She pulled back. “It’s okay, I promise. I’m going to make you come, okay?”

Tilly’s eyes were hazy. Sympathy pulled in Kate’s chest, and suddenly, her eyes burned with tears. She rested her forehead against the heat of Tilly’s belly, pressed a gentle kiss to where dark curls began. “It’s okay. It’s just me. Just us. Let me show you.”

Closing her eyes to shield her tears, she pressed a hand between Tilly’s breasts, encouraged her to lie back. Blindly, she fixed Tilly’s thighs back over her shoulders.

With renewed desperation, Kate returned to what she now knew Tilly liked, what had had Tilly crying out for a reprieve just moments before, and with her lips pursed, hungry and adamant, she carried Tilly to the edge.

Tilly came with a strangled cry, a hand gripped at the back of Kate’s neck, the other clenched in the pillow.

Wiping her face against Tilly’s thigh, Kate nipped at soft, creamy skin. She throbbed between her legs so forcibly it was almost painful. Reaching down and slipping off her underwear came like a reflex. She didn’t expect a thing, not a single thing, but the need to feel Tilly against her came as natural as breathing.

Tilly’s shaking hands held her face firmly, her eyes boring into Kate’s. Kate grinned, her lips latching to Tilly’s jaw as Tilly gasped for breath. “I thought I was going to pass out,” she said. “I think I almost did.”

Lightness curled inside her at the sound of Tilly’s laugh. Mindlessly, her lips found Tilly’s. When Tilly gasped sharply, stunned, Kate froze. Fuck. Slowly, Tilly’s lips parted, her tongue flitting along Kate’s bottom lip, and surprise took root in Kate’s heart.

She pressed herself into Tilly. Tilly’s hands slipped to her sides, sighing prettily, a sweet mixture of relief and comfort. Burning, Kate grasped the back of Tilly’s knee and locked Tilly’s leg around her hip, pulled it tighter. Tilly’s core pulsed against her skin. She exhaled shakily. “Oh.”

It was all so fucking inevitable, Kate thought, so good and right. Her heart drummed ferociously, panicked by the speed at which they were travelling. Kate tried to slow, but Tilly was looking up at her, eyes blazing, hands clutching at Kate’s sides, murmuring words of encouragement that only urged her on and on and on.

Together, they quickly found a rhythm, Tilly’s eyes slipping closed as awareness took hold. One of Tilly’s hands raked up her back, hard enough to draw lines, and curled into Kate’s hair. The sensation drove her higher. She ached to feel Tilly inside her, but it was enough, more than enough, to have Tilly beneath her, warm and eager and falling to pieces.

Kate gripped Tilly’s waist, her touch rougher than she’d ever dared. As Tilly arched into her hold, Kate’s hand slipped to the small of Tilly’s back. She pulled Tilly’s lithe form against her. Her hips rolled, firm. “I love you.” Emotion welled inside her, sudden and strong. “I loved you in that belltower and I still love you now.”