No Strings Part 27

"Yeah. Doug Free was telling me his wife ran two of them out of their garage the other morning. He'd left it up when he went to work."

"Are they always this common?" Reese asked.

"This time of year, yes," Morgan said. "Campers bring food and trash, two things bears love. It'll settle down in late summer, then pick back up in the fall as they try to gorge before winter."

"Yell at me when you want another," Tracy said. "I've got to help Jeff with the tables." She paused. "You guys going to want dinner?"

Morgan shook her head. "Not right now. I just want to sit and relax."

When she left, Reese leaned closer. "You okay?"

Morgan met her eyes. "No."

"What's wrong?"

"I want to make love to you."

Reese recognized the look in Morgan's eyes. She loved it.

"Right now?"

"I want to start in the shower and finish in our bed."

Our bed. Another thing Reese loved. She leaned closer. "I want to kiss you."

Morgan smiled. "You always want to kiss me."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Remember my no kissing rule?"

Reese laughed and picked up her mug again. "Thank G.o.d you broke that one."

"And then my discreet rule?"

"It's not my fault that everyone knows."

Morgan turned on the barstool and faced her, her knees pressing against Reese's thighs. Reese turned her head, finding Morgan's smoky gaze on her.

"I want to make love to you," she said again.

It wasn't said teasingly this time. No, this time there was huskiness in Morgan's voice and desire in her eyes. Reese nodded.

"Let's go home."

Morgan wasn't certain what had come over her, but she wanted Reese in the worst way. She looked in the mirror, seeing Reese's headlights behind her. Okay, so maybe she did know what had come over her. Admitting she was in love with the woman might have something to do with it. She only prayed she wouldn't let the words slip out.

She barely came to a stop before she hopped out of the truck and hurried to the front door. She had pulled her s.h.i.+rt off and unhooked her bra by the time Reese walked inside. She didn't say anything. She didn't want to talk.

She pressed Reese against the door, her mouth finding Reese's, moaning as their tongues met. Her fingers fumbled with the b.u.t.tons on Reese's jeans as Reese cupped her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her thumbs raking across her nipples. Morgan was gasping for breath when her hand snaked inside Reese's pants, shoving them down just enough to give her room.

"I want you so much," she whispered against Reese's mouth.

Reese pulled her closer, her mouth going to Morgan's neck, suckling hard, her breathing as labored as Morgan's.

Morgan spread her fingers, cupping Reese, feeling her wetness soak her hand. She moaned as her fingers moved through her silkiness, closing her eyes as her fingers filled Reese. Reese's teeth nipped at her neck as her hips rocked against Morgan's hand, her panting causing Morgan to move faster, pumping hard into her, loving the tightening of Reese's muscles against her fingers.

"Come for me," she breathed into Reese's ear. "Come for me."She didn't have to wait long. She felt the familiar trembling as Reese neared o.r.g.a.s.m, she recognized the sounds Reese made when she was about to climax. And seconds later, with one last thrust, Reese called out, m.u.f.fling her scream against Morgan's neck, before nearly collapsing in her arms.

Morgan pulled her fingers out but didn't move, standing there pressed against Reese, feeling Reese's heart beating against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, listening to the quick intake of air as Reese tried to catch her breath. She closed her eyes.

I love you.

Three little words that shouldn't cause this much pain. But they did. She finally stirred, her lips moving slowly across Reese's face, finding her lips, kissing them gently. When she pulled back and looked into Reese's eyes, she swore she could see her love reflected back at her. But Reese lowered her gaze, kissing her mouth once again, so tenderly Morgan nearly cried.

"Shower? Then bed?" Reese smiled against her mouth.

"Wasn't that the order?"

"So I started early," Morgan said. "I'll have that shower with you now, though."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN.

Morgan knew it was time to get up, but she just couldn't bring herself to pull out of Reese's arms. It had been two weeks since she'd admitted she was in love with her. Two weeks since the night of her s.e.xual frenzy. Reese must have thought she was insatiable, and she'd felt that way. She couldn't stop touching her.

She couldn't stop wanting her. It was the early morning hours before they finally fell into an exhausted sleep.

And again, like when the no kissing rule was broken, there was a slight s.h.i.+ft in their relations.h.i.+p. It was obvious to her, if not Reese. Their touches were more tender, if that were even possible. Their kisses seemed to hold more meaning. The looks that pa.s.sed between them were unguarded, hinting at the underlying pa.s.sion that always simmered just below the surface, hinting at love. Or maybe she just saw that because that's what she wanted to see. Maybe all of this was simply her imagination because she'd accepted the fact that she was in love with Reese.

And she'd also accepted the fact that Reese would be leaving.

Nothing had changed in that respect. They didn't talk about it.

Just like they never talked about the possibility of Reese staying.

It was not a subject that either of them broached.

But as mid-June threatened to turn into late June, the months and weeks moved by faster and faster, and November loomed, no longer a month just lurking in the distance. It was a month that was creeping up on them, a month that would shatter her world.

She closed her eyes tightly, her heart aching. She kept it all in-the worry, the fear-putting on a happy face, pretending this arrangement was just fine, just what she expected. Truth was, she felt like she would explode if she didn't get it out. But not to Reese. Never to Reese. She moved her lips, letting them linger on Reese's skin, smiling as Reese stirred.

She finally pulled away, quietly so as to not wake Reese. She dressed quickly, deciding to put in an appearance at her own house and shower there. She hadn't actually set foot in her house since May. And after her shower, she would find Tina, take her someplace where they could have some privacy...and talk.

00.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT.

"You're being awful secretive about this," Tina said as Morgan drove them down a quiet forest road.

"Because I want to talk and I don't want to be interrupted."

"Yeah? So what's our subject?"

Morgan rolled her eyes. "You know very well what the subject is." "Okay. Then why the need for privacy? Everyone already knows you two are together."

Morgan sighed. "That's just it. We're not really together."

"Honey, I've seen the two of you. You can barely keep your hands off each other, much less your eyes. Do you think people can't see the way you look at each other?"

"I'm not talking about that." She pulled to a stop in a small grove of aspens, their tiny leaves fluttering on the trees, giving truth to their name, the quaking aspen. She closed her door quietly, not wanting to disturb the stillness. She leaned on the 0.

bed of the truck, looking at Tina across the way. "I'm in love with her."Tina snorted. "You brought me all the way out here to tell me that? Like I don't already know."

"You don't understand. I can't be in love with her." She walked around to the back of the truck and lowered the tailgate. She sat down heavily and let out a deep sigh. "We had rules, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Tina asked as she joined her on the tailgate.

"Our arrangement. The agreement was a physical, s.e.xual affair. Nothing more." Morgan smiled. "I even had a no kissing rule at first. And a let's be discreet rule."

"Well, I know you broke one of them. I'll a.s.sume you broke the kissing rule too."

"I'd thought, if it was just a physical affair, the best way to keep it at that level was no kissing. Kissing is very intimate."

"But that didn't last?"

Morgan shook her head. "A month."

"Wow. That long?"

Morgan lowered her head. "She's leaving in November, Tina."

"You don't know that for sure. Has she said so?"

"She hasn't said she's not leaving. She made it perfectly clear to everyone that she was only staying the one year. She made that perfectly clear to me."

"But that was before you two-"

"No. That was part of the agreement. She was only going to be here until November. Our affair would last that long."

"But it's no longer an affair," Tina said. "Right?"

"It ceased being an affair months ago. For Reese too. I know she doesn't look at it that way. h.e.l.l, we're practically living together."

"What do you mean practically?"

"I know. And I told myself I wasn't going to fall in love with her. I told myself I could keep it strictly physical." She turned and looked at Tina. "But when I'm with her, d.a.m.n, we're so 0.

compatible. In everything. Not just s.e.x. Everything. We like the same food, the same wine. We both like to hike and get out in the woods. We never argue or bicker about anything. It's so easy to be with her. And, my G.o.d, the s.e.x. Never in my life did I think I'd have such an active s.e.x life. Never."

"Don't rub it in. Twenty years and a couple of kids tend to put a damper on things."

"Sorry."

"So why don't you just tell her?"

"No, I'm not going to tell her. That would just be stupid. I don't want her to feel guilty when she leaves here. I'm the one who broke the d.a.m.n rule, not her."

"But, Morgan, how do you know not her? I mean, I've seen the two of you together. I've seen the way she looks at you. How do you know she's not in love with you too?"

"Don't you think she would have said something?"

Tina laughed. "Oh, yeah. Right. Like you have."

"It's different. She's the one planning to leave. Not me."

"Then why don't you just talk about it?"

"Because I don't want to embarra.s.s myself."

"Telling someone you love them shouldn't be an embarra.s.sment."

"Of course it's an embarra.s.sment if it's one-sided. Guess what, Reese? I broke another rule. " Morgan shrugged. "No. I'm not going to tell her."

"I think that's a mistake. I think you're both being stubborn about these stupid rules you started out with and neither wants to be the one to admit they crossed the line." Tina b.u.mped her arm. "Stubborn and immature."

"Immature? Immature would be not being able to keep the relations.h.i.+p where it was meant to be. Immature would be to fall in love. But keeping the secret inside? That's not being immature," Morgan said as she tapped her chest. "That's being an adult."

Tina shook her head. "No, that's being just plain stupid."

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CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE.