“I’ll send a list to you via email. Just let me know what you need,” the witch offered
“Thank you. I truly appreciate what you are doing for us. We keep to ourselves quite a bit and it’s hard to handle on your own sometimes.” Nancy sighed softly.
Patting the older woman on the arm, Raelin reassured her. “You’ve got friends here, so use ‘em while you can.”
“Thanks. I’ve been keeping my personal life so locked away that’s it’s kind of freeing letting it out.” Shaking her head Nancy changed the subject, still a little uncomfortable talking about herself. “That Ariel is a little character, isn’t she?”
“Yes she is. I just hope that this didn’t scar her in anyway. I talked with her a little upstairs, and she seems to be alright.” The brunette smiled as Ariel chased Delaney around the car.
“She was very articulate about what happened and it seemed like they mostly left her alone. I still suggested that Mrs. Bell might want to take her to a child psychologist just in case. I hope I didn’t overstep my bounds. I’m not very good with kids,” Nancy admitted.
“I’m sure that you did fine and that Jessie appreciated your concern. Is there anything that we can do to help you at all?”
“You’ve already done more than enough. I have your numbers in case we need anything. I should actually be heading out soon, Emma wasn’t too impressed when I had to run out the door at four am to get here.” She chuckled.
“Can we send her anything to smooth your homecoming and your new house news?” Raelin wanted to help Nancy as much as she could. The older woman had done so much for her family.
“I think it would be easier if she sees the house. We’ve been looking around a lot lately. Maybe if she sees it first and then I tell her it’s ours, it will be easier. Would it be possible to arrange for us to go through it first?” she asked quietly.
“Wait here just a minute.” Raelin turned and went inside to her office, and returned a few moments later. “Here’s the keys and the address. It’s all yours so you can come and go as you please,” she handed them to the Director.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything for it? I can’t possibly take it for nothing,” Nancy said looking wide eyed at the keys.
Raelin shrugged. “I might have a job for you in the future, if you want to keep working. The casino is going to need a head of security that I can trust. If you’re ever interested, just let me know.”
“I will honestly think it over. Thank you again.” She smiled. “Looks like trouble is brewing though,” she said, nodding to where Jessie and Delaney stood, trying to placate a cranky, tired, and fussing Ariel.
“I better go see if I can help. Drive careful.” The witch waited until the Director drove off before she went over to the other car. “What’s up Sweet Pea?”
“I don’t wants to go,” Ariel cried, tears threatening to break out.
“Ariel, we need to go home. Daddy is going to be home soon and he’ll miss us,” Jessie pleaded knowing that Ariel was just tired.
Kneeling down in front of the little girl, Raelin smiled. “You haven’t seen your Daddy in a long time, and he’s been missing you very much. Why don’t you go home and spend time with him, and if you’re really good, maybe Mommy and Daddy will bring you back for a visit real soon.” She reached up to brush golden hair away from Ariel’s face.
“But who is going to help Aunt Delly put bad guys in jails?” she sniffed.
“Kasey and Mr. Douglas and Mr. Michaels will help me baby. You need to go home or your Daddy is going to be lonely,” Del said, her hand resting on the top of Ariel’s head.
“Buts I can visits again?” she asked earnestly.
“You can visit as many times as Mommy says that you can. Did you remember to get Dudley?” Raelin knew that Ariel would be quite upset if she left her stuffed dragon.
“Yeps, he’s in the car next to my seat,” she sighed, knowing there was no getting her own way this time. “Can yous tell Kite thats I will comes to visit her when she is older?”
“Who is Kite, Ariel?” Raelin looked up at Delaney and Jessie in confusion.
The toddler looked at them confused. “She is the little one. She is grey with extra fingers. Her words aren’t very good yet. I asked Mr. Rori why and he says it’s ‘cause she is a baby.”
“Did you speak to her?” Delaney asked gently.
“Yeps, but she couldn’ts says much. Hungry, and sleepy. The other ones couldn’t speaks at all,” Ariel explained.
“We will tell her Sweetie. I promise. Now you get Mommy home safely and don’t forget to call us.” Raelin smiled at the little girl. She may not be able to carry a child, but she loved this little one like she was her own.
“Okays. Loves you Raelin.” She smiled, wrapping her arms around Raelin’s neck, hugging her tightly.
“Aw baby, I love you too.” The witch hugged her back.
“You toos Delly.” Ariel giggled, reaching up to tug the older blonde into a group hug. “Loves you too.”
“I love you too Munchkin. I love you both,” Del whispered hugging the toddler and her wife close.
Jessie watched with a smile as Ariel said her goodbyes. “Okay Ari, time to get going.”
Standing up, Raelin stepped back. “Give us a call once your home. And please think over my offer.”
“I will Raelin. I promise.” Jessie smiled, getting Ariel settled into her seat. She turned back to the two women standing next to the car. “Thank you, for everything. For getting her back, and just, everything.”
“I’m so very sorry that she had to go through this at all. Please let us know if you need anything at all.” Raelin offered.
“I will,” she hesitated for a moment before reaching out to hug the witch. She pulled away with a smile and then gave Del a long hug. “And thank you for keeping her safe.”
“No problem. Drive safe and say hi to Mike for me.” Del grinned.
Jessie pulled away and got into the car, honking the horn as she pulled out of the driveway.
“Guess it’s just you and me now huh,” Del said, watching as the car moved down the road.
“Yup...What do you think about her talking with one of the kittens?” Raelin turned to her wife.
“I have no idea. What was it like when you first met Rori? He would have only been young at the time right?” Del asked, reaching up to curl her finger around the end of some of Raelin’s hair.
“He was into everything and drove Momma up the wall talking to me when she was trying to teach me something. You should have seen them the day that they finally had it out. Rori was on the back porch rail pacing back and forth while Momma stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips. I have no idea what was said, but after that they got along pretty well.” The witch smiled as she remembered.
Del laughed lightly as she saw the image in her mind. “I imagine he was quite a handful. Hopefully, this Kite will be a little more tame. Ariel doesn’t need any more encouragement.”
Reaching out, Raelin drew Delaney up against her. “I’m sorry about before. I didn’t have any reason to get mad at you, and I don’t have an excuse.”
“Well, it’s been a long couple of days. I probably shouldn’t be throwing the sarcasm around as much as I have. Let’s just chalk it up to everyone being on edge and move on.” She smiled, loving the feel of her wife’s curves against her.
Looking down into sparkling green eyes, the witch smiled. “I want you to tell me exactly how you feel. Are you sore or hurting anywhere?”
“My eyes are still a little sensitive. That’s why I keep squinting so weirdly.” She chuckled. “What’s left of the cut above my eye twinges if I make the wrong face. Aside from that, it’s just the standard aches and pains that come with sitting in a chair for a day or more. You did a pretty good job making me feel better babe.”
Lifting up her hands Raelin placed them over Delaney’s eyes and concentrated. “So where do you want to go on vacation? I personally wouldn’t mind see
ing you on a sandy white beach in a tiny string bikini...it would need to be a private beach.”
“Spain? Or maybe somewhere in South America?” Del smiled, feeling the ache in her eyes recede.
“You know we can just rent an island if you want. There are some in the Bahamas that are privately owned and are rented out,” Raelin murmured as she ran her fingers over remains of the cut.
“An entire island?” Del chuckled, humming as she felt the warmth and tingle of Raelin closing the last bit of her cut. “Raelin, those islands usually go out to politicians and corporate big wigs.”
Leaning forward to kiss Delaney’s eyebrow, Raelin murmured, “We are corporate big wigs, and I have the perfect place to go. Trust me to set it up?”
“Trust you always.” Del grinned, opening her eyes to catch Raelin’s gaze. “We’ll have to wait until I get everything settled back down at the department, but I think we’ve earned a vacation don’t you?”
“It’s gonna take a little while to get the Nook back up and running, and maybe by that time, you will have the Department back in order. Let’s plan for a month from now.” Raelin ran her hands down the blonde’s side, making sure that she didn’t have any sore ribs.
“Mmm, I missed these magic hands,” Del purred, feeling her aches melt away. “A month from now is fine. I’ve never been on a vacation before. Any traveling I ever did was for work.”
Reaching between them to start unbuttoning the blonde’s shirt, the witch murmured, “I’ve never been on vacation with anyone other than my mother. I can so go with you,” she slowly began to run her lips down Delaney’s neck and collarbone.
“You haven’t forgotten that we are standing in the driveway right?” Del murmured as she let Raelin play. Her own hands moved to rest on Raelin’s waist, holding her close as she savored the quiet moment with her wife.
“Yes, and I know that we don’t have a neighbor around for miles.” Raelin wiggled her eyes brows. “But if you want a nice, soft comfortable bed.” Quickly the witch leaned down and picked up her wife in a fireman’s carry. “I’ll have us up there in just a moment. Hang on.”
Squealing in delight Del laughed as Raelin lugged her through the house. “You brute!” she joked as they trekked up the stairs.
~ ~ ~ THE END ~ ~ ~
~About the Author~
Jennis Slaughter was born in Florida in the late fifties and was told by her mother that she was always overly dramatic. When Hollywood didn’t beckon, she turned to writing stories in her head. Once she spoke with another online author, she was encouraged to start writing on her own and the rest to say is history. She prefers writing mysteries and drama and has been called ‘The Angst Queen’ more than once. She is a firm believer in happy endings and true love.
If you have enjoyed the novel INTUITION please go back to where you purchased it and leave a review, each review helps others decide whether they may read or purchase the author’s work.
Please look for Jennis Slaughter’s next novel from Shadoe Publishing: A SISTER’S WISH We have the first chapter here for your enjoyment.
~ Preface ~
The throbbing of her swollen eyes and the sting of her split lip dragged the young woman from her unconscious state with a moan. She was trying to raise her head when a hand roughly grabbed her hair and yanked upright.
“Hey! It looks like she’s waking up,” a rough voice came from behind her.
The brunette tried to protest but another man walked into view to punch her face again. “You need to tell the man what he wants to know and then we’ll stop hurting you.”
As she brought her head back around the woman spit out a mouthful of blood that landed on the shoe of the perfectly dressed man who was supervising the beating. “You can forget it. You’ve arranged for the deaths of American service men and women. You’ve turned over Governmental secrets and had my sister beaten half to death. And now you think that I’m going to tell you what I did with all of the evidence. You’re dumber than you look Congressman, and that’s pretty dumb.”
The man that she was speaking to shook his head as he was reaching inside his jacket pocket. “It’s too bad. You were an attractive woman who thought that she was pretty smart… now you’re just dead.” Pulling out a pistol, he handed it to the other man. “Kill her.”
The woman’s eyes went wide for a brief moment before a shot rang out and then everything went to black.
~ Chapter 1 ~
“There are some places that sand should never be,” Chief Petty Officer Sydney Martin complained to herself as she stood underneath a showerhead trying to clean off sand and grime from her recent mission. In the next breath she was being thankful that they had hot water on base as she would really hate to bathe in ice cold water.
She was rinsing the conditioner from her hair when a sharp pain exploded in her chest causing her to drop to her knees and gasp for air. “Sasha...” Immediately an image of her twin sister in Canada filled her mind. Something had happened, and whatever it was it was bad. Still on the floor she concentrated on catching her breath and easing the ache that remained.
Slowly she made her way back up on her feet and finished up. Turning off the water, she grabbed the towel that she had slung over the partition and began to dry herself off. Going to stand in front of a mirror, she took a critical look at her body. Standing at five foot seven and three quarter inches tall with short brown hair, she still had a six pack abdomen and was in fighting shape which was a good thing as she was one of the very few female SEAL members, and her naturally tanned skin did show some mementos of her close calls in the form of knife scars, bullet and shrapnel wounds.
Rubbing her chest where the pain had emanated from, Sydney closed her eyes and concentrated on her twin, but as usual they were too far from each other for her to pick up on anything. She and Sasha had discovered early on that they could pick up on the other emotions from about a thousand miles away from each other, but it took something extremely intense to get half way around the world. And she knew that getting time on the satellite phone would be close to impossible as you had to reserve it in advance.
Shaking her head, Sydney finished drying off and got dressed. Brushing her short hair into order, she headed out.
Petty Officer First Class Gus Warren spotted his fire team partner exit the shower tent and grinned as he snuck up and ruffled her hair. “Hey Sweet Pea! Finally get that sand out? Took me ages. I think Master Chief just made us lay on that beach for the night just to fuck with us,” he chuckled.
“Watch it Gussie... Master Chief hears you say that and he’ll have you doing sit ups in the surf again, and you’ll have sand in places no woman has ever been before,” Sydney joked back to her friend. She rubbed the tattoo of a pea pod on the inside of her left wrist. Her team mates had given her the Sweet Pea nickname as soon as they caught a glimpse of it one night when they were doing the rounds at bars.
Gus noticed his partner rubbing her wrist anxiously and put a gentle hand on her arm to pull her to a stop before they walked into the mess tent. The whole squad was like a small family and they were all aware of the close relationship the woman shared with her sister. “Hey Syd, everything okay?” he asked quietly.
The brunette shook her head. “I don’t know Gus. I felt something a few minutes ago that was as painful as anything I have ever felt, and I have the feeling that something is terribly wrong.” Sydney took a deep breath. “It’s probably nothing. I bet that Sasha is trying to work out a problem and hit her hand against the wall again. It’s a wonder that she hasn’t broken bones before,” she tried to joke off the uncomfortable feeling.
“Sometimes I wonder if that sister of yours should have been a SEAL herself the way she hunts out answers to those techie problems of hers.” He smiled, knowing that Sydney would open up when she wanted. “Oh! Master Chief wanted me to tell you that we get to go back to main camp the day after tomorrow thank God. Six months of almost nightly recon is more than enough.”
“Lord
knows Gussie, it’s the only action that you get at night.” Sydney headed towards the chow line to help herself to some pasta with vegetables. She had to keep up her energy and carbs with all the training and missions that they had been going on.
As she reached for some juice, she hoped that whatever was wrong with Sasha was as simple as she hoped. She hated being so far away, but protecting her country and loved ones had always been something that she was serious about and the loneliness that she put up with was well worth it in her mind.
“No thanks to you, by the way,” Gus poked back, trying to keep his partner distracted. He knew whatever she’d picked up was eating at her, but he needed her mind as much in the now as much as possible.
“I have taste Gussie. I’ve seen you in your underwear and I still have nightmares about it. I can’t understand why all the girls at home go wild over you.” Sydney laughed as she carried her tray over to a table and sat down to eat.
Plopping himself in the chair across from his fellow SEAL, he let out a loud laugh as he carefully set his tray of steak and potatoes down. “Hitting where it hurts again I see.”
“From what I could see the girls need a magnifying glass, but I’ve heard that the size doesn’t matter... it’s how it’s used, but that still confuses me because I’ve also seen you dance,” the brunette joked back. Gus was her closest confidant within their team as he knew of her sexual preference and had even gone the distance to pretend that they were lovers to keep the rumors at bay.
“Oh my love, such sharp words,” he gasped clutching his chest, but before he could say more he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder.
“Well, hey there guppies. Heard you guys had a good night on the beach while us Rangers actually got shit done last night.” The tall Ranger laughed.
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