Insight

by Jennis Slaughter

  “So is that a yes, and if so, what hurts?” Stepping in closer, the younger woman reached to run her fingers through dark hair. “Did you hit your head?”

  “Yes I did, but it’s okay. It was only mild and there’s no risk of concussion as the impact was little to none. Also, I didn’t black out and there is no dizziness. Risk of any serious head trauma is minimal,” Kasey babbled, her nerves making her take the question literally.

  “Okay...we’re gonna have to work on that babbling. It’s cute, but a simple yes would have gotten you this.” Rising up on her toes, Jenny placed a gentle kiss against Kasey’s lips.

  It was a simple kiss, gentle and chaste, but Kasey felt the entire world shift under her feet. She was surprised to feel that she actually felt a little more grounded. She pressed gently into the kiss, her hands resting softly on Jenny’s waist. She hoped Jenny wouldn’t mind and that she wasn’t interpreting things incorrectly.

  Jenny kept her hands on Kasey’s shoulders and leaned into the kiss. Now she had kissed her fair share of boys, but nothing had prepared for a kiss like this. This was a perfect first kiss. Pulling away slightly, she looked at the Agent in awe. “Oh my...this is going to be interesting.”

  “Interesting is one word for it I think,” she smiled down at the younger girl, feeling more centered, surprised that a single kiss would make her feel calmer instead of more nervous. “Oh God, Sumners is going to have a hernia when he finds out,” she groaned rolling her eyes.

  Patting the woman’s arm, Jenny led her towards the kitchen. “Well, as long as you don’t take me on the kitchen table, I don’t think he will find out. Do you like confectionary sugar on your French toast?” the young woman asked innocently.

  Kasey stumbled a little as images of Jenny underneath her on the kitchen table flashed through her mind. “Yes,” she squeaked, retreating to the cool air of the fridge as she hunted for the eggs.

  It took the two women a few minutes to find all the ingredients, pans and plates, but they soon had quite a few slices of golden French toast, dusted with confectionary sugar and tall glasses of milk.

  “I wonder if we should wake Rae and Del?” Jenny queried as she put the toast on the table. “What do you think hun?”

  Kasey started at the endearment, giving Jenny a surprised look. “Um, it’s getting a little late. I thought they’d be up by now. Sumners told me last night on the phone that he’d be back around lunch. Del will kill me if we let her sleep through taking in the Chief.”

  “Well, since I still have sore ribs, you’re nominated to go knock on their door,” Jenny stated.

  “You just don’t want to catch Raelin’s wrath if we’re interrupting something. Hell no, she’s your friend,” huffed Kasey.

  Looking around the kitchen and the back porch, Jenny called out, “Rori...here kitty, kitty, kitty.”

  “What’s the cat going to accomplish. It’s a closed door,” she pointed out, watching as the grey cat jumped into Jenny’s arms from the bottom of the stairs. “It’s one thing to run into the woods; it’s another to knock on a door with no opposable thumbs.”

  Jenny cooed at her friend’s cat. “Don’t listen to her. She doesn’t know all the cool things that you can do. Would you mind please going upstairs and making sure that Rae and Del are awake, and tell them that breakfast is ready?”

  Kasey watched surprised as Rori nuzzled Jenny’s chin and then headed for the stairs. “He’s a pretty smart one isn’t he? Del and him had a thing earlier. It was like Del was having a conversation with him. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by anything that goes on around here should I?”

  “It might be easier for you to keep a very open mind on most things here.” Jenny reached up to caress the Agent’s face.

  “I do. It’s just, I’m an F.B.I. agent. I’m used to things being very black and white. I get nervous when I can’t predict what’s going to happen. I know criminals; I have a degree in criminal psychology. I can predict and react to them. All of this? Way above me,” she chuckled, leaning into the touch.

  “Oh, so you like to predict things. So if I were to do this.” And the young woman kissed her again, this time running her tongue over the Agents bottom lip before pulling away. “You wouldn’t like that?”

  Kasey’s face once again flushed red. “Um no, I mean yes, I would like it. I like you,” she stuttered.

  Jenny smiled at Kasey. “I like you too. So let’s eat. They can fix their own.”

  Kasey just smiled and followed Jenny into kitchen to enjoy a nice breakfast with a girl she was more than a little smitten with.

  j

  Del hummed in satisfaction as she felt Raelin crash over the edge under her tongue. She continued the firm thrusts of her fingers in time hoping to send Raelin over again. Just as she felt Raelin tensing again, she felt a searing pain on her back and pulled back with a pained yell.

  “What are you doing to her? Raelin’s jumping around like a lady bug?” Rori clung to Del’s back through a sheet and a comforter. “And the sounds that’s she making...goddess, she sounds like she killing my cousin.”

  Raelin had been so close to cumming, but when Del screamed, she slammed her legs closed, hitting the detective’s cheek. “Rori, what do you think that you are doing?”

  “Ahh Jesus Christ! Raelin that was my face!” Del cried clutching her cheek as she sat up under the sheet, one hand holding her face the other reaching awkwardly over her head to try to grab the cat. “Rori, let go of my back, you’re tearing me to bits.”

  Del didn’t think she could be any more embarrassed but nearly died when she heard the door bust open as if it had been kicked in. She closed her eyes thankful that she was still hidden under the linen, praying she would suddenly disappear.

  Kasey looked around in confusion, but quickly realized what was happening when she saw the writhing cursing mass under the sheet and way more of Raelin than she ever wanted. She stood there completely frozen, her gun still drawn and her jaw hanging open. Jenny slid to a stop and burst into fits of laughter, a fire poker now hanging at her side.

  “Rae, are you okay?” the younger woman asked.

  The witch was trying to clutch the sheet to her chest while Del was still underneath the sheet, attempting to get Rori off her back. Looking about her room, Raelin almost started to laugh, but decided to cough instead.

  Laughing Jenny grabbed the back of Kasey’s well-fitted blazer, dragging the still wide-eyed agent out of the room.

  “I’m glad you think this shit is funny! You’re killing me here guys. Rori, back the fuck off already!” Del growled, still struggling with the cat.

  Rori finally relented and jumped onto the footboard at the end of the bed, glaring at the lump under the sheet.

  Hearing the door close, Del finally poked her head out from under the sheet looking more than a little disheveled. She glared up at her witch, pouting childishly, blonde hair mussed and eyes narrowed. She sat up, the sheet falling away from her shoulders, as she straddled Raelin’s thighs. The detective rubbed her cheek already feeling the bruise she knew was forming. ”I don’t see what’s so funny,” Del growled.

  Reaching up, Raelin caressed the bruised cheek, sending some healing energy to the area, all the while trying to keep a smile off her face. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, but you startled me.”

  Looking around to the foot of the bed, the witch scowled at her cat. “And do you want to tell me exactly what you were doing?”

  Rori let out an irritated huff. ”It sounded like she was murdering you. Raelin, what did you expect me to do. I came up to get you for breakfast, and thought I’d stumbled into a crime scene.”

  Del turned to face the cat and settled between the witch’s legs so she could lean back against her chest. She pulled the sheet up so they were both covered again and hissed when the scratches on her back made contact with Raelin. ”For someone so smart you certainly can be stupid,” Del muttered. ”The door was locked for a reason. Ever try just calling us?
I know you can talk to Raelin even through closed doors.”

  Wincing when she saw the scratches against her lover’s back, Raelin leaned back a bit to blow against them and to start the healing. “Rori, I know that you meant well, but I think that we are going to have to have some new boundaries made. If the door is locked, please do not come in, but if it’s just closed, please call one of us and we’ll say yes or no. I am disappointed in you. You knew full well, that Del and I were…how should I say, uh busy and yet you came in. Why?”

  Rori’s tail twitched as he watched the two women. “Raelin, I’ve woken you the same way nearly every morning for the last twenty-five years. Suddenly a pretty face comes into town and you expect me to forget everything I’ve known overnight?”

  Del caught the sadness in Rori’s tone and softened a little. “Rori, I’m not trying to replace you. I don’t want that, and Raelin wouldn’t be Raelin without you. I know that, she knows that and you should know that. I thought we’d come to an understanding?” She looked to Raelin, unsure on exactly what to say to ease the large cat’s fears.

  Reaching for her shirt Raelin quickly pulled it on and got out of bed to hold her familiar. “Rori, you have been my companion for almost all my life, and I would not be the person I am today without you,” she looked at Del over the cats head. “I need Delaney in my life as much as I need you so we all will have to make allowances for each other. We all will have to go through a period of getting used to each other, but it will so be worth it in the end. I love you Rori.”

  Rori pressed himself close, knowing what his witch was saying was true. “I love you too Raelin. I’m sorry I disrespected you both like that. I’ll be more careful about locked doors from now on. Delaney, I’m sorry about the scratches, I wasn’t thinking.”

  Del smiled from her place on the bed. “Apology accepted Rori and I’ll try to be a little more respectful of you as well. I need to remember that I’m the new person here, and as such I need to learn to adapt to you and Raelin, and not expect you to change your lives around for me.”

  Looking at the two ‘people’ that she loved most in the world; Raelin could say that at that moment, she had never been happier. “Okay, so if you wouldn’t mind going back downstairs, I need to take care of Del’s back and then we’ll be right down.”

  As an afterthought, Raelin added. “And Rori, please take this into consideration, Del already feels like she is the intruder here, and I know at the beginning that you thought the same, but things have changed. I...we are going to make the effort to share our lives so that means you, me, and Del are going to be a family from now on, okay.”

  “Sure Raelin. I really am sorry,” he nipped gently at her chin before hopping to the floor and trotting out the now open door. He used the string tied to the doorknob to pull it gently closed with his teeth.

  Del watched the cat curiously. “That’s what that string was for. Pretty neat idea. Still like to know how he works around locks though.”

  “It’s your job to find out cause I don’t know. He just gets in.” Turning to her lover, she tossed aside her shirt and crawled up from the foot of the bed. “So what would you like to do now?”

  Del grinned roguishly. “That a trick question?” she asked watching intently as Raelin crawled towards her.

  “Ooo, do you know some tricks?” The brunette straddled her lover, running her fingers through golden hair.

  “I may know one or two. You might even like them,” Del murmured into Raelin’s ear before she dropped a kiss to the sensitive spot right below it, her hands wandering over bronze skin.

  Leaning down to kiss the blonde, Raelin hummed. “Mmm, I think I’d like to find out about those, but maybe later on. Maybe we should get downstairs for now. I’m sure that Agent Sumners will be showing up sometime today.”

  Del made a face at the mention of the older agent. “I forgot about him. I’d rather just work with Kasey.”

  “And why exactly do you prefer to work with Kasey?” Raelin leaned back and crossed her arms.

  Del cocked her head to one side, regarding the woman carefully. “Because she isn’t a useless judgmental tool. If I didn’t know any better I’d say you were jealous.”

  Closing her eyes, the brunette took a deep breath and shook her head. Opening them back up, she sighed. “I’m sorry, these emotions are new to me, and I need a bit to get them under control.” Running her hands through the blonde hair, she responded. “I know that I’m being silly, and I can feel how you care about me here.” Raelin put her hand over her heart. “Just give me a day and I’ll be fine. Today my emotions are all over the place. I guess that yesterday, last night, and this morning just wore me out.”

  Del chuckled, hugging the brunette close. “Oh Darlin’, it’s okay. Just for future record, though I only have eyes for you. Kasey and I work well together, and she’s good at what she does. Besides, I already told you, her and Jenny are getting pretty chummy. I know, and I understand. So how about we get down there and get you fed before someone else comes barreling through our door. It will help to get something in your stomach,” she replied, kissing the witch before she extracted herself from the bed to dress.

  Del watched Raelin in the mirror as she dressed, keeping an eye out for any signs of stress. She’d known that Raelin had pushed her body and magic way harder than she should have and was determined to keep a watchful eye on her. She finished pulling the black tee over her head, pulling it straight and brushing out any wrinkles.

  Seeing Raelin had finished, she walked into the hall and down the stairs, clipping the holster across her shoulders on the way. She knew Raelin had a valid reason for not liking it, but she wasn’t willing to risk not being able to defend her friends if the townies got brave enough to come to the house. Del paused in the doorway, smirking fiendishly as she watched Jenny put a finishing touch on a loving kiss with the young agent.

  “I told you they were getting friendly,” Del giggled, knowing Raelin had been watching over her shoulder.

  “Morning guys...sorry about the excitement before,” Raelin called out.

  Kasey’s head snapped around so fast Del was surprised it didn’t come clean off, while Jenny started at the sudden voice. “Oh, don’t stop on our account,” Del laughed, entering the kitchen to start plating some French toast for her and Raelin.

  Kasey looked away embarrassed and Jenny nearly choked on her giggles.

  “That’s okay; I was just wiping the sight of your girlfriend out of my girlfriend’s mind, thank you very much,” Jenny chuckled as she wrapped her arms around Kasey’s waist.

  “Girlfriend...that’s moving rather fast don’t you think Jenny?” Raelin looked at the younger woman worriedly.

  “Oh, as if we are one’s to talk,” Del quipped the same time Kasey choked on the sip of water she’d just taken. “Besides, Spaulding knows I’ll have her head she does anything stupid. Don’t ya Agent?”

  “I, uh yes of course, and Raelin, I didn’t exactly see much. Not that I wanted to, I mean you are pretty, I just, Jenny is...” the agent stuttered, her face red enough to rival a tomato.

  Raelin glared at her lover. “We are not the subject right now. Jenny knows that I just don’t want her to get hurt.”

  “That’s not fair Rae...I’m an adult and I know that I have feelings for Kasey that I’d like to explore.” Jenny faced her friend.

  Del was about to return the banter with her lover when she heard Jenny speak up. Knowing it was best to lie under the radar for this one, she leaned into the agent next to her. “Yeah Slick, you might want to keep low for this one. Smile and nod and whatever you do, don’t try to argue,” Del whispered before she moved to sit next to Raelin at the table, setting a plate of now hot syrup covered French toast in front of them.

  “You know what, you’re right. It’s none of my business.” Turning to the still blushing Agent, Raelin apologized, “I’m sorry for getting in your business.” With that, she turned and walked out onto the back porch and sat dow
n in a rocking chair.

  Del watched Raelin leave the room a worried look on her face. “Sorry guys, I’ll give her a few minutes to sort her head out and then go talk to her. You know she’s only trying to look out for you Jenny.”

  “I know, and if you want some helpful advice, just let her come to you. Rae sometimes has to think things over before she talks. Most the time it’s just the opposite, but every once in a while...” Jenny sat across from the detective. “Kasey said that Agent Sumners in on his way. Do you think that he got my mom all situated?”

  Del nodded at Jenny’s words, popping Raelin’s plate into the oven to keep it warm until the witch decided to return. “I believe he has. That is, if he got his head out of his ass long enough,” Del grumbled returning to her own plate.

  Kasey laughed, her cheeks still slightly pink. “I know, but he’s a good agent and he gets the job done. I’ve been shadowing him for a while and he’s taught me a lot of valuable things.”

  “Well, I know that he got on both Rae’s and Del’s last nerve when he was here last. He should learn to keep his personal opinions to himself and just worry about the case that he’s on,” Jenny said defiantly.

  “You’re damn right. I won’t allow him to get away with it so easily next time. I’m not going to have Rae demeaned in her own home. She gets enough of that in town from the townies,” Del said seriously.

  “I’ll let him know. I usually have to rein him in. As good as an agent he is, he has a hard time keeping his mouth shut and staying impartial. I really am sorry on his behalf,” Kasey said apologetically.

  Jenny shook her head. “Don’t you apologize for his actions. He’s the one that was wrong, he needs to do it.”

  “I’ll see that he does. I have his Boss’s number on speed dial,” the Agent replied, offering Jenny a sneaky grin.

  Del stretched as she finished the last of her breakfast. “That was pretty good you guys. Thanks. Kasey, when did Sumners say he was going to get here? I’ve got a Chief to humiliate.”