Count Your Lucky Stars: A Novel

Olivia begged off ten minutes after Margot left the patio.

She’d have left sooner, had it not been for Luke trying to convince her to stick around and have one more beer with him.

Nothing against Luke. He seemed like a nice guy, friendly, charming, accomplished. But Olivia didn’t want nice.

All she wanted was Margot. Margot’s hands on her body, her mouth on her skin. Margot making good on her promises. Margot, Margot, Margot.

Her brain was on a constant loop, her body burning before Margot even touched her. The mere suggestion was enough to make her flush from head to toe. To make her want with a fierceness that verged on need. Like if she didn’t have Margot’s hands on her in the next minutes she’d spontaneously combust, which sounded a little extreme, but she wasn’t exactly thinking coherent thoughts at the moment.

Everything she felt for Margot verged on extreme, too much, too fast, and nothing she felt was very sensible, but here she was. The smartest thing she could’ve done was probably walk away before Margot caught on that what Olivia felt was so much more than what they’d agreed on, but she couldn’t. How could she walk away from Margot when she had everything she’d ever wanted . . . except what she couldn’t have? Except what was off-limits?

Olivia was a lot of things, but greedy wasn’t one of them.

By the time she made it inside and to the door that separated her room from Margot’s, she was already buzzing, practically vibrating with need, her underwear uncomfortably damp. She’d been forced to suffer since Margot had teased her with the promise of later, and her suggestive texts hadn’t helped.

She was beyond ready for Margot to make good on her promise.

No sooner had she rapped her knuckles gently against the door to Margot’s hotel room, did it open inward. Margot reached out, dragging Olivia inside with a hand fisted in front of Olivia’s sweater. The door slammed shut, and Margot pressed her up against it, covering Olivia’s mouth with hers, no greeting necessary.

The kiss was bruising. More teeth than anything else. Margot nipped hard at Olivia’s bottom lip, soothing the sting with a flick of her tongue. Margot’s hands skimmed the sides of Olivia’s waist before going straight for the hem of her sweater, breaking the kiss only so that she could drag the Henley over Olivia’s head. Margot flung it somewhere behind her and immediately dove back in, burying her face in the side of Olivia’s neck. She ran her lips along the edge of Olivia’s jaw, leaving a trail of kisses down Olivia’s throat, then biting at the skin stretched taut over her collarbone.

Olivia panted into the quiet of the room and gripped Margot’s waist, fingers biting into the strip of skin left bare where her cropped sweater rode up. Below, she was already down to her underwear. “God, Margot. What—what brought this on?”

Margot lifted her head. It was late, fully dark out save for the silvery glow of the almost-full moon and the scattershot of stars sprinkling the sky like glitter. There was just enough light streaming through the window to make out the plains of Margot’s face, most of her in shadow save for the tip of her nose and the center of her forehead, the crest of one cheek, and the bright gleam of her equally dark eyes. Margot’s hand slipped between Olivia’s thighs and cupped Olivia over her leggings, pressing hard against Olivia’s clit with the heel of her hand. Olivia hissed through her teeth and bit down on her bottom lip.

“Are you complaining?” Margot asked, pressing a little harder.

Lip still trapped between her teeth, Olivia shook her head.

“You sure?” Margot slid her hand higher, fingers teasing the elastic band of Olivia’s leggings before slipping beneath, lower, before pausing, the very tips of her fingers framing Olivia’s clit, not quite touching. Margot’s lips twitched. “Because I can stop.”

Olivia shook her head so fast she went dizzy.

“Good.” Margot dragged her lips back up Olivia’s throat and rewarded her with two fingers sliding along Olivia’s slit before sinking inside her. A stuttered gasp escaped Olivia’s mouth, and her head thunked against the door. “Because I’m just getting started.”

Olivia clutched Margot closer, fingers biting into the soft skin of Margot’s waist beneath her sweater. Another gasp spilled from her lips when Margot dragged her fingers against Olivia’s G-spot.

“You’re dripping, Liv.” Margot buried her face in the crook of Olivia’s shoulder and pressed her lips to the dip above Olivia’s collarbone in a kiss that was achingly sweet compared to what she was doing with her fingers below Olivia’s waist, in contrast to the words coming out of her mouth. “Were you thinking about this? Thinking about how good my fingers were going to feel buried inside you? Were you thinking about me fucking you while you were talking to our friends?” She raised her head and met Olivia’s eyes from beneath her lashes. “While you were talking to Luke?”

Margot’s fingers crooked forward, hard, tearing a moan from Olivia’s throat.

“Is that a yes?” Margot asked.

Olivia gasped when Margot pinched her nipple through the lace of her bra. “Yes.”

With one more kiss pressed to the hinge of Olivia’s jaw, Margot removed her hand from Olivia’s underwear, causing Olivia to whimper at the loss. Margot kept her fingers curled beneath the band of Olivia’s leggings and used them to drag Olivia toward the bed, to the side of the room less bathed in shadows, turning and pressing her down against the sheets.

Margot grabbed the waist of Olivia’s leggings and made quick work of stripping them down her thighs and over her feet, her underwear, too. There was an urgency to Margot’s touch that wasn’t always there. Eager, yes, but that was nothing new. This felt almost like Margot needed Olivia naked.

Like Margot needed her.

There was a sudden pressure in Olivia’s chest that hadn’t been there before, a pressure that crept up the back of her throat and made it hard to breathe until she had no choice but to drag a gasping breath in when Margot’s fingers slid through her folds and back inside.

“Is this what you were thinking about?” Margot ghosted her lips over the skin along the inside of Olivia’s thigh as her fingers sped.

Olivia’s back bowed against the mattress, her fingers grasping for purchase against the sheets that she couldn’t find, the bed still perfectly made, unrumpled until now.

“Fuck.” She gasped, rocking down on Margot’s fingers. “Yes.”

Margot sucked on the tender crease of skin where Olivia’s hip met her thigh. She looked up at Olivia with dark eyes and lips that were full, shiny and red, her arm moving steadily between Olivia’s legs. “Fuck, Liv. If you could see yourself. How pretty you look, all swollen and soaked, fucking yourself on my fingers.”

Olivia’s face burned and she shut her eyes, biting down hard on her lip to stifle the string of sounds coming from her mouth. One hand still gripped the tightly tucked sheets and the other reached up, squeezing her breast, pinching herself through her bra the same way Margot had.

“That’s it,” Margot bit the crease of her thigh. “Take what you need.”

Tension built low in Olivia’s belly, the pleasure deeper and different than if Margot had been focused on her clit. Margot’s fingers sped, curling harder against that spot inside her, causing Olivia’s breath to catch and her thighs to shake uncontrollably.

Olivia slid her hand down her stomach to touch herself, but stopped just shy of her curls.

Margot hummed against her hip, sounding pleased at Olivia’s show of restraint. “You want to come?”

Her hips rocked, back arching. “So bad. Fuck. Please.”

Margot sucked another one of those bruising kisses into her thigh, this time on the opposite side. “Not yet, baby.”

Olivia pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes and bit down hard on her tongue to keep from begging. A strangled groan slipped out, an echo of it ringing in her ears.

Margot’s fingers sped, stringing Olivia tighter, tighter—Margot’s thumb barely ghosted over Olivia’s swollen, neglected clit and the tension building inside her snapped and she clenched and shattered under Margot’s touch.

Olivia’s thighs snapped together, trapping Margot’s hand between them. Margot didn’t let up, didn’t even give Olivia a second to recover before she pried her thighs apart and pinned one leg down against the bed with her forearm, fucking Olivia through the aftershocks and straight into another orgasm that stole the air from her lungs and made her chest burn.

Too much. Eyes still shut, Olivia reached down and weakly pushed against Margot’s shoulder. Margot took the hint, backing off.

A sweet kiss against the skin beside her belly button made Olivia crack open an eye sometime after her heart rate had slowed to something close to normal. Margot was staring up at her. A slow smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth that made Olivia’s pulse flutter and caused her to clench around the fingers still buried inside her.

Margot bit down on the swell of her bottom lip, smiling, as she slipped her fingers free and prowled up the bed. Margot lifted her hand and brushed her damp fingers against Olivia’s mouth, covering her lips in her own arousal. “Open up.”

A ragged breath escaped her when she parted her lips and darted out her tongue, tasting herself on Margot’s fingers, sharp and a little sweet. Margot matched her breathing, panting softly, eyes darkening. Her breath stuttered, catching loudly. She dropped her hand to the side of Olivia’s neck, thumb brushing the hollow at the front of her throat as she leaned closer, covering Olivia’s mouth with hers and grinding her hips down against Olivia’s thigh.

Olivia slipped her hands under Margot’s sweater, fingers skimming her sides, brushing the undersides of her breasts. She broke the kiss to help Margot yank the sweater over her head, then went back to touching Margot everywhere she could, unable to keep her hands still. She swept a path from the small of Margot’s back up her sides, tugging down the left cup of Margot’s bra and closing her lips around Margot’s nipple.

Sweat broke out along Margot’s skin, dotting the space between her breasts, the hollow of her throat, the small of her back, slick beneath Olivia’s hands. She gripped Margot’s hips, helping her grind down a little harder.

Broken sounds spilled from Margot’s mouth as she rocked a little faster, chasing her own pleasure until her hips stuttered and she cried out against Olivia’s shoulder, her whole body shaking as she came apart.

Once she caught her breath, Margot lifted her head and looked at Olivia, lids heavy and smile sweet, and for a heart-stopping moment Olivia couldn’t get her lungs to work because Margot was looking at her like she was something special. Like she was something Margot wanted to keep.

Slowly, Margot leaned in and brushed her lips against Olivia’s in a gentle kiss that curled her toes and made her heart flutter wildly inside her veins. It had none of the urgency of their earlier kiss, when Margot had pressed her up against the door, but it was no less passionate, still managing to rob Olivia of her breath. This time there was no teeth, only the gentle pressure of lips on lips, the sweet friction of Margot’s tongue sweeping against the seam of Olivia’s mouth.

She must’ve made a noise, a gasp, because Margot’s lips curled, smiling against Olivia’s mouth. Margot drew back, pressing one chaste kiss to Olivia’s bottom lip in parting. She smiled, dark eyes shining. “Hi.”

Olivia reached out, tucking a strand of hair behind Margot’s ear before it could fall in her face. Her fingers lingered against the side of Margot’s neck, stroking the skin over where her pulse still thundered. “Hi, yourself.”

Margot shivered and reached for the covers, tugging them up around them, forming a little cocoon of warmth. Sweat had begun to cool against Olivia’s skin, and she gladly burrowed beneath the comforter.

Olivia drew her feet up, tucking her toes beneath the underside of Margot’s calves. A laugh erupted from her lips when Margot hissed, face scrunching in a way that was oddly—adorably—reminiscent of Cat. “Sorry.”

Margot’s bottom lip jutted out in a pout and Olivia couldn’t help herself. She reached out, tracing the outline of Margot’s mouth, the bow of her lips, the divot beneath her nose.

“Cute,” she whispered.

A furrow formed between Margot’s brows and Olivia immediately reached up, smoothing it away. “And to think, I was striving for sexy.”

Margot fluttered her lashes.

Olivia snorted. “You look like you have something in your eye.”

Margot laughed and reached up, snagging Olivia’s hand and lacing their fingers together. She brushed her lips against the inside of Olivia’s wrist and grinned. “Is this when you tell me I’m sexier when I’m not trying?”

Olivia shut one eye. “Sure.”

“Rude.” Margot reached under the covers, pinching Olivia’s side, making her squeal.

“Sorry, sorry.” Olivia laughed. “You have to know by now I think you’re extremely sexy.” Her lips twitched. “Even when you pout and look a little like Cat. Especially when you look like you have something poking you in the eye.”

Margot preened. “I guess I’ll take it.”

“So.” Olivia burrowed deeper beneath the covers, rolling onto her side, facing Margot. “You never said what brought this on.”

The texts. Margot’s inability to keep her hands to herself. How she’d seemed determined to take Olivia apart, more determined than normal.

Margot stared at their hands, fingers still tangled together. “Am I supposed to have a reason? Isn’t wanting you enough?”

Yes. No. Maybe? Olivia swallowed a sigh. She’d didn’t know where her head was at, only that she’d hoped for Margot to have said something . . . more. More revealing? More vulnerable? Something closer to what Olivia felt, that maybe she wanted to talk about it. Her feelings. If she had them. What they were. How deep they ran.

One thing was for certain. Olivia didn’t want enough. When it came to Margot, she wanted everything.

She sat up, reaching over the edge of the bed, searching for her sweater, not because she was cold but because she felt vulnerable enough without being totally naked.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Margot wrapped her arm around Olivia’s waist, drawing her back beneath the covers. “I’m not done with you yet.”

Olivia’s heart squeezed, the line between pain and pleasure whisper thin.

Yet could never come, and it would still be too soon.