On Hallowed Ground, Chapter 6 - Xena

[calliopes_muse]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, I'm a little late doing this.  This was submitted for Ralst's Epic Proportions challenge.  I thought I'd do a little self-pimping.  This is more or less an original fic that I have been meaning to write for a long time, but I used the basic charactistics of Xena and Gabrielle for our main characters.
AUTHOR'S NOTE 2:  I will post this in chapters for those who like it that way, but the link to the full story is below.
THANKS: To my primary beta, Sofia Lindsay, for listening to my insecurities and reading and re-reading this fic. It wouldn’t have been done had she not poked the daylights out of me. That sounded very wrong! Also, thanks to my secondary betas on this fic, Darkbardzero and Sinjenkai. Last but not least, to my partner Michelle for puttng up with my late nights working on this.

SUMMARY: Young and ambitious journalist Riley Jacobsen returns home to Alabama for an undercover story on her town’s former church and opens the door to more than she ever expected.

RATING: Mature, for descriptions of violence, abuse, and f/f sex.

CHALLENGE: Submitted as part of the Epic Proportions challenge.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

©April 2009

Feedback is crack, folks.  Let me know what you think.

ON HALLOWED GROUND (link to full story)

By Calliope’s Muse

 

CHAPTER 6

 

Riley was jerked awake by her cell phone ringing. She flipped it open and mumbled a string of curses before actually addressing the person on the other line.

A deep laugh answered her gruff greeting, “Having a sleepless night, Riley?”

Riley cracked one eye open to look at the clock, “Al, it’s only 7am. I have whole other hour before I have to get up for group. What are you doing calling so God awful early?”

“I have to pick on our star reporter for falling for the blonde hair preacher’s daughter. Only you, Riley.”

“Oh please! I haven’t fallen for her.” Riley rolled over and stared at the ceiling. 

“Then why do you care that she broke up with her boyfriend? You were quite detailed in your recounting of that particular part of your conversation.” She could tell he was trying not to laugh and if she could have she would have reached through the line and jerked him through it…backwards.

“Bite me, Al! It could be important to the story I’m doing.” She threw her pillow over her face.

She could hear him draw in an audible gasp, “You think she’s gay.”

“How many straight women turn down a chance to get engaged to the most eligible guy in town and on top of that, use the excuse that he’s a great guy but she just doesn’t feel quote ‘that way’ about him? In other words, she doesn’t have sexual feelings for him. I’ve seen him, Al, he’s a good looking guy. If I was straight, I’d go for him. Hell, you’d probably go for him!”

“Hey!” He fussed in warning.

“Just putting it in perspective for you, buddy.” Riley was sitting up fully in bed now. Obviously, she wasn’t going to get anymore sleep!

“Hmmm, damn Riley, if you’re right…this could be freakin’ huge! I can see the headline now: Daughter of ex-gay pastor come out.”

“No.”

“What?”

“This isn’t about Sam. I didn’t come here to out someone, especially her. This is about the lies these programs tell, and she admits as much.” Riley rubbed at the crease between her eyes, feeling a headache already starting. She got out of bed and went to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.

Al sighed, “And that’s all the more reason why this is such a huge deal. Besides, she’s given you information and put herself in the middle of this story by doing so. It’s not your fault if you simply report the truth. In fact, this should go to print now. We could run it as an on-going investigative report.”

“No, Al! I’m warning you. I’m not going down that road.”

There was silence on the other end of the line and for a moment Riley thought the call had been dropped. Then, “And I’m warning you, Riley. Both of our careers are riding on this story. You fuck up, I go down with you. I have a family to care for, and I won’t allow that to happen.”

Riley felt the pounding of the headache come on full force. She sat on the bar stool understanding firsthand what it meant to be stuck between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Al had been right. She does feel something for Sam, and she doesn’t want to hurt her. The further she gets into this story though the harder it’s becoming to separate the woman from the story. She also can’t let Al, Jack, and everyone at the paper down. So much rides on this and it’s bigger than her now. That thought scares her.

“I won’t let you down, Al, but I’m going to need to do this my way. At least let me have the chance to warn her what’s coming.”

“Okay.” Riley balked at his half-hearted response.

“Promise me you won’t do anything with this story yet.”

He sighed, “Okay, I promise.”

“Thank you.”

***********

Sam smiled as the last of the group left the building. Phillip was the first to leave with his head down and his hands stuffed in his pockets. She knew he was trying to keep everyone from seeing his fresh tears. John had been particularly harsh with him today, yelling at him and forcing him to read passages from Leviticus over and over again. She had become so concerned at the vehemence of the exchange that she was about to step in, when John lowered the bombshell. 

John had to go to Birmingham to bail Phillip out of jail last night. Apparently, the Birmingham police were performing random raids on bars that were on a watch list for drugs. To make matters worse, the bar was also a gay bar. Under the pressure, Phillip broke down and begged for forgiveness.

Sam watched uneasily from a distance, wanting to jump in, but fearing her own demons would surface. The dreams were still vivid. Her mind would randomly jump to an image and she’d forget what she was doing. When Riley didn’t show up for group, Sam was relieved and concerned. She wanted to see the woman who haunted her dreams, but she wasn’t sure if she could even look her in the eye right now.

She locked the door behind her and headed to the church. Going through a back door the choir used, she entered the sanctuary through the choir loft and she took a seat in the back. She closed her eyes, letting the quiet settle her mind. She loved to do this as a kid. The church would be so quiet, but if she listened close enough and asked a question of God, she could “hear” the answer. It had been at one time that she believed her method worked, but when her mom got sick, she went through her ritual of asking God if she would be okay. She was so sure the answer was yes. Instead she died the next week from complications in surgery. She stopped talking to God. It was something she couldn’t admit to anyone. What would they think of the preacher’s daughter losing her faith?

She bit her lip feeling the pain of that loss of her mom and her faith in one swipe. She let the tears come, not trying to brush them away, letting them cleanse her for what she had to do. Bowing her head, she opened her heart to the faith she had let go so long ago.

She let the quietness sink into her soul and calm her restless spirit. She offered her love and her belief to God one more time and let her heart ask the question she had held inside for so long. Is it wrong to feel this way, Lord? Am I evil and wicked and deserving of death? If so, Lord, take me from this world. Remove me from your sight.

“My child, I love you. You are mine, and you are perfectly made in my image. Do not fear.”

Sam suddenly braced herself against the railing in front of her, surely she was imagining this. Her eyes were closed but she felt a warm, radiating light invade her senses, bathing her in peace. A hand brushed over her shoulder and she felt a tremendous weight she didn’t know she had been carrying lifted from her back.

She was crying new tears, but they were tears of joy. She started laughing then, a laugh that she felt into her soul. She was happy. This is what happy felt like. Finally, opening her eyes she looked up. A bright shaft of light had come through a window and landed on the cross to her left.

She knew what she had to do. Taking one last look back at the cross, she smiled, “Thank you.”

***********

In moments she was standing at Riley’s door, knocking steadily but getting no answer. 

“Oh for crying out loud!” She turned the knob and went in. The house was quiet. Papers were strewn over the coffee table and a laptop sat open on it. “Riley?” She heard a shuffling from the bedroom.

Entering the room, she saw Riley sprawled out across the bed, face down, her feet dangling off the end. Sam smiled at the sight and couldn’t help but think how beautiful she looked with bedhead. She leaned against the door and simply watched her sleep.

She couldn’t help but think about her dream. She looked at Riley’s hands splayed out across the pillow and a small tremor ran through her body. If the dream was even close to reality, she was in trouble. A good kind of trouble, but still trouble. She knew she should be freaked out by the feelings she was having. It ran counter to everything she had ever known or heard. Being drawn to another woman like this should have made her feel crazed or mad, or at the very least as if she was drowning, dying, and out of control. She felt a little of all of that, but it all left a smile on her face because all of those feelings can be used to describe falling in love. She knew she hadn’t imagined what had happened in the church. Somehow no matter what anyone said, she knew this wasn’t evil.

Walking around to the side of the bed, she looked down on Riley. Her face relaxed and peaceful. She had the strongest urge to lean over and kiss her, but the selfish part of her wanted her first kiss with a woman to be something both of them were fully aware of. There were no do-overs for the first kiss, not this kiss.

Reaching over she brushed the thick dark hair away from Riley’s face and tucked it behind her ear, making her stir only slightly. She slid the tips of her fingers along Riley’s angular cheek and jawline, memorizing the feel of her skin under her fingers.

“Riley?” She flinched at the rough sound of her own voice. She wondered for a moment where that sound had come from. The brunette finally opened her eyes and nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Jesus Christ!”

“It’s okay! It’s just me!” Sam laughed at the terrified look on Riley’s face, not because the other woman was afraid, but because it was so counter to the tough exterior put on.

“God, don’t do that to me again!” Riley held a hand to her chest, willing her heart to calm down. 

“Sorry, I…,” Now that she was here, she couldn’t find the words anymore.

Riley switched gears at breakneck speed, “Wait a minute, why are you here?”

“I, um…,” Sam took a deep breath, “I needed to talk to you. I needed to tell you something.”

Concern immediately kicked in and she thought about the bruises she’d seen that she was sure John had left and then the way Bobby had roughed her around. She had a feeling she needed to be firing on all cylinders for whatever was coming.

“Do you mind if I get a shower first?”

Sam hoped Riley didn’t see the blush that flooded her face, thinking of Riley naked and wet, “No, not at all. Go right ahead. I’ll, um…make some coffee.”

Riley smiled genuinely, “Now ya talking! Give me five minutes.”

By the time the coffee had finished brewing, Riley walked into the kitchen, sporting a pair of gray shorts and a black tank top. Her hair was hanging in wet curls as she tried fruitlessly to dry them with her towel. Sam turned with a cup in hand and nearly dropped it at the sight in front of her. She thought Riley couldn’t beat the bedhead look, but she had been horribly wrong. She forced herself to swallow, but she realized she had nothing to swallow because her mouth was bone dry. She covered her physical fumbling by taking a swig of her own coffee.

Riley took the offer appreciatively, “Mmmmm, perfect!”

Sam got a little of her bearings back and she seemed fine as long as she didn’t look too long at the blue eyes that looked almost silver in the morning light. “Thanks!”

Riley took a healthy sip of the coffee loving the feel of the warmth in the pit of her stomach, “So, what’s so important that you had to break into my house?”

“Technically, I didn’t have to break in. There’s no lock, so…no crime.” She liked this. The banter and easy conversation. Riley was so much of what she had been looking for and she never expected it all be packaged in such a feminine wrapper.

“Okay, granted. A phone call would have sufficed unless it’s really important.”

“It is,” Sam stared down into her coffee cup. She had snuck away to see one of the Harry Potter movies and in it a character told the future of Ron from tea leaves. Right now, she wished she could find the answer that easily in her cup.

“So, spill it.”

“I think I’m a lesbian,” she saw the confused look on Riley’s face, the message not quite being fully received yet, “No, wait. That’s not right. I know I’m a lesbian.”

The message was finally getting through to Riley, who looked at Sam skeptically before smiling and waving a finger at her. “Oh, that’s good. That’s real good!”

This wasn’t exactly the response Sam had expected, “What?”

“This is a test. You’re testing me, tempting me, to see if I’ll give in and then you can kick me out of the program.”

“No, it’s not a test. I’m telling you the truth.” Now Sam was annoyed. She had dared to trust Riley, and all Riley could do was scoff at her. “I can’t believe you’d even think I’d do something like that!” She slammed her empty coffee cup on the counter and walked over to get in Riley’s space. She looked at her and into her.

“Look at me, Riley. You know I’m not the type to lie or trick. I came here to entrust you with something so important, so revolutionary in my life, and you laugh it off. You’re no better than the people in the church who claim you don’t know what love it because love between two people of the same sex isn’t real love. You hypocrite!”

Riley was stunned at how quickly this was going downhill. Sam had pushed past her to leave and for a second, Riley almost let her go. As Sam was opening the door to leave, Riley came up behind her to push it closed. Sam gave up on fighting the tears. She was humiliated and all she wanted to do was leave.

“Let me go, Riley,” her voice was soft and sad.

“I can’t. Not like this. Please, turn around and look at me.” Seconds seemed to stretch eternally before Sam complied and turned to face the taller woman. She looked in the blue eyes that now flashed with a fire she had only seen once before. Now, she didn’t want to turn away. She was drawn in, like a moth to the flame. This dance was as dangerous and deadly as it was beautiful, and Sam couldn’t stop it now if she wanted to and God knows she didn’t want to.

Riley felt the electricity crackle between them. They seemed to hold in the moment forever, refusing to give in or back off. The fierce determination in Sam’s eyes all the proof she needed that this wasn’t fake. Slowly, she leaned down to claim the soft lips that were slightly parted and waiting for her.

A sharp crack outside broke the moment. They both looked at each other, but Sam voiced it first.

“What was that?”

Riley had lived in the city long enough to know the sound of gunshots when they happened.

“Come on, let’s see what’s going on.” Riley took her hand and led her outside.

 

*************

 

A small crowd was already gathering across the street. Riley pulled Sam along, shouldering her way to the front. She looked at one of the other women from her group. Her eyes were red and the tears were pouring down.

 

“Alicia, what happened?” She shook her head.

 

“I…I don’t know. That’s Phillip’s house. It sounded like gunshots, didn’t it?” Alicia hiccupped out the last of her sentence now that her tears were subsiding.

 

“Yeah, I think so.” She looked in Sam’s shocked eyes. It was taking the police far too long to get there and no one had yet stepped forward to find out what was going on. Slowly, she made her way to the front door. Sam held tight to her hand, fear etched on her face.

 

“It’s okay.” Riley squeezed her hand before inching further up the walkway, leaving Sam behind.

 

As she got closer, the house was eerily quiet. She tried to peek into a window but all the shades were drawn. She stepped to the side, like she had seen police do in the movies, and with a quick twist of the handle, she let the door swing open.

 

When a barrage of bullets didn’t greet her, she peeked around the corner and saw…nothing. The living room and kitchen area were completely empty. There wasn’t a sign that a person lived there at all – no trinkets, momentos, or even a notepad, pencil or dirty coffee cup.

 

She looked back at Sam who was watching her with intense worry. One hand was up to her face as she gnawed at a fingernail. Riley heard sirens in the distance, and she saw Sam motion that she was going to intercept them. Riley nodded and turned to the hallway.

 

“Phillip? Hey buddy, ya here?” Her voice sounded far calmer than she felt. The further she got into the house, the stronger the sense of dread became. It was too quiet. Since the houses weren’t big, there weren’t many rooms to check so she headed directly for the closed door at the end of the hallway.

 

“Come on, Phillip. Please don’t do this.” She mumbled to herself as she turned the knob and closed her eyes before pushing it open. She thought she was prepared for what she was going to see, but nothing can prepare a person to see anyone with half of a head.

 

“Oh, fuck!” She pulled the door to and closed her eyes again trying to block out the sight. She was sure she hadn’t imagined it and she was sure she had woken up this morning. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

 

Her mind’s eye though remembered something white on his chest. She swallowed down the bile threatening to come up and told herself to imagine it was just a mannequin and not really a human being on that bed. Flinging the door open again, she rushed into the room and frantically pulled at the rectangular piece of paper being careful not to get the blood sliding down his chest on her hands. 

 

The sirens had come closer until they were right outside the house. In a sudden rush of frenzy, medics came bursting through the door with Sam on their heels. Riley turned in time to see green eyes roll back into her head as the blonde went limp and hit the floor. In seconds, Riley was by her side, tapping her on the side of her face. When she didn’t respond, she went to the bathroom to dampen a washcloth. She stopped in her tracks, staring open-mouthed at the walls.

 

It seemed like every inch of the large mirror over the sink was covered in small notebook sized paper with neat feminine handwriting. She looked at the paper in her hand. It looked like a drunken kindergartner had written it. Scriptures and highlighted pieces of the letters were everywhere. She saw Leviticus and Romans highlighted several times and words like perverse, despised, dirty, and ashamed were underlined.

 

“Son of a fuckin’ bitch.” Her mother had been bad, but it had never been like this. She couldn’t even imagine facing this emotional assault day in and day out. The anger that flooded her for the lost soul in the other room made her want to rip ever piece down and tear it into tiny shreds, but she couldn’t. She knew it had to stay for the police to see. 

 

She grabbed a clean washcloth from over the toilet and wet it with cold water. When she came back in the room, an EMT was checking Sam’s pulse. She knelt back down beside the blonde touching the cloth gently to the side of her face.

 

“Hey, kiddo, come on. Wake back up.” When Sam started to stir, Riley moved so her body would block the view of the bed.

 

“What happened?” Sam put a hand to her mouth, remembering quickly how she had ended up on the floor. Her bottom lip trembled as the tears came back with a vengeance. 

 

Riley stroked her hair, “You’re okay. You just passed out. Come on, let’s get you outside and get some fresh air.” She pulled Sam to her feet, and when Sam tried to look over her shoulder, Riley wrapped an arm around her effectively hiding her from the horrid sight.

 

Two uniforms and a suit stood by the front door. The suit looked to be the lead investigator so she handed the piece of paper over to him before continuing to guide Sam to the sidewalk. 

 

“Samantha! There you are. Are you okay?” John pushed his way through the crowd, his dark suit and red power tie out of place for a hot summer day. 

 

He stopped short when he saw Riley there with her arm around Sam’s waist, “What are you doing here?”

 

Riley sighed, knowing instinctively where his mind was going, “Your sister passed out inside when she saw him…Phillip. I got her outside, away from it, okay?” 

 

He swallowed his anger and she could almost see him physically make himself refocus on the situation at hand. There was now a large crowd, and he had to handle the situation tactfully.

 

“What happened?” 

 

Riley found herself detesting the arrogant bastard even more when he shifted his eyes around the group and spoke in a hushed voice. Why she bothered to follow his lead she’ll never know. She turned away from the crowd and whispered to him, “Let’s just say there are pieces of Phillip Dwyer all over his bedroom wall.”

 

John visibly cringed at this description and she got a momentary bit of pleasure out of watching him squirm. He nodded his thanks before heading to the police officers.

 

She knew the police were going to want to talk to her, but right now, she just wanted to get Sam away from the chaos.

 

“Hey, you wanna get out of here?” Sam nodded but didn’t respond. 

 

They climbed in Riley’s Jeep and headed further down the back roads leading deeper into the country. Riley drove slow giving Sam time to think and process. Aside from the unrelenting heat, it was a beautiful day with perfect blue skies. She turned down an unnamed dirt road. She had a vague recollection of it from her childhood and riding with her father. About a mile down the road, it abruptly ended and opened up into a field, and a little further down the stream that had run by the camp twisted in an S-shape with a large willow tree in one of its curves. 

 

She pulled her Jeep as close to the edge as she could, snagging a piece of the coveted shade. When she stopped and turned to Sam, the blonde had her head back on the headrest. She saw the sun glittering off the tears on the side of her face. 

 

Reaching up, she brushed it away with the back of a finger. Sam turned to look at her, the brightness in her eyes turned dull with sadness and something else she couldn’t pinpoint.

 

“I should have done something.”

 

Riley understood that look in her eyes now, “There’s nothing you could have done.”

 

“Yes, I could have. I saw him this morning…in group. He was upset when he left. John rode him and tore him up again in front of everyone. He cried and begged for forgiveness.” Sam turned to look up into the drifting limbs of the willow. “I didn’t even pay attention to the signs.”

 

Riley leaned back and stroked Sam’s cheek, “No, don’t talk like that. You couldn’t have known.”

 

She shook her head, letting her eyes focus on a white puffy cloud in the distance. The world was still turning and the clouds were still moving across the sky as if nothing has happened.

 

“He was so afraid, and who could blame him? I guess he didn’t think he had any other way out.” Riley didn’t know what to say. Words were failing her so she simply sat there and ran her fingers through the soft blonde hair.

 

“I don’t want to be afraid anymore, Riley. I’ve been spending almost all of my life feeling afraid. I even remember feeling afraid when I was five years old. It was a dream, a stupid dream, but it stayed with me.”

 

Riley encouraged her, getting her to talk about something besides Phillip, “What was the dream about?”

 

Sam tossed a crooked, tear-filled smile her way, “I dreamed I was being chased by the devil. The funny part was, my young mind filled in the way he looked, by making him my size and wearing a red devil suit, tail and all, and carrying a pitchfork.” 

 

Riley smiled at her, “You’re not that scared five year old anymore though.”

 

“No, no I’m not, but I’ve lived like I was for so long…I’m not sure I know any other way to be.” Sam took a deep breath, readying herself to tell the story she had held in for so long. “When I was about nine, your mom came to our house and told my folks about you being gay. I had never even heard of that word until then, but I understood it. Something deep inside of me knew, even then. I was so scared, Riley. I pushed everything and everyone away. I thought if I was good enough, smart enough, if I tried hard enough, it would all go away. But you show up again on our doorstep, like a ghost from the past, and I can’t deny this anymore. I don’t want to.”

 

“But you’re still scared.”

 

“Are you kidding? I’m terrified!” She laughed, feeling good in spite of the horrible events of the day.

 

“Being scared doesn’t go away…just an FYI.”

 

Sam reached out and took Riley’s free hand in her own, running her thumb over the back of her fingers, “I just don’t want to end up like Phillip.”

 

Riley’s chest tightened at the mere implication of the words. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She didn’t want anything to happen to Sam, and she would do anything to stop something horrible from happening to her.

 

For Sam, the moment seemed to move in slow motion. She felt Riley’s hand slip from her own as it came up to brush along her jaw line, gently lifting her chin until Riley’s fiery cobalt eyes pinned her to the car seat. Knowing what was going to happen didn’t stop the nervous flutter in her stomach or prepare her for the overwhelming sensation. She had heard about kisses that were earth shattering and mind blowing, but she thought they were the over-romanticized emotions of writers, not reality. At least her reality. When Riley’s lips touched her own though, she understood. She finally got what all the fuss was about. This was the feeling that made people do crazy things – go to war for love, fall on their sword for love, betray a brother for love. This was what it was all about.

 

Instinctively, she tilted her head and granted Riley more access. A hand on the back of her head gently held her in place, guiding both of them on this delicate journey. The soft curl of Riley’s tongue against her own, must have hit a nerve, because Sam felt it in the pit of her stomach. Suddenly, she couldn’t keep her hands off of Riley. She grabbed onto a jean-clad hip and tried to pull the brunette closer. 

 

Riley moaned at the aggressive move. It took all of her control to break the kiss. She pulled back to look into Sam’s hooded green eyes. Sam swallowed hard at the soft and intimate caress of fingers along her spine. If it wasn’t her kiss, it was her touch driving her crazy. She licked her lips and leaned back in for another kiss. Riley raised a finger to her lips.

 

“Sam, you know this is going to change everything.”

 

“I know,” she smirked at Riley, “I’m not afraid, not with you.”

 

Riley brushed her lips daringly against Sam’s, causing the blonde to shiver, “You know I want to make love to you, right?”

 

“After a kiss like that, I would hope so.”

 

Riley smiled hesitantly. In spite of Sam’s bravado, she was pretty sure that Sam had never been with a woman before. In fact, she would bet a month’s pay that she’d never even slept with a man before.

 

“I don’t want you to feel rushed or pressured or anything.”

 

Sam sighed, “Can I tell you something?”

 

“Of course, anything.”

 

Sam took a deep breath, “This is kind of embarassing, but it’s no more embarassing than the things I’ve imagined us doing…so, here goes…”

 

Riley raised an eyebrow at the blonde, curious about what she had been imagining. She stored that away for a later conversation.

 

“I, um…had a dream,” Sam looked sheepishly at Riley, “about you…and me…together.”

 

The brunette quirked her eyebrow again, “Oh really?”

 

“Yeah, um,” she picked some imaginary lint off her shirt, “It was…”

 

“Yes?” Riley enjoyed making her squirm a little.

 

Sam rolled her eyes, “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

 

“Yep!”

 

Sam growled, “Fine…fine. It was hot, okay? Like, really hot. There…happy?”

 

She tilted Sam’s chin up to look at her, and kissed her deeply before pulling back, “Very. But I don’t want to do this here.” She checked the clock on the radio. They had been gone a couple of hours so it was possible the crowd at the camp had dispersed. “Do you want to go back?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Riley turned her vehicle around and headed back down the dirt road. When she came to the main road, she reached over and took Sam’s hand. Sam looked down at their entwined fingers, thinking no one else’s hand had ever fit her’s so perfectly. A sudden blush crept up her face as she thought about Riley’s fingers. If she was going to burn in hell, she was at least going to enjoy the ride getting there.

 

When Riley turned down the road heading back into the camp, it was incredibly quiet, somber even. Yellow tape criss-crossed over the door to Phillip’s house. Sam watched as they passed and Riley squeezed her hand.

 

“It’s okay. I’ll be okay.”

 

They got out and walked the short distance to the front door. Sam let herself in and Riley followed. Once inside, they didn’t know how to act. Riley didn’t want to push her and Sam didn’t know what to do.

 

“You want something to drink. I need something to drink.” Riley brushed past her and headed to the kitchen. Sam reached for her hand, stopping her in her tracks.

 

“I don’t want anything to drink. I just want you. I know I haven’t done this before, but I know what I want.” Sam pulled her down into a kiss, letting her hands caress the tender skin along her neck. Riley responded instantly, wrapping her arms around Sam’s waist and pulling her close.

 

Riley managed to guide Sam back to the bedroom without breaking the kiss. She tugged at the t-shirt Sam wore, pulling the hem from the shorts she had on. Sam moaned when Riley’s fingers touched her stomach, softly caressing the area around her navel. Against her will, she felt her body respond as her hips jerked forward.

 

Riley broke the kiss only to start an unrelenting assault on Sam’s neck, moving lower and then back closer to her ear. She breathed in Sam’s scent, tasting the salty sweetness of her skin. Sam relished the feeling and the waves of electricity moving through her body. 

 

“That feels so good,” Sam’s hands couldn’t be still. She needed to touch Riley. “You have too many clothes on.”

 

Riley chuckled to herself. Her voice was raspy with desire. “So do you. I think we need to remedy that.”

 

Riley stepped back just enough to make room to slip Sam’s shirt off, before moving to unbutton her own shirt. Sam stopped her.

 

“Oh no you don’t.” Sam undid the first two buttons, just to the point where she could see Riley’s bra. She leaned over to kiss the space between Riley’s breasts, dipping her tongue into the open space below, while her hands continued to work at the other buttons. Riley closed her eyes and urged Sam to continue by running her long fingers through blonde hair.

 

Sam pushed the shirt off Riley’s shoulders and threw it behind them. Sam kissed her way up Riley’s chest, until she was at the hollow of her throat. When Riley threw her head back, Sam opened her eyes and really looked at Riley openly for the first time. Something shifted inside Sam.

 

“You’re so beautiful.” Sam watched mesmerized as Riley tilted her head back down, a sexy smirk gracing her face. She stopped Sam’s wandering hand on her chest and neck. Taking the hand in her own, she locked eyes with Sam as she took a finger in her mouth and softly sucked. 

 

Sam gasped at the sensation, feeling it hit her low in the stomach. She tugged with her free hand at the waistband on Riley’s jeans, attempting to undo the button. Riley smiled at the look of abandon on Sam’s face.

 

“Let me help you with that.” Sam watched as Riley slid out of her jeans and kicked them aside. She noticed that Sam wasn’t moving, enjoying the show, so she reached back and unsnapped her bra, letting it fall at her feet. She let Sam look at her, noticing the subtle motion of her tongue licking the corner of her mouth.

 

“Like what you see?” Sam could only nod. Riley motioned her forward with a finger, “Come here.” When Sam came closer, she said, “Turn around.”

 

Riley pushed blonde hair aside to kiss and nip at Sam’s shoulder, while her fingers searched for the clasp to Sam’s bra. It came undone easily and she slid the back of her fingers down Sam’s back, until they danced teasingly on her lower back. She leaned back and pushed the bra off Sam’s shoulders, tossing it aside. A slow throb was starting deep inside of Sam and it only became stronger with each brush of Riley’s lips on her neck and breasts on her back.

 

Riley could sense the change in Sam’s body – her increased breathing, the slight tilt of her hips pushing back into Riley, and the almost unnoticeable sighs and moans. All of these things were quickly making Riley’s body respond in kind. She reached around, splaying her fingers across Sam’s stomach, pulling their hips in close together. She needed to get closer to Sam.

 

“God, Sam.” She nipped at her earlobe, earning her a gasp and a grinding of her hips back into Riley. “We need to get these off.” She tugged at the shorts. Sam couldn’t hold back anymore. She reached up and helped Riley take the rest of her clothes off. Riley slipped her underwear off as Sam turned to face her.

 

Riley slid her thigh between Sam’s legs, instantly feeling the wetness on her skin. If there was any doubt left in Riley’s mind that Sam wanted this as much as she did, it was gone now. She kissed her tenderly, leading her back towards the bed. Sam felt the mattress bump the back of her knees. There was no turning back now, not that she wanted to anyway. Her heart beat triple time knowing that Riley was going to make love to her and she wanted her to.

 

She sat back on the bed and pulled Riley down on top of her. Riley braced herself above Sam, letting their kisses slowly deepen, knowing there was no need to rush now. She took her time memorizing the taste of Sam’s kiss, the feel of her body underneath her, and soft sighs and murmurs of encouragement.

 

Riley nudged Sam’s legs apart, letting her hips settle there. She watched the changes on Sam’s face as she rotated her hips against her. One minute Sam was the picture of contentment, the next she closed her eyes tight, her eyebrows scrunching together, as a low groan escaped from her.

 

When Riley reached between them to tease at the wet curls, Sam nearly came undone, thrusting her head back and gasping for air. Riley wanted to take her time so she stopped and instead leaned down to take a nipple into her mouth. Sam’s hands immediately came to Riley’s head, tangling in the dark mane. Riley wasn’t sure if it was a sign for her to continue or stop, but when she looked up at Sam alternating between biting her lip and gasping for air, she got the distinct impression to continue.

 

When Riley sucked hard on her nipple, the words that had been playing like a mantra through her head finally came tumbling out.

 

“Oh God! Oh Riley!” She was starting to ache so bad from the slow torture she was close to begging. For what, she didn’t know, but she was damn near going to beg for it. “Please.”

 

Riley took the cue and kissed down Sam’s stomach, taking time to dip her tongue into her bellybutton. Sam felt Riley slide lower and for a moment she hesitated, shocked at the knowledge of what was about to happen. She looked down and watched in amazement as Riley moved lower and then lower still, brushing her lips over her curls and licking the skin just above them. When Riley slipped her shoulders under Sam’s thighs, lifting and opening her to Riley’s waiting mouth, Sam saw her face. Her eyes were closed in a look of pure contentment. They didn’t stay like that for long. Her blue eyes, darkened to violet by desire, caught Sam in the act of watching. 

 

She smiled at Sam, “It’s okay if you want to watch.”

 

It didn’t matter if she wanted to or not once Riley leaned down to run her tongue through Sam’s folds. The sensation ripped the air from Sam’s lungs and her head fell back in a thud on the pillow. Sam was convinced that Riley was trying to slowly kill her with pleasure. She’d find a particularly sensitive spot and would pull away to dip her tongue lower and deeper. Sam wasn’t sure which she liked better – the sharp jolt or the warm penetration. All she knew was that she couldn’t imagine anything feeling better.

 

“Sam?” The blonde had a moment of panic thinking Riley found something wrong with her or with her body.

 

“What’s wrong?”  Riley came back up and kissed her softly. Sam leaned up to kiss her deeper, distracted by the taste of herself on Riley’s lips.

 

“Nothing’s wrong. I…,” Riley brushed her lips against Sam’s neck, whispering the rest in her ear, “I want to touch you.”

 

“But you are,” Sam kissed the tender hollow above Riley’s collarbone.

 

“No, I want to touch you,” she looked into Sam’s eyes, trying to convey her need, “inside. I want to be inside of you, but I don’t want to hurt you.”

 

Sam’s heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest, “Why, Riley Jacobsen…you’re just a romantic at heart, aren’t you?” Riley smiled with relief, “Besides, you can’t hurt me when I want you to do it.”

 

“You do?” 

 

Sam bit her lip, trying to fight the blush creeping up her face, “Oh yeah.”

 

Riley kissed her again, slow and deep, rolling until they were on their sides facing each other. She pulled one of Sam’s legs up over her hip, letting her hands wander along the outside of her thigh, her nails scratch lightly over her ass.

 

She watched the changing expressions cross Sam’s face as her hand slipped between Sam’s thighs. Sam’s eyes fought to stay open as Riley’s fingers slid easily between her folds, teasing her gently.

 

Slowly, she dipped her fingers lower, feeling resistance as she slid a finger deeper. Sam pulled Riley closer, her nails digging into Riley’s back, “Please.”

 

Riley kissed her and swallowed Sam’s cry as she pushed in all the way. Tears sprung to her eyes at the intimacy and trust. She buried her face in Sam’s neck as she took her past the pain, steadily thrusting in and out, waiting for Sam’s strangled gasps to change over. After a few seconds, she felt the tightening of muscles around her finger and the rhythmic pants in her ear.

 

“Riley.” She pulled back and saw green eyes shining bright, in spite of the tears slipping down her face, and a smile curling at her lips. Riley moved faster in and out watching the storm build. Suddenly, Sam buried her face in Riley’s neck, her body rigid, and her nails cutting into Riley’s back.

 

She turned her head so she could kiss at Sam’s head, cheek, and shoulders, slowly bringing her back to earth. The pulsing subsided, and she gently pulled out, the soft groan at her ear the only sign that Sam was even awake.

 

“Hey, you okay?” Riley coaxed the blonde.

 

Sam rolled over and laughed, “I think that’s an understatement.”

 

Riley smiled, “Good. I’d hate to think I deflowered you for nothing!”

 

Sam smacked Riley on the arm, “Smartass!” 

 

“Yeah, but it’s a cute smart ass.”