Saturday, April 18th, 1953
8:39 a.m.

Therese opened her eyes as wide as possible, staring off at the unfamiliar cream-colored walls in the morning light. Everything within her line of sight spun until she gained focus. These weren't the usual walls she woke to each morning, and the curtains didn't entirely mask the bright light that entered the bedroom. The weight of the comforter on the bed was heavier, it draped differently around her shoulders and knees than the one at home. She wore no clothes. Between her legs felt tender, and haphazardly she ran a finger downward to find herself still wet from earlier. She wasn't anxious, she hazily knew where she was, but Therese was wholly incredulous that she could actually be where she wanted to be at that moment. Blinking a few times to gain focus, Therese did her best to wake herself, inhaling her surroundings as a last resort. Now there was truly familiarity of sweetness beneath the undertones of Philip Morris. And a slender arm draped across her hip felt equally familiar.

Carol.

Turning over, Therese shifted to face the dozing woman beside her. Carol serenely smiled in her sleep, one hand resting atop her pillow, the other under the covers and casually falling on Therese's bare hip. Therese could not resist watching Carol sleep and comfortably resting on her side in the middle of the bed. A blonde wave of hair covered part of her face, obscuring one eye and most of her cheek. The sound of her gentle snores, the wisps of her stray hairs that moved each time she took a breath, the rise and fall of her chest: it was all painfully soothing.

Therese moved herself closer to place her head on the same pillow. She maneuvered the hand that rested beside her face and drew her lips to Carol's static fingers. Therese could faintly make out her own scent upon them; a pleasant reminder of earlier. She languidly kissed each finger only to return her lips to Carol's index finger where Therese ever so slightly moved her head back and forth so that it traced along her lower lip. Whatever minuscule remnants of yesterday's application of ruby lipstick there were, they smeared across Carol's finger, resembling a paper cut on her fair skin. She stopped the tracing and coolly kissed Carol's index finger once more.

"If you keep that up - "

She was hardly disheveled for early in the morning, perhaps she had even awoke in the middle of the night to freshen up and then got back into bed. No, no one does that, Therese thought to herself, but with Carol, one should expect the unexpected. Therese beamed as soon as Carol opened her eyes. She leaned in to kiss the scarcely awake woman beside her, yet stopped a breath before they merged. "I love you." she confessed against her lips. It must have tickled Carol as her mouth twitched and the corners turned up into a smile. "I realize I didn't say it last night, but you should know."

"How could I not?" She flipped her hair from her face then tilted her head to kiss Therese's waiting lips. Carol took her hand from the pillow and the other from Therese's hip to encourage her as close as possible as she took her head in both hands. Their kisses were not hurried, there were no constraints on time, no desperation, nowhere else they needed to be except with each other. "I love you." Carol whispered.

They had never woken up together in the same bed before. Therese had never woken up next to someone else, for that matter. She felt safe; she wanted to be there. Carol felt at peace; no longer having to wake alone, she wanted Therese to be there next to her. Every morning. During their road trip, mornings were always rushed, composed of getting dressed, packing, making it to the terrible continental breakfast buffet, the even sadder coffee, and finally heading out on their journey west. There was no more excuse to not linger in bed together in the morning, especially when there was no pressure.

"Are you hungry at all?"

"I am, but I'm afraid I don't want to leave this bed when - "

"Do you like the bed?" Carol interjected.

Therese smoothed the sheet around her and squirmed into mattress. It felt new, without any indentation or sag into one side or the other. The headboard did not have any pills on the fabric and was perfectly clean. "It's nice. Very comfy."

"I thought you might like it." Drifting off to another moment, perhaps recalling the hasty retreat from Ridgewood when Carol had finally withdrew from the house, bags packed, boxes loaded into the Packard, Carol's mind wandered away. "If you're hungry though, we could cobble something together in under half an hour."

"I don't want you to leave this bed when we could cobble something together here." Therese pleaded. Carol removed her hands from Therese's face, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before losing contact. She reached to Therese's hands to reciprocate kissing her fingertips, bringing each one to her lips. The mere act made Therese shudder, entirely aware of how much she wanted her. When Carol glimpsed down at Therese's palm, there was a distinct smudge of black ink that had been attempted to be cleaned up earlier. It had almost disappeared, yet there was still the greenish under color tint that tarnished her skin.

With a curious look at her hand and back up at Therese who blushed, Carol raised her eyebrows and inquired, "What happened here?"

Of course Therese debated telling Carol about the party, about Genevieve, how she'd been cornered at the earliest opportunity only to have her write her address on Therese's hand in that impossible-to-remove black ink. How before heading to The Oak Room, Therese spent a good ten minutes in the washroom trying to fully remove it. She had worked herself into enough of a frenzy that if she had not stopped rubbing her hands raw and simply left, she would have missed the window to see Carol at dinner. Therese had completely forgotten about it until then; Carol clearly missed it the night before when they arrived at the apartment. Granted, there were other things happening in the soft nighttime lighting that were far more interesting than the ink upon Therese's palm.

She leaned closer to Carol. "You," she implored, "directions to you."

Carol looked amused; however, didn't convey any air of annoyance. Her hands returned beneath the covers to Therese's body, a thumb repeatedly rubbing against the same spot where she gripped Therese's hip in the middle of the night. "Tell me."

With moistened lips, Therese slowly specified what she had in mind. She took a deep breath and molded her body into Carol's, pressing her cheek against her ear covered with golden hair. "The instructions are very explicit: straddle your face, let you lick me, then make me come. Repeat if necessary." A low gasp escaped from Carol's throat before Therese could continue, "Not that I don't enjoy when you take charge, but I want to seize this particular opportunity."

"Show me," challenged Carol.

Without having to be told again, Therese gently encouraged Carol onto her back, lightly pushing her with one finger that she then used to trail along her shoulder blades. She traced down across her breast, pointedly stopping above her nipple to delicately pinch the sensitive nub. After fully pulling back the comforter to expose the rest of her body, she straddled her, resting upon Carol's thighs before making any other movements. Therese moved her arms back to Carol's breasts, gently fondling them.

Squeezing. Teasing. Adoring.

All accompanied by the sounds of Carol gingerly moaning beneath her.

During their nearly four-month separation, Therese had desperately missed Carol's touch. Even though they only had a couple nights together previously, being held by her and holding her was the greatest, most loving sensation Therese had ever known.

Carol's hands reached under Therese's thighs and pulled her toward her face. Therese settled around her shoulders, not seated, but precariously balanced by kneeling and clinging to the plush headboard. She felt completely exposed before Carol; exactly how she wanted to appear before her with legs spread open and her own sweet perfume wafting into Carol's space. Therese glanced downward to see Carol looking up at her as she kissed each side of her thighs. Knees were on each side of her face as Carol raised her chin and opened her mouth to commence light, long strokes into warm wetness.