Winds of Fortune

by Radclyffe

  “Damn stubborn kid,” he said, his eyes shining.

  “We love her. She’ll always have a home with us—both her and Caroline.” Reese squeezed his arm. “You don’t have to worry about her. What you need to do is everything you can to stick around for her. That’s the mission.”

  “Sounds easy.”

  “Shouldn’t be too hard.” Reese slid her hand down until her fingers lay in Nelson’s palm. He closed his around hers. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Chief.”

  “Roger.”

  Reese walked out into the hall and found Bri waiting just outside the door. Caroline was with her, her hand tucked into the back pocket of Bri’s leather motorcycle pants. “Your dad needs to get a good night’s rest, so why don’t you say good night to him. You’ll see him in the morning.”

  “Okay.” Bri’s voice was slightly unsteady.

  “Tory says the surgery will make him stronger.” Reese briefly clasped her shoulder. “That’s what he wants.”

  “I know.” Bri glanced at Caroline. “You coming in with me?”

  Caroline gave her a look. “Like I wouldn’t?” She kissed her cheek. “What a blockhead.”

  When they disappeared into Nelson’s room, Reese returned to the ICU waiting room and slumped onto the sofa next to Tory. It was only a little after nine p.m. and she shouldn’t be tired, but she was.

  “Bri okay?” Tory asked, taking Reese’s hand.

  “She’ll stand,” Reese replied.

  “She’s scared.”

  “Yes.” She raised their joined hands and brushed her lips over Tory’s. “But scared or not, she’ll be okay, because it’s not the fear that matters, but what you do about it.”

  “Well, there’s not much more we can do here until tomorrow.” Tory rose with Reese’s hand still in hers. At Reese’s look of surprise, she said, “And I need you tonight.”

  Reese stood and eased her arm around Tory’s waist. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Follow me home,” Nita said, leaning into the open window of Deo’s truck. “I want to look at your face in decent light.”

  “It’s nothing, I can tell.” Deo would have welcomed the invitation under other circumstances, but she didn’t want Nita viewing her as just another patient. Nita had been warm and relaxed with Joey at the clinic but had held herself back from everyone at the party that same night. Even in the ICU a few nights ago, she hadn’t really been part of the group. It wasn’t hard to see that Nita was more comfortable relating to people from a professional distance, and distance wasn’t what Deo had in mind. “I’ve had worse.”

  “That may be,” Nita insisted, “but it was my house that fell on your head, and I want to be sure you’re all right.”

  “It’s not your responsibility.”

  “Please,” Nita said softly.

  Deo sighed and sagged back in surrender. “Jesus, and you call me relentless.”

  Nita stepped back, smiling faintly. “I’m subletting a place in the East End across from Angel Market.”

  “I’ll meet you there,” Deo said.

  Less than ten minutes later, Deo parked in the empty lot beside the darkened gourmet grocery store and crossed the street to where Nita waited on the sidewalk. She followed her down a narrow gravel walkway between two buildings to the entrance of a familiar ground floor rear apartment. A small wooden deck led to sliding glass doors that opened into a compact kitchen. Nita turned on the light and Deo stepped inside.

  “How do you like this apartment?” Deo asked.

  “It’s great. The space isn’t that large, but it’s very well designed and they really thought of everything when they—what?” Nita asked as Deo grinned.

  “There’s no better recommendation than a satisfied customer.” Deo slid her hands into her pockets and shrugged. “My crew renovated it. I did most of the design myself.”

  “It’s very good work.”

  “Like I said—no better reference. Since I’ve already done the inspection on your house, I can work up quotes for the renovation—”

  “Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?” Nita interrupted irritably. “I haven’t requested a job estimate from you yet.”

  “Well, you will.”

  “Oh, you think so.” Nita snorted. “Usually I like a confident woman, but you take entitlement to an extreme.”

  “Are you saying I’m spoiled?” Deo teased.

  “Aren’t you? When’s the last time anyone took serious issue with you?”

  Nita’s criticism stung, and without thinking, Deo said, “Does getting thrown out of your own house at seventeen count?”

  Immediately, Nita’s voice softened and she gently clasped Deo’s forearm. “What happened?”

  Deo shrugged, wanting to change the subject, but the sympathy in Nita’s eyes and the tenderness of her touch seduced her into revealing more than she usually would with anyone, even a woman whose bed she shared—or hoped to. “My father beat me until I was half dead and then threw me out on the street.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I killed his only son.” Deo shoved the door open and strode out onto the deck. She was already halfway up the alley when Nita’s voice reached her.

  “Deo, please don’t go. Deo?”

  Enticed by the concern in Nita’s tone, Deo slowed but didn’t look back. The rain had let up until just a fine mist hung in the air. Moisture beaded on her cheeks like the memory of long-ago tears. “Look. I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “You don’t have to,” Nita said from very close behind her.

  Deo shivered at the light touch on her shoulder.

  “We all have our secrets,” Nita said quietly. “I’m sorry I forced you into revealing one of yours.”

  “Usually women want to hear your secrets,” Deo said curiously, turning to face Nita in the semi darkness. “Isn’t that what intimacy is supposed to be all about? Sharing secrets?”

  “Quite possibly,” Nita said steadily. “But I’m not interested in intimacy. I’m interested in looking at that laceration on your face.”

  Deo smiled crookedly. “I’m really the perfect person for you to sleep with.”

  Nita frowned. “I’m not even going to try to follow your logic. Come back inside.”

  “I’m not interested in intimacy either, and I won’t try to make you tell me your secrets,” Deo said as she fell into step beside Nita.

  “I don’t have any secrets worth telling.”

  “Sure you do,” Deo said softly. Nita might use her professional cloak and personal reserve to keep people at a distance, but Deo had caught glimpses of the tenderness and passion she tried to hide. Nita would not be alone unless someone had taught her that love was dangerous. But she was not the person to change Nita’s mind about that. They were alike that way, her and Nita—connection meant caring, and caring meant pain. “But like I said, I’m not pushing.”

  Nita decided that ignoring her, as impossible as that was most of the time, was the best approach. “Follow me down to the bathroom.”

  Nita directed Deo to sit on the closed commode while she retrieved antiseptic, steri-strips, and other supplies from a tall narrow cabinet next to the sink. Although well laid out with a spacious shower and vanity, the room was still small, and there wasn’t much space for them to maneuver around each other. As Nita bent down, Deo’s leg brushed her ass, and that brief unintentional caress shot straight through her. Pretending she hadn’t gotten instantly wet, Nita stood and tilted Deo’s head up with her fingers beneath her chin. Deo’s skin was damp from the rain and the silky smoothness made her think of the way a woman’s body misted just before she came. This close, she could see the small gold flecks in Deo’s irises, and she imagined the way they would darken and swirl just before…

  “Close your eyes,” Nita said hoarsely.

  Once released from the hypnotic pull of Deo’s gaze, Nita used a cotton swab to clean the laceration that paralleled Deo’s hairline. Concentrating o
n the familiar task helped her ignore the buzzing in the pit of her stomach. She brushed Deo’s wet tangled hair away from the cut and resisted the urge to run her fingers through it. “The laceration is long, but not too deep.”

  “Told you that,” Deo said, automatically spreading her legs so that Nita could get close enough to work. The solution Nita swabbed on the cut stung, but that sensation was quickly obliterated by her awareness of Nita’s body almost resting against hers. The insides of her thighs rubbed against Nita’s legs and a wave of heat shot through her. She couldn’t tell if the torrent of warmth was coming from inside her body or from Nita, but she was aware that the fingers on her face had stopped moving.

  Deo opened her eyes and found Nita staring at her, and there wasn’t a doubt in her mind as to what she saw in Nita’s eyes. Slowly, carefully, she slipped her hands around Nita’s body and cupped her hips. When Nita didn’t draw way, she gently pulled her closer until Nita’s crotch nestled against her belly. She was suddenly so hot and so hard she thought she would explode, but she held absolutely still. Some sixth sense warned her that Nita must make the first move.

  “Let go,” Nita whispered as the heat from Deo’s body flooded hers. She couldn’t step away, not with Deo’s hands on her.

  “You don’t want me to do that,” Deo murmured.

  “I do,” Nita insisted, knowing it was herself she was trying to convince. Deo’s breasts rose and fell quickly and her nipples had tightened beneath the still damp T-shirt. Entirely against her own volition, Nita’s fingers crept around the back of Deo’s neck and spread through her hair. With a soft groan, Deo pressed her face against Nita’s stomach. The top of her head glanced over Nita’s nipples, and Nita trembled with another wave of arousal. She had very little time. Deo’s breath against the thin fabric of her blouse seared her skin and she wanted Deo’s mouth roaming over her body. She would burn for her, she knew, igniting beneath Deo’s hands until all that remained was ashes. She would never survive the inferno again.

  Eyes closed, lips parted, Deo moaned against Nita’s stomach. “Nita, please. I need to touch you.”

  Trembling, Nita gathered all her strength and pushed away. “You have to go.”

  Deo dropped her hands onto her thighs, palms up, her fingers curved in supplication. Panting, she nodded wordlessly.

  Surprised but grateful, Nita took another step back. Amazingly, her voice sounded almost normal. “Keep that cut covered while you’re working. It should be fine.”

  “Right,” Deo said, rising unsteadily to her feet. “Thank you.”

  Unable to look away from Deo’s flushed face, Nita reached behind her for the bathroom door and pulled it open. Then she pressed against it so Deo could pass. She was careful that their bodies did not touch. Like an automaton, she followed Deo to the kitchen and watched her wrench open the glass doors. A breeze smelling of sea and summer rain wafted through the kitchen. A fleeting image of the two of them naked, lying before an open window making love until dawn while the fresh clear air washed the past away, skittered through her mind.

  “I’m sorry,” Nita said softly.

  “For what?” Deo’s breathing was ragged.

  “I shouldn’t have touched you.”

  “Does it make any difference that I wanted you to?”

  Nita shook her head. “None at all.”

  “I’m leaving because you want me to,” Deo said, “not because I want to.”

  “I’m grateful.”

  “Don’t thank me,” Deo said harshly. “Next time I won’t be as accommodating.”

  “Please go. This won’t happen again.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” Deo stepped outside, closed the door, and disappeared.

  Wrapping her arms around her middle, Nita leaned against the counter and wondered how things had gotten so out of control so quickly. Then she tried to tell herself it could have been worse. Deo might have awakened her libido, but thankfully she still had control of her common sense. She hadn’t been with anyone since Sylvia. In the months since, she had so ruthlessly crushed her desire, so completely disavowed her own need, that she was rarely aware of sexual desire. She hadn’t even masturbated since she had finally purged her system of wanting Sylvia every moment of the day and night. Now a pulse beat heavily, insistently, between her thighs, and she knew she would come with the lightest touch.

  The pressure was nearly unbearable, but she wouldn’t satisfy herself, not when she wasn’t sure whose face she would see as she orgasmed. Sylvia or Deo? Was either any safer than the other?

  *

  Too agitated to go home to silence, Deo walked. Driven by the churning in her stomach and the hot thrum of need coursing through her blood, she didn’t notice passing faces or register the occasional bump on her shoulder as she threaded her way through slow moving clumps of casual strollers. Over the years, she’d learned to recognize lust in all its various guises—mindless, playful, urgent, detached. She’d made love to women who were so insatiable she’d nearly dropped from exhaustion before they’d had enough. Strangers had fucked her in the dark until she couldn’t remember her own name. Never once had she seen a look of such undisguised hunger and desperate vulnerability as she’d seen on Nita’s face tonight. It was plain to see that Nita wanted her and feared her in equal measure, and knowing that twisted her up like a giant claw ripping at her insides.

  Rebelling at the idea that Nita expected her to hurt her, Deo strode faster. Her body was in rebellion too, adrenaline pumping, her loins pounding with lust and need. She wanted to pour her longing and loneliness into a woman’s body. Even more than she wanted to come herself, she wanted a woman coming beneath her, crying out in ecstasy.

  The blaring sound of a car horn brought her up short, and she jumped out of the way of the car she’d walked in front of. Shaking her head, she focused on her surroundings for the first time and saw that she was in front of the Vixen, one of the hot spots for lesbians on the prowl. It wouldn’t take long to find a woman in there to empty herself into, or she could call Allie. Allie gladly took what she had to give, and because of that, she could relax enough to let Allie pleasure her. If she didn’t find release, she would never be able to sleep. Her head and her groin were in a race to see which would detonate first.

  Stranger or friend. Which should she choose, which should she use?

  With a sigh, she crossed diagonally to the Squealing Pig and pushed through the door.

  “Beer,” she said tersely to the bartender. With any luck, she could drink the edge off and forget who she really wanted to fuck.

  *

  “Let’s go to bed,” Tory said, sliding her arms around Reese’s waist from behind as Reese gently lay Reggie into her crib and tucked the covers around her.

  Straightening, Reese turned and kissed Tory’s forehead. “Good idea.”

  Tory took Reese’s hand and led her across the hall and closed the bedroom door behind them. Once inside there was only moonlight to guide them, but after the rain had stopped, the wind had blown the clouds away and the night was bright enough to see by. She unclipped Reese’s tie and laid it on the dresser just inside the door. Then she began unbuttoning her shirt.

  “Have I ever mentioned how much I love to undress you?” Tory murmured.

  “Once or twice.” Reese said thickly, reaching down to gently tug Tory’s blouse from her jeans.

  “It’s the first time all week we’ll actually be going to bed together.” Tory pushed Reese’s shirt off and let it fall, then pulled up her T-shirt. Reese obliged by raising her arms and Tory stripped her. Her silhouette in the moonlight was a breathtaking combination of hard planes and subtle curves, her body almost too sharply honed. Tory brushed her hands over Reese’s chest, lingering on the subtle swell of her breasts. “God, you’re beautiful.”

  Reese trembled, her breath coming faster. “It’s late and you’ll need to leave early to get back to the hospital in the morning.”

  “I know what time it is.” Tory tr
ailed her fingers slowly down Reese’s stomach to her fly and opened her pants. Hooking both thumbs around the waistband and catching Reese’s briefs in the same grip, she pushed them down. “Kick off your shoes.”

  “Tory,” Reese whispered, an edge of uncertainty in her voice.

  Kneeling, Tory worked Reese’s clothing off one leg and then the other until she was nude. Then she leaned forward and pressed her face against Reese’s abdomen, encircling her hips with both arms. She kissed the base of her stomach and ran her hands lightly over Reese’s ass. “You can’t know how much I missed you. Even with you home again, it catches me in the middle of the day. This ache I have for you.” She tilted her chin up but she couldn’t see Reese’s expression, only the distant shadow of her face. “I need you inside me tonight.”

  Reese groaned quietly and cupped Tory’s face with both hands. “Baby, I’m not sure...”

  Tory rubbed her cheek over the soft delta between Reese’s legs and pressed a kiss to her center. Then she rose and wrapped her arms around Reese’s neck. “Don’t be afraid.”

  “When…when I touch you I feel like I’m running, running for my life and you’re all that can save me.”

  “You’re not lost, darling.” Tory guided Reese’s hand to her breast. “And I’m right here.”

  Shaking, Reese kissed her tenderly, with infinite care, and slowly unbuttoned her blouse. She reached one hand behind and released Tory’s bra as Tory skimmed off her jeans and panties. With her mouth against Tory’s neck, Reese circled her waist and pushed her toward the bed. Tory went down on her back and Reese followed, her thigh between Tory’s legs. Her voice was hoarse and tight. “Here with you like this, I know who I am.”

  “Then be with me. You can’t hurt me.” Tory shifted until Reese was between her legs and then hooked her calves over Reese’s thighs. She kissed her, drawing Reese’s tongue into her mouth, and rocked her hips in invitation.

  Reese gave herself to the heat of Tory’s mouth and the call of her body. When she felt her control slip and the choking need that verged on desperation surging through her, she tried to pull away, but Tory only held her more fiercely.