“You know, it’s getting late.”
“Yeah, I guess it is.” Out in the living room, the grandfather clock announced the ten o’clock hour but both women chose to pretend not to hear it. Rose reclined the bed into a sleeping position while Ronnie ran around shutting off lights and checking the locks on the doors. Within minutes the house was dark and they were lying in bed together.
Staring up at the blackness, Rose thought about what had happened earlier. For that brief moment there had been something…special between them. She heard the sound of a fist punching a pillow and wished Ronnie would just roll over and hold her but that usually did not happen until she was almost asleep.
Ronnie tossed and turned enough for the both of them. One particular toss jarred the injured legs and the young woman hissed at the sudden pain. “I’m sorry, Rose. I just can’t seem to get comfortable tonight.”
“It’s all right. It just hurt for a second, that’s all.” She was glad it was dark as a tear slipped out.
“I’ll go out on the couch.” Ronnie moved to get up but was stopped by the feel of the young woman’s hand on her shoulder.
“Why don’t you just put your arm around me like you usually do? You seem to go to sleep just fine after that.” She gave a gentle tug on the older woman’s top. “Come on Ronnie, you know you’ll only end up coming back in here after I’m asleep and holding me anyway.” Such had been the case a few nights ago. Slowly, reluctantly the weight next to her shifted and she felt the familiar warmth of Ronnie’s body against hers. A second later and her wish came true as a strong arm draped itself over her belly. Rose let out a contented sigh and closed her eyes. By the time Tabitha decided they were done moving about and jumped back up on the bed, both women were sound asleep.
“So what did you get Maria?”
Ronnie hit the mute button on the remote and turned her head to look at her companion.“A present.” The corner of her mouth curled up in a teasing smile.
“Come on, tell me, please?” Rose gave her best puppy eyes. “I won’t tell, I promise.”
“I told you…a present.” She tossed a piece of popcorn into the air and caught it in her mouth.
“Now I thought you wanted to watch this show?”
“I do, but I want to know what you got her too. One clue?”
Ronnie pretended to consider the request for a moment before smirking with a devilish glint in her eyes. “It’s not something that Maria would go out and buy herself. How’s that?”
“That’s a rotten clue,” Rose groused, reaching for her cup.
She reached the cup first and stood up. “Ah, empty. You want more?”
“No, I’ve had enough hot chocolate for tonight. Any more and I’ll be up half the night.” She held her hand out. “Come on, sit down and relax. You’re missing the show.”
“Do you want the snack tray up or down?”
“Up. We won’t need it anymore,” Rose answered.
“Sure, no problem.” Ronnie complied instantly, knowing that the snack tray going up was a prelude to something far more enjoyable than watching a television show. She set the empty mug on the coffee table and returned to her cushion, this time with her feet up and resting between them. “Oooh,” she gave an exaggerated groan and wiggled her toes.
“Do your feet ache?” Rose asked.
“Nothing worse than usual,” she replied.she thought to herself as she felt her feet being pulled into Rose’s lap.She lifted her heel in response to the gentle tug on her sock. Soon she was barefoot and Rose’s knowledgeable fingers rubbed out the aches of the day and she had no choice but to moan with pleasure. “You do that soooo well….”
“It’s easy with you. I know just where to push and rub.” Rose demonstrated her skill by pressing her thumb firmly across the arch of Ronnie’s left foot.
“Mmm, you can stop in about…oh, seven or eight hours.” She closed her eyes and sighed.
“Or maybe I’ll stop if you don’t tell me what present you got Maria.” Her fingers stilled as if to carry out her threat.
“You drive a hard bargain,” Ronnie admitted. “It’s not much, just a plane ticket.”
“A plane ticket? To where?”
“Arizona.”
“That’s where her son is,” Rose remembered.
“She hasn’t seen him in over a year. I thought she might like to take a trip out to visit him.” She raised an eyebrow. “So are you going to continue?” She stressed her point by wiggling her toes.
Rose laughed and continued the massage. It had become an unspoken ritual between them. Ronnie would groan about her feet and she would immediately offer to rub them. They would spend hours on the couch like that, Rose sitting in the reclined position with her legs straight out and Ronnie lying across the length of the couch with her feet being pampered. The younger woman only paid a passing glance at the television as her attention focused on the soft flesh beneath her fingers.
Rose took special pleasure in rubbing Ronnie’s feet. With the exception of cuddling at night it was the only physical contact they generally shared. She could not explain why, but it made her smile to hear the hedonistic groans coming from her friend’s lips in reaction to her fingers. With all the stress over the audit and Tommy not speaking to anyone but his mother, the massages were one of the few things that brought a smile to Ronnie’s face, and that smile was something Rose tried to see at every opportunity.
She looked down and studied the foot before her. Baby smooth skin gave way to the slightest callus at the widest part of the heel. She let her fingertips glide over the softness from toe to ankle before moving her thumbs back down below to knead out the tightness. Rose pressed with a little more force than usual and was rewarded with a moan that teetered on the edge of sensual. She repeated the motion but only received a lesser version of the desired sound. Undaunted, she released Ronnie’s foot and pulled the other one in her grasp. “You know, when I get out of these casts I’ll give you a backrub you won’t forget.”
“Mmmm…” A slow, sexy smile crossed Ronnie’s lips and she opened one eye lazily. “You’re too good to be wasted in an office job. I think I’ll change your position to Chief Masseuse.”
“Uh huh…do I get a raise with that new title?”
“You keep touching me like that and I’ll pay you whatever you want.” Ronnie’s eyes closed again as Rose’s fingers pressed in all the right places.
“I’ll remember that,” the younger woman replied, her mind traveling to thoughts of having Ronnie’s strong back beneath her fingers in the future.Her fingers stopped moving and she shook her head to clear the unusual thought. Yes, she enjoyed touching Ronnie, but that? She gave a short laugh and concentrated on what she was doing.