Quid Pro Quo

by Sherryl Hancock

  “Really? How come?”

  “Well, she didn’t complain constantly, she didn’t get mean or nasty when things weren’t progressing the way we’d thought. She took everything in stride and with a lot of patience and understanding. We don’t get that a lot these days.”

  “Well, patient and understanding is definitely Kai. She’s really the most awesome person I’ve ever met, and believe me, as a military brat, I’ve met a lot of people. Kai just has a way that makes you feel okay, you know? Like nothing you do is really wrong, just different.”

  Finley smiled. It was obvious how much Cassiana loved her sister, and to inspire that kind of love and devotion in a teenager took someone pretty special. It was yet another point in Kai’s favor; they were stacking up a bit on that side.

  “It sounds like you two are close, and that’s really nice to see,” Finley said.

  Cassiana grinned. “She’s gonna be my only parent now, so we better be.”

  Finley chuckled. “It will help.”

  “Well, she’s in her bedroom. It’s back there, last door on the left. Can you tell her that I’m headed over to Xandy and Quinn’s? And that I promise to lock the front door this time.”

  Finley was surprised by the open invitation into the house and the request to pass on messages. She chalked it up to Cassiana’s youth and nodded. “Sure.”

  “Awesome, thanks!”

  Cassiana was gone a minute later, and Finley stood looking around the foyer of Kai’s house. She had to resist the urge to check it out, knowing she would be invading Kai’s privacy if she did anything but head back to where Cassiana had indicated. Walking down the hallway, she noted the dark hardwood floors and the wider baseboard and crown molding even in the hallway. There were pictures, photographs by Ansel Adams of the Grand Tetons in black frames, offset by the pale blue of the walls.

  Finley came to the end of the hall, where double doors stood open—the master. There was music playing; it wasn’t overly loud, but she could recognize Sia’s “California Dreamin’.” She poked her head around the corner and was sure she was going to faint. Kai lay on the bed wearing black yoga pants and a black jog bra. Her dark hair, which had been bound the entire time she’d been in the hospital, lay around her head on the pillow—there was a lot of it, and it looked long. Kai had her arms above her head, her long legs stretched out with one knee bent slightly, and she was asleep.

  Oh my God, she’s beautiful… Finley thought, and then suddenly there was barking and growling.

  She hadn’t noticed the very large dog lying on the bed to Kai’s left, or the huge black pit bull on the floor just two feet from her—but they’d noticed her. She froze. Both dogs were on their feet growling, and the pit bull started barking.

  “Hold!” Kai’s voice boomed out. She was now sitting up and looking over at Finley. “Hi, Doc,” she said, grinning.

  “Hi,” Finley said hesitantly, her eyes still on the pit bull, terrified.

  “Chip, down!” Kai commanded.

  The dog immediately sat, but he still growled, baring his teeth at Finley.

  “Um…” Finley said, starting to back up.

  “Don’t,” Kai said, moving off the bed and toward her. “Don’t back up, he’ll only follow you. Come here,” she said, holding her hand out to Finley, her eyes on the dog. “Chip, hold…”

  Finley took Kai’s hand and felt her tug her closer. Kai pulled her in so she was only about six inches away.

  “Know much about dogs?” Kai asked.

  Finley shook her head, her eyes still wide. She’d treated enough pit bulls’ bite victims over the years to have built up a very healthy fear of them, however.

  Kai smiled. “Okay,” she said, tugging Finley a little closer. “I can tell you that he would never attack you if you’re this close to me, alright?”

  “Okay,” Finley said tremulously. “But can’t they, like, smell fear or something?”

  Kai chuckled. “They can smell everything, Doc. Doesn’t mean they’ll eat you for it.”

  Finley bit her lip, not wanting to sound like a complete idiot in front of this woman, but she was completely out of her element.

  “Do you trust me?” Kai asked, her lips so near Finley’s ear that Finley shivered at the sheer closeness, as well as the words Kai had just uttered.

  Finley nodded. “Yes.”

  “Okay, so listen to me,” Kai said softly. “I want you to turn slightly to the side, facing me… Yeah, just like that… Now, I want you to put your right arm out, your hand palm down toward him,” she added, nodding toward the pit bull.

  “Okay…” Finley said, doing as Kai had told her.

  “Chip, come,” Kai commanded. “Now, easy, Chip,” she said softly.

  The pit bull walked the couple of feet between them and sniffed Finley’s hand, snuffling around it a couple of times, then put his head up under her palm, lifting it with his head.

  Kai chuckled.

  “What does that mean?” Finley asked.

  “It means, ‘My head itches, can you scratch it for me?’” Kai said, grinning.

  Finley laughed, rubbing the large head.

  “Go for behind the ears—they love that.”

  Finley did as instructed, using her nails. The pit bull let out a soft whimper and sighed, sitting down in front of Finley and staring up at her adoringly.

  “And now you have a friend for life,” Kai said. “Doc, this is Chip.”

  “Chip?” Finley queried, smiling at the dog and continuing to scratch his head while he panted happily.

  “He had a major chip on his shoulder when I got him out of the shelter.”

  Finley laughed. “Makes sense. So who’s this other handsome fella?” she asked, looking at the dog who was watching the action avidly.

  “That’s Digger,” Kai said, grinning. “Digger, come.”

  The dog with the beautiful light blue eyes jumped off the bed and walked over to Kai, looking at Finley with interest.

  “So, hold your hand out,” Kai said. “Just stand the way you are, though—you never face a dog straight on when meeting them for the first time.”

  “Why?” Finley asked.

  “To dogs it’s rude behavior. You’ll never see dogs greet each other that way—it’s actually confrontational to them.”

  “Oh.” Finley nodded. “Interesting.”

  Digger happily accepted her pets as well.

  “So, Digger?” Finley asked.

  “Yeah… for the gash he dug in my arm the first time we met,” Kai said, holding out her right forearm to show Finley the one-inch scar.

  “Ouch,” Finley said, looking back at the dog.

  “Tell me about it. He bit through my flak jacket and uniform shirt.”

  “Uhh…” Finley uttered as she hesitated in petting Digger.

  “Don’t worry, it was my fault.” Kai grinned down at Digger. “When we first met, I tried to touch him. He warned me off, and I just didn’t get it, so he bit me. We’ve forgiven each other since then,” she said, winking at the dog.

  Finley laughed softly. “I see.”

  “Okay, boys, stand down,” Kai said, grinning at the dogs, who seemed to know what that meant as they both moved off and went down the hall.

  Kai moved away then, sitting down on her bed and pulling one knee up to her chest, the other foot on the floor.

  “So, what’s goin’ on, Doc?” she asked, her dark eyes sparkling.

  Finley looked around the room, now seeing that the walls were a mellow sea green and there were more photographs, this time of the ocean and a rocky coastline.

  “Where are these from?” she asked, moving to look more closely at a beautiful shot of a wave that looked like a fan as it broke sideways in the surf.

  “They’re from the Mendocino Coast,” Kai said. “The photographer is John Klein. He does incredible work.”

  “Mendocino?”

  “Yeah, it’s north of San Francisco,” Kai said, giving her an odd look. “You’ve nev
er been up our coast, Doc?”

  “Mostly here in LA, unless you count college.”

  “Where was college?”

  “Cambridge, Massachusetts,” Finley said offhandedly.

  “So you went to Harvard?”

  Finley turned around, seeing the look on Kai’s face. It wasn’t the least bit surprised, but there was a definite light of appreciation. She walked over to the bed, sitting down facing Kai.

  “Yes,” she said. “For pre-med and medical school.”

  Kai nodded, definitely looking impressed. “Explains why you know your stuff,” she said, grinning.

  Finley smiled. “Speaking of which, how have you been feeling?”

  Kai narrowed her eyes slightly, noting that Finley didn’t seem to be interested in bragging about the college she’d attended. “I’ve been alright. Definitely tired though.”

  Finley nodded. “Yeah, that’s the general anesthesia we used for the surgery, and since we had you on the table for so long, it’s going to linger for a while.”

  Kai nodded, looking resolute. “I figured as much. Not really used to surgeries, so…”

  “Well, that’s good. Let’s try to keep it that way, okay?”

  “I’ll do my best—I really didn’t plan that last thing,” Kai said with a grin.

  “No one does. It’s crazy that we still have an appendix at all—it’s really a useless organ, basically just something sitting there waiting to create drama.”

  “Sounds like some women I know,” Kai said, smiling engagingly.

  Finley laughed. “Oh Lord, don’t I know it!”

  “I try to avoid those too,” Kai said, her eyes sparkling.

  “Probably a really good idea.”

  Kai nodded, looking into Finley’s eyes—there was that moment when they connected again, and Finley felt her heart lurch slightly. What the hell was it about this woman, for God’s sake!

  “So, can I take a look at your incision to make sure things are healing well?” she asked, desperate to break the moment with some kind of distraction.

  “Sure,” Kai said, having noted the sudden look of panic in Finley’s eyes and wondering about it, but willing to let her off without questioning her.

  Kai leaned back against the pillows so she was half sitting up. Finley gave her a pointed look, since the incision was actually below the waist line of her pants.

  Kai glanced down and realized what Finley was thinking. “Oh, sorry,” she said, grinning as she pulled down the right side of her pants to below her pelvic bone.

  As it was, Kai’s incredibly sculpted abs were distracting enough, but the very definite V of her pubic bone and the muscles that also narrowed into a V were just so much more. Finley was sure she was breathing far too heavily, and her heart was pounding.

  Kai lifted her right arm so Finley could see what she was doing.

  “Wow, on the bed and half naked in under ten minutes,” Kai said, grinning. “No one’s gotten me to third base this soon in a long time.” She winked at Finley with a playful look in her eyes.

  Finley couldn’t help but laugh. It was a rather odd situation and definitely sexually charged, considering her own thoughts. Forcing herself to concentrate, Finley checked the incision and was extremely surprised by how well it was healing.

  “Jesus, you have some kind of superhuman healing powers here, Kai,” she said, sounding as astounded as she felt. “Okay, does it hurt when I press here?”

  Kai shook her head.

  Finley touched a few more spots around the incision. Kai jumped slightly at one point.

  “Okay, so there, right?” Finley said.

  “Yeah, just a little sore.”

  “Well, that’s right at the panty line, so that’s going to rub a bit and take longer to heal, probably,” Finley said, not too concerned. She pulled Kai’s waistband back up. “All in all you look like you’re healing incredibly fast.”

  “Well, that’s good, I suppose,” Kai said.

  Finley hadn’t moved back just yet, so when Kai sat up, she was within an inch of Finley—and Finley noticed it instantly, as did her body, which lit up with anticipation. Kai’s face was just a couple of inches above hers; she saw that Kai was looking down at her, her eyes searching.

  “You seem nervous, Doc,” Kai said softly.

  Finley gazed up at Kai, her brandy-colored eyes bright, slightly wider than normal, her skin suddenly slightly flushed.

  Kai lowered her head, her lips next to Finley’s ear, her dark hair brushing Finley’s cheek as she said, “Do I make you nervous?”

  Finley couldn’t slow her breathing, because her heart was beating so quickly. She bit her lip, nodding slowly.

  Kai pulled back slightly, looking into Finley’s eyes, searching them. “Why?”

  Finley tried to think of something to say that would be funny and wouldn’t sound completely stupid, but nothing would come into her mind.

  Kai lowered her head again, this time her lips hovering just above Finley’s. Finley could feel her closeness and felt her breathing quicken again.

  “I don’t want to make you nervous…” Kai said, her lips brushing Finley’s.

  Finley felt Kai’s hand at her waist. It was gentle, her thumb brushing back and forth against Finley’s shirt, making her nerves jangle. She shivered.

  “Tell me why I make you nervous,” Kai said, her voice still very soft, her long, dark hair hanging around their faces like a veil.

  “Because…” Finley breathed, finally able to get a word out.

  “Because why?” Kai sounded like she really wanted to know, like this wasn’t just a game to her.

  Finley swallowed convulsively. She knew she shouldn’t say what was on her mind, but was unable to stop herself.

  “Because I want you so much and I don’t know why,” she said tremulously.

  Kai’s lips touched hers then, as if she’d been waiting for some kind of confirmation of Finley’s desire for her. The hand at her waist tightened. When Kai’s other hand came up, sliding behind her neck and pulling her closer, deepening the kiss, Finley felt her body melting and catching fire at the same time. Moaning softly against Kai’s lips, she slid her hands around that incredible waist, feeling the corded muscles there ripple in response to her touch.

  Lying back, Kai pulled Finley down with her, her mouth moving expertly over Finley’s, sucking, yielding, and then demanding. Finley slid her hands around to touch Kai’s stomach, up her chest to her shoulders, and she felt Kai’s hands moving down over her ass and pulling her body closer. Kai brought one knee up as she shifted Finley’s weight to her left leg so that Finley straddled her, her lower half pressing against Kai’s thigh.

  Kai deepened the kiss again, her hands sliding up Finley’s back and under her shirt, touching bare skin. Finley found she wanted Kai’s hands on her so much that she reached between them, pulling her shirt off. Kai’s hand at her back immediately unclasped her bra and slipped it off, then slid up Finley’s bare back, making both of them moan. Finley felt Kai’s hands move down to the waist of her jeans, and she was all too happy to unbutton them and pull them off along with her underwear.

  “I need to see this…” Finley said, sliding her hand over Kai’s torso again, looking into Kai’s eyes, heated and bright.

  Kai shifted her weight again, moving Finley off her, and sat up, her back to Finley as she pulled the job bra off and tossed it aside. Finley ran her hand up Kai’s back, admiring the sinewy muscles there.

  “My God, whose back actually looks like this?”

  Kai turned her head to the side, looking back at Finley with a grin. “Mine, obviously,” she said huskily.

  Finley continued to run her hand over Kai’s bare back, thinking the woman was unreal in her fitness. She’d never seen a woman with this much lean muscle, and it was so incredibly sexy she couldn’t believe it.

  “Did you want to see the rest, or…” Kai said, grinning.

  “Oh, yes, yes, please…”

  Kai stood
up, sliding the yoga pants and black underwear under them off, and Finley was fairly certain she was going to have a heart attack as Kai turned to face her.

  She moved to her knees, needing desperately to touch this dusky skin that looked so smooth. She slid her hands up Kai’s body from her waist to her shoulders, touching and grasping at muscles as she leaned in to kiss Kai’s skin at the collar bone, then her neck. She felt Kai’s hands on her bare back again, touching, caressing, and pulling her closer while she still stood beside the bed.

  Kai’s hands moved down Finley’s back again, grasping just below her ass, and lifted her, sliding Finley up her own body. Finley gasped at the extremely erotic movement and wound her legs around Kai’s waist as Kai took possession of her lips again, kissing her deeply, her hands slipping along the underside of Finley’s thighs, moving inward…

  Finley was trembling, and she felt her entire body coil in anticipation of Kai’s hands touching her. Kai did not disappoint. Her fingers found Finley’s wetness easily, moving against it, her mouth leaving Finley’s to slide down her neck, sucking at her skin, moving Finley against her so that Finley’s extremely hard nipples brushed up and down against Kai’s hard-muscled body. It was the most erotic thing Finley had ever felt, and when the tip of Kai’s finger slid inside her, she came immediately, throwing her head back in the pure animal pleasure that was coursing through her body.

  Still holding her, Kai moved to lay Finley on the bed and continued to kiss her. Finley pulled at Kai, wanting her weight on her, having never before in her life wanted a woman over her so much. Kai obliged by sliding her body between Finley’s legs as she moved upward, her lips going again to Finley’s neck, then down to her breasts. Her tongue circled tight, hard nipples, her fingers caressing her skin all the while.

  Finley wrapped her legs around Kai again, wanting to pull her in closer. Kai shifted so her lower half was against Finley’s, firmly pressing in all the right places as they began to move together. Moisture and heat met moisture and heat and before long they were both crying out and grasping at each other.

  Afterward, Kai slid her arms around Finley and lay on her back, pulling Finley with her.

  Finley reveled in the strength of Kai’s body. The fact that she could so easily shift the two of them with little or no effort at all was suddenly very sexy. She did her best to not think about the fact that Kai had just topped her, and what that could mean in terms of what Kai was like in a relationship.