Distant Shores, Silent Thunder

by Radclyffe

  Reese caught Tory’s breast in her hand, squeezing gently to the same rhythm that beat through her blood and her bones as Tory took her higher. Her skin burned, her belly was molten, and her mind filled with shimmering lights. She felt Tory’s fingers inside her, filling her, holding her, owning her. “Slow down. Tor, slow down.”

  “No.”

  “Please. Come first,” Reese implored. “Let me see you come.”

  Stilling her hand, Tory threw her head back and circled her hips faster between Reese’s thighs, rubbing her clitoris harder over the back of her hand. “Oh God, soon.” She caught her lower lip between her teeth and looked down into Reese’s eyes as the first tendrils of orgasm floated free. The love and wonder she saw in their blue depths shot through her just as the orgasm exploded outward, and she crested on the twin peaks of unbearable pleasure. Crying out, she pushed her fingers hard into Reese, who immediately arched her back and came.

  “Thank you,” Reese groaned when she could finally talk. She held Tory tightly, cradling her lover’s damp face against her shoulder. She kissed Tory’s forehead and smoothed her hair away from her face. “You’re so beautiful like that. Until Reggie I’d never seen anything that came close to being as beautiful.”

  Heart aching, Tory pressed her lips to Reese’s neck. “I would never hurt you intentionally. You know that, don’t you?”

  “I know.” Reese continued to stroke Tory’s neck and shoulders as she reached with her free hand to pull the sheet over them. She closed her eyes for a second while she summoned her courage. “I’m afraid. I’m afraid that it will be too much, too soon. I still remember what it felt like riding in that goddamned ambulance the night Reggie was born and being afraid that I would lose you. Lose you both.” Reese pressed her face to Tory’s hair. “I couldn’t stand it, Tor. I couldn’t make it without you.”

  Tory gave a small cry and pushed herself up until she could see Reese’s face. “Oh, baby. No. Nothing like that is going to happen. I promise.”

  “Sometimes I worry that I won’t be able to take care of you. Christ...” Reese took a long, shaky breath. “The only things I’m good at—being a marine, being a cop—don’t seem to be enough sometimes.”

  “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about,” Tory said gently. She kissed Reese’s mouth softly. “You are strong and brave and gentle and kind and tender. You love me and you love Reggie and that’s everything. Everything.”

  “God, I hope so.” Reese kissed Tory again, deeply, with near-desperate passion. When she drew away, she sighed with a conflicting combination of contentment and concern. “You have to get help at the clinic, Tor. It will be too much otherwise. It was already too much before Reggie was born, and now—”

  “I will. I’ll find someone. I promise.”

  Reese caught Tory’s hand and brought it to her lips, then gently kissed each finger. “Promise that you’ll take care of yourself. It won’t help your patients if you get sick.”

  “I’ll take care of myself for you and for Reggie.” Tory slid to Reese’s side and stroked her lover’s neck and chest. “Go to sleep now, honey. Everything is going to work out.”

  Reese allowed Tory to gentle her into sleep, needing the strength of her lover’s comfort to dispel the vision of a nameless blond girl who reached out to her through the dark.

  Chapter Six

  Bri squinted against the bright light dancing on the surface of her eyelids and tried to go back to sleep, but the combination of sun, the stealthy sounds emanating from the kitchen, and the sumptuous smell of coffee were too much to fight. She opened her eyes and rolled onto her side just in time to see Allie walk into the living room from the kitchen carrying two mugs of coffee. The next thing Bri noted was that Allie was wearing a T-shirt that came just to the top of her pale pink bikini panties. Bri rolled over in the other direction and pressed her face to the back of the couch.

  “Hey,” Allie said, her voice still thick with sleep. “It’s almost ten. Want some coffee?”

  “You can leave it on the table there.” Bri felt the couch sway as Allie settled onto the far end. She heard Allie yawn just before she felt cool fingers drift over her bare calf. She’d taken off her shoes, socks, and uniform when she’d gone to sleep the night before. The only things she had on beside the thin comforter that Allie had provided were briefs and a T-shirt. Still, she was wearing more than Allie.

  “As soon as I wake up a little bit,” Allie mumbled, “I’ll make us some breakfast.” She rubbed the top of Bri’s foot absently. “Did you sleep okay?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Hungry?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Bri felt the couch dip again as Allie shifted. She felt bare skin against the bottom of her foot. Her toes tingled and her stomach did a whirly.

  “Is there something wrong?” Allie asked drowsily.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Yeah? What?”

  “You’re practically naked.”

  Allie snorted. “Everything is covered.”

  “Everything should be covered with more than one layer. Go get dressed.” Bri still lay on her side with her head practically in the crevice between the seat cushions and the back of the couch.

  “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  With a sigh, Bri turned onto her back and opened her eyes again, squinting at the sudden brightness. “Allie. What part don’t you get about me having a girlfriend and—”

  “I got that, Bri,” Allie said indignantly. “Jeez, you don’t have to keep reminding me.”

  Bri’s eyes widened. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

  “Huh?”

  “Okay. Let me try to explain something.” Bri pushed up on the couch and reached for her coffee, praying that the caffeine would clear her addled brain. She kept the comforter tightly secured around her middle and pulled her bare feet under the bottom edge as well. She could tell from the expression on Allie’s face that Allie was truly confused. “We’re not girlfriends, okay?”

  Allie’s eyes narrowed. “I know that, Bri. You and Caroline are girlfriends.”

  “No,” Bri said, shaking her head. She took a long sip of coffee and although it burned the roof of her mouth, she was grateful for the pain. She was definitely awake. “Not that kind of girlfriends. Girlfriend girlfriends. You know, the kind of friends where you can walk around the house naked in front of one another.”

  “You don’t want to be friends?” There was more than a little hurt in Allie’s voice.

  “I didn’t say that.” Bri blew out a breath. Jesus. “Let’s pretend we’re straight.”

  “Please.”

  Bri laughed. “Just bear with me. Let’s pretend we’re straight and I’m a guy and you’re a girl.”

  Allie tucked her feet up under her on the couch, her coffee mug cradled in her hands, and eyed Bri with interest. “I’m a straight girl.”

  “Right.”

  “Gotcha.”

  “So,” Bri continued, “I’m a guy and I have a girlfriend. Not you. Some other girl.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  “But you and I work together. We like each other. We’re friends.”

  “Yeah?”

  “So would you walk around the house in your little teeny tiny practically see-through underwear in front of me?”

  Allie grinned. “Only if I wanted to give you a great big hard-on and make you suffer for being so noble and refusing to fuck me.”

  Bri couldn’t help but grin back. “Well, it’s working.”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose.” Allie’s expression for once was completely serious. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it that way. I’m cool with us being friends. Well, not really cool. But I’d like to try.”

  “Me, too. But you have to keep all your clothes on.”

  “It’s funny, you know,” Allie mused as she sipped her coffee. “When you grow up having girlfriends who really are girlfriends, and then you find out you’re a lesbian and that you like som
e of your girlfriends differently, it gets confusing.”

  “I never had girlfriend girlfriends.”

  “Really?” Allie gave that some thought. “How many girlfriends have you had in bed?”

  “Just Carre,” Bri said quietly.

  “Holy shit. You’re kidding.”

  Bri shook her head. “Nope.”

  “And you’re willing to just…I don’t know, settle for that? Like, you never plan on sleeping with another girl?”

  “Well, you don’t know Carre.” Bri grinned. “She’s, well, she’s the best.”

  “Oh, puh-leeze.” Allie groaned and dropped her head onto the back to the couch. “You are so whipped.”

  “Don’t you believe in falling in love forever?”

  Allie turned her head, her cheek still resting on the sofa, and regarded Bri solemnly. “I don’t know. I don’t think so, but I’m not sure. I don’t know any couples like that. My mom and dad divorced when I was eight. My grandparents are still together, but I never got the sense they were really all that fond of one another.”

  “There’s Reese and Tory,” Bri said immediately.

  “Yeah. They’re cool.” Allie purred and stretched. “And Reese is so hot.”

  “Jesus, Allie,” Bri protested indignantly. “Don’t say that about her.”

  “Why not? She’s drop-dead gorgeous and built like—like Xena.”

  “Oh, please.” Bri made a choking sound. “Xena is such a girl. Reese would kick Xena’s ass.”

  Allie threw a sofa pillow at her. “Would not.”

  “Would too.” Bri threw it back. When they stopped laughing, Bri said solemnly, “Reese and Tory are special.”

  “I know.” Allie leaned down and set her coffee cup on the table. She regarded Bri solemnly. “I bet you and Caroline will be like them someday. That’s cool. I’m gonna go get dressed.”

  “How about I start breakfast?”

  “Do you know how?” Allie asked suspiciously.

  “Sure.” Bri reached up and caught Allie’s hand, squeezing it gently for a second. “And Allie? Thanks.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Don’t burn anything in there, okay?”

  “Don’t worry. You can trust me.”

  “I know,” Allie said softly as she disappeared into her bedroom and quietly closed the door.

  *

  Reese surfaced to the sound of the phone ringing and Tory’s muted voice in the background.

  “Oh hi, Dan,” Tory said in a whisper. “No, that’s okay...I was planning on coming in this evening, why?...Really? Who?...Now? I don’t know. Reese is still asleep and—”

  “I’m awake, sweetheart,” Reese said as she rolled over and wrapped her arm around Tory’s waist. She opened her eyes and saw that Tory had been sitting up in bed reading with the baby asleep in her lap. She rubbed Reggie’s back and kissed the side of Tory’s breast through the thin tee she wore. “What’s going on?”

  Tory covered the receiver with her hand. “Dan says the service left word about someone who wants to interview for the position at the clinic. For some reason he just got the message, and whoever it is wants to come in this morning while they’re in town for another appointment. Can you take Reggie to Kate and Jean’s so I can go over there?”

  “Sure.”

  “Dan?” Tory said into the phone. “I can be there at noon. Do you have a number for me to contact this person?...A name?...Damn, the answering service gets worse and worse all the time. Never mind, I’ll just come over as soon as I can. Thanks. Bye.”

  Tory hung up the phone and stared at Reese. “It looks like there’s someone who’s really hot for the job. I’m sorry I have to rush out.”

  “No problem. I should be getting up anyhow.” Reese pushed upright and craned her neck to look at the clock. “Christ! It’s almost eleven. I’ve got to get to work.”

  “Honey, you didn’t get to bed until after six.”

  “Yeah, but what kept me up until six put me to sleep very nicely.” She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood, grinning down at her lover and their child. “I slept like a rock.” Reese held out her arms. “Here, let me have sleeping beauty, and I’ll get her and all the stuff ready to take to Grandmoms’. You wanna shower first, right?”

  “Yes. Thanks, honey.” Tory ran a hand distractedly through her hair as she gathered her clothes. “I wish I had some idea what I was walking into. It’s very strange that someone just shows up for an interview without arranging things first. I hope they remembered to bring a CV.”

  “It’s Provincetown. Everything is casual here.” Reese leaned to kiss Tory’s cheek on her way past to the nursery. “Maybe it’s fate. It’s certainly perfect timing.”

  “Fate. Yeah, right,” Tory sighed.

  *

  At eleven thirty, Tory walked through the front door into the waiting room at the East End Health Clinic, which was crowded as always. Randy sketched her a short wave as he talked on the phone and indicated with a roll of his eyes and a frantic motion of his head that her presence was needed in the back.

  “What?” Tory asked sotto voce as she passed by the reception desk.

  Annoyed, Randy pressed the mouthpiece of the phone to his shoulder. “In your office. Dr. Impatience has been waiting half an hour.” Then he ignored Tory’s question for details and went back to his call.

  “Great,” Tory muttered as she pushed through the dividing door into the clinical area beyond. Her office door was partly closed and as she pushed through, she put on her best professional smile. As her eyes took in the woman standing in profile studying the photographs on the wall, Tory stumbled to a halt and barely managed to suppress a gasp.

  “KT? What are you doing here?” Tory was aware that her tone sounded accusatory, and not the slightest bit gracious, but her ex-lover was the last person she’d expected to find in her office. They’d barely seen each other in the nearly seven years since they’d separated, and almost all of those times had been during a medical crisis. Fortunately, the circumstances of those interactions had prevented them from having any true personal exchange, which was just as well. Tory had nothing to say to the woman with whom she had lived for twelve years, and whom she had loved with all her heart and youthful optimism, and who had betrayed their love and left her shattered.

  Slowly, KT turned to face Tory fully. “Hi, Vic.”

  “Oh my God.” Tory’s stomach roiled as if she’d been punched, and for one terrifying second she was afraid she might be ill. She took one involuntary step forward, her hand raised as if for a caress, before she jerked to a stop. Her voice wavered as she asked, “What happened? God, KT.”

  “Bit of a dustup in the trauma unit about a month ago. I ran into a crackhead with a knife.” KT shrugged and mustered up a smile. “Looks worse than it is.”

  It couldn’t possibly look any worse than it does, Tory screamed inside. A fresh scar, red and faintly angry looking, crossed KT’s right cheek, starting just below her eye and ending at her jaw. It wasn’t the injury itself that Tory found so devastating, but imagining KT having been brutalized that way. But it was even more than the healing laceration that was so terribly upsetting. The physician part of her mind reminded Tory that would probably leave a scar that was only minimally deforming. It was the way KT looked. She was thinner than Tory had ever seen her, even when they had both been residents and KT was working like a madwoman 120 hours a week, barely sleeping and usually forgetting to eat. Tory remembered that young surgery resident, so charged with life, so aggressive and charismatic. The woman who faced her now, hollow-eyed and gaunt, wasn’t even a ghost of that young warrior. Realizing she was staring, Tory forced her gaze away from KT’s haunted eyes and looked down. Then she did cry out. “Oh God, no. Oh, what did he do to you?”

  “It’s okay, Vic,” KT said gently. There was no place she could put her left arm to remove it from Tory’s horrified stare. The hand surgeon had taken the cast off only days before, and she wore a molded plastic splint from fingertips t
o midforearm that kept her damaged fingers protected as well as immobilized with a complicated set of tiny pulleys and bands.

  With concerted effort, Tory compelled her mind to rule her emotions. She’d seen every kind of human tragedy and senseless death and loss imaginable. She’d seen far worse than this. It was just the double shock of finding KT where she’d never expected her to be and seeing her so wounded that had penetrated her defenses before she’d a chance to throw up a shield. She took a breath and when she spoke again, her voice was controlled. “You’d better sit down.”

  The corner of KT’s mouth quirked and she nodded wearily. “Yeah. I guess so.”

  Tory made her way around behind her desk. Just the act of sitting in the position where she always sat as she performed her professional obligations helped steady her further. “How bad is your hand?”

  Tory had never seen KT look away from anything—not the horrors of a multicar accident or the guilt when Tory caught her in bed with one of the nurses in an on-call room. The fact that she averted her eyes now told Tory more than anything else possibly could. Once again, Tory’s stomach threatened to rebel. She threaded her fingers together on top of the desk and leaned forward, her eyes never leaving her former lover’s face. “KT?”

  “He got the flexors to all four fingers and three of the digital nerves.” KT lifted her left hand and let it fall back into her lap. “It’s pretty useless.”

  “Oh, sweetheart,” Tory murmured, uttering the old endearment before she realized what she was saying. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Well,” KT said briskly. “My hand surgeon assures me that if I’m a good patient and work hard, I might get it all back.” She grinned humorlessly. “Of course, that’s what hand surgeons always say. That way, if you end up with a lousy outcome, they can always blame it on the fact that you didn’t work hard enough in therapy.”

  “If working hard is what’s required,” Tory said quietly, “then you’re going to be fine.”

  “Absolutely.”