by Deanna Lee
She lifted off his cock and slid back down with an agonizing slowness. Alex lifted his head at her change of pace and then lay back on the bed to watch. He picked up her rhythm quickly, lifting his hips to meet her downward thrusts. Six, seven times he let her take him that way, and when he could take no more, he turned them over abruptly and buried himself to the hilt inside her.
Laughing breathlessly, Kyra wrapped her arms around him and planted her feet flat on the bed. “Yes."
"You'll pay for that lovely bit of teasing.” He nipped her bottom lip.
"I sincerely hope so.” She hissed in a breath when he started to move.
"Hurt?” Alex asked softly.
"Yes."
"More?"
"Please,” she whispered.
Kyra pushed upwards against him and moaned when he quickened his pace inside her. The hot invasion of his thick flesh robbed her of thought and reason so quickly that she surrendered to the assault on her senses without a single hesitation.
"Harder."
He met the demand silently, slamming into her body with more force than finesse. She arched under him and cried out with the pleasure of it. Her pussy clenched around him as orgasm overtook her, and she rushed wet against his invasion. Alex stilled and lowered his face into the side of her neck as her cunt milked his cock.
"You're holding back on me.” She rubbed the back of his head. “Come for me."
He groaned and lifted his head. “I never get to take it slowly with you."
"Later.” She touched his cheek and then bit down on her bottom lip as he started to move again. The hot sting of too much pleasure swept over her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist. “Fuck me like you need to."
Alex covered her mouth with his and thrust his tongue into her as he began to move again. Her body alternately languished in the pleasure he provided and demanded that he give more. He jerked against her as his orgasm approached, and could only groan in approval when she wrapped herself tightly around him.
* * * *
Ana paused at the doorway of Glory's room and watched for a moment. She was sitting up in the bed, the bandages around her arms vivid against the rest of her. Marcus Waters was asleep in a chair beside the bed next to the window. His clothes were wrinkled, and his normally neat braids were a little out of place. He looked much less dangerous that way, but then, most predatory animals could look harmless in their sleep.
"Hey."
Glory turned and smiled. “Hey, there, you must be Ana.” She held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. Ana moved inside the room and shut the door. “You're just gorgeous. I bet the men fall over you."
Ana laughed. “The gun scares most of them off.” She glanced at Marcus, who had sat up. “Mr. Waters."
"Constable Salanti, you sure do make that uniform look good."
Ana blushed, then looked at her shiny shoes. “Didn't the inspector tell you not to hit on me?"
"Yeah, but I don't take orders from the inspector.” He stood and stretched. “If you'll stay a while, I think I'll take a walk."
"Sure.” Ana watched him leave and then turned to Glory. “You know he's a hard-ass, right?"
Glory laughed and patted the bed. “You're worse than Kyra! Did she send you down?"
"No.” Ana sat hesitantly on the bed. “I just needed to see you for myself."
"It must have been very difficult for you.” Glory patted her hand. “Kyra is so strong and capable."
"Yes.” There was nothing to do but agree, but she doubted she'd ever get rid of the picture of the two of them on that floor together, Kyra shaking with rage and fear. “I'm lucky to have her as a partner."
"So, you want to know any deep, dark secrets for blackmail purposes, I have a couple that will make her blush to the roots of her hair."
"Blush?"
"Oh, yeah.” Glory nodded.
"Maybe later.” Ana sucked her bottom lip into her mouth. She pulled a mini-disk out of her pocket. “This is a list of really good rape counselors in the area. I also included the name and address of a man who specializes in teaching women how to defend themselves."
Glory took the small plastic-encased disk with a steady hand. “Thank you."
"You'll need more help than anyone currently in your life can provide,” Ana stated seriously. “So much more, and no matter what you've told yourself, you can't do it on your own."
"I'm not his victim."
"You are a survivor and a victim. There is nothing wrong with being both, and there is no reason to be ashamed of being his victim. No reason at all."
"Yeah.” Glory looked down at the mini-disk. “The doctors have already told me that I should talk to a counselor. I don't want to do it."
"Talking to a counselor won't make it any more real than it already is. It happened, and how you to choose to deal with it will define the rest of your life. You can choose to be afraid, or you can choose to be strong and fight. It's a fight that starts with talking about what happened to you and defining the terms on which you're going to live the rest of your life."
"They teach you this stuff in cop school?"
Ana laughed. “No, but they should.” She looked down at their hands and cleared her throat. “I should go."
"You'll think me a coward, but will you wait until Marcus returns?"
"He's probably outside talking with the McRainey brothers."
"Are they really brothers?"
"Yes, and they really do throw trees around. Some sort of Scottish heritage festival.” Ana stood and walked to the single window in the room. “You know she'll catch him."
"Yeah."
"She wants to kill him.” Ana sat on the windowsill and turned to look at her. “Truthfully, I don't blame her."
"It wouldn't be justice to me, and she knows that.” Glory put the mini-disk on her bed tray and sighed. “I would never want her to sacrifice her career to avenge something that can never really be avenged.” She paused. “Were you raped?"
"No, but I worked sex crimes in New York for about a year before I came to New Orleans."
"Must have been hard."
"Yeah."
The door to the room opened, and Kyra walked in with a cloth bag. “Well, hello there, ladies."
Ana straightened from the window. “I thought we were going to meet at the station."
Kyra nodded. “Well, now we can meet here.” She put the bag on the end of the bed and looked at Glory. “Are you all right? You're pale."
"Yeah. I'm fine.” She nodded briskly and looked at the bag. “What's in the bag?"
"Some clothes.” Kyra sat down on the end of the bed. “My grandmother left them at the nurse's station earlier this morning. She'll be back later."
"Just in time to quiz Alex on your relationship.” Glory laughed and held her hand out for the bag. “That should be entertaining."
The door opened again, and Desi Marcos came in with a large bundle of flowers and a box on her hip. “Awesome, it's a girl party."
Glory waved her in. “Hey, flowers. I love flowers."
Desi put the vase of flowers on a small stand next to the bed and then put the box on Glory's tray table. “So, I thought if I were you, I'd be going stark raving mad without some real entertainment.” Chewing her gum rapidly, she pulled out a mini-panel and a collection of disks. “I brought you a selection of chick-flick favorites, and six of the raunchiest romance novels I have on mini-disk.” She set out a new p-pc, still in its packaging. “All of your content from your former device is on this disk.” She waved it and put it on top of the new p-pc. “I got you the best model on the market, lots of space, and lots of power. You can contact the moon with that baby."
Glory reached out and touched the box. “Thanks.” She looked at her. “Who are you?"
Desi laughed and held out her hand. “Dr. Desdemona Kane Marcos. I work with the inspector."
"Cool name."
"Thanks. Everyone but the inspector calls me Desi.” She shook Glory's hand and met her ga
ze squarely. “You did a very gutsy thing. I'm very pleased to meet you."
"Who does your hair?"
Desi patted the top of her head as if trying to remember who'd given her the blue braids she was currently sporting. “Ah, my sister did this."
"Nice. Does she need a job?"
"Does she ever,” Desi muttered and rolled her eyes. “Don't get me started."
"We don't have time for you to get started.” Kyra checked her comm-u for the time. “I'll meet you guys in my vehicle.” Desi and Ana waved to Glory and exited the room, pulling the door shut behind them.
Kyra looked over the myriad of things Desi had in the box and laughed. “Well, she has you set up."
Glory nodded, her hand lingering on the new p-pc device. “I didn't know if I was going to be able to carry the other one. It's odd that it should remind me of what he did to me."
"I'm sorry that it didn't occur to me."
"It's a silly thing, anyway."
"What did Ana want?"
"She came by to see me and to give me information on rape counselors in the area."
Kyra swallowed hard and looked toward the window. “Do you think you need that?"
"She seemed pretty knowledgeable on the subject. I'm going to give it a try. It can't hurt."
"No, it certainly can't.” Kyra walked to her and pressed her lips to Glory's forehead. “I got the dick you ordered. It was so fine."
Glory laughed and pulled Kyra in for a hug.
Chapter Eighteen
Kyra settled into the driver's seat and fussed with her harness. “Okay, I'm not good with this stuff, so I just want to say thanks to you both."
"She's important to you,” Ana stated simply. She flipped down the workstation hidden in the dash and set her p-pc down. “Desi has almost finished mapping the route Aaron took from your grandmother's house."
"Yeah, I had to do a little adjustment."
Kyra looked in the back seat and found Desi with a pull-down workstation full of the pieces of what used to be a p-pc. “Glory's old one?"
"Yeah, I figure it'll never be the same after I get it back together."
"It was a good thought to get her a new one. Put in a voucher to be reimbursed."
Desi grinned. “I put it on your expense account, but the flowers I bought myself."
"That works.” Kyra started the vehicle and disengaged the charger from the ground outlet. The onboard computer logged the charge and the cost on the view screen, then released the vehicle to Kyra's control. “Three hundred credits.” She glowered at the screen.
"That's what you get for driving this energy hog. You have three on-board batteries, right?"
"Yeah.” Kyra glared at Desi through the rearview mirror. “I love this vehicle."
"It isn't like the department doesn't give you an energy allowance.” Desi shrugged.
"That's beside the point."
"You have an operations meeting at the station in an hour.” Ana focused on the schedule. “Am I supposed to keep track of this stuff?"
Kyra laughed. “No, actually, I'm supposed to have an administrative assistant for that. I just haven't had time to interview for one since the last one quit."
"I heard you fired him,” Ana said softly.
"I gave him a choice."
"Die or quit?” Desi asked from the backseat.
"All those under five-foot-six and sitting in the backseat are grounded for being a smart-ass."
"I may be little, but I'm sturdy,” Desi muttered. “Sturdy and brilliant."
Kyra laughed, then sobered as she focused on the road. Traffic was light, which was sort of discomfiting because it never was, normally. “Do you think she needs to see a counselor? She is strong; growing up without parents does that to you."
"Victims of violent crimes benefit from counseling. The research is sound in that area. No person responds the exact same way, but no one can question the benefit of having someone to talk to who isn't going to tell anyone and who isn't going to sit in judgment of you."
"Yeah.” Kyra nodded.
* * * *
The Major Crimes Unit for District 4 worked thirty detectives and eighty street cops. Kyra stood silently in front of the room until they all found a seat. It didn't take long; there was no horsing around on a day like this one. She started to speak, but paused when the door opened and Inspector Liz Givens urged the entire Anti-Crimes squad into the room. She watched in silence as the twenty-five additional people settled into seats or lined up against the wall.
"Good morning.” One hundred and thirty-five heads nodded in response. “We're going to skip the crap I usually make you guys sit through. All of you are familiar with the case that I'm working and the task force that's in place. While I consider the Waterman a serious threat, he is by no means the only threat we have in the city. Those of you who have been pulled into the case will report to conference room six for further instructions in twenty minutes. We have forty-two open homicides, two unsolved arson cases, and a myriad of terror alerts, and every one of them is just as important as the Waterman case. I realize that a lot of you would like to take part in the investigation, to help in some way because he took down a fellow officer."
She watched the people in the room and saw their agreement and frustration. “Most of you may know that his last intended victim is a close personal friend of mine.” She paused. “HisHis personal interest in me and his knowledge of my past is an issue of some concern for the commander and the police commissioner. At this point, however, the case has not been removed from our unit.” A few bodies relaxed. “I would ask that all beat cops pick up copies of the drawings and pictures we have of the suspect, and canvass your neighborhoods. He has to eat and live somewhere."
"You think he's in the city?"
"I think we can leave no avenue unexplored.” She rolled her head on her shoulders. “Now, I have a witness to harass the hell out of, and a psycho to stomp on. Anyone got any pressing matters?"
* * * *
Kyra watched Orland Frees moving around the interrogation room with cool eyes. He was dressed in a pair of blue pants and a white T-shirt, both jail issue. She imagined he'd been hosed down fairly good the night before, which was a relief because his smell had lingered with her for a long time. Sipping coffee, she was silent while the rest of the team discussed what Orland could have to offer.
"Where is the background check on him?"
"I hit a federal block.” Desi paused beside Kyra and shrugged. “I'm working it, but I'll probably need another couple of hours."
Kyra nodded. “Okay."
"How are you going to play this?” Liz asked.
Kyra looked at her and the rest of the task force. “I thought I'd start with crime scene images and work my way up to the autopsy record.” She looked around the room. “Detective Jennings, you're with me."
He raised an eyebrow. “Really."
"Oh, yes.” Kyra nodded sharply. “You get to stand by the door and look like a really bad cop with a need to beat a couple hundred pounds off Orland Frees's ass."
"I love being the bad cop.” He rubbed his hands together. “What are you going to be?"
"Queen bitch of the known universe."
"I'm loving it."
Kyra looked at Ana. “You are going to give a press conference in ten minutes."
"Me?” Ana's eyes grew wide. “Are you serious?"
"When did everyone decide it was okay to question my orders?” Kyra demanded of the room in general. “You'll give a brief statement to the press about the ongoing progress of the case. You'll answer no questions pertaining to Ms. James. Be ambiguous, serious, and unimpressed and trite when referring to the killer. Remind the public of the tattoos and the artist drawings, and take two uniforms with you so your exit from the room will be unmolested."
"Got it.” Ana swallowed hard as Kyra stalked from the room. “Oh, my God."
Desi patted her on the back. “Come on, I'll help you get your statement ready."
Liz chuckled. “It's actually quite smart."
Ana turned to look at her. “What?"
"He tried to kill her best friend last night. He expects to see her on every vid-station in the tri-state area, bright-eyed and furious. But, instead, he'll get you. Serious, cool, and so very proper. No temper, no pain lingering in her eyes. You go up there and do her proud."
"I will.” Ana looked at Desi. “Get your badge out. I want you to stand up there behind me in case I pass out or something."
Liz nodded to two of her detectives. “You go along with Constable Salanti and make sure the press stays in their place."
The two men followed Ana and Desi out.
Liz turned and looked at Kyra, who leaned against the wall next to the one-way mirror in the interview room. She pushed the button on the remote control that dropped a large vid-panel down the wall across from the prisoner's position in the room.
"Mr. Frees, we're going to be viewing some pictures. It is your job, as the fine upstanding citizen you are, to look at these pictures and answer my questions."
"Whatever.” He crossed his arms on his chest and glared at the screen, his jaw tight with determination.
The first image was of Donna LaRoux. Spread-eagled and exposed before the world, her skin already starting to turn. It was a vivid and beautifully produced image. “This is Donna LaRoux. Aaron Belton poisoned her, drowned her, cut off her skin, and then dumped her naked in the alley behind the restaurant she worked in."
"Don't know her."
"But you do know Aaron Belton."
"Aaron Belton died when he was six years old."
Kyra flipped to the next picture of Donna. “This is Donna's lungs full of bayou water."
Orland sat up straighter in his chair. “I don't need to see this shit."
"Her name was Donna LaRoux,” Kyra snapped.
* * * *
Ana was calm, cool, and going to throw up any second. She paused at the podium, trying to remember how Kyra had stood the last time she spoke to the press. “Good morning. I am Constable Anastasia Salanti, and I have a brief statement. At this time, the killer who has called himself the Waterman is still at large. The NOPD is confident that he will be brought to justice. There is no new information to give to the public. We ask the media to continue publishing the images of the tattoo and the pictures of the suspect.
