Breakfast in Bed

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This is for all of us who are still searching.

The Bedtime Stories: Breakfast in Bed, Lunch in Bed, Dinner in Bed & Dessert in Bed.

Breakfast in Bed: Conclusion

Maybe I can fuck her out of my system.

Sereta allowed the thought to linger as she drove her fingers to the knuckles into Karen. She hummed at the heat that wrapped snugly around her digits, the moisture that coated her skin, making each stroke easier and easier.

"Don't stop!" Karen's vocal response as the days ticked away was a most pleasant development. With each day another wall of reserve fell away from the innkeeper until this remained. Sereta watched the lithe body writhing on the dining table.

"Never baby.. ." She never touched Bianca like this. "Won't ever stop." Sereta pressed her lips to Karen's neck, to the spot that tasted sweet against her tongue. It was also a spot that triggered instant arousal. "I wonder which room is next.. ."

Karen growled. Her arms pulled Sereta closer as her legs tightened around the taught body between them. There was only the sound of their sexing and the ocean that day. Sereta could die a happy woman listening to those sounds. She was on a mission to make Karen come in as many rooms in the inn as possible. She ruled out all guestrooms except her own and at this point only the laundry room and foyer remained. Though the foyer could technically be considered a part of the sitting room.. .

When warm hands framed her face and Karen looked at her with wild eyes, messy hair and swollen lips, Sereta felt her pussy flood with need. She allowed her thumb to join the slow and steady movement of her hand and watched Karen's world tilt on its axis.

"I need you to come for me." Sereta thought it surreal to have a woman looking like Karen did naked and wrapped around her. She was like a goddess when she came. Every single time. Taut and beautiful like the string of a guitar. Ready to be played with. Sereta couldn't leave the woman alone.

With a high-pitched gasp Karen's eyes slid close and a little grimace wrinkled the skin between her brows. Sereta moved her free hand from Karen's back to her neck, pulling her face closer until her lips pressed against that wrinkle.

"Oh God.. . ohhh God.. ." With a violent shiver Sereta felt her climax. She closed her eyes so that she could focus on every point of contact between their bodies. Every moist touch where sweat or come made skin slick felt erotic to Sereta.

So good. Sex never felt this good before. Never.

Karen was shaking in her arms, making Sereta aware of the way her legs were spread on the dining table. She didn't miss the metaphor but kept the thought to herself.

When the shaking became sporadic and loud gasps still followed, Sereta knew that it was more than just the aftershocks of good sex. She gently pulled away only to meet Karen's evasive, teary eyes.

"Hey.. .what's wrong?" Karen shook her head and tried to push Sereta away but she didn't budge. Instead Sereta grabbed the hand that pushed against her chest and kissed each knuckle. By the time she reached the last knuckle Karen's crying became little hiccups. Sereta watched as Karen quickly wiped at her face, her eyes lowered to their joined hands. A moment later their gazes connected. "Talk to me."

"Why? What's the point?" Karen bit her lower lip, her eyes filling with tears again.

"Because I don't like to see you cry."

"Why?"

Sereta shrugged and resettled her body between Karen's thighs. She was comfortable in her nakedness and was constantly amused by Karen's lingering shyness. None of that shyness was there that day. Only sadness.

Karen pushed away again, this time Sereta allowed her to stand up and walk away. She followed quietly into Karen's bedroom. The afternoon sunlight filled the room and bounced off of Karen's body in warm tones of brown. She spent enough hours studying the skin to have finally found the perfect shade of brown to describe it. Sienna.

For five days now she woke up with the sole intention of burying her fingers or her tongue deep inside Karen Campbell. So far she accomplished just that. Funny enough Sereta spent as much time as she could with the innkeeper and still would find herself waking up hungry for her. Hungry for her body, her smile, her conversation, her happiness.. .

The last of which she knew deep inside she wasn't providing.

"What are you doing?" The blouse and underwear that was flung on the bed was answer enough. Sereta needed to distract Karen. She knew where Karen was going and didn't want to accompany her down that road.

"What does it look like? I'm putting on clothes. Something we haven't done properly in days." Sereta walked over and tugged at the shorts Karen managed to step into.

"Because I end up taking it off you a second later.. ." When her touch was pushed away she pouted. "Karen.. ."

"You're leaving in a little more than a week Sereta."

Sereta's shoulders slumped at the words. She knew that she was pouting but couldn't help it. As if she didn't think about that fact every single day. "Why do you do this?"

"Do what? Slap myself with reality now and then?" Karen swiped at hot tears and snatched up her bra and shirt. Sereta followed her into the bathroom. "I can't keep doing this?"

The words caused Sereta's heart to drum. "Doing what exactly?" She watched Karen yank on her clothes in the mirror.

"That's a good question. Fucking? Sleeping together?" Sereta moved closer wanting to hold Karen, calm her; but stopped at the angry gaze that was reflected back in the mirror. "Falling for you?"

Sereta closed her eyes for a moment. She rubbed her face and looked back at Karen but she was focused on filling her palm with a gel. She left the bathroom and decided to do the sensible thing and put some clothes on too.

By the time Karen returned she was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I have some decisions to make."

Karen stood stiffly in the doorway. The ease and sensuality seemed to have evaporated in a matter of minutes. "I'm not going to be that woman Sereta."

"What woman?" But she knew who she meant. Sereta held Karen's knee and squeezed. "You want me to marry her?"

"Don't ask me that. I can't be a.. .a home wrecker." At Sereta's raised eyebrow she shook her head again. "I can't come between the two of you."

"We're not married yet."

"You're in a committed relationship."

Sereta shook her head as she stood. Karen eyed the shorts and tight tank top wearily. Sereta looked all too good, all smooth skin stretched over muscle. But what really made her heart stop was the look in Sereta's eyes when they looked at her. Karen backed up a step then stopped. She figured that she looked silly running away when she gave her body away so easily whenever Sereta reached for her. Karen stopped and looked toward her opened window instead.

Outside life went on around Potter's Island. Bees flew from flower to flower, seagulls squawked at each other for food and the trees blew around in the wind. Only in her home and her heart was there a hurricane moving through. Sereta's hands held her waist. Her thumbs rubbed soothing circles into her skin. She sighed and allowed her head to rest on Sereta's shoulders.

"I don't touch her the way I touch you."

Karen squeezed her eyes trying not to imagine the exotic Bianca she remembered not being touched by Sereta, or any woman. Impossible. "You don't have to lie to me."

"No Karen, you don't understand.. ." Karen placed a finger over Sereta's lips. Unable to resist she ran her finger over the soft skin, reveling in vivid memories of those lips moving between her thighs, over her breasts.. .she loved those lips. She knew that deep inside she just couldn't stand the thought of them lying to her.

"Don't." Sereta tried to speak again but Karen shook her head. With a deep breath she cleared her mind of the fantasies and fairytales she had for herself. She wasn't a princess and Sereta was no knight in shining armor. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I know that with the heart you have, you're going to do the right thing. I know." She removed her finger and held Sereta's face. "I'll have you as long as you're here Sereta. And when it's time, I'll let you go back to her."

With hopelessness in her eyes Sereta wondered when her simple life became so complicated. When she felt tears tickling the back of her eyes she cleared her throat and looked away. With a quick nod she sealed the moment. Karen ran her fingers through her hair with a loud sigh. Sereta watched her entire countenance change to the bright and serene innkeeper she was used to seeing.

"So I was thinking, we should take the ferry to one of the other islands. I have a few sights to show you in town too."

Sereta watched Karen lower a mask of happiness and decided to do the same. At least as long as she could.

"So how's the mistress working out for you?"

"Fuck you Kat." Sereta listened to her friend's laughter. She was undoubtedly at home lounging in front of the monstrous television in her living room. Sereta was only recenlty stepping into her profession of an academic but Kat had several years on her as an engineer and professor. She was some kind of prodigy and raced through Howard University only to be snatched up by Florida Atlantic as soon as she was contractually settled in with one of the top firms in the state.

"I think you're mistaking me for Karen. Oops, I meant to say Bianca."

"Have you been keeping an eye on her and Ebony for me?"

There was a pause of silence then Kat's gruff response. "What do you think?"

Sereta shook her head. Kat was an enigma. Tall and tough emotionally, she played college basketball and could have made it big too but she put all that away and chased a career in academia instead. She had the looks, intellect and charisma that would have taken her far in the WNBA, and Sereta knew that not choosing that path was one of the main reasons a chasm existed between Kat and her father. Kat had the heart of a teddy bear though she was hard pressed to hide it behind her expensive suits and sarcasm.

"Ebony is a bit of a smart ass."

Sereta laughed at the apt description of Bianca's little sister. "Well just don't let her get away with any crap with you. And she shouldn't be cussing."

"Considering I have the frickin' mouth of a fuckin' sailor I'd be a hypocrite to punish her for fuckin' cursing."

Sereta didn't warrant that with a response. "But Bianca is good right?" What Sereta wanted to know was if life was going on back home while a parallel life seemed to be happening in Potter's Island. Kat picked up on the unasked question. She always did.

"She asked me about flower colors. I chose pink."

"Shit. I hate that color!"

"Well you probably should have been here to choose it yourself then hmm?" Sereta felt the dig and heard Kat's subsequent sigh. Her friend was tense and tired. Sereta wished right then that she'd never told her about Karen. "Why are you asking?"

"I don't know what to do."

"Don't be a pussy. You know what to do."

Sereta felt her lips sneer at the patronizing tone of Kat's voice. Even over a decent area of the Atlantic Ocean the woman could piss her off. "And what's that oh wise one?"

"The right thing." Sereta closed her eyes at the very same words Karen said a day before. "Look, don't ask anything anymore okay? Just do what you need to do then come home to handle your business."

"So you think I should still go ahead with the ceremony then?"

"I'm hanging up now."

"Kat?" Sereta heard nothing but a dial tone.

It was a grey, rainy day when Karen ventured into Sereta's room with lunch. A day before they went into the city to visit the local college. Though it was a small liberal college, Sereta seemed impressed by the juxtaposition of the old English architecture with its darkened stone facades and vine-covered walkways with the sleek glass facades of the modern buildings.

They returned to the inn for a lazy afternoon lunch with Kevin. Later that night she learnt why he was so scarce the last week and a half. Though it embarrassed her initially imagining he and Sereta discussing her having sex, she secretly loved the idea of Sereta's verbal "Do not disturb" sign.

The summer was gearing up with August peeking around the horizon.

A glass filled with iced tea sweated on the tray. Ice clanked against each other inside the tall glass when she lowered it to the floor. At 8am Karen knew that Sereta was awake. She usually was up before the sunrise and doing some kind of exercise. The sight of the woman doing sit ups in her little shorts was enough to get Karen on the floor pushing into her before she got past the thirty count.

Sereta was at her desk typing away.

She promised that she only had to finish up two chapters. It was revealed in an after-sex conversation that Sereta worked best in the early morning hours, so Karen mostly kept away. She at least tried too, she failed this morning. After waking to Sereta doing pushups and adding her own weight playfully to Sereta's straining form, Karen couldn't resist teasing her. Eventually she escaped from Sereta's clutches to make a few calls and prepare breakfast.

She lowered the tray to the side table and moved to the chair watching the focused expression as Sereta's hands flew across the keypad.

She could see herself bringing breakfast to her work-absorbed professor every morning. She could envision herself pulling Sereta away from her desk like she did yesterday.

Her hands gently rested on Sereta's shoulders and she smiled when the seated woman jumped a little in surprise.

With a chuckle Sereta lifted her gaze until her ponytail pressed into Karen's stomach. Karen smiled affectionately and wondered if Bianca realized how damn lucky she was.

"Hey baby," Sereta said tiredly.

Karen bit her lip to keep the three words from tumbling out. She knew that if she said them Sereta would know where she was psychologically and pull her into bed immediately to make love until the sadness went away.

"Hey professor." After an unladylike snort in response she rubbed Sereta's neck and lowered her lips for a quick kiss. "Breakfast is served."

"Mmmmm.. .you're spoiling me you know?" Sereta rubbed her stomach. She didn't bother with a shirt now and wore only her bra and cutoff jeans. Karen sat Indian style on the bed opposite Sereta with the tray between them. Sereta dipped a cube of cantaloupe into a bowl of whipped cream. Like every other time they ate breakfast together Sereta offered Karen the first bite.

"What are you writing about right now?"

Sereta licked her lips and pointed to the corner of Karen's mouth with her fork. With a chuckle she leaned forward and swiped a smear of white away with her thumb. Karen followed the finger until it disappeared behind soft lips. "I'm finishing up the chapter about the simplification of Classical architectural practices in the 1920's Caribbean landscape."

Karen offered a spoon of warm oatmeal and when it was refused she forced it forward. Sereta wrinkled her nose but with an eye roll her lips parted. "That sounds very interesting."

Sereta chuckled and shook her head. "Ha. Tell that to some of the sleepy heads in my classes."

"I'm sure those students don't reflect your passion or teaching style."

"You flatter me." Sereta pushed the bowl of oatmeal away. "I'm not a fan of oatmeal."

"You don't eat enough fiber." Karen filled another spoonful and pressed the spoon against Sereta's moth. She met tightly sealed lips that finally opened after a fit of giggles. "Eat up." Sereta grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. "Wait Sereta! The tray!" Karen laughed when Sereta growled and pushed the tray to the edge of the bed.

"You're being a bad girl."

"I'm trying to keep you healthy." Karen kissed soft lips and tasted creamy sweetness. With a hum she kissed them again.

"You take care of me so much." Sereta sighed as she forced her body to completely relax as Karen stretched over her. With eyes closed she felt soft kisses peppering her face and her neck.

Karen ran her fingers through the curly hairs along her temple. "You deserve to be taken care of."

"No one takes care of me but me. I'm-" Sereta squeezed her eyes close, aware of Karen and knowing that she was studying Sereta closely.

"You what?"

Sereta opened her eyes and felt her world focus on Karen's gaze. She trailed a finger down the tip of Karen's nose to the cleft above her lips and pressed gently into the valley there. She began to see the plains of Karen's face clearly when she closed her eyes.

She ran her hands through the low dark hairs, loving the messy result of her roving fingers. When she stared into Karen's eyes again she saw the understanding there. The acceptance. "What's the next chapter about?"

"It's the last chapter I hope. I'm going to write about the residual and stifling effects of Palladian architecture on the Modern Caribbean."

"You love architecture don't you?"

Sereta grinned as she nodded. "I love what it does to people."

Karen leaned her head on a palm. "What do you think this building did to me?"

"Considering it was probably constructed to house the white family that owned the farm lands surrounding it at the time, I'd say that it made you very aware of the races of people who lived in it, both owners and servants."

Karen nodded in agreement. "It does. I know some of the history of this house. I know that my great grandfather purchased it some time back and that his great grandfather worked the farmland here as a slave."

"It made you want to change the past a little, turn the tables in a sense."

Karen tugged at the top of the tight sports bra. Her eyes brightened at the swell of light brown skin revealed. "What else did it do to me?"

"It made you want to care for a family." The words caused Karen's hand to still but Sereta continued. "Made you open your home and your arms." Sereta ran her hand down the curve of Karen's back. Her fingers deftly slipped beneath the soft linen fabric and found warm skin. "Made you offer yourself, your services.. ." She moved her hands to the round hips that curved perfectly in her hands. When the trousers became oppressive she unbuckled Karen's shorts and slowly tugged them past her ass too her thighs. "I can see your heart in this house. Almost as if you re-wrote history with it. I see your affection, it made you so careful to make your guests feel cared for, appreciated." Karen gasped when Sereta's fingers pressed between her thighs from behind. "I can see your love."

Karen closed her eyes.

"Look at me Karen." When warm brown eyes finally focused on her through a lust-filled haze Sereta moved her fingers lower, felt the telltale hardness of Karen's clit. "I see it. I know."

With eyes closed she moved against Sereta's knowing touch and gasped into her lips. As her body began to burn with arousal she suddenly found herself on her back with Sereta pulling her shorts and underwear down her legs. Sereta removed her clothes only to gently spread Karen's legs and settle between them. The first touch of her tongue was heavenly.

Karen closed her eyes. If only it was so simple with her heart.

I see it.. .

What did Sereta see?

She never mastered hiding her emotions. She'd have to when she sat in the crowd and watched her friend marry the woman currently between her thighs devouring her flesh as if it were her last meal.

Karen grabbed a handful of locks and writhed wildly on the bed. When Sereta's tongue swiped over a particular spot she stilled her forcibly. "Right there Sereta.. .oh yes.. .yes.. ." Soon she was moaning out her release. She gripped at the sheet as she came.

Sereta was in her arms a moment later straddling her thighs. "Baby.. .baby.. ." Karen heard the need in Sereta's voice and whimpered as she felt the slick heat against her thigh. She reached down to hold Sereta against her, pushing her body into Sereta's pussy. Loving the way the muscles beneath her hands bunched and strained.

She felt a fire burning at her core again, stirring her to push Sereta onto her back and grab her thigh to wrap it around waist. She needed to make her come. Needed to make her never forget. Their lips collided again with force. They gave and took from each what they needed with an undertone of desperation that Karen didn't want to understand.

When Sereta's body stilled she knew that she was there.

Karen didn't allow Sereta to pull her lips away but instead slowed the kiss while she felt the hot flesh of Sereta's lips tensing against her thigh in spasms. When her heart crawled back into her chest she began to loosen her hold on Sereta's body. She removed her hands until they were balled in loose fists on either side of Sereta's face.

The face of an angel really. A very wicked one, evidenced by what that mouth could do to Karen's body. Karen shifted until she lay on her side. She studied Sereta for a moment but when the other woman only stared at the ceiling she decided to leave. Maybe reality was setting in for her guest too. In a matter of days she was scheduled to leave Karen behind.

A hand on her arm stilled her. Sereta turned to her with sad eyes. "I don't know what to do Karen."

Karen thought of one thing Sereta could do but she dare not say it. Who says that to a woman engaged to be married? Who tells the woman to not go through with it? Crazy people do that. People in movies. In Hollywood.

This wasn't a romantic movie. This was real life.

"Maybe you're not supposed to do anything at all." Maybe you sleep with me and leave me behind to fulfill some other woman's fairytale.

Sereta stared at their linked hands. They always managed to do that, get their fingers tangled. "I want to dedicate my book to you."

Karen was shaking her head before she finished. "You can't do that Sereta." She stood up and searched the bed for her shorts. She found them and her panties. Sereta moved like a panther to grab the shorts and flung them to the other side of the room. "Sereta!"

"Why can't I?"

"You know why." She calmly moved toward the shorts but Sereta was in front of her, standing inches away in naked glory. She knew better. No one who looked like her stood in front of anyone naked. "Just-"

"I'm going to."

Karen's eyes turned to slits as she crossed her arms. "Don't you dare Sereta."

"Why?"

"She'll know!"

"What if I dedicated it to her instead? Would that make you jealous?"

Karen ran her hands through her hair. Wondering what her hairstylist would tell her when she saw what a mess of her careful styling she made. She and Sereta that is.

Would that make her jealous?

"What the FUCK do you think?" Sereta's eyes widened at the fierce answer. She lowered her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I need to know Karen."

Karen "Need to know WHAT?!"

"That you want me as much as I want you! Jesus! I mean.. ." Sereta breathed in deep and rubbed her face. "Don't you think I know I'm hurting you?"

"You aren't hurt-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Karen stared openmouthed as Sereta stiffly walked away to gaze out the window. Sereta never shouted. The only time the woman raised her voice at all was when she came. And even then she was more prone to deep guttural groans. "Don't lie.. ." Karen sighed and sat heavily on the bed. "I am hurting you. If I could I'd punch myself for it. That's what I'd do if I found out someone was hurting you."

She turned around slowly, the gentle words such a contrast to the outburst. The afternoon light filtered in around her, creating a halo. Right then, Sereta the university professor engaged to be married but sleeping with another woman could do no wrong. "I know." And she did. She saw the protectiveness and deep affection in Sereta's gaze. She saw the love. Karen wasn't one of those women who had to have it said to her every moment of every day. Her mother hardly said it but she'd see it in her eyes and feel it in her countless hugs.

"Come here." Sereta came immediately and stood in front of her. Karen moved back on the bed and took off her shirt. She crooked a finger and motioned Sereta closer. She watched as she came onto the bed, straddling her thighs. She leaned back, Sereta moving with her until they lay together with Sereta wrapped around her body like a child.

Karen didn't know when she drifted off to sleep. All she knew was that faint light filtered into the darkening room from a recent sunset. She awoke in the same position she drifted off to sleep in. A faint buzzing sound came from the direction of Sereta's desk. Karen slowly lifted her head to avoid waking Sereta. Her cellphone was lit up. She deliberated silently about waking Sereta to answer it. She looked so peaceful, with her lips pursed and ready to be kissed.

Guilt caught up with Karen though and decided for her when a loud banging could be heard downstairs. Karen sat up abruptly. Sereta groaned and stretched as Karen searched around the bedroom for her clothes. It seemed to be all that Karen was doing when she wasn't doing Sereta.

"I thought you didn't have guests coming?" Karen watched Sereta rub at her eyes tiredly. Karen wasn't sure but she could bet that Sereta cried at some point after she fell asleep. She turned away from the magnetic pull of the naked body. Sereta only had to smile at her a certain way and Karen was in her arms in a flash.

"I don't. I'll be right back."

"You better be. I'm horny."

"You're always horny."

Sereta ran her hand down her stomach and stopped only when she covered the dark mound of low hairs. "Only for you." Karen shook her head as she rushed downstairs.

She peeked into her office and saw the red light of her answering machine blinking into the dark room. She'd check it on the way back upstairs. After brushing her hair into some semblance of order she breathed in deeply and hoped that by the time she exhaled her head would be clear of all things Sereta.

The banging filled the empty rooms again and Karen ran to the door. "Who is it?"

"It's a surprise." Karen paused, sure that the voice on the other side of the door sounded familiar. Upstairs she heard a loud bang. Karen looked over her shoulder to the stairs.

After what should have been a quick glance through the peephole Karen felt her heart grow cold.

Bianca.

"Well it took you long enough!" Bianca laughed a loud, bubbly laugh as she rushed forward with arms wide open. Her hug was all warmth and Escada perfume.

Karen wondered if she smelled like sex. More specifically her fiancee's sex.

Bianca pulled back just as suddenly as she grabbed Karen. "Surprise!" Karen managed a strained laugh but Bianca with her ever-ready energy didn't notice. She grabbed the handle of a pretty Louis Vuitton carryon and breezed past Karen. "Now, where's that sexy fiancee of mine?" With each step deeper into her inn, Karen felt her world crashing down around her.

"I figured I could dash away for a few days and spend the last few days with Sereta. I know she needed the time to work in peace but it's only so many days you can spend without your fiancee you know?" Karen hummed as she led the way to Sereta's room.

"Sereta should be very happy to see you." Though her voice was quiet Karen hoped that Bianca's voice would carry enough to warn Sereta. She remembered the state of undress she left the other woman in. She prayed that she wasn't lounging in bed with her hand-

"Karen?"

Karen looked up and realized that she passed Sereta's door. "I'm sorry. I was deep in thought."

Bianca smiled at her fondly and linked her arm through Karen's. "We need to catch up. Emails and random phone calls a few times a year aren't enough."

Karen rubbed the hand at her elbow and promised that they would. She tightly linked her shaking hands behind her back and motioned toward the door with a tilt of her head.

With trepidation she watched Bianca turn the door handle with the ease and familiarity that Karen grew to have with that very same handle.

Light from within filtered out in a sharp line that sliced down Bianca's face and widened until her entire face was lit, then she burst into the bedroom. "Surprise!" Karen held her breath as she looked on from the doorway. Thankfully Sereta was dressed.

She stood from the table looking genuinely surprised in loose jeans and a tight fitted button-down shirt with sleeves rolled up. She looked like a woman who was busy all afternoon working, not fucking. Not loving her. What Karen felt coming from the other woman simply had to be love.

Sereta hugged Bianca back as she assured her that she was indeed surprised and not at all disappointed that she came for a visit. Karen tried not to notice the way the dark blue jeans fitted Bianca's voluptuous form, or the way her soft dark locks fell midway down her back in sexy waves. She tried not to notice the pretty exotic features, the bright camera ready smile, the.. .

When Bianca reached for her carryon bag Karen looked into Sereta's face. She saw the pleading look in her eyes. What was Sereta pleading for her to do? To leave? It had to be to leave. Karen bit the inside of her cheek to keep from crying.

Don't cry in front of the soon-to-be-married couple.

"I'll leave you two to it. Congratulations again."

"Ummm, Ka-Ms. Campbell?" Karen pretended not to hear her as she closed the door.

"I'll just be in the kitchen if you need me. You must be hungry Bianca."

"If I'm not I probably will be later on." With a sultry look at Sereta, Karen felt her heart shatter. The expression on Sereta's face was mostly shuttered but Karen saw enough.

She loves her.

Karen left before she had nothing left of her heart to drag behind her.

Karen made quick work of heating up a bowl of split pea soup for Bianca.

She smiled appropriately when the loving couple came downstairs half an hour later. As they ate she played the perfect hostess and enquired after Bianca's work and her studies toward a Bachelor's degree in Interior Design.

She felt Sereta's eyes on her. She wanted to look right back. She didn't think it would be this hard and hurt physically to not be able to take in Sereta at her leisure. Only Bianca had that pleasure now.

Like the way she sat next to her and casually draped a hand on Sereta's thigh.

MY thigh. Karen stopped wiping down the already clean stove and only stared at the wall in front of her.

Jesus, Karen thought, I'm going crazy.

When talk of wedding plans started Karen excused herself. She felt Sereta's gaze following her out of the room but ignored her. She needed to breathe. She needed to get out of that inn. Away from them.

Karen quickly pulled on her flats and grabbed a light jacket. The cool ocean air immediately began to clear her head. Like clockwork the tears began to fall. She quickly made her way down the wooden dock only stopping when she reached the end. She rubbed her chest, sure that inside there was a fracture where her heart should be.

The sun was gone now, leaving behind an inky blackness that mirrored what she felt inside. This is reality Karen. The words echoed in her head until they were all she heard. Not even the sound of the crashing waves could penetrate the roar of those words.

She wiped at her eyes and focused on the sky. It was going to rain. Hard.

Fitting.

"A friend warned me that she was coming."

Karen spun around at the voice. Sereta stood with hands deep in her pockets. She wore a beige sweater Karen hadn't seen since her arrival.

"I'm sorry-"

"Don't Sereta." When she took a step closer Karen moved to the corner of the small wooden edge of the dock. "Please don't."

"I didn't touch her." Karen shook her head, sure her tears were falling freely now. "Please don't cry Karen." When Sereta cornered her she turned away from her hands but still they found her cheek and swiped at her tears. "Don't cry. It's only you-"

"DON'T Sereta!"

"I need you to know how much I care about you."

"Sereta?" They both jumped at the voice at the end of the dock. Bianca stood wrapped up in a loose sweater. The air whipped at her hair dramatically. Sereta stepped away and slid her hands back into her pockets. "Is everything alright?"

"Everything's fine." Karen turned away to wipe at the last of her tears. When she faced the couple again her hostess smile was firmly in place.

"Sereta was just getting me to come in out of the cold. I tend to forget myself when I'm out here."

"I don't blame you." Bianca moved closer and easily slid under Sereta's arm. Karen looked away. "You live in a beautiful country Karen. I always envied your home you know?"

Karen smiled graciously as she gestured toward the expanse of water. "It's all here for your pleasure. Please, stay as long as you can." With a nod she walked back toward the inn. She didn't need to turn around to know that Sereta's eyes burned into the back of her head the entire way.

"There's a new face in the inn."

Karen looked up from the stove and smiled at Kevin as he peeked into the kitchen. "Hey handsome. You hungry? Lemon roasted chicken salad."

He looked around the kitchen curiously. "I could eat. It's been a while since I've been in here. After being asked to keep away so that your guest could have her way with you."

Karen hushed him as she looked toward the stairs. "Her fiancee is here big head."

His mouth formed the word "Oh". He studied her for a few moments then opened his arms. She went into them willingly and squeezed him. "I fell in love with her."

"I know."

"I'm so stupid."

"No you're not."

She pulled away and leveled an annoyed stare at him. "Then what do you call women like me?"

With a half smile he rubbed her arms. "Unlucky."

"Am I interrupting?" Karen looked toward the door to see Bianca standing there looking like she stepped off of a Sports Illustrated photo shoot.

"Not at all." Karen gestured to Kevin. "This is my cousin Kevin. Kevin, Bianca Rosato."

The two exchanged pleasantries. When Bianca mentioned that she was about to visit the beach Kevin suggested a secluded and picturesque area for Bianca to explore. "Thanks Kevin, I was hoping to get Sereta up and about but she begged off to get some work done."

Karen tucked away a container with chopped watermelon and strawberries and placed two blueberry muffins in another. Bianca received both containers with a huge smile. "You're the best. I would have eaten when I got back though."

With a shake of her head she ushered the smiling woman outside with a bottle of water. "This is what I do."

"When I get back can we talk?" The tone of Bianca's voice made Karen pause. "It's just.. ." Bianca looked around the yard, sighed then wiped her hand on the gauzy wrap around her hips. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." With a smile Bianca wondered out into the yard, taking a left toward the ocean. With each step Karen watched as she became smaller and smaller and then a dot that blended in with all of the other dots that made up the lush tropical landscape.

She wondered what Bianca wanted to talk about. With the coming conversation looming over her she slowly made her way back inside.

Sereta didn't show herself until lunchtime.

As usual she came down rubbing her stomach. Karen smiled at the gesture, her subconscious way of telling her and the world that she was hungry. When Sereta rubbed the back of her neck she was either nervous or fending off a headache. She was starting to pick up on subtle hints to Sereta. She liked to think of it as decoding the other woman.

Not that this mattered in the long run. She was leaving in a matter of days.

Three days to be exact. Karen shook off the blue thoughts as she turned to her guest. From the firm set of her mouth Karen could tell that Sereta wasn't in a good mood. "Hi there."

"Hey."

Karen turned around and continued to chop up the eggs she boiled for an egg salad. She had sourdough bread and would layer it with tomatoes and lettuce. "How's the writing going?"

"It's not going at all." With a concerned look she turned to Sereta only to find her standing in the middle of the kitchen with her eyes glued to Karen's ass. "Sereta.. ." The pretty eyes she came to love blinked then rose. There was no apology in them. She wanted to ask how she could help but she knew how. Instead she asked "Are you hungry?"

After more than a few minutes of silence the shorter woman nodded her head and sat down heavily at the table. She pleaded silently for Sereta not to ask her anything, not to say anything or talk about anything. After she set Sereta's sandwich on the table she excused herself. With a hand over her eyes Karen leaned heavily against her office door.

Work.

Just work and soon they'd be gone and new faces will fill the inn. Laundry maybe. She had sheets and linens to send to the cleaners for pressing and towels to wash. Not to mention several rooms that needed to be aired out and dusted. Just work and time will take care of everything else.

"Karen? Can we talk?" Karen looked up from her computer. Bianca wore loose linen pants and a fitted white camisole. Her feet were in a pair of bright yellow flip-flops.

"Of course." A quick look at her computer revealed that it was nearly 5pm. Once again the afternoon slipped away from her leaving her little time to get dinner completed. She put a roast on the crock-pot this morning but still, she had rice to make and corn she hoped to roast. "Come on in. Let me turn on the light."

Bianca looked around the office and smiled easily. "You did well Karen. You turned out alright eh?"

Karen couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips. She only spent two years at college in Florida but it was enough time to get to know and genuinely like the woman sitting opposite her.

"You did well too Bianca." Karen looked at her lap, uncertain about how to go about talking to Bianca now. Not that conversation was always easy with the woman. She was bubbly and vivacious, Karen was quiet and observant. Back then Bianca was chasing a degree in interior design even then, Karen a certification in hotel management and culinary arts.

She knew when Bianca's mother died before a lot of other people. She was one of the few friends from college Bianca stayed in contact with. Sometimes Karen wondered why. She knew that taking care of her mother and little sister caused her education to take a backseat but you could never tell. Bianca was always so happy, so positive.

"You look beautiful Bianca."

With a tilt of her head she studied Karen. Doubt fluttered across her face. "Do I? Am I?"

"What do you mean?" Karen watched the woman stand up and walk to one of the shelves lining her office wall. Bianca removed a miniature glass sculpture of a dolphin and twirled it around studying it from a variety on angles.

"You've been able to spend time with Sereta for over a week right?" Karen nodded slowly. "When she wasn't held up in her room working," She rolled her eyes with a little smile "you had a chance to get to know her a little right?"

"Yes, I think that I have." Karen's reply was hesitant and cautious.

Bianca replaced the dolphin and faced Karen fully. "What do you think of her?"

Karen wasn't sure how to respond. Do she tell her that her fiancee is amazing? Beautiful? Caring? Passionate? Affectionate? Hardworking? That she was going to be an even greater professor and was a great writer from the few chapters Sereta allowed her to read? What did she want her to say? Need her to say? Her silence seemed to have caused Bianca worry. She sat down heavily and covered her face.

"You don't like her."

"I love her." Bianca sat up. Her hands slipped away as she studied Karen. "I mean, she's great. Why wouldn't I like her? She's.. ." She's what Karen? You're lover? Karen stood up then and stared out her window. "What's wrong Bianca?"

"I don't think that she loves me." Karen closed her eyes. "She never.. .we never.. ." Karen slowly turned around, not wanting to feel it but knowing that it was hope that stirred inside of her.

"You never what?"

"We never.. .you know." Karen laughed at the sudden shyness. Bianca was usually quick to talk about sex; who she had it with, who she was having it with and who she wanted to have it with.

"Had sex?" At the nod Karen sat down again. "Ever?" Bianca laughed and shook her head.

"Not once. At first it was kind of cute. We kiss and everything regularly. But the last few months. Things seemed a bit.. .strained." Karen nodded her head as her thoughts drifted to the way Sereta touched her, kissed her.. . "I just.. .I wonder if you had any thoughts."

"Any thoughts?"

"About it, her, I don't know! I just.. ." Bianca slouched in her chair. "When my mom died she was the closest friend I had. I knew her from high school you know?" Karen nodded. "We never dated then. Just one kiss that made us both laugh our heads off. She's the only butch woman I've ever really had feelings for."

Karen smiled.

"I worry that we.. ." The unfinished statement was completed by the look in Bianca's eyes. "Karen, I.. .I.. ." Karen took pity on the woman when she saw the frightened expression on Bianca's face.

Karen couldn't tell her anything else but what she said next, "She loves you Bianca." Sadly enough, Karen knew that it was the truth. "She's a good woman."

Bianca sighed and sat up in the chair while rubbing her arms. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure." Karen's smile dropped when she hugged her friend in the middle of her office. Bianca pulled back with an easy grin on her lips. "Now, no more of my woman problems. What's been happening in your life?"

Sereta stared out of her window into the backyard from the writing desk. Kevin was tinkering around the place again. She grinned at the memory of asking him to become scarce while she seduced his cousin. She was surprised when he readily agreed and wished her luck. She liked the guy, despite her initial worry about his Denzel Washington good looks.

Now and then she'd see Karen enter the back yard and pick something from her vegetable garden. Sereta walked through with Karen and watched her point out her tomatoes, her okra and a few other vegetables and herbs she forgot the name of already. She didn't care though, she know that she'd walk through that garden everyday and listen to the innkeeper list the same vegetables over and over if she could.

She made a few phone calls.

When Karen was busy tinkering around the inn she made a trip into the city and had a conversation with a woman who told her something that made the knot around her chest loosen a little. She said something that gave her hope even as it made her sad.

She had to talk to Bianca.

She stood only to hear her phone ring. At the number she grinned, quickly answering. "You miss terrorizing your students so much you have to call me every two minutes?"

"Last time I called you was over 24 hours ago." Kat's usual dry tone was absent today.

"What's wrong?"

"You going to be on Potter's Island for how long now?"

"I'm scheduled to leave in three days."

"You sure could pick a place to vacation. It's hot as shit."

"What?"

"Nice inn though." Sereta stared at the phone then walked to the window. No one was in the back yard. "Kat?"

"Yes."

"Where are you right now?"

"Right this very minute?"

"Better yet, where's Ebony?"

"I'm at the front door of your inn. She's gonna be 18 in a few months. I told her she's old enough to stay at my place for a night without me breathing down her neck-"

Sereta grinned as she hung up.

Karen stood in the hallway staring at the woman with a confused expression on her face. "I'm sorry Ms. St. George, I didn't have a reservation for you but I'm sure-"

"And you must be Ms. Karen Campbell. The inn keeper." Sereta stopped her approach, her eyes turning into saucers as she willed Kat to shut up.

Karen was momentarily flustered when the pretty woman stared at her with light hazel eyes that looked too pretty to make her feel so ill at ease. Combined with her height which had to be at least 6'-3", whatever profession she was in she was sure to stop all manner of foolishness with that stare. "I-I am. How do you-"

"I'm the best friend of that idiot over there." Kat smiled as Sereta walked up. She grunted at the punch on her arm before the two embraced in a brief hug. "Sorry for surprising you like this but I had to."

"Why?"

"Kat!" All three women spun around to see a stunned Bianca staring at the tall woman. "What are you doing here?" The accusatory tone wasn't missed. Kat's eyes turned to thin lines. "And where's Ebony? I told you-"

"I don't take orders from you." Kat turned to Sereta and crossed her arms. "We need to talk like NOW."

"No you don't." Bianca stood between Kat and Sereta with arms crossed. Karen took a step back unsure about what was going on. "She's busy."

Kat rolled her eyes at the shorter woman and looked beyond her head into Sereta's face. "I take it she hasn't told you yet Sereta?"

"Told me what?" Bianca took a step closer, her fists now balled at her thighs. At a mere 5'2" she was no threat to the taller woman but didn't seem to care. By the breath of Kat's shoulders she was no doubt an athlete of some kind and could probably physically remove the shorter woman if she wanted to.

"She can't marry you and she won't."

"What?" Sereta looked as confused as Karen felt. She wanted to reach out to her, to rub the worry from her brow. "Bianca? What's she talkin' about?"

Kat made a sucking sound with her teeth as she glared at the shorter woman. "Trust me, with this one you'll thank me later."

"Fuck you Kat! God! I hate you!" Kat rolled her eyes again and looked back at Sereta. "Don't you dare!"

"She's not marrying you because-" The slap was quick and loud in the foyer. Kat's eyes hardened even more. She took a step forward and bent down until her lips were an inch from Bianca's nose. "She's not marrying you because she's not in love with you Sereta."

"Ignore her Sereta." Bianca's voice was quiet but shaky with emotion.

"She's not marrying you because she just ran away from Florida after having sex with someone else."

"I hate you Kat."

Kat's expression didn't change. "Ask her who the person was Sereta." Her eyes didn't leave Bianca's. They seemed to be a silent match that only the two of them understood. "Ask her."

Sereta moved around Bianca until she stood next to her. She gently grabbed Bianca's shoulders and turned her body until they faced each other. "Who was it Bianca? You can tell me."

Bianca shook her head as her eyes filled with tears. "I can't Sereta."

"Why?"

Tears streamed down Bianca's face. She lowered her eyes and bit her lips to keep them in but they just kept falling. Karen stood in stunned silence, wondering if this were all a dream. Kat sighed, her shoulder dropping. "It's me Sereta. I'm the person. That's why she can't tell you."

Silence followed the answer as the two women stood staring at each other. Sereta looked confused and hurt. Karen stepped toward her, intent on holding her hand but she didn't move fast enough.

Kat didn't move when Sereta rushed her and seemed to prepare for the hit. It landed hard and quick at her face. When Kat fell into the wall Sereta followed her.

Bianca screamed. Karen shouted for Sereta to stop. The noise must have been loud enough to reach Kevin, suddenly he was in the foyer pushing Sereta away as she raised her arm to hit Kat again. Kat stood up holding her nose as blood dripped through her fingers. "One hit! You get one hit you God damn hypocrite!"

Sereta strained against Kevin's iron-like hold. "Fuck you! My fiancee Kat? Bianca? FUCK YOU!"

"You ARE NOT IN LOVE WITH HER!" Kat made to rush her but Kevin kept her at bay. "You're not in love with her and want to marry her! You don't marry women like her for fucking pity you fucking jackass! It's what I was trying to tell you."

"Don't make it seem like you were doing us any favors!" Karen shrank back at the anger radiating from Sereta. She looked truly hurt. That's when Karen realized that Sereta really was in love with her friend. She realized then that she made a horrible mistake.

"You're in love with her." Karen's quiet words filtered into the silence. All three women looked at her. Sereta's anger cleared. She breathed hard, her eyes still looked wild but slowly cleared. "You really are in love with her. I thought-"

"What's she talking about?" Bianca asked Sereta but she was too busy watching Karen move away, then even farther until she was turning away from her. "What's wrong? What's going on." Sereta opened her mouth to tell Karen.. .tell her what? The words piled up in her head.

"Maybe SOMEONE'S gonna grow some balls and confess to their shit before I have to do it for them. Again." Sereta glared at Kat before looking back at Bianca. Her eyes filled with regret.

"Bianca, I slept with Karen."

Bianca looked at Sereta in confusion. Then she turned to Karen who wouldn't meet her eyes. When Karen found the courage to finally look into Bianca's face she only saw hurt there. Immense hurt. "I'm so sorry. I didn't realize.. ."

"What? What didn't you realize? That you were fucking my FIANCEE Karen? How could you?" Karen winced at the words. She did know. She did realize. She just didn't care anymore. She wanted Sereta and had to have her.

"I was selfish." Karen shook her head and hugged herself.

Kevin who stood in the midst of it all looking like he was enjoying an afternoon soap shook his head with a chuckle. "If you ladies are done throwing blows, I'll leave you all to settle all of this.. ." He gestured at the space between all four women. "Drama." He walked past Karen, touching her arm in sympathy as he did.

"This is messed up." Sereta rubbed her face and stepped toward Bianca. "We need to talk Bianca."

Bianca nodded.

Sereta shook her head and led the way past Karen, not looking at her, not even touching her at all. Karen held her tears in knowing now that she still stupidly held on to hope for a fairytale with a happy ending. She realized that even though she told herself one thing, her heart believed another.

She told herself that Sereta was in love with her, but she was so very wrong.

"I don't suppose you have a bathroom that I can clean up myself in do you?" Kat still stood holding her nose.

Karen sat the taller woman down on a toilet as she tended to her bloodied nose. "You're very beautiful and obviously above all this drama." Karen didn't respond to the woman. She sensed that she didn't need her too. She had the type of confidence that made her sure that her final say was all that she needed to hear even if it was wrong. "I can see why she fell in love with you."

"You're wrong." Kat chuckled. "You need to keep your head down to make sure it bleeds out completely. And keep your nose stuffed tonight. I'll place a towel on your pillow."

"I guess I'm staying the night huh?"

Karen stopped as they made their way up the stairs. "You always intended to stay the night." Kat chuckled as she followed quietly. After everything her arrival stirred she seemed as docile as a kitten.

They both stepped into the dark bedroom, Karen turned on a table lamp and looked over everything quickly. "I'm sorry for the mess. I wasn't expecting a guest tonight."

Kat stared around the perfectly clean and pretty guestroom. "I think I'll manage somehow. Don't worry about it." Karen made her way to the door but paused when Kat called her name. "It's a bitch ain't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Falling in love with a woman you can't have?" Karen looked closely at the woman and past the cold words and attitude. She saw it then, a broken heart. Karen should know how one looked. "At least one of us needs a fucking happy ending."

Sereta and Bianca lay in bed holding each other. Sereta rubbed Bianca's back. She allowed Bianca time to cry her eyes out and they talked, and talked, and talked.

Now they lay in silence.

"You're my best friend." Sereta smiled at the quiet words.

"I know."

"I don't want to lose your friendship." Sereta was silent as she stared at the ceiling. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing. I slept with another woman too so I'm not faultless here Bianca. I just.. ." Wanted to do the right thing. She sighed at the tired words. She promised Jeanne Rosato that she's take care of her girls. Maybe she took things a little too far. "I promised to watch out for you."

Bianca sat up in bed, her messy hair and puffy eyes making her look desirable. But Sereta never felt even a fraction of the stirring for her that she felt for Karen. So many of her friends and colleagues teased her about her sexy girlfriend but she had to hide her lack of desire for the woman every time.

Bianca now sat staring down at her. "What? When?"

"Before your mom died." She told her about the promise and watched Bianca's eyes grow heavy with tears again.

"I miss her."

"I know you do. Ebony does too."

"I just, I thought we could work."

"We would have, but eventually.. ." They both nodded. They would have strayed. They weren't made for each other. "Do you love her?"

"Katherine St. George is an asshole." Sereta laughed at the passionate answer. She saw something in Bianca's eyes though that said a different story. "After we had sex I told her that I was still going to marry you. Can you believe that she laughed at me?" Sereta smiled. She could believe that. Kat had a strange and very black and white way of looking at the world.

"Kat has a heart of gold."

"She can keep that heart or better yet, stuff it up her-"

"Okayyy, okay. I get the point." Bianca huffed and rearranged her body until her arms wrapped around her knees. Sereta watched her fondly as she pulled at a loose thread on the comforter. "I still have to look out for you ya know?" Bianca smiled and poked her with her toe.

"Did I really drive you crazy with your work?"

Sereta thought about lying but they were past that now. She nodded her head but laughed and pulled Bianca down. "You always do. You always vibrate energy."

"Ebony's more like you, you know? I annoy her too but I don't care, I bud in her life anyway. She's a replica of you somehow."

Sereta looked down at Bianca with a half smile. "You think so?"

"She is. And she idolizes you. She'll be sad you won't be her mom now." Sereta laughed and reminded Bianca that she wouldn't have been. "We'll be okay won't we Sereta?"

Sereta sighed deeply as she thought of the decisions she made the past few weeks. The decisions they all made. A few hours ago she would have said yes without hesitation. Now? She wasn't so sure.

Karen stared out the space between her curtains whenever the wind blew them apart. The night was lit by a bright moon. She heard distant thunder but knew that it wasn't going to rain that night.

She thought about the three women in her inn that night. Soon it would be filled with other guests. Strangers with no drama for her to become embroiled in.

Strangers with no pretty faces and soft locks for her to fall in love with.

She missed her.

She sat up when her door opened. She thought she locked it. She usually did. The silhouette that slipped into her room was shrouded in shadows. Karen quickly grabbed at her sheet, covering her breasts. It came closer and closer, accompanied but the rustling of clothes.

"Who-"

"Shhhh.. ." She felt her warmth before her thighs slipped over Karen's.

"But Bianca-"

"We talked. She knows that I'm here." Karen didn't want her heart to believe it. She made her palms remain pressed to the bed as Sereta's lips began to trail over her neck and her chest.

"But Sereta-"

Sereta moved over her until she saw the faint light glinting off of her eyes. "I'm in love with you Karen. I told her that. I told her that I was going to be with you. Forever. She knows." Karen's eyes began to fill with tears. Sereta pressed her open lips against Karen's. "Touch me Karen." Sereta ran her tongue over Karen's mouth, begging for entrance and hummed when the warm lips parted like a flower.

She searched Karen's body for purchase and finally settled on her thighs. She pulled them up to her waist until Karen's heels pressed into the back of her knees.

"I love you Sereta."

"I know baby. I love you too." With deft fingers Sereta slipped into Karen's sex, lazily moving her fingers in a circular motion that urged her hips to follow.

Sereta gently bit a circle of skin at Karen's neck into her mouth and breathed in the scent of vanilla as she sucked in rhythm to the movement of her fingers.

She slipped two fingers inside Karen and hummed as she began to move her body against Sereta's hand, searching for her own pleasure. She squeezed Karen's breast and lowered her lips to grasp a pert nipple between her lips.

Karen writhed against Sereta and finally growled in frustration when Sereta's touch slipped out of reach. She opened her eyes to see Sereta smiling down at her.

"I spoke with the college in town." Karen ran her hands up Serta's back, loving the way her muscles contracted under her touch.

"You did?"

"Yeah, I did. The dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences said that their architecture program is.. .lacking." Karen allowed the hope she tucked away to come out of hiding. "She said that she could be persuaded very easily to hire me if and when I'm ready."

"That's amazing Sereta." Karen hugged Sereta close, wondering what it all meant. "Will you?"

"It depends."

Karen pushed Sereta away and looked up into her eyes. "On what?"

"More like on who." Sereta wiped at the tears that drained down the sides of Karen's face and vanished into her hair. "I already spoke to my university in Florida and they agreed to a visiting professorship instead if I have a better offer elsewhere."

"But will our college pay you more?" Sereta grinned and shook her head. "Then how is it a better offer?"

"Because of YOU silly." Karen allowed the words to sink in. When they did she shrieked in excitement and pushed Sereta onto her back. She leaned over her, kissing every inch of Sereta's face.

With eyes closed Karen moved Sereta's hand between her thighs and guided her fingers deep inside of her. "Just love me Sereta." She gasped as Sereta's fingers began to move again.

She allowed herself to be pulled closer and hugged Sereta to her. "I will." She felt the feather light kiss to her earlobe and heard the quiet words that followed. "I do."

The End.