“If you use it too much, too quickly, you’ll just prolong the swelling.”

Reese raised an eyebrow. “Is the house bugged? Tory said something just like that this morning.”

“No, but I lived with your father for fifteen years, and I’ve seen my share of physical injuries. Marines tend to get banged up a good deal, as you may recall.”

For a moment, silence descended between them.

“I suppose I’m as bad a patient as he was,” Reese muttered. “Do you think we’re a lot alike?”

“Only in the sense that neither of you were ever willing to admit there was something you couldn’t do.” Kate looked away, a distant expression in her eyes.

Reese leaned back on her heels and asked softly, “Do you hate him?”

“No,” Kate replied without hesitation. “I don’t like him, but I don’t believe he ever did anything to intentionally hurt you. Hurt me, yes. But not you. That I would never forgive.”

“He never tried to understand you.”

“I doubt that he could. He couldn’t change who he is anymore than I could.”

“He could learn to accept some things,” Reese said with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

“Like the fact that his ex-wife and his daughter are lesbians?”

“Maybe.” Reese’s smile was brittle. “Or maybe just that there are more ways to live than his way.”

“I won’t defend him to you, Reese. Not when he took nearly twenty years that I might have spent knowing you.”

Reese drew a long breath. “Tory thinks I should tell him about the baby.”

“Do you want to?”

“I don’t know.” Reese leaned her shoulder against the wall and rubbed her eyes. “I’m not sure what the point would be. He hasn’t accepted my relationship with Tory, so he certainly isn’t going to accept our child.”

“Perhaps it isn’t his acceptance, but your telling him that matters.”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” Reese said seriously.

“You and Tory are about to experience something wonderful, something precious,” Kate said gently. “He’s your father, one of the most significant people in your life. You need to tell him for your own sake and let him deal with his feelings the best way he can. Because if you don’t, it diminishes you and your relationship with Tory.”

“Like hiding being gay to avoid a court martial?”

“Reese, I know how much that bothers you. But, how does the saying go? You have to pick your battles?”

Reese grinned. “Uh huh.”

“Well, when you choose not to reveal your sexuality to General Conlon, it’s a professional necessity. Not telling your father about your child is personal, and in my opinion much more critical.”

“Being a soldier’s a lot simpler. The rules are clearer, and the decisions a lot easier to make.”

“Yes, indeed.” Kate smiled. “I think you’re doing wonderfully as a civilian, by the way.”

“I hope so,” Reese said fervently. “Because Tory means more to me than anything ever could. And now…” She swallowed and met her mother’s eyes. “I think I’m going to need a fair amount of advice about this parenting thing.”

“I’m sure you and Tory won’t have any trouble at all. I intend to do nothing except spoil him or her, which is a grandmother’s right.”

“Well, as long as you’re available for an emergency rescue mission if I get into trouble,” Reese remarked, hunting for the paint brush.

“You can count on that.”

Tory stopped in the middle of the dining room and cocked her head. “Why do I smell fresh paint?”

Reese swiveled on the stool at the breakfast counter and smiled. Tory had been in the clinic all day. Thirteen interminable hours. “Welcome home, love.”

“Let me repeat,” Tory said firmly as she crossed the room. “Who’s been painting?”

“Uh, I thought I’d get started on the nursery.”

“You did. ” It was a statement, not a question. Tory leaned her cane against the counter and regarded Reese expressionlessly. Normally, Reese was a recruiting poster example of good health and physical fitness. Now, a hint of illness still lingered. The shadows under her eyes had faded, but had not disappeared completely. Her color was better, but she was still pale. It hadn’t been long enough for Tory’s fear to have completely left her. “I’m going to kill you.”

“Could you kiss me first?” Reese murmured, extending her good hand.

Tory moved between Reese’s parted legs, resting her palm on Reese’s thigh for support. “I suppose.”

“Then I’ll go happy.” Reese slid her arm around Tory’s waist and pulled her near, dipping her head to claim soft lips. Closing her eyes, she lost herself in the familiar sensation of supple warmth and tender welcome. It had been too long since they had touched this way. Tory’s breasts brushed her own, and, as it always did, the pressure of Tory’s body started Reese’s blood humming. She groaned faintly and worked the back of Tory’s blouse free from her slacks. Her palm found the hollow at the base of her lover’s spine, and she spread her fingers over the swell of hips below, urging Tory closer still.

“Reese,” Tory sighed as she released the kiss. “I don’t think…”

“Shh. I’ve missed you.” Reese’s voice was deep and mellow. She took Tory’s mouth again, more insistently this time, probing deeper with her tongue, sucking on the full lower lip until Tory moaned. Reese closed her thighs, holding Tory captive against her.

“Your arm…”

“Is fine,” Reese whispered, moving her lips to the sweet spot below Tory’s jaw, kissing her way down to the faint hollow between her collar bones. She drew her fingers from Tory’s back, around her side, and up underneath the front of her blouse. When she encountered the thin silk brassiere and the hard nipple beneath, she flicked her thumb across the taut peak. Tory surged against her, a sharp cry resonating from her throat. The sound of her pleasure made Reese stiffen and throb. “Ah, god, you are so perfect.”

“They’re so sensitive now.” Tory arched her neck, her eyes closed. “I can feel it all the way inside me when you do that.”

Reese closed her eyes, too, and rested her forehead against the crook of Tory’s neck, working the full nipples between her fingers, one and then the other. Tory’s breasts lay heavy in her palm, a weighty fullness so sensuous it stole her breath. Listening to Tory’s breathing quicken, she teased her until Tory’s hands in her hair forced her head up.

“Am I hurting you?” Reese asked quickly, her eyes searching Tory’s face.

“No,” Tory managed hoarsely. “It feels so good I think you could make me come.”

“Do you want to try?” Reese whispered through a throat tight with desire. She never stopped the rhythmic squeezing, watching Tory’s green eyes darken to black with arousal.

“Mmm, no. I want to lie down so you can touch me everywhere.”

Reese groaned as another jolt of excitement tore through her. Pleasing Tory always drove her to the edge, and often when Tory climaxed, she would too, spontaneously, just from hearing her lover’s cries. “Bedroom?”

“Yes, now, before I can’t walk.”

They managed to climb the stairs to their bedroom without losing contact, their arms around each other’s waists. Once at the bedside, Tory said, “Sit down.”

Wordlessly, Reese did as she was bid while Tory turned on the bedside lamp. She was aware of the steady pounding in her depths, of the pressure building, demanding relief, but she would not move until Tory directed it. Tory’s pleasure was her greatest satisfaction.

“Watch me,” Tory murmured as she unbuttoned her blouse, her eyes on Reese’s face. She slid it off, let it fall to the floor. “I love the way you want me.”

“So much.” Reese forced the words out as her hands trembled on her thighs. She caught her breath as Tory reached behind, released the clasp on her brassiere, and freed her breasts. They were fuller, lush in a way that was primordially female. Watching Tory’s hands brush lightly over them, linger briefly on the swollen nipples, then slide down her abdomen made Reese’s stomach clench. A pulse beat frantically between her thighs.

“Touch me,” Tory breathed, stepping closer and reaching for Reese’s left hand. She drew the fingers to her breast, closing her eyes at the shock of pleasure as Reese gently squeezed. While Reese teased her, Tory unbuttoned her slacks and pushed them down along with her underclothes. Resting one hand on Reese’s shoulder, she stepped free, exposing herself to her lover’s view.

“You’re more beautiful every day,” Reese whispered, smoothing her palm down Tory’s gently swelling abdomen. When her fingers brushed the soft hair at the base of her belly, Tory’s hips jerked.

“Time for me to lie down,” Tory said huskily, her fingers fluttering over Reese’s cheek. “Be careful with your arm, sweetheart.”

“I’m fine.” Reese shifted to make room on the bed, leaning her right shoulder against the pillows as she turned on her side. “Lie close to me.”

Tory lay on her back, her eyes on Reese’s face. “Slowly.”

“I will.”

Knowing fingers traced her breasts, the slope of her ribs, the faint curve of her hip. Everywhere Tory’s skin tingled; every sensation seemed to center between her thighs. When Reese brushed her hand the length of Tory’s leg, then up the inside, Tory’s hips lifted in invitation. But Reese did not touch her where she so desperately needed to be touched, but moved instead to the other leg, stroking lightly up and down until Tory quivered with urgency.

“Please,” Tory whispered.

Smiling, her breath barely moving in her chest, Reese drew a fingertip high between her lover’s legs, parting swollen folds, gasping as a flood of moisture rose to her touch.

“Yes,” Tory sighed.

“Don’t close your eyes,” Reese demanded as she slid her fingers around Tory’s clitoris, squeezing gently. She fondled her until the rhythm of Tory’s rolling hips signaled she was on the edge. Then Reese moved lower, easing inside, drawing a guttural moan from her lover. She thrust slowly, watching Tory’s pupils grow huge.

“Oh god,” Tory cried. “You have me so close.”

“Help me,” Reese urged, deep in her now.

Tory slid her hand down her abdomen, her eyes locked on Reese’s. The first flick of her fingertips over naked nerve endings brought her hips off the bed and wrenched a cry from her throat.

Reese groaned.

Tory kept her eyes open as long she could, watching her own pleasure reflected in Reese’s face. When the pressure built too high for her to stand, she pressed harder, her hand and Reese’s moving together, driving her to orgasm.

Long moments later, Tory sighed. “Maybe you could just stay home and be my sex slave.”

“Hmm. Okay.” Reese nuzzled Tory’s ear, grinning to herself. “But sex slaves don’t cook.”

“Is that so?” Tory questioned, turning languidly on her side. She licked a bead of sweat from Reese’s neck as she reached for her fly. “Let’s check.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

March, Provincetown, MA

“Well! Now things will get back to normal around here,” Gladys announced with a huge smile as Reese closed the office door behind her. “How are you feeling, honey?”

“Just fine,” Reese replied, blushing faintly and glancing at Nelson, who just shrugged.

“Desk duty,” Nelson grumbled. “That’s what the doctor said.”

“What, have you got my report card there or something?” Reese asked as she balanced her cap on a stack of folders that rested precariously near the edge of her desk. Ignoring his snort, she sauntered across the room to a counter along one wall that held the coffeepot. Lifting the cloudy pot, she swirled the murky contents and eyed it speculatively. “How old is this?”

Gladys pointedly turned her chair away. “Don’t look at me. I don’t drink that poison.”

“I made it just…yesterday afternoon,” Nelson admitted sheepishly. The stuff had tasted a little like battery acid that morning. Just thinking about it sent him searching in his desk drawer for his antacids.

“I think making coffee is probably considered desk duty,” Reese said with a sigh. “And for your information, the doctor said I can work as long as I don’t stress my arm.”

“And I know your doctor, and I sure as hell don’t plan to get on her bad side,” Nelson commented. He still hadn’t forgotten the one time Tory had threatened him with bodily harm, and he’d known then that she’d not only meant it, she was capable of doing it. “Three weeks is awfully fast to come back to work.”

Especially after being flat on your back and scaring the bejesus out of everyone. He still didn’t like to think about it. The only good thing to come out of the whole deal was that Bri seemed to be speaking to him again. At least a little.

“Three weeks is an awfully long time to be sitting around the house going crazy, too,” Reese grumbled.