Remember Tomorrow Page 4

  • 36 •

  REMEMBER TOMORROW

  had come into a little money and bought a small Saturn roadster, her mind had been Þ lled with scenarios in which her car suffered some egregious injury. Cees secretly hated riding in the car about as much as she hated the big pickup that Miranda had leased for her. She had downright refused to drive it until the large Cees Bannigan Your Home static sign had been replaced with a more discreet CBYH.

  “You’re early,” Cees said as she stuck the soldier in her pocket and walked toward the front door.

  “Yeah, I was already in the neighborhood. Actually, I called the set looking for you, and I was told you had a friend in the hospital. Since I’m your only friend, I started looking for my BlueCross BlueShield card. Then I started to realize that I probably wasn’t in that kind of hospital.” She patted her nonexistent tummy and winked. “I was probably just getting a little tuck, huh?”

  Cees was surprised to hear her own bark of laughter. Lilly could be pushy and overbearing, but unlike Arie, she had never failed to be there when Cees needed her. Cees unlocked her front door and walked inside her home. The smell of fresh paint assailed her nose.

  “Done painting the room?”

  “Yeah, I Þ nished yesterday.” Cees dropped her keys and the soldier on an end table and walked into her small, two-bedroom house. It had taken her some time to settle on this neighborhood, and though she still missed her small apartment in the Pearl District, this felt more like home. Besides, she had spent the majority of her time at Arie’s place, and once she was forced to sleep in her own bed, it became evident that the apartment left no room for growth.

  Lilly slumped down on the couch and winced. Cees knew the feeling. The couch was beautiful to look at, but the ß oor would be more comfortable on the tailbone. Cees would have never bought it.

  “Why are you still keeping this thing?” Lilly asked. “Oh my

  • 37 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  God, please tell me you didn’t have sex on this uncomfortable thing and you’re hanging on to it for sentimental reasons.”

  “Lilly, that’s just ridiculous. My relationship with Arie is over. Why would I hang on to something of hers for sentimental reasons? Besides, you’re the one who said we should take it, remember?”

  Of course she remembered. Lilly’s memory was one of the reasons she wasn’t looking forward to telling her about her visit with Arie. Lilly would never forget the pain Cees went through after the breakup, even if Cees could somehow manage to.

  “I said you should take it, not keep it. The fact that she never called to ask for it back tells me you did her a favor.”

  To Cees’s relief, Lilly began thumbing through an old magazine, giving Cees time to compose herself. Lilly wasn’t the ridiculous one; she was. She was holding on to the couch for exactly the reason Lilly had guessed. This couch marked a focal point in their relationship. It was one of the last times she had felt on solid ground with Arieanna Simon.

  Memories came ß ooding back with such cruel clarity that it took her breath away.

  Cees saw herself, so eager to share her secret with Arie that she had bypassed the elevator and taken the stairs.

  v

  “Hey, you won’t believe what—” Cees put her hand over her mouth when she realized that Arie was on the phone. Cees dropped a large box on the bar and walked into the small kitchen to pour a glass of wine.

  “I’ll drive up next week, but I’m not happy about it.”

  Arie ended the call and stood up too quickly. Her bearing was that of someone being forced to do something distasteful.

  “You okay? Where are you going next week?” Cees asked.

  “Yeah, I’m Þ ne. That was the attorney for my grandfather’s estate. He’s been hounding me to come up to Seattle.”

  • 38 •

  REMEMBER TOMORROW

  “Why Seattle?”

  “Because that’s where I grew up. That’s also where his ofÞ ce is, and it seems there are some documents that I have to retrieve personally.”

  “Seattle? The house you grew up in is only three hours away and you never mentioned it?” Cees sipped from her glass to keep the words from coming out. “He can’t just mail them?”

  “I’ve been asking him to do that for weeks. He claims whatever it is has to be given to me in person. Anyway, it’s a day trip, shouldn’t take too long. What’s with the wine? You have a rough day?” Arie grabbed a stool and sat down at the bar, her hands folded beneath her chin and her eyes studying Cees’s face in a manner that she would have found disconcerting in the early stages of their relationship.

  “Your face looks ß ushed. You take the stairs up?” Arie asked.

  “Yeah, I didn’t want to wait for the elevator.”

  Arie gave Cees a cocky smile. “You in that much of a hurry to see me?”

  Cees returned her smile. “Oh yeah, you have no idea how much I couldn’t wait to see you.”

  “I think I know where this is headed.” Arie walked around the counter and would have kissed Cees had she not been brought up short by the small droplets of spittle that hit her face as Cees burst out laughing. Arie’s mouth dropped as Cees set her glass down on the counter and bent double.

  “Um, ego? I have one, remember?” Cees continued to laugh, and Arie grumbled, “Had one before my lover broke into uncontrolled Þ ts of laughter when I tried to kiss her.” Arie propped her hip against the bar, sighed, took a sip of Cees’s wine, and waited for her to calm down. “You Þ nished?” she asked. “May I kiss you now?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Arie pulled Cees against her chest and welcomed her home with her lips; Þ rst on her neck, then her temple, and Þ nally with a

  • 39 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  salacious kiss to the lips that never failed to make Cees’s clitoris pulse in anticipation.

  Arie inhaled deeply and pressed her lips to Cees’s neck.

  “How do you manage to smell so good after working all day?”

  “I stop at the gym and take a shower before I come over here.”

  Arie’s body went still. “You’re kidding.”

  “Yeah, I am, but I could have used a cold one today,” Cees said.

  “Really? Do I want to know what set you off?”

  “I don’t know. You might Þ nd it interesting.” Cees’s chuckle was threatening to become something slightly more hysterical.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so utterly happy.

  Arie leaned back and scowled. “All right, what gives? You haven’t stopped laughing since you walked through the door.”

  “Mmm, sorry. Remember the other day when I told you I bought an impulse gift for you on the Internet?”

  “Yeah. Did it come?”

  “Interesting question.” Cees grinned. “It’s in the box.”

  “Thank you, sweetie, but you don’t need to buy me gifts. I’ll look at it later…”

  Cees had worked her hands under Arie’s shirt and was unbuttoning Arie’s pants. Arie was breathing hard from the kiss alone. “Um, you might want to look in the box Þ rst.”

  “What? Right now? Can’t I try it on later? I promise I’ll even model it for you.”

  Cees started to laugh again. Arie turned the box around and looked at the lid. “Sensual Seductions Incorporated? I hope this isn’t tacky underwear because…” Arie scowled as Cees hung on to the edge of the bar to keep herself upright.

  “I give up. I was trying to get intimate here, and all you want me to do is try on clothes.”

  Arie pulled the lid off the box and Þ shed around in the fuchsia packing paper. Cees caught her breath when Arie pulled out her

  • 40 •

  REMEMBER TOMORROW

  gift and held it aloft like a torch. They stared wide-eyed at the enormous dildo, the kitchen light glinting off the tip of its purple head. It wasn’t so much that it was long, but substantial. Cees thought Arie’s hand
looked miniscule wrapped around its girth.

  Just as the thought passed through Cees’s mind, the dildo began to slip from Arie’s hand. Arie tried to catch it with her free hand, but the thing ß opped around Þ shlike for several seconds before it dropped back into the box with a loud thud. Cees dissolved into more giggles and Arie took a horriÞ ed breath. “What the hell was that?”

  “I think I ordered the wrong one.”

  “Ya think?” Arie glanced at the box again and then at Cees.

  “Um, I don’t suppose you can send it back?”

  Cees shook her head and swallowed. “Web site says no returns.”

  “Oh…Oh. Yeah. That makes sense.”

  “I messed up so many takes at work they sent me home.

  I kept thinking about your face when you saw that thing, and I’d start…” Cees broke off and demonstrated exactly what she had been doing so uncontrollably since the package had been delivered. “Aren’t you…you promised to try it.” The look on Arie’s face made it impossible for Cees to suggest that Arie keep her promise and try on her gift.

  Arie scowled her answer, which sent Cees into another Þ t of doubled-over laughter.

  Arie’s boot thunked to the ß oor, and her hands were at the fastener of her pants by the time Cees had wiped the water from her eyes. Cees was still smiling when she asked, “What are you doing?”

  Arie returned the smile and lifted a brow. “I’m trying on my gift.”

  “You know I was just teasing you.”

  “Really? So you’re saying you don’t want me to try it on?”

  Cees didn’t bother answering because Arie’s socks had joined her shoes. Her shirt, bra, and pants followed. Soon her

  • 41 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  underwear was being kicked off and she was standing gloriously naked before Cees. Piercings and tattoos were almost a rite of passage in the PaciÞ c Northwest. Arie’s small stud was incredibly sedate compared to some, and yet it was such a contrast in personality that the sight always sent little Þ ngers of pleasure up and down Cees’s spine.

  “Does it need to be prepared?” Arie asked.

  “There’s some…I think we’re supposed to use the cleaning stuff they sent with it…and then we wash it.”

  “Okay, then…” Arie looked at the box and then at Cees. They stared at each other for several seconds before Cees removed the dildo from the box, held it aloft much as Arie had, then turned on the faucet at the kitchen sink. She awkwardly placed the dildo beneath a stream of hot water, rubbing her hand along its shaft.

  Arie reached into the box and pulled out a harness and two small bottles, one of which had instructions for cleaning the dildo and the other proclaimed itself to be the best lube in the world. Arie placed the two bottles along with a towel on the side of the sink.

  “It’s not going to get much cleaner.” Cees turned off the water and closed her eyes. Arie pressed the length of her naked body against Cees’s backside. “You always wash your sex toys in the kitchen sink, sweetheart?” Her breath teased Cees’s ear canal.

  “I’ve never had any,” Cees said into the quiet.

  “Never had any what?” Cees couldn’t think until Arie had unbuckled her belt, unfastened her pants, and was beneath the elastic of her underwear. There would be no hiding how aroused she was. Arie had already slipped easily between the lips of her heated sex, past the swollen part of her that always demanded attention Þ rst, and into her depths with Þ rst one Þ nger and then another. Arie was the one who moaned because Cees could not.

  Arie held on to Cees’s hips, and within a minute had her close to orgasm. Cees expected her peak at any moment, when Arie hissed and stopped moving. Cees straightened and Arie kissed the back of her neck and removed her Þ ngers. Cees’s muscles protested, clinging to pleasure as long as they could.

  • 42 •

  REMEMBER TOMORROW

  “May I ask you something?”

  “Anything,” Cees said, breathless again.

  “Did you think about the package all day? Did it turn you on to think about having it inside you?”

  “No, it turned me on imaging you wearing it.”

  “You should have come home earlier. You’re about ready to explode.” They both caught a breath as Arie’s thumb grazed Cees’s clitoris and her Þ ngers reentered Cees, thrusting deep.

  Cees gave a whimper and grabbed Arie’s wrists to keep her from pulling out again.

  “Help me put the harness on,” Arie demanded and forced Cees to turn around.

  Cees almost lost it when she saw the heat in Arie’s eyes as she picked up the harness and dildo and handed it to Cees.

  Cees bent down and only fumbled slightly when she put the two together. The tremor was barely noticeable as Arie’s slender foot stepped into the harness and she straightened. Cees didn’t look up until she had buckled the fasteners.

  Arie wrapped her arms around Cees to keep her from moving away. “Tell the truth,” she whispered “You like ’em big, don’t you?”

  Cees chuckled at the thinly guised ploy to get her to relax.

  “I think it would have scared me off if I had known it was going to be this big.” Arie moved close, nudging her with the dildo’s heaviness, cutting off Cees’s chuckle as efÞ ciently as a Þ nger to her lips.

  “And now? Does it still scare you?”

  Cees swallowed. “Yeah, a little.”

  “We can wait and buy something else to play with.” Arie’s lips grazed the side of Cees’s face, tickling her earlobe and making the ß esh on her arm stand up.

  “We could, but…it would be a shame to, uh…”

  Arie grinned and Cees felt her face ß ush.

  Arie pulled Cees’s shirt over her head and stared at her breasts and stomach for so long that Cees’s face heated again.

  • 43 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  “Arie?”

  “Oh, sorry. I could look at you forever.”

  “You don’t have to apologize. I’m just glad that I still elicit that reaction from you. If we start moving for the bedroom now, we might just make it this time.” Cees held out her hand and Arie took it. They made it as far as the living room before Arie made her stop.

  “Hang on a sec, let’s get these off now.” Arie bent down, unlaced Cees’s shoes quickly, and left Cees to kick them off on her own. Cees had no sooner removed her shoes than Arie was pushing her jeans down her legs. Arie stood and Cees’s eye was drawn to the dildo hanging from its harness. She could tell by the rise and fall of Arie’s stomach that she was also very excited.

  “For the record, the day you stop garnering that response is the day they put me in the ground.”

  Cees smiled. “We’re not going to make it to the bedroom, are we?”

  “Nope, can you sit on the back of the couch?” Cees complied with Arie’s request despite the fact that the bedroom was less than twenty feet away. She never questioned Arie when they made love. She had learned early on that Arie’s way meant pleasure.

  Arie gathered Cees’s small breasts in both hands and smiled.

  Cees loved when Arie held her breasts this way, loved how precious and cared-for it made her feel.

  “I love this part of you. I love to kiss you here.” Cees groaned and closed her eyes when Arie dipped her head and began kissing reverently. When Arie Þ nally took Cees’s nipple into her mouth, Cees felt as she did when she touched Arie’s softness. A pull stronger than the others, and Cees threw her head back, white lights ß ashed before her eyes, and the breeze from the overhead fan cooled the sudden heat of her face.

  Cees rested her hands on Arie’s shoulders and melted into the warmth of Arie’s coaxing mouth. Cees almost screamed when Arie’s Þ ngers slid along her straining thighs to the place

  • 44 •

  REMEMBER TOMORROW

  that was even hotter than her mouth. When Arie touched the heat she found there, Cees’s eyes ß ew open and she looked down at Arie’s
face, so suffused with pleasure that she tightened her grip on Arie’s shoulders; their warning that Cees was close. Arie murmured her protest, but stopped.

  “Too fast?” Arie asked.

  “No such thing.” Cees smiled and Arie kissed her again, both hands on her thighs. And then on the side of her face. Cees’s breathing slowed, but the heat at her center didn’t lessen. As if sensing this, Arie kissed her neck. This, Cees knew, was the land of no return for either of them. When Arie’s lips kissed her shoulders and went back to her breast, Cees closed her eyes and concentrated on the feeling. Arie stopped loving her breast, and Cees reached for the back of her head to protest.

  “Try not to come yet,” Arie said just before she kneeled and coaxed Cees’s legs over her shoulders. Cees braced herself for the Þ rst caress of Arie’s tongue. She knew from experience that Arie began gently, testing, tasting, teasing her, and then she would become ruthless and insatiable, pulling every bit of moisture from Cees until both her eyes and sex were weeping with pleasure. Four times Arie pushed her to the edge of orgasm only to withdraw and start in a new direction. At some point Cees had dug her Þ ngers into Arie’s thick hair, but it was more to stabilize herself. Arie was steering.

  “Arie, wait, I’m going to…” Cees didn’t Þ nish her statement because Arie was standing in front of her. Cees held Arie’s hips, urging her closer, but Arie would not be hurried. She positioned the tip of the dildo at Cees’s opening, moistening and teasing Cees at the same time.

  Any nervousness Cees felt initially faded and pure lust took its place. Cees moaned, and Arie had the reaction she always did, a rush of breath, a stiffening of body, and a return to control. Arie placed her hands beneath Cees’s butt, lifting her from the sharp edge of the couch and pulling her onto the tip of the phallus. Cees

  • 45 •

  GABRIELLE GOLDSBY

  lifted her hips and pulled Arie forward. Cees gasped at the sharp sting she felt and curled her toes against it. Arie’s body became rigid with the exception of her straining back muscles.

  “I’m sorry. I thought you were ready.” Arie’s voice was raspy with her regret. “Do you want me to stop?” Arie leaned back and lifted Cees’s chin until they locked eyes. “We don’t have to do this.”