Giselle Fox

“We are not so different, you and I," she said as if she was inside my thoughts. "We are flesh," she ran her finger down the center of my chest and circled around my breasts, "and bone," her hand traced a path down my abdomen and over the crest of my hip and down my thigh, "fire," her hand swept up my body and pressed against my beating heart, "and water," her hand trailed down and between my legs...”

“She slapped my shoulder playfully. "I've created a monster," she said, then she nestled into the chair and rested her head on my shoulder, "an adorable, sexy monster.”

“Cactus face over there doesn't look happy," Audrey whispered and we both giggled. "Maize calls that resting bitch face," I said and immediately felt bad for repeating it. "Let's not be mean. Maybe she's just constipated.”

“I had the dream again. I was leaning in the back corner of the elevator in my building looking down at the bundle of keys in my hand. Below my hand were the blurred outlines of my black leather lace-up boots and my frayed black jeans. There was ink all over my legs from the screen-printers in my shop. There was ink on the skin beneath the rips at my knee and my thigh where the rough edge of my work table had worn through... The detail was vivid, but there was an ethereal sparkle to everything around the edges. The periphery washed out of focus as if I was looking through a narrow lens... Then the elevator stopped and the door opened. A woman climbed on board. Her face was concealed behind large sunglasses. The realism of the dream became unsteady and I lost grip. The images became fleeting close-ups, stills, and sensations. She was looking at me and my heart began to race... A part of me worried that I was drunk and about to make an embarrassing pass at some poor woman from my building. But when I reached for her, she reached for me too... She pulled my hand down and then the elevator began to plummet. I realized I didn’t have much time. I was surrounded by her scent and warmth... I was so overwhelmed with the sensuality of everything that I lost myself in her... Then I watched her eyes fade into the blackness of my apartment as I woke up.”

“Back then they used different chemicals in the tanning process. They prevent ocean bacteria from eating away at whatever is inside. A leather bag from the early 1900's is like a time capsule.”

“I’m going to tell you a story,” she whispered. “There once was a beautiful woman named Amber, who lived alone in a far away land between the sea and the sky. Anyone that passed by knew that Amber was special. But there was one who adored her most of all.” She paused and smiled down at me. “Whenever Amber went down to the ocean and bathed her body, whenever she dipped her long fingers into the waves, the mermaid that lived in the deep water beyond the reef would swim close and watch her. Each day the mermaid came a little closer until finally, she emerged from the water and said hello.” “Just like you did,” I whispered. “Shhh.” She held her finger to my lips. “When Amber saw the mermaid, she was very curious. More curious perhaps, than she’d ever been about anyone. The mermaid was even more curious about Amber. No other woman had ever seemed so perfect and so pure. Every time the mermaid looked at Amber her desire grew like wildfire. Amber hadn’t yet learned all the slippery ways of the world,” She said softly as she dipped her thumb between my lips. I sighed as she pressed into me. “The mermaid could tell that Amber was still afraid. So the mermaid decided to take a chance. She gave Amber a single kiss and hoped that Amber would see her for who she really was.”

“Google billionaire lesbian, you'll find it right away," she said.”

“I was sucked in by the blackness of her eyes. I was pulled under as she sank mercifully deep. I imagined her whole body playing inside mine, writhing up and down as I was filled and emptied. My deepest fire ignited then raged and finally exploded. My eyes were open when it happened. Nikki thundered down on me and rocked me in her arms until I stopped shaking. There was nothing more to save and nothing more to give. That sacred part of my soul was now and forever hers.”

“You're my sweet, sexy, goddess of love and I want you and every beautiful little thing that you make.”

“I sensed her before I saw her but I didn't scream. I remember thinking at the time that the split seconds before death were a quiet and still place. Her eyes were unapologetic, piercing and untamed. This is how it will end, I thought to myself with no sense of tragedy. It seemed complete and, in a way, romantic. But another second passed and then another. She released me from her hypnotic gaze and bent her beautiful head. And then with gentle flicks of her tongue began to drink from the river. Her eyes never wavered from mine as she lapped at the cool waters that flowed between us. And then, in a blink and a whisper, she was gone.”

“Things had always seemed so simple when we were wrapped in each other, as if the pressures of our lives just fell away. But in one night, everything had changed. Johnathon's life hung in the balance and Bryce was gone. A media storm waited for us outside. It was impossible to ignore who the woman in my arms was. Silently, suffocatingly, the weight of her world pressed down on us. As I looked ahead, to the rest of the summer, to the fall and winter months beyond, I realized that nothing would be simple and perhaps never would be again.”

“Do you still want me to call you Cleopatra?" I whispered softly with a smirk. She suppressed a laugh. "No!" She looked at me with serious eyes and I could see that she wasn't quite ready to tell me her secret. "It's okay," I said, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

“My mind stopped spinning as I was enveloped in waves of pleasure. Through half-open eyes, I saw fragments of the ancient room, the stone walls, the enormous wooden beams. I smelled history and ancient ground, war, and turmoil and worship.”

“She flicked off the light and was about to step out onto the balcony when she heard a familiar sound. She smiled and went to the rail. “Now I’ve seen everything,” she whispered as Lexi climbed down onto the balcony. They looked at one another for a moment without saying a word. Cate felt her heart race as Lexi’s dark eyes penetrated through her mask like lasers. Lexi reached for her and pulled her inside.”

“I looked around the tiny bathroom, at the three of us crammed in. A billionaire, a movie star, and a small town girl. It was some sick lesbian twist on Gilligan's Island. I would have laughed but none of it was funny.”