A Touch of Murder

by Donna Raider

  “What is that racket?” Sara grimaced as she listened to the TV replay Adam’s words before he spit on the ground.

  “Oh, I knew it wouldn’t be long before some scholar translated what your brother yelled,” Amber said as she grinned sheepishly, “so I changed the words to pure gibberish. That should keep them busy for years.”

  Mika carried out the fresh pot of coffee and refilled everyone’s cup. After further discussion of how Adam should handle his reappearance, Adam and Amber left.

  “I actually have the day off today.” Jennifer smiled as she stood. “Want to share it?” She held her hand out to Sara. “Or do you need to return to the lab?”

  “I choose you.” Sara grinned as she accepted the outstretched hand. “Let’s go to my apartment. It is just an elevator ride away.” Jennifer nodded in agreement.

  Leah and Mika watched their children leave.

  “Spelunking, do I need any special clothing or gear?” Leah slipped her arms around Mika’s neck and pressed the length of her perfect body against Mika’s.

  “Just hold on tight, Your Majesty.” Mika smiled as she transported them. “You are in for a surprise.”

  “I love surprises.” Leah giggled like a schoolgirl.

  ##

  Leah lay in Mika’s arms on the soft sheepskin rugs. “The darkness in here is unbelievable,” Leah whispered as if someone might hear her.

  “No matter how dark it is, I will always find you.” Mika chuckled. Mika kissed Leah’s soft, full lips, deriving intense pleasure from the feel of her. “You feel so wonderful, so soft,” Mika said huskily. “I can’t even begin to describe the joy of holding you in my arms, of feeling you pressed against me.”

  Mika slowly kissed her way down Leah’s neck, paying intense attention to her full, firm breasts. “Mika,” Leah gasped as she tangled her fingers in Mika’s hair and pulled Mika harder against her.

  Ignoring Leah’s pleas, Mika kissed down Leah’s stomach, to her thighs. After caressing Leah’s breasts gently until she moaned loudly, Mika slid her hands down Leah’s sides, Mika’s touch gentle, but firm. The touch one uses to claim her mate. Leah whimpered as Mika lifted her hips, bringing her to meet Mika’s tongue and lips. “Please,” Leah pleaded.

  Leah felt Mika rise above her, on her knees, between Leah’s legs. Although the cave was black, Leah opened her eyes to see if she could make out Mika’s form. “Oh my gosh,” Leah hissed as she came face to face with her fire-breathing mate. Mika knelt on her knees, sending a steady stream of fire from her nostrils. Mika threw her head back and blew a stream of flames high into the cave, filling it with light. “I believe I have mastered this.” Mika grinned devilishly.

  Leah turned onto her stomach, rising to her knees to crawl away from Mika. She wanted a more complete view of Mika. Mika caught her, pulling Leah under her as Mika’s soft, smooth breasts covered Leah’s back. Mika reached around Leah and began to caress both her breasts as Mika buried her face in Leah’s long, soft hair and began to kiss the nape of her neck. “Please, Your Majesty,” Mika begged.

  “Oh, yes, darling,” Leah cried.

  As Mika took Leah in true caveman fashion, Mika threw her head back and once again filled the cave with flames. Leah cried out as Mika fulfilled her most primal desires.

  ##

  Leah lay with her head on Mika’s breast, listening as the pounding of Mika’s heart slowed to normal. Leah wasn’t certain her heart would ever return to normal. She finally got her breathing under control and propped herself up on her elbow. “Did you actually howl like a wolf?” Leah giggled.

  “I may have.” Mika gasped a ragged breath. “I remember feeling that was the only sound that truly expressed my supreme satisfaction. You, my queen, are unbelievable.”

  “I loved it!” A shudder ran through Leah as she recalled how her body had almost exploded with the voraciousness of Mika’s lovemaking. Leah had been ravenous for Mika and Mika had totally satiated her.

  Mika shifted, pulling Leah into her arms. “You seem to bring out the animal in me.” In the darkness, she kissed Leah’s smiling lips.

  Leah lay silently in Mika’s arms. This was all she asked of life, just to lay in her arms.

  “Mika,” she exhaled her name, “I have a shameful confession to make to you.”

  “Your secrets are safe with me, darling.” She pulled her closer. “What is it?”

  “Today, when I massacred those terrorists,” her voice was soft, but firm. “I loved it. I didn’t lose control or act without thinking. I knew exactly what I was doing.”

  Mika stroked her hair and kissed her lips gently. “I know. I was watching your face. It was dark, formidable, and so unbelievably beautiful. The wave of desire that swept over me almost brought me to my knees.”

  After a long silence, Leah spoke. “I don’t know how you can love me as you do. I pray constantly that God will keep me strong enough to control the wrath that sometimes flares up within me.”

  “Your determination to protect our family makes me love you even more,” Mika’s voice echoed in the cave. “You were terrifying and majestic. All I could think about was getting you in my arms. You awaken feelings in me that are uncontrollable. You arouse me more than you will ever know. I thank God for you every day.”

  “That is as it should be, my wife,” Leah said.

  Mika bowed her head and began to pray out loud to their God. The cave became more than their sanctuary, it became their place to meet and talk with their God.

  ##

  In Sara’s apartment, Dr. Jennifer Jordon pulled her fiancée into her arms and kissed her, searching for a salve for all the madness she had just witnessed.

  ‘Why don’t you shower and put on some pajamas?” Jennifer said softly. “I know you haven’t slept in days. You need to get some rest. I will be right here on the sofa if you need me.”

  “I’m fine.” Sara smiled. “I’m sure you have questions.”

  “Your mother is the most terrifying person I have ever met.” Jennifer exhaled the breath she had been holding forever. “She is frightening and daunting and intimidating and at the same time the most incredibly gorgeous, mesmerizing woman I have ever known.”

  “You’re not getting a crush on my mom, are you?” Sara teased.

  “No, no, I don’t even view her like that.” Jennifer tried to explain. “It’s like being in the presence of a powerful goddess. You are terrified and know you should run, but you can’t take your eyes off her.”

  “That is a very apt description of my mom.” Sara laughed. “Only as her child, you know all that fury is directed at the outside world and you are wrapped in a wonderful, protective cocoon.

  “Now you see why it is good to have Mika to assuage her. She is powerful beyond words and quick to act. She has a dark side that she fights every day. She is quick to rise up to protect us, but in all my life, her anger has never been turned toward us or Mika.”

  “Powerful beyond words,” Jennifer repeated to herself, “that is the understatement of a lifetime.”

  “The scary thing is that I can do anything she can do.” Sara frowned. “I just don’t, because I don’t know how to control all that power. It is one thing to have power; it is another thing to know how to wield it responsibly.

  “She has had a hundred years to master it. I have never even tried to use it. That is why we are going away for the summer. Mom and Mika are going to teach us about our powers and how to control them.”

  “You are not only immortal,” Jennifer said as she studied the face of the woman she loved, “you possess all the powers your parents have too?”

  “Yes,” Sara said softly. “So far, all my siblings do too.”

  They sat silently for a long time. “I think I will go take a shower,” Sara mumbled.

  Left alone with her thoughts, Jennifer began to sift through the events of the day. The attack on Adam. His mother’s wrath at those threatening to kill her son. Sara’s admission that she, too, possessed all that power. Fo
r the first time, Dr. Jennifer Jordon wondered what she was getting into.

  Sara returned to the living room, towel-drying her hair. She wore a T-shirt that read “Fast is Good.”

  “I am afraid to ask what that means.” Jennifer laughed as she ran her eyes down Sara’s long, golden legs.

  “Quantum physics. Rachel gave it to me.” The scientist grinned as she watched her fiancée’s obvious appraisal of her body. “See anything you like?” She knew she was stealing her mother’s famous line, but silently thanked her when she saw the effect it had on the other woman. Mika never stood a chance, she thought.

  “I like everything I see.” Jennifer smiled as Sara settled onto her lap.

  “After all you have seen today, are you going to run?” Sara’s electrifying blue eyes looked deep into Jennifer’s green ones.

  Jennifer’s eyes moved down to her lips and slowly pulled the woman into her arms, gently pressing her lips to Sara’s. “Wild horses couldn’t drag me away from you, Sara Cross. I love you. You are the most captivating creature I have ever met. Eternity with you would never be long enough.”

  Sara kissed the doctor slowly, caressing her lips with her own. Jennifer Jordon awoke feelings in her she never knew existed. She moaned as Jennifer slid her hand under the T-shirt and traced her body up to her full, taut breasts. Jennifer’s hands on her so intimately made her gasp.

  She kissed Jennifer harder, firmly tracing her full lower lip with the tip of her tongue. Jennifer opened her mouth and entangled her own tongue with Sara’s. Sara moaned as a feeling filled the pit of her stomach and engulfed her entire being. She ached for Jennifer but wasn’t certain how to relieve the glorious pain that was building between her thighs.

  “Trust me,” Jennifer muttered against her lips, “slow is so much better.” She kissed behind Sara’s ear and down her neck, coming to rest on her throat, where the pulse was pounding rapidly.

  Before Sara even realized what was happening, Jennifer pulled the T-shirt over her head and moved her soft, warm lips to the beautiful breasts of the scientist. Sara moaned and clutched Jennifer harder against her. “I’ve never…” Deep, demanding kisses cut off her concern as skillful hands continued to pay homage to her aching breasts.

  Jennifer slowly slid her hands down Sara’s side, coming to rest on her hips. They hesitated, then moved to stroke her thighs. This is the more she wants, Sara thought. She slipped from Jennifer’s lap and lay back on the sofa, pulling her fiancée on top of her. “I want this too,” she pleaded.

  Jennifer continued to caress and kiss her, moving her hands back up her body. Sara moaned as she realized Jennifer’s hands were moving away from where she needed them the most. “Then set a date.” Jennifer smiled against her lips. “This is all you will get from me until then.”

  “Please, Jen,” Sara begged.

  A tremor went through Jennifer’s body, as if it were being asked to do something totally against its owner’s wishes. She sat up and retrieved Sara’s shirt from the floor. “You better put this back on before I change my mind.”

  Sara lay with the shirt covering her breasts. She held Jennifer’s gaze for a long time then slipped the shirt over her head.

  “Come with us this summer,” Sara said as she sat beside Jennifer. “Spend the summer with me?”

  “Really?” the doctor asked. “You really want me to go with you and your family?”

  “Yes.” Sara smiled. “It will be wonderful. We will leave work behind and just get to spend time together, doing fun things, and we can learn more about my family, together.”

  “Is it okay with your parents?” Jennifer asked doubtfully.

  “Yes, Queen Mommy suggested I bring you.” Sara grinned. “She and Mika are going to teach us Survival 101. She said if you are going to be a part of this family, you should participate too.”

  Jennifer nodded slowly. “Is this going to be even more terrifying than what I have already witnessed?”

  “Probably.” Sara laughed.

  “Then by all means, count me in.” Jennifer inhaled deeply. “What do I need to bring?”

  “Nothing.” Sara smiled. “Just bring an open mind and lots of understanding.”

  “When will we leave? I need to make arrangements to take leave from the hospital.”

  “June first.” Sara’s eyes glinted with the delight of having her love with her. “I am so glad you are coming with me. I was dreading three months without you.”

  ##

  “It is your move,” Amber informed Adam, pulling his mind back to their backgammon game.

  “I am sorry, darling, I was just thinking about the DNA results. We are no closer to discovering the proof of Christ’s birth than we have ever been. Mika is certain it is Jesus’s DNA. I have to find Mary’s or one of her other offspring’s.”

  Amber smiled as he made his move and she easily beat him. She leaned forward and kissed him. “I am certain you are getting close.”

  Adam jumped as his cell phone disturbed the quiet of the apartment. He grinned broadly as his sister’s face appeared on his phone screen.

  “Hey, Sis. What’s up?” His grin widened. “I don’t know. Let me ask Amber.

  “Honey, Jennifer and Sara want us to go to dinner with them.”

  “I would love that.” Amber nodded. “We don’t need to go anywhere too public. You are supposed to be hiding somewhere in Africa, remember?”

  “You heard that,” Adam said to his sister. “Yes, Vincent’s should do nicely. Meet you in the lobby in fifteen. Love you, too, Sis.”

  “Let me get out of these jeans and into something more appropriate for dinner.” Amber walked toward the bedroom.

  He followed, but she stopped him. “You aren’t allowed in here yet.” Her smile was both mischievous and promising.

  He watched the bedroom door. He wanted her back in the same room with him. He gasped when she opened the door. She was wearing a dark green dress that hugged her beautiful body. Like her emerald green eyes, it seemed to shimmer in the light. “You are so beautiful.” He exhaled loudly. “You take my breath away.”

  She slipped into his arms and kissed him gently. He moaned as she moved her lips against his. He pulled her tighter against him. He loved her so much.

  “We need to go,” she whispered, her voice failing her.

  He nodded, reluctantly releasing her.

  ##

  “So you two are getting married?” Adam beamed at his sister as they slid into the booth at Vincent’s. “When?”

  “We haven’t set a date yet.” Jennifer frowned. “Your sister is difficult to pin down.”

  “Some women are like that.” He frowned slightly, glancing at Amber. She looked away, not wanting to answer the questions in his eyes.

  “Dance with me, Bro.” Sara stood, reaching for her brother’s hand. Once they were on the dance floor, she slid smoothly into his arms. “Oh, it is so good to dance with a partner that can lead.” She laughed.

  “Jennifer doesn’t take the lead?” He smiled mischievously.

  “She’s hesitant. I believe she isn’t certain what I want her to do,” Sara admitted.

  “Why don’t you just tell her?” Adam grinned as if he had solved all her problems.

  “You and Aunt Amber.” Sara looked at him questioningly. “Is it serious?”

  “I love her, if that is what you mean.” Adam smiled slightly. “But she seems to think it is just a young man’s infatuation.”

  “What do you think?” Sara tilted her head to look into eyes that mirrored her own.

  “I don’t think. I know,” Adam said emphatically. “I have loved her for as long as I can remember. Some of my very first memories are of climbing into her lap and leaning my head against her breasts.”

  “Really?” Sara chuckled.

  “Oh, no, not sexually. I leaned into her because I loved her. She would hug me tightly and call me her little man. I lived for that. Then when I hit puberty, it all changed.”

  Adam continued
, “I found myself daydreaming about her. The older I got, the more I needed to be in her presence. Then Bro told me how much he loved her, and I was devastated.

  “I knew I couldn’t hurt him, so I backed off. When he married Rebecca, it was like an answer to my prayers. After their wedding, I told Amber how I felt.”

  “What did she say?” Sara looked at him wide-eyed.

  “She cried.” Adam frowned. “She cried and ran away.”

  “She told Bro she loved him like a nephew and nothing more,” Sara said, recalling her brokenhearted older brother.

  “I know, but she didn’t say anything to me.” Adam grimaced, recalling the unhappy exchange. “She simply left the room crying.”

  “But now you are together, right?” Sara asked. “How’d you manage that?”

  “I just continued to call her Aunt Amber and act as if I had never mentioned my love for her and she did the same,” Adam continued.

  “I made a concentrated effort to be close to her. When the family got together, I sat by her, laid my head in her lap, or draped my arm across the back of her chair. I constantly did little things to let her know I loved her, without speaking of love.

  “She was always there for me, college graduation, when I received my doctorate, but always as an aunt, not a lover.”

  “And now?” Sara asked.

  “Remember the church auction?” Adam smiled as Sara nodded her head.

  “That was the first time I kissed her, and she kissed me back.” Adam grinned. “I am surprised you didn’t hear the angels singing.”

  Sara laughed out loud at the pure joy on her brother’s face.

  “I showed up at her door after that and asked her to tell me the truth about her love for me. She admitted she loved me.” Adam beamed. “I want to marry her, but she wants me to be certain. She said angels mate for eternity and that is a long time to love someone. I have seen her every night since then. Sometimes for only an hour, but I transport to her every night.”

  “At least you have found love with an immortal,” Sara said quietly. “I love someone I know I will eventually lose to death.”

  Adam looked deep into his sister’s eyes. “Then you should share every moment you can with her.” He raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Have the two of you…”