The Only Way by Sullivan Jamie

Author:Sullivan, Jamie [Sullivan, Jamie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: F/F romance, Fantasy
Publisher: Less Than Three Press, LLC
Published: 2014-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Hart ran, turning down streets she didn't know, lost already, her feet pounding on the pavement.

She could still feel Ruby's lips against her own, a ghost touch that tingled over her mouth. Her lips felt swollen, as if Ruby had left her imprint on them.

She hadn't known it could be like that. The girls she grew up with had giggled about kissing, but Hart always dismissed it as silly, a distraction. She had her family to take care of; she didn't need boys getting in the way. She knew how hard it was to look after children, and she had been terrified of ending up like the other girls in the Gutter, running after boys and pregnant before their sixteenth birthdays.

Hart's steps slowed as she panted for breath. Maybe it wasn't her family, or practicality that kept her away from boys all those years. Maybe it was just that the overwhelming interest in them had never struck. She kept waiting to see what the other girls saw, to want what they wanted. And it never came.

Until tonight, when she looked at Ruby: her pale skin, her bright eyes, her wild hair. Her trim figure and the subtle swell of her pert breasts.

Hart had glanced at other girls every now and again, admiring their narrow waists or their full breasts. Watching the way their long hair fell over their shoulders, the graceful line of their slender necks. She had noticed beautiful women, of course she had, but she always told herself the feeling churning in the pit of her stomach was envy. Her eyes lingered over their bare flesh because she knew she'd never look like that, she'd never fill out a dress quite the way other girls did.

She had never let herself think what it might be like to touch that soft skin, to run her fingers down the smooth expanse of a girl's shoulder or cup her hands around a tiny waist.

But now it was all she could think of.

Hart leaned heavily against a closed storefront, catching her breath and steadying herself. She couldn't believe she'd run—literally run—away from Ruby. Shame crawled hot up her neck.

She looked around blearily, wondering where she was. The street was unfamiliar, but most of the Alley was still foreign to her. She hadn't paid attention to where Ruby was leading her earlier, just as she hadn't paid attention to where her steps carried her as she sprinted away.

It was always a safe bet to head into the dark to find the Gutter, away from the soft glow that emanated from the Center, so Hart turned away from the blazing streetlights before her and wound her way towards a dark horizon.

Things grew steadily dingier as she walked, the buildings falling into disrepair, graffiti appearing on every surface, letting her know she was close to home. Hart kept her head down, watching the steady pace of her feet and trying not to think about Ruby. She focused instead on her next fight and the one after that and, hopefully, the one after that.

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