Shane groaned into her pillow, lifting her head slightly. Her right arm and leg were closely intertwined with Carmen, who lay sleeping on her side next to her. She gingerly rolled onto her back so not to disturb Carmen, figuring she needed her sleep after last night.

She walked to the shower, taking small detours to pick up the clothes she had shed at certain points in the evening. She found her shirt on the floor next to the door. Carmen had pulled it off roughly the second Shane had clicked the lock. She stopped next to the foot of her bed, finding her shoess, socks, and jeans next to it, as well as Carmen’s tank top and panties. Shane grinned, remembering Carmen’s face last night as she had slowly drawn them down from under her skirt. Shane went on to collect another pair of shoes, Carmen’s skirt and bra, and the dangly earrings Carmen had insisted on removing before

Shane stopped, and closed her eyes.

When she opened them, she was on her back, hands gripping the sheets. She was so tense, and she really couldn’t help it. Carmen’s lips traced the smooth, rippled lines of her abdomen and moved slowly lower, brushing against the concavity of skin between her jutting hipbones. She closed her eyes again and tried not to breathe, move, or make a sound. Especially, she tried hard not to think, because if she started to think, she would remind herself that this was a bad idea, and that it should stop. And since she truthfully didn’t want it to stop, she pressed her thoughts down and tried to focus on sensations.

Sensations weren’t lacking, especially as Carmen’s hair fell down off her back and cascaded onto Shane’s bare thighs, tickling her. Before Shane knew what was happening, she felt her body twitch lightly, a stifled laugh escaping her lips. Carmen looked up, amused.

“Something funny up there?”

Shane’s face reddened and her eyebrows shot up.

“No!I mean, no, nothingjustyour hair” Shane reached to touch the point at which a lock of Carmen’s hair had brushed her inner thigh.

Carmen’s face lit up as she grinned. Shane laid her head back, strangely relaxed in that moment. There was so much confidence in that grin, she couldn’t help but feel better about the whole thing. Carmen took Shane’s wrist in her hand and removed one of the thin black leather bands she had worn that night, using it to pull her hair back and out of the way.