Nina’s head lolled to the side and a lazy smile touched her lips as Rachel fell down onto the couch beside her. Half a bottle of red wine had compromised Rachel’s usual grace, and though Nina knew she should feel badly about leading the sweet innocent astray, she couldn’t help but find Rachel’s inebriated lack of equilibrium exceedingly adorable.

Rachel’s head came to rest on Nina’s shoulder, and a gentle expression settled over Nina’s features as she lifted her hand to Rachel’s head so that she could run her fingers through the smaller woman’s hair.

A soft sigh escaped Rachel’s throat as Nina stroked her hair, and her eyes closed contently as her hand came to rest on Nina’s thigh, just above her knee.

The skin beneath Rachel’s palm was warm and soft, and unconsciously Rachel’s sense of touch began to heighten until all she was aware of was Nina’s flesh beneath her fingers and unconsciously Rachel’s fingers slid beneath Nina’s skirt and began to trail up, seeking more skin, more softness, and more warmth.

A few seconds after Rachel’s fingers began to explore a ragged gasp escaped Rachel’s lips as Nina’s hand covered hers.

With her senses heightened, the shock of feeling that accompanied Nina’s hand covering hers jolted Rachel out of the touch induced haze she had fallen into. Her eyes snapped open and she breathed in sharply as she found Nina’s bright blue eyes staring down at her, their faces separated by no more than a few inches.

“Hi,” Nina breathed out softly, her perfectly painted red lips curving up into a gentle smile. “I was calling your name.”

“Hi,” Rachel replied even more quietly as a blush touched her cheeks. “I ... I zoned out for a moment.”

“You certainly seemed preoccupied,” Nina drawled, her smile turning a bit playful as her eyes dropped down to her lap.

Rachel’s gaze followed Nina’s down and she had to fight the urge to draw back violently when she realized that her hand was under Nina’s skirt and that it had trailed most of the way up Nina’s thigh. Her fingers were uncomfortably close to a very intimate part of Nina’s body, and even though the realization made a flush of heat trickle through Rachel’s body, she carefully drew her hand back until it was no longer on Nina’s person.

“I’m so sorry,” Rachel said looking down, not able to fathom looking Nina in the face after she had touched her like that. “I didn’t realize what I was doing, I didn’t know, I mean I knew but I couldn’t stop it ... when my sense of touch heightened your skin ... it was just so,” Rachel trailed off there as she became momentary distracted by the memory of how wonderful Nina’s skin had felt, but she soon realized what she was doing, and quickly stuttered, “And the wine, everything’s so slow and hazy and I ... I ... I ...”

“Rache,” Nina said, lifting her hand up so that she could cup Rachel’s face gently. “It’s okay,” Nina continued softly, “calm down,” she whispered brushing her thumb across Rachel’s cheek tenderly until the younger woman’s full attention was on her. “Everything’s fine. Just take a deep breath. Go on, take a deep breath.”

Rachel’s heart was still racing and her mind was foggy, but Nina’s words registered with her and she obeyed. She ignored her nervousness and embarrassment and fear and focused her attention fully on taking one breath and then another and another, and before she knew it her heartbeat began to settle.

Even though she was already close to Nina, too close, Rachel leaned into the other woman even more as the calming, intoxicating scent of green tea tickled her senses. Something tart, citrusy like bergamot wafted over her next and was followed by an enchanting combination of rose and jasmine. Rachel’s eyes closed as she pressed herself against Nina, seeking out more of captivating scents, and as a light musk registered with her, behind the lids of her eyes Rachel could see beautiful snow covered winter woods.

Without conscious thought, Rachel nuzzled in her face against Nina’s neck, wanting to get even closer to the magical combination of scents that was making her head spin, and as she breathed in again and again the desire to taste grew inside of her until her lips were pressing against Nina’s neck. Her tongue peaked out from between her lips a second later to taste Nina as her mouth explored Nina’s the column of Nina’s throat. When her brain caught up to her movements and her sense of taste began to heighten the flavour of Nina’s skin exploded in her mouth and Rachel couldn’t stop the groan that built up inside of her.

The shock of suddenly tasting after her senses had been focused on smell disrupted the focus of Rachel’s synapses however, and as her lips and tongue continued to caress Nina she slowly came back to herself, pulling away from Nina violently when she realized that she was doing.

A moment later Rachel’s wide, shocked and mortified eyes automatically lifted to regard Nina.

Rachel’s hand lifted to cover her mouth, and before she was even aware she was forming words she began to profusely apologize. She’d never lost control of her abilities in this way before, but then again she’d never had so much to drink before. She was twenty-four, but her upbringing and her lack of social skills had kept her fairly sheltered, and while curiosity and peer pressure had led her to consume some alcohol when she was at University, it had always been in very small, very measured doses. She had drinks, but she’d never been drunk, which in retrospect was quite fortuitous since she suspected that the way she had been behaving with Nina could have gotten her into very compromising situations at school.

“Hey, listen to me,” Nina said interrupting Rachel. “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay. Your senses just got away from you bit. No harm was done. Actually, I like friendly drunks,” she continued, smiling widely when another blush touched Rachel’s cheeks. “And you’re very cute when you concentrate,” Nina went on, laughing softly when Rachel became even more embarrassed and looked down to hide her eyes. “Your mouth does this little thing,” Nina continued, lifting her hand to brush her thumb just below Rachel’s bottom lip.

A small shudder ran through Rachel’s body when Nina touched her, and though she desperately wished she could have controlled the reaction, Rachel sucked in a deep breath and then released it shakily. Nina’s touch had sent a rush of desire coursing through her body, and with her eyes still locked on Nina’s, Rachel was terrified that the reaction her body had to the small touch was written all over her face.

Nina drew her hand away from Rachel’s face, but smoothed it along Rachel’s arm comfortingly before she stopped touching the other woman. Rachel’s shiver, the shaky breath and the look in her eyes did not escape Nina’s notice and those reactions combined with the fact that Rachel had gotten quite handsy and more than a bit kissy when her senses ran away with her, left Nina with no doubt that Rachel was attracted to her.

The thought sent a flush of warmth through Nina, but she forced herself not to act on it. The truth was that she was attracted to Rachel too. Rachel was beautiful, though Nina knew Rachel had no idea how beautiful. But it was Rachel’s intelligence and her disposition that really drew Nina to her. Rachel was quick as whip, and despite how quiet she could be on occasion she was brave. She was kind and considerate, she was sweet, and perhaps most importantly to Nina, Rachel was honest. Rachel wasn’t Nina’s usual type, and when they first started working together she hadn’t looked at Rachel much beyond her first assessment of the other woman, but as they worked together and started to get to know each other, as their friendship grew and Nina came to trust Rachel, she’d begun to feel the stirrings of attraction for the other woman.

Now that she was certain her attraction was returned there was a strong desire in Nina to act on it, but she held herself back. For the first time in her life she was well acquainted with the person she was trying to get into bed. She knew that Rachel didn’t have much, if any, romantic experience and therefore realized that if whatever kind of relationship they ended up forming was going to avoid being a complete disaster, she was going to have to go a lot more slowly with Rachel than she was used to. As well, because it was Rachel she was dealing with, because it was someone she cared about, Nina wanted to be a bit more certain about what Rachel’s feelings actually were before things became more physical. Nina normally had excellent control over her abilities, but in the past, on a few occasions when she really wanted something, she had influenced people without realizing it, and she didn’t want that to happen with Rachel.

“I have good news and bad news,” Nina began, just controlling the urge to grin when Rachel with looked at her with trepidation. “The bad news is ... I’m far too drunk to drive you home. The good news is that I have extra pyjamas so you won’t be forced to sleep in the nude – though I have to say that I’m actually quite partial to that.”

“So, I’m sleeping over?” Rachel asked sounding confused, distracted and a little excited.

“I think it’s for the best,” Nina declared. “I’m not sure I’d trust you in a cab the way your senses have been going all haywire, and since I never have to pay for anything,” she continued grinning mischievously, “I don’t have money for one anyway,” she finished, shrugging with little concern before she rose to her feet. “Give your parents a call and I’ll wrestle up something for you to wear.”

Rachel nodded in response and Nina turned to walk to her bedroom, but before she could move more than a step away from the couch, Rachel’s fingers wrapped around her wrist halting her progress.

“We’re really okay?” Rachel asked softly as Nina looked down at her. “You’re really not mad ... about ... before?” she asked looking so worried and hopeful that Nina wanted to scoop her up in her arms and cradle her until the end of time.

“I’m really not mad,” Nina said gently. “You really are very cute when you concentrate,” she continued smiling softly, “and if I minded I would have stopped you,” she went on.

Nina held Rachel’s eyes pointedly for a moment after she spoke, and then she slowly bent down, giving Rachel time to pull away if she wanted to, before she tenderly brushed her lips against Rachel’s.

Rachel’s eyes were still closed when Nina pulled away from her lips, and Nina stroked her thumb across her cheek to get Rachel to open her eyes.

“You okay?” Nina breathed out.

Rachel nodded, blinking dazedly and Nina smiled down at her.

“I’m going to find you some clothes, we’ll watch something cheesy and horrible on TV, and in the morning when we’re both rested and sober we can talk. Okay?”

“Okay,” Rachel whispered, blushing again even as she offered Nina a shy smile.

There was a part of Rachel that desperately wanted to talk about the fact that Nina had just kissed her, but she was still drunk, her mind was fuzzy and she realized that it would be better to talk about what had happened when she was capable of keeping a thought in her head for more than three seconds.

“Don’t forget to call home,” Nina said as she straightened up.

Rachel had a happily dazed look on her face and Nina was thrilled to be the cause of it, but if Rachel didn’t call home her parents would freak out and she’d end up getting called into Lee’s office to explain herself which she really didn’t want to have to do given the romantic turn the night had taken.

“Oh!” Rachel exclaimed, blinking a few times, Nina’s words momentarily snapping her out of the pleasant fog she’d fallen into when Nina’s lips had first touched hers, “Right.”

Rachel immediately reached for her bag and began rooting through it and Nina smiled fondly, utterly charmed by Rachel as usual. Still smiling, Nina turned and quickly headed towards her bedroom. She didn’t know what the morning would bring for the two of them, but she knew that she would get to hold Rachel in her arms that night and she meant to make the most of it.

The End