Returning Tides Read online

  Flynn kissed her neck and murmured, “How about now? Still good?”

  Allie wanted to look away but she couldn’t. Ash stared into Allie’s eyes, her mouth twisting sardonically. Then Ash buried her face in the neck of the slinky blonde who was plastered against her body, her hands sliding down to cup the woman’s ass.

  “Even better,” Allie said, her voice sounding flat to her own ears. She tugged on Flynn’s hand. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Flynn lifted her head, clearly surprised, but she smiled and let Allie pull her hurriedly through the crowd and out into the street.

  *

  “There she is!” Carter pointed to Rica standing next to her Lexus, parked halfway down the outer row of cars. The huge parking lot was separated from the street by a thicket of trees. Despite the late hour, the lot was still half full, but the attendant’s booth was at the far end, around a bend. The section where Rica had parked was isolated, and the street lamps, mounted on poles every thirty feet or so, left substantial areas in darkness.

  “Man, this place is a setup for robberies and assaults,” Carter said, bolting from the cruiser before Bri had even pulled to a stop. She reached Rica in three long strides and slipped an arm around Rica’s waist. Hustling her back to the cruiser, she pulled open the rear door. “Wait inside, babe.”

  “Carter,” Rica began, but Carter just shook her head, guided her into the vehicle, and closed the door.

  Bri came around the front of the cruiser and together they approached Rica’s car. Carter scanned the lot but saw no sign of anyone else. The driver’s side window of the Lexus was smashed, glass littering the ground.

  “The perp was most likely gone by the time she got here,” Carter said, her mouth dry and her stomach twisting. “Christ, if she’d walked up on him—”

  “It was probably a smash and grab,” Bri said, shining her Maglite into the front seat. “Radio’s still there. We’ll need to find out if she left something in the car.”

  “Maybe, but Rica is usually careful.” Carter took a breath, clearing her head. “We should walk around, see if any of the other cars have been broken into.”

  “You take the back half, I’ll canvass up here,” Bri said. “Check back with me in five.”

  “Got it.”

  They separated, slowly wending their way up and down the rows of cars.

  *

  He’d checked his watch when she’d discovered her car and made a call on her cell phone. Less than three minutes passed before the police had arrived. He could accomplish a lot in three minutes. There was plenty of light for him to make a body shot. Even a head shot, although he didn’t think they were wearing vests. Not in this town, not for routine patrols. And of course, she was completely unprotected. Vulnerable to anything he wanted. Just like all of them. He slid his fingers over the smooth length of the knife in his pocket. Of course, if he got close to her, he could get much more personal. Much more.

  Chapter Seven

  When the music switched to a faster tempo, Ash started to pull back, but Lisa tightened her arms around Ash’s neck and murmured, “No, I like your hands on my ass.”

  “Sorry,” Ash murmured, realizing she’d been blatantly feeling Lisa up on the dance floor. And the reason she’d done it had nothing to do with Lisa. She’d been dancing with Lisa but watching Allie. Watching Allie flirt and play with a good-looking butch her own age. Just exactly what Ash had told her she should do. Except when Allie had tilted her head back so the woman could kiss her neck, Ash had tried to block the hard pain by fondling the woman in her arms. Not a response she was proud of. She jerked her hands back up to the center of Lisa’s back and repeated, “Sorry.”

  “Baby, I just told you I liked it.” Lisa undulated seductively. “You can put your hands anywhere you want.”

  Ash tried to lose herself in the kind of mindless arousal that didn’t really work for her even when she wasn’t thinking of Allie. Now she couldn’t think of anything else. Lisa was a few inches shorter than Allie and fuller breasted, and although her body was tantalizing, she didn’t fit in Ash’s arms the way Allie had. Allie. Allie apparently didn’t have any problems fitting into someone else’s embrace. Ash could still see the way Allie offered her neck, that smooth ivory column that was so responsive to a kiss or the scrape of teeth, to the stranger. The stranger who’d left the bar with Allie. The stranger who was probably kissing that neck right now, sliding her hands under the tight skimpy top that had displayed Allie’s ripe young breasts so teasingly. Caressing her, making her whimper softly, plaintively, the way she did when she was getting excited…

  “Fuck,” Ash whispered, not intending to speak out loud.

  “I was thinking the same thing.” Lisa leaned back in Ash’s arms and rolled her pelvis against Ash’s. Her eyes were liquid, her lids heavy, as her gaze drifted over Ash’s face and came to rest on her mouth. “Are you as ready as I am?”

  Ash gripped her ass again and, under cover of the darkened dance floor, pumped her crotch once, hard, into Lisa’s. “What do you think?”

  “Oh yeah.” Lisa flicked her tongue over her full lower lip. “I think you’re ready. I think you’d love to put your mouth on my—”

  “Come on,” Ash said gruffly. “Where are you staying?”

  “With two other girls at the Boatslip.” Lisa grabbed her purse from the chair at their table while Ash downed the rest of her beer.

  “Are they going to be home?” Ash held Lisa’s drink out to her, and when Lisa shook her head, she finished that too. She could tell from the hungry look in Lisa’s eyes it was going to be a long night.

  “They won’t be back for quite a while, and I’ve got the single bedroom.” She smiled and tugged on Ash’s fly. “But I don’t mind a crowd if you don’t.”

  Ash grinned grimly. “Maybe some other night.”

  Right now, all she wanted was to get rid of the movie playing inexorably in her head, one starring Allie. First she saw herself making Allie scream with pleasure, only to be replaced by an image of the muscular blonde, her mouth at Allie’s breast, her hand between Allie’s legs. A sharp pain shot through Ash’s head and she gritted her teeth. Swiftly, she grabbed Lisa’s arm, jerked her close and kissed her, willing the heat of Lisa’s mouth and the lush pliancy of her body to burn the unwanted pictures from her brain.

  *

  “We’ll follow you home,” Carter said to Rica after she and Bri had checked the parking lot and found nothing else amiss. She wasn’t sure how to interpret the absence of any other break-ins. In crimes of opportunity, the perpetrators wanted to get as much merchandise as they could, so more than one vehicle was usually targeted. But only Rica’s Lexus appeared to have been vandalized, and Carter wondered uneasily if her car had been singled out intentionally.

  “You don’t need to do that,” Rica said quietly. “I’m fine. It’s only a mile.”

  Carter shook her head. “No. I want to be sure there’s no further problem.”

  What she didn’t say was she wanted to check the house. There was no reason at all to think that Rica was in danger, but Rica was not an ordinary woman. She was the daughter of one of the most powerful organized crime figures in the country, and even though Rica steadfastly repudiated her heritage, she could not deny it. She was her father’s daughter, and as such she was a potential target for men who might want to influence or retaliate against him. Pareto had pulled back Rica’s bodyguards at Rica’s insistence, and although Carter was glad, right now she wished one of them were around.

  Bri joined them by the side of the cruiser. “Was there anything lying in plain view on the front seat or the floor?”

  Rica shook her head. “No. Nothing. I never leave anything of value visible.”

  “I checked under the dash,” Bri said, “and I didn’t see any sign that the wiring had been tampered with. No one hotwired it in an attempt to steal it. The sound system connections are all intact. Looks like the broken window is the only damage.” Bri glanced at Carte
r and hooked one thumb over her gun belt before focusing on Rica again. “Have you had a run-in with anyone lately? An irritated customer, maybe?”

  “No, no one,” Rica said quickly. “Why?”

  Carter cleared her throat and Bri said immediately, “Just running the list of possibilities.”

  “Oh, bullshit,” Rica said irritably. “Don’t you two pull that cop stuff on me. You think someone was trying to send me a message? A warning of some kind?”

  “It’s possible,” Bri said. “And it’s just as possible this was a completely random act. Plenty of kids get drunk and show off for their friends. Someone may have just tossed a rock at the window to prove how bad they are.”

  Carter took Rica’s hand. “Right now there’s no reason to think it’s anything more than what Bri just said. But be careful, okay? If you notice anything at any time that seems the least bit off, call me.”

  “I will, baby,” Rica murmured. “Right now, I just want to go home.”

  As they followed Rica’s Lexus down Bradford, Carter automatically checked for a tail. A single car followed at a distance but turned off before they reached their street. Rica would probably say Carter’s years undercover had made her paranoid, but being paranoid was what had kept her alive.

  “You don’t think her car being hit was an accident?” Bri asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I don’t like the feel of it.”

  “No,” Carter said. “Neither do I.”

  *

  He waited, watching, until the police cruiser followed the Lexus out of the parking lot. It was late, well after midnight, but he wasn’t tired. He felt invigorated. So many choices. He could follow her home. She’d be alone for the rest of the night. He could watch her undressing through the windows, from the safety of the dunes. He could slip in through an unlocked window or an unattended patio door. He might be able to see her through the misty glass of the shower doors or watch her sleep with moonlight slanting across her face. Or he might visit one of the others. Which one would be first? Whistling, he made his way down the narrow twisting streets to Commercial Street and imagined all the possibilities. Finally he was in charge.

  *

  Allie moaned quietly, clutching Flynn’s shoulders as Flynn leaned over her, pressing her back into the soft sofa cushions. Allie had guessed from Flynn’s slightly cocky manner and to-die-for-body that she would be good at this, and she hadn’t been wrong. Flynn really, really knew her way around a woman. Right now, Flynn was doing an awesome job of kissing her. Flynn’s second-story, one-bedroom apartment faced the harbor in the far West End. The sofa, where they were currently entangled, sat in front of double sliding glass doors, which were open to the cool early-September breeze. The air outside could have been frigid for all the effect it had on her, because Flynn was stoking her fires like no one had done in far too long. God, Flynn’s tongue felt good playing inside her mouth, making her tingle and tighten in so many places at once she couldn’t think of anything else. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t remember. She couldn’t ache for what she didn’t have. This was good. This was so good. This was good enough.

  Allie grabbed the back of Flynn’s shirt and yanked it out of her jeans, then dipped a hand under the waistband. Her whole body tensed when she encountered nothing but bare skin, and she dug her fingers into the hard muscle. Flynn groaned and worked a thigh between Allie’s legs. Allie whimpered with the sudden pressure.

  “You’re so hot,” Flynn muttered, massaging Allie’s breast through her top. “You’re making me crazy.”

  “Good.” Allie arched beneath her and gripped her ass even harder. Flynn pushed her hand under Allie’s clothes and palmed her breast. Flynn’s fingers were dry and warm, and Allie’s breasts ached wonderfully as Flynn worked her way back and forth between them, fondling and massaging. “Yeah, really good.”

  “Want you so bad,” Flynn groaned.

  “Then kiss me.” Allie dragged Flynn back down and opened her mouth to pull her in. Flynn shifted fully on top of her, punctuating each thrust of her tongue with a hard hip pump. Allie opened her legs wider. Dry humping had never gotten her off, but the way she felt right now, so desperate to let go of the last fragments of awareness, so frantic for just a few minutes of pleasure, of not hurting, she thought she might come. God, she would explode if Ash would just squeeze her nipple a little harder, the way she liked it. The way she always did when she wanted to make her come. She murmured breathlessly, “Please…” Ash, please… Ash.

  Allie jerked back into the moment and felt every ounce of blood drain from her head. She pulled out of the kiss, turning her face away. Gasping, she said, “Wait, please.”

  Flynn went rigid. After a few seconds of silence, she eased some of her weight off Allie’s body, bracing herself on her arms with their lower bodies still touching. “Allie?”

  “Oh my God, Flynn. I’m so sorry. I…I just…” Allie took a shuddering breath. What the hell was happening? She’d been about ten seconds away from an awesome orgasm. This had never happened before. Not that long ago she’d made love with Deo, more than once, and she’d been fine. All systems go. She hadn’t had the slightest problem coming, and she hadn’t thought of Ash once. Not really. All right, maybe sometimes, but never when she’d been with Deo. Well, never when Deo had been making love to her at least. Flynn was an amazing lover. Flynn had been making her feel terrific. Flynn had been about to make her come. “I don’t know what happened.”

  Liar. You do know what happened. God damn it. She doesn’t want you. Stop thinking of her!

  “It’s okay.” Flynn, breathing hard, rolled off until they were half sitting up, side by side on the sofa. She stroked a few strands of hair off Allie’s cheek. Her eyes glittered in the moonlight, and her smile seemed a little rueful. “We might’ve been moving a little fast. I kinda lost it there.”

  Allie threaded her fingers through Flynn’s and held their joined hands in her lap. “Believe me, I was right there with you.” She laughed and shook her head. “Actually, I was probably a little ahead of you.”

  “I thought you were going to come,” Flynn murmured quietly.

  Allie’s face flamed hot. “You’re pretty amazing. I was really worked up.”

  “Yeah, me too.”

  “Oh God, I’m sorry. You must think I’m an enormous tease.” Allie thought of how many times Bri had accused her of being a tease. She was a tease, sometimes. Sometimes teasing girls was just a form of foreplay. But nothing about what had just happened was intentional. “I’m sorry.”

  Flynn straightened and turned so their eyes met. “Allie! Don’t be crazy. I meant it when I said maybe we were fast-forwarding a little too much. It’s our first date, and…” She shrugged. “I’d been thinking about you ever since we ran into each other earlier, so I was pretty revved up when you walked into the bar. And then you just looked so hot and you felt so good, and I stopped thinking about anything except… Well, you know. But I don’t usually have sex with a woman the first time we hook up.”

  I do, Allie wanted to say, because it was true. Most of the last year at least, when she’d gone out at all, the only thing she’d wanted from a woman had been hard, hot sex and as much of it as she could get. But she didn’t say it because she didn’t want Flynn to think that’s what tonight had been all about. Maybe it had been mostly about sex, right up until a few minutes ago. But it wasn’t about that anymore. Flynn was nice. Too nice to just be a convenient mouth and pair of hands.

  “I think this might be the most insane thing to ever come out of my mouth,” Allie said, “but would you mind if we just took things a little slower for a while?”

  “So does that mean I get another date?”

  A date. Allie thought about that. Flynn was gorgeous. Flynn was smart and funny. Flynn had amazing hands and an incredible mouth and a killer body. Well, duh. Allie kissed her, and Flynn’s tongue skating over hers was like a power surge electrifying every atom in her body. She pulled back befo
re she short-circuited completely. “Yes. Definitely, yes.”

  Flynn grinned and pulled her to her feet. “Come on, I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “That’s probably a good idea.” Allie wrapped her arm around Flynn’s waist. “Because believe me, restraint is not my strong suit.”

  “You won’t hear me complaining.”

  Allie laughed, strangely relieved to be going home, even though she still wasn’t sure why she was saying no. Maybe it was because as she and Flynn walked hand in hand down the dark quiet streets, she kept wondering where Ash was, and with whom.

  *

  “Oh baby,” the blonde panted as Ash worked her nipple roughly between her teeth, “you’re going to make me come. You’re going to make me come.”

  Again. The woman didn’t quit, and Ash didn’t want her to, driving her with her mouth and her hands and her tongue and her teeth from one peak to the next. She wanted to make her come, needed to make her come, desperate for her cries of ecstasy to block out the sounds of another woman’s climax from her consciousness. Still, despite the pain of nails raking down her back and teeth sinking into the muscles at the base of her neck, she couldn’t obliterate the pictures, couldn’t erase the memories. She groaned and pushed her hand deeper, thrust harder and faster.

  “That’s it. That’s it! Here I go again. Oh God!”

  Ash squeezed her eyes shut, unable to endure the chasm that threatened to swallow her up when she stared into a stranger’s eyes. During a moment when she should have felt most connected, she felt nothing. Empty. Adrift. Lost. Her muscles quivered with unrelieved tension, her head ached, her heart pounded so hard her chest hurt.