Wrapped With a Bow

Queenie strolls in, spots a fancy box by the door, and pops it open. Inside there's a riddle card. Zariah's handwriting? Bingo. Queenie smirks and starts trailing candy-striped clues from the hall to the kitchen, then down the stairs. Each note drops another hint that ends with the word “forever,” not that she needs it spelled out. At the bedroom door she stops, covers her mouth, and almost laughs. Zariah is sprawled on the sheets like a Christmas present gone wild: nothing but miles of shiny red ribbon looped around every curve. Queenie crawls onto the mattress and unties the first knot at her girlfriend's ankle, then another at the knee, lips brushing skin every time ribbon whispers free. Ribbon piles up in forgotten coils while her fingers move lower, hotter, hungrier. When the last loop slides off Zariah's wrists, Queenie pulls her in—bare skin to bare skin—and gives her brand-new fiancée the kind of kiss you remember years later.