When she got home, Laura looked at the scratches on her back, using a hand mirror and her full-length mirror in her closet. There were three ragged scabs on one shoulder, and two on the other, above her shoulderblades. None were very deep, but they couldn't be hidden. She caught herself remembering Camille's face, locked in an excruciating seizure of coming, her nails gashing Laura's back as she came helplessly and violently.

Oh god, if Sholandra sees these, we're finished, she realized. It was four days now since they had collided in a wild orgy of fucking in Laura's bed, and she knew Sholandra would be showing up any time. But before she could worry about it any more, she received a call from her boss, sending her urgently to Dallas, to deal with a business emergency.

Dallas! Laura thought, while hurriedly packing. Oh god, Dallas. Jonelle.

From that moment on, she could think of nothing else. It had been almost a year since the brief hour they had spent together in Laura's bed, when Jonelle had come out to help her sister. They had not spoken on the phone, or written. Laura knew why.

The pain for both was too great. Jonelle knew Laura would never completely give up her other girls. Laura knew that Jonelle couldn't bear the jealous pain caused by her affairs. She also knew that Jonelle, no matter how much she wanted to fuck with Laura, or how hot and passionate she could be when they were together, was essentially ashamed of herself for feeling that way. Her escape to Dallas after seeing Laura with Yvette had been an easy way to deal with that.

But Laura also knew the depth of their feeling, and the solemn, deep seriousness of their fucking, a kind of profound emotion she had felt seldom with others, even those she cared most deeply about. She was in Dallas two days working before she could even think of Jonelle, and yet in the background she was thinking of her constantly.

How could I be in the same city with her and not think of her? she thought. At night in her hotel room, exhausted from the day's work, she would dream of Jonelle, and waken to find her body throbbing with sexual and emotional need.

Finally, the work was finished. And now that she could call, she was afraid to. What if she won't see me? she wondered. She never called me, after her visit to San Francisco. And we had such wonderful fucking that time. What if she has some other girlfriend, or boyfriend, and she's forgotten me completely?

Usually Laura wasn't so shy, but she felt that so much of her feelings were at stake in Jonelle. But I didn't call her either, she reminded herself. Afraid of rejection, just like now.

And so, she gritted her teeth and picked up the phone. It was about six-thirty in the evening, time for her to have got home from work. And Jonelle did answer the phone.

"Jonelle?" Laura said, maybe too brightly, so relieved to hear her voice.

But Jonelle said nothing for a painfully long time.

"Jonelle . . . it's Laura."

"Oh . . . Laura," Jonelle said, awkwardly.

"God, I'm in Dallas and I couldn't wait to call you and I miss you so much, you sound so great," Laura babbled on, very nervous.

"Laura, I . . ."

"Is something wrong? Maybe I shouldn't be calling right now? Is Eric okay?"

"He's fine."

"Oh god . . . something else, then."

"Laura . . . I . . . I'm married," Jonelle said softly.

Laura felt all the air go out of her body at once. It felt like an arrow had been driven through her throat. She could barely speak.

"You're . . . married." She whispered the last word softly, in disbelief.

It was the only thing she hadn't considered, though it made perfect sense.

"Yes."

"Oh god."

"Don't be upset. Laura?"

"Yes . . . I'm sorry. Oh Jonelle . . . please forgive me for calling. I won't call again."

She was about to hang up, her face flushed with shame, her pulse raging wildly, pain flaring in the pit of her stomach. If she had ever loved anyone, it was Rina, then Jonelle.

"Laura, don't hang up," Jonelle said quickly. "Please don't."

Laura only now realized that her own cheeks were slick with tears. "I think I should," she said quietly.

"No . . . don't. Where are you."

"Oh . . . same hotel." She smiled wanly. "Remember that one?"

"I could never forget it," Jonelle said, very softly, seriously. "How long you going to be there?"

"Oh . . . leaving in the morning."

"What room?"

"Eight seventeen."

"If I'm not there in a half hour, I'll call you," Jonelle whispered, now clearly conspiratorial.

Laura hung up and went to the bathroom to wash her face. She tried not to think. Why shouldn't she get married? she thought. She's so beautiful. How could she keep the men away from her? And she isn't really a lesbian. She might want me now and then, but she doesn't want to sleep with any other girls. At least I don't think so. And she wants a full-time father for Eric. Why not?

Numb with shock, she sat by the window, looking down at the drab Dallas streets. She had completely forgotten the time when there was a knock. Always wary in a hotel, she peeped through the hole in the door and saw Jonelle. Instantly, her pulse shot up, enough to make her feel she might faint.

But she took two quick breaths and opened the chain, letting Jonelle in.

"Oh god, it's you," she said.

"Are you okay, Laura?" Jonelle asked, as she stepped inside.

Embarrassed, Laura exerted every effort to get control of herself. "Yes. I'm fine."

Jonelle smiled nervously as Laura shut the door. Laura found herself quickly recalling the way Jonelle had reminded her to lock it when they had met this way, in this same hotel, about a year ago. This time Jonelle said nothing like that.

"You know, Laura, I always sort of relied on you to be the strong one," she said. "You were like a rock to me. And now . . . well, you look sort of like a wreck. Know what I mean?"

"Do I really?"

"You've been working too hard."

"I know."

"From a rock to a wreck."

They both giggled. Laura wanted to kiss her in the worst way. She looked inexpressibly gorgeous, wearing a short skirt and a high collar, covering up her exquisite swan's neck.

Jonelle could see the longing in Laura's eyes. In Jonelle's Laura could only detect total ambiguity, maybe some confusion. Jonelle put her purse on the bed. The moment was crushingly awkward. Neither knew what to do, or what to expect.

"Laura . . . you have to understand," Jonelle began, her eyes suddenly shiny with tears.

"I do, I do," Laura said softly. She could feel her own eyes brimming. "I think I'm going to die if I can't kiss you," she murmured, half-choking on her tears.

"Me too," Jonelle said.

They embraced and kissed, at first sweetly, then ravenously. Laura kissed the tears on Jonelle's cheeks, kissed her eyes, then her neck, her ears, her hair. Jonelle kissed back, with growing passion.

But Laura made no move to undress her. It was like being back at the beginning, not knowing how far to go. Jonelle was the one who broke the ice.

"Is it adultery if I go to bed with you?" she asked, blinking away her tears.

"Probably," Laura said. "Do you want to?"

"Yes. Oh yes. I dream of you, Laura. I remember us together, and I . . ."

"Yes?"

"I came once. Actually, more than once. I came about four times, thinking of you."

Laura kissed her again, this time a little more aggressively. "Can you stay?" she whispered. "Do you want to stay?"

"You have to understand, Laura."

"I do understand. Do you want to leave?"

Now Jonelle was crying harder, harder than Laura had ever seen her cry. At the same time, she began to undress, unfastening two buttons at the top of her blouse. Laura pulled her down on the bed, not letting her continue. Jonelle's blouse was half-unbuttoned. Laura kissed her throat, infinitely tender.

"You don't have to do anything for me," she murmured. "You've already done everything. I love you, Jonelle."

"I hoped I'd never see you again," Jonelle sobbed softly.

They kissed and tasted their salty tears intermingling. They did not hurry, and it was a long time before they slowly and patiently began to undress each other. Jonelle was no longer confused, or reluctant.

"Don't say anythng," she whispered, several times, reminding Laura of the night she had suddenly, unexpectedly, totally naked, slipped into Laura's bed. "Don't say anything."

"Nothing," Laura whispered.

She gazed at Jonelle's beautiful face as Jonelle unclasped the clasp between the cups of Laura's bra. She peeled the cups slowly away, then replaced them with her hands. Her mouth met Laura's again. Her hands squeezed Laura's naked breasts.

Now Laura removed the rest of Jonelle's blouse. Jonelle wore a thin white bra that fastened in the back. Laura embraced her and kissed her neck and shoulders while she undid the clasp. Jonelle's breasts were small, but no longer the mere swellings they had been when she and Laura had first been together. They were bigger now, and her thick round nipples were as big as ever, bulging tasty plums that Laura dropped her lips to and devoured.

"Oh!" Jonelle gasped softly, quivering. "Oh . . . Laura."

Laura said nothing but devoured Jonelle's other nipple the same way, sucking and tonguing and pinching them both until Jonelle was twisting and panting.

"You gon' make me come too soon, girl," she gasped.

"It can't be too soon," Laura purred, unzippering Jonelle's skirt and pushing it down.

She slid her hands under Jonelle's panties, caressing her delectable smooth ass, pushing the panties down too. By now Jonelle was squirming and whimpering uncontrollably. Nobody ever fucks her like this, Laura thought. Not even that husband she's got now.

She dipped one hand between Jonelle's thighs, brushing Jonelle's pussy with her fingers, finding more wetness than she had ever expected. Jonelle's crotch hair was sopping wet with juice.

"God, you're wet for me," she whispered, pushing her face into Jonelle's black hair, breathing in the smell of her. "I want to taste you."

"Ohhhh . . . Laura," Jonelle let out a long, quivering moan. It took only a second for Laura, still half-clothed herself, to slip down between Jonelle's lean, sleek thighs. She parted the damp, glistening pubic hair with her thumbs, exposing the puckered cleft of Jonelle's pussy, then slid her tongue right into it.

"Unhh!" Jonelle gasped, arching her back.

From that instant Laura knew she was going to come any second. Refusing to prolong it, Laura drew her tongue out of Jonelle's pussy and drug it across her clit, then pushed against the swollen bud and sucked it, and Jonelle spilled over in a gushing river of coming.

"Auunngghhh!" she groaned loudly, her lovely lean body stiffening, then convulsing as the spasms shook her. "Ohhggnn! Auunngghh! Oh . . . Laur---"

In mid-cry, she shuddered fiercely and lapsed into a rapture of intense ecstacy. Often in the past Laura would let her come and come this way, a fearsome trance of bliss, but this time she was so hungry for Jonelle that she swarmed over her naked flesh even as Jonelle was still in the throes of a fierce climax. Again she sucked her large nipples and slipped her fingers into Jonelle's pussy, trying to consume the helpless girl, and Jonelle, gasping and whimpering, emerged from her trance only to come again, this time as if she were hit by a huge hammer, her body crumpling under the blow, and faint moans of helpless pleasure escaping from deep in her chest.

This time Laura held her tightly, rocking her, kissing her passionately, until Jonelle finally surfaced, still panting softly. She gazed up, her eyes still glassy from two stunning orgasms, and smiled weakly at Laura.

"Now you see why I hoped I wouldn't meet you again," she grinned. "You trying to kill me, girl."

"Oh no. Oh no," Laura said, now slipping out of her skirt and panties too. "I'm trying to eat you alive."

"Same thing."

They coiled together, luxuriating in the feel of their naked bodies moving together after so long. Now Jonelle was more aggressive, kisisng Laura's neck and ears and breasts, her fingers digging into Laura's flesh.

"I'm going to eat you alive too," she purred, making Laura tremble and moan excitedly.

Just being naked in bed with Jonelle was almost enough to make Laura come by itself. When she felt Jonelle's lips close over one of her nipples, she wondered if she were going to faint. The sensation was so sublime that she trembled deeply, moaning in a soft, plangent cry, her body undulating toward an inevitable crescendo.

"Oh god . . . Jonelle, yes!" she moaned. "Suck it hard, oh yes! Ungghhhh! Oh!"

"Oh Laura!"

"Yes. Fuck me, honey, I can't wait!"

Jonelle didn't need encouragement. She had both of Laura's breasts in her hands, squeezing them and sucking Laura's nipples thirstily, while Laura went nearly crazy with lust. In seconds she had slid between Laura's thighs, and her tongue found Laura's pussy. It probed and fluttered, teasing Laura's clit, and Laura came without any build-up, simply gushing with coming all of a sudden.

"Auugnnhhnniieeee!" she cried out. "Oh . . . oh ungghh! Yes! Oh god auungghhh! Ungghh!"

The shocks of her climax ripped through her, and her body strained and shuddered as Jonelle's tongue continued to lick and stab her throbbing clit. Then, as quickly as it arrived, the climax released her, and she fell back to the bed, panting and stunned.

"Oh wow," she gasped, as Jonelle's arms enfolded her. "Have I ever missed you. All you have to do is kiss me and I start to come."

Jonelle beamed. "I hope I can give you back what you give me," she whispered. "You're very special, Laura."

This was love, Laura realized. They loved each other deeply. The sex was sublime, not raw and frightening, as it sometimes was with Karen, or Barbara, or even lately with Camille. But sublime, transcendant, as it approached with Sholandra or Yvette, but bathed in a kind of pure light and throbbing, incandescent emotion that she felt only with Jonelle. She knew Jonelle felt the same, and their feeling for each other was even sharper and more poignant since they both realized they could never be permanently together.

And so they continued to make love for hours, expressing the depth of their feeling this way, summoning the most intense and incredible ecstacies from each other's body until they both could barely move. They explored every facet of their repertoire, from sixty-nine to cunt-to-cunt, one on top, then the other. Jonelle had two more orgasms of life-threatening rapture, and several more smaller ones, while Laura had about twelve altogether, from warm, feathery ripples of bliss to excruciating killer climaxes that left her weeping.

It was during a pause in this sweet ordeal that Laura said, "So, tell me about this husband of yours. I guess I have to know."

"No . . . you don't have to know nothing," Jonelle said, solemnly. "Not if you don't want to."

"Eric needs a father around. I know that."

Jonelle nodded. "He does."

Laura ran one finger along Jonelle's marvelous brown arm, then touched her small, beautiful breast with it, then drew it down her smooth midriff to her deep navel.

"I suppose you let him have this body I love so much," she said, trying not to sound hurt, or unreasonably jealous.

"He's my husband, Laura," Jonelle smiled weakly.

"And does he make you have those deep, blackout orgasms? Like the one you just had?"

Jonelle took Laura's face in both hands and stared directly into her eyes. "Nobody ever made me have one of those but you," she said. "Nobody."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Do you really love me as much as I love you?" Laura asked, her eyes tearing.

Jonelle nodded. "Yes . . . I do."

"Oh god."

They embraced and didn't speak for a long time.

"You're going to make me feel awfully special, if I'm the only one who makes you come like that," Laura whispered.

"You are awfully special, Laura. Loving you is like a knife going through me. I only love Eric more."

"It's just the thought of you with . . . him. It hurts."

"He ain't such a bad guy." She smiled. "He loves me too, you know."

"I'll bet. How couldn't he? He must wear you out with fucking. I know I would."

Jonelle giggled. "You do. Every time I see you. I go home sore."

"Would he be jealous, if he knew about us?"

Jonelle got a long face. "What do you think. Probably kill me. But he won't find out."

Somehow talking about Jonelle's husband, while it made Laura almost sick with jealousy, also made them both burn with fresh lust, and they came together in another fiery collision of urgent fucking. This time Jonelle had another of her heart-stopping climaxes, and Laura's wrenching, rending orgasm nearly stopped her heart too. At the end of it, both were laughing softly at their uncontrollable desire.

"See, it's good we ain't always together," Jonelle said. "I mean it, you a killer, girl. Never knew I could come like that till I met you."

"And I'm not going to let you forget, either."

But the sadness was still there. It throbbed behind their every glance and kiss, and the several more orgasms each had could not drive it away. Finally, it was time for Jonelle to leave. Neither could bear it.

"I can't stand the thought of not seeing you," Laura said. "I can't stand the thought of you . . . doing it with him, while I'm in San Francisco thinking about you."

Big tears were rolling down Jonelle's cheeks. "You better not be thinking of it, then," she sniffed. "Just think about this. This is us, this is the best of us both. I love you, Laura."

Eyes blurred with tears herself, Laura kissed Jonelle desperately. "You'd better get out of here before I tear your clothes back off," she cried, still kissing Jonelle's wet face feverishly.

Jonelle pulled away. "Don't call," she said.

"Ever?"

"Of course not ever. But only if we can . . . you know."

"Get together like this."

Jonelle nodded. "When you come to Dallas."

"What if I moved here?"

Jonelle shook her head. "Don't."

Laura shrugged. "You know I won't."

They both knew that if Laura lived in Dallas, things would end up being worse than they were now. But the pain of separation was very great for both of them.

"Oh god, leave. I love you, Jonelle," she wept as she opened the hotel room and door and watched Jonelle down the hall until she turned the corner toward the elevators.

Then Laura shut and locked the door and lay face down on the bed to cry hard.