“I’m not sure I’m that athletic. But I’d try. I would definitely try.”
Her flush warmed her entire body, and she squeezed her thighs together at the look in Mari’s eyes.
“My mermaid is blushing.” Mari kissed her, sliding fingers into her hair.
Yours. Always, even if this is a fantasy.
She opened up, tongue sliding along Mari’s.
She lost track of time as they made out and they were both startled by the knock on the door.
“Oh, shit. Room service.” Mari jumped out of bed and tightened her robe. “You go back to looking perfectly disheveled.”
“Right on.” She tied her hair on top of her head, made sure the sheet covered her, but not too much.
Mari giggled all the way to the door and let room service in. The two servers were completely unfazed by their lack of dress and set their food up quickly.
One of them stopped on their way out the door and grinned at her. “Enjoy.”
“I plan to.” Mari chased her out and locked the door behind her.
She let the sheet fall a little farther, catching on her nipples, which were hard as nails. “Smells good.”
“I am so hungry.” Mari crossed her legs on the foot of the bed and started pouring coffee. “Still take it with cream?”
“You know it. I tried dieting. It didn’t work for me.” She winked over, licked her lips.
“Pfft. No. I wouldn’t work for me either. You’re perfect just as you are.” Mari winked at her. “Well, maybe minus the cast.”
“Yeah. Yeah, that wasn’t my most graceful moment, huh?” But it had let her be closer to Mari, so she’d take it.
“I already told you, we’re blaming the tree.” Mari set her coffee where she could reach it, then dug right into breakfast.
“Totally. I tell you, it jumped out in front of me.”
“That’s the story, and we’re sticking to it. Eat your pancakes. You need your strength.” Mari winked at her. “Also, they’re delicious.”
“Everything with maple syrup is amazing.” She dipped a bite in syrup and hummed over it, pondering how Mari would taste, with a light touch of maple.
Mari took another bite and watched her while she chewed. “I want to know…so much. What happened after college? Did you go home? How did you do this? Get your business going?”
Bekka licked her lips and grinned. “I went to grad school in Dallas, and when I was there I met a woman—don’t all stories begin with, I met a woman?” She winked over, loving how Mari laughed at her. “She was a psychic, a tarot reader, a mystic, and she helped me learn about how we can communicate via alternative methods.”
Mari rolled her eyes just like she always had. “The only alternate method of communication I need is the naked kind.”
“That’s totally fair, but that’s not true for everyone, right? Some people need a way to talk out their issues. I provide that.”
“I’m not saying they don’t. But I’m not saying I get it either. Anyway, that’s not my question. So you learned from a…guru?”
A guru. Oh, that was so Marissa—such a skeptic. “No. No, she’s a professor. She was my thesis advisor, as a matter of fact.”
“You were screwing your thesis advisor? Scandalous.” Mari chuckled and picked up her coffee.
“What? No!” Her eyes went wide. She couldn’t even imagine sleeping with Magda. “She’s a grandmother of eighteen little ones. No, she was my advisor, my teacher, my friend.”
“What? I’m sorry, you said you met a woman… I thought--” She could tell Mari was trying so hard not to laugh. “I mean. I assumed.”
“Sheisa woman, but not a fuckbuddy, if you know what I mean…” She rolled her eyes at Mari. “I tended to find undergrads for those…”