by Ronica Black
“God yes! More.”
Ashland lashed her again and again, and Maria watched in a trancelike state as the woman’s nipples darkened and hardened with every single lash of the flogger.
“You like the pain?” Ashland asked, taking pause. Her own body was covered with sweat, sleek and writhing. She held out her hand toward Maria.
Maria didn’t move.
Ashland looked at her. “Come.”
Maria took a breath. Then another. Her chest shook. She was amazed that her heart was still beating even though she could feel it in her ears.
She thought again about leaving, about turning tail and running. But she’d come alone for a reason. This was what she needed to see. The real Avery Ashland.
Maria took a step forward. Then another. She took Ashland’s hand and found it hot against her fingers. Ashland tugged her into her and turned to face the bound woman.
“Look at her,” Ashland said. “See how much she’s enjoying this? She loves this. The pain, then the pleasure. One nearly right on top of the other.”
Ashland leaned into her and ran a hand down her bare arm. “She’s had some pain. Let’s give her some pleasure, shall we?”
Ashland snapped her fingers and then returned her hand to stroke Maria’s arm.
The two other women hurried to the bound woman and lowered to their knees. Maria’s breath hitched as she watched them lick and kiss their way up her inner legs. When they neared her wet, red center, they nibbled and sucked, and Ashland whipped the flogger next to Maria.
“You want to come?” she called out.
The bound woman struggled for breath. “Ye-es. Yes.”
“How badly?”
“So bad. So bad. Please.”
Maria stiffened and Ashland stopped to speak in her ear. “Give it to her, Detective. She’s about to die for it.”
Maria shook her head. “But what—” She felt the flogger handle press into her palm. She looked down. Ashland was hugging her from behind. She gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her arm back. Maria gasped as Ashland whipped her arm forward and the straps of knotted leather struck the bound woman across her chest. The woman cried out, and the women at her center attacked her delicate flesh with hungry mouths.
“Again,” Ashland said. She pulled Maria’s arm back, and they struck the bound woman again. Maria trembled. She shook. She vibrated from the inside out.
And then she got wet.
Again, they lashed her.
Again.
And again.
Maria let out a noise, and Ashland released her to lash on her own. The bound woman begged, pleaded, writhed, and struggled. Maria lashed her again, watching the heads bob at her center, the tongues sneak out and flick her red flesh. She lashed her again as she came and watched as she pulled her restraints so hard the veins in her neck bulged. Moaning so loud, Ashland laughed, and a deep grunt that came from somewhere guttural escaped Maria. The woman moaned and cried out and yanked and pulled, and then, with one last spasm, she went limp and hung like a wet sack of bones.
The other women rose and kissed her and sucked on her breasts. They began releasing her from her cuffs, and Maria blinked back into reality and dropped the flogger. She turned and pushed past Ashland and covered her mouth with her hand.
Her whole body was afire and she could feel her own wetness soaking through her panties.
“Enjoy yourself, Detective?” Ashland was at her ear again.
Maria shook, unable to move or voice words.
Ashland led her away from the landing to a nearby room with a locked door. She slid in the keycard and tugged her inside.
Maria walked zombie like to the luscious looking king-sized bed and stood eye to eye with Avery Ashland.
Ashland didn’t smile, didn’t grin. She slipped off her mask and touched Maria’s face. Maria didn’t speak, didn’t move. She couldn’t. All she could do was fight to breathe. And then it happened. Ashland cupped her jaw and pulled her in for a kiss. A long, sensual, seeking kiss. One that caused Maria to rise to her tiptoes and groan. And instead of pulling away, Maria kissed her back, this time seeking with her own tongue and sucking with her own lips.
Ashland responded by cupping Maria’s ass and scratching up her dress to reveal her panties. She lowered them quickly and tossed them aside along with her kitten heels. Then she walked Maria to the floor-to-ceiling mirror and stood behind her.
“I want you to look at yourself,” she said softly. “While I make you come.”
Maria reached up and wrapped her arm around Ashland’s neck. “Hurry.”
Ashland inched up her dress once again and licked her ear as her fingers toyed around the edges of Maria’s flesh.
“Hurry,” Maria breathed. “Dear God, hurry. Before rationality comes rushing back to me.” She was about to bolt and about to crumble. Which one remained up to Avery Ashland.
Ashland groaned in her ear and slid her fingers into her flesh, causing Maria to nearly jump out of her skin. “Ah, fuck!” She clung harder to Ashland and watched her hand circle around in her flesh in the mirror.
“Faster,” Maria said.
Ashland moved faster, stronger, playing her like the most beautiful of instruments. She framed her engorged clit and moved up and down and then covered it in a circular motion. She played Maria as if she were her puppet, making her call out and rise to her tiptoes and then buckle down and groan as her knees shook.
“Fuck,” Maria said. “Avery, fuck.”
“Look at how beautiful you are,” Avery kept saying. “Do you see it? Tell me you see it.”
“I see it,” Maria said. She clenched her eyes. The pleasure too great. “I’m coming.”
“Open your eyes, lovely. Open.”
Maria opened her eyes and then burst with orgasm, coming in Ashland’s hand and against her strong body. Ashland stroked her like a magician and swirled her tongue in her ear. All the while whispering to her how beautiful she was.
Maria clung to her, head thrown back, feet pushing against the floor, knees trembling. She turned at last and held fast to her tie, then her pants as she sunk to the floor. Ashland knelt and scooped her up with relative ease and walked her to the bed. She placed her gently down and covered her with the duvet. Then Maria felt another kiss and opened her eyes.
Oh God, what had she just done?
Chapter Eighteen
Avery backed away from the soft kiss and searched Maria’s face. And just like that, in the flash of a split second, her look of spent desire was gone, replaced by what looked like fear sprinkled with regret.
Avery sighed and crossed the room. She pulled on a satin robe and made herself comfortable in a chair at the foot of the bed.
“Now is where you run, feeling shame and regret.” Avery fumbled in the pocket of her robe for her cigarettes. When she found the case empty, she threw it across the room.
“It was a mistake,” Maria said, rising to a sitting position. “I shouldn’t have let it happen.”
“Let what happen? Desire? Want? Need? Don’t you ever give in to yourself, Detective?”
Maria swung her legs over the side of the bed. “That’s really none of your business.”
“You’re right, it isn’t. Only you give the answer away with every shuddering breath you take, every blink of your hungry eyes, every rise to your toes when we kiss. You aren’t that difficult to read.”
“Neither are you,” she bit back. “This was obviously just a game. One played to conquer me after you found out about my last encounter. You were jealous.”
“Jealous? Ha! I don’t do jealous.”
“Bullshit.” Maria stood and gathered her clothes. Avery watched hungrily as she dressed.
“You don’t have to leave,” Avery said. “Don’t you want to stay a while, relax in your sweet bliss?”
Maria slid her dress on and struggled to zip up the back.
“I don’t have time to relax.”
“And yet, you’re here.” Avery rose and zi
pped her dress for her. “Might as well stay.”
“I have work to do.”
“Isn’t that what this is? Work? Because I know you didn’t come to fuck.”
Maria stiffened.
“Surely you came to investigate some more.”
“So what if I did?”
Avery shrugged. “I don’t have a problem with it.”
“I thought you did. At the station, you seemed rather sure. And according to your lawyer—”
“Fuck Bruce. He’s an idiot. I do as I please.” Avery felt unnerved at the mention of Bruce and the case. It brought reality right back in, smacking her in the face. In her fantasy, she had Maria all to herself, the goddamn Hale Medley case blown away in the wind, never to re-form and reappear again. But she was a fool to fantasize. And Hale was far from gone. The bastard.
She moved to the door and opened it.
“Where are you going?” Maria asked.
“To my home. I need a drink.” She took a step and paused. “You coming?”
Maria seemed to hesitate but then followed. Avery led the way and they bypassed more women in dark corners, in dark beds, moaning and laughing. Neither looked inside, and when they reached the elevator, they rode in silence.
“You seem uncomfortable,” Avery finally said as they entered the penthouse. “I can give you a change of clothes.”
“No, thank you.”
“Please,” Avery said, offering her a seat on the sofa. She flicked on a soft light and headed for the bar where she made them both a drink. She smiled sincerely when she handed Maria her glass and sat across from her. “Are you cold?”
Maria sat tightly, arms held to her body. Avery gave her the soft throw her nieces loved to use. Then she settled back down and sipped her drink. Maria toyed with hers as if she were afraid to take too big a sip.
“Do you mind if I smoke?” Avery asked, eyeing a case on the coffee table.
Maria glanced up at her with obvious surprise. “You mean you actually care if I do?”
Avery laughed softly. “I’m asking, aren’t I?”
“What a surprise. And yes, I do mind. It bothers me. Gives me a headache.”
Avery sighed. “I’ve got to find a new vice.”
“You mean other than women?”
Avery raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you ask me what you really want to ask?”
“And now you’re offering to talk about Hale. Are you feeling okay?” This time Maria raised an eyebrow.
“Somehow I was hoping Hale wasn’t on your mind. Silly me.”
“He is. He always is. I want to know who killed him and why. I won’t stop until I do.”
“I believe you.”
“I wish I could believe you, Avery.”
Avery paused, cool glass to her lips. She said nothing.
“I know you’re lying. About a lot of things, in fact. And if you were innocent, I would think you would want to come clean about everything, so you could move on with your life. Free of the police.”
Avery crossed her legs and caught the light scent of Maria’s flesh on her hand as she sipped her drink. It shot straight to her core where it ignited and burned. She wanted her again, and she wondered if the hunger for her would ever die.
“Maybe I don’t want to be free of you, Detective.”
“So you would rather obstruct justice, just to keep me coming around?”
Avery laughed but shifted a little under her penetrating gaze. “There are things you don’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Again, Avery shifted. She felt hot, stifled. “I can’t.”
“Tell me about Lana. She your lover?”
Avery forced a smile. “I think you know the answer.”
“I want to hear you say it.”
“Sometimes, yes.”
“For how long?”
“Years.”
“Why not settle down?”
Avery sipped her drink and played with the ice in the glass. “She’s not what I’m looking for.”
“So she’s only good enough to fuck and commit murder with?”
Avery pegged her with a serious stare. “There she is. That little hellcat is back.”
“Answer me.”
Avery sighed and thought about her earlier encounter with Lana and the way she’d seemed so scared and cowardly. And how she’d said she was going to give them her alibi. She was caving and fast. And there was no doubt she was going to leave Avery in the dust behind her.
“To tell you the truth, Lana is a bit of a roller coaster. She’s hot one minute, the next a cold, rambling fool. I can’t trust her with anything important. She can’t keep a secret. She’s rather a shitty friend.”
This time Maria shifted but remained silent. She wanted Avery to continue.
“She lies. Does whatever she can to save her own ass or to make sure she gets ahead.”
“Some have said the same about you,” Maria said.
Avery heated. “Really?” She wanted to know who, demand to know who, but it would only prove her point. “I guess I’m not surprised.”
“We know Lana was with Hale the last night he was seen alive.”
“Yes.”
“So you knew?”
“Let’s just say I’m not surprised.”
“We know she left in a limousine, chartered by her and that no one saw Hale after he climbed into that vehicle. So if she was with Hale and therefore not with you as she’d previously said…where, may I ask, were you, Ms. Ashland? Did you meet them somewhere?”
“That would make it all so easy, wouldn’t it?” She set down her empty glass. “No, I did not meet up with them. I was here. All evening.”
“Why not say so from the beginning?”
“Because Lana needed for me to say otherwise.”
“I thought Lana was a shitty friend?”
“She is. I, however, am not.”
“Oh, how noble. You lie to the police for someone you don’t even respect.”
Avery itched for a smoke. She reached for the case and fumbled with it, wanting desperately to inhale and exhale the pressure away.
“Can you prove you were here, Ms. Ashland?”
“My surveillance should prove it.”
“Yes, well, we’ve had some issues with the recordings. They seem to be ruined.”
“Ruined?”
“Yes.”
She stood and crossed back to the bar where she made another drink. This one stronger.
“I know nothing about the recordings.”
“What about the photo found in Hale’s wallet? Why did you threaten him?”
“My threatening Hale has been no secret. Just as it’s always been well known that he’s threatened me as well. We went back and forth. Whenever his mouth or his hands got him in trouble. As for the photo. I don’t know why he kept it.” She took large sips of her drink and removed her robe, growing hot. She moved back to the couch and saw Maria glance away.
“Glad you like the outfit.”
Maria cleared her throat. “You’re going to have to prove your alibi.”
“Why? I think Lana is in deeper than me.” She sat, this time next to Maria who shifted. Avery placed a hand on her leg. “Why don’t we stop talking for the evening and start enjoying each other once again?”
Maria stared at Avery’s hand. “I don’t think so. I think I should leave.”
“Did you get the answers you wanted, then?”
Maria stood. “I’m afraid not.”
“You can’t possibly think me capable of murder.” Avery searched her face, incredulous.
“I don’t know what to think. And frankly, that scares me to death.”
“You just gave yourself to me. You wouldn’t do that if you thought I was a killer.”
“I…haven’t been thinking…” She shook her head. “It was a mistake. It went too far.”
“So you still see me as a killer?” Avery stood in front of her.
Maria looked away. �
�I don’t know.”
“Jesus, Maria, look at me.”
“I can’t. I need to go.”
“Will you ever see me as a normal human being?”
Maria stopped and stood very still. “No. Because you are anything but.”
She straightened her shoulders and walked out of the room and through the main doors, leaving Avery all alone.
Chapter Nineteen
Finley was fuming, hands on his hips, pacing Maria’s living room. He grabbed his head with his hand and then pushed his hair back. He let out a breath.
“Tell me again why you thought this was such a good idea?”
Maria winced as she tried to get comfortable on the couch. Her abdomen and chest were killing her, like she was in a vice of some sort. She’d had to call in to work, which had led a concerned Finley right for her. That and the front page of the local newspaper, showing Maria at Euphoria in her sleek silver dress along with the headline:
Uncover Cop or Cop Under the Covers?
The article went on to suggest that Maria had been alone with Avery Ashland for some time and hinted that they had been engaged in sexual activity. Maria cringed again, not from pain, but from the headline as Finley tossed it down on the couch next to her.
“Do you realize how infuriated the sarge is? He can’t even form the words to scream at me, Maria. Can’t even form the words. I thought his head was going to explode.”
“I had no idea the press saw me. They didn’t call me out or shove the camera in my face. I was sure I was clear.”
“Why in the hell did you go alone? Do you know how dangerous that was? You should’ve at least told me.”
Maria shifted and grimaced. Every breath was agony. “I can take care of myself.”
“Obviously not.” He motioned toward her ailment.
“This is not from last night. I don’t know what this is, but it hurts like hell.”
“Well, what all happened? Did you…you know…engage?”
“Fins.”
“Maria, for God’s sake.”
“You told me to play it up. You told me to engage.”