“Never.” Violet pulled Lando in for a deeper kiss, drawing her back into the moment. Allowing herself to be lost in Violet’s strength, to lean on her in that moment, Lando pushed her down on the bed, covering her as their lips remained locked.
Lando pushed into Violet, her hips sliding and pulling slowly at first and then speeding up. Violet reached between them, her fingers flicking over her clit in a successive rhythm with each pull from Lando. Her back arched, and her eyes closed. Lando watched as she fell beautifully into her orgasm: the lax muscles in her face, the smile that brightened her lips. It truly was love, and love in a way she’d never experienced.
Hours later as they lay tangled together and the storm was off in the distance, Lando kissed Violet’s shoulder, ready to fall asleep. Violet held Lando’s arm around her front, their fingers twined together as they breathed into the silence.
Finally, Violet broke it. “Would you ever consider chasing with me again?”
“What? Chase with you?”
“Yeah,” Violet’s voice trailed off. “I think…I know I want to find my passion for chasing again. I miss it.”
“I don’t know,” Lando answered honestly. If it was anything like last time, it would be a hard no, but without Diane thrown into the mix, Lando wasn’t sure what it would be like. She wanted to get to know Violet better than that. “I’ll have to think about that one.”
“Please do,” Violet answered. “It’s not anything we have to decide tonight.”
Violet brought their hands up to her mouth and kissed the back of Lando’s. Tightening her grip, Lando closed her eyes, breathing in Violet’s scent and memorizing it. She never would have guessed that this was how her first season storm chasing was going to go. Never in a million years would she have thought she’d find herself in bed in her house with Violet in her arms. In a dream perhaps, but this was beyond any dream Lando had ever imagined. This was damn near close to perfection.
CHAPTER21
The last monthseemed to fly by. Violet had been amazed at how quickly it had snuck up on her. One month she and Lando had been together, and the majority of the time, she’d spent it at Lando’s house, to the point Lando had given her a key and more than a drawer all to herself.
While she hadn’t gone back to work, since she was still technically on leave, Violet hadn’t been doing nothing. She’d taken on Diane, fighting to get control of her grant again. Every day that passed, she couldn’t figure out why she’d allowed Diane to have so much power over her life. She should have broken that friendship and business relationship years prior.
Instead, she’d spent the last month threatening legal action until Diane had caved. But she had everything now, and figuring out how much was owed to Erik and Lando had been tedious but rewarding work. Writing the checks had made it all the better, though Erik’s had to come from her personal funds since that grant money was gone.
Worried it might affect her ability to get a grant in the future, Violet did her best to right all the wrongs and made sure there was a paper trail in place. She could argue her own stupidity, but also argue trying to fix everything—including firing Diane and never hiring her again.
Brushing her hand through her hair as she stared down at the two checks, Violet rolled her shoulders and stretched her back. She was sitting at Lando’s kitchen table, her computer and an abundance of papers surrounding her. She’d always had so much paperwork while teaching that she’d taken the respite from it during chasing season. Not her first mistake, and surely not her last.
However, Violet was determined not to let those mistakes follow her. Lando would be home soon, and she wanted to prepare something special for the both of them. Cleaning up would be her first task. Her phone ringing surprised her. Violet picked it up, staring at Diane’s name as it lit up the screen.
She almost didn’t answer, but habits and guilt pushed her to do it. “Hey.”
“Vi, I’m so sorry,” Diane started. “I just… I want to talk to you.”
“About what?” Violet crossed an arm over her chest in a knee-jerk protective reaction. They had talked several times on the phone over the past month, but most of it had not been pleasant, and the last two weeks, Violet had stopped answering, resorting to legal forms and letters to do the work for her.
“Everything.” Diane sighed. “I miss my best friend.”
“I’m busy, Diane.”
“Please. I want to apologize. Properly.”
“Then apologize. I’m listening.”
“No, I want to see you.”
Violet’s stomach churned. She hadn’t quite anticipated that one. She hadn’t thought about when she’d see Diane again since they lived in different cities and didn’t run in the same circles outside of chasing—which was a small community, but Diane wasn’t exactly popular in it.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Please,” Diane begged. “I promise I won’t try any funny business.”
Violet doubted that. Diane would always try something. It was more a matter of whether she could push past it and stand her ground. “This will be the last time I see you.”
Diane was slow to respond, and Violet was pretty sure she was trying to work through what she’d said. “Can I meet you at your place?”
“I…” Violet looked around the kitchen she sat in. She absolutely would not allow Diane there. She did not want her knowing that they were together. “Yes. I’m not there right now.”