Kicking off her shoes, Linda pulled Marissa to her on the bed, nestling Marissa’s head into her shoulder. “I’m here.”

“I keep telling myself I shouldn’t feel like this. That I was a fool to let you inside me the first time and I shouldn’t let you close again.”

“I understand.” She’s going to send me away, Linda thought with a spasm of pain. So far, every minute with Marissa had been more than she thought she deserved. To be holding her, wrapped in the complex smells of her sheets and her freshly washed hair— it was heaven.

This moment, this woman, they weren’t the reasons for her striving to put her life together. She wasn’t using the circle of Marissa’s arms as an escape from anywhere. Happiness pulsed from the inside of her and the thought blazed behind her closed eyelids, “I didn’t run away to be with her but she is still where I want to go.”

“Linda,” Marissa whispered, and she lifted her mouth to be kissed.

Her body responded before her brain could even decide if this was a good idea. The flash of Marissa’s bare shoulder was enough to knock the breath out of her and she kissed the upturned mouth with hunger and heat.

Marissa’s hands were in her hair, a feeling Linda hadn’t forgotten and hadn’t dared to hope she would have again, fingers sifting, then brushing over her temples as their kiss deepened. They explored each other with slow intent and Linda was aware of the heat of Marissa’s body.

The hips were smaller, more muscled and compact, but their motion was a limitless rocking that Linda had dreamed about ever since. The robe parted to reveal glorious, full breasts that were as plush and soft as her memory of them. Taut nipples beckoned and with a moan, Linda brushed the nearest with her fingers.

Marissa gasped, her legs parting. Linda felt dizzy. This couldn’t be happening—it was like a fantasy, a dream, something she’d wanted so badly she was making it all up. Her hand swept the length of Marissa’s curving hip, then around to cup the firm roundness and soft skin of Marissa’s backside.

“Oh,” Marissa groaned, low in her throat. “No. No, no.”

Linda’s hand froze but she was powerless to stop her own panting. “I’m . . . sorry.”

“No, this is my fault. It’s all happening so fast.” Marissa pulled Linda’s hand to her waist, even as her breast seemed to swell and demand further caresses. “I need some time.”

“Shall I go away for a while?”

“No. Yes. How long?”

“A week or two? To give you some air?”

Marissa sat up. She looked down at Linda, her shoulders framed by the open robe, her hair tousled and a glow in her eyes that nearly broke Linda’s restraint. “I don’t think I could bear it that long. Dinner, Tuesday night, okay? I just need to breathe, Linda. I need to think.”

“I understand,” Linda said again. She got off the bed and wasn’t embarrassed by her groan of loss—it matched the one she heard Marissa make as well. “Should I go?”