Неизвестный - 2. Beyond The Breakwater

People have been doing it for millennia, right? Reese and I love each other, and we want this baby. That’s what counts, right? God, what is wrong with me? I’m never like this.

As she looked over her shoulder, she saw the lights of their home flickering through the small pines that separated the rear deck from the beach. Knowing that Reese was back there filled her with a sense of assurance and comfort. Each time she found herself struggling with doubt or fear, she had only to think of Reese to realize that whatever challenge awaited her, she would not face it alone.

She’s truly the rock upon which my world stands.

A few moments later, Tory let herself in through the sliding doors from the deck. Jed bounded ahead and skidded ungracefully around the breakfast bar into the cooking area, nearly clipping Reese behind the knees.

“Hey. Get out of here, you oaf,” Reese yelled. Turning with a spatula in one hand, she smiled at Tory. “Is there a reason he smells like week old fish?”

“Dead sea treasures.”

“Lovely.” Reese slid a plate with appetizers onto the counter. “You can nibble on these while I finish dinner.”

“Thanks,” Tory said as she settled onto a stool. “I love you.”

Stopping in mid-motion, Reese raised an eyebrow. The tone of her lover’s voice had not been casual. “You okay?”

“Mostly.” Tory extended her right hand on the countertop and Reese took it. “Sometimes, you know, I get a little…” She sighed and shook her head. “It all just sort of hits me.”

“Yeah, me, too. But you know what?”

“What?”

Reese released her hand, walked around the breakfast island, and put her arms around Tory. “Everything is going to be just fine.”

Tory threaded her arms around Reese’s waist, rested her head against the broad chest, and closed her eyes. With her cheek pressed to her lover’s heart and the heat of the familiar body enclosing her, she couldn’t conjure up a single worry. Quietly, she murmured, “I knew that.”

“God, it feels good to get into bed,” Reese observed with a contented sigh. She stretched out her arm and Tory snuggled close, the movement automatic after hundreds of nights together.

“Yes, so good.” Tory smoothed her hand over Reese’s chest, then down the center of her abdomen. Drifting, pleasantly tired, she trailed her fingers over the edge of hip bone and down one hard-muscled thigh. When Reese curled her right arm around Tory’s body, Tory felt the long ridge of the healing scar brush along her skin. A quick thrust of fear swept through her as she realized anew what she had nearly lost. In the next breath, she envisioned walking on the beach earlier and how just thinking about Reese had settled her world. She remembered too what life had been like before Reese had come into her life, bringing such pure and selfless love.

Everything. You’re everything.

Tory pressed her lips to Reese’s shoulder, reveling in the heat of her skin. Her heartbeat quickened, as did her passion. “Reese?”

“Hmm?”

“You tired?”

There was a beat of silence, then a soft chuckle. “Is that an invitation?”

Tory shifted until she was lying on top of her lover. Her legs fit perfectly between Reese’s; her fingers curled possessively over Reese’s shoulders. “Could be.”

“Feels like.”

Laughing softly, Tory leaned down and kissed her, slowly at first, light teasing kisses. As their skin slid softly, their bodies cleaved even closer. Soon Tory sought more, slipping her tongue inside Reese’s mouth, hungry now. Moaning softly, she raised herself until her nipples were close to Reese’s mouth. Shakily, she whispered, “Suck them, sweetheart.”

Tenderly, Reese captured Tory’s breasts in both hands, squeezing them gently together as her mouth moved first from one nipple to the other. As Reese sucked carefully, pleasantly torturing the sensitive tips, Tory shifted to straddle Reese’s hips, rocking herself rhythmically until her desire streaked wetly over Reese’s abdomen. Reese thrust her hips in time to Tory’s soft cries of pleasure, hard and full herself and desperate to be touched.

“Stop,” Tory panted. “It feels so good. I can’t stand it.”

“Come up here,” Reese ordered, her voice a husky growl. Then she slid her hands down Tory’s back to her hips and drew her higher on the bed. The scent of her lover’s arousal made Reese’s clitoris twitch almost painfully, and she shut her eyes tightly for a second against the surge of need that threatened to steal her concentration. Hoarsely, she whispered, “This okay?”

“Yes. God, yes.” Tory leaned forward, braced her palms flat against the wall, and lowered herself onto Reese’s mouth. A small cry fluttered from her throat at the first touch of Reese’s lips. She tried not to move, not to hurry, but the blood pounded insistently, making her clitoris stiffen and throb with each knowing stroke of Reese’s tongue. When she didn’t think she could get any harder without exploding, she looked over her shoulder and down the length of Reese’s body, taut and trembling against the sheets.

“You’re so beautiful,” Tory moaned. Lifting herself from Reese’s mouth, she twisted and turned, settling once again on top of her lover, this time with her face against Reese’s thigh. Desperately she begged, “Come with me?”

“Yess.”

Then Tory parted the engorged tissues with trembling fingers, entering deeply at the same time as she enclosed Reese’s clitoris with her lips. Reese jerked and cried out sharply before she took Tory once again.

Boundaries and borders disappeared as their flesh became one, passion a raging flood overflowing the restraints of their desire. They held to one another, dangling on the precipice of surrender, until Tory pulled her face away with a sharp gasp.

“I’m…ready. Have…to come.”

“Yes, love,” Reese echoed tightly, before drawing Tory in even more deeply.

Tory pressed her lips to Reese’s quivering clitoris and trembled as they exploded in unison. Reese held her as she bucked and shook, letting her soar, all the while keeping her safe.

When she gently floated back to earth, Tory found herself once again cradled in Reese’s arms, her head tucked securely beneath Reese’s chin. She had no idea when she had moved. Reese’s chest heaved with the last vestiges of release, her heart a hammer beneath Tory’s cheek.

“You okay, sweetheart?” Tory questioned softly.

“Hell, yes.” Reese laughed shortly, a sound very nearly a sob. “I think I’m still coming.”

“Mmm,” Tory murmured throatily, her fingers drifting lower. “Go again?”

“No way.” Reese grabbed her wrist, stilling her motion. “I’ll jump right out of my skin. You’re too good. Criminally good.”

“So arrest me, Sheriff,” Tory muttered as she slipped into sleep, her hand clasped in Reese’s.

“Don’t worry,” Reese whispered, pressing her lips to the top of Tory’s head. “I’m don’t plan on letting you go.”

She had worked hard all night not to acknowledge the faint note of caution in Wendy Deutsch’s voice when she’d mentioned Tory’s blood pressure elevation that afternoon. But the echo the doctor’s words had been there all the time in the back of her mind, a subtle almost intangible warning, like shifting shadows in the mist on night patrol. A good marine learned to heed those silent warnings, because the price of ignoring them was losing the skirmish, or worse. Reese stroked Tory’s back, her own breath nearly still in her chest.

You are everything. Everything.

CHAPTER TWENTY

March, Manhattan, NYC

It was after 11:00 on Friday night when Caroline walked into the apartment. She gave a small cry of surprise when she saw the familiar figure sprawled on the couch. “Bri! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?”