chapter 26: merry christmas

"I love you, August."

Her heart fluttered in her chest at the woman's words. She was taken aback, wondering if she only said that because she just orgasmed on top of her.

Willow wondered the same thing herself, her eyes wide as she laid frozen on top of August with her head resting on her collarbone, her still heavy breaths fanning on the girl's bare chest. But she thought about the way she felt while she had been inside the brunette. She had watched her usual innocent facade break and saw the lust in those cobalt eyes. She felt the girl grab at her as she reached her climax. More importantly, as she reached her own and then fell onto the girl's warm body that immediately hugged her back, it was the best feeling she had ever felt. It wasn't just sex like she had had with multiple women.

It wasn't just feeling that sexual release or enjoying being between the girl's legs and feeling her beautifully soft body beneath her. It was the heart that beat along with hers when she pressed her chest against the girl's and felt her heartbeat make music with her own—the loveliest song she had ever heard.

"Do you mean that?" August whispered, her breathing much slower although her heartbeat was going two hundred beats per minute.

Willow leaned up, meeting those deep ocean eyes that stared up at her with vulnerability and inquisition to whether the woman really meant her words. She softly smiled, thinking of the memories they had made together—from the diner in Colorado, to meeting her gang members, being at the cave in Utah, attending the ill-fated party, and slow dancing with her at the Christmas ball. She thought about every time August smiled, every time she laughed, every time she matched her sarcasm and won an argument. She thought about how August's eyes alone could calm her down, but her arms around her seemed to always squeeze her broken pieces back together. Willow had changed so much since she met August. She went from being cold and distant, to caring so much about someone and even trusting them. She had made herself so vulnerable to August in so many ways. She knew she couldn't have done that with just anyone.

So as she stared down at the girl and trailed her finger across her eyebrow and down her cheek, she smiled. "Yes."

August grinned and watched the woman's green eyes light up. She leaned up to give the woman a kiss on the lips, pulling away afterwards as she stared into those green eyes that completely owned her heart. She never wanted to be in anyone else's arms. She never wanted to be known by anyone else the way Willow knew her that night. All she wanted in the world was for everything in the universe to disappear and it just be her and Willow in the state they were in—nakedly pressing their bodies together, skin to skin, smiling and giving soft kisses.

"I love you, too," she whispered, sliding her hand up Willow's cheek as she looked closely at her.

Willow grinned as she looked down at the girl who had warmed her heart and broken her walls. She felt like a new person with a different perspective of life—a life with August. She took the girl's hand in her own and kissed the back of it before pressing it against her cheek. "Merry Christmas, by the way."

♠

August was so grateful that she had locked her door before her and Willow fell asleep the previous night, because she heard Daisy pulling on her doorknob as soon as it was daylight, and her and Willow were still laying nakedly entwined with each other.

She sharply inhaled, sitting straight up and yelling, "I'll be down in a minute!" to her sister who she heard run down the stairs to see her presents under the tree.

August turned to see the beautiful black-haired woman still sleeping peacefully on her side, facing August. She smiled, admiring the way her ebony hair fell across her face, her beautiful eyes hidden under her soft, closed eyelids and long eyelashes. She licked her lips, remembering the previous night.

"Willow," she whispered, leaning closer to the woman. She placed her hand on her tatted shoulder, trailing it down her further tattooed arm all the way to her hips.

She felt the woman shift, turning onto her back and exposing her breasts. Her eyes gently fluttered open. "Good morning," she mumbled with a lazy smile.

"Good morning, sexy," August replied, getting on top of the woman in a straddling position.

Willow smirked even while her eyes were closed, still half-asleep. "Got a taste and now you can't get enough, huh?"

The woman breathed in sharply when she felt August's hands fondling her breasts. She opened her eyes, immediately turned on by the sight of the naked girl sitting on top of her and touching her chest.

"Speaking of taste..." August mumbled, biting her lip and looking up at the woman.

"You tasted amazing last night," Willow spoke, licking her lips as she remembered her head being between the girl's velvety thighs.

August blushed slightly. The woman had indeed eaten her out, but they both fell asleep before August could return the favor. "I want to taste you," she whispered.

Willow arched her eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Biting her lower lip, August nodded, getting off the woman and instead lowering her body down. She watched as Willow bit her lip and bent her knees up, smirking down at the girl.

August gently spread the woman's thighs, looking down at her heat that was still wet from the night before. She looked up, making direct eye contact with the very turned-on woman before lowering her head between her thighs and connecting her mouth to her clit.

Willow's eyes fluttered close, her lips parting as she felt the girl's soft lips move against her folds. She opened her mouth farther and let out a quiet moan, trying not to be too loud since her sister was awake, as she felt August's tongue slide inside her.

She reached down and grabbed a fistful of the girl's curly hair, clenching it while her other hand reached behind her to clench the pillow she laid on. She arched her back, bringing her hips up to  August's face as she let out another quiet moan. The girl was good, but she was coming so close to her climax and she needed more. So she pushed the girl's face harder against her heat, grinding her hips up against August's tongue as she orgasmed, having to bite her own hand so that she wouldn't scream.

August wiped her mouth on Willow's thigh and swallowed the remnants left in her mouth. Looking up, she saw the woman looking down at her and trying to catch her breath, flashing another lazy smile. August giggled, coming up to peck the woman's lips. "You taste wonderful. Now get up, lazy ass."

♠

"Last one for you, Daisy," Harold spoke, handing a wrapped box to the six-year-old who sat in her Christmas pajamas next to a pile of new toys. The Christmas tree's pile of presents was now greatly depleted to just a few.

Daisy squealed, ripping it open to reveal a box of 100 crayons. She popped to her feet and jumped up and down, raising the crayons in the air. "Thank you, Santa! Thank you!" she squeaked, setting the box down onto her new coloring book she previously opened.

Willow, sitting on the couch next to August, smiled and looked over at the girl who was beaming down at her sister. She watched her plump lips stretch into a grin and thought in her mind about how those lips had been sucking her clit only minutes before. Inwardly sighing, she turned back around and watched as August opened the gifts her father got her, delighting in the girl's smile that appeared every time she opened a present.

"Alright, I'm gonna go prepare lunch," Harold said after everyone had opened their presents and threw all the wrapping paper away. He looked between Willow and August who sat close together on the couch, his eyes shifting to the 6-year-old playing with her new Barbie. "Daisy, be my little helper?" he asked, sticking his hand out.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, scrambling up to grab his hand as he led her to the kitchen.

August picked her mug of hot chocolate off the coffee table, bringing it to her lips and savoring the chocolatey warmth of it.

"August," Willow began, turning to the girl now that they were alone. "I didn't really wanna do this in front of your dad, but...well...here." She reached into her pocket and took out a small white box, handing it to the girl.

Setting her mug down, August looked at Willow with threaded eyebrows, slowly taking the box from her hand. "What's this?"

Willow shrugged, running a hand through her black waves. "Your present from me."

She expected August to melt and get all mushy, but the girl only gave her a look of anger and proceeded to slap her arm pretty harshly.

"Ow!" Willow said, recoiling away and holding her arm. "The fuck was that for?!"

"For getting me something, you bastard!" August yelled before she decided to open the box, too curious what was inside to wait any longer.

Willow rolled her eyes. "Oh, babe, your terms of endearment are charming so."

August lifted the lid off the box to reveal a silver chain necklace with a silver heart attached to it. Engraved in the heart was Willow's name in curly letters. It looked like it had some years on it, yet it was still shiny and beautiful.

"Willow..." August mumbled, looking up at the woman with soft eyes.

"My grandmother gave it to me," the woman said, giving her a small smile. "She practically raised me, and when she passed I hid it away back in the hotel in Utah so that I would never lose it." She inhaled, looking at the girl's eyes. "It's yours now."

"Willow, there's no way I can ta—"

"You will take it." Willow's voice was stern but still warm. She took the necklace from the girl's hands and unclasped it, reaching around August to clasp it behind her neck, her shadow covering the girl's face as she drew near.

Once it was clasped and the woman leaned back, August let her fingers run over the heart and every letter of the woman's name that she could read with her fingers. "Thank you," she breathed. "You really shouldn't have. I didn't even think to get you anything..." She then remembered that she hadn't even had any opportunities to, being locked up in Utah.

"It's okay, love," Willow spoke, pushing a strand of August's hair behind her ear. "You gave me my present this morning." A smirk forming on her lips, she leaned forward and pecked the girl's lips.

August looked up at the woman with what looked like candle flames in her eyes, wrapping her arms around her neck and feeling the woman in turn slide her arms around her waist. "I love you so much," she told her, meaning every word of it.

"I love you so much more."

♠

After eating Christmas lunch with her family (while Willow sat silently eating the whole time, avoiding eye contact with August's father), August was in her bedroom repacking all her things. "I hate to leave so soon, but I understand we have to get back to Utah."

Willow zipped up her suitcase. "Well, actually, I think it would be okay if we went back to Ithaca. Everything has gotten pretty quiet, and I'm getting pretty sick of Utah." The woman chuckled, slipping into her combat boots.

August stopped what she was doing, glancing up at the woman. "Well, if I'm just going back to my dorm, I might as well stay here."

"No, you can't be alone right now," Willow quickly said, giving August a serious gaze before bending down to tie up her boots. "I said that everything has gotten quiet, not that everything is safe. I still need to be with you at all times to protect you." She stood up, shaking her boots so that they would adjust comfortably on her feet. "I can't risk you being alone in your dorm or even here with just your dad and sister."

August nodded, understanding as she resumed folding her shirt. "Then where will we go?"

"My apartment," Willow told her as she walked over to the girl's vanity, adjusting her hair around her face.

A smile drew itself on August's lips. She wondered what the woman's home space was like. She knew it was probably lavish, considering the woman was a rich, notorious gang leader who dealt drugs and killed people.

"Make sure you drive safe, Willow!" August's dad told the woman who tensed under his firm squeeze of her shoulder. She could hardly look at the man knowing she had finally defiled his daughter the previous night.

"I will!" she responded, carrying both her and August's bags out to the car and putting them in the trunk.

"Have a safe trip, Auggie. Be sure to text me when ya'll have landed!" he told her, bringing his daughter into a warm hug.

"I will, Dad," she said into his shoulder.

"Don't leave me again, Auggie," Daisy said with her thumb in her mouth, looking up at her older sister while holding her new stuffed bunny.

August leaned down, bringing her sister into a warm hug. "I will see you soon, Dais." She kissed her sister on the cheek and ruffled her curly hair before standing up. "Bye, love you!" she told them goodbye and they returned it as she walked out the door. She already missed her toothless sister and geeky dad, but she knew it was for her safety to be with Willow at all times, and she knew Willow couldn't stay there in Texas with her for much longer.

Willow watched the girl walk in front of the car and then get in, closing the door with a sigh.

"Are you okay?" Willow concernedly asked, placing her hand on August's thigh.

"Yes," she nodded, "Just going to miss them, that's all."

Willow nodded, removing her hand so she could back out of the driveway. "I'm sorry, love. We will come visit them soon, I promise."

August smiled at the woman, clasping her hand with hers and finding comfort in her palm.

"Alright," Willow announced as they turned onto the highway that was completely desolate. "Let's get to the airport and get out of this shithole yeehaw state."

"Excuse you!" August slapped Willow's arm. "This is the Lone Star. Don't mess with Texas." She rolled her eyes, scoffing and looking away.

"Do you even like your home state?"

"No, not really," August admitted with a laugh.

Willow beamed at the sound of the girl's laugh, squeezing her small hand in hers.

"Babe, will you get my phone and look up directions to the airport?" Willow asked August, nodding towards her phone that sat in the cupholder of the car.

August reached over with her free hand and took the phone, unlocking it and going to the "Maps" app. After typing in the airport, she saw that they needed to take a right. "Take a right here."

"Okay," Willow said as she turned her blinker on and turned right, watching the necklace she gave August shimmer in the sunlight as the car moved. She smiled, loving the way it looked on August's soft chest.

August looked up at the empty, houseless road they were on and then back down to Willow's phone to make sure they were on the right track. Suddenly, she felt the phone buzz in her hand, her eyes diverting to a text from Darragh at the top. Smiling and wondering what the Irish bastard could've said and having missed his thickly accented humor, August tapped on the message and it brought her to the messages where she read the text. Her mouth immediately went dry, her face falling.

So the Lone Star was your choice of place to kill the lass? What a shame, I liked the girl. At least tell me you got to touch the tits first!

Her lungs felt like they collapsed, and she couldn't breathe. For the first time in a while, the rabbit's thumping in her chest was not a good one.

"Stop the car."