The Education of Eris by Jane Leopold Quinn

“Can I stay here tonight?”

The sad desperation in her voice broke Nora’s heart. Eris must have had another fight with the miserable dick she’d stuck with for eight years.

“Where is he?” Nora let some of her irritation show.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.”

It was the same old, same old. Gil treated Eris like crap but expected her to be home when he got there. As much as she loved Eris, Nora still wanted to slap her sensible.

“I can’t take it anymore,” Eris sobbed, fat tears dribbling down her cheeks.

Whoa. Nora hadn’t heard this before. “What’ll you do?”

“Leave him.” Eris sounded confident even while sobbing.

Eris held a throw pillow to her chest like a life preserver. Nora’s libido fought with her good sense. She wanted more than anything to wrap herself around her friend like a warm blanket and make everything better. Would Eris, who’d never exhibited any lesbian tendencies before, respond?

“It’ll just be for one night. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Nora’s heart split in two at the despondent tone, and, at the same time, she felt homicidal toward the dick. She needed to channel that passion, having loved Eris since their college days. She couldn’t let this moment pass. She had to show her friend love was wonderful, not the nightmare with that worthless S.O.B.

“God, I didn’t mean to fall apart like this,” Eris muttered.

A sucker for tears, Nora couldn’t help herself. She slid over, put her arm around Eris’s shoulders, and tugged her closer. Delicate bones and the familiar scent of warm skin aroused Nora; her nipples hardened, her clit throbbed.

Nora had fantasized caressing Eris’s slim waist, long legs, and full breasts for so long. Wanted to press her own 36Cs against the soft cushions of her friend. Rub nipple to nipple. Wanted to lick and suck them, wanted hers to be licked and sucked by Eris’s sweet mouth.

Nora tucked a crying Eris into her shoulder, right where she belonged. Caressing and gently kissing, her lips roamed from forehead to cheek.

Eris stiffened.

“Sh, baby.” There was nowhere to go but forward. Nora prayed Eris would accept her love.

“Nora—what are you doing?” Eris’s voice was all breathy.

“It’s okay. You can stay here as long as you want.” Nora jumped in with both feet and wasn’t sure she could—or should—back off. Little moans of distress issued from her throat. She brushed delicate kisses over Eris’s eyelids, the side of her nose, and finally—gloriously—triumphantly her lips.

They froze, lips barely touching. I’ve loved you for so long, Er. Aloud, she murmured, “Let me comfort you, take care of you.” In this moment, their lives would change, which way she couldn’t predict. Pressing harder, she sucked Eris’s lower lip gently into her mouth.

Eris pulled back, gazed questioningly, her brows narrowed over her nose.

It was a question not rejection. Nora’s heart soared. “Have you ever been curious about being with another woman?”

Eris’s gaze didn’t stray. “With you?” Her friend’s lips, deliciously parted, invitingly open, puckered on “you.”

Nora nodded. Eris’s “yes” was all she needed to deepen the kiss, nibble and suckle the soft lips there for the taking. Eris responded, surprising and pleasing Nora. Their noses inches apart, their gazes searching for answers, she had to ask, “Are you sure, darling? I want you but not on the rebound.”

“I’ve always loved you—as a friend,” Eris whispered. “This is new to me, but I want it.”

“You’re not afraid?”

“Of you?” A little smile teased Eris’s lips. She slowly shook her head, then wrapped her hand around Nora’s nape and pulled her into another kiss, this time the seductress.

Message received. Nora kissed back. She trailed her hand over Eris’s shoulder to touch her breast.

Eris arched into the caress.

Nora moaned, felt the hard nipple in her palm and circled it. “Yes.”

“Yes,” echoed Eris with a sob.

Nora opened her friend’s blouse, kissing the swells above a lacy bra. But it wasn’t the bra, she loved the woman.

Eris arched even more. “Suck me,” she begged.

Right through the lace, Nora clamped delicately onto the nub, but it wasn’t enough. Skin. She wanted bare skin. Pulling the cup down, freeing the breast, she resumed her mission.

Quickly, their clothing disappeared. Nora enthusiastically kissed Eris’s quivering belly, enjoying her friend’s moans and reveling in the explicit arch of her hips. Soft pubic hair tickled her face. She used two fingers to open Eris, her clit swollen and quivering. Brushing sensitized lips across her folds, she inhaled a warm musky scent.

The minute she felt Eris’s fingers clutching her hair, Nora closed her lips around the cherry-ripe clit. Suckling, rhythmically massaging, her tongue swiping the underside in upward sweeps, again and again until she felt sharp tugs on her hair. A good sign. Pain or not, she didn’t, wouldn’t, let up until Eris arched and screamed her climax. Then she thrust two fingers inside, keeping up the sensual onslaught, tickling her G-spot, taking Eris over the edge several more times.

Eris screamed, bucking her hips into Nora’s face. Finally the shouts became pleading, “Too much.”

They lay, Nora’s head on her friend’s stomach, both so out of breath they couldn’t speak.

In a short while, Eris shyly said, “I want to make love to you.”

“This is all new to you, darling. You don’t need to decide right now.” Damn but Nora wanted all of her.

Eris was silent, staring at the back cushion. “I’m a little confused…”

“Understandable.”

“But I liked it.”

“Liked?”

Eris tucked a finger under Nora’s chin, lifting her face. A bashful half smile bloomed. “Loved.”

“That’s okay for now, sweetheart. I’ll always love you no matter what happens.”

“I’ve always loved you, too, Nora. This,” she gestured up and down their bodies, “opens up new possibilities.”

“Are you ready for them?” Nora asked, her hopeful heart in her throat. “To be fair, you need time to think.”

“I never felt like this with Gil.” Eris’s expression showed pure love as she worked out her thoughts. “I want to touch you.” She smiled wickedly. “To please you as you pleased me.”

“I’d like that more than anything, sweet Eris.” The next thing Nora knew she was flat on her back, spread eagled, with an enthusiastic Eris raining kisses from her lips to her knees.

And Nora’s fantasy of educating Eris with her love came to life.

About the Author: My Romance: Love with a Scorching Sensuality. My first, Ancient Ties, Whiskey Creek Press 2005, received 4 ½ Stars and Top Pick from Romantic Times. It was republished by Loose Id in 2008. Several more books with great reviews later, and I’m still bringing characters together for their well-deserved HEA. www.janeleopoldquinn.com