knew she wanted release. But this was what she loved to do—take quiet, reserved, in-control Jamie and make her writhe. There was nothing sexier in the world.
Tessa teased Jamie’s opening with her fingers, keeping her mouth locked on her clit, swishing her tongue back and forth across the sensitive nub. Jamie’s hips jumped forward at the new touch, and Tessa knew she had permission. Jamie was already slick. Tessa sank two fingers inside her. She felt the stretch of Jamie’s pussy as it clenched around her fingers. Heat pooled in the pit of Tessa’s center, but she pushed down her own desires. This was for Jamie.
“Fuck, Tessa!” Jamie cried, head falling back again. “Please, please.”
Tessa pumped her fingers in and out. She crooked them when she reached deep inside Jamie to find her g-spot. It took her no time at all to find it. Jamie’s body was as familiar as her own home. After all, they had had centuries to explore each other fully.
Jamie’s thighs quivered. Her voice raised an octave on every exhale, with expletives and Tessa’s name scattered between her breaths. Her grip on Tessa’s hair tightened.
“M’close,” Jamie whimpered.
Tessa maintained her speed and pressure. Consistency was key with Jamie. It had been three years since she’d seen Jamie have an orgasm and she wasn’t about to miss out on the sight now. Finally, her walls fluttered around Tessa’s fingers. Jamie choked on a cry and her whole body shuddered. Her hips rocked slower and slower with every pitch, easing herself down from her high. Tessa slowed her mouth and fingers before she pulled gently away.
Jamie slumped in the chair. She panted and swallowed hard. God, she was so hot like that—fucked out and walls down. She was a work of art.
Tessa pressed soft kisses up Jamie’s body until she reached her mouth. Jamie’s labored breathing prevented a full-on snog, but they exchanged tender pecks.
Jamie glanced at her computer screen. “You won the bet.”
“Fucking knew it,” Tessa returned and reached over to shut it.
Giggling, Jamie kissed her again. That one lasted longer, but Tessa was the first to pull away.
“How about you go get your lounge clothes on, and I’ll start on dinner,” she said. “Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect,” Jamie replied. “Now if only I can make my legs work.”
Tessa chuckled. “Take your time. Of course, you’re always welcome to stay naked and we can go for round two.”
“I’ll get dressed,” Jamie said, rolling her eyes. “Help me up, will you?”
Tessa offered a hand and lifted Jamie to her feet. Jamie picked up their discarded clothes and tossed Tessa’s tank top back to her.
“Might want to put that on before you start cooking,” Jamie said.
“I would never risk my perfect tits by bringing them unclothed near a stove,” Tessa joked.
Jamie laughed again and padded toward the stairs. Tessa watched her go, appreciating the sweet curve of her ass, before she tugged her shirt back on.
Everything felt like it did three years ago. The passionate sex, the teasing back and forth, and domesticity. But that thought alone made Tessa wonder if it might end the way it did three years ago.
She shook her head. Jamie was working on things. Tessa reminded herself of that as she pulled out the ingredients for dinner.