by Renee Roman
“With all your free time, now that I’m not…” Sarah took a breath. “Now that you’re down a case.”
If Sarah only knew how much she was dreading the loss. She’d gladly give up any case for peace of mind and them having more time together. “I’ve got some unfinished business. Other cases to work on.” Cam thought about the cases she’d dumped on Kevin so she could devote all her time on Sarah’s. It hadn’t been fair, though he hadn’t complained.
“You’re not the only one.” Sarah’s hand ran up her thigh. “There’s another thing that feels unfinished.”
Her sex tightened, and she stared where Sarah’s hand rested. Her mind raced. Cam had hoped they would part amicably, but doubt had crept in. Sarah had what she’d hired Cam for and no longer needed her services. Now it seemed they weren’t done after all.
Sarah stood and took Cam’s hand. “Unless you’d rather not.”
A loud click sounded when she swallowed. “No. Yes.” She stood on wobbly legs. “I mean…shit.”
Sarah laughed softly before a little grin formed. “That sounds a bit ambiguous.”
Cam set her glass down, surprised she hadn’t spilled any since her hand was shaking. “Jesus, Sarah. You make me come undone.”
“Good.” Sarah gave a tug. “So is that a yes, I want to?”
“Yes.” Her voice squeaked.
“I know the way.” Sarah pulled her along.
Cam willingly followed. She’d examine all the ways the situation between them had just become even more complicated later. Once in the bedroom, Cam stood still. Afraid to move. Afraid to breathe. She didn’t want to break the spell Sarah wove around her with a look. A touch. She’d never been so off-kilter or upended by any woman like she was with Sarah. Everything she did sparked lightning through her, setting her nerves on fire. And her clit? Well, it had a life of its own at the moment. No matter how much Cam attempted to remain calm and collected, she was a live wire ready to sizzle.
Sarah reached for her. “We had a clothing issue last time.” Sarah unzipped her jeans, then undid the button. She ran her hand around her waist, pulling her shirt free and opened the top two snaps. She leaned closer, her breath caressing Cam’s exposed flesh. “Mmm, you smell so good. What is that?”
Her mind froze. Between the sultry look and Sarah’s heat, nothing was working above her neck. She blurted out the first thing that came to her less than functioning mind. “Soap.”
Sarah gave her a lopsided grin. “Is that so?”
“Uh-huh.”
“What other great mysteries are you hiding?”
Sarah snaked her hand inside the front of her jeans and cupped her. A moan escaped her lips. When she squeezed her swollen flesh, Cam’s knees buckled. She grabbed Sarah’s shoulders to stay upright.
“My, my. I think I need to get you on the bed before you end up on the floor.”
Cam was lost in Sarah’s hooded gaze, and she waited as Sarah quickly finished undressing her and guided her onto the bed before discarding her own clothes. All except the navy blue lace thong she was wearing. She climbed on and straddled her. Sarah’s breasts were perfectly shaped and begging for attention. If she had been in command of her own body, Cam would have sat up and taken the tip in her mouth. But as it was, all she could do was watch as Sarah took control.
Sarah leaned down and kissed her. Lightly at first, waiting for Cam to respond. Then she traced Cam’s lips, teasing them open, and pressing her tongue inside. Cam was so engrossed in the feel of Sarah taking her, she started when Sarah pinched her nipple, waking her out of her stupor. Sarah broke away.
“Did I hurt you?”
Cam smoothed her hands over Sarah’s lush hips. Her curves were so damn sexy she wished she could touch them whenever she wanted. “No. I’m just super sensitive right now.” She smiled. “I was a little preoccupied.”
“I noticed.” Sarah moved a little farther down until their crotches touched and she began a slow grind. “I can feel how wet you are.” She placed light kisses over her twitching stomach muscles.
She was going to explode if Sarah kept it up. She didn’t want to. Not yet. But her body had other plans. She was hopelessly out of control. “I’m going to come if you don’t stop.”
Sarah paused and covered Cam’s breasts with her palms, firmly massaging them. Her nipples rubbed against them. It was a surreal kind of torture.
“You don’t want to come?”
“No. I mean yes. Ugh.” Cam covered Sarah’s hands with hers. “I can’t think when you’re touching me.” Sara laughed. “Yes, I want to come, but not yet.”
“I want you to come, too.” Sarah flattened her hands on Cam’s abdomen as she moved lower still, spreading her legs in the process, her eyes never leaving Cam’s. “I want you…” Sarah settled between Cam’s thighs. “To come in my mouth.”
Cam gasped. The desire Sarah let Cam see made her vibrate from her head to her toes. She wanted to give every part of herself to Sarah. Her heart and soul. The thought thrilled and scared her at the same time. Sarah began kissing her inner thighs, first one side, then the other. Her fingers gently spread Cam’s soaked folds before she lowered her mouth and took her in. Her hips reflexively rose to meet Sarah, and once again, Cam was lost in Sarah’s touch.
* * *
So raw. That’s how Sarah viewed Cam from her straddling position. Cam looked so exposed, so vulnerable. Sarah wanted to tell her how deeply Cam had touched her, and how alive she made her feel instead of just going through the motions of everyday life like she had been. She’d never felt the pendulum of emotions she experienced whenever she was in Cam’s presence. Those moments when Cam’s vulnerability brought her to near tears, and the others when she wanted to scream at her for assuming Sarah couldn’t think for herself. Protect herself. Was it because Cam was experiencing her own conundrum in their precarious relationship? Why is it we have to ponder the great mysteries of life at times like these? Sarah repositioned between Cam’s muscled thighs, pressing them wider apart, opening her, and inhaled her musky scent. It made her dizzy with hunger.
She watched Cam watching her while looking over Cam’s heaving abdomen. After kissing each thigh, she spread Cam’s slick folds then slipped her tongue inside. Cam’s head arched back, and she gathered fistfuls of bedding. Sarah smiled against the hot flesh. Moving in and out with her tongue, she slowly fucked Cam before swiping along the length of her. Cam’s hips rose with every pass until Sarah placed her lips around her swollen clit and began to gently suck.
“So good.” Cam moaned before snaking her fingers in Sarah’s hair, holding her in place.
It wouldn’t be long before Cam climaxed. She pressed a finger inside as she swirled her tongue over the tip of the nerve bundle. Her walls began to tighten around her. Cam stilled. A low groan rose in volume until her whole body shook with the strength of her orgasm while she called out Sarah’s name again and again.
She eased out and lightly licked the swollen flesh until Cam’s body calmed. Her own center throbbed, and the bedding beneath her was wet, evidence of how turned on she was from making love to Cam. Sarah crawled up Cam’s damp body until their centers met. She placed sweet kisses along her breasts until her urge for more pushed her higher.
“Baby, open your eyes. Let me see you.”
Cam fought her way through the fog of satiated bliss. Sarah was talking to her. Her first attempt to look at her ended in a flutter. On the next, she managed to keep her eyes open, at least a little bit.
“You wreck me.”
Sarah bent close and passionately kissed her. “I hope in a good way.”
She shared a weak laugh. “Oh, in a very good way.”
Sarah stilled above her, chewing on her bottom lip.
Cam ran her hands over Sarah’s hips. She knew that look. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Sarah said. “I just…” She looked away, as if embarrassed. It was sweet and disturbing at the same time.
“Honey, you can
tell me anything. I hope you know that. What is it?”
Sarah lay on her chest, drawing random circles around her breast. “I don’t want to steal your thunder. It’s selfish.”
Cam used her index finger to tip Sarah’s chin so she could see her eyes. “You aren’t. What’s selfish?”
Sarah pushed up and loudly sighed. “I need to come.” She dropped her head in embarrassment.
Cam couldn’t help laughing, and Sarah slapped her chest.
“It’s not funny.”
It took a minute before she could get her giggles under control. Cam pulled Sarah down and whispered in her ear. “Give me a minute to recover and I’ll be more than happy to take care of you.” She nibbled on Sarah’s earlobe, making her shiver. After tracing her lips with the tip of her tongue, Sarah sat back up. The look on Sarah’s face gave away she was more than ready to have her need satisfied. Sarah wiggled her way downward, leaving a wet trail along her body.
“Where are you going?”
“Right here.”
Sarah put one leg over Cam’s hip and raised Cam’s other leg to her shoulder before repositioning. She began to slide her slick center against Cam’s, creating friction. The friction changed to an intense grinding as Sarah sped up, kissing Cam’s calf between strokes. Cam wouldn’t have thought she’d be aroused again so soon. Apparently, she’d underestimated her body’s ability to respond to Sarah.
“God. You feel so good.” Cam touched Sarah’s breast, kneading the softness beneath her fingers, enjoying how hard her nipple became against her palm. Sarah’s eyes dilated, and the passion she saw in them only fueled the fire already burning in her body. The motion between them stopped. Sarah braced her hand on Cam’s chest, and looked into Cam’s very soul.
“Come with me.”
It wasn’t a question. It was a quiet statement, requiring that Cam succumb entirely to Sarah. To share a perfectly choreographed orgasm. She pressed her center upward against Sarah, holding on to her hip. Cam watched the firestorm in Sarah’s eyes before they tumbled into a simultaneous climax. Her only thought was how perfect her life would be with Sarah’s passion in it.
* * *
Sarah blinked several times before her vision cleared. She looked around until the warmth of another body in her bed brought the night before into stark detail. Cam was still asleep, facing her with her arms outstretched as though reaching for her—or waiting for someone to fill them. Her breathing was slow and deep. Long black lashes lay against her pale cheeks. Her hair fanned out on the pillow in a tangle—the result of their active night together.
Cam had willingly shared her body and Sarah relished every moment. She couldn’t imagine how Cam would interpret their night together. Hell, she wasn’t even sure she wanted to analyze it. Their joining had been passionate and more than satisfying, substantiated by Sarah falling into contented sleep.
Maybe Cam wouldn’t want more; she’d said she wasn’t capable of commitment right at the beginning, and maybe Sarah needed to take her at her word. She wasn’t sure if Cam had ever been with a long-term partner. Was she wrong to think about their future?
Sarah decided it was silly to read too much into Cam’s actions, especially since she’d asked Sarah to stay the night, telling her it would be nice to wake in the morning with her in her arms. She couldn’t say no. Not that she wanted to. If this was the best Cam could do at the moment, she’d make peace with it.
Cam mumbled something incomprehensible before she stretched, her fingers brushing Sarah’s arm. Her eyes opened wide, then relaxed as realization dawned. “Hi.”
“Good morning.” She brushed wayward strands of hair off Cam’s cheek.
“Come here. Please.” Cam wiggled her fingers and spread her arms.
Sarah’s heartstrings tugged. Cam might not be able to express how she was feeling, but everything she saw in her eyes told her she wasn’t alone in this. She scooted across the cooler sheets and settled along Cam’s length. The sigh came uncensored.
Cam brushed her lips over Sarah’s forehead. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“What else do you agree with?” Sarah felt Cam stiffen. “Are you going to bolt?”
Cam ducked her head to see her face. “No.” She pulled Sarah closer, using her hand to press Sarah’s softness to her firmer, leaner frame. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Hope was a beautiful, if fragile, thing, and Sarah felt it bloom inside her for the first time in a very, very long time.
Chapter Twenty-three
Cam glanced between her notes and the computer screen as she typed. She couldn’t understand why Archer would take a chance selling when it was clear he didn’t need the money. His parents were wealthy and he was likely earmarked to inherit everything. She would have liked to locate a will, but that kind of information was out of her reach. The best she could hope for was his parents were on to him. Maybe he’d pissed them off and his involvement in drugs was a revolt against the power they wielded. If they were smart and had a will drawn up with stipulations regarding his inheritance, they’d be smart to hide that kind of information from Brace. She wondered if they were afraid of their son and what he was capable of. Liv had done much the same to bury any connection between Cam’s former name and her current one to keep her abusers as far away as possible. Anything could be accomplished, for a price.
Her phone alarm was a harbinger. She had one more meeting before the Peters case was officially done. She should have told Sarah there’d be more information if she’d give her a few additional days, but she knew stalling would make Sarah angry, though any reason to see that fiery reaction was almost worth the risk. Sarah’s intensity was a big turn-on. Cam silenced her phone, saved her work, and gathered her bag.
After her GPS told her she’d arrived at her destination, she stood in a back alley with a jittery cop glaring at her.
Barnes looked behind him as he nervously puffed on a cigarette. “This is the last time.”
She knew what he meant. It had been a monumental win for her to talk him into this meeting and even then, he only agreed if he could pick the location. They were on the outskirts of a seedy little town that no one would ever consciously choose to visit.
“Okay.” She took the envelope and dropped it into her shoulder bag.
Barnes stomped out the butt, then shoved his hands into his pockets. “Good luck with everything.” He acted like he wanted to shake her hand, but he took half a step back instead, then turned away.
“Hey,” Cam called. Barnes stopped but didn’t turn around. She glanced around, making sure they were still alone between the brick buildings, half hidden in shadows. “Do you think it’s safe for his twin to meet him?” Maybe she’d read too much into the information she had because it served to keep Sarah around longer, and she wasn’t sure she was looking at it objectively. For a long minute, she didn’t think he was going to answer.
Barnes looked over his shoulder, his eyes dead serious. “No. Drugs are powerful motivators, and he’s not someone whose conscience would deter him from using her any way he could.”
She felt the same way, but Sarah was stubborn when it came to the topic and she knew she wouldn’t get anywhere if she broached the subject again. Cam was in a constant state of conflict between her professional obligations and her personal desire to keep Sarah safe.
Later that day, Cam sat at her desk staring at the contents of intel on Brace Archer. She didn’t have any remaining doubt how much of a criminal he was. This latest information intimated Brace had amassed a six-figure fortune that was spread out in a number of bank accounts, although none of the accounts had his name on them. There wasn’t enough in any one of them to get the attention of the authorities. Cam considered the possibility he only kept them open for times he needed to dump cash somewhere in an emergency. He wasn’t stupid, and there was probably a much larger account elsewhere, probably offshore. Others in the department had to know what he was up to, and not reporting it to the people in charge made them cu
lpable. It had been easier and safer for the clean cops to say nothing. Unless the upper echelon was getting a cut of the action. That was another possibility Cam didn’t want to consider. If she did, there’d be little help inside the force when she chose to report her findings. Then what? She’d have to think long and hard before she took action along those lines. It wasn’t just her safety she had to worry about. Sarah would be on his radar too, and he might make a connection between her searching for him and his being ratted out. And if there were even more officers involved than Barnes thought there were, she might have to deal with people on the force giving her grief for any number of made-up offenses. Lucky for her she didn’t live or work in Poughkeepsie, but word traveled fast.
When Sarah made it clear that her having her biological father in her life wasn’t enough, that she still wanted a connection with Brace, Cam was forced to reevaluate the situation. There wasn’t any guarantee she would be able to protect Sarah once she and Brace became known to one another. It scared the hell out of her. Maybe she should have simply refused to let Sarah inside and see how much Sarah’s safety meant to her. No matter what happened, bad or good, Cam had a hand in the outcome. If she pulled away now, she’d be able to use the excuse that some of the onus was on Sarah. She swallowed hard. Convincing her heart would be harder than convincing her head, but her conscience screamed she had the perfect opportunity to take down a bad guy, and wasn’t that partly why she was in this line of work? To root out the bad seeds? None of her options were without consequences. If she filed a report on Brace’s illegal activities, Sarah would naturally blame Cam. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d been in a situation where she had to do what was right, even if it was painful, but it was the first time her heart had played a part in her decision.
* * *
“Thanks for finishing this.” Sarah looked at the laminated folder containing a sheaf of papers while she watched Cam fidget with the pile of documents she was stuffing back into an accordion folder. It was much thicker than a few weeks ago.