Winds of Fortune (26 page)

“Hi,” Deo said.

“Good evening.” Nita looked Deo up and down. Tonight, loafers replaced her work boots, and her navy blue polo shirt and tight blue jeans left nothing about her muscular body to the imagination. On impulse, she took Deo’s hand. “You look great.”

“So do you.” Deo kissed her lightly. “Better than great.”

“I’m starving,” Nita whispered, afraid if they didn’t move soon she would simply pull Deo down the path behind them and into her apartment. And then all pretense that they were doing anything other than preparing to vent their pent-up sexual frustration would be lost. She wanted her, and she couldn’t hide it. What she saw in Deo’s eyes convinced her she wasn’t alone. “Are we still going to dinner?”

“Yes.” Deo’s voice was hoarse. “We are.”

Nita nodded and fell into step as Deo led the way. At just before seven, the sun still held some heat and the ocean breeze was welcome. The streets were crowded, the atmosphere jubilant, and Nita realized she hadn’t been on a date—an evening out with a woman whom she found attractive and interesting—in years. Swiftly, she reminded herself that this wasn’t a date. She couldn’t allow herself to think otherwise.

“Are we going to Porto’s?”

Deo looked surprised. “Yes. You know it?”

Nita shook her head. “No, but Tory said it’s wonderful. That your family owns it.”

“My aunt and uncle on my father’s side.”

“What if I told you I wasn’t going to sleep with you tonight.”

Deo’s pace didn’t slow. “I’d tell you to try the lobster fra diavlo. It’s the house special.” She stopped as they turned a corner into one of the narrow side streets and pulled Nita around to face her. She kissed her, more deliberately than she had a few minutes before. “I’d tell you that I like to look at you. I think you’re beautiful.” She cradled Nita’s face and kissed her again, leaning into her until their bodies just barely touched. “I’d tell you that I want to make love to you so much I hurt, all the time, but if all you want is dinner, we’ll sit and talk over glasses of port until my cousin throws us out. Then I’ll walk you home and say good night.” Deo kissed her again, tracing her tongue inside Nita’s lower lip. Nita tasted sweet and warm. Then she pulled back and caressed Nita’s shoulders and down her arms. “So what are you telling me?”

“The very first time I saw you I imagined you touching me.” Nita stroked Deo’s face. “And every time since. I imagined it, but I didn’t want it. I don’t know what I want tonight.”

“Try the lobster fra diavlo.” Deo started walking again, Nita’s hand firmly in hers.

*

Lying on her stomach with Reese stretched out along her back, Tory thrust her hips up and moaned when Reese rocked against her. Reese’s cheek was damp against the back of her neck, and Reese’s grip on her hands was so tight her fingers ached. The weight of Reese’s body pinning her down was at once comforting and exciting. Tory held her breath, listening to Reese’s labored gasps, her own arousal at a fever pitch. Just when she was certain Reese would climax, Reese lifted up and away.

“Don’t stop, darling, I want you to…oh God.” Tory lost the words as Reese cupped her from behind, alternately entering and then stroking her. As Tory hurtled toward orgasm, she was dimly aware of Reese pressing rhythmically against her hip and whispering her name. “Inside me,” Tory moaned, “inside me…be inside me when I come.”

With a muffled cry, Reese pushed into her. As Tory slipped into orgasm, she sensed Reese follow. She held onto the pleasure as long as she could, sliding up and down Reese’s fingers, milking the rippling contractions until she collapsed into a boneless puddle. Reese groaned and rolled off. Tory spooned her backside into the curve of Reese’s stomach and sighed with contentment.

“I hate to be unoriginal,” Tory murmured, “but that was so good.”

Reese chuckled and moved Tory’s hair aside to kiss her neck. “Sorry it was so fast. I can’t seem to wait these days.”

“It wasn’t too fast.” Tory turned onto her back and cupped Reese’s jaw. “I don’t want slow and easy. I want to feel you everywhere at once, as deep inside as you can get. I need that too.” She kissed her. “Slow and easy will come when we’re both ready.”

“I need you all the time.”

“I’m not complaining.”

“Being away from you shook me up,” Reese said, her expression distant. “I was too busy all the time to really think about it, but nothing felt right. Inside. You and Reggie, you’re my reason for everything.”

“Before you had us, being a marine was everything.” Tory draped her leg over Reese’s and curled closer. “You wouldn’t have come here five years ago if you hadn’t been looking for something else you needed. I like to think it was us.”

“Believe me, it was.”

“Maybe it was so hard over there because you expected to feel the way you did about being a marine before you had us. I bet lots of the other marines felt just like you, being away from their families. You just never had any practice at it before.”

“I don’t think my father ever felt the way I did,” Reese said flatly.

“You can’t be sure of that, but if it matters, maybe you should ask Kate.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not him.” Reese pulled Tory on top of her and kissed her. “Maybe I’m not the marine I thought I was, but I’m so much more because of you.”

“Darling, you are a fine marine. And a wonderful lover. And a great mother. And a perfect partner.” Tory kissed Reese’s throat, then her breast, then down the center of her abdomen. She rubbed her cheek against Reese’s lower belly. “I adore you.”

Reese combed her fingers through Tory’s hair and lifted her hips to guide Tory between her thighs. “Take me slow and easy this time.”

“I’d love to,” Tory whispered, brushing her lips over Reese’s clitoris.

Reese closed her eyes and sighed as Tory drew her between her lips. Light as bright as rocket flares burst behind her eyelids as Tory tongued her, and the heat spreading through her belly and thighs was like the desert, scorching her. But this time she burned not with uncertainty and apprehension, but with the sure and certain knowledge of who she was and where she belonged.

Reese’s cell phone rang, and Reese cursed. She was seconds from orgasm. When she tried to twist and reach for it, Tory pressed a hand against her belly and held her down, relentlessly teasing her with her mouth and tongue.

“Baby,” Reese moaned as the phone continued to ring and the pressure became so intense her stomach spasmed. She was so close and she needed the release so badly. The phone kept ringing. “Baby I should…” Tory pushed down on her stomach and entered her with her other hand and Reese went rigid. In the next breath, she came.

When Reese opened her eyes, her face was pillowed against Tory’s breasts. She didn’t remember Tory moving, didn’t remember Tory pulling her into her arms. She didn’t remember starting to cry.

“It’s all right, darling,” Tory soothed, stroking Reese’s face. “I promise, everything is all right.”

“I love you.”

“Mmm, I know. That’s
my
everything.”

“The phone—I should check…”

“I know.” Tory leaned across Reese for the phone. With one arm around Reese’s shoulders, she handed it to her.

Still trembling from her orgasm, Reese checked the last number. “It’s Bri.”

“Delegate. I’m not done with you yet.”

Grinning, Reese called back. “Conlon.” Listening, she tensed and sat up. “I’ll be right there.”

“What is it?” Tory asked as Reese disconnected and stood up.

“Are you on call tonight?”

“No, Nita. Why?”

Reese grabbed her pants and pulled them on. “Because I might need someone to give an official time of death. Bri’s got medics working on someone right now.”

“Do you want me to come with you?” Tory got out of bed and pulled on her robe.

“No. Go ahead and get the baby. It might take a while to sort this out. I’ll call Nita if I need her.”

Tory kissed Reese. “You okay?”

“A lot better than I was an hour ago.” Reese kissed her again and hurried toward the hall. “You should go ahead and have dinner. I love you.”

“Be careful.” Tory sank down on the side of the bed, her body still craving Reese’s touch. Despite missing her already, her heart felt lighter. Reese had cried— something she almost never did. Tory couldn’t help but feel that these tears were just what they both needed.

*

“So?” Deo said. “What do you think?”

“I want to marry your aunt,” Nita said, after savoring another bite of fra diavlo. “God, this is good.”

Deo laughed. “Told you.”

“I definitely made the right choice.”

“You mean dinner over wild sex with me?” Deo teased.

Nita pretended to look thoughtful. “Well, I don’t suppose there are many women who could…cook like this.”

“That’s cruel.” Deo reached across the table and took Nita’s hand. “Don’t I get a reward for introducing you to this culinary delight?”

Nita regarded their joined fingers. Deo’s were rough, marred here and there by small nicks and scrapes, but her touch was amazingly gentle. Like the woman herself. She rubbed her thumb carefully over the scar on Deo’s hand, then she looked up to find Deo studying her intently. “What would you like as your reward?”

“To hold you,” Deo said instantly. “To make love with you. No rush. Just us. As fast or slow or hard or soft as we wanted. Jesus, Nita, please, I…”

“Shh. I don’t want you to beg.”

“I don’t mind,” Deo said. “And I have no idea why I don’t.”

“I don’t want that kind of power over you,” Nita said firmly. “I’ve been there. It doesn’t feel good.”

“Why didn’t you leave her?”

“Because she said she needed me,” Nita said bitterly. “Me and only me. Because I’d never been enough for anyone before, and she made me believe I was the only one who could make her happy.” She shook her head. “Pretty pathetic.”

“Did she make you happy?”

“No,” Nita said after a long moment. She took a breath, refusing to lie despite hating the truth. “But while she was inside me, owning me, telling me no one could ever take my place, I felt worthwhile.”

“That’s powerful,” Deo murmured.

“Yes.” Nita tried to pull her hand away, embarrassed, but Deo wouldn’t let her. “I was addicted to the way she made me feel. We’d been lovers on and off since I was twenty, but she could never admit to being a lesbian. I swore I’d stop when she got married, but she’d come to me, wild for me, and I couldn’t say no.”

“But you finally broke it off.”

Nita laughed bitterly. “I didn’t have much choice once everyone knew.”

“And she never called?”

“Oh, she called. She called for months, begging me to meet her. Just to talk. But I knew what would happen.” Nita filled her wine glass and swallowed deeply. “That’s a big reason why I took this job. A new place, far enough away so we wouldn’t bump into each other. Too far for a rendezvous.”

“Do you still want her?”

“No. No, I don’t.”

“Good.”

Nita smiled ruefully. “That’s it?”

Deo shrugged. “She had a hold on you. It happens. Sometimes I think it’s not the hold that hurts, it’s what people do with the power that it gives them. She wasn’t worthy.”

“You’re a very interesting woman, Deo. Why don’t you have a lover?”

“I…” Deo broke off, her face flushing as her cousin stopped at the table.

“Sorry,” Lucia said brightly. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. Can I take your plates and bring you some dessert or a little port?”

Deo looked at Nita.

“Dinner was wonderful,” Nita said, her eyes on Deo. “But I think I’ll pass on the port tonight.”

Deo grinned. When her cousin had collected the dishes and moved away, she asked, “Does that mean we’re not going to close this place?”

“Actually, I thought we might spend the rest of the…” Nita broke off as her cell phone rang. “Sorry. I’m on call. Just a second.”

Nita found her phone in her purse. “Hello? Yes. I’m sorry, where? All right, yes. About ten minutes.” She put the phone away. “I’m so sorry. I have to go.”

“Where?”

“The sheriff needs me down at the Coast Guard station.”

“I’ll walk you down.”

“No, I don’t think you should. I’ll be fine.”

“Why not?”

“Really, Deo. That’s not necessary.” Nita could tell Deo was going to insist and lying to her was out of the question. “There’s a body on the beach—probably a drowning. You don’t need to see that.”

Deo leaned across the table. “I don’t need you to protect me from anything.”

“Maybe not. But I want to.”

“You’re a very surprising woman yourself, Dr. Burgoyne,” Deo murmured. “Will you call me later?”

“Are you going home? The night’s still young,” Nita said, trying to sound lighthearted. She loathed the thought of Deo ending the evening in bed with another woman.

“Believe me, no one else will do.” Deo stood as Nita rose and kissed her. “And that’s not a line, or a power trip. It’s just the truth.”