DISCLAIMER: Watch out, this is femslash (lite). Don't read it if you're not into this sort of thing. I own nothing of Grey's Anatomy. I'm only having fun with the characters I'm fast becoming obsessed with.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a story about Erica Hahn finding another "pair of glasses" after the events of the S5 episode, "Rise Up." This chapter was written in late February, 2009. Thanks to Jules68 for her honest and objective opinions. See Chapter 1 for original Author's Notes and Disclaimer. "Odd accents" and overuse of the word "hon" are strictly Baltimorean.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Twenty-Twenty
By DianeB
Part 7
Veronica leaned to Erica's ear and whispered, "You're very wet."
Somewhere on the rim of her awareness, Erica knew Veronica's comment was meant to encourage her to become wetter, which it did, but her wine-fogged brain also connected the remark to one Veronica had made earlier, and that sparked a less-than-idyllic response.
Veronica couldn't help but notice. She pulled back, clearly puzzled, but more curious than upset. Her hand stilled in Erica's pants, but didn't come out of them, nor did she break their embrace. "And what," she asked, "might I be so bold as to ask, is so funny?"
Erica mimicked the voice she heard in her head. "'I've got me a lesbian virgin, and I'm hoping to get lucky tonight,'" and began to laugh outright, right there, with Veronica's hand down her pants. "Oh my God, I'm sorry! You know, I barely heard it when you said it, but now it just popped fully into my head! Must be the wine. I was ready, I was, wasn't I? I'm so sorry." Veronica began to extract her hand, but Erica stopped her. "Oh…don't."
"Oh, well, okay, Doc," Veronica said, still playing at being upset, her fingers combing through Erica's damp curls, "but it seems to me like the mood's been spoiled by someone's," and here she gently tugged curls for emphasis, "inappropriate laughter."
"Ow! No, no, it hasn't." Erica brought her hand up to splay her fingers against Veronica's cheek. "Please, I'm not laughing now. Please."
Veronica smiled. "I think I like it when you beg."
"Please."
The smiled broadened. "All right, hon, let's start again. I'll need my hand back for a minute, but after that it's all yours. That work for you?"
"That works. But just for a minute."
Veronica removed her hand and Erica stood watching as the redhead leaned over the bed and carefully drew back the bedspread and sheet. Then she plumped up the pillows and clicked on the bedside lamp, which cast a muted, compact-fluorescent glow. She straightened and turned to Erica, hand already at the top button of her own shirt. "Watch carefully. And if you start laughing again, I'm kicking you out, even though it's your room."
Erica smiled, nodded toward the turned-down bed. "Mind if I sit?"
"Please do." Veronica had by this time removed her shirt and shoes and was stepping out of her pants.
Erica, seeing white cotton briefs and matching bra, flashed on a memory of Callie in fire-engine-red lace lingerie. It wasn't until she felt Veronica's hand cupping her chin that Erica realized she had left the moment. "No fair, Doctor Hahn. I can't compete with a memory." Veronica straightened and added, "Don't look at me that way. I told you I've been in your place, so I know what's in your head. Listen, hon," she sighed, "you're gorgeous and I want to touch you so badly I can taste it, but thing is, I've been telling you all day that maybe this isn't such a good idea, and this is a perfect reason why." She went still, arms splayed, palms out.
Erica marveled again at how open Veronica was, how unafraid she was to say exactly what was on her mind, and this only increased Erica's desire. "But it is a good idea. Wait. Let me show you." Erica stood, toed off her shoes and properly undid her pants, allowing them to drop to her ankles.
Erica could see by the look on Veronica's face that this was quite enough to convince Veronica that she meant business. Reaching for Erica, Veronica whispered, "Allow me." She unbuttoned Erica's shirt, slid it off her shoulders and stepped back to drape it carefully over the back of the easy chair. Then she bent and picked up the pants as Erica stepped out of them, folding them and placing them on top of the shirt. Turning back to Erica and raising an eyebrow, Veronica observed, "Now those are nice panties. Me?" She said, gesturing to her own unmentionables as she moved back into Erica's personal space, "What can I say? I'm a sucker for cotton underwear. It's comfy and absorbent. Feel for yourself."
This time, skin met skin (and cotton) without comic distraction. Gaining the bed, the women arranged limbs in a comfortable tangle and began serious necking. As previously established, they were not teenagers, nor remotely virginal, and the act of kissing had already proved to be satisfyingly sweet.
In very little time, Erica felt her body warm with Veronica's full-body contact, relaxing into bliss in a way she had not experienced with Callie. As Veronica nuzzled her neck, one hand teasing the elastic on the waistband of Erica's panties, Erica felt compelled to voice this. "I have to tell you. You're not like Callie. This is not…not like—"
"No," Veronica murmured, raising up on her arms to look down at Erica, not allowing her to finish the thought. "I'm not like Callie. And you're not like any woman I've ever been with. And that's what's so wonderful. Kiss me now, Erica Hahn, and quiet yourself."
After a moment, Erica felt Veronica's hand again worrying the waistband of her panties. This time, Erica raised her hips in a classic gesture of permission, and Veronica slid the panties over her hips and down as far as she could without breaking the kiss. One final shift of limbs and Erica's panties were on the floor. Without pause, Veronica cupped Erica's mound and sank one finger into her.
"Oh my God, Doc."
Erica moaned and instinctively opened her legs wider. In turn, Veronica mewled in delight, a sound that when Erica heard it, completed a circle of sensation for her that became a preamble to climax. Her hips rose from the mattress in an attempt to guide Veronica to a more carnal touch.
But it was clear Veronica had other ideas, because she ceased her stroking, bringing her hand into Erica's hair. Erica, catching her own scent as Veronica's hand passed her face, immediately protested. "No, no. Don't stop, please, don't stop. I'm close. You know I'm close." Erica squirmed against Veronica, searching for the beautiful ache that was already beginning to fade. "No, no."
"My sweet doctor, don't fret," Veronica purred, "I'm not stopping. I'm just…changing my method of assault." Veronica began to shift her body downward, stopping only to run her tongue into the cleavage created by the bra Erica still wore, and then further down to swirl it into Erica's navel. Bringing her hand back down, Veronica began methodically stroking along the smooth, sensitive skin of Erica's inner thigh, moving to settle herself between Erica's legs, inhaling deeply and saying softly, "How sweet, like sugar you are."
Veronica's comment, clearly meant to be an expression of pleasure, triggered an odd trifecta of emotions in Erica. Awareness, arousal, and apprehension warred with an intensity that scared Erica and robbed her of breath. Bracing herself on her elbows, Erica lifted her shoulders from the bed and struggled to fill her lungs. "Ronnie." Veronica either didn't hear her or was so focused that she couldn't, and Erica's apprehension grew. She felt like a child, thinking babydyke, but was frantic to make Veronica hear her. "Ronnie!"
This time Veronica raised her head, and Erica could see her eyes were glazed, her attention clearly elsewhere. Belatedly, as if returning to the bed from some faraway place, Veronica blinked and spoke. "Erica?"
Her heart still racing, Erica balanced on one arm and reached the other out toward the red hair. "Ronnie, wait. I-I don't know if I'm…that is, I've never been comfort…" She took a deep breath to steady herself, preparing to make herself understood.
Veronica had by this time leaned forward enough for Erica's hand to touch her and was clearly aware of Erica's distress. "Erica, my God, I'm moving too fast, aren't I? I'm sorry, I got a little carried away. I'll stop." Untangling Erica's hand from her hair, she sat back on her heels, waited a beat, and added with mirth, "So…you're saying you and Callie never went muff diving?"
Veronica's question, whether calculated to ease Erica's panic or not, did exactly that. Laughing, Erica fell back on the bed. "I swear the way you talk is like nothing I've ever heard before. What did you just call it?"
"Muff diving. And clearly we gots to gets you around some more lesbians tout de suite before you think I'm some kind of pervert."
Even as Erica laughed, a new emotion began to assert itself. Raising up again to look at Veronica, Erica nodded and let her legs fall wide so that Veronica would not mistake her willingness. "Go ahead, Ron, dive into my, er, muff."
Veronica brought her weight forward, smiled, and rested her hands to either side of Erica's thighs. "Oh, hon, you absolutely sure? Much as I love doing this, I don't need to. And I'm certainly not gonna if you're uncomfortable. That's the last thing I want. And just for the record, you're the only one I will ever allow to call me Ron."
"Oh my God, I'm sorry! I meant to say Ronnie. I-I'm sorry, I—"
"Hey there, calm down. It's okay if you call me Ron, because I'm pretty sure you know it's not short for Ronald. So let's get back to the muff diving, shall we?"
Erica fell back on the bed, huffing in amusement, figuring it was high time she matched a few of Veronica's antics. Astounded that this would even occur to her, Erica made a whooping sound, a terrifically bad imitation of submarine's horn, and said, "Dive, dive!"
It was a while before Veronica's laughter slowed to a chuckle, but when it did, Erica felt fingers touching her intimately. Laughter itself ceased, but not the good feeling the laughter had invoked. "Oh, Doc," Veronica said, her mouth following where her fingers had led, "you're quite beautiful here, too."
Erica gasped at the feel of warm breath where none had been felt before. Veronica again began to run her hand along Erica's inner thigh, occasionally combing her fingers through Erica's soaked curls. Closing her eyes, Erica's brilliant mind tried without success to keep up with her body's flight into ecstasy. She felt Veronica trace the product of her arousal up around her hip bones, following the cooling wet trails with warm kisses, her tongue coming close, but never quite touching the place Erica desperately wanted to be touched.
"Oh, please, Ronnie, please." Instinct took over again, as Erica's hips moved in an effort to gain more contact. But Veronica wouldn't accommodate her, instead keeping Erica hanging on the brink of rapture, repeatedly bringing her to the summit, but never letting her go over.
Erica wouldn't know until later that she had been saying please over and over and gripping the bottom sheet so hard it had come loose of the mattress. All she knew was the feel of Veronica's mouth and an aching need to climax that only heightened with each pass of Veronica's skilled tongue.
Just at the point when Erica thought she could stand it no longer, when her pleasure began to morph into something closer to pain, Veronica made a subtle change in the speed and direction of her oral caresses. This time she brought Erica to the peak…and then let her tumble over.
All thought vanished as Erica felt the hot, powerful rush of too-long-denied orgasm flood her system, eclipsing consciousness and – though she didn't know it – covering Veronica's cheeks with warm, salty fluid.
She was on a cot in an on-call room, and someone was shaking her, trying to get her to wake up. She fought it, hoping to grab another ten. She knew the surgery wasn't scheduled till the afternoon. The meeting could wait…
"Erica, hon? God, you sleep like the dead! Must be a doctor thing. C'mon." Veronica risked shaking Erica harder, trying to get the woman to waken. "I hate to, but I gotta go. You've got a big day tomorrow, and I've got a pair of chocolate labs who may not have peed all over the house yet, but they've surely chewed up the throw rugs by now. Next will come the whining and the making of a terrible racket all over the kitchen floor with the food bowls, and that always upsets the parakeet. Doctor Hahn!"
Snapping awake, thinking emergency, Erica sat up violently and nearly knocked Veronica to the floor. "Holy cow, Doc!" Veronica exclaimed, only just managing to stay on her feet. "You're either dead to the world or ready to rumble. Geez, don't you have a medium setting?"
As the world came into focus, Erica realized where she was and with whom. She also noticed that while she sat naked in the bed, Veronica was up and fully dressed. Internal alarms, sensing familiarity, spooled up for sound. "Hey," Erica said, running a hand through her hair and fighting to keep her voice from trembling, "sorry about that. Too many nights on call, I guess." She reached to cover herself with the sheet, unable to stop her eyes from tearing up. "You're leaving?" Try as she might, it was impossible for Erica to escape the still-bleeding memory of her final morning with Callie, even though she knew this wasn't remotely the same.
If Veronica had any idea how the scene appeared to Erica, she was pretending not to. She knelt beside the bed and took Erica's hands away from the sheet, exposing her breasts. Reaching out, she traced a path down between them with a fingernail and smiled. "Believe me, I hate to leave you, but I've got to go. You didn't hear me earlier, because you were out like a light, but I said I have to get home to my dogs before they chew the paint off the walls and flood the place with pee. I repeat," she whispered, leaning in and applying her tongue in a reverse path to the one her fingernail had just taken, "I hate to leave you, but reality beckons, and not just for me."
Erica shuddered under Veronica's caresses, her eyes dropping closed, certain systems powering up to replace the panic that was retreating in defeat. Still, the logic of Veronica's words could not be argued with or even ignored, so in spite of her body's spirited rally, Erica opened her eyes and queried, "You have dogs?"
"Yup," Veronica said, returning to her feet with an audible grunt. "Two chocolate labs, brother and sister, three years old. 'Hershey,' and 'Syrup,' what else? I also have a parakeet named Sugar, but every parakeet I've ever owned has been named Sugar. It's a family tradition, so that name doesn't have anything to do with our proximity to The Sweetest Place On Earth® or the fact that my doggies are 'chocolate.' Anyway, they all need tending, and you need sleep for tomorrow."
"What time is it, anyway? Feels like midnight."
Veronica consulted her watch. "I agree, but no. It's only 9:30. Kiss me goodbye now, find your jammies – if you have any – and call me tomorrow to let me know how it went." She bent to Erica's lips.
As the kiss ended, and Veronica straightened to leave, Erica couldn't stop a heavy sigh. Veronica must have seen something in Erica's face this time that she didn't want to pretend she hadn't. "Uh oh, Doc. I know what you're thinking."
"I don't think so," Erica said, shaking her head. "Not this time."
Veronica took a step back and stood with arms akimbo. "You've never heard the old saw about lesbians, have you? Lord, what am I saying? Of course you haven't! Okay, what's the definition of a lesbian second date? Renting a U-Haul! Oop," Veronica surged forward as Erica pulled the sheet up to cover her face. "Are you laughing under there? God, I hope so!" Veronica tugged the sheet from Erica's grasp, clearly relieved to see Erica was, indeed, chuckling. "Oh, good. But really, Doc, us dykes, we take ourselves too seriously sometimes, thinking we have to set up housekeeping after the first kiss, which is all just a bunch of baloney. Sometimes, sure, we fall into bed together a little too quickly, start a relationship in the middle instead of the beginning, and it doesn't always work out for the best. But sometimes it does. Either way, I don't think that's where you and I are headed.
"Yes, I admit, I flirted with you in the airport bar in St. Louis, and I was happy when I learned you were coming to Baltimore, but I didn't honestly start thinking about the falling into bed part until after I found you at baggage!"
This, of course, prompted more laughter in Erica, which Erica suspected was exactly what Veronica intended. "Ronnie, you're certainly entertaining, but it's more than that. You've been honest and up front with me every step of the way. You warned me about rebound, you voiced hesitation several times, and you promised you'd be 'a perfect lady,' which you have been. But I didn't want you to think I was the kind of woman who did this sort of thing on a regular basis, because I'm not."
"Erica, I got that. In fact, I'm still pretty sure I took advantage of you, even if you did ask me to." Veronica came back to kneel by the bed. "But here's the thing. I don't flirt in airport bars with just anybody. There's got to be a certain amount of…attraction first. Understand?"
"Yes, I do. And I agree."
"That you don't flirt in airport bars unless there's a certain amount of attraction? Wow. No, stop, I know what you meant! That said, I still think you need to get straight with Callie – no pun intended – and maybe meet a few more dykes before you and I start picking out a china pattern, get what I'm saying? For now, let's go back to a real goodbye kiss and the jammies. If you don't get that job tomorrow because your peaceful night's sleep was disturbed by nightmares of me, I'll never forgive myself."
Erica, savoring the idea of dream images of Veronica and ignoring the stupid sheet, leaned forward for another kiss, lifting both hands into Veronica's mahogany hair. As the kiss deepened, Erica silently thanked God and airport bars the world over for allowing Veronica Taylor to arrive in her life just at the moment Erica needed her most.