The Three by Meghan O'Brien

hand on her chin. “You are innocent. I see so much love and passion in you, just waiting to come out. You excite me.”
    “You excite me, too.”
    “I love your brown skin.” Elin rested a careful hand on Anna’s stomach. “I love your dark, curly hair. Your big, brown eyes. Your body…God, you’re gorgeous.”
    “Elin?”
    “Yes, Anna?” Elin stroked Anna’s belly, then traced over the hem of her T-shirt. “Do you need to hear more reasons why I’m so attracted to you?”
    “No. I believe you.”
    “Are you attracted to me?”
    “You know I am. I love you.”
    “I love you, too.” Elin bent so their mouths nearly touched. “May I kiss you?”
    Anna blinked, then choked out, “Yes.”
    Elin moved even closer, and her breath blew warm across Anna’s lips. “Have you ever kissed anyone?”
    Anna shook her head, hardly able to breathe with Elin so near. “No. Well, Garrett once. Kinda. A peck on the lips.”
    Elin closed her eyes. “I want to give you more than a peck on the lips, sweetheart. I want to taste you. I want you to taste me.”
    Gasping, Anna arched her back and brought her face up the scant distance that separated them. She brushed her mouth over Elin’s, barely applying pressure to warm, full lips. Elin surged forward and pressed Anna down against the blankets, dropping a string of gentle kisses over her mouth.
    “Is this okay?” she murmured.
    Is she kidding me? “Yes.”
    Elin’s tongue traced over Anna’s top lip, then the bottom, teasing until Anna felt dizzy with need. She threaded her fingers in Elin’s auburn hair and pulled her close, opening her mouth to let Elin inside, sucking hard on her tongue. A jolt of arousal shot through her body, hitting her right between the legs. When Elin retreated, Anna pushed forward. She slipped her tongue into Elin’s mouth, stroking her, moaning in pleasure at the taste and feel of her. Elin whimpered, and Anna realized that her pale arms were trembling as she struggled to hold herself above Anna’s body.
    She broke the kiss with a shaky sigh against Elin’s lips. “Wow.”
    Elin collapsed onto the blankets and threw the back of her hand against her forehead. “Wow,” she echoed.
    “You’re a great kisser already. I can’t imagine how you’ll be with a little practice.”
    “Does that mean you’re volunteering to practice with me?”
    “Whenever you want. For as long as you want. That was…amazing. Just as good as I hoped it would be.”
    “It was even better than I hoped it would be,” Anna whispered.

    Elin’s hazel eyes twinkled with happiness. “So you’ve thought about it?”
    “Only all the time. I’ve…never felt anything like this before.”
    “I’d like to do a lot more with you than kiss. But I don’t want to push you into anything. I don’t want to move you too fast.”
    Anna shook her head eagerly. “You’re not pushing.” Blushing, she calmed her excited tone. “I mean, you’re not moving me too fast. As long as—you know, Kael—”
    “Kael knows that I’m hoping to do more than just kiss you. He’s attracted to you, too, Anna. He doesn’t have any expectations, and he’d probably be upset with me for even telling you that, but I want you to know. But he’ll understand if you only want to share this kind of thing with me. Nobody is going to try to pressure you to do anything you don’t want to do.” She stared deep into Anna’s eyes. “No matter what, we’re family.”
    Anna felt strangely reassured. “Thank you.”
    Elin traced her fingertips down Anna’s face, sliding them across her skin and over her throat. She smiled when Anna’s breathing hitched at the caress. “I think you’re going to be very responsive. Do you ever touch yourself?”
    Anna went bright red at the frank question. “Uh—”
    Elin giggled and tickled Anna’s upper chest with blunt fingernails. “I already told you that I do. Don’t be embarrassed.”
    Anna shook her head. “No. Not really. I tried a