Chapter Text
Tally glanced at her watch a final time before letting out a sigh .
She picked up her phone checking once more that her three inquiring text messages remained unanswered. She rolled her chocolate brown eyes as she wondered just how foolish her husband could be as she tapped in his contact info and his location pulled up on the map. His own idea to gain back Tally’s trust. Though she wasn’t sure how he was supposed to be doing that when his phone was currently pinging at the house of the same woman he claimed to stop seeing months ago.
Tally really wasn't sure what she’s doing at this point. She’d put on a nice dress, a little black one that made her feel sexy. She had done her hair and makeup, hell, she’d even shaved her legs. They were supposed to be working on it. Garit had suggested going back to the beginning. Dinner dates, movie nights. Really making time for each other.
God forbid Tally recommended counseling.
Probably because the counselor would tell him he couldn’t make time for his wife while actively in bed with another woman.
She couldn’t repress another eye roll before she gestured to the bartender for another drink. Tally knew, no matter how much the good little catholic inside her cringed at it, that her marriage was dead and it had been for over a year. She couldn’t blame Garit for it much anymore. She had checked out months ago when she moved into her own apartment. She’d already accepted it, already mourned the loss. Now they were just in this in between stage where either were afraid to say it.
That’s not true. Tally already had, suggesting divorce the same day she signed her lease. It was Garit that had begged for a second chance when she’d brought him the papers to sign. And Tally, sweet, people pleasing, divorce is a sin Tally, was unable to deny him that last plea. Even when she knew it was a lost cause, even when she knew he wouldn’t stop seeing her.
She played with the dainty crucifix that rested softly against her sternum as the bartender slid her mojito across the bar. The man gave her a sympathetic look as he did so and Tally couldn’t resist another roll of her eyes as he turned away again.
She was done with all this ‘giving it another chance’ crap. She’d rather take the risk of burning in hell at this point.
She just wanted to be free.
“This seat taken?” Tally wondered how a voice could sound like gravel but still be smooth as silk. The low timber still so delicately feminine. She followed the sound of that exotic voice to find a woman beside her. The most stunning woman Tally had ever seen, really.
She was tall, taller than Tally and older too; by ten years at the very least if she had to guess. Standing there leaning over her, she cut an impressive figure dressed in all black. She was incredibly lithe, willowy even, in heeled boots that made her long legs look endless in the tight black denim that encased them. A simple black tee shirt beneath a leather moto jacket covered her torso and her hair was long and dark. It swept in waves that Tally felt desperate to run her fingers through, hanging down below her breasts framing the sharp lines of her face and the long lines of her neck. A neck that was covered in black ink, a moth with its wings expanded covering the front of it. She had high cheekbones with a razor sharp jaw, but it was her eyes, a piercing beautiful blue that pinned Tally in place, keeping her words caught in her throat.
The woman's entire demeanor demanded Tally’s attention and the redhead was unable to stop herself from squirming in her seat under that stare. The woman's aura domineering in its silent command of attention and respect. She felt dangerous, like a sparking livewire just waiting for Tally to touch.
A delicate brow raised, pulling Tally from her assessment as she realized the woman was still waiting for an answer.
“No, sorry, no it’s not.” Tally manages to stutter out. She reaches idly for her drink, hoping the long pull cools the burning flush that begins creeping up her chest.
Tally simply watched as the woman slid onto the stool, tattooed knuckles rapping on the bar as she ordered her drink with the bartender. She couldn’t help but notice how elegant those hands were as they wrapped around the tumbler of whiskey that was placed in front of her. Tally swallowed.
She couldn’t for the life of her understand what was happening. Yes, she knew she was attracted to women. She’s pansexual, having gone through the whole journey of self discovery in college with the help of her friend Raelle, but this was a bit ridiculous. All the woman had done was sit next to her. Nothing out of the ordinary to elicit such a reaction from the redhead.
Blue eyes found hers again, freezing Tally in place as the woman angled her body towards Tally. She held her glass up to Tally’s in a cheersing fashion, her eyes sweeping Tally from head to toe and back. Her eyes lingered on what had to be the noticeable flush on Tally’s chest. Tally’s breathing shallowed.
“To whom do I have to thank for leaving you in this bar alone?” The question had Tally’s breath catching in her throat. It’s low, laced with a swagger Tally had never heard in a woman. The presumption though, stings a bit, causing Tally to eventually bite back after she finds her voice.
“Who said anyone left me here?” Tally challenged.
“You checked your watch or phone every 5 minutes. After the thirty minute mark you put it back in your purse and ordered another drink.” Tally could give her that, though that meant the woman had been watching her for that long.
“You’ve been watching me?”
“A woman like you is far too beautiful to be left alone dressed like that.” That blue gaze trails down Tally’s body, lingering on her legs left bare by her dress before coming back to hold her own.
“My husband,” Tally finally answered. Those eyes trailed to Tally’s bare fingered left hand.
“Oh?”
“We’re separated.” Tally realizes as she says it, looking down at her bare hand herself that the moment she took off that ring she knew it was over, she never should have agreed to Garit’s plea. The corner of those pale pink lips quirk into an amused smirk before she finally clinks her glass with Tally’s.
“He’s a fool.” She says after her drink. The steal in that voice caused Tally to shiver as her gaze slid from her naked finger back to those beautiful eyes. The intensity of the woman's stare catching Tally by surprise. Her gaze says far more than her words do. Tally feels almost hypnotized by it almost as if she’s stripped bare. She absently wondered just what she could be urged to do under the thrall of that gaze alone.
“I’m Tally.” Tally offers her hand only to have it encased in long slim fingers, rougher than she had imagined as callouses brush her own soft palm.
“Sarah.” Those eyes never leave Tally’s, holding her gaze as if she’s tied her in place. “Is Tally short for something?” Tally nods, unable to pull her eyes away from those beautiful cobalt orbs.
“Talia, but everyone calls me Tally.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Talia.” The words drip down Tally’s spine, molten, before settling right between her thighs. She wants to argue, she never really lets anyone call her by her given name except her mother. But the sound of it on those lips gives her pause. She wonders all the ways that mouth could say it.
They talk then, for far longer than Tally had imagined they would. About the weather and the small music festival in town this weekend. That sharp commanding stare never leaves her as Sarah tells her she runs an agency that promotes self expression and community outreach. Tally watches as those blue orbs momentarily widen when Tally tells her she teaches at the private Catholic school outside the city. That gaze trailing down to the crucifix that rests on the flat of her sternum right between her breasts. It lingers there long enough that Tally knows the raven haired woman noticed the flush before trailing back to Tally’s face.
“I take it you don’t go to church on sundays?” Tally asked, a little sparkle of amusement in her eyes.
“I’m sure it would spontaneously combust if I tried to walk through the doors.” Tally is unable to restrain her laughter. Her head falls back as it resounds through her chest. When she looked back at Sarah she found her gaze firmly on her neck. “Every Sunday? Really?” For the first time all evening Sarah’s voice isn't a sultry sound, her disbelief clear.
“Mostly. If I don't, the nuns will talk.” Tally answers before taking a sip of her drink. “They’re terrible gossips.”
“Catholic school teacher, worship every Sunday, that little cross around your neck.” She tilted her chin in Tally’s direction as she said it, her eyes lingering on Tally’s chest again. “You must be a devout believer.” Her tone had slipped right back down to that rich velvet sound that had Tally instantly warming from head to toe again. It only takes a short moment for Tally to realize just what she’s fishing for. Her friend Raelle warning her in college that her ‘sunshine Jesus loves me’ persona would scare away all the lesbians. Tally chuckled and watched as that delicate brow lifted again.
“I used to be. That’s how I was raised. My father was a vicar before he died, my mother threw us into the church as a way to stay connected to him. I attended the same school I teach at now, K through 12, so college was a bit of a surprise.” The corner of those pale pink lips upturned. Laughter danced in those cerulean eyes.
“When I found myself falling in love with a girl 3 rooms down I found myself in quite the pickle.” Tally could have sworn she saw victory flash in those alluring orbs, long fingers slid across the bar, resting only inches from Tally’s own. “Those were a few long years of self discovery. It’s a work in progress, shedding myself from those habits and thoughts. I do still believe in something , though sometimes I’m not sure what that something is. It would certainly be something for the nuns to gossip about.” Humor danced in Tally's eyes and she watched as Sarah’s gaze dipped down to the smile on her lips then back up.
“What about you? Religious at all?” Tally’s own eyes dip then, reassessing Sarah. The black, the leather, the tattoos. Her eyes lingering on the moth permanently etched into the other woman’s throat with its dark tones and the little skull in the middle of its body. Tally thought it complemented the length of her neck perfectly. When her eyes drift back up she finds that same piercing gaze studying her. A smirk still resting on those lips.
“When I’m on my knees I prefer a different type of worship.” Tally was glad she hadn’t chosen that moment for a sip of her drink as surely she would have choked. She swallowed harshly nonetheless and azure eyes tracked the bob of her throat.
“Are you hitting on me?” Tally manages to ask and pale lips break into a full smile. Pearly white teeth on display and Tally’s sure her heart stopped right then.
“If you have to ask, I must not be doing a very good job at it.” Those blue eyes never left hers as Sarah took another swig of her drink.
“Your eyes are doing most of the work for you.” Tally told her, her confidence building with the affirmation.
“And what are my eyes saying, Talia?” Her long fingers trace Tally’s on the bar, the touch emboldens her.
“That you’d like to show me just what type of worship you do on your knees.” Tally can only watch as those blue eyes darken, pupils blown. Tally imagined Sarah hadn’t thought she'd be so bold and decided to take it one step further. “Do you wanna get out of here?” Sarah’s eyes became lidded as she stared at Tally for only a few short moments before she rose from her seat.
She placed a crisp hundred dollar bill on the bar before holding out a hand to Tally who took it with a smile. She guided Tally through the bar with a hand respectfully placed on her lower back. Tally realized with her bold question she hadn’t thought this far ahead.
“I uh, ubered here” Tally blurted and a rich chuckle from behind her sent a jolt of excitement down Tally’s spine.
“I’ll drive.” The hand still on her lower back guides her toward an all black tahoe. The windows tinted so dark Tally wonders for a moment if what Sarah said about her job was true. The lights flash as they approach and Sarah leans around her to open the door, her hand shifting to Tally’s hip, squeezing lightly.
“After you, mama” Sarah murmurs and Tally freezes.
Coming from any man she thinks the endearment would have made her turn right around. She’s not even sure if anyone else could say it, but that gravely velvet tone shoots right through Tally’s chest and settles warmly low in her belly. Tally still hasn’t moved to get in the car and when she turns fully to look back at Sarah all she sees is an amused smirk. Tally thinks she could stare into those moonlit eyes for hours.
She finds herself unable to resist, cupping that sharp jawline in both hands and rocks up onto her toes, kissing Sarah firmly. The older woman stiffened under her lips for only a moment before she relinquished Tally of control. Her lips sliding effortlessly against her own as she guided her back with that same hand on her hip, until Tally’s back pressed into the car. The cold of the metal easing as Sarah’s body pressed into her hotly. Tally’s arms slipped around her shoulders as Sarah deepened the kiss, running a tongue along Tally’s lip causing Tally to meet it with her own.
Tally doesn’t even have the wherewithal to be embarrassed of the moan that floats up her throat not when Sarah drank it right out of her mouth so greedily. Her hand still held her hip tight to the car as another slipped up her neck. She doesn't squeeze, she just holds her there by her throat, her light grip possessive. Tally positively burns, wanting nothing more than to be completely consumed by this woman.
When Tally manages to pull back, Sarah leaned forward, chasing her lips. Tally chuckled softly, pressing her forehead into Sarah’s as they both caught their breath.
“You’re place or mine?” Tally isn’t sure she could ever tire of that velvet voice.
“I’ll give you directions” Tally answers and Sarah only nods her forehead against Tally’s.
“I'd have no problem praying at the altar of you every Sunday.” Sarah murmurs as she pulls back blue eyes dancing with moonlight and mirth. Tally’s head fell back as she laughed. Sarah stroked her neck softly before she placed a delicate kiss on the pale skin of Tally’s throat, cutting her laughter off abruptly as Tally let out a surprised squeak. All laughter left her as she found those azure orbs again. Sarah’s desire was on full display as moonlight reflected off her dark eyes, her pupils completely blown.
“Be careful, I might just hold you to it.” Tally’s not sure where her boldness had come from as Sarah chuckled and piloted her into the passenger seat, closing the door behind her.
Tally can’t remember the last time she had ever been this forward. Even those first few weeks in her new apartment when she was convinced she could fuck her way out of her heartbreak. That was months ago and along with a little therapy she had quickly realized that was never going to work. She was sure she was ready now though, her sense of loyalty to Garit being decimated a long time ago. She hadn’t felt married in over a year.
Maybe she should wait, maybe she should formally file before she did this, but damn it if she was so tired of not doing what she wanted. And damn, did she want Sarah. Whether it was just tonight or turned into something more, she wanted every little bit Sarah was willing to give.
And Tally was taking what she wanted.