The Cost of Commitment - KJ2 (4 page)

“It is perfect, love. Don’t worry about it; it’s not as if it’s something you can control.”

Actually, at the moment Kate was contemplating how long it would take her to fly out to Auburn to finish both inmates off herself. However, recognizing the impracticality of that solution, she opted to answer the phone instead. “Kyle.”

“Hi, Kate, it’s John again, in the command center. I’ve got your answers for you. Unfortunately, the poor slob died a half hour ago. Here are the particulars...”

She listened and asked more questions for the better part of a half hour, taking notes and formulating strategy. Then she hung up and glanced at the clock over her desk. 10:02 p.m. Jay was right; it was likely to be yet another long night. Sighing, she made her way out of her office, stopping in the kitchen long enough to thank Barbara again for her services.

“Oh, you know me, Kate, I’m a sucker for a good romance.”

“And I’m grateful, my friend. Good night.”

“You better get going before she goes to bed without you.” Barbara turned and made her way out into the night, the waiters and sous chef having preceded her.

Kate found Jay in the family room picking out music. Sneaking up behind her, she tilted her head and took a small nibble out of the side of her neck. She felt the shiver even as Jay’s head tipped back to give her better access.

Given the invitation, Kate wrapped long arms around Jay from behind, pulling their bodies into close contact. She continued to taste and lick her way up to her lover’s earlobe, sucking it into her mouth and biting down lightly.

Jay groaned, and Kate could feel compact abdominal muscles contracting beneath her hands. Jay turned in the circle of her arms, placing feather-light kisses on her collarbones and chest.

“Um, sweetheart, before we get too carried away here, I have something for you.”

“Love, you
are
something for me,” Jay purred as she licked her way across to Kate’s bare shoulder.

The Cost of Commitment

Kate pushed away just enough to give herself room to maneuver.

Reaching inside her bra, she extracted something shiny.

“Hey, I could’ve done that.”

“Yes, and I hope you will...later.” Again, Kate had to still her lover’s wandering hands.

“Jay, this is for you, because you are the most brilliant gem in my life. I wanted to give you a tangible reminder of how we first met.” She gently grasped her lover’s arm, turning it over so that the palm faced up.

She kissed the sensitive skin there before concentrating on the task at hand. Stepping back slightly, she waited as Jay examined her wrist.

“My God, love, you didn’t have to do this. It’s gorgeous!” On her right wrist sparkled a three-carat diamond tennis bracelet.

“I love you, Jamison.”

Jay flew back into her arms. “I love you, too, sweetheart, but you are the only tangible reminder I’ll ever need of how we first met.”

Kate kissed the top of the fair head she cherished so much, then eyelids, nose, cheeks, and, finally, the perfect lips that beckoned her. She felt Jay’s nipples harden through the thin material of her dress as she deepened the kiss, sucking gently on Jay’s tongue before releasing it to explore further.

They continued to kiss as Kate guided them up the stairs to their bedroom, Fred trailing behind, used to this behavior from his humans.

She slowly lowered the zipper on Jay’s dress, kissing and caressing every inch of newly exposed flesh, letting the material slide to the floor and helping her lover step out of it. Slip and pantyhose followed close behind, until, finally, the only remaining barriers were a strapless bra and a pair of very sexy lace bikini underwear.

Kate returned to Jay’s mouth momentarily as she released the catches on the bra, freeing creamy white breasts and painfully erect nipples. She kissed and licked along the underside of first the left breast and then the right while sliding her hands up the inside of Jay’s thighs.

“Argh, love, please. I need you so much.” Jay tried to back up to the bed, but Kate held her fast.

“No, babe. I want you to stand.” This she said as she ran her tongue around the rim of one nipple.

“Sweetheart, I’ll fall over.”

“No, you won’t. I’ve got you. Just hang on to me.”

“Ah!”

Kate’s hand was following the outline of her lover’s panties as her other hand traced a line up Jay’s body from her abdomen to her breasts.

“God, love, I’m so wet for you. Please, I can’t take it anymore.”

Slowly removing Jay’s panties, Kate knelt, quickly swirling her tongue in the warm wetness that awaited her. She closed her eyes and
Lynn Ames

savored the taste with the same sense of wonder she’d felt every time they’d been together this way. She wasn’t quite ready to linger there, though; there was so much more that she wanted to do. She continued on her journey, her mouth tracing her lover’s bikini line, stopping to nibble on the insides of thighs as her hands explored soft, but firm flesh in place after place. “You are so, so very beautiful, love.”

Jay was barely able to stay upright, her cries of urgency increasing with every stroke of her lover’s tongue. She clutched at Kate’s shoulders, trying to ground herself in the wake of unending sensation, able to articulate only a single word: “Please.”

Hearing the desperation in her cry, Kate relented, returning to her Jay’s center, gently stroking her first, exploring her folds, tasting her clitoris, slowly drawing the moisture from her, before increasing the pressure and driving Jay over the top.

Kate held on tight as Jay trembled, aftershocks rolling through her body like waves to the ocean’s shore. When they had passed, Kate guided Jay down onto the bed, removing her own clothes before joining her. She wrapped Jay in her arms and softly stroked her skin.

“My God, woman, I think you just tried to kill me!”

“Nah,” Kate smiled, “If I’d been trying, I’d have succeeded.”

“Hmm. I’m tough to kill, ya know.”

“Oh, yeah, I would suspect as mu—”

Kate’s words were cut off when Jay inserted a leg between her thighs, rolling her over and pinning her to the bed, brushing lips and fingers over ribs, then up her breastbone to her shoulders, and finally back down to aching breasts, all the while rocking against her wet center.

Kate arched up off the bed as Jay ran one hand down into her moist curls, entering her slowly while continuing to exert pressure with her thigh. When Jay bit down lightly on her nipple, Kate came with a sharp cry.

The two women spent long, languorous hours loving each other before pulling up the covers and falling into a blissful slumber.

The Cost of Commitment

ate’s peaceful sleep was shattered at exactly 2:14 a.m., Kaccording to the digital

clock on her night table, when the

somewhat muted but insistent ringing of her bedside business telephone combined with the vibration of her pager, which danced its way across the wooden surface and onto the floor.

“Kyle.” Her voice was rough with sleep, which made perfect sense considering she and Jay had finally drifted off only two hours earlier.

“Hello, Ms. Kyle, this is Danny Wenger from the
Auburn Citizen
. I’m sorry to wake you...” Kate thought he sounded about as convincing as a three-day-old dead toad, which is to say not very.

“Hang on, will you? I’ve got to change phones.” She put him on hold.

Next to her, Jay stirred briefly, mumbling in her sleep before settling back down. Kate regarded her lovingly; she looked so much like an angel. Sighing, she kissed her gently on the forehead, grabbed a robe from the bathroom, and headed downstairs to her office where Jay’s rest wouldn’t be disturbed by conversation.

“Okay Mr. Wenger, what can I do for you?”

“I understand an inmate died tonight at the Auburn Correctional Facility. Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“According to my sources, his name was Nathaniel Diggs, a guy doing time for murdering his girlfriend after she told him she was pregnant.”

“The next of kin hasn’t been notified yet, so I cannot confirm or release any information about the deceased at this time.”

“C’mon, Ms. Kyle, just tell me if I’m right or not. You know I am, all you have to do is confirm it.”

“When’s your deadline, Danny?”

Lynn Ames

“It was two hours ago. They’re holding a few inches of space for me for the next half hour.”

“Tell you what; I’lll try everything within my power to get you a yes or no before that time.”

“Thanks.”

“But if I can’t give you something either way by your deadline, you leave any supposition or unconfirmed rumor out of the piece.”

“How am I supposed to scoop the early TV news if you don’t help me here?” He sounded like a petulant child.

“Danny, ever hear the expression ‘it’s better to be right than first’? I think that applies here, okay?” In fact, Kate already knew the name of the deceased and that of the inmate who killed him. It just so happened that she was trying to save Danny’s ass—Nathaniel Diggs was actually the murderer, not the victim, although she couldn’t tell the reporter that until the dead man’s family had been notified. The only question now was whether or not this eager, young journalist was smart enough to listen between the words. Guess she’d find out later that day when the
Auburn
Citizen
was published; since the victim’s family was in Ghana, West Africa, she seriously doubted she’d be able to give the press anything before the late editions in the afternoon.

She had barely placed the receiver back in the cradle when it rang again.

“Kate? This is Wendy Ashton from the Associated Press. How’ve you been?”

“Great, Wendy, how’s life treating you?”

“Can’t complain. My girlfriend does plenty of that for both of us.”

“Ah, hates that you work the night beat, eh?”

“You’ve got that right.”

“Well, I’m pretty sure you didn’t call me at 2:40 a.m. to commiserate about your love life.”

“Nah. Heard about the dead dude out at Auburn. Sounds like he got sliced up pretty good.”

Ah, now here was a smart reporter. She stated her supposition as fact, expecting Kate simply to acknowledge her statement. Very slick.

“I’m sorry, Wendy, I don’t have anything for you on cause of death or weapon yet. Wish I could help you there. I can tell you that a suspect is in custody.”

“Very cute, Kate. Aren’t they
all
in custody inside a prison?”

Oh, she was good. “Yes, but this one is in the SHU.”

“He’s in the special housing unit?”

“Yes.”

“Was he there before this incident put him there? You know, already in isolation?”

The Cost of Commitment

“Yes.”

“Well, that narrows it down, now doesn’t it? Why, there must be only 83 or so guys in twenty-three-hour-a-day lockdown, right?”

“Look on the bright side, Wendy: that’s better than the 1,785 that are in the general population.”

“Gee, thanks. I hear from reliable sources that this isn’t the first dustup at Auburn this week. Any chance they’re connected?”

There was no sense denying that there had been other incidents; it was a matter of public record. “It’s a little too early in the investigation to tell, Wendy. They’re still sorting it out.”

“When will you know?”

“Hard to say. I’d tell you to try back early next week. I might have something for you then.”

And so the rest of the short night went. At a little after 3:45 a.m., Kate sneaked back up the stairs to their bedroom. Quietly, she slipped back under the covers, Jay immediately molding herself to her side. Kate savored the feeling of warmth and love that suffused her for the fifteen minutes left before the alarm was set to go off. Reaching over, she shut it off before it buzzed, preferring a more personal method of awakening her partner.

“Mm.” Jay rolled over on top of Kate, who was busy peppering her bare shoulder with gentle kisses. “Now this is the way to wake up in the morning.” She smiled down at Kate, her expression morphing into a frown when she noticed the dark circles under Kate’s normally sharp eyes. “Did you get any sleep at all?”

“A little.”

“Maybe we should skip the workout and run this morning. You could sleep in a little longer.”

“Nah, I’m okay. Besides, today is Friday. I’ll rest over the weekend, I promise.”

“Where have I heard that before, Katherine?”

In one smooth motion, Kate rose from the bed, carrying Jay with her and standing them both upright. “Let’s get a move on, Scoop; I’ve got to be in the office early and you’ve got a 6:30 a.m. train to catch.”

“Killjoy,” Jay groused affectionately.

Within minutes, both women were in the basement, having donned cutoff sleeveless T-shirts and short gym shorts. They selected Nautilus machines at opposite ends of the circuit and began their morning workout routine. For the next hour, they sweated and grunted in relative silence, the only sounds in the room emanating from a television mounted strategically on the wall where it was visible from every angle.

Lynn Ames

“Do you really think Jaclyn should have married Dennis Cole? I mean, he’s certainly a handsome guy, but look at what a lousy actor he was.”

“Face it, Jamison, you’re just jealous of him.”

“Heck yeah.”

They moved over to the side-by-side treadmills Kate had installed to prevent overzealous paparazzi from snapping pictures of her and Jay as they went out on their daily five-mile run. They both hated having to run indoors, but, for the moment, it seemed like the best solution.

“I remember when I first started watching
Charlie’s Angels
. I always felt like it was a guilty pleasure. You know, so many scantily clad, beautiful women, so little time.”

“Now look at you, Kate, every episode on tape, fast-forwarding through the commercials to get more time with your girls. You’ve turned into a complete letch.”

“I don’t hear you complaining, Parker.”

“Nope. No complaints here.”

Their treadmills chalked up the first mile.

Kate asked, “What’s going on with your story? You don’t seem too enthusiastic about it.”