“Hey, boss,” said Cassie, next to her. The redhead wandered off into the main room. Mandy turned to face Cassie, smiling.

“How’s things? Seems a good crowd.”

“Yeah, it’s been good. Lots of coming and going between here and Blue, I think.”

Mandy nodded, turning her gaze back to the room.

“Good,” she murmured and then wandered off, through Green and into Blue.

* * *

Still holding hands, Lou and Stephanie left the club and wandered up to the main road to flag a cab. They rode in silence with their hands tightly locked together as they shot shy glances at each other. The longer the journey went on, the more nervous Stephanie became, regardless of how their kisses back in the club had made her feel. She was about to get naked with another woman, and she was fearful she wouldn’t know what to do, that she would fumble around like a teenager. Just as she started to go into a little panic, Lou squeezed her hand, and Stephanie looked across at her. Lou’s smile was so warm, her expression so understanding, Stephanie wondered just how she had known. She was grateful that she had.

Lou paid the cabbie and led Stephanie up to the second floor, not once letting go of her hand. Inside the flat, they both kicked off their boots in silence, and then Lou reached out a hand. Stephanie exhaled and stepped forward.

Without speaking, Lou unzipped Stephanie’s coat, turned her to pull the coat off from behind, and threw it casually onto the sofa nearby. Lou’s breath tickled on her neck, and Stephanie shivered with desire and then moaned softly when Lou’s lips started a sensuous journey across the back of her neck and up into her hairline. Her body hummed with a physical yearning she’d never, ever experienced.

“You are so beautiful,” murmured Lou in between kisses.

Tears pricked at Stephanie’s eyes, and she blinked them back. The emotion of being here, now, threatened to engulf her. She swallowed, pushed her thoughts away, and concentrated on what was happening to her body right now.

Lou shrugged out of her own coat and dropped it to the floor, and then Lou wrapped her arms around her waist, pulled her back, and kissed her neck more insistently. Hot waves of need washed through Stephanie. She turned in Lou’s arms, needing her mouth on hers, and they both whimpered softly.

As the kiss deepened, Lou pulled gently at her top, tugging it out of her jeans, and then, oh God, Lou’s hands were on her skin, roaming over her abdomen, around to her back, and then returning to move upwards gently. When Lou’s fingers ran over the lace of her bra, she gasped and arched into Lou, needing, craving, more. Her nipples tightened underneath the lace, underneath Lou’s hands, and she wondered how she was still standing.

Lou lifted her head, removed her hands from under Stephanie’s top, and pulled her towards the bedroom.