Killer Summer Read online

  “You feel so very good there,” Dani murmured, and fell back asleep.

  Leah’s last thought before falling asleep was, Are we ever going to make love? Every time the possibility is there, something or someone interrupts us.

  When Leah awoke, she was unsure what had brought her out of a dream or what the dream had been about. She was, however, surprised to find she and Dani had changed positions. Dani was now behind Leah and was holding her breast. Leah smiled, put her hand over Dani’s, and fell back asleep.

  Chapter Two

  Leah awoke again only to find herself alone in the big bed. She looked around the bedroom for a clock, but found none. Taking a chance that Dani would have the bungalows on her planet tech savvy, she said, “House, what time is it?” When the house responded, Leah noted they’d only slept six hours. If that was true, she felt much better than a long interstellar flight would seem to allow her to feel. Usually, her ass dragged for two or three days. Being with Dani and having left the stress of her everyday life behind on Xing probably contributed to her sense of well-being.

  She put on her robe and finger-combed her shoulder-length auburn hair on the way to the bathroom. When she returned to the bedroom, she again noticed the large window with the two chairs placed in front of it. She walked over to look out the window and held her breath as if she’d been startled. The view out the window was spectacular. Off in the far distance was a huge mountain with its peak snow-capped even in June. Just above the apex, the sun looked as if it were resting on top of the mountain. She was mesmerized by the vision. Only her need to assure herself that Dani hadn’t taken off while Leah slept stirred her to go in search of Dani.

  Leah padded out to the living room. Dani wasn’t there, nor was she in the kitchen, although it was obvious she had been because there was a fresh pot of coffee and a clean mug sitting in front of it. Leah helped herself to a mug of coffee and continued her search for Dani.

  Leah found her as she stepped through an opening in the wall to the lanai. The sun was up and shining brightly, and it was warm, but not uncomfortably so. Dani was in the lap pool. Leah sat down in a comfortable rocking chair in the shade of an awning and watched Dani as she swam laps. Dani was nude, and the muscles of her back moved in rhythm with each stroke. Leah was mesmerized and, surprisingly, mildly turned on. Shortly after they’d first met, Leah had wondered if Dani was a swimmer. Now she knew.

  Ten minutes later, Dani emerged from the pool. The sight of Dani’s nude, dripping-wet, tanned body sent Leah’s heart pounding and her blood racing. Dani took a towel from a stack on a small table near the pool. Leah watched, fascinated, as Dani dried first one long leg and then the other, and moved slowly up her torso to her back, chest, and her arms. When she was finished, she tossed the towel on a nearby chair, then took a second towel and quickly dried her hair. Leah was captivated and aroused. Leah had never seen anything so magnificent in her life. She couldn’t remember ever having been so easily aroused by a woman.

  Leah started to say something but found her mouth too dry to do anything but croak. She took several sips of coffee, never taking her eyes off Dani.

  “Good morning,” Leah said. Dani evidently had not seen Leah in the shade of the lanai because she started. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Leah watched Dani walk toward her. Leah found any woman who was comfortable in her own skin sexy as all get-out, and it was particularly beguiling in Dani.

  “Good morning. How did you sleep?” Dani asked, leaning down to kiss Leah lightly on the lips. “Thank you for holding me last night.”

  “Like a hibernating Tevanian bear,” Leah said.

  “I’m not familiar with Tevanian bears, but assume they sleep for long periods.”

  “You’d make a good detective,” Leah said with a smile. “Tevanian bears are known to hibernate for six to seven months of every year on New America.”

  “Interesting, thank you for enlightening me. I’m really hungry,” Dani said. “Can we go to breakfast? But before we do that, I’d like to show you something.”

  “Yes, of course. Where does one go to eat?”

  “Let me show you,” Dani said, leading Leah into the house.

  At the dining room table, Dani laid out a map of the resort that had been left there presumably by one of the resort’s staff members. Leah was having a hard time concentrating with the naked Dani so near.

  “This is where we are,” Dani said, pointing to an area near a large body of water. “This is where we met Camryn last night. There is a walking path here that’s a shortcut to the main building. We can go there to eat any meal. Using the walking path will take about ten minutes. Or we can ask for transportation—bicycles, motorized carts, or Ryan and her sedan. There are restaurants here and here,” Dani said, pointing to two more places. “There are cafés in each of these orbs.”

  Dani continued to show Leah the highlights of Wild’s main attractions. She ended her tour by pointing to a beach not far from their bungalow. “This is our very own beach.”

  “Wow. You sure know this place very well.”

  Dani stood up and looked at Leah.

  “I haven’t told you about my involvement with Wild. When seven new planets were discovered a dozen years ago by the Chinese, they offered one to each of the Founding Five Families on Xing. My parents weren’t interested so I accepted the offer and purchased what has become Wild. Once the resort was built, I wasn’t interested in the day-to-day operations so I hired Camryn to be the front person for the resort. When it turned out she had a real talent for running the place, I offered her the opportunity to own a part of the business. She now owns fifteen percent of it. Did you know all this?”

  “I knew you owned Wild, but not the details.”

  “That figures,” Dani said. “Cots?”

  Cots, in addition to being her friend, was also Leah’s partner in the Black Orchid Investigations firm along with Peony Fong, the third person in their triad. Cots was responsible for the cyber arm of BOI while Peony was responsible for the investigative arm. Cots was also Leah’s former brother-in-law and an alien from the planet Devaria, which had conquered New America almost without firing a weapon. Cots had been one of the many Devarians who chose to emigrate to New America with his sister Quinn, Leah’s wife.

  “I asked Rusty about Wild, and she told me.”

  “It figures you’re well informed,” Dani said with a smile. “I need to remember you undoubtedly know far more about me than I know about you.”

  “All you need do is ask,” Leah said.

  “I’ll remember you said that,” Dani said laughing.

  “I’m sure you will,” Leah said, smiling. “Could you put some clothes on?”

  “Why? You don’t like me naked?”

  “Quite the opposite. You’re driving me crazy. If you want to eat breakfast anytime soon, I suggest you put clothes on, otherwise I’ll take you where you stand.”

  Dani’s smile and a raised eyebrow told Leah she didn’t think the latter was true. “I’ll take my shower first. There’s a state-of-the-art music system here, why don’t you put some music on for us?”

  After watching Dani leave the room, Leah felt like some of the oxygen had left with her. She scanned the room, looking for the sound system. Leah, thanks to Cots, had her own state-of-the-art sound system in her condo on Xing. She didn’t see anything obvious, but hadn’t really expected to—that would have been too easy.

  The room was sparsely furnished with a comfortable-looking couch and two chairs set in front of a fireplace, which made Leah pause. Why was there a fireplace when the temperature never fell below fifty degrees? She mentally shook her head to clear it of the distraction. There were three built-in bookcases holding all matter of electronic gadgets and playable discs. There were two wooden chests, each with a vase of fresh flowers on them. There was a chest of drawers standing behind the couch, and it had two vases of flowers.

  Instead of opening drawers and doors on th
e furniture, Leah stood in the middle of the room imagining where she would put a sound system. She knew exactly where the speakers were hidden. From that point, she imagined following the sound from the speakers to the system. She walked directly to an Asian Sendai-dansu, an ancient chest once used to store out-of-season kimonos. The chest had made a comeback about three years earlier and was now a very popular piece of furniture. Leah had two in her condo. She opened the two doors on the chest and found what she was looking for.

  “Twenty years of being a cop and I’m reduced to figuring out where the sound system is,” Leah murmured.

  Leah turned the system on and asked it to play music for the cello, a musical instrument from seventeenth-century Europe on Earth. As a child, Leah had wanted to play the cello because of its deep, resonant tones, but was steered by her parents to play the violin, which she hated. When she arrived on Xing broken, depressed, and nearly suicidal two and a half years earlier, she told the therapist Cots had insisted on her seeing about her long-ago, denied desire. The therapist suggested she do something for herself, like learn to play the cello. Leah purchased a cello the next day. With the help of an extremely patient teacher, she learned to play the instrument. She knew it had saved her life—it had given her purpose and a reason to stay alive.

  Standing in the middle of the living room, Leah smiled as the music filled the room. She closed her eyes and let the music settle into her soul.

  Leah was startled out of her reverie when Dani lightly touched her shoulder. Leah opened her eyes and smiled shyly at Dani, who was wearing a robe. Leah was embarrassed at having been caught immersed in the music.

  “It seems I have much to learn about you.” Dani put her hand on Leah’s cheek. “What is this music?”

  “The music is from the nineteenth century, composed by a man named Brahms and played by a twentieth-century musician named Yo-Yo Ma. The instrument is a cello, first used in the fifteenth century.”

  “It’s very soothing, isn’t it?” Dani asked.

  “That’s why I love it. Did you not mention something about breakfast?” Leah asked.

  “I did. Why don’t you go shower? I want to hear more of this,” Dani said, kissing Leah softly on the lips.

  Leah went to the bedroom and dropped her robe on her way past the bed. She was delighted to hear the music she’d chosen was playing in the bedroom as well as the bathroom. She entered the shower and let the water from the eight showerheads pour over her. She washed her hair and then stood focusing on the water on her body. What better way to start a day than beautiful music and a hot shower at the same time? Well, maybe touching Dani would be a better way of starting my day.

  She sensed rather than saw Dani come into the bathroom. She waited for Dani to join her, but she didn’t.

  “Are you coming in or just gawking?” Leah asked.

  “Are you inviting me to?”

  “Get in here.”

  Fifteen nanoseconds later, Dani walked into the shower. “Hi, there. Fancy meeting you here. Can I wash your back?”

  “Please.”

  Dani gently turned Leah so she was facing the back of the shower. Leah put her hands on the wall in front of her. Starting at her shoulders, Dani worked her way down Leah’s back with a soapy washcloth in one hand. Her other hand slid slowly around her front and rested just above her pubis. Leah’s entire focus was suddenly on the hand on her abdomen. It wasn’t moving, but Leah wanted Dani to send it downward.

  When Leah’s entire back was covered in suds, Dani pressed her body to Leah’s. Leah could feel Dani’s body caressing her own, sliding from side to side in the soap suds on her back. The hand near her pubis didn’t move. Leah could feel Dani’s hardened nipples against her back. Leah moaned softly and put her hand on top of the hand on her abdomen and guided it slowly toward her mons.

  Dani moved her other hand around to Leah’s front, and pulled her even closer to her. Leah stood up straight and leaned against Dani, reaching behind her to put her own hand on the back of Dani’s neck to ensure that Dani wouldn’t back away. Dani cupped Leah’s breasts in her hands and moved her palms lightly over Leah’s now hardened nipples, making them harder still. “More,” Leah murmured.

  Leah could feel Dani’s lips on her shoulder where it connected to her neck, could feel Dani’s breath on the nape of her neck. “Soon,” Dani whispered into her shoulder, giving it a small nip. Leah responded with a moan of pleasure.

  As Dani began toying with Leah’s nipples, Leah’s breath quickened. Her mind went blank when Dani’s left hand began sliding down over her abdomen. The feeling of hot water on her skin disappeared into the sensation of Dani’s hands moving over her body.

  Leah heard the rumblings of Dani’s stomach protesting the lack of nourishment for over twenty-four hours.

  “I’m sorry,” Dani whispered. “I love touching you. I love how you respond to my hands.”

  Dani pulled away and stepped out of the shower.

  Well, damnation. If I have anything to say about it, I will be making love to Dani Bensington today and every day after this—at least until we return to Xing.

  Leah rinsed off her back and turned off the main water jet, watching as the others slowly faded away. She reluctantly stepped out of the shower and entered the drying tube. She left the tube when she was dry and ran her fingers through her naturally curly hair. She sighed and strolled into the bedroom.

  She could hear Dani in the second closet and followed the sound. She moved to Dani and took her in her arms, holding her tight.

  “I want to feel your hands on my body as soon as possible for as long as possible. I want to hold you, kiss you, caress you, taste you, and be inside you. And then I want to do it again and again,” Leah said.

  “Promise?”

  “Oh, yes.”

  “Then the faster we get something to eat, the faster we can come back here.”

  Leah kissed Dani and felt her responding as she moved her tongue over her lips and inside her mouth.

  “Dear God. I think you need only touch me and I’ll come for you. I’ve wanted this from the moment we met,” Dani said.

  With a smile, Leah moved her hand down Dani’s back to her ass. She lingered there for a moment to caress the soft skin stretched over well-toned muscle, then moved her left hand to cup Dani. She moved a finger between Dani’s labia and found her clit hard and waiting.

  “Leah,” Dani whispered, her voice husky with want.

  “What, Dani? Tell me what you want.” Leah moved her hand down and found Dani wet with desire. She returned to Dani’s clit.

  Leah kept stroking her clit slowly, speeding up, adding more pressure, slowing and then moving faster, circling.

  “Baby, you’re so wet,” Leah whispered in Dani’s ear.

  Leah felt Dani’s body begin to tighten. She bent down to take a nipple into her mouth and ran her tongue over the hardened tip. Dani groaned and tried to back away from Leah, but Leah held her tight with her left arm around her and her hand at the small of Dani’s back even as she continued to stroke her clit with her right hand.

  “Do you want me to stop?” Leah asked.

  “Yes. No. Yes.”

  Leah removed her finger from Dani’s clit and took a step back.

  “I don’t want our first real time to be in a closet, Leah. That is not how I fantasized our first time was going to be.”

  “Let me guess. You were going to be in total control of the encounter.”

  “Yes, of course.”

  “Surprise.”

  “I can’t wait to have my way with you,” Dani said hoarsely.

  “Neither can I.”

  Six weeks earlier, Leah had made love to Dani, who stopped her just as she was about to climax. They hadn’t made love again. Dani had explained to Leah much of her bad-girl reputation revolved around being with a woman and leaving her before the sun rose the next morning. She’d said she usually didn’t even know their names—or cared who they were—and to let them fuck her
or give her an orgasm was allowing them too much power. When they’d made love, she’d let Leah touch her, but when she was close to having an orgasm she’d stopped Leah because she couldn’t hide how much she wanted, needed to come. She said giving Leah that kind of power made her feel too vulnerable.

  Leah wasn’t sure why they hadn’t made love again. She was pretty sure, though, it had to do with a whole host of psychological things. She was, however, equally sure they were both agreed that the majority of their time on Wild would be spent in bed. Leah was normally a patient person, but she was losing patience at not being able to make love to Dani again. Or, for that matter, not having Dani make love to her.

  Chapter Three

  Once they left their bungalow, instead of heading for the path Dani had showed her on the map they took another route and strolled hand in hand on the tree-shaded lane. As they walked, Leah listened to the silence surrounding them. When the animals didn’t perceive a threat, she heard an occasional bird sing out and a rustling in the undergrowth indicating—she hoped—there was a small creature on the hunt and not a snake slithering along the ground. She heard no human voices, including their own.

  “Are you okay?” Leah asked. “You’re very quiet.”

  “I’m surprised.”

  “Why? Because your fantasy didn’t materialize?”

  “That’s a little bit of it.”

  “What’s the rest?” Leah asked.

  Dani stopped and brought Leah’s hand to her lips and kissed her knuckles.

  “I’m surprised and terrified.” Dani paused, then started again. “I’m surprised by my reaction to you. And I’m terrified for the same reason. I’ve never wanted any woman the way I want you. I’m terrified that I’ll be overwhelmed by my desire for you.”

  Leah was stunned by Dani’s confession and wasn’t sure what her response should be. She’d never evoked that kind of response in any woman, not even her wife. She wasn’t sure there was a response. What had it cost Dani to admit such vulnerability to me? Much to her embarrassment, she was proud of herself for evoking such a visceral response in Dani. Way to go!