Holiday Indulgence – Shavuot (Part 3 of 3)

“There’s something missing,” Malka said.

They’d been sprawled on the couch for a few hours now, kissing and exploring each other’s body with no hurry or urge. But whenever Malka’s mind had a break, it returned to work, fretting, and Hannah appeared to be worn enough to keep distracting her.

“No, there’s not,” Hannah said tiredly, running a hand through Malka’s dark hair, in a failed attempt of soothing her.

“How do you know?”

“Because, Malka, we’ve been working on this for almost two months, because you are the most thorough person I’ve met in my entire life, and because I personally checked every one of the documents,” Hannah said, yawning loudly at the last words.

“Ok.”

“Just breathe,” Hannah said, the hand not on Malka’s head caressing her back in soft circles.

And of course, as it was a natural occurrence lately, her thoughts bounced between work and Hannah with unimaginable ease.

This was the closest Hannah had seen Malka to have a real breakdown. And actually, Malka found herself not caring that the other woman was witnessing her displaying such a lack of grace and composure just a few hours away of zero hour.

Malka had earned her employee’s and partner’s respect showing them a hard, working woman, one that kept her emotions at bay and did what she had to to get the work done. But Hannah had seen her in her worst state and still somehow respected her.

Still deep in her thoughts, she felt Hannah’s hands halting and heard her steady, even breathing. She raised her head from Hannah’s chest to see the other woman sleeping. With as little movement as she could manage, she spied on her watch there were still a couple of hours left until she had to wake Hannah up and hear the music.

…

Malka went straight to the conference room for one last meeting with her team before setting the delivery in motion.

They all looked exhausted but also satisfied, and Malka just wanted to tell them that, regardless of the outcome, she was very proud of their work and behavior from these past weeks. That was not true, she cared about the outcome more than anything, but it would do no good to terrorize anyone right now. And she really was proud of her team, all twenty two of them.

She called Bradley and together went to gather the final version of the Sinai Assignment document. They walked in silence back to the conference room, now empty and neatly arranged.

Isaac Flaherty was the first to arrive –a tall, handsome man, close to sixty– engrossed in conversation with someone Malka could only assume was Johnston, followed immediately by Hannah.

“Malka, you look lovely today,” Isaac said, greeting her with a kiss. Liar. “David, this is Malka Berkovich, my partner and the one responsible of making this happen. Malka, David Johnston,” he introduced them.

Malka shook Johnston’s fat, sweaty hand while making some small talk she really wasn’t listening. She glanced at Hannah who winked at her making her smile.

James DuBois, Malka’s other partner, arrived shortly after, announcing the arrival of both New York and Massachusetts Governors.

Hannah grabbed Malka by the wrist taking her to a corner of the room. “He’s right, you know. You do look beautiful,” she said.

“Don’t lie, I didn’t sleep a minute last night and I’ve been not sleeping or eating for almost two months.”

“True, but you are glowing, my dear, and you look ravishing in that dress. Burgundy suits you so very well,” Hannah assured.

Any answer Malka was about to issue was interrupted by the arrival of the two Governors and their security entourage. They greeted Johnston, who was apparently a personal acquaintance of both men, and then proceeded to greet everyone else after Johnston’s introduction.

They sat on the oval table, Malka keeping Hannah next to her, and the meeting began. She delivered a clean, eloquent presentation, completely absorbed by the emotion this project brought her. Her hands moved easily as she walked around the room, guiding the attendees through the magnitude of the Sinai Assignment, as the slides projected behind her illustrated her point.

When she sat back down, Hannah squeezed her knee lightly, smiling proudly. Malka put her hand on top of Hannah’s and kept them both there for the remaining of the meeting.

Malka couldn’t say how long they were in the conference room. She barely registered someone serving them food at some point, but she did remember the coffee. There was a lot of coffee. When the meeting was over, the sun was setting down and Malka was amazed to see the beautiful sunset displayed in front of her after all this time of seeing nothing but numbers and legal documents.

The Governors approached Malka to congratulate her for her excellent, unprecedented work, with the promise of contacting her back as soon as the paperwork was done. They shook hands with her and left the premises, leaving Malka standing stunned in the middle of the room. The Sinai Assignment was now a reality.

Flaherty asked Malka to join him and James to eat, but she excused herself and told them to take her team instead and treat them to an expensive, well-deserved dinner; all twenty two of them were outside of the conference room waiting to hear some feedback for their work.

…

“Congratulations,” Hannah said, softly. “Looks like Sinai is a done deal.”

Malka just smiled, still enveloped in the events of the past hours.

“You look different,” she continued after a pause, exiting the building.

“I feel I can breathe again,” Malka answered, taking a deep breath to illustrate her point. “So… Someone promised me a date.”

“Really? I remember no such thing,” the blonde said, taking Malka’s hand. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“Well, as you know, I’m leaving tomorrow, so I decided to take your word and have a sleepover.”

“What?” Malka asked, confusion showing in her face.

“Yes. You suggested a while ago we should have a sleepover and braid each other’s hair. Although I don’t think I can actually braid yours since it’s too short for it, but you can braid mine,” she said.

Malka’s eyebrows reached her hairline and Hannah just laughed. But they were still walking towards Hannah’s hotel, so Malka’s confusion did not subside.

Malka followed her to her room. It was dark inside but she didn’t turn on the lights. She gently pulled Malka through what appeared to be a living room and into the bedroom. The bedroom had at least thirty lit candles scattered around, illuminating the space like fireflies fluttering in the dark.

Without preamble, and taking advantage of Malka’s distraction with the room setup, Hannah pushed Malka against the wall and started kissing her, slowly taking off her clothes. Hannah was impossibly gentle, unzipping Malka’s dress, caressing every available inch of skin she uncovered, mouth following her hands’ path. Soon Malka was left wearing only her undergarments, her breath impossibly ragged, feeling the wetness fill her senses.

Hannah quickly took care of her own clothes and guided Malka to the bathroom. It was also candlelit, emanating a soft, delicious smell. That’s when Malka noticed the bathtub, already filled to the top with bubbles. She smiled as Hannah placed kisses along her neck and unbuttoned her bra. Her hands caressed where the cloth had been just a while ago, immediately making Malka’s nipples hard from the contact. She moaned softly throwing her head back to give Hannah more access, while she unceremoniously took off her underwear.

They got inside the tub without breaking contact, Hannah’s hand hovering around Malka’s center, playing with the idea, without actually touching where she so desperately needed.

“Hannah,” she asked raggedly, trying to sound intimidating, but not quite managing it

“Yes…” she answered slowly, with feigned innocence.

“Must you be such a teaser?” Malka moaned between breaths.

“Don’t worry, counselor, I am just getting started,” and she immediately slipped two fingers inside Malka, making her throw her head back, closing her eyes and moaning loudly.

“Is this an accountant thing?” Malka asked. “’Cause I’ve heard the jokes. Something about double entries, and… oh.”

Hannah moved her fingers, first slowly then faster, faster, harder, matching Malka’s hitched breathing, her mouth nibbling Malka’s earlobe, neck, jawline, wherever she could reach. And then she slowed down again eliciting a frustrated groan from the other woman.

“Wouldn’t you just love that,” Hannah said, rubbing Malka’s clit oh so very slowly.

“And–” whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a moan; Hannah increased her speed. “They say accountants can’t–” but she couldn’t finish the thought, her mouth was being devoured thoroughly.

Malka felt her skin burn wherever Hannah touched her, her chest rising and falling erratically while Hannah’s palm brushed against Malka’s core, her movements alternating between frenzied and slow.

“Counselor?”

“Hn,” Malka was panting shamelessly. “Yes?”

“Did you Google dirty accountant jokes?”

“No!” Malka said, perhaps with too much vehemence.

“Really…” Hannah said, unimpressed, stopping her movements altogether. Malka opened her eyes widely in a wondering gaze. They stared at each other for what seemed like hours to Malka, until she caved.

“Ok, maybe I did,” she answered ashamed, releasing a long sigh when Hannah resumed her actions. “But I didn’t understand half of…” the rest of the phrase was drowned by a long, slow kiss.

“Shut up,” Hannah said, gently.

“I refuse,” Malka said. And even though she meant it, she was incapable of muttering any other coherent thought.

Hannah, nestled between Malka’s legs, had one hand tangled in Malka’s hair and the other one buried deep inside the other woman, feeling Malka’s bodybegin to vibrate. Malka had her eyes forcefully closed and her head thrown backwards against the edge of the tub.

With a loud moan Malka came, relinquishing the last ounce of control she had left. She arched her back, clenching around Hannah’s fingers that moved in a matching pace, Hannah’s lips hovering over her panting mouth, not quite touching it.

When Malka opened her eyes, Hannah was staring at her with unbearable reverence. She just closed her eyes again and lay limply in the water, utterly spent and unable to move, her skin buzzing and lost in sensation, trying to catch her breath. Hannah buried her face in Malka’s neck while her hands wandered lightly through her body. Malka was falling asleep under Hannah’s ministrations, reaching a peaceful state where her mind just stopped working altogether.

“The water’s cold,” Hannah suddenly complained, standing up to grab a towel. “Come on,” she said, stretching her hand to help Malka out of the tub.

…

Wearing the hotel robes, and their bodies in a state of absolute relaxation, they returned to the living room where Hannah turned the light on. Malka was greeted by a table full of food and she was immediately reminded she was actually very hungry.

“What is all this?”

“I wanted to make a full ten course dinner but, first of all, I always get confused with all the cutlery and– ”

“Of course you do,” Malka interrupted.

“And second,” Hannah glared at her, continuing, “I’d rather be doing something else with my mouth than eating,” she winked at Malka. “So I decided to cover the basics…

“For first course, we have cheese fondue with French bread. For the main course, spinach and ricotta crêpes with sauce aux quatre fromage, however the hell you pronounce that, and for dessert,” and she actually wiggled her eyes at that, “we have the chef’s recommendation. Cheesecake with milk caramel, blueberry blintzes and a cup of raspberry cream and berries.”

“What about the soup and fish?”

“What?”

“Well, every complete meal has soup and fish. Oh, and salad,” Malka said, matter-of-factly.

“Shut up,” Hannah answered, slapping Malka’s arm. “Today is Shavuot, we only get to eat dairy.”

“As you wish, Yente,” Malka said, rolling her eyes.

“Will you quit it with Fiddler on the Roof? It was one stupid date with some stupid old bachelor. And I happen to like my religion, so sue me.”

“You never told me how that went, by the way.”

“Just eat, will you?”

Malka chuckled but followed the instructions and started eating.

“How did you manage to do all this? You were with me all the time,” she asked, moving her hands around to show the array of food.

“Oh, you know, the way we women of dubious reputation do everything,” Hannah said, causing Malka’s eyebrows to rise high. “I paid the bellboy, Malka.”

Soon the food was finished, the robes lay forgotten on the floor, and they were kissing again on their way to the bedroom. Malka unceremoniously threw Hannah to the bed, immediately straddling her. She wasn’t as delicate as the blonde; she wanted to taste Hannah everywhere, sooner rather than later, thank you very much.

She kissed the blonde thoroughly, forcefully until she was satisfied with Hannah’s short and ragged breaths. Hannah’s hands went straight to Malka’s hair, but she was stopped midway. Malka grabbed the hands and pinned them above Hannah’s head; this time she would be in control. All the way.

She took Hannah’s nipple between her lips, making her squirm under the pressure, while her hand trailed over her other breast, massaging the soft flesh beneath. Hannah’s body arched off the bed at the contact, digging her nails into Malka’s back.

Malka’s mouth continued its journey, kissing and biting all along Hannah’s stomach, her hands running of their own accord, making her quiver with anticipation. She then slid lower, reaching where thigh and hip meet, inching closer and closer to the other woman’s wetness.

Malka pushed Hannah’s legs apart, nestling between them, running her hand up her inner thigh, while her mouth dug deep into the blonde’s dampened curls, her tongue gently parting moist folds, drawing circles around Hannah’s center.

Hannah’s mouth fell open, desperately gasping for air, as the other woman tasted her carefully and relentlessly.

Hannah came fluttering her eyes and breathing hard through her mouth, and forcefully tugging Malka’s hair, making her hum against her center, sending waves of indescribable pleasure all through her body. Still clenching, she pulled Malka up against her lips, creating a delicious friction all along their bodies, tasting herself in Malka’s mouth. Finally, Hannah let Malka go, sinking back to the bed, catching her breath.

Malka pushed blonde, sweaty strands of hair away from Hannah’s forehead, kissing the corner of Hannah’s mouth over and over again, her thumbs brushing her jawline, making her tremble.

…

Malka wasn’t surprised when she woke up alone in the hotel room, although a very small part of her was expecting Hannah to at least say good-bye. She got up and gathered her clothes that were scattered around the room, remembering vividly the events of the night before.

Under her cell phone, she found the note, scribbled in Hannah’s boyish handwriting.

You looked too cute,
couldn’t wake you up.
-H

With a smile on her face, Malka walked back to her apartment, deciding to take the rest of the week off.