Crossing Lines (Cops and Docs #2) (22 page)

She basked in the peacefulness. It was a concept she was never taking for granted again, and Kelli helped it all happen. Grateful was not a strong enough term. One thing Nora knew for sure, Kelli had become a vital part of her life. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to maintain it. Nora’s leg muscles protested their position, but she didn’t move. She didn’t want to disturb the moment.

The current situation was simple. Kelli had fallen asleep on her lap, but there were layers to this. Nora was not an expert in socialization, by any means, but she knew Kelli. Like this, Kelli was unguarded and unfettered by their recent history. This equated to trust.

Kelli trusted her.

Nora’s heart constricted.

It was a huge responsibility that she had been given…earned. Nora knew she had to cherish it and treat it as the fragile treasure it was. Nora’s breath hitched, and she accepted the responsibility gladly. Her gaze followed the defined lines of Kelli’s face. She was in awe of this woman, of her boldness, confidence, and capacity to give. Nora didn’t understand what Kelli saw in her. She was damaged, but obviously not beyond repair.

Kelli turned and pressed her face into Nora’s stomach. Her arms snaked around Nora, and immediately, she felt the heated buzz that always existed between them. Kelli’s arms tightened, and Nora had never felt so protected…so safe. There was nothing outside her door that they couldn’t handle together.

Maybe that feeling was something she wanted…had needed all along. Nora wasn’t going to do anything to squander it. She raked her fingers, gently, through Kelli’s hair and luxuriated in the warmth that surrounded her. There was nothing else that mattered more.

Kelli moaned softly and returned to her original position, on her back. Her forehead scrunched together, and her eyes blinked open, slowly. The haze of sleep slowly cleared from Kelli’s gaze and became something else entirely. The intensity in Kelli’s eyes was breathtaking.

Nora shivered. Her fingertips went from short auburn tresses to the features that had mesmerized her earlier. She traced over Kelli’s eyebrows, down the bridge of her nose, and stopped at her mouth.

Kelli pursed her lips. She grabbed Nora’s hand and kissed her open palm. “Hey.” Her voice was scratchy, thick. “I fell asleep on you.”

Nora smiled.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Sleep was bound to catch up with you… Both of us, really. Besides, I liked waking up like this.”

Kelli cleared her throat. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Kelli shifted, presumably to a more comfortable position. “Mmm, what time is it?”

“I don’t care,” Nora answered.

Kelli grinned and continued to hold Nora’s gaze. “That means it’s probably late. We both have—”

Nora didn’t want this moment to end so she held on to it. “I know. I have guest rooms.”

Kelli’s gaze became penetrating. There was no need. Nora opened herself freely.

“Actually, there’s plenty of room in my bed. It’s a king.”

“I remember. Is that what you want?”

Nora nodded. “Yes.”

For a few seconds, they were quiet, but Nora didn’t look away. She couldn’t.

“Are you s—” Kelli started to ask.

“I don’t want you to go,” Nora said breathlessly. “Just sleep.”

“Just sleep.” Kelli nodded. She reached up and twirled a strand of Nora’s hair around her fingertip.

Nora’s stomach knotted.

“What happens in the morning?” Kelli asked.

Dear God, more of you? More of this? More of us? “We go to work?” Nora meant it as an intentional moment of levity. She wasn’t avoiding the issue, just trying to keep it at a simmer.

Kelli’s eyes widened, and she chuckled. When she stopped, her mouth remained turned up at the corners. “We’ll see.”

Her grin was infectious, and the urge to kiss her overwhelmed Nora. She leaned forward to graze Kelli’s smiling lips with her own.

“Mmm.” Kelli was the first to pull away, yawning. “Sorry. You have something I can sleep in?”

“I still have a few of your things, and that Metallica T—”

“No, you’re wearing that,” Kelli said with a smirk.

“I guess I am.” Somehow, Nora knew Kelli was going to make that request.

Nora was hyperaware of Kelli’s presence behind her, as they headed toward her bedroom. It was a heady feeling, fraught with anticipation, but very little fear. She searched through one of the dressers in her walk-in closet. When she came back out, Kelli was untucking her shirt and giving her a tantalizing view of toned abdominals. Nora remembered what that bit of skin tasted like and how Kelli’s muscles tensed and jerked underneath her mouth.

When Nora met Kelli’s gaze again, Kelli’s eyes were dark, but they glittered with amusement.

Unashamed, Nora grinned and threw the sleepwear at Kelli. “Would you like to use the shower first?”

Kelli snatched the clothing out of the air. “I’ll just use the guest bathroom.” She yawned once more and blinked groggily.

Now alone, Nora moved around her bedroom leisurely. She waited for residual nerves to come, but they were absent, as they should be. She gathered panties and the
Master of Puppets
T-shirt.

Nora walked out of the bathroom into almost total darkness except for the bedside lamp and a bit of moonlight filtering in through the curtains. Kelli had her back to her. She was still and breathing heavily. Nora moved quietly. She stopped and peered down at Kelli. She was back in Nora’s bed, and that’s where she belonged. The flutter in her chest told her so.

Kelli turned over. Her eyes opened slowly. She stared at Nora, and her gaze was heavy, potent, despite the haze of sleep. “Jesus, Nora. C’mere.”

Even though the tiredness in Kelli’s voice was obvious, there was a certain amount of heat as well. Nora reached for the lamp and turned off the light, as Kelli scooted to the other side of the bed. Once Nora got underneath the covers, Kelli’s arms slid around her, pulling her closer. Nora shivered in reaction. She’d missed the solid heat of Kelli’s body. They faced each other in the darkness.

“God, you feel so good,” Kelli said.

Nora glided her hands underneath Kelli’s tank top. She needed to feel skin. Kelli shuddered. “So do you.” Nora pressed her face into Kelli’s neck. The sense of peace she’d felt earlier seeped to her very bones.

* * *

When Nora woke up the second time, she was a little disoriented. She was used to Kelli’s weight against her, as well as the body heat she generated. It hadn’t been
that
long, but it was the feeling of being watched that gave her pause. Nora opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the dim light of early morning shining into her bedroom.

Nora turned slightly, and Kelli came into view, hovering over her. Her gaze was deep, searching, and more open than Nora had ever seen. Nora’s heart thudded hard enough to rob her of breath. She opened her mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Nora touched Kelli to solidify the moment instead.

Nora trailed her fingertips over Kelli’s collar bone to her face, then to her lips. Kelli trembled. The sparks between them ignited, snaking up Nora’s arm and expanding into her chest. Kelli arched toward Nora’s touch and pressed a kiss against her hand. She shifted, completely covering Nora’s body with her own. Their naked thighs brushed together. Nora gasped at the tiny explosions that resulted from the contact. She wrapped her legs around Kelli’s waist, keeping her there.

Nora tangled her hand in Kelli’s hair and surged upward, crushing their bodies together. Their lips met hotly, with barely controlled need. Nora moaned, as Kelli dipped her tongue teasingly into her mouth before flicking over her bottom lip. Kelli pulled back. Nora followed. She clung to Kelli and whimpered loudly in protest.

Nora wasn’t naïve.

She knew what was going to happen.

Sex with Kelli meant more now. It meant more…everything. More emotions. More need. More changes. Nora welcomed it all.

Nora couldn’t stop touching. Her hands grazed strong shoulders and defined biceps, before tangling in Kelli’s hair. Kelli closed her eyes, and her breathing went ragged. When she opened them again, nothing had changed. The fire in her gaze was still raging, and as their lips met again, the passion was still present. But, there was a gentleness as well. This should have banked the need between them. For Nora, it was fed.

Their bodies strained against each other in the growing heat. Needing…wanting…skin, Nora pushed her hands under Kelli’s tank top. Her nails sank into the flesh. Kelli moaned, and her hips thrust forward. The resulting friction was teasingly erotic, but it was enough. Nora’s arousal careened toward volcanic. She tugged urgently at the wisp of cloth hiding Kelli’s torso and ripped it over her head, breaking their kiss. Their lips met again, almost immediately.

When the slow pulse of Kelli’s hips began anew, Nora met them with her own, and the contact was ten times more dazzling, giving Nora’s swollen flesh just a taste of what was to come.

Kelli traced her lips over Nora’s ear. Nora could hear the desperation…the need…in each hurried breath. She could feel it surrounding them and mingling with her own. Nora kept one hand wrapped in Kelli’s hair, guiding her, while the other fisted in the covers as if seeking an anchor to the outside world.

Kelli’s mouth raked over her neck and nipped at her skin before soothing it with a flick of her tongue. Nora moaned unbidden. Pinpricks of pleasure grew into an overwhelming, electrically charged wave. Nora’s T-shirt had ridden up. With each roll of their hips, Kelli’s bare stomach pressed into her own, and the hardened tips of Nora’s breasts scraped against the material of her shirt, leading to a riot of sensations. Kelli reared back slightly and eased the T-shirt up Nora’s torso and over her head. As if it were one continuous movement, she leaned forward to slide her tongue over Nora’s nipple, before she pulled it deep into her mouth.

Nora cried out and arched upward. Kelli moaned in return. She vacillated between firm sucks and lazy flicks of her tongue on one of Nora’s breasts, as she teased the other with her fingertips. Shocking tendrils of pleasure twisted their way through Nora’s body, culminating with a wet surge between her legs. Helplessly, Nora increased the cadence of her hips, but Kelli’s continued to move with a provocative slowness.

She whimpered brokenly. It had only been a few minutes, and Nora was more aroused than she could ever remember being. She wanted to give in to the inferno between them. Her body reached out, craving the relentless hunger that Kelli had displayed in their previous encounter.

However, Kelli seemed to have other plans…a higher purpose.

To make Nora come apart at the seams.

Kelli’s suction at her breast increased, bordering on the brink of pain, and with each new caress of Kelli’s tongue, Nora felt herself unraveling.

“Kelli!” It was the first real word said between them, powerful in its exclamation.

Kelli moaned loudly, as Nora’s hips pumped furiously. Kelli detached herself from the heaving breasts. Their gazes met and smoldered violently enough to set the room ablaze. Kelli’s lips were wet, swollen. Her skin was flushed, and her eyes were wild.

Every inch of Nora’s skin burned, and the look in Kelli’s eyes melted her from the inside out. She was going to come apart. She could feel it, and Kelli was going to have to put her together again, piece by piece.

“Please.” The word left her lips. Nora wasn’t sure if she was begging for a beginning or an end.

Kelli groaned. Nora’s body drifted toward the sound.

Then, in a flurry of movement, she was being dragged toward the edge of the bed. Kelli’s aggressiveness fostered a needy whimper. Nora did not stop until her feet and buttocks were hanging off the side of the bed.

Kelli disappeared from view, but within seconds, she made her presence known. She yanked at Nora’s panties, and when they were gone, Kelli grasped Nora at the knees, pushing her thighs apart. Nora was open, saturated, and totally exposed. The pleasure coursing through her body made her brain sluggish, but the rest of her responded to the slightest touch. Kelli’s mouth brushed her inner thighs, spreading the wetness that clung to her skin. With each caress, Nora groaned, and her sex pulsed in anticipation. Kelli’s arms encircled her thighs, and everything went still.

Unable to bear it, Nora eased up on her elbows. She had to see. Kelli kneeled before her, staring intently, as if she was mapping every fold and every crease. Nora’s breath left her. Kelli’s arms tightened and lifted her. Nora slid her legs over Kelli’s shoulders.

Kelli’s first lick was long and slow, making Nora’s engorged flesh scream.

Nora could not help but do the same. “God!”

Kelli moaned, sending an additional sensation to Nora’s sex. Nora pressed her heels against Kelli’s back encouraging her and asking for more.

The second flick of Kelli’s tongue slithered over Nora’s clit, then dipped lower, teasing at the emptiness with the promise of future fulfillment. Kelli speared deep inside her before retracting again, seconds later.

Nora whimpered breathlessly. She was mesmerized by the sight before her. She was unsure which was more arousing, the sensations themselves or watching Kelli torment, then consume her. Nora clutched at Kelli’s head, hoping to keep her where she was needed. Kelli made little sounds of pleasure, she licked Nora with feather light strokes, torturing her further.

Nora closed her eyes and reared back, falling against the bed. She was too captured by how good it felt to watch her own obliteration. Jagged shapes danced in front of her eyelids. Her body arched and trembled. Synapses fired. Every ounce of her tingled and sharpened in wait.

“Please,” Nora said with a sob. The word fell from her lips once more in heartfelt entreaty. This time, it worked in spades. Kelli stopped teasing. Each caress was focused and overwhelming.

Nora arched her body. Sensual, frantic sounds escaped her throat. Her hips canted upward off the bed, as she pressed herself against Kelli’s face. The room spun. White heat infused her, burning with an intensity she didn’t think was possible. She was free-falling, and it was too much.

“Kelli!” Nora called out in warning and in fear. Distressed, she pulled at Kelli’s hair, hoping she would understand even if Nora, herself, could not.