by Kim Baldwin
Kat nodded. “You make me feel things I never thought possible.”
“What about you?” Riley asked. “Is there something you’d like to do? Anywhere you’d like to go?”
“Well, I’ve thought about that. I’d like to go back to Cyprus. Maybe I can’t go home, but I think I can find some comfort there now, and closure, if you’re with me.”
“Cyprus it is, then.” Riley stifled a yawn.
“It’s late. You should get back to sleep.”
“No way,” Riley replied. “I’m not that tired.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“Not, huh?” Kat smiled.
Their eyes met. They came together in a searing kiss fueled by days of anticipation. Their tongues found each other.
Riley’s hand curled behind Kat’s neck. Her fingers entwined in Kat’s hair. She pulled their mouths more firmly together, deepening the kiss. Such soft lips, Riley thought. No, it was never like this with anyone else. And now I know it to be true.
Kat’s hand found its way under Riley’s oversized T-shirt. Her fingertips trailed up Riley’s abdomen and teased the curve of her breast. Those breasts. How could I resist those breasts?
Riley leaned into the caress and moaned into their joined mouths.
Kat’s fingertips found Riley’s nipple and brushed across it. It was instantly erect. Kat’s heartbeat accelerated.
Riley broke their kiss and pulled away. Her pupils were huge. She was breathing hard. “Come to bed. I need to touch you.”
The invitation sent a wave of heat through Kat that settled between her legs. She stood beside the bed and began to strip. The nervousness she expected to feel was nowhere to be found. Her body felt electrified. Her eyes never left Riley’s.
She pulled off her socks and shoes, jeans, pullover. Then, more slowly, her black silk bra and panties.
Riley watched as each enticing body part was exposed to her. Long legs, firm thighs, taut abdomen, and full, round breasts, with dark nipples hard as pebbles. She licked her lips.
The subdued glow of the bedside lamp softened the scars that marked Kat’s life as Hunter.
“Beautiful,” Riley breathed. She slipped off her T-shirt and tossed it on the floor. She wore nothing else. She pulled back the covers, exposing her nakedness. Ivory skin, lightly freckled on her shoulders and chest, trailing away into the valley between her breasts. They were high and firm with vivid pink nipples. The triangle of hair below was the same honey blond of her head.
Kat’s breath caught in her throat. She slipped beneath the sheets and moved into Riley’s outstretched arms. “You have an incredible body,” she whispered. She shifted her weight so their bodies pressed against each other along their full length. She shuddered at the satisfying flesh-on-flesh contact.
“God, you feel so good.” Riley breathed a long sigh. Her breath was warm against Kat’s neck. “I’ve ached for you.”
The confession turned up the heat pouring through Kat. She claimed Riley’s lips, her tongue demanding entrance. There was more urgency to this kiss. One of Kat’s hands trailed down Riley’s back to her ass and caressed one firm cheek.
When they parted to breathe, Kat’s lips and tongue moved to explore the soft skin below Riley’s jaw.
A needy moan escaped Riley. She arched her neck to allow Kat greater access.
Kat sucked gently on Riley’s earlobe, then nipped at the tender flesh at the base of her neck. Her lips and tongue caressed the place beneath Riley’s jaw where she could feel her heartbeat—it drummed away just beneath the surface of the skin.
“Mmm,” Riley purred. Her right arm encircled Kat’s waist. She tugged at Kat, urging her on top.
Kat shifted and Riley opened her legs, inviting Kat between them.
Kat left fluttering kisses on Riley’s heated skin as she climbed atop her. She tried to distribute her weight on her elbows and knees, afraid she would crush Riley.
But Riley wrapped her arms and legs around Kat, urging their bodies even closer.
They began to move together, breast to breast, the friction of their contact doubling their excitement.
Riley moaned again.
It brought Kat’s mouth to hers as their hips increased the rocking motion that fueled their arousal.
Kat kissed her hard, then broke away. Her lips moved from Riley’s mouth to her cheek, then to her neck. She slid down Riley’s body, keeping as much contact between their naked skin as possible.
Her lips and tongue tasted Riley’s cleavage and drew closer and closer to Riley’s breast.
Riley laced her fingers through Kat’s hair and brought her to her nipple. When Kat’s lips closed around it, Riley moaned again.
The sound of that long, throaty sigh drove Kat wild.
Riley arched her back and stroked the back of Kat’s neck firmly, seeking harder contact. Kat complied, her tongue and teeth nipping and caressing the sensitive nipple, then giving equal attention to the other, until Riley could stand the sweet torture no longer. Her whole body throbbed. “Please, Kat, please!”
Kat continued her oral adoration of Riley’s left breast while her hand began to trail a teasing path. Down the soft skin of Riley’s stomach. Along her outer hip. Down the outside of her leg and across the knee. Then slowly up the sensitive inner thigh.
Riley whimpered. She pressed herself against Kat’s hand.
Kat inhaled the musky scent of Riley’s arousal. It was heady, intoxicating. Her fingers closed in on Riley’s soft, wet folds.
Just before they reached their destination, Riley reached down and put one hand under Kat’s chin to bring her head up. Their eyes met.
“Together,” Riley whispered in a low, breathy voice. “I want to touch you too.”
Kat trembled as she moved up Riley’s body to kiss her again. Her blood was roaring in her ears.
Riley’s hand slipped between them and found the swell of Kat’s breast. Her fingers closed around the rigid nipple as their lips joined.
Kat shifted until she straddled one of Riley’s legs, remaining on top of her. Their kiss deepened as their eager hands found and caressed the sweet evidence of their readiness for release.
They stroked each other, exploring, teasing. Finding all the places that evoked the greatest response. Groans and sighs, one echoing the other. Moving in tandem. Deeper, faster. Mouths parting to gasp for breath. Finally, both peaked. Exquisite explosions. Riley first, Kat seconds behind, pushed over the edge by Riley’s cry of release.
They held each other for a long while, both unable to speak. Their overheated bodies cooled and heart rates returned to normal.
Finally Kat’s voice broke the quiet. “I have no words to tell you how I feel.”
Riley shifted to look into Kat’s eyes. “I love you, Kat.”
Kat’s eyes filled with tears. “I love you too.” Words she’d never said, except to her father. Words she never expected to say again.
Riley saw the tears forming. “You okay?”
Kat caressed Riley’s cheek with her fingertips. She smiled and nodded. “More than okay.” She winked at her lover. “I’m just Jake.”
About The Author
Kim Baldwin has been a writer for three decades, following up twenty years as an executive in network news with a second vocation penning lesbian fiction.She has published five other solo novels with Bold Strokes Books in addition to Breaking the Ice: the intrigue/ romances Flight Risk and Hunter’s Pursuit and the romances Force of Nature, Whitewater Rendezvous, and Focus of Desire. Four of her books have been finalists for Golden Crown Literary Society Awards. She has also published two books in the Elite Operatives Series in collaboration with Xenia Alexiou: Lethal Affairs (translated into Dutch as Dubbel Doelwit) and Thief of Always. The third book in the series, Missing Lynx, comes out in February 2010.
Kim has also contributed short stories to five BSB anthologies: The Lambda Literary Award–winning Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Moments; Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love; IPPY and GCLS Award–winning E
rotic Interludes 4: Extreme Passions; Erotic Interludes 5: Road Games, a 2008 Independent Publishers Award Gold Medalist; and Romantic Interludes 1: Discovery. She is currently at work on her tenth novel. She lives in the north woods of Michigan, but takes to the road with her laptop and camera whenever possible. Her Web site is www.kimbaldwin.com and she can be reached at [email protected].
Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
Fever by VK Powell. Hired gun Zakaria Chambers is hired to provide a simple escort service to philanthropist Sara Ambrosini, but nothing is as simple as it seems, especially love. (978-1-60282-135-4)
High Risk by JLee Meyer. Can actress Kate Hoffman really risk all she’s worked for to take a chance on love? Or is it already too late? (978-1-60282-136-1)
Missing Lynx by Kim Baldwin and Xenia Alexiou. On the trail of a notorious serial killer, Elite Operative Lynx’s growing attraction to a mysterious mercenary could be her path to love—or to death. (978-1- 60282-137-8)
Spanking New by Clifford Henderson. A poignant, hilarious, unforgettable look at life, love, gender, and the essence of what makes us who we are. (978-1-60282-138-5)
Magic of the Heart by C.J. Harte. CEO Susan Hettinger and wild, impulsive rock star M.J. Carson couldn’t be more different if they tried—but opposites attract in ways neither woman can resist. (978-1- 60282-131-6)
Ambereye by Gill McKnight. Jolie Garoul is falling in love with her assistant. The big problem is, Jolie is a werewolf. (978-1-60282-132-3)
Collision Course by C.P. Rowlands. Tragedy leaves Brie O’Malley and Jordan Carter fearful and alone. Can they find the courage to take a second chance on love? (978-1-60282-133-0)
Mephisto Aria by Justine Saracen. Opera singer Katherina Marov’s destiny may be to repeat the mistakes of her father when she becomes involved in a dangerous love affair. (978-1-60282-134-7
Battle Scars by Meghan O’Brien. Returning Iraq war veteran Ray McKenna struggles with the battle scars that can only be healed by love. (978-1-60282-129-3)
Chaps by Jove Belle. Eden Metcalf wants nothing more than to flee from her troubled past and travel the open road—until she runs into rancher Brandi Cornwell. (978-1-60282-127-9)
Lightbearer by John Caruso. Lucifer dares to question the premise of creation itself and reveals that sin may be all that stands between us and living hell. (978-1-60282-130-9)
The Seeker by Ronica Black. FBI profiler Kennedy Scott battles ghosts from her past, deadly obsession, and the evil that haunts her. (978-1- 60282-128-6)
Power Play by Julie Cannon. Businesswomen Tate Monroe and Victoria Sosa are at odds in the boardroom, but not in the bedroom. (978-1-60282-125-5)
The Remarkable Journey of Miss Tranby Quirke by Elizabeth Ridley. When love enters Tranby’s life in the form of a beautiful nineteen-year-old student, Lysette McDonald, she embarks on the most remarkable journey of all. (978-1-60282-126-2)
Returning Tides by Radclyffe. Insurance investigator Ashley Walker faces more than a dangerous opponent when she returns to the town, and the woman, she left behind. (978-1-60282-123-1)
Veritas by Anne Laughlin. When the hallowed halls of academia become the stage for murder, newly appointed Dean Beth Ellis’s search for the truth leads her to unexpected discoveries about her own heart. (978-1-60282-124-8)
The Pleasure Planner by Larkin Rose. Pleasure purveyor Bree Hendricks treats love like a commodity until Logan Delaney makes Bree the client in her own game. (978-1-60282-121-7)
everafter by Nell Stark and Trinity Tam. Valentine Darrow is bitten by a vampire on her way to propose to her lover Alexa Newland, and their lives and love are placed in mortal jeopardy. (978-1-60282-119-4)
Summer Winds by Andrews & Austin. When Maggie Turner hires a ranch hand to help work her thousand acres, she never expects to be attracted to the very young, very female Cash Tate. (978-1-60282- 120-0)
Beggar of Love by Lee Lynch. Jefferson is the lover every woman wants to be—or to have. A revealing saga of lesbian sexuality. (978-1- 60282-122-4)
The Seduction of Moxie by Colette Moody. When 1930s Broadway actress Violet London meets speakeasy singer Moxie Valette, she is instantly attracted and her Hollywood trip takes an unexpected turn.(978-1-60282-114-9)
Goldenseal by Gill McKnight. When Amy Fortune returns to her childhood home, she discovers something sinister in the air—but is former lover Leone Garoul stalking her or protecting her? (978-1-60282-115-6)
Romantic Interludes 2: Secrets edited by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman. An anthology of sensual lesbian love stories: passion, surprises, and secret desires. (978-1-60282-116-3)
Femme Noir by Clara Nipper. Nora Delaney meets her match in Max Abbott, a sex-crazed dame who may or may not have the information Nora needs to solve a murder—but can she contain her lust for Max long enough to find out? (978-1-60282-117-0)
The Reluctant Daughter by Lesléa Newman. Heartwarming, heartbreaking, and ultimately triumphant—the story every daughter recognizes of the lifelong struggle for our mothers to really see us. (978-1-60282-118-7)
Erosistible by Gill McKnight. When Win Martin arrives at a luxurious Greek hotel for a much-anticipated week of sun and sex with her new girlfriend, she is stunned to find her ex-girlfriend, Benny, is the proprietor. Aeros Ebook. (978-1-60282-134-7)
Looking Glass Lives by Felice Picano. Cousins Roger and Alistair become lifelong friends and discover their sexuality amidst the backdrop of twentieth-century gay culture. (978-1-60282-089-0)
Breaking the Ice by Kim Baldwin. Nothing is easy about life above the Arctic Circle—except, perhaps, falling in love. At least that’s what pilot Bryson Faulkner hopes when she meets Karla Edwards. (978-1-60282-087-6)
It Should Be a Crime by Carsen Taite. Two women fulfill their mutual desire with a night of passion, neither expecting more until law professor Morgan Bradley and student Parker Casey meet again…in the classroom. (978-1-60282-086-9)
Rough Trade edited by Todd Gregory. Top male erotica writers pen their own hot, sexy versions of the term “rough trade,” producing some of the hottest, nastiest, and most dangerous fiction ever published. (978-1-60282-092-0)
The High Priest and the Idol by Jane Fletcher. Jemeryl and Tevi’s relationship is put to the test when the Guardian sends Jemeryl on a mission that puts her not only in harm’s way, but back into the sights of a previous lover. (978-1-60282-085-2)
Point of Ignition by Erin Dutton. Amid a blaze that threatens to consume them both, firefighter Kate Chambers and property owner Alexi Clark redefine love and trust. (978-1-60282-084-5)
Secrets in the Stone by Radclyffe. Reclusive sculptor Rooke Tyler suddenly finds herself the object of two very different women’s affections, and choosing between them will change her life forever. (978-1-60282-083-8)
Dark Garden by Jennifer Fulton. Vienna Blake and Mason Cavender are sworn enemies—who can’t resist each other. Something has to give. (978-1-60282-036-4)
Late in the Season by Felice Picano. Set on Fire Island, this is the story of an unlikely pair of friends—a gay composer in his late thirties and an eighteen-year-old schoolgirl. (978-1-60282-082-1)
Punishment with Kisses by Diane Anderson-Minshall. Will Megan find the answers she seeks about her sister Ashley’s murder or will her growing relationship with one of Ash’s exes blind her to the real truth? (978-1-60282-081-4)
September Canvas by Gun Brooke. When Deanna Moore meets TV personality Faythe she is reluctantly attracted to her, but will Faythe side with the people spreading rumors about Deanna? (978-1-60282-080-7)
No Leavin’ Love by Larkin Rose. Beautiful, successful Mercedes Miller thinks she can resume her affair with ranch foreman Sydney Campbell, but the rules have changed. (978-1-60282-079-1)
Between the Lines by Bobbi Marolt. When romance writer Gail Prescott meets actress Tannen Albright, she develops feelings that she usually only experiences through her characters. (978-1-60282-078-4)
Blue Skies by Ali Vali. Commander Berkley Levine leads an elite group of pil
ots on missions ordered by her ex-lover Captain Aidan Sullivan and everything is on the line—including love. (978-1-60282-077-7)
The Lure by Felice Picano. When Noel Cummings is recruited by the police to go undercover to find a killer, his life will never be the same. (978-1-60282-076-0)
Death of a Dying Man by J.M. Redmann. Mickey Knight, Private Eye and partner of Dr. Cordelia James, doesn’t need a drop-dead gorgeous assistant—not until nature steps in. (978-1-60282-075-3)
Justice for All by Radclyffe. Dell Mitchell goes undercover to expose a human traffic ring and ends up in the middle of an even deadlier conspiracy. (978-1-60282-074-6)
Sanctuary by I. Beacham. Cate Canton faces one major obstacle to her goal of crushing her business rival, Dita Newton—her uncontrollable attraction to Dita. (978-1-60282-055-5)
The Sublime and Spirited Voyage of Original Sin by Colette Moody. Pirate Gayle Malvern finds the presence of an abducted seamstress, Celia Pierce, a welcome distraction until the captive comes to mean more to her than is wise. (978-1-60282-054-8)