Crime (14 page)

Chapter 5

Melanie's growling stomach woke Jessica from a deep, contented sleep. She was lying on her side facing the French doors that stood on the opposite end of her room, and opened out onto a large balcony that had it's own set of steps leading down to the side yard. She smiled as she felt Melanie spooned against her back, her arms draped over Jessica's waist. She felt good, happy, and knew that she and Melanie were finally on their way to having a future together. A very long one, she hoped.
Looking around her room, she studied the big, brown leather couch that faced the fireplace that was built into the wall facing the bed. Her room was done in rich, dark tones, browns and hunter greens that were more suited for a man's room. Actually, the room had been her father's. He'd slept here whenever he and her mother were having a row, and had decorated the room himself. Staying here always made her feel closer to him. She always felt saddened at the memory of that day in the kitchen, when her world exploded apart. It had taken a very long time before she had finally understood what had driven him to destruction that day. Love, passion, could be a powerful, all consuming thing; a creature that drove all rational thought away. She snuggled against Melanie and knew that she finally understood what that felt like, being so involved with someone that the rightness of your world depended on them. It was a scary feeling sometimes, but could also fill a person's heart with so much happiness; you felt like you were floating through air, your feet never touching the ground.
She felt Melanie stir against her and smiled. Their tempers, and mountains of pride, sometimes caused the two of them to fight something awful, but Jessica knew Melanie loved her as much as she loved Melanie, and knew that Melanie would never lift a finger against her. Maybe that's where her parents had gone wrong. They had a fierce passion, but not enough trust, enough love. Staring into the darkness, she wasn't afraid of her and Melanie falling into the same trap. They may fight and scream, even throw things at each other at times, but they'd never cause each other physical harm. Instinctively she knew they would both draw the line there.
She remembered the day she and Felicia had moved back into this house, as adults. Felicia had been concerned when she had chosen this room for herself. A picture of Felicia's face that day, frowning, concern in her eyes, formed in her mind and she suddenly missed her sister something awful. Again, her temper had gotten the better of her and she'd been to busy yelling instead of listening. Well, she'd fixed things with Melanie, now it was time to patch up her relationship with her sister, if she could find her. Jessica twisted around to face Melanie. Watching her sleep, she wondered how much progress Melanie had made on her sister's case. David had told her a little bit, but they'd quickly moved on to discuss her feelings for Melanie, so she hadn't gotten full disclosure concerning the meeting between Melanie and her uncle. Melanie's stomach growled again and Jessica smothered a laugh. If she could get Melanie to wake up, maybe she would fill her in on what she'd found, while they raided the kitchen for a midnight snack.
Jessica gave Melanie's shoulder a gentle push. When that didn't work, she shook a little harder. Finally, she watched as Melanie pried her eyes open, saw blurry eyes stare at her for a minute, then watched a sleepy smile spread across Melanie's face as she realized were she was and who she was with.
"You real?" Melanie muttered.
"Very much so," Jessica replied with a chuckle. Melanie was so cute when she was half asleep.
"Promise?"
"Cross my heart, hope to die." Jessica pressed her lips to Melanie's and felt Melanie tug her closer.
"Mmmm. That's nice." Melanie's voice was still thick with sleep and Jessica decided she liked the sound of it.
Melanie's stomach growled again and this time Jessica couldn't stop herself from laughing. Melanie gave her a sheepish grin and eased herself into a sitting position, wiping the sleep dust from her eyes. Jessica rested her head against Melanie's stomach and kissed the hummingbird that sat low on Melanie's abdomen, just above her mound.
Melanie groaned as she felt a spark of excitement spread through her. "Mercy, angel, show mercy. I want you, but I think I'm too sore to do very much," she said, laughing.
Jessica knew there was an evil grin spreading over her face as she remembered the day's events. Once they got home, they'd gone straight to her room and had spent the rest of the day making love, over and over. Sometimes they'd been rough with each other, desperate with passion. Other times they'd just gone slow, exploring and enjoying each other. Jessica wondered if there'd ever come a time when they didn't feel the need to jump each other's bones at every available moment. Lord, she hoped not.
With another quick kiss, she climbed out of bed and went in search of a robe. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Melanie sitting naked on the edge of the bed, yawning and still trying to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She felt a little spark ignite low in her belly and briefly considered going another round, then remembered how sore Melanie said she was. Thinking it best to give her lover time to regroup, she fished a second robe out of her closet and tossed it at Melanie.
Melanie had her eyes half closed, willing them to focus, when she got a face full of silk. The rope dropped in her lap and she looked up to find Jessica shrugging into her own robe. She watched the silk skim over Jessica's body, groaned, and felt a brief moment of sadness as Jessica's naked body disappeared from view as she tied the belt around her waist. She climbed off the bed onto unsteady legs and almost fell backwards onto the bed as she found her legs too weak to hold her. She heard Jessica's smug laugh and shot her a nasty look. It took her a few minutes, but she finally managed to get the robe on and knotted the belt into place. She looked up to fine Jessica watching her, and saw the gleam in her eye, even in the darkened room.
"Later, angel," she muttered and stumbled towards the short hallway that led to Jessica's private bathroom.
"Need any help?"
The sexy sound of Jessica's exaggerated southern drawl had heat coursing through Melanie's body. Damn if she wasn't half tempted to turn around and jump Jessica right there on the floor. Grabbing the bathroom doorway for support, she shot Jessica a withering look over her shoulder.
"Maybe later."
Jessica grinned like the Cheshire cat as Melanie shoved the door shut, cutting off her view. She heard the lock click into place, then thought about the key to the bathroom that was tucked away in a little box on top of her dresser. Sweet Jesus! Melanie was right; at this rate, they would end up fucking each other to death. Thinking that would be a fun way to go, she sat down on the bed and waited for Melanie. She should probably just head for the kitchen, get herself out of a room filled with temptation, but was afraid Melanie would kill herself trying to fine the kitchen in this big old house, in the dark.
Minutes later, Melanie staggered back into the bedroom and Jessica grabbed her hand, dragging her towards the door. "Food?" Jessica laughed at the hopeful sound in Melanie's voice, then laughed even harder when Melanie's stomach growled again, right on cue.
Holding onto her hand, Jessica led Melanie down a set of back steps that went from the second floor and ended at the back of the kitchen. It was built over a hundred years ago to allow the servants to move from the kitchen to rest of the house without begin seen on the main staircase. It was very close to Jessica's room and she always found it very useful, especially if she was trying to sneak to the kitchen, undetected.
As the kitchen came into view, Melanie spotted the counter and immediately thought back to that night she'd done a body shot here with Jessica. She groaned at the memory and saw Jessica give her a questioning look over her shoulder. Desperate to get her mind on something else, she pushed past Jessica and made a beeline for the refrigerator. "Food," she muttered at Jessica as she passed.
Jessica shook her head, smiling, and went over to help Melanie raid the kitchen. Ten minutes later, they had a wide assortment of food spread over the kitchen table. Jessica sat in Melanie's lap, feeding her crackers, laughing as Melanie jerked the food out of her hand, too hungry to have any patience for being feed.
Twenty minutes later, Melanie leaned back in her chair and wrapped both arms around Jessica's waist. "Oh God, I feel stuffed!"
"It's about time," came Jessica's sarcastic reply. "I think there's a piece of the table you forgot to wolf down, cher."
"Ha, ha," Melanie shot back. "I haven't eaten anything in almost 24 hours. It's a miracle I didn't pass out today, from all that exercise on an empty stomach."
Jessica winced at the reminder that, 24 hours ago, Melanie was making love to Alyshia instead of her. But she was with her now, so Jessica pushed the thought aside and got down to business. "Uncle David mentioned that you found Felicia, but there's some kind of problem."
Melanie nodded, then filled Jessica in on recent events. Once she finished, she watched Jessica's reaction. She saw Jessica's eyes fill with concern. Well, that answered that question. Melanie hadn't been sure if Jessica was all that interested in finding Felicia and bringing her home, but now Melanie could tell that Jessica was really worried about her sister. Now that she knew both of them wanted the same thing, to find Felicia, she tried to enlist Jessica's help.
"Jessica, do you remember Lonna Tassin at all?"
Jessica frowned, trying to recall Uncle David's ex-fiancé. Unable to do so, she shrugged and gave Melanie a sad smile. "I'm sorry, cher. I don't remember her at all and I have no idea if Felicia does. I can tell you I don't remember Felicia ever mentioning her."
Melanie sighed. She was back at square one. Again.
Jessica watched as Melanie became silent, deep in thought, and felt as if she had physically left the room. She didn't like it one bit. Jessica knew that this was Melanie's job, and a big part of her life, and she realized that she didn't like knowing there was a part of Melanie's life she wasn't included in. But maybe she could change that. Jessica wasn't fool enough to consider quitting her job and working with Melanie, nothing like that, but she wanted Melanie to feel comfortable discussing things with her; to know that, at the very least, she could always bounce ideas off of her. And she had ever right to stick her nose into this case, even a responsibility to her sister to do so.
"Melanie?"
Jessica's softly spoken inquiry brought her back to reality. Melanie looked up at Jessica, about to apologize for drifting off, then stopped herself. Jessica had a weird look on her face and Melanie felt herself suddenly getting nervous.
Jessica caught the anxious look on Melanie's face and rubbed her hand up and down Melanie's arm. "Relax, honey. There's nothing for you to worry about. It's just that...well, I was just wondering...do you mind if I help you? Find Felicia, that is."
She was surprised at first, at Jessica's request, then felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as a feeling of warmth started in her heart. It was probably just concern for her sister, but Melanie was happy that Jessica seemed to be taking an interest in her work, and she didn't waste time answering Jessica's question.
"Yeah. Sure. That'd be great," she responded, giving Jessica a big, genuine smile. Jessica's sigh of relief wasn't lost on her and that warm, glowing feeling got a little stronger. Then that warmth dropped a little lower, and she felt a familiar tingle between her legs. Her strength renewed, she gave Jessica a wicked grin, used one arm to shove all the food to the far side of the table, then scooped Jessica up and sat her on the edge of the table. Standing, she snuck in between Jessica's legs and swooped down to steal a loving kiss.
Jessica sucked in a breath, caught off guard by Melanie's sudden mood change. Not that she wasn't enjoying their bonding moment, but this quick shift to the physical had surprised her. Then the kiss deepened, becoming more passionate and urgent, and thought fled as she focused on the feel of Melanie's touch as her robe sprang open.
"We'll get started in the morning, but first..." Melanie muttered against Jessica's lips. Her hands slid inside Jessica's robe, both hands cupping Jessica's ass, and pulled her in close. Jessica's lips parted and Melanie slipped her tongue inside to play with Jessica's, the heat between them building. Jessica pulled away, gasping for air.
"Melanie, please, take off the robe. I want to feel your skin on mine."
Complying, Melanie took a step back, slowly untied the belt, her eyes locked with Jessica's. She eased the robe off of her shoulders then let go, the robe skimming down her body on its way to land on the floor in a pool of silk. She stepped back to Jessica and their mouths locked together, tongues warring. Silently, she urged Jessica to lie back on the table.
Jessica eased herself down to lie flat on the table, her legs dangling over the edge. She could feel Melanie's lips skim down her body as she leaned back, and moaned at the electric touch.
Hearing Jessica's response, Melanie felt her hunger increase, but it was also mixed with love. When she reached the top of Jessica's mound, she detoured around and skimmed down Jessica's leg until she reached the inside of her thigh. There, she placed a wet, open mouthed kiss on the smooth, sensitive skin, and used her tongue to trace circles all around the inside of Jessica's thigh. Then she switched to the other leg and did the same. After a few moments, she felt Jessica's fingers sink into her hair, tugging her towards her pussy.
Melanie glanced over and could see Jessica's juices glistening on her lips. Slowly, she gently licked up one side, stopped just short of touching Jessica's clit, and then repeated this on the other side. She stopped, her mouth hovering just over Jessica's clit, and looked up at her lover.