Blueprints Ch. 04

"You love me?" Zara said hoarsely, as her eyes found Joanna's, the green burning as rich a shade as the young woman had seen.

"Yes, Zara. I love you," Joanna confirmed, smiling up softly at the girl.

The younger woman's sudden grin could have split her face in two, "I love you too, Joanna."

The professor exhaled, slender shoulders dropping a fraction as her smile spread to match Zara's. They drank each other in for a silent eternity, as if seeing the other in a whole new light. Eventually, Joanna shifted, rising from her crouching position to straighten just enough to lean into Zara.

The young woman moved with her, draping her arms over Joanna's shoulders as their lips met. Zara would never tire of being close to her; the way Joanna's soft skin brushed against her as they kissed, that subtle cedar wood essence she had, the way Joanna held her in a firm yet gentle fashion as their bodies slotted together.

Joanna gingerly crawled onto the bed, her knees either side of Zara as they shifted further onto the soft surface. Zara hands cupped her face as their sensual kiss grew in ferocity, causing the pair to moan simultaneously. "I love you so much, Joanna," Zara murmured into the woman's mouth.

"You sure now?" Joanna smiled, placing her hands either side of Zara's shoulders.

Zara gazed up at her and nodded, smiling broadly as she did so. "Definitely."

"I don't think I've ever heard you be more incontrovertible," Joanna beamed, fingertips lightly brushing through the girl's hair.

"Because I really do, you make everything make, well, sense," Zara said softly, her gaze fixed on Joanna's brightening eyes.

The older woman took a shuddering breath and glanced away, swallowing hard as she did so. Looking back at Zara, she went to speak but swallowed the sentiment, causing a moment of fleeting worry within the young woman. "You could say something?" Zara suggested uncertainly. Joanna did not, she merely nodded, an uncharacteristically weak expression on her face before smothering Zara's mouth in a kiss so firm her head was pushed back into the mattress.

"I really do," Joanna eventually managed thickly as her mouth trailed down the architect's. "I really do love you, Zara." The revelation and Joanna's warm breath caused a shudder to reverberate through the young woman's body. "I love the way your mind works," Joanna murmured between kisses, "And how you see things differently from anyone I've ever met." Joanna's mouth continued roaming down Zara's throat as she spoke. "I love how different you are to me. You're unique."

"I love what you do to me," Zara breathed as they both tugged at the towel she was encased in.

Joanna, careful not to brush against the girl's sore skin, manoeuvred herself and Zara watched her lover sit up slightly to drink in the young woman's naked body. Joanna considered her with that lust-filled stare; eyes roaming over her torso, taking in her modest chest, protruding collarbones and scraped stomach.

"What I do to you?" Joanna breathed, her eyes still fixed on Zara's body as she moved a knee between the girl's thighs. "You have no idea what you do to me," she purred before pressing her lips to the young woman's and pushing her thigh into her centre, causing Zara to moan.

Zara's hands moved to peel Joanna's polo-neck over her head. The garment had barely hit the floor before the hook of her bra was unfastened; delicate material slipping down Joanna's body before joining the sweater. Joanna groaned as Zara's hands instantly took the place of the material, gently groping her, before both thumbs circled her hardening nipples.

"You're so good," Joanna breathed, her hips rocking to press her denim clad sex into the top of Zara's thigh. Instinctively, the brunette returned the action, pushing her wetness into Joanna's jeans as she did so.

"Lie on me," Zara begged, yearning for Joanna's body to press into her.

"I don't want to hurt you," Joanna murmured into Zara's mouth.

"You won't," Zara assured, hands moving from Joanna's breasts and onto her back, encouraging the woman.

With Joanna's hands free, dexterous fingers crept between their bodies to toy with Zara's chest, causing the young woman to jolt and proceed to whine as that firm touch moved from the soft flesh to her nipples.

"I love your body," Joanna gasped, breaking her mouth from Zara's to descend that ever familiar path of the girl's jawline, neck and collar bone. "I love how strong you are," she breathed as she ran her lips over the young woman's defined shoulders before her tongue lazily trailed down Zara's biceps.

"Oh God," Zara gasped. Every touch, grasp, lick, word, anything Joanna did, caused an electric current to resonate through her. She should feel sore, tired, famished, after the day's efforts, but her craving for Joanna outshone all other needs; the professor consumed so much of her that there was little room for any other thoughts and feelings. "Please, don't stop," Zara panted, entwining slender fingers in Joanna's short hair as her mouth claimed one of the young woman's nipples; that expert tongue swirling over the hard skin, intensifying the sensation. "Yes!" Zara whined, pushing herself into the woman's mouth.

By the time Joanna had kissed her way over to the left and bestowed the same maddening pleasure on her other breast, Zara was desperate. "Please, Joanna," she panted, her hands running uncoordinated in Joanna's hair and over her shoulders.

"Please what, darling?" Joanna asked, yet didn't wait for a response as she trailed her mouth down Zara's trim torso, her nose gently brushing down the young woman's ribcage. "Oh, baby," Joanna sympathised as she descended further, her lips connecting with the burning scrapes on Zara's stomach.

The young woman's tummy fluttered at the press of Joanna's lips as, despite the injury, all she felt was a loving, pleasurable touch. "Oh God," she groaned, feeling Joanna's fingers move to her inner thigh before ascending, at a slow, agonising pace, to caress her lips. "Will you ever not tease me?" she moaned, rocking her hips against the digits.

Joanna sat up, now kneeling between Zara's legs, and looked down on the wanton woman, "It's all about-"

"Anticipation," Zara finished, a lustful smirk flitting across her face as she drank Joanna in; her bare torso contrasting wonderfully with her dark denim jeans. "I don't love you when you tease me," she shuddered, as Joanna's fingers maintained their torturous explorations.

"Oh, come on now, Zara. I think that's the main reason you love me," she smirked, her fingers lowering to the young woman's entrance.

"You're probably right," Zara managed hoarsely as she felt two fingers creep into her wetness.

"I usually am," Joanna smirked, tearing her eyes from Zara's and watching as her fingers disappear. "Oh baby, you're so wet." A shiver ran through Zara who could merely nod as she continued to watch Joanna kneeling between her legs, one hand on the flair of her hip, the other working back and forth as the professor began to fuck her.

Zara was soon panting and writhing under Joanna's manipulations and she jolted vigorously as the blonde's thumb swept over her clit, but she craved something else. Craved a closeness to the woman and with every ounce of willpower, Zara's hand snuck down her body to quell Joanna's efforts.

"What's wrong?" Joanna frowned, concern flashing across her face as Zara sat up, pressing their torsos together in a delicious friction.

"Nothing," Zara assured, before kissing Joanna hard on the mouth. Her hands squeezing between their bodies to unfasten Joanna's jeans.

"We'll get to me," Joanna promised but Zara shook her head and undid the woman's trousers before pulling her back down onto the bed.

Zara winced as Joanna fell onto her sore body but continued to take control, turning herself and the older woman so they were on their sides, facing one another.

"Eh, Zara," Joanna breathed, pulling her mouth from her girlfriend's, regarding her quizzically. "What do you think you're doing?"

The young woman smirked, pulling at Joanna's jeans, "What do you mean?"

"You know perfectly well what I mean," Joanna said incredulously, her hand entwining with the young woman's hair, bringing their faces back together. "I'm in control," she warned in a low tone.

But Zara shook her head, her mouth claiming Joanna's as she continued to fight with the denim. "Just lose yourself, Joanna," she whispered, her hand creeping into the woman's underwear. "Let go," she coaxed before flicking her tongue over the woman's lips whilst nimble fingers crept to Joanna's entrance.

"I don't let go," the professor breathed heavily before sucking her assailant's bottom lip. However, the verbal protest was all the fight she put up as Zara's finger tips brushed against Joanna's clit in the gentlest of touches, her other arm curling around her slender shoulders, pulling the pair together.

Zara's arousal hiked, both at taking the slightest command and at just how wet Joanna was. The young woman's fingers slid over the silky skin, savouring just how wanton she had made her girlfriend. Their tongues moved slowly over one another and Zara's stomach jolted as she felt Joanna's hand creep between them and descend down her tummy. Shifting her legs, she opened herself to the woman who matched the pace and technique Zara had established.

They moaned into one another's mouths, bodies shuddering periodically under simultaneous manipulations. "I'm close," Zara eventually panted, burying her face in the crook of the woman's neck as her fingers increased their vigorous movements.

"Me too," Joanna gasped in Zara's ear before pulling the girl's hair, gently encouraging their gaze to meet. "I love you, Zara. So much." Her voice shook as the tremors started to build within her body.

Zara's dark eye's drank in Joanna in an attempt to absorb every detail of her; the furrow of her brow as the tension grew, her deep green eyes burning with something more than just lust and the way her lips moved when she told the young woman she loved her.

That impossible pressure built within Zara and in that moment words caught in her throat and she could merely nod before resting her forehead on Joanna's as she gasped. "I... I... Oh God." Whilst her legs began to shake as her sex convulsed.

"Jesus! Yes!" Joanna groaned as Zara's own fingers intensified their circling motion, causing the woman to emit a guttural groan which the girl quickly quelled with a hard kiss.

They clung to one another, tumbling from the proverbial cliff in a heart-swelling, stomach jolting climax. The orgasm enhanced by the intimacy and closeness of the embrace as the couple remained locked together, fingers firmly pressed into one another until the tremors had ceased.

Carefully, Zara extracted her digits from between Joanna's wet thighs and, still breathing heavily, draped an arm over the woman. In the close embrace she nuzzled into the crook of Joanna's neck and they held one another in contented silence.

"Have you ever done that before?" Zara asked drowsily after a while.

"Hmm?" Joanna murmured, turning so her cheek brushed against Zara's as she ran her fingers through the girl's tousled hair. "Done what?"

"Not being in total command of the situation," Zara replied, brushing her nose against Joanna's neck before kissing the soft skin.

Despite their sleepy tones, Zara was sure Joanna's mind was formulating an answer to the seemingly simple query; evidently the question was being meticulously contemplated for Joanna stayed silent for so long that the young woman supposed she was avoiding it.

"Not for a long time," Joanna eventually murmured, in a tone which bordered upon the unsure.

Remaining pressed up against Joanna's body, Zara laced her fingers lovingly into those of her companion's as her mind whirred. What made the stoic blonde crave control to the point she questioned someone she loved doing something as simple as rolling her on to her side? The dominance was arousing and the young woman relished every smack, nip and pinch she received for stepping over Joanna's unyielding line. However, Zara knew it was more than a game, more than an act. This compulsion for control, in Zara's opinion, wasn't what anyone really wanted, surely? She'd said it herself, she loved the young woman, in part because they were so different. Should Zara not at least attempt to impart even the slightest portion of this repose upon Joanna?

Going to speak, the young woman took a breath, but quelled the question, Why do you need control? at risk of pushing too hard. Instead, Zara intuitively asked, "What was it like, not being in control?"

After a long slow sigh, Joanna responded. "Alien. Odd. Like I was betraying myself," the professor paused again and Zara could feel her body tense but as much as she wanted to fill the silence, she stayed quiet. Although it pained to hear that their coupling had felt odd, Zara did not completely buy it, for no one could deny both women had enjoyed the situation. "Then again," Joanna reasoned, lifting Zara's heart and causing her to smile against the older woman's neck. "I'm with you, Zara. You, with your devil-may-care gregariousness, this presence that seems to make me want to-" Joanna pulled up before continuing in a softer tone, "You just made it feel natural. I just, for once, didn't need it, the control. I just didn't."

Disentangling from Joanna, the young woman propped herself up on an elbow and gazed at the blonde, and as much as she wanted to kiss, caress and hold the almost vulnerable figure, Zara grappled the urge and spoke with gentle conviction. "You don't always need to be in control. I mean I love it," she sighed, fighting the shudder at the mere idea, "but I love you more. You can trust me, trust me enough to let your guard down, even just a little."

"I realise that, Zara and I love you it. Its jus-" Joanna said quickly before she was interrupted.

"I don't think you do realise it though," Zara said gently, a crease forming on her brow. "Whatever has made you so... disciplined..." For a fleeting moment her lips betrayed her and twitched at the connotation. "Just know," she continued, "I don't want you to ever feel like you need to be like that. Not with me," Joanna made a reluctant, noncommittal noise as she tried to form the appropriate response but Zara pressed on. "Please, Joanna, I want you, if its what you want, to be relax with me," she urged, her dark eyes unintentionally adding to the her plea.

"I think..." Joanna began slowly, having absorbed the young woman's supplication, "I think the fact we are even having this conversation shows that in terms of everything else in my life, when it comes to you, Zara, I do act differently. I was serious when I said I find you unique, beautifully so." she said, cupping the girl's cheek to reinforce the sentiment.

"Does that mean you'll ease off on how together you feel you need to be?"

"Do you feel I control you?" Joanna asked sharply, her countenance changing.

"No," Zara said simply.

"Well then, Zara, I fail to see your issue."

"You used the word need a moment ago," Zara stated plainly.

"Excuse me?" Joanna chided, that harsh facade re-solidifying.

"You said, 'you just didn't need it, the control'," Zara repeated, her body language and tone trying to coax Joanna from slipping behind that apathetic barrier. "That's not the same as wanting something, Joanna. Needing is an obligation, it's-"

"I know the difference," Joanna sighed before continuing to speak over whatever Zara was about to say. "All right. Fine," she conceded reluctantly, "Maybe I have got into a habit of having things done my way. But I like it, most of the time."

"Not all the time though?" Zara tried.

"How about, for you, I relinquish somewhat?" Joanna suggested, avoiding the previous question. "Say, when I feel it would be more beneficial to compromise, I do so?"

It wasn't quite what the young woman was going for, but she suspected the effort was quite the settlement for Joanna. "I think that would be a good start," Zara nodded before Joanna quelled the motion with a press of her lips.

"I just want you to be happy, Zara," Joanna murmured against the young woman's mouth.

"You make me so happy," she replied, "I don't think being too unyielding can make you happy."

"Perhaps not," Joanna sighed, resting her forehead on Zara's before withdrawing slightly to look at the young woman. "That said, there are plenty of instances you'd like me to maintain my control, no?"

"How magnanimous of you," Zara responded sarcastically, rolling her dark eyes at the notion. The pair looked at each other for a long moment.

"Seriously though," Zara added, her fingers caressing the woman's soft skin, "let me in. Please?"

Joanna smiled softly and nodded, "I will. I promise."

Epilogue

"That was such a great weekend, Joanna, thank you." Zara smiled, turning to her lover once she'd retrieved her holdall from the car.

"It really was," Joanna purred, before leaning into the young woman and kissing her in what, given they were in public, was intended to be a soft brush of lips. However, Zara's free hand promptly gripped the back of her neck, pulling her into an eager exchange.

With every ounce of resolve Joanna fought the urge to push the svelte architect up against the car. However, as much as the professor claimed to be, she was not made of stone and when Zara's tongue rolled across hers, Joanna couldn't help but mimic the action before sucking on Zara's bottom lip, causing the girl to moan in that arousing, needy tone she enjoyed. Christ, what am I doing? As if I haven't had her at every opportunity over the weekend. I don't do this! I don't not stand in the street necking some woman nearly half her age. Yet, the sound of that throaty noise her girlfriend made pushed the internal conflict aside and Joanna couldn't stop her hands from creeping around Zara's waist, pulling their bodies firmly together.

A sharp wolf-whistle shrieked from across the street, causing the two women to spring apart before Joanna glared and Zara smirked at the men who were now guffawing as continuing their walk down the road.

Turning back to the brunette, Joanna's sullen expression was washed from her face; Zara had fallen into a fit of unrestrained laughter, the type which really lit up her striking face. The sight caused both mirth and awe to swell within Joanna and she could feel her lips tug into an uncontrollably broad smile.

"I'm sorry," Zara managed, before erupting in another fit of of giggles.

"You!" Joanna laughed again at the young woman's outburst. "You're more trouble than you're worth," she teased.

"You don't mean that," Zara retorted confidently.

"No?" she challenged.

"No," the young woman beamed in that open, mischievous expression which caused Joanna's chest to tighten.

"Perhaps not," she mused before reluctantly adding, "You'd better get in, you'll freeze." And Joanna felt bitter, irrational disappointment when the young woman complied.

Zara had asked her to stay for dinner upon their return to Edinburgh but Joanna had politely declined. Now, however, she felt a pang of anger at herself for doing so; the young woman would leave for Vietnam soon and as much as the professor did not care to admit it, she wanted to soak up as much time with Zara as possible.

"I'll see you before I go though?" the brunette asked earnestly as she walked with Joanna to the driver's side door.

"Of course," Joanna assured, gripping the young woman gently. "In fact," she said, her eyes lighting up with inspiration, "I'll try and get some cover and take you to the airport."