In the very early hours of the morning, Anne's body alerted her to the fact that she wasn't alone in bed long before her mind caught up to the idea. Her body told her that it was by no means an unpleasant feeling to be curled up against another body.

Especially this body that her own seemed to find exceptionally attractive.

A fact that her mind wasn't too happy with right now.

While her mind was still trying to figure out who was sharing the bed with her and why she hadn't thrown out that other body by now, some long-neglected hormones in her body were happily preparing for action with a serious warm-up.

Anne's mind searched for answers in its sleep-befuddled depths. Where am I? This doesn't feel like a hotel bed, so I'm not at some tournament. It doesn't feel like the bed at home either. Oh, yes, Mom's place. Hmm, I never bring any women here … Well, except for Shea. Her body confirmed that thought with a grin. Oh, yeah, Shana.

Now that her body and mind were on the same page, the dark-haired woman smiled and tightened her hold on the smaller woman with a contented sigh.

A group of disappointed hormones sat down in a corner and pouted.

*******************

Shana tried to roll over to find out why she had woken up because it was too warm when being cold was the only reason she ever woke up in the middle of the night. Well, I'm obviously not cold tonight.

Her movement was stopped by a weight across her stomach and a very warm body that pressed against her back.

Shana's eyes traveled up the arm that held her into place in the pre-dawn darkness. She couldn't see much, but she realized that the arm was bandaged. With that little piece of information she nodded to herself and closed her eyes with a smile on her face.

All was right with her world.

I am where I'm supposed to be, was her last thought before she fell back to sleep, unconsciously burrowing closer into Anne's protective embrace.

*******************

The next time Shana awoke it was to a very pleasant tingling in her belly that stemmed from the fact that Anne's fingertips were drawing tiny circles around her navel. Somehow, the long fingers had found a way between two buttons of Shana's shirt and were now

busy chasing goose bumps across the smaller woman's abdominal muscles.

For a second Shana wondered if Anne even knew what she was doing or if her friend's hand was just following some dream image, but when she listened to the body behind her she realized that Anne had to be awake.

Shana was in a quandary. She enjoyed Anne's caresses immensely and her body told her to just let go and immerse herself in the feeling. Her mind, however, insisted on being fair, which meant she would have to talk to Anne before she could let things go further between them.

Anne chose that moment to trace a vertical line from Shana's breastbone downward as far as the restriction of the shirt would let her. The blunt fingernails left a trail of fire in their wake.

Shana stifled a groan. Her body was on a fast-track route to winning over her mind. Does she even realize what this is doing to me?

The fingers began their way back, slowly traveling across her belly towards her breastbone. The blonde woman sucked in a surprised breath when a finger dipped into her navel for just a second. There was no way for her to keep the languid moan inside this time.

Anne stopped the movement of her hand and laid it flat on her stomach, obviously waiting for Shana's reaction.

The small woman's body and mind were fighting an all-out duel by now. Turn around, tell her you're awake. Talk to her. She needs to know everything. When you keep doing this, you'll ruin your chances of a future with her. Her mind was throwing around its best arguments.

Talk, talk, talk, her body mocked. Talking is entirely overrated if you ask me. Once you made love to her she won't care about anything you have to tell her anyway. She loves you, she wants to touch you. Let her, you fool.

When there was no reaction from Shana, Anne began to retract her hand slowly from its position under Shana's shirt.

Which promptly got her the reaction she had been waiting for.

Shana put her own hand carefully on top of Anne's larger one and effectively stopped all movement.

"What are you doing?" she asked without turning around to face the dark-haired woman. She purposefully left the question as open as she could to see how Anne would react to it.

Anne raised herself on one elbow and looked over Shana's shoulder to gaze into her friend's face in the dim morning light. She had enjoyed waking up and just lying there, tenderly touching Shana's skin, needing an outlet for the love that threatened to overflow her heart.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she had realized that touching Shana while she was sleeping perhaps wasn't a bright idea, but she couldn't help herself. Just a tiny touch was all she had wanted at first, but then it became almost impossible to stop the movement of her hand.

She had tried, at first, had touched just on the outside of the shirt and only moved her fingers for a moment and then stilled her hand. Then, after a couple of minutes she had moved her fingers again. Soon, she had given up pretending she could stop and had just lost herself in the feel of Shana's skin on her fingertips.

She couldn't stop even when she knew that her friend had woken up. By then, she had moved past any remorse she might have felt in the beginning and was simply interested in Shana's reaction to her touches.

Anne knew that her answer would probably decide whether the touches were allowed to continue or not. And she was willing to do a lot to have them continue and hopefully be reciprocated. Touching Shana had ignited a fire in her belly that she knew would explode should Shana touch her.

Oh, yes. She would do anything for that. Anything, except … apologize. She grinned and decided on sticking to the mere truth.

"Touching you," she drawled in a voice thick with sleep and something more, making sure to speak very low and very close to Shana's ear. Then she blew a breath on her earlobe and watched her friend shiver.

Shana opened her eyes and turned her head so that she could look directly into Anne's eyes from a very short distance. So, you want to play, huh? The brunette's answer and the hot breath that had touched her ear had almost tuned out all rational thought. God, but she loved that voice. She decided to see how far things would go.

"I noticed that," she smiled. "But why did you stop?"

"I didn't stop," Anne whispered, "and unless you want me to, I won't."

The dark-haired woman leaned even closer until only a fraction of an inch separated their lips. She hovered in that position until she began to feel that Shana had become impatient and was straining to close the gap between them. Anne moved back a bit and waited some more. It wasn't about power this time, she realized, even though her behavior did remind her of things she had done to other women before. This time it was about anticipation. She wanted to lock this moment inside of her forever.

Shana growled. "If you don't kiss me right now, Anne, I'll --"

And Anne kissed her.

The first touch of their lips was soft, almost hesitant and chaste. Anne tried to put all her feelings into that one single kiss without overpowering Shana. Nonetheless, her lips burned as if touched by a flame and for a second she wondered if she would survive anything else. Already, her feelings for Shana were consuming her, leaving her breathless, helpless.

She broke the kiss and looked into green eyes that mirrored her feelings. She could see love shining in them and uncertainty, passion and hesitation.

The blonde woman turned fully towards her and they wordlessly hugged, holding each other close, just relishing the moment. Then their lips met again.

And this time all restraint was forgotten.

Within seconds the kiss deepened, grew passionate, ravenous, devouring. Both women groaned when their tongues touched and retreated and touched again, exploring each other over and over until breathing became too important an urge to ignore. When their lips didn't touch and feel, their hands did, roaming over curves and dips, igniting and soothing, arousing and exploring.

Anne moved to the other side of the smaller woman, mindful of both their injuries. She leaned on her left elbow and used her good right hand to unbutton Shana's shirt. She growled and tugged impatiently at the buttons when opening them with one hand proved to be too difficult. She grabbed the opening of the shirt, intent on simply ripping it apart, but a smaller hand stopped her.

"Don't," Shana pleaded with a husky voice. "I kinda like the shirt." And then she helped with the buttons.

Soon Anne had unrestricted access to the area she had been exploring only by the touch of her fingertips before. "God, Shea, you're so beautiful." Anne swallowed. She didn't see the bruises on her love's body, didn't see any injuries. All she could see was the perfection that was the woman she loved.

"You've seen me naked before," Shana reminded her, although she thought the same thing about Anne. You are the one who is truly beautiful.

"That is not the same," Anne whispered reverently, her eyes never leaving her friend's body. "May I touch you, love?" she whispered, afraid that speaking too loud would break the spell they were in.

"God, yes!" the blonde growled from somewhere deep in her throat.

The growl soon turned into a groan when Anne's fingers started to draw a line from one nipple to the other and back again. With her index finger Anne followed the outer line of the right areola, moving in concentric circles that got closer and closer to the hardening nipple. When she finally got to it, she gave the nipple a light scratch with a blunt nail, eliciting a moan from her blonde lover.

Then she covered the nipple with her mouth, licking it, nipping at it and simply devouring it with loving attention while her fingers moved over to the other breast. Shana tangled her hands in Anne's long dark hair trying at once to pull her closer to one breast and goad her over to the other breast, unable to decide what would feel better. Reason and language had already fled Shana's mind; desire and instinct were now firmly in control of her actions.

Anne let go of Shana's breast and moved up to kiss her again and again, never getting enough of the sweet feeling the touch of their lips brought. Her touch turned to soothing caresses when she noticed that Shana was already close to the breaking point. Anne didn't want to hurry their first time and she decided to calm her lover down a bit before continuing on her journey of Shana's body.

Shana had other ideas, though. She was almost beside herself with desire, not caring about anything else anymore. She wanted Anne, and she wanted her now. Wanted to be taken by her and wanted to take her in return. She growled when Anne slowed her touches, then raised one leg between Anne's longer legs. Her breath caught in her throat when she felt Anne's wetness through the fabric of her boxers.

Anne simply groaned and pressed herself deeper onto the muscular thigh. Oh God, I can't believe I'm gonna come just from touching her. It can't be …

"These have to come off," Shana rasped and tugged at the boxers that still separated them. "I need to feel you."

Anne sat up and let Shana pull down the shorts as far as she could and then Anne pulled them off completely while Shana pulled off her own panties.

Anne lay down against Shana again and both women groaned when their bodies touched unhindered by any clothing for the very first time. Neither woman moved for what seemed like hours, just enjoying the feeling. They looked into each other’s eyes and smiled.

"I love you," both said simultaneously before moving in for another kiss.

"Please, Anne," Shana breathed when they broke the kiss, "make love to me."

"With pleasure," came the serious reply. Then Anne began another journey of discovery down her lover's body, starting at the pulse point on her throat.

"Yes, Anne, please --"

There was a knock on the door.

Anne groaned. It can't be. We'll ignore it. It's not important.

Another knock.

"Maybe it's important," Shana whispered before she could stop herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why couldn't you just ignore it?

Anne was completely still for a moment before another knock sounded from the door, this time louder and with what sounded a lot like impatience.

Anne groaned again. No. No. No. No!

"Yes!" she shouted, frustration making her voice deep and raw. Then she pulled up the blankets to cover Shana and herself.

Irene's head came through the door. She didn't look too happy.

"What is it, Mom?" Anne asked in a voice that was none too friendly and without much interest.

"Shana has a visitor," Irene answered and then directed her next words at Shana. "There's a young man outside for you. He says he's your fiancé. I put him into the kitchen." Her curt tone made it perfectly clear what she thought of the situation. Then she left them alone again.

"What?" Anne's incredulous shout rang loudly in Shana's ear. The dark-haired woman turned towards her almost-lover. "Please, tell me this is a mistake. A misunderstanding."

Shana hid her face behind her heads. The best laid plans of mice and men …

"Shana?"

The blonde had never heard that tone in Anne's voice before. It was a mixture of hurt and regret, of anger and hope and a good dose of pure insecurity. "Shana, talk to me … please."

Shana couldn't talk, couldn't think right now. If I ignore it, everything will go away. All I want is to make love to the woman I love right now.

When Shana didn't say anything, Anne got up without a word and donned the robe that Shana had worn the night before. It was way too short for her, but at least it covered her body. Her movements were abrupt and edgy, and Shana recognized them as signs of Anne's anger and disappointment.

"Anne," she began with a small voice.

Anne just looked at her, her emotions hidden behind impenetrable barriers. The eyes only showed something close to the coldness Shana could remember from earlier days. "What?"

"I'm sorry," was all that Shana could come up with. I'm so sorry. I love you. She needed to say it out loud, needed to let Anne know that she made a terrible mistake and that everything would be all right if they could just talk about it. But when she opened her mouth to speak the words that meant the world to her, Anne had already left the room.

She swallowed and listlessly moved her body out of the bed. If losing Anne's love isn't going to kill me, I'm sure Irene will.