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Deo grinned as she lathered her body with a bar of soap. “What happened to that great self-control?”

“I lost it somewhere after the second time you rubbed your breasts over me.” Nita refused to look down, because if she saw any more of Deo than her face, she was going to drop to her knees and take her right there. “Give me the soap.”

“I have to be back out there in about three hours.” Deo swirled soapy circles over her breasts and belly with both hands. “I’ve been keyed up all night, because of everything that’s going on and because when I wasn’t too busy to see straight, I thought about making love with you.”

Nita turned her back so she couldn’t touch her. “The shower will relax you and you’ll be able to sleep.”

“I need to come fi rst. If you weren’t here, I’d fantasize about you and masturbate.”

“God,” Nita moaned. “Stop it.”

Deo pressed against Nita’s back. “You can watch me or you can let me fuck you.”

Nita leaned forward and braced her arms against the shower wall, the tension in the pit of her stomach so profound she wasn’t sure she could keep standing. “If I let you come inside me, will you go to sleep then?”

“Yes,” Deo grated, thrusting against Nita’s ass.

“Well, seeing as how it’s therapeutic.” Nita pivoted, but immediately pushed Deo away with both hands on Deo’s shoulders.

“Go get ready. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“It’s what you want?”

Nita kissed her softly and ran her fi ngers through her hair. “Yes.

It’s exactly what I want.”

Deo stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel on her way out of the bathroom. Nita took her time drying off, enjoying the novel feeling of not needing to hurry, of not fearing that if she didn’t grab every ounce of pleasure just as quickly as possible, it would all disappear like mist at sunrise. She was excited, her skin so sensitive it was almost painful to touch. She was wet and swollen, and she throbbed with the persistent ache of desire. Her arousal felt wonderful, and it was beyond wonderful to set it free.

Nita wrapped a towel around her breasts and joined Deo in the

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bedroom. A single light burned on the far side of the bed, illuminating Deo as she lay on her side, a sheet pulled up to her waist, her head propped in her hand as she watched the door. She smiled as Nita approached.

“I thought you might fall asleep,” Nita said, letting the towel fall.

“Not likely,” Deo said, lifting up the sheet.

Nita slid beneath it and reclined on her side, facing Deo. She traced the circles beneath Deo’s eyes. “Sweetheart, you’re so tired.”

“I need you,” Deo whispered. “More than anything.”

When Deo inched closer to kiss her, Nita felt a fi rm weight settle against her thigh and caught her breath. As she drew Deo’s tongue into her mouth, she caressed Deo’s side and the curve of her hip until she reached her knee. Then she skimmed her fi ngers up the inside of Deo’s leg until she closed her fi ngers around the cock nestled between Deo’s legs. She pushed her tongue deeper into Deo’s mouth and slowly rotated her wrist.

Deo groaned and pushed her hips forward.

“Don’t be in a hurry,” Nita whispered, kissing Deo’s throat. She kept up the motion of her hand, a steady, rhythmic push and pull. Deo’s breath shivered in and out and Nita clenched inside. “I love to excite you.”

“You’re making me a lot more than excited. I’m so pumped.” Deo jerked and thrust into Nita’s fi st.

“Be good.” Nita licked Deo’s nipple. “You’re not allowed to come in my hand. Not this way.”

“Then stop what you’re doing,” Deo gasped.

Nita laughed and pushed Deo onto her back, then straddled her.

She hissed in a breath as Deo’s cock bumped against her sex. “Oh, I’m going to like having you inside me.”

“Jesus,” Deo whispered, sliding one hand down between them to steady herself. “I need to be inside you. Are you ready?”

Nita leaned forward and kissed her. “Mmm. Very. Hold still now.”

Watching Deo’s face, Nita slowly settled down, taking her inside one slow inch at a time. Briefl y, Deo’s knuckles brushed against her clitoris and Nita bit her lip to distract herself from the jolt of pleasure that threatened to trigger her orgasm before she was ready. Finally, when Deo was completely buried, she let out her breath.

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“Feel good?” Nita whispered.

“Great.” Deo’s thighs quivered with the effort not to move. “Will you do something for me?”

“If I can.” Nita’s lids drooped as the pressure grew inside her.

“Will you let me make you come fi rst this time?” Deo tilted her hips ever so slightly, pressing into Nita’s clitoris. “I want to watch you come while I fuck you.”

“Yes,” Nita gasped. “I’ll do anything you say.”

Deo cupped Nita’s breasts in her hands and rubbed her thumbs over her nipples. “Just don’t fi ght it. I don’t care if you come in thirty seconds. Just trust me and let go.”

Nita covered Deo’s hands with hers and rocked back, forcing Deo even deeper. Then she slid forward, and back again. Once, twice, faster, and then faster until her hips were a blur and her breath rushed out in broken sobs. Her fi ngers linked with Deo’s as white heat fi lled her belly, then her breasts, and fi nally exploded deep inside her. Her head fell back and she screamed wordlessly.

Feeling as if her chest might implode, Deo jerked upright and wrapped Nita in her arms, half sitting as Nita whimpered and trembled in her lap. Before Nita stopped coming, Deo carefully guided her sideways and onto her back, following her until she was between her legs and still inside her. Burying her face against Nita’s neck, she struggled to hold still until Nita caught her breath.

“Nita,” Deo groaned, “Nita, I have to fuck you. Please, please can I?”

Nita fi sted Deo’s hair in both hands and weakly wrapped her legs around the backs of Deo’s thighs. “Come inside me. I want you to come inside me.”

Deo bit down on Nita’s neck as she eased out an inch, then sank into her again, out an inch, in again, then two, then three, then more until she was pulling all the way out and driving back in with every stroke. Nita raked her nails down Deo’s back as Deo’s thrusts grew erratic and her breathing frantic.

“Come, baby,” Nita murmured, stroking Deo’s sweat soaked back.

“Come inside me. Come hard.”

Deo pushed up on both arms as she pumped down with her hips.

Then she threw her head back and cried out, her eyes wide and blind with pleasure.

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Nita stopped breathing, paralyzed with wonder. She’d never seen anything as beautiful in her life. When she tightened her legs and pulled Deo into her as far as she could, the sudden unexpected pressure forced her into another orgasm.

“Don’t you move,” Nita gasped as Deo collapsed on top of her.

“Don’t you dare move. I’m still coming.”

“Can’t,” Deo mumbled, her head pillowed on Nita shoulder. “I’m wasted.”

“That’s good. That’s just really good.” Nita laughed and stroked Deo’s hair. “You sleep now baby.”

Nita lay very still, listening to the angry world outside and the steady, comforting sound of Deo’s even breathing. When her muscles fi nally relaxed, she let Deo slip out of her and eased Deo onto her side.

Deo muttered a faint protest but didn’t move as Nita carefully untangled her so she could sleep comfortably. Then she curled up in Deo’s arms and closed her eyes, satisfi ed and unafraid.

• 227 •

• 228 •

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Tory sat up on the sofa, alert to the sound of quiet footsteps on the deck. A shadow moved across the glass doors, and she heard the quiet snick of a lock sliding open. The restless unease that was always with her when Reese was away disappeared instantly.

“I’m here, darling,” Tory called softly. There was enough light from the almost-dawn that she didn’t bother to turn on the nearby lamp.

“Why aren’t you upstairs in bed?” Reese asked, her voice sounding hoarse as she settled onto the couch next to Tory. She pulled off her tie and tossed it onto the end table, then loosened her gun belt and laid it carefully by her side.

“Because you’re not there.” Tory leaned her cheek against Reese’s shoulder and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Have you been out all night?”

“Most of it.” Reese sighed and leaned her head back. “We’re going to get hit, Tor. With high winds and storm surge at the very least.”

“When?”

“Late tomorrow and on into the night, probably.” Reese stroked Tory’s arm. “Did you hear from Kate?”

“They made it to Cath’s about midnight. Traffi c was backed up everywhere. The baby was asleep.”

“Mmm.”

Realizing that Reese was nearly asleep, too, Tory lifted Reese’s legs and guided her down until she was stretched out on her back. After retrieving Reese’s holster and placing it on the nearby table, she unlaced her shoes and dropped them on the fl oor.

“Can’t sleep now,” Reese muttered.

“Yes you can.” Tory curled up beside her, draping her body over Reese’s, and closed her eyes. Reese was rumpled and tired and barely

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present, but she was warm and her body was solid and her heartbeat steady. She was everything Tory needed to anchor her in the coming storm.

❖

Nita heard the shower running and checked the clock. Just after six a.m. She stretched and the muscles in her inner thighs protested.

Smiling, she thought about why she was sore, and the memory of straddling Deo’s tight, narrow hips while she rode the thick length of her made her clench inside. Tossing the covers aside, she rose quickly and hurried into the bathroom.

“Morning,” Nita said, slipping into the shower next to Deo. She wrapped both arms around Deo’s waist and kissed her.

“Sorry,” Deo murmured after a minute. “I was trying not to wake you.”

“That’s all right.” Nita smoothed her hands over Deo’s shoulders and down her arms. “I need to call Tory. I have a feeling we’re going to be running the clinic twenty-four hours a day from now until this is over.”

“How are you feeling?” Deo soaped her hands and caressed Nita’s breasts, giving a low growl of approval as Nita’s nipples hardened into dark pebbles against her palms.

Nita caught her breath sharply. “I woke up thinking about you inside me.”

“I woke up wanting to come inside you again.”

“Handy,” Nita whispered, her eyelids fl ickering as Deo played with her breasts.

“Are you going to let me?” Deo skimmed one hand down Nita’s belly until her fi ngertips touched the soft triangle with the diamond-hard center nestled between her legs. Then she circled slowly and pressed.

Nita whimpered and let her head fall back against the shower wall.

“Oh, baby, that feels so good.”

“To me too.” Deo’s breathing kicked up a notch. “You didn’t answer.”

“What was the question?”

Deo slid a fi nger inside her. “Whether you were going to let me come inside you again.”

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“Oh yes. Yes. As often as you like.”

“I’m going to make you come now.”

“I know.”

“You know why?” Deo murmured, kissing Nita slowly.

Nita shook her head, her eyes closed, pelvis lifting to take Deo deeper.

“Because I love to make you come, and you know it.”

Nita forced her eyes open. Deo was very close, her dark eyes black, all pupil. She was staring so intently Nita could feel the heat on the backs of her eyelids. Deep inside her orgasm unfurled and spread, powerful wings beating against the heavy air of her desire. “Is it really so simple?”

“No.” Deo added another fi nger, then another, and another. She barely managed to get her arm around Nita’s waist as Nita’s legs gave out. Still, she held her gaze as Nita trembled on the brink of orgasm.

“It’s not simple at all.”

“Don’t let me fall.”

“No, no I won’t.” Deo slipped her tongue deep into Nita’s mouth and Nita came.

❖

“You and my dad should leave this morning,” Bri said, yanking on her uniform pants. She shoved in her shirt and hastily threaded her belt through the loops. Carre sat on the edge of the bed watching her, and Bri could feel her bristling from across the room. Without meeting her eyes, she repeated what she’d been saying since the night before. “It’s not safe here, babe, and I’m going to be out on patrol pretty much all the time from now on.”

“I can take care of myself, Bri,” Carre said. “You don’t have to worry.”