Fox had taken her on so many adventures… gotten her into more trouble than she would have thought possible, and taken her to bed more than once along the way whenever the mood had struck. Fox had always been the aggressor though. Not that she’d objected… it had felt… truly wonderful, to feel so close to another being again. As Titania’s daughter, she’d even been able to change herself into a gargoyle, which had been a very welcome consideration for her. Still, what they’d had, it wasn’t love, and it had never been. ’Friends with benefits’ she supposed was the popular term for it now. An exceedingly pleasant and mutually enjoyable diversion. Fox had been… a very talented lover. But, be that as it may, Fox had never really loved her, and Dominique certainly hadn’t felt about her like she was now feeling towards Elisa. Obsidiana… that, she didn’t even want to think about right now. Sufficed to say, it was a failure on her part, not Obsidiana’s – one she still felt guilt over. No, this was so clearly entirely different than either of those situations. Her heart was beating faster, there was a catch in her throat, and she was more than a little at war with herself over what she should do about it.

”Hey… I can relate.” Elisa said, taking her hand in hers. Their eyes met and Dominique smiled to her softly. ”We can just… take this slow, see where it leads, okay?” She offered.

Dominique swallowed. She didn’t want to go slow, she wanted to kiss Elisa again, maybe kiss her hand first, capture her lips in another hot kiss, lean her onto her back on the sofa they were on, let herself do what her heart and her instincts were telling her she very much wanted to do… To take her… make love to her… Her head and her good sense, for once this morning, managed to win out though. Elisa wasn’t ready for that, she could tell, and really, neither was she.

For one thing, she had to… to be more sure of Elisa. For herself, and for her clan. Sure of her own heart, and sure Elisa really was what and who she seemed. Sure the risk she wanted to take would be worth it. ”Yes.” Dominique said, bringing Elisa’s hand to her lips and kissing it. ”I would like that.” She told her.

It was a simple gesture, but Elisa found her heart melting for this woman even more because of it. Her heart was beating faster, and she felt warm, not just under her skin, but in her heart as well. Warm and fuzzy, like a love song cliché. Well, she never had been one to take the easy route in life, had she? Falling in love with a thousand year old gargoyle who could do magic and carried all the baggage that she apparently carried was probably just par for the course, she figured. This would be her fourth time falling in love in her life. The first was as a teenager, they’d flared hot then crashed and burned over something stupid. Her second love had been unrequited and painful. Then there’d been Margot Yale, whom she’d met when she’d first joined the force. She’d been a district attorney. Pretty, smart, well off, from a good family. High maintenance, hard to really get to know, but past all that, she really cared about her job, just like Elisa, and once Elisa had gotten past her defenses, they’d fallen for one another hard. Margot’s family had hated her new love interest, and they’d gotten not insignificant levels of grief from some of her fellow officers over their relationship too. But they’d gotten through it, made it work, gotten to a good place… No, falling in love had never been an easy thing for her, and when it went wrong, when it ended, it always hurt, but in the end, she wouldn’t have traded any of those experiences away, not a chance. No, she’d never turned away before, never been a coward at love before, and she wasn’t about to be one now. ”So…” She said, still feeling a little breathless from the look in Dominique’s eyes and the impact of her simple kiss. ”Shall we go?” She offered.

Dominique smiled.

—————–

to be continued