by Cass Sellars
* * *
Sydney tried to carry on casual conversations while repeatedly turning toward the restrooms, expecting to see Parker making her return. Finally catching Mack’s ear, she whispered to her, “I need to go check on Park—make my excuses, okay?” Mack nodded as Sydney nearly jogged through the crowd and through the door marked by a skirted silhouette.
She only had to see Parker for a second before she knew instinctively that she was still fighting unwanted feelings from the Becky episode. Sydney moved her up and away from the vanity, gathering Parker protectively against her without a word.
“I’ll be okay.” Parker attempted a laugh but Syd could feel her body tremble in her embrace. “I don’t know what got into me.”
“I’m so sorry. What he did wasn’t okay.” Her voice was ragged and she knew it revealed her poorly restrained fury.
Parker took a deep breath again and relaxed in Sydney’s still unyielding grip. “I’m okay now.” After a moment, Parker arched away from Sydney, just enough for her to see her face properly. “Any makeup runs?”
“Stunning as always.” Sydney held a tiny distance between her lips and Parker’s allowing the heat to build before she pressed her mouth into a gentle kiss, reassuring herself, and hopefully Parker, of the impenetrable bond that cemented them.
Parker responded gratefully and then hungrily. Syd relished the building heat and endeavored to replace Parker’s feelings of unsteadiness. She felt the deepening kiss to her soul, always amazed at the spell Parker could place over her.
The contemptuous gasp from behind them caught Syd by surprise, lost as she’d been in the moment.
“Victoria, when will you stop humiliating our family? When will it be enough?”
Sydney unhurriedly finished the kiss, looking only at Parker, still shielding her. “Let’s go home.” Her eyes locked into Parker’s intense blue ones as if no one had invaded the solitary space in their very personal universe.
Neither of them looked at Pamela; she wasn’t allowed to spoil their moment. Sydney felt triumphant.
Chapter Four
Sergeant Sandy Curran watched a white box truck back up to the dock door of the vacant building on Forty-Sixth and Lincoln. She had spent numerous late shifts eating her dinner in the car, casually watching trucks unload crates into the unadorned space.
Tonight, sitting in her unmarked black Taurus sedan, she reclaimed her covert spot between the train tracks and an adjacent structure. She had anticipated finishing her coffee and her growing stack of reports before heading home at end of her final shift in less than an hour.
Part of her had hoped this truck would be back and she wasn’t disappointed. Investigations might not be in her job description anymore as a patrol sergeant, but once a detective, always a detective.
She aimed her phone and snapped a picture of the truck and the short sandy-haired man driving. Not risking the flash, the only light on the subject filtered from the street lamp and the overhead door. She attached them to a text with the time. After three years with Mia, all she could think about was waking up with her in the home they shared. Instead she was sending her random texts of nondescript night scenes from the sketchy side of Silver Lake.
Another sexy text, sweetheart. You sure are lucky, lol.
Sandy then deleted the text to leave no obvious trace in her department-issued cell phone. She had no intention of leaving evidence that she was sharing an investigation with someone outside the department even though she knew it could be found if someone really wanted to look.
Silver Lake had started seeing more vacant properties taken over by partying teens with unobservant or absent parents. Because the city was growing in popularity as the site of the second homes of wealthy DC movers and shakers, empty houses in which to party were becoming more plentiful. Sandy knew, however, that what she was observing wasn’t overindulged children hoping for a rave and some Ecstasy. She had been watching too long and seen them too often. Six months of evidence gathering would prove that soundly enough.
She waited another forty-five minutes, when the nondescript truck drove away. Disappointing for her unofficial investigation, but she was happy to report in that she was 10-7 and headed home.
Mia met her at the door instead of waiting in bed for her to come in, which had long been their routine on her second shift weekends. Sandy was grateful for the reminder of normal life outside of department politics and criminal diversions. Sandy would gladly admit that she truly loved Mia Wright and looked forward to planning their long life with each other.
“I missed you.” The lanky redhead slid her arms around Sandy even before she had time to shut the heavy wooden door behind her. Mia wore the blue and white striped button-down shirt she had swiped long ago from Sandy’s closet. She claimed she wore it as a nightshirt because it was comfortable but admitted she had taken it at first because it smelled like Sandy. And Sandy found that extremely sexy. She admired the milky white skin that smoothed down over Mia’s long legs to her perpetually painted toes. Mia made the old house come alive for Sandy who still mourned the grandmother who’d left it to her family. Once the estate was settled, she and Mia planned to buy it and make it their permanent home.
“Wow! Send a woman a couple of pictures of random trucks and you might get lucky,” she joked, kissing her gratefully when Mia offered her lips to Sandy. The kiss was deep and needy and a harbinger of the sexy evening Sandy had not been expecting.
“Actually, in spite of the unsexy texts.” Mia raised her eyebrows comically. “When are you going to turn all that over, anyway?” Mia dropped her hands and walked at Sandy’s side through the living room.
“As soon as someone in Investigations calls me. I’m trying not to step on toes—you know how the brass is around here. I go over someone’s head and mine is likely to roll.” She was only partially kidding, thinking about the political nature of any police department let alone the one now run by Chief Provost. “Besides, I’m not sure who the players are. Something tells me that there’s more to this than one truck and one guy. And I can’t be the only one who has noticed the activity there every Sunday night.” Sandy wondered if someone was discounting her reports because she was no longer part of the detective squad. She had long ago discovered that just because things looked to be insignificant, it didn’t mean they were.
Sandy had never questioned her loyalty to her employer in her twelve years at Silver Lake or in her twenty in law enforcement. She never wanted to be in the position to question the work ethic of others. However, she was becoming increasingly frustrated by the inaction of her department.
“You would just think it would be easy enough to prove. They are obviously using the warehouse for something covert—read, illegal.” Mia tickled her fingernails over Sandy’s neck as she loosened her tie and unpinned Sandy’s badge from her uniform shirt. She laid it carefully on the table.
“That is easy to prove, but I would sure like to know what they’re moving and where it’s going first. I only have that one picture of cargo and I couldn’t even get close enough to see what it was. All I know is by the time Monday night comes, it’s all locked up and desolate again. They only have to get careless one time and I’ll have them tied up in a bow—we can get a warrant. Even the lazy butts in Investigations can’t complain about that kind of easy closure. I was thinking I might try an overnight in my own car, and then I might see what happens after the drop.”
She unknotted her tie and pulled it away from her neck, then draped it playfully around Mia’s shoulders. She hung her duty belt on the spindled dining room chair that had belonged to her grandmother. Sandy couldn’t wait until the estate was settled and her family had picked through what was left in the house so she and Mia could start putting their own touches on the 1920s Craftsman bungalow they had moved into nine months earlier. If it wasn’t for Mia’s bedroom set, there would be nothing but their clothes to distinguish it from the home her grandparents had lived in since it was built nearly a century
ago.
She walked to the bedroom, unbuttoned her uniform shirt, and hung it in the narrow closet. Velcro straps ripped loudly away from the shoulders of her Kevlar vest before she draped it over a hanger, ready for her shift on Wednesday. She felt much freer in her long white T-shirt and briefs as she padded into the bathroom. She rolled her shoulders and bent over the sink to wash the night from her hands and face.
“You’re not usually up so late on a Sunday night, Mi,” she called into the bedroom as she turned off the tap. “Did you have something in mind for this evening?” She patted her face dry on a fluffy white towel that Mia must have bought since Sandy’s collection had consisted of four rough and dingy yellow ones.
She found Mia leaning seductively against the bedroom door frame.
“How about a White Russian and a redheaded Canadian?” Mia smiled as she passed her the drink she had made and posed dramatically with her red hair scooped haphazardly on top of her head. She batted her eyes exaggeratedly at Sandy and cocked a hip.
“Fascinating.” Sandy looked serious. “I don’t know how you do it. Those are my two favorite things.” Sandy laughed and took a grateful sip of the milky concoction before drawing her lover in for a zealous, Kahlua-tinted kiss. “Let’s go to bed my little Canadian.”
Sandy had been in numerous relationships before Mia but they had all been plagued with typical drama and petty jealousies. Sandy hadn’t been perfect either, often being the cause of the jealousy. Cops were notorious for being unfaithful and she hadn’t done much to combat the stereotype. After finding a love note from a fellow officer, her last girlfriend changed the locks on their apartment while Sandy was at work. She remembered loading garbage bags stuffed with her belongings into her SUV in uniform at eleven o’clock one night. She had hoped the neighbors weren’t watching the activity as she’d called Mack for a temporary spot on her couch.
A more mature Sandy made sure that Mia had all the relevant information about her past before they started dating. Mia was understandably cautious at first, but made it obvious that she loved Sandy with everything she had. Sandy was grateful when Mia decided to take the leap three years earlier. Sandy swore to herself she would never make Mia regret a moment of their relationship or doubt Sandy’s commitment to her.
Sandy shed her clothes and slid into bed next to Mia. She felt a chill as she ran her fingernails through her wavy hair. Sandy shifted Mia on top of her and kissed her powerfully. A glowing Mia moved with her, arched against her, and Sandy felt the flush of heat draw over her skin.
“I missed you,” Mia said.
Sandy knew Mia needed to feel her this way, just to cement their life together, to bring her back to the place they were before Sandy left to do the job she knew was dangerous. Sandy didn’t know if Mia ever would get used to life as a cop’s girlfriend.
Sandy spoke softly, “I will always love you.”
* * *
Parker had spent the lazy Sunday after the ball running errands and crafting a cream of vegetable soup while Sydney worked to finish the project for the DA. Now dressed in cotton gym shorts and a knit camisole, Parker climbed the loft stairs. She pressed her thumb to the biometric pad and listened as the lock clicked open. Syd had added her to the access control system just after the New Year when they were spending more and more time at Syd’s two-bedroom loft. Parker had no reason to be in Sydney’s studio except in emergencies. The incident with Becky had left Syd overprotective and overly cautious about their safety.
Parker watched her lover pore over eight-by-tens of a crime scene as she scanned them into her encrypted PC on the long counter that occupied two of the walls. Syd clicked through pictures as the images were deposited onto the huge monitor.
At Parker’s arrival, she minimized the program and worked to gather the photos back into their file. Syd often tried to spare her the unpleasant images she worked with in her forensics reconstruction company. DRIFT paid her bills and then some, but the images could often be disturbing.
Holding a drink, Parker skimmed her hand over Sydney’s shoulder and down over her chest glancing over the stiff points under her shirt, causing Sydney’s breath to stutter. Parker presented the heavy Waterford glass to her over the other shoulder and skated her lips seductively across Sydney’s neck. Syd turned her chair slightly, inhaling the scent of lilies mixed with the faint aroma of cooking spices on Parker’s skin.
Sydney’s husky voice found Parker’s ear. “To what do I owe this honor?” Sydney leaned against her high-backed captain’s chair, offering her neck to Parker. She sifted her fingers through Parker’s hair, firmly clasping a handful when Parker found the spot behind her ear.
“Well”—Parker continued her ministrations as Sydney took a shaky sip of her scotch—“as your undertipped serving wench, I try to make myself useful whenever I can.”
“In that case”—Sydney set her glass on the counter and drew Parker onto her lap—“I have a very good tip for you.” Parker’s touch made Sydney instantly weak and immediately flushed.
Depositing a slow, deep kiss onto her full lips, Parker bowed into her lean body and moaned at the effective assault. Syd greedily scraped her fingers over her lover’s narrow hips as the kiss became hungrier.
“I am so in love with you,” Parker breathed. Sydney’s skin responded as she heard the words she never thought she would want to hear and now couldn’t listen to enough.
“I love you.” Sydney could say those words willingly without hesitation, unlike the many years of her life when simply the thought had terrified her.
“Don’t you…uh…need a break?” Parker’s words were suggestive, as she hooked a finger in the collar of Syd’s T-shirt. The look in her eyes left no doubt what she was proposing.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Sydney took a long pull from her glass and set it back on the counter, still cradling her lover against her.
Parker extricated herself from Sydney’s lap and dashed to the door as an amused Sydney took another leisurely swallow from her drink and started to stand. Her words were slow and assertive. “I’ll give you a head start, but after I catch you, all bets are off.”
Parker laughed as she danced down the metal stairs. “Thanks for the warning but I’m way ahead of you.”
Parker squealed when Sydney caught her waist in a powerful forearm and threw her playfully onto their king-sized bed. Syd pushed her long body onto Parker’s, suddenly hot with the desire the proximity to Parker always brought. Syd watched her lover’s mood transform as the feel of Parker’s body and the intensity of the moment consumed her.
Sydney framed her face gently with long fingers and grazed her tongue across Parker’s. Parker pressed against her in answer.
“I need you, Syd.” Parker seemed captivated by the fire on her skin, and lost at the sensations where her lover’s body touched hers.
Sydney removed the only remaining item of clothing from Parker’s narrow hips and grazed her lips down Parker’s neck before discovering her hard nipples with her teeth. She lazily tortured her willing body as she felt Parker grind against her.
Sydney Hyatt could draw an intricate diagram of Parker’s body from memory by now, having explored, so many times, the hills and valleys and intimate ridges as Parker begged to be consumed by her. Syd’s fingers slowly found the burning center that would propel Parker and commanded her lover’s response, browsing her thumb gently past the hard, insistent core. Parker dipped her forehead under Sydney’s chin as she pushed her toward her release.
“Not yet,” Sydney teased as she glided into her more slowly, searing heat fusing them together. Before Parker, Sydney had never conceived of the mesmerizing sensual power that one person could have with another. Her navigation, her control over Parker’s surrender consumed Sydney every time she was granted the privilege of drawing Parker to the edge. Parker’s thigh connected solidly against Syd whose own punishing release was only seconds behind her lover’s.
Moments later, Sydney found Parker’s ear,
knowing instinctively the words and the sensations that would cause the maddening rush she could elicit from Parker. She drew her tongue hotly along her collarbone and up around the rim of her ear. She savored her influence over Parker’s desires, the power to siphon her lover’s resolve as she thrust deeper into her. Finally the insistent, quenching demands found purchase on them both.
“Now, baby,” Sydney’s deep voice instructed. “I need you to come for me. Please, for me.”
She was rewarded with an insistent Now from Parker as Sydney met her in a simultaneous yielding, once again fascinated by the dominion Parker had over her body and over her mind.
Sydney studied Parker as the grip of her contractions faded quietly, pulling her tenderly against her, strangling against her own ebbing sensations.
“You are so amazing. I can’t believe we’re here sometimes.” Sydney tried to steady her breath as the traveling swells along her skin subsided.
“Please don’t let go,” Parker managed.
Syd waited for those words each time they were together. “Never.” Syd held Parker, slowly stroking over her hair, always just a little terrified that something would tear Parker from her someday. She was sure she could never desire another woman the way she did Parker. She attempted not to focus on the small finger-sized bruises she could see on her girlfriend’s arm.
After a few languid moments, Parker murmured, “I made that soup you like and I got some yummy French bread and I was thinking that we could have dinner in bed. What do you think?” Parker stretched lazily against the woman she had become addicted to, basking in the feeling of Syd tightly holding her, inhaling the intoxicating fragrance of her fading cologne mixed with the scent of her skin, a combination she was sure she could identify blindfolded in a room of thousands.
“Well, I think that sounds very indulgent and really good. Of course anything you ask me that ends with my being in bed with you sounds really good.” Sydney settled her body onto Parker’s and bit her neck playfully.