Cake (Bitterroot Saga Book 1) Read online

  Elana stared at Brianna and the color drained from her face. Kelly leaned over to whisper something comforting, but a server interrupted by setting a plate on the table in front of her.

  “Your brother wanted you to get the first piece.” The server smiled as if she had no idea Elana was literally falling apart next to her.

  “Thanks,” Kelly said out of engrained practice, not because she felt any actual gratitude. What she wanted to say was “Go the fuck away so I can try to fix her.” She should have listened when Elana said she didn’t want to come to the reception, or she should have left when David attacked Elana. Instead, she’d stayed to extend their time together and plotted how she would get inside this sexy woman who seemed up for it. She was an awful human being, and now the best she could hope for was targeted damage control.

  David was watching her again, so she smiled and waved, all the while screaming in her mind for him to look away. Eventually, he did with a tight frown and a compact shake of his head. It was going to take some time for them to get past this, and yet she was more worried about the woman beside her than she was about her brother.

  “Let’s go.” Kelly grabbed the plate and pulled Elana away from the table and out into the hall.

  CHAPTER 6

  Elana barely registered the movement as Kelly took her by the hand and guided her away from the table. All she could focus on was the look on Bree’s face and that goddamned, gorgeous cake. It was their cake. Hers and Bree’s, dreamed up during an overnight study session.

  They were supposed to be cramming for senior finals. A series of really nasty exams were all that stood between them and their college degrees, Bree’s in theoretical quantum physics, and Elana’s in psychology. But instead of reviewing the materials one last time, they were huddled together on Elana’s bed, scouring wedding magazines and cobbling together sketches of the perfect wedding cake.

  The next day, they took their exams, and Elana forgot all about the sketches she’d done. The way she felt—adored, cherished, forever—that was what she’d focused on. The cake, the dress, the vows, they were just extensions of how Bree had imprinted herself upon Elana’s heart in an undeniable, indelible way.

  She’d been okay, basically, until she saw that cake. It hurt, sure, to see Bree marrying anyone other than her, but she’d come to terms with the fact that they would never be together again. Bree just didn’t love her the way Elana needed her to, the way Elana loved Bree. It sucked and she wanted more than anything to go back to when she was able to fool herself into believing that, when Bree said she loved her, it meant she’d crumble and fall without Elana. Because that was how Elana felt about Bree. It was how she still felt about her despite trying like hell to get over her.

  Today, meeting Kelly had been the first sign that she might be able to forget about Bree. Kelly, who didn’t know her but held her hand and kissed her during the ceremony. Kelly, who didn’t complain when Elana held her hand too tightly. Kelly, who swayed with her to romantic wedding music and didn’t stop her for whispering dirty things into her ear, even though her family was watching. Kelly, who dragged her away when she said she couldn’t be there any longer.

  As soon as the door closed behind them, shutting out the wedding and Bree and that cake, Elana stopped following and slumped against the door. She’d stopped shaking, but the tension was still there, coursing through her as though her skin was filled with thousands of fire ants fighting to break the surface. She pulled Kelly to her and kissed her.

  It wasn’t a pretty kiss, certainly not appropriate for a wedding reception. It was dirty secrets and illicit hookups and all teeth and tongue. Elana groaned, loud and wanton, and it felt so damn good. It wasn’t fair to Kelly, but the way she gripped the back of Elana’s neck, holding her tight as Elana forced her tongue into her mouth, told her that maybe Kelly was okay. Maybe it didn’t need to be fair.

  Kelly wore a semi-professional pencil skirt to the wedding, and it was driving Elana crazy. Skirts always looked better on the floor, but this one was sexy in a retro librarian kind of way. It was too long, though, for Elana to get her hand under it while they were standing. She fisted her hand in the fabric and broke the kiss. “I’m starting to hate this skirt.”

  “This skirt is the only thing saving us right now.” Kelly’s breath came in ragged bursts, hot against Elana’s lips.

  “What do you mean?” Elana found the zipper and started to ease it down.

  Kelly slapped her hand against Elana’s, flattening her palm and preventing her from going any farther. “There’s no way I’m letting you fuck me against this door.”

  Sure, Kelly said not here, but when Elana slid her leg between Kelly’s, she still rolled her hips against Elana with a groan. Elana chuckled. “You sure about that?”

  “This door? Absolutely not. A different door? Yes, please.” As if to reinforce her point, Kelly took Elana’s hand in hers and stepped to the side, out of her position between Elana and the door. “Come on.”

  Elana smiled. For the moment, it seemed Kelly was willing to help her forget about Brianna, and Elana was willing to let her.

  * * *

  Kelly wasn’t familiar with the building, but there was a set of stairs to her left, and it seemed the quickest, easiest way to get Elana away from Brianna and David. When she chose this door, she’d hoped for clear access to the parking lot, but there wasn’t an exterior exit here, and she wasn’t about to go through the banquet hall to get to her car. The second level would have to do.

  At the top of the stairs, there was a balcony that looked over the reception below. Elana stopped and stared, the stricken look returning to her face. Maybe the stairs hadn’t been the best idea after all. Elana didn’t resist as Kelly pulled her farther down the hall, away from the balcony. Kelly didn’t know her well, but guessed that on a normal day, Elana would hate to be jerked around like this. Finally, she happened upon an open door and she ducked inside. The room was small, filled with the broken and leftover bits of furniture that clearly wasn’t suitable for use at formal events.

  There was a tiny, lumpy loveseat in the corner. It was ugly, but it would do. Kelly kicked the door shut and guided Elana to the couch. It was faded, with stuffing that burst out of gashes in the upholstery. Elana sank into it with a sigh, and Kelly sat the cake on the arm rest. Why had she even brought that with her?

  “I thought I’d be okay.” Elana shook her head and stared dully into the middle distance.

  Kelly almost felt bad for breaking their earlier encounter against the back of the banquet hall door. It was absolutely inappropriate to consider, but she loved how it felt—illicit and dangerous. Not to mention, when Elana had been trying to get her skirt off, she’d seemed to have forgotten about the wedding, if only for a few moments.

  “I know.” Kelly didn’t actually know much of anything, especially about how Elana felt. She assumed she was falling apart and right now that was close enough to knowing.

  “I’m not okay. Not at all.” Elana turned her face to meet Kelly’s gaze. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears and rimmed with red. “This is so far from okay.”

  Kelly kissed her softly and said, “I know.” This time it wasn’t a stretch of the truth. She could clearly see the pain on Elana’s face, in the way she held her body, and the way she trembled periodically, as though she couldn’t hold it in any longer. Kelly wanted to do more for her to help her feel better, a strange contrast to her earlier motivation of simply getting Elana naked and sweaty beneath her. God, she was an asshole sometimes.

  “I’m such an idiot,” Elana murmured.

  “No. You believe in love. That doesn’t make you an idiot.”

  “You’re sweet.” Elana played with Kelly’s fingers and looked at her through her lashes. “I thought this would be simple, especially after I saw you.” She smirked, but it didn’t erase her sadness. “I figured I’d watch the ceremony, drink far too much, and then fuck you until I forgot all about her.”

  A part
of Kelly jumped to attention at that. She wanted to say “You still can.” Instead, she pushed the naughty, deviant voice down and asked, “Do you think it would have worked?”

  Elana cupped her face, her palm smooth and easy. “No, but it would have been a lot of fun for a while.”

  When Elana kissed her this time, she lingered long enough for a familiar tightness to build inside Kelly. Elana licked across her bottom lip, and Kelly pulled away with a gasp. She couldn’t quite catch her breath, and in the middle of trying to keep track of her libido, she lost track of Elana’s hand. It rested on her inner thigh, high up beneath her skirt where she could reach skin over the top edge of the silk stockings Kelly had splurged on after her last breakup.

  Kelly drew in a quick breath that was probably more a gasp than an inhalation. As Elana licked her lips slowly, she stared at Kelly with an intense look in her eyes. She played with the edge of Kelly’s stocking and whispered in a low, sultry voice, “These are sexy.”

  This was a terrible idea, but that didn’t stop the strangled moan that forced its way out of Kelly when Elana’s fingers grazed softly over her panties. She grabbed Elana’s wrist and pulled her hand far enough away to be able to think. “Wait.” Her voice sounded weak, and if she were Elana, she would interpret it more as a plea to continue than a command to stop.

  Elana shrugged and gave her a cute, teasing smile. Her eyes were dark with desire again and Kelly liked that look of greedy need way more than the grief from moments ago. God, if Elana kissed her again, all her good intentions would be forgotten and she wouldn’t stop until Elana arched and screamed and came all over her hand.

  As Elana tilted her head toward her, clearly intent on another kiss, Kelly swiveled and grabbed the cake. “You haven’t tried this yet.”

  She gathered a portion and held the fork in front of Elana’s mouth. Elana growled, and Kelly lost her mind that much more. Why was she resisting this beautiful woman? She couldn’t remember. Elana shook her head and said, “If I eat this, will you let me kiss you again?”

  The fuzzy part of Kelly’s brain, the part that was heavy with desire and wanted her to spread her legs wantonly for Elana, said she didn’t have to eat the cake for that to happen. The other part of her, the small, almost inaudible voice that wanted Kelly to be nice, reminded her that it wasn’t okay to take advantage of Elana. She shook her head, unsure which voice to listen to.

  “What do you mean?” Elana frowned at Kelly, then at the fork.

  “Huh?” Kelly was pretty sure she hadn’t said anything. She lowered the fork since Elana clearly didn’t plan to eat it.

  “Why did you shake your head?”

  “I did?” Kelly asked. “I didn’t mean to.”

  “Good.” Elana moved toward her again.

  “Wait.” Kelly’s voice squeaked and broke at the end, and she was pissed that she couldn’t just push Elana down on this ugly, stained, funky couch and feed her cake with her fingers as she fucked her until she screamed. Instead, she put her hand against Elana’s chest. The heavy, rapid pounding of Elana’s heart made her forget what she wanted to say for a moment. She closed her eyes. “Just…wait a second.”

  Elana took the fork from her and pushed the bite of cake into her mouth. She made a happy sound and smiled as her eyes rolled back in her head a little. That was the look that Kelly went for any time she sold a cake. Then Elana jabbed the fork into the remaining cake on the plate. “There. Done. Now kiss me.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this now?” It was the last time she’d protest, so she watched Elana’s face closely, searching for clues that lay beneath the surface.

  Elana scowled, her brow crinkled, eyes narrowed. “Why wouldn’t I?” She sounded completely disgusted with the question.

  “I just…you were really upset…” She was trying really fucking hard to be noble and Elana just looked pissed.

  “Fuck.” She shook her head, annoyed, and set her hand on Kelly’s knee. She moved it higher, slipping under Kelly’s skirt as she said, “I’m a grown-ass woman and I know exactly what I want. I don’t need you to protect me from myself.”

  CHAPTER 7

  It wasn’t that Elana didn’t appreciate Kelly’s annoying need to be chivalrous. It was sweet in a nineteenth-century kind of way. But right now, when all Elana wanted was to bury herself in Kelly and watch this gorgeous woman fall apart under her touch, the constant roadblocks from Kelly drove Elana mad.

  Elana had been with her share of women, mostly during the off phases of her on-and-off relationship with Bree, and she was a little cocky. She was a sexy bitch and so she picked up some really hot women. But Kelly was otherworldly, the kind of beautiful that was straight out of glamour magazines. And, for whatever reason, she seemed to be into Elana despite her crazy, weepy ex-girlfriend act.

  Sure, if she stopped touching Kelly long enough to let herself feel, she would fall apart. That was why she was panting for it. She was comfortable on top or bottom, taking up whatever role complemented her partner of the moment, but right now, she needed to top. She needed Kelly to let her. She just needed Kelly.

  She’d figure out what that meant later, after the desire to fuck Kelly until her body went slack had worked its way out of her system. And there was only one way to make that happen.

  Elana fixed Kelly with a hard stare, one she used to convey how deadly serious she was, and laid her hand against Kelly’s chest, where she could feel the fast beat of her heart. “I want this, Kelly.”

  Kelly’s mouth dropped open slightly and she poked her tongue out to lick her lips. Her conflict was written clearly on her face. She wanted Elana to take her as badly as Elana wanted to take. But there were also heavy shadows that kept her from sinking into the bliss Elana offered.

  “I want my fingers deep inside you. I want to fuck you hard and fast, and then, after you come, I want you to ride my face, covering me with the slick, wet desire that I know is coating your panties right now.”

  Elana liked dirty talk. And the glazed-over look in Kelly’s eyes meant Kelly liked it, too.

  * * *

  By the time Elana finished speaking, an electric awareness filled Kelly’s cunt. Elana’s fingers were close enough to touch, but she was waiting for something. She watched Kelly as closely as Kelly had watched her moments ago. There was a cunning, hard look in her eyes that made Kelly draw in a quick breath.

  Kelly gripped the side of the couch, and held her body perfectly still in anticipation. “Elana…”

  “You want this.” Elana searched Kelly’s eyes as if she were trying to divine the answer in the remains of Kelly’s fractured self-control. Her fingers brushed lightly over the fabric of Kelly’s panties.

  Kelly bit her lip, closed her eyes, and nodded slightly.

  Without hesitation, Elana pushed her underwear to the side and slid her fingers into Kelly with a heavy groan. “Thank God.”

  Kelly dropped back onto the sofa, or maybe Elana pushed her. She couldn’t be sure. The only thing she knew, the only thing she felt was Elana’s teeth teasing along her throat and the heavy, fast pace of her fingers fucking in and out. God, this wasn’t what she’d planned. She wanted to fuck Elana, to bring her to orgasm over and over until the only name falling from her lips was Kelly’s. She wanted to help Elana forget. Instead, she was on her back, panting as her hips jerked wildly and a low keen escaped from a place inside she’d almost forgotten about. Fuck, Elana was really good at this.

  Elana covered Kelly, propping herself up so that one side of her pressed flush against her. Yet the other side was separated by just enough distance for Elana to move. She used leverage and force and pushed Kelly higher and higher until she was sure there was no possible way down from here. Her whole body was alive, throbbing and pulsing with the harsh rhythm of Elana inside her. Elana whispered to her in Spanish, her voice mesmerizing and her breath smoky hot in Kelly’s ear. She understood a handful of words. Please. Hot. Wet. Sexy. She had no idea what else Elana was saying, but her ton
e was absolutely filthy, and when she slipped her teeth around Kelly’s ear and bit down, that was it. She was lost, spiraling around the room and begging for the crashing wave after wave of orgasm to never end.

  Elana brushed her lips against Kelly’s and it was almost chaste, except for the flutter of fingers that were still inside her as she tried to calm her breathing. The walls of her cunt were pulsing and she didn’t want Elana to pull out just yet, but couldn’t form the words to ask her to stay. Instead, she just whimpered as Elana slid easily out.

  “Fuck, that was hot.” Elana held her hand up to the light and her fingers glistened.

  Kelly laughed, but it was too loose and out of control. She sounded like a woman who had been fucked recently and hard. The thought made her laugh again and Elana just looked at her with one eyebrow raised as she sucked one finger into her mouth. Kelly stopped laughing. Elana’s eyes slipped shut as if she’d tasted the best thing ever and Kelly stared, her lips parted, unable to stop the moan that escaped.

  Kelly’s strength was returning and she was almost ready to flip Elana onto her back. It was her turn and Kelly really, really wanted her tongue inside Elana. She squeezed Elana’s hip, a needy clutch pulling her close, so she could use the momentum to reverse their positions.

  As she sucked her last finger clean, Elana opened her eyes. She had the same dark, desperate look that she’d had moments before she’d pushed Kelly onto her back. Pinning Kelly in place with her hips, Elana kissed her slowly, her tongue stroking inside her mouth, owning Kelly. She pulled away and stood, all in one smooth motion. Kelly stared up at her, breathless and confused. This wasn’t what she had in mind at all, but she couldn’t clear her thoughts long enough to figure out what was wrong. She moaned because that was only sound she was capable of making.