Radclyffe - Sheltering Dunes

Dancing from foot to foot, Allie pushed out of her jeans and the rest of her clothes until she was naked. She grabbed the phone, carried it to the bed, and slid under the covers. The sheets were crisp and cool, too cool without Ash. “That’s good.”

“What are you doing up so late? Didn’t you have the day shift?”

“Yeah.” Allie absently brushed her fingers over her chest, her fingertips grazing her nipples. They hardened instantly. She smiled, feeling herself get wet, thinking how easily Ash could turn her on. Just thinking about her was enough to do that—add her voice, and she was in trouble. “Something came up and I ended up working some tonight.”

“Trouble?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe.” Ash’s work as an insurance investigator specializing in high-risk or suspicious claims made her an excellent investigator, and Allie respected her opinions. Sometimes it was hard having an older girlfriend with more experience in just about everything, but she was learning to hold her own. Where work was concerned, she wasn’t too proud to accept input from another professional. “There was an incident this morning where a girl on a bicycle got hit by a van. Seemed pretty routine, but then she skipped out of the clinic before Tory could examine her. Reese asked me to follow up. The thing is, I can’t find anything on her.”

“You run all the databases?”

“I sent her name, DOB, and description out everywhere—DMV, IRS, missing persons—but the results are slow coming in. So far, though, nothing.”

“Might not mean anything. Might not be anything to find.”

Allie smiled. Sometimes Ash and Reese were hard to tell apart. “I know. The thing is…”

“What, baby?”

“Flynn caught the call this morning and transported the girl to the clinic. And now it looks like…Well, it looks like she might be getting involved.”

Silence on the line. Ash knew Allie and Flynn had dated. Ash knew Allie had called it off too. Allie waited.

“Did Flynn tell you that?” Ash’s voice was neutral, casual.

“No. I bumped into her at the Piper and this girl was working there. I talked to her and she just didn’t feel right. I ran it by Reese, and she said to hold off until all the computer searches came in. I asked Reese if I could keep an eye on things, just to get a sense of what was going on.”

“Wait a minute. You just got home because, what? You were doing surveillance? With who?”

“Nobody. I was just kind of keeping an eye on them.”

“Jesus, baby,” Ash said sharply. “What the hell is Reese thinking, letting you do that solo? You’re barely healed from the last gunshot wound.”

The hairs on the back of Allie’s neck stood up. If she’d been a dog, she would’ve growled. She took a long breath. Fighting over the phone was stupid. “Ash, I’m a cop, remember?”

More silence.

“Ash?”

“Yes, I remember,” Ash said. “Sorry. I love you. I worry.”

“I worry about you too.” Allie smiled and circled her fingertips over the warmth in the center of her belly. “Well, there was nothing to worry about, because nothing happened.”

“And if there’s any more surveillance to be done, you’ll do it with backup?”

“Promise.”

“You know,” Ash said, “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

“Oh yeah? How much?”

Allie laughed. “If I tell you, you’ll just get a big head.”

“Probably. But tell me anyway.”

“A lot. The bed is too big without you. And I’m horny.”

Ash chuckled. “Baby, you’re always horny.”

“Just hurry home.”

“I will.”

A rustling noise came over the phone. “What are you doing?”

“Getting into bed,” Ash said.

“Oh yeah? What are you wearing?”

“Besides a smile and a hard-on?”

Allie’s belly tightened. “That’s nice.”

“Speak for yourself. And I’m not wearing anything.”

Allie cupped her breasts, squeezing gently. Her nipples were hard, aching. She rubbed them and her clit stiffened. “I don’t think it’s fair that just talking to you gets me so horny.”

“Fair doesn’t enter into it. Have you been thinking about me all night?”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“How about I snuggle in next to you and warm you up?” Ash’s voice turned silky and hot.

“I’d like that.” Allie closed her eyes and tucked the phone close to her face on the pillow. She often woke up in the morning with Ash curled around her, sheltering her in the curve of her body the way the village, on its thin finger of sand, curved around the harbor, keeping everyone within safe. With Ash holding her tight, she was protected. Ash kept her safe—not just her body while she slept, but her heart with every breath. “I love your hands on me.”

“Baby,” Ash whispered, “I love touching you. Do you want me to touch you now?”

Allie cradled one breast in her palm and rolled the nipple lightly between her fingers. She pressed the pads of the first two fingers of her other hand against the base of her clitoris, feeling it beat in time to her racing heart. “I want you to do a lot more than touch me. So hurry up home.”

“We don’t have to wait, you know.”

“I know. I could come listening to the sound of your voice, but I think I’ll wait.”

Ash chuckled. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s not like me, I know.” Allie dipped one finger lower, into the satiny heat, and moaned at the ripple of excitement.

“It doesn’t sound like you’re waiting. And if you don’t stop, there’s no way I’m going to hold out.”

“I love wanting you as much as I love coming.”

“Aren’t we lucky we can have both.”

Allie thought about the endless nights after Ash left, of the women she’d dated, trying to forget, and then, discovering she couldn’t forget, the weeks when no one touched her. She hadn’t even wanted to come by her own hand, because the orgasm was a lonely mockery of what she really wanted. The single bright memory in all those weeks was Flynn. “I don’t ever want to be without you again.”

“I’m so sorry, baby,” Ash murmured.

“No, you don’t have to be. That’s behind us now.”

“But you still remember, I can tell.”

“I remember being without you.” Allie cupped herself, desire making her swell, making her ache. The wanting was all the sweeter for knowing Ash was hers. “I have you now. I’m not letting you go. You’re mine.”

“Completely.”

“That’s all that matters.”

“Close your eyes and let me hold you while you sleep, baby,” Ash said.

“I love you. See you soon.”

“I love you too.”

Allie ended the call and closed her eyes. Ash was everywhere, in her heart and her soul, and she would be there the next day, and the day after that. That certainty was everything she needed.

*

Flynn rolled over and watched the moon track across the sky through her bedroom window. She’d left it open even though the breeze bordered on cold so she could hear the foghorn toll from the lighthouse on Long Point. The smell of the sea reminded her of how insignificant she was in the vast ocean of time, smaller than a speck of sand on the shores of an endless universe. She would crumble under the weight of her own inconsequentiality if she didn’t have some way to contribute to that wonder.

Almost three a.m. Mica was probably asleep. Or perhaps she was lying awake watching the same moon move across the cloud-strewn sky, wondering, like Flynn, how the night might have been if Flynn had accepted Mica’s invitation and gone upstairs with her. Flynn hadn’t anticipated the invitation, even though Mica radiated loneliness. Flynn recognized the shadows in Mica’s eyes and the sadness Mica tried to hide. Mica was too strong and too stubborn to admit it, but some things were impossible to hide. Flynn recognized a soul on the run.