Deeper

by Ronica Black

  “I love you too.”

  “I want to take you away and marry you.”

  “I would like that very much. But…” Erin placed a finger on Liz’s lips. “Not yet. Not right away. We need more practice first.”

  Liz was silent for a moment. “I came for you, early in the morning. To Patricia’s.”

  “You did?”

  “Yes. I wanted to ask you to come home. To tell you that I couldn’t live another moment without you.”

  “Oh.” She could vaguely recall checking the door.

  “I should’ve done it sooner, should’ve never let you go, but Tyson said maybe in the end it was a good thing. That way I had to work out my feelings and get to the root of the problem. So when I ask you back now, it’s for all the right reasons. Because I’m ready.”

  “Tyson told you all that? Wow. He’s quite a guy.”

  “You have no idea.” Liz’s eyes filled with what could only be love, the edges softening. “I’m giving him a piece of the club. He’s been a good employee and an even better friend. He deserves it.”

  “I think that’s nice.” Erin stroked the dark circles under her eyes, wishing she could erase them with her fingertips.

  “He’s going to manage it while I focus on the studio. And on you.”

  They kissed again, softly. Erin pulled her tighter. She felt so wonderful and alive and promising. Liz was there in her arms feeling and smelling so good. Erin moaned, her body reacting regardless of the fatigue and dizziness.

  “Come back to me,” Liz whispered. “I love you.”

  Erin answered with a kiss, this one deeper. She searched with her tongue and Liz responded with her own. It was gentle, tentative. Two lovers finding their way back.

  “I’m here,” Erin said, breaking away to tug softly on Liz’s lower lip. “You have me.”

  Liz groaned and pressed her back onto the bed. She positioned herself on her side and ran her hand up and down Erin’s abdomen.

  “I want to feel you,” she said, blue eyes ablaze.

  Erin caught her hand and kissed the splinted finger. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

  Liz tore the splint away and tossed it over her shoulder. She bent the finger. “I’ll hurt worse if I don’t.” She ran her hand down under Erin’s panties.

  Erin gasped and turned on her side. “Okay, but only if I get to touch you too.”

  She ran her hand over Liz’s hip and unbuttoned her jeans. Liz didn’t object and Erin watched as her pupils widened with desire. She gasped again as she found wet waiting flesh. “Oh, baby,” she whispered.

  Liz’s eyelids fluttered in response. She moved her fingers and Erin jerked, already so swollen and needy. “Yes,” Liz whispered back. “Come with me.”

  They stroked one another, hands slick with arousal. They squeezed and milked, pulling and tugging at one another, their flesh flooding with pleasure. They locked eyes, hands moving furiously.

  “I love you,” Liz said.

  “I love you,” Erin whispered.

  “Come with me,” Liz commanded, eyes fluttering closed.

  Erin’s body jerked hard, the orgasm invading. “Always,” she said, slipping into oblivion. “Always.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “I come bearing gifts,” Patricia said with a smile. She held out the pie box as proof.

  “Well, in that case…” Sinclair held the door and stepped aside to let Patricia enter. Jack took the cue and ran into the apartment, tail wagging. Sinclair chuckled and eyed the pie.

  “Lucky I thought to stop and get it, you might not have let me in otherwise.”

  Sinclair took the box from her, kicked the door closed and tugged her in for a kiss. “Mmm, you’re all the pie I need.”

  Patricia laughed. “Likewise.”

  “Unless,” Sinclair said playfully, “you brought me another one of your books. I would gladly accept that as your fee for entry.”

  “I’ll remember that.” Patricia’s skin heated. Sinclair had only recently discovered her lesbian fiction pseudonym and the half dozen or so books. She’d taken a few home and even had Patricia read to her from them in bed. She was by far Patricia’s biggest fan.

  Sinclair nibbled on her neck, then spun around to place the box on the counter. She opened it and raised a playful eyebrow. “Key lime?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Sinclair groaned. “You evil woman.”

  Patricia looked her up and down, loving the threadbare white undershirt she had on, along with the blue cotton sleep pants. She wanted to run her tongue along the V-neck of the shirt and taste the remnants of the soap she’d just washed herself with. Patricia loved her like this, all freshly scrubbed and cozy in her nightclothes. She couldn’t wait to get her out of them.

  “I feel the same about you,” She said.

  “Are you saying you want a piece?” Sinclair carried the box farther into the kitchen.

  Patricia grinned. “More than anything.”

  Sinclair laughed. “Okay then.” She fished out a cake knife and cut.

  Patricia readied plates and forks and stood next to her, biting her shoulder. She loved Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Almost more than she loved Mondays and the weekends. Tuesdays and Wednesdays were the nights she spent at Audrey’s. She loved coming into her home, inhaling the scent of her apartment and snuggling down into her soft sheets. She couldn’t get enough of her.

  Sinclair had said the same about staying at her place.

  “How was your day?” Patricia asked.

  “Not bad.” Sinclair lifted a Key lime coated finger and Patricia eagerly sucked it. “How was yours?” she asked Patricia, barely able to do so.

  Patricia held her finger between her teeth. She waited until she saw the cinnamon eyes spark with desire. Then she plucked the finger out and kissed it. “It was good.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Uh-huh. We tied up the De Maro and Gillette cases. And Jay’s is also closed.”

  Sinclair placed the pie on the plates and closed the box. “Who would’ve thought? Reggie Lengal. Mild-mannered guy with an average income. Caucasian. Middle-aged. Who would’ve thought he was a closeted gay and religious freak? Did I mention a serial killer too?”

  “Are you really going to say I told you so?”

  “I don’t have to. You had a feeling the cases were related all along.”

  “A feeling was all I had. I wished I’d had more. You’re the one who said it was a gay male and that the other killings were sexually motivated.”

  They took their plates and sat on the couch. Sinclair fed her a bite of pie. “It’s over now. We were both right and our bosses are still slugging it out.”

  Patricia chewed, loving the soft tartness. “They always will.” She forked out a bite and fed Sinclair. “How many men do you think Reggie actually killed?”

  Sinclair swallowed. “Honestly? I think he started years ago. He had a sick fetish to go along with his homosexual feelings. He liked erotic strangulation and one time he took it a little too far.”

  “That was all it took,” Patricia said. “Then he couldn’t get enough.”

  “And he used his religious beliefs and guilt to feed his need to kill.”

  Patricia agreed. They’d found dozens of journals full of Bible scripture, hand-drawn crucifixes, and fantasies about sex and killing. Reggie Lengal had been a sick, sick man. She thought of the victims and their families.

  “I feel bad for all those widows. All those women left without husbands. And now they find out their husbands were secretly gay on top of everything else.”

  “Yes, that has to be hard.”

  “At least we were able to give them the wedding rings back. For whatever they were worth.”

  The sat in silence and ate another bite of pie.

  “How’s your friend Erin doing?” Sinclair asked.

  “Good. Liz has been cleared, her charges dropped, and they’re working on some issues.”

  “So things are going good?”


  Patricia leaned in and kissed a graham cracker crust crumb from her lip. “Yes.”

  “I hope it works out,” Sinclair said.

  “I think it will.” They kissed again. “Liz has finally grown up and Erin truly loves her.”

  “After all they’ve been through, they deserve happiness,” Sinclair said.

  “Mmm. I don’t think anything else could possibly happen to them.”

  Sinclair set their plates on the coffee table. She held Patricia’s face and kissed her again.

  “Let’s hope nothing does.”

  Epilogue

  “Baby, somebody’s buzzing at the gate,” Erin said as Liz bit on her collarbone. They’d just emerged from the shower, their bodies coated with slick moisture.

  “It’s probably just the limo driver.” Liz held Erin closer, fingers already strumming her clit.

  Erin clung to her shoulders. “Don’t you think you should go let him in? Our flight leaves soon.”

  They were finally taking that oft-postponed trip to the Caribbean. Liz had surprised her with the news, promising only love and some much-needed rest.

  “I wanted to have you one more time first,” Liz groaned. Reluctantly she backed away and pressed on the keypad.

  “Drive in and wait,” she commanded into the speaker. Then she came back and tackled Erin, pushing her onto the bed. “Now, where was I?” She lowered herself, tongue trailing downward.

  Erin clung to her short, wet locks. “Liz,” she hissed.

  “I fucking love the taste of you.” Liz flicked her tongue and Erin arched up into her.

  The doorbell rang. Liz continued, flicking faster. Erin bucked up into her.

  “Yes, fuck my face, baby,” Liz insisted.

  Erin clung to her hair, crying out.

  The doorbell rang again.

  Erin came, thrusting hard, holding Liz’s face to her.

  “Yes,” Liz gasped, sucking the last of the orgasm out of her.

  “Liz. Oh, Liz.” Erin stilled, chest heaving.

  Liz licked her one last time, hard and slow, and grinned. “That was good.”

  Again the doorbell rang. The dogs had entered the house and were going nuts.

  “God damn it!” Liz stood. “Is he deaf?”

  She threw on a robe and stormed down the hall. Erin hurried after her, envisioning the many different ways she would insult the idiot driver. “Be nice,” she called out.

  Liz grinned. “Of course.”

  She shooed the dogs and threw open the door. Her body went rigid. Erin came up next to her. She gasped.

  The woman standing there appeared nervous. She ran a hand over her short, dark hair. Her glacier blue eyes looked just as shocked as Liz’s. “Are you…Elizabeth Adams?”

  “Yes.” Liz cleared her throat. Slowly, as if she hardly dared voice her question, she asked, “Who are you?”

  “I’m looking for Jay Adams.” The stranger looked down at the papers in her hand. “I found her name, but it led to you.”

  “Who are you?” Liz asked again. Her voice seemed haunted.

  “I’m…I’m her daughter.”

  About the Author

  Born in North Carolina, Ronica Black now lives in the desert Southwest, where she spends her time painting, drawing, and writing. A lover of true crime books, she spends any remaining time engrossed in the tales of unsolved crimes and forensic files, where she gets many of her story ideas. Romance, passion, and creativity are her great fortunes, and she shares them all with the woman she loves.

  Reading, photography and outdoor sports are a few of her other sources of entertainment. She also relishes being an aunt and she thoroughly enjoys the time spent with family and friends.

  In addition to the erotic intrigue novel In Too Deep from Bold Strokes Books, she has short story selections in Erotic Interludes 2: Stolen Momentsand Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love from Bold Strokes Books and Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2005 from Alyson Books.

  For more info on Ronica, visit her Web site at www.ronicablack.com.

  Books Available From Bold Strokes Books

  Wild Abandon by Ronica Black. From their first tumultuous meeting, Dr. Chandler Brogan and Officer Sarah Monroe are drawn together by their common obsessions–sex, speed, and danger. (1-933110-35-X)

  Turn Back Time by Radclyffe. Pearce Rifkin and Wynter Thompson have nothing in common but a shared passion for surgery. They clash at every opportunity, especially when matters of the heart are suddenly at stake. (1-933110-34-1)

  Chance by Grace Lennox. At twenty-six, Chance Delaney decides her life isn't working so she swaps it for a different one. What follows is the sexy, funny, touching story of two women who, in finding themselves, also find one another. (1-933110-31-7)

  The Exile and the Sorcerer by Jane Fletcher. First in the Lyremouth Chronicles. Tevi, wounded and adrift, arrives in the courtyard of a shy young sorcerer. Together they face monsters, magic, and the challenge of loving despite their differences. (1-933110-32-5)

  A Matter of Trust by Radclyffe. JT Sloan is a cybersleuth who doesn?t like attachments. Michael Lassiter is leaving her husband, and she needs Sloan's expertise to safeguard her company. It should just be business–but it turns into much more. (1-933110-33-3)

  Sweet Creek by Lee Lynch. A celebration of the enduring nature of love, friendship, and community in the quirky, heart-warming lesbian community of Waterfall Falls. (1-933110-29-5)

  The Devil Inside by Ali Vali. Derby Cain Casey, head of a New Orleans crime organization, runs the family business with guts and grit, and no one crosses her. No one, that is, until Emma Verde claims her heart and turns her world upside down. (1-933110-30-9)

  Grave Silence by Rose Beecham. Detective Jude Devine's investigation of a series of ritual murders is complicated by her torrid affair with the golden girl of Southwestern forensic pathology, Dr. Mercy Westmoreland. (1-933110-25-2)

  Honor Reclaimed by Radclyffe. In the aftermath of 9/11, Secret Service Agent Cameron Roberts and Blair Powell close ranks with a trusted few to find the would-be assassins who nearly claimed Blair's life. (1-933110-18-X)

  Honor Bound by Radclyffe. Secret Service Agent Cameron Roberts and Blair Powell face political intrigue, a clandestine threat to Blair's safety, and the seemingly irreconcilable personal differences that force them ever farther apart. (1-933110-20-1)

  Protector of the Realm: Supreme Constellations Book One by Gun Brooke. A space adventure filled with suspense and a daring intergalactic romance featuring Commodore Rae Jacelon and the stunning, but decidedly lethal, Kellen O'Dal. (1-933110-26-0)

  Innocent Hearts by Radclyffe. In a wild and unforgiving land, two women learn about love, passion, and the wonders of the heart. (1-933110-21-X)

  The Temple at Landfall by Jane Fletcher. An imprinter, one of Celaeno's most revered servants of the Goddess, is also a prisoner to the faith?until a Ranger frees her by claiming her heart. The Celaeno series. (1-933110-27-9)

  Force of Nature by Kim Baldwin. From tornados to forest fires, the forces of nature conspire to bring Gable McCoy and Erin Richards close to danger, and closer to each other. (1-933110-23-6)

  In Too Deep by Ronica Black. Undercover homicide cop Erin McKenzie tracks a femme fatale who just might be a real killer–with love and danger hot on her heels. (1-933110-17-1)

  Stolen Moments: Erotic Interludes 2 by Stacia Seaman and Radclyffe, eds. Love on the run, in the office, in the shadows–Fast, furious, and almost too hot to handle. (1-933110-16-3)

  Course of Action by Gun Brooke. Actress Carolyn Black desperately wants the starring role in an upcoming film produced by Annelie Peterson. Just how far will she go for the dream part of a lifetime? (1-933110-22-8)

  Rangers at Roadsend by Jane Fletcher. Sergeant Chip Coppelli has learned to spot trouble coming, and that is exactly what she sees in her new recruit, Katryn Nagata. The Celaeno series. (1-933110-28-7)

  Justice Served by Radclyffe. Lieutenant Rebecca Frye and her lover, Dr. Catherine Rawlings, embark on a dea
dly game of hide-and-seek with an underworld kingpin who traffics in human souls. (1-933110-15-5)

  Distant Shores, Silent Thunder by Radclyffe. Dr. Tory King–along with the women who love her–is forced to examine the boundaries of love, friendship, and the ties that transcend time. (1-933110-08-2)

  Hunter's Pursuit by Kim Baldwin. A raging blizzard, a mountain hideaway, and a killer-for-hire set a scene for disaster–or desire–when Katarzyna Demetrious rescues a beautiful stranger. (1-933110-09-0)

  The Walls of Westernfort by Jane Fletcher. All Temple Guard Natasha Ionadis wants is to serve the Goddess?until she falls in love with one of the rebels she is sworn to destroy. The Celaeno series. (1-933110-24-4)

  Change Of Pace: Erotic Interludes by Radclyffe. Twenty-five hotwired encounters guaranteed to spark more than just your imagination. Erotica as you've always dreamed of it. (1-933110-07-4)

  Honor Guards by Radclyffe. In a wild flight for their lives, the president's daughter and those who are sworn to protect her wage a desperate struggle for survival. (1-933110-01-5)

  Fated Love by Radclyffe. Amidst the chaos and drama of a busy emergency room, two women must contend not only with the fragile nature of life, but also with the irresistible forces of fate. (1-933110-05-8)

  Justice in the Shadows by Radclyffe. In a shadow world of secrets and lies, Detective Sergeant Rebecca Frye and her lover, Dr. Catherine Rawlings, join forces in the elusive search for justice. (1-933110-03-1)

  shadowland by Radclyffe. In a world on the far edge of desire, two women are drawn together by power, passion, and dark pleasures. An erotic romance. (1-933110-11-2)