Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:21:24 -0400 From: Christene Subject: Pursuit of Happiness Pursuit of Happiness by: Christene (Disclaimer: This story is about love between two women. If that offends you, please read no further. Any feedback or comments regarding my story are welcome, but please let's keep those comments constructive. Thank you.) ******** Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives: Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. ******** The year was 1944. The world was a very different place. Its surface had been forever altered by the happenings sweeping across it. Lauren wished that she could say she was brave. She ached to say that all her decisions had been for the right reasons, but the truth of it slapped her as bitterly as the cool wind rushing against her tearful face. She was running away. The howl of the train drawing nearer warned that life as she knew it was about to change. She drew the collar of her flowing coat around her neck. Her haunted olive eyes blinked away the vision of the woman she thought she'd glimpsed emerging through the fog. It wasn't her, she thought. It couldn't be her. She released her coat collar just long enough to wipe away the tears rolling hotly down her porcelain cheeks. Two children playing along the platform made her smile through her tears. The little girls were doing all they could to defy the sleep creeping up to cloud their young eyes. Then, after a moment, they raced by her in a whirl of vibrant colors. "Come on, little sister!" she heard. Her heart thudded down into her stomach. "Paige," she whispered longingly. She used to believe that whatever demons a person ran from would only pursue them with equal intensity, but she had abandoned that belief. She had been forced to. After all, she could hardly throw herself into this war if she had any reservations about what she was doing. Just then, Fate gave her one final reminder that it would not be ignored. A radio perched inside the nearby ticket booth crackled loudly. From its small body, a voice fought to be heard: "Night and day... you are the one. Only you beneath the moon and under the sun---" Her skin blanched. All around her, couples drew closer together with dreamy smiles alive inside their eyes. Others still cleaved to one another, cursing the threat brought to the world and how that threat was separating them. Possibly forever. Another long, mournful howl came. It was closer than before. And yet, she did not hear its sound. Instead she further distanced herself from this moment and from the memory of eyes which rivaled the beauty of raw honey. Numbly, she boarded the train. She was leaving. She was enlisting along with all these other souls leaving for the nearest recruiting office. And soon, she would be joining the other men and women doing their part to save the world from the devastation of the second World War. ******** "What do you mean, she's gone?!" Paige's voice had been filled with panic. Her father gazed down at his newspaper with a furrowed brow. He appeared to be focused on an article of great importance, but the sheer truth of it was that he did not wish to think of it, did not wish to think of her. "She went to the station, Paige." He sighed, folding the paper with a frustrated expression before roughly slapping the paper to his lap. "Why do I care? She's never listened to me a day in her life. Why should I waste my breath thinking that she would now? Just let her go." Paige tilted her head with a pained look on her face. She opened her rouged lips to speech, but the chime at the door silenced her. "Well, answer it," her father uttered in annoyance. "It's Jeffery, come to take you to dinner." He favored her with a stern look. "There will be a lot of important people there, so you be sure to make a good impression." Paige blinked while lost within her reeling emotions. She opened the door to see Jeffery standing in his finest suit. His right hand clutched the cane he heavily relied upon. Jeffery entered the house with the air that he belonged there. He gently kissed Paige's cheek before immediately pressing past her to join Paige's father in the study. "Mr. Humphrey," he greeted warmly. He extended his hand, receiving a firm handshake from his soon to be father-in-law. "How are you, sir?" Mr. Humphrey nodded his head, never truly answering the question. Jeffery was motioned to sit, which he did awkwardly. After a lengthy silence, he cleared his throat. "Terrible business about the war," he said. "Why, if I didn't have this bum leg---" Mr. Humphrey nodded his head absently, then woke from his thoughts. "I know," he said. "I'd love to--" Their voices faltered when they each took note of Paige's face. Her skin was ashen. The intelligent depths of her eyes glistened with the tears clinging desperately to her thick lashes. "Paige?" Jeffery prodded fearfully. With a sudden burst of speed, Paige turned and ran out the front door. Jeffery moved to rise from his chair, but he did not have the speed to catch her. He stopped when Mr. Humphrey motioned him to stay. The man with dark reddish-brown hair and white bands along his temples rose from his leather chair. He went to the liquor cabinet, removing a large crystal bottle of brandy. He poured himself a glass with a lowered head. Jeffery watched him anxiously. "Sir, what's going on?" Jeffery demanded. "It's Lauren," Mr. Humphrey said. He drank heartily from his glass. ******** Paige moved with all the power her shapely legs could muster. She sprinted into the night, but the heels upon her feet were not meant for running. She angrily ripped them from her feet then ran barefoot down the quiet streets. Her burgundy dress should have been worn out on the town, but instead she was racing against hope, racing against the time she simply did not possess to reach the train station. If providence was with her at all, then perhaps she would reach her sister in time. The shining length of her dark mahogany hair was slipping from her usually elegant victory rolls. It was slipping from its pins to tussle wistfully around her milky face. She breathed heavily through moistened lips which trembled with the onset of tears. She caught sight of the station in the distance. She spirited toward it just as she heard the first whistle sounding the train's approach. Her heart thundered inside her chest. "Oh, please," she murmured. She ran faster with the memory of mesmerizing green eyes which would rather close than allow her to see too much into them. Why was she hiding her eyes from her? What was in them that was different than all the other times they had held each other's eyes before? Paige swallowed the lump in her throat. She knew what was different. Change had come in the small package of a leather-bound journal. ******** Lauren sat inside the study, scribing feverishly into her journal. Her red hair burned passionately within the candlelight as she worked at her desk. Paige watched her curiously from the narrow crack remaining between the French doors left slightly ajar. She felt her heart all but burst as Lauren quickly stood. Paige hurriedly moved down the hall to avoid being seen. ******** Upon reaching the station, Paige maneuvered through the throng of people. At the far end of the platform, she glimpsed a breathtaking woman with crimson hair. She called out to her. Her voice was drowned out by the sound of the train whistling its arrival. The people around her began to move as a booming voice said, "Now boarding!" She struggled to close the distance between them. She had to stop her. She had to explain. It was not what she wanted. It was what was expected. Lauren had to know that it was only out of that sense of obligation. Because her heart yearned for something so far from what others wanted for her. "Lauren!" Paige screamed, trying to lift her voice above the chaos. "Lauren, here! I'm here!" The steam coming from the train expelled as if it were the smoldering breath of a great beast. Its breath washed over her, drowning out her visions of Lauren. When at last the copious fog had died away, she was standing in a meager gathering of others. All eyes were transfixed sadly upon the train. Her head turned toward the coaches. She quickly searched each set of windows, but Lauren was nowhere to be seen. She watched with a horrified expression marring her beautiful face as the train began to power cumbersomely away. The plush softness of old hands cupped her shoulders supportively. An old woman with a kind face smiled tenderly. "Oh, don't worry, sweetheart," she soothed. "I know times are hard, but our boys will be coming home before you know it." She gentled her expression. "You'll see." Bewilderment swept across her face as Paige looked into the old woman. "Do you have a soldier shipping out?" the old woman queried softly. Paige's eyes welled with tears. "Oh, he'll be okay," the old woman cooed. She held the tall woman close to her. As honey eyes gazed after the train drawing further away, Paige spoke in a lyrical softness. "Not a soldier," she sniffled. "A nurse. She's my sister." The old woman flinched inwardly. She struggled not to shift in her awkwardness. "I'm sorry," she stumbled. "I just assumed, based on the look in your eyes." She paused, hoping to explain herself. "You looked like you had just lost the love of your life." Paige slipped out of the old woman's arms. She turned away, slipping back into the night with a lowered head. "I did." ******** They had been together every day of their childhood lives. They had gone to school together with two years separating them. They had attended the same college before ultimately returning home to where it had all began. Paige had thought that with Lauren having newly finished nursing school, the beautiful young woman would take to being a nurse in their father's practice. But Lauren had had very different ideas. She wanted to make a difference. She wanted to 'save the world,' as their father had called it. Their father could not understand why Lauren felt the need to leave her hometown for the pursuit of happiness, or why she could not just settle down and marry a nice young man. A doctor, or perhaps even a lawyer. At the time, Paige had been courted by a nice young man interning to be a doctor. And once he'd joined her father's practice, they'd become engaged. Her father adored him for the sheer fact that he was so much like himself. As Paige recalled those things now, that life seemed so far away. The time of her engagement was also, she remembered, around the time when Lauren began keeping her journal. The time when Lauren stopped meeting her eyes. The surge of people moving forward woke Paige from her thoughts. She was another face within a sea of faces trudging toward the factory. This was her life now. The graceful young socialite was a worker on the assembly line. She remembered her father's reaction when he'd realized that she would be covered in soot and grime, working as a laborer. And yet, his rage had not mattered. All that was important was doing something to help Lauren. And right now, the only means of helping her was to do something to help their soldiers. Each day, Paige lived in fear. She toiled through her work. It was hard work, but there was a certain sense of accomplishment in it which she had not realized she was missing. Each night, she spent crying into a pillow which still smelled of her sister's hair. Within her dreams, she said so many things which distance and fear prevented her from saying now. What would she do when Lauren returned? She cried harder into her pillow, thinking something which made her blood run cold. If Lauren came home. She tightened her hold on the pillow. Please, baby sister... come home to me. ******** The high-pitched whine of bombs falling from the sky sent shivers down their spines. It was another air-raid. The windows rattled loudly even as doctors and nurses lowered their heads with a determined air to continue treating their patients. Lauren threw herself over her patient in unison with so many other nurses while the lights hanging from above shook wildly. That one had been too close, they thought collectively. With a slow reluctance, they eased away from their patients. Lauren lifted her olive eyes. She felt her crimson hair falling from its pins beneath her nurse's hat. Her thoughts ventured to those who had felt her healing touch. She understood that dire need for healing. She felt it each time she experienced the painful ache to be embraced. The bitter truth of her situation, and for so many others, was that she could not be consoled by any pair of arms. She craved a very special pair. She sighed, then set to her work yet again. ******** It was late when Paige found herself wearily passing through her front door. It had been another late shift. She wore a dark red bandanna over her thick, long hair in the hopes of keeping it from her elegant face. It had not, however, been able to shield her from dust. Her athletic body was hidden beneath the dirty navy-blue coveralls adorning her wiles. Paige paused inside the foyer with a stunned expression upon her face. Her father was sitting near the fire with her fianc‚. Together, they were listening to the announcer speaking with a commanding tone about the allied forces. She wanted to listen. She wanted to know, but something in her screamed not to. Slowly, Paige turned to leave. "Oh, Paige," Jeffery called, taking note of her for the first time. "How was... um... work?" He withdrew from her shabby appearance. She was not the woman he had affectionately taken in at his side, the woman who'd possessed a beauty to rival any silver-screen starlet. "It was hard," she admitted. "Then again, it will be until our GIs are home." "Yes, of course," he stuttered. Paige favored them with a radiant smile which spoke of politeness, but someone who truly knew her would have recognized that it was also a mask. It hid what emotions brooded beneath her surface. "Please excuse me," she said. "It's been a very long day and I want to retire early." Mr. Humphrey nodded his head. Absently, he motioned her away while Jeffery rose to his feet with a gentlemanly air. Paige heard the distant sounds of her own footsteps against the hardwood floors. She ascended the stairs, feeling her lithe hand slide over the polished railing. Once she'd reached the head of the stairs, she gazed longingly in the direction of Lauren's room. ******** Lauren laughed as she peeked past her bedroom door. Her skin was glowing with happiness. Her olive eyes never failed to smolder while surrounded by the rich woods inside their home. The sultry waves of her crimson hair flashed in the light. "Another late night on the town, huh?" she teased. ******** Paige sighed. She closed her eyes, forcing her memories of Lauren to subside, if only for the moment. She bathed and dressed for the night with an odd sort of absentmindedness. Before she had realized what was happening, she found herself slipping beneath the coolness of crisp cotton sheets. She breathed deeply. Her hand reached out and slid over the bed, exploring it with an intimate sense of discovery. She closed her eyes, letting the scents of Lauren's room wash over her. She knew she should not be there. She told herself that she should return to her own room, but she could not leave. She needed to be there, needed to be as close to Lauren as she could. In her mind, the sheets caressing her body felt like whispering fingertips traversing her skin. Her hand slid underneath the pillows. Her fingertips grazed the leather-bound book hidden from the outside world. Her heart thundered violently beneath her full breasts. She clasped the book inside her hand and pulled it from the comforts of its sleepy world. With the moonlight to read by, she opened her sister's diary. Paige bit her pouty bottom lip. She drew in a deep breath, then summoned the courage to read. ******** I've never been much of a writer. I feel a bit silly filling this book with all my innermost thoughts, but I was not left with any other option. Had I found myself in this situation a few years ago--- Or less, even as little as a few months ago, a few precious weeks!---- I would have unburdened my soul to my Sweet Paige. Things are so different now... so horribly, tragically different now. You see, she's getting married. I should be happy for her. I should be helping to plan the wedding and doing my part to be the best maid of honor this land has ever seen, but I'm not happy. I'm not! It's not that Jeffery isn't a good man. He's keen. A bit bland and boring for my tastes, but Paige seems sweet on him. Shouldn't that be enough? I hate him. I hate him so much because, more than anything, I want to be him. ******** Paige is in the backyard reading beneath a tree. She looks so beautiful. I wonder if she knows. I try to hide what's in my eyes, but Paige knows me better than anyone ever has or ever will. Does she know how deeply I love her? Does she know that I am madly, passionately, head-over-heels in love with her? I should tell her. I want to tell her. And yet... how do you tell your best friend that what you feel is more than friendship? For that matter, how do you tell your best friend that when she's your sister? ******** When I came home, I found Paige inside my room. She was reading my diary! I don't know what she saw. I'm almost scared to ask. Just thinking of it makes my stomach knot. What if she knows? She hasn't said a word to me. She actually rushed from my room. She couldn't even look at me. I've messed up. I've colossally messed up! Dear God, what am I going to do?! ******** We fought today. I'm not even sure what we were fighting about. We were yelling at each other before we even realized it. She was crying. I hate seeing Paige cry. It breaks my heart. I just want to take her into my arms and hold her. I want to kiss her tears away and make everything all right. She knows. She knows everything now and she hates me for it. That's why she's going ahead with the wedding. That's why she's not speaking to me. That's why we fought today over absolutely nothing! I can't stay here. I can't stay here when she'll be laughing and loving someone else. My heart can't take it! ******** Paige lifted her eyes from the pages smudged by tears. She traced the handwriting she knew so well. Slowly, she lowered her head. With eyes slowly closing, she touched her lips to the lines making mention of Lauren's heart. Paige could only hope that somehow, between the distance between them, Lauren could feel her. The apology welling inside her throat could not surpass the lump sadness had placed there first. "That's why you left," she said in a hoarse whisper. "That's why I lost you to this war." She hugged the diary close to her heart. Tearfully, she gazed out the window. She took in the starry horizon and the moon which reigned over the world. A sudden sense of purpose filled her. There was something she had to do, something she could not run away from any longer. ******** Lauren was exhausted when she staggered into the room. So many of her friends were sitting with similar expressions of exhaustion. She sank down into a chair. They had all seen so many patients. Some of them had been their boys, but some of them had been POWs left behind. Lauren lifted her head. She ran her fingers through her long red hair. Her hands were shaking. She was so tired. Her deep green eyes reflected how long she had gone without sleep. She could hear the loud chaos of the hospital, but she could also hear the sounds coming from the streets outside. She could not help but remember that she had always wanted to see Paris, but never like this. An excited nurse burst into the room. "Mail!" she cried. "We've got mail from back home!" So many nurses scrambled to their feet, hoping that there would be even the smallest news from home to keep their spirits alive. "Lauren." Lauren lifted her head in surprise. "Yes?" she stammered. The nurse smiled softly. "There's one for you," she said. The others looked at Lauren in amazement. In all the time they had been away from home, the beautiful young woman had never received a letter. They had often wondered why. Lauren was so kind, so personable. It did not make sense for her not to have family, or even a special someone back home. Lauren took the letter into her hands. They shook violently as she recognized the handwriting. She carefully opened the envelope. When she pulled out the letter, tears rose inside her eyes. It had been written on paper from her diary. She recognized the paper, but more than anything, she could clearly see her own words lingering on the page. "Paige is in the backyard reading beneath a tree," it read. "She looks so beautiful. I wonder if she knows. I try to hide what's in my eyes, but Paige knows me better than anyone ever has or ever will. Does she know how deeply I love her? Does she know that I am madly, passionately, head-over-heels in love with her?" Lauren blanched more by the moment. Paige must have read this and decided to send it to her as a means of telling her that she knew everything and could never forgive her. Determined to see it through to the end, Lauren continued reading silently. "I should tell her. I want to tell her. And yet... how do you tell your best friend that what you feel is more than friendship? For that matter, how do you tell your best friend that when she's your sister?" The handwriting suddenly changed as a few elegant lines were fluidly scrolled along the bottom of the page. How do you say what cannot be said? You say it with the love inside your eyes, with the emotion inside your kiss and the beating of your heart when it lives for another. Come home to me safely, my Love. Please. The sudden sound of Lauren's cries frightened the others. They flocked to her in a supportive guild. Their arms embraced her with a fierce protectiveness. They rocked her gently and smoothed her back as Lauren, their strong Lauren, cried with utter abandon. ******** August 1945 Cries rose up amongst the masses. Strangers embraced one another for the sheer happiness of the moment. People wept. Sailors raced through the streets, kissing every woman within sight. Confetti rained from the sky which seemed all but suspended by joyous singing and boisterous cheers. The cheers grew thunderous, as if to announce to the very heavens that it was over. It was finally over. ******** Her heart was racing. Paige had dressed herself in an airy red dress which brought out the excited flush of her cheeks. Among the many other women looking expectantly to the train station, she was a brilliant flash of color amidst a bevy of autumn colors. Her flowing mahogany hair was neatly pinned in victory rolls while her hair hung with satiny glory between her shoulder blades. Her eyes flashed as shimmering honey pools. Her body grew tense. She and every other soul crowding the platform looked to the train coming proudly into the station. Cheers flooded the air. A band began to play loudly, welcoming their men and women home. Her trembling hands clasped together. Paige held them close to her chest. The beautiful woman felt dizzy with happiness. Her sister was home. She was home! Paige was lost inside an eerie sort of haze. She had seen the people beginning to disembark. Their colors blurred together in a vibrant smearing of colors. But all of that changed when one person, one solitary figure, took on the clarity of the sun rising as the dawn. Even among the others dressed in uniform, Lauren was unique in all the world. Her long red hair was parted to the side. It was sleek with smoothly styled waves. Atop its glistening satin, a garrison cap sat at a slight angle. Her pale skin was glowing inside the olive green uniform housing her hour-glass body. The warm color brought out the intensity of her catlike eyes. Lauren had never been so happy to see the hometown she had been so eager to escape. She turned. Her eyes scoured her surroundings, doing their best to memorize how things had changed and how exactly they had stayed the same. It was during that awe-filled gaze that her eyes fell on a woman in scarlet. Her breath caught inside her throat. "Paige," she exhaled. She wanted to launch forward, to rush into her arms, but she could not trust herself while she was that close to Paige. Not after having dreamt being inside her arms for all this time. Then somehow, they were standing directly before one another. They were so close that they could feel the other's breath against their tingling skin. Paige reached out her hands. Her movements were painfully slow. She had never been timid while showing affection toward her sister before. Then again, she had never been in love before, never ached to touch another person the way that she did now. With feathery touches her fingertips grazed Lauren's until they stood face to face, holding each others hands. Their eyes met for the first time. For a brief instant, Paige remembered all the times her sister had looked away. Would she now? Lauren tightened her hold of the hands in hers. Her green eyes danced with tears. "Take me home," she mouthed. Around them, the chaos had yet to subside, but within each sister, an odd sort of serenity was sweeping throughout their beings. Paige refused to release the hand in hers as she sauntered with a slow eroticism through the masses. She felt the eyes staring after her with love, but the thing which sent her core trembling was the heat of arousal warming her back. They walked along the sidewalk, hand in hand. The lights from the street-lamps fell over them in sporadic pools of warm yellow. Their fingers wove together tightly, connecting them. ******** When they entered the front door of their home, it was quiet. Lauren lifted her eyes as she removed her cap. They were soft as she stared around her childhood home. "Where's dad?" she asked absently. In truth, she had hoped he would be sleeping or locked inside his study. "He was called away," Paige answered as she took Lauren's things. "You know how much he lives for invitations to speak at prestigious colleges." Lauren laughed quietly despite herself. Her laughter fell away as she thought of what her father's absence would mean at the practice. "That must mean that Jeffery is---" "I wouldn't know," Paige interrupted quietly. She waited for her sister at the top of the stairs. The red-haired nurse moved to the foot of the stairs. Her hand rested elegantly against the dark wood railing. She stared up at the vision of her beautiful sister. The hall light at her back warmed the woman's silhouette in an enchanting halo. "He and I haven't spoken since I called off the engagement," Paige spoke softly. Lauren felt herself slip into a state of shock. Her head lowered while she stared heavily at the imported rug centered along the stairs. She had not even realized that Paige was no longer at the head of the stairs. So many thoughts were whirling through her mind, but she pushed them back. All that mattered was the question raging throughout her mind. What did this mean, she wondered. Lauren hurried up the stairs. She moved toward her room on the right. She stopped. A warm light flooded lovingly into the hall. It was coming from her sister's room. She felt butterflies dancing manically inside her stomach. Her heels kissed the hardwood floors with each slow step she took toward her sister's bedroom. Lauren extended her hand. With her fingertips resting against the cool door's surface, she pushed the door open. The room was warm with candles. Paige lit the last candle before delicately blowing out the match within her hand. She turned her head as she caught sight of her sister standing inside the doorway. Slowly, she smiled. "Did you know that the women working the assembly would spend hours talking about what they would do the moment their GI came home?" Paige asked nonchalantly. She strode across the room. Her fingers lightly clasped Lauren's hands. She pulled her invitingly into the room while she backed further into it. Her honey eyes reflected the flames inside the candles. She turned Lauren gracefully, as if they were dancing to the subtle sound of the wind rustling through the trees. Lauren felt the backs of her legs touch against the edge of the bed. She swallowed hard at the lump in her throat. Her breath trembled as it slipped past full lips. She held the eyes of the woman she loved, the woman she had always loved. Her eyes never once looked away, even as Paige's nimble fingers began unbuttoning the golden buttons of her jacket. "The one thing that each woman seemed to have in common," Paige continued in a throaty voice. "Was a desperate need to touch, a need to pamper our GI. As if to say 'thank you', to say 'I love you', to say 'I missed you' and 'I need you'." Lauren tried not to tremble. She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of Paige moving closer. Paige tenderly pushed the jacket from Lauren's shoulders. She allowed it to fall to the floor. Her fingers loosened the khaki tie around her sister's neck. When Lauren took her face warmly inside her hands, her hand fell limply to her side. She could feel the tie slipping out of her grasp. "Paige," Lauren whispered. Her eyes said so much, even before her lips could utter a word. "Do you realize what you're saying?" She gave a vulnerable frown. "I was so sure I'd lost you forever when you read my dairy. I---" Lauren's words were brought to a dramatic end by the lips seizing hers with unending love and passion. The lips moving against hers were the softest she had ever felt. They were sweet and supple. She parted her lips against them. She felt them part in response to hers. Tender flesh traced along the line of her top lip. She closed her lips around it, suckling lovingly at Paige's tongue. Paige tilted her head. She deepened their kiss with a moaned purr which reverberated deep within her throat. Her arms wrapped around Lauren's body. She crushed her sister to her, feeling proud, shapely breasts crush against hers. Between impassioned kisses, she spoke: "You'll never lose me," Paige promised. "I love you so much, Lauren. I always have." Her body shivered with excitement as Lauren's hand slid down from her jaw. They traveled over her shoulders, roaming down her arms until they found a home at her sides. The slow sound of her dress being unzipped echoed in the air. It joined the sound of their heated breaths rasping in the night, their gentle purrs inspiring dull throbs. The air came to rush against Paige's exposed skin. She felt it caress her with each pair of teeth opening. Soon her dress released its hold. It fell to the ground, haloing her body in a lustful ring. She stood inside Lauren's arms. Her breasts were housed inside a black lace bra. Her panties were of matching grace. Along the smooth length of her beautiful legs, her stockings shimmered. A delicate seam ran along the back of her as if pointing the way toward bliss. Paige unbuttoned the khaki button-down shirt her army nurse wore. She released an appreciative groan as she glimpsed her sister's sensuous breasts for the first time. They were full, restrained inside their ivory bra with a seductive pout. Paige lowered her head. Her lips kissed over the tops of sweet-smelling orbs. She closed her eyes, feeling her sister's fingers get lost in her dark hair. Her tongue dipped into the valley of her sister's breasts. She grazed with a slow sweep across the flesh. Her fingers reached down, unbuttoning and unzipping the skirt which separated them. With a slight whoosh, they plummeted to the ground. Lauren shrugged out of her shirt. She took Paige into her arms, then laid her sister upon the bed. The moment her body crushed to hers, she felt her pulse quicken. Wrapping her arms around her sister's neck, Paige claimed her lover's mouth again. She kissed her deeply, growing lost in the emotions pouring from Lauren directly into her. All the love they had ever shared was heightened in the realization of attraction. Lauren ran her hand along her sister's body. She guided her sibling's leg to wrap around her waist. With it close, she pushed off her sister's heel then tossed it to the floor. Her fingers traced the top of Paige's stocking. She pushed it down slowly, feeling a gift unwrapped beneath her touch. As they kissed, she repeated the act once more on her sister's other leg. The feel of smooth bare skin wrapping around her waist made her dizzy. Holding herself up with her arms, Lauren looked down at the woman with mussed mahogany hair. Her red hair hung around her face. She was flushed with wanton desires, but she wanted to savor this night. She had dreamt of it for so long. Lauren sat up on her knees. She tossed her long hair over her shoulder absently, unaware that it sent a jolt through her lover watching below. Her arms reached behind her body. She unclasped her bra then removed it with slow eroticism. Paige gripped tightly at the sheets. She strangled the moan inside her throat as enthralling orbs were revealed to her hungry eyes. She ravaged their flesh with her eyes. The peaks straining to new heights beneath her gaze caused her own nubs to arch painfully. She sat up on her elbows, never taking her eyes away from the woman moving to stand at the side of the bed. She followed the seductive air with which Lauren presented her leg. Then she watched as Lauren slowly removed her stockings. The little striptease that her sister performed was somehow voyeuristic. Paige felt as though she were somehow glimpsing her sister as she readied for bed. The way Lauren confidently held her foot against the edge of the bed, the way her hands slid over her own leg. It was easy for Paige to imagine the sexy redhead smoothing lotion over her skin. Lauren's olive eyes suddenly lifted from her own thigh. She held her lover's eyes while her thumbs hooked themselves inside her panties. She worked the fabric down, one hip at a time. At first she gave teasing glimpses of her smooth skin. The lower her panties were pushed, the slower their descent became. Paige rolled onto her side, then commanded her body to rise. Her honey eyes never left the erotic show being put on for her eyes alone. She leaned forward. Her lips sensually covered her sister's trembling abdomen with lingering kisses. "Paige," Lauren moaned as her head fell back. Her lashes fluttered closed. The eldest sibling breathed deeply of the musky perfume rising in the air. Her lips trailed lower. Lauren reached down. She grasped desperately to her sister's shoulder. She stepped out of her panties, but was sure that she would fall if Paige's lips moved even a breadth lower. As if reading her sister's mind, Paige took possession of the hips she craved. She held her sister upright the instant her lips touched themselves to hers in their first intimate kiss. Lauren's chest rose and fell with the passion welling inside her. She moaned aloud as a soft tongue slipped between her lips. It explored her with unhurried ease, memorizing every silken inch of her. She began to shake uncontrollably. Her lips were covered in copious dew. She felt its hot nature turn cool with each moment her lover's breath rushed to meet it. "I love you," Lauren panted. Paige encircled Lauren's waist in her strong embrace. She guided her baby sister to rest comfortably against the plush bed. Her hand slid to move the graceful length of Lauren's leg over her shoulder. She lowered her head. Her lips captured a swollen lip between them, suckling with a hungered need. Her fingers parted the blooming petals until she exposed the bright heart of her sister. She explored its silken depths with the tip of her tongue. Then she pushed her tongue slowly and deeply inside of her sister. Together, both women moaned lustfully into the night. Lauren's back bowed as her body raised off the bed. She parted her legs, offering up herself all the more to her sister's famished mouth. Paige reached a hand beneath Lauren. She cupped the sensual swell of her lover's bottom, using her grasp to pull her lover closer. She fit her mouth to Lauren with greedy need. Her voice was muffled slightly, but Lauren felt her words tickle the throbbing parts of her. "I love you, Lauren." Lauren felt tears stream soundlessly down her cheeks. Her breath grew more ragged. Her abdomen clutched violently. She closed her eyes tightly as a cry of unabashed pleasure burst from her. Paige moaned into Lauren. She drank heartily from the fount offering itself up to her. As it flooded her, dribbling down the corners of her mouth to run hotly down her chin, she felt her own juices quicken. A sweat had broken out over Lauren's entire body. Her chest heaved mightily, but she felt alive. She reached out with shaking hands. She cupped her sister's face. Insistently, she pulled her lover upward. Lauren slid her tongue over anointed skin. She tasted herself so clearly against her sister's face. Turning her head, she captured a pair of moistly fragrant lips. She kissed her sister deeply, caressing her tongue against the tongue that had brought such pleasure to her body. Paige was trembling. She had never wanted anyone so much. She had never ached as much as she did in this moment. Her back arched with arousal. She relished the feel of Lauren's hands moving over her. When the erotic redhead released her from the restraints of her bra, she shivered. When Lauren began kneading skillfully at her breasts, she moaned. Lauren sucked with a quiet purr at the chin stained by her juices. Her hands moved down to the panties she both envied and resented for being so close to Paige. She peeled them away. The perfume their absence released was driving her mad with passion. Her hand worked between their bodies. Lauren felt her palm purposely grind an erotic slope. She worked the heel of her hand against a hardened clit. She felt her sister's heartbeat throbbing inside it. She massaged the hardened nub more diligently, spurred onward by the vocal encouragements flooding the air. She had never seen her sister so free. Paige was beautiful and untamed. Paige rolled her hips, working to meet the hand grinding against her. When her sister's middle finger dipped into her, then delved deeper at its next attempt, her head fell back with a moan. Together, they found a rhythm. It was growing more passionate with every wet-laced smack to toll their pace. "I love you," Paige said. There was a sudden urgency to her voice. Unable to take her eyes off of the vision above her, Lauren responded in a raspy voice. "I love you," she said. Paige's juices flooded out of her in time with climax's cry. Breathless and shaking, she collapsed against her sister's body. Lauren wrapped an arm around Paige, holding her close. She remained deeply inside the woman. Her finger felt the persistent kiss of her lover's inner walls as they involuntarily tightened and relaxed around it. Weakly, Paige lifted her head. Her arms moved to rest on either side of Lauren's head. Tenderly, she brushed back the woman's long hair. She smoothed it gently. Its red roots were dark with sweat, making it appear more like the color of her own hair. She wanted to promise that she would never leave her. She wanted Lauren to promise that she would never leave her again, but none of that truly mattered. All that mattered was that they were together, finally truly together, as they had always secretly longed to be, but never had the courage to admit. The olive green eyes gazing devotedly into hers would never turn away again. They would never hide what was inside them. Paige leaned forward. She kissed Lauren with all the love she possessed in her heart. Complete and utter contentment came as the body molding itself to hers offered up that same love completely.