Winds of Fortune

by Radclyffe

  “Baby, I’m not going.”

  “I know it’s a desk job and you hate that, but—”

  “I told him I hadn’t changed my mind,” Reese said before kissing Tory into silence. She drew Tory on top of her and spread her fingers through Tory’s thick auburn hair. “I told him I wanted him to finalize the paperwork for my discharge.”

  “Be careful of your collarbone. I’m too heavy to be on top of you just yet.”

  Reese laughed and kissed the tip of Tory’s chin. “You’re not heavy, but you are very sexy. How tired are you?”

  Tory tilted her hips into Reese’s crotch. “I’m waking up.”

  “So am I.”

  “Did he argue?”

  “He said we’d talk again.” Seeing the look of concern flash across Tory’s face, Reese said quickly, “It’s okay. He’ll do whatever I want. He’s just going to take a little convincing.”

  “I love you,” Tory said softly. “I will support you in anything you need to do.”

  “I know.” Reese caressed Tory’s back and cradled her butt. “Right now, I need you.”

  Tory leaned up and turned off the light. Then she settled once again on top of Reese. “Darling, you never need to ask.”

  *

  Nita walked past the Vixen without a glance. At midnight on Saturday night, Deo was undoubtedly there if she hadn’t already found company for the evening. Nita didn’t want to chance another encounter, because she could never be certain how she was going to respond to her. She couldn’t afford a repeat of the previous weekend’s performance. Her life hadn’t felt this off-kilter since the early days of her relationship with Sylvia. She could barely think, she couldn’t eat, she couldn’t sleep.

  Ten minutes later she paid her cover and worked her way through the throngs of dancing, laughing women at the Pied. It was a little smaller but had the advantage of an outside deck right on the harbor and, after securing a drink at the bar, Nita walked outside and leaned on the deck rail. Sipping her drink, she let the sea breeze cool her heated skin. She was warm from the walk through town and her thoughts of Deo.

  As disconcerting as it was to be plagued by the insistent thrum of unsatisfied arousal, she felt alive in a way she hadn’t for months. And despite her regret over giving in to her urges with Deo, she wouldn’t lie to herself and say that it hadn’t been wonderful. For one blazing instant, riding the crest of nearly unbearable pleasure, she had felt completely free.

  “Excuse me, but I was wondering if you’d like to dance?” a woman asked from quite nearby.

  Nita didn’t recognize the short-haired blonde with the pleasant smile, which was good. She had come out looking for a diversion, and she preferred to find it with someone she wasn’t going to be seeing around town on a regular basis. “Yes. Yes, I would.”

  The tempo of the first dance was fast and the music too loud for conversation, but Nita managed to get a name and a few other snippets of vital information, the most critical of which was that Beth was in town for the week on vacation. One song segued into another until eventually the rhythm slowed enough that they could dance close. Twice in less than a week Nita found herself with her arms around a near stranger after having gone months without touching another woman. Beth was an inch or two shorter than Deo and thinner, lacking her hard muscles, but curving in all the right places. Nita enjoyed the swell of soft breasts moving against her own and the subtle press of Beth’s thigh between hers as they danced. She was pleasantly aroused but in no danger of losing control again. When Beth deftly maneuvered them into a corner of the room and kissed her, Nita found Beth’s soft lips and gently probing tongue enjoyable, but she felt none of the urgency she had with Deo. After a minute or two when Beth moaned softly and tightened her hold, Nita gently pulled away.

  “I think I need to slow this down,” Nita murmured.

  “Sorry,” Beth said breathlessly. “I don’t usually—”

  “Don’t apologize. I’m not the least bit upset.” Nita smiled. “I enjoyed the dance and the rest of it.”

  “Any chance we might get together sometime this week?”

  “Give me your number. I’ll call if I can.”

  “I don’t have anything to write with,” Beth said.

  “Don’t worry, I have a very good memory.” After Beth recited the figures, Nita repeated them mentally, then kissed Beth lightly. “Thank you. And thank you for the dance.”

  Pleased that her restlessness had dissipated, Nita decided she’d achieved her goal and made her way to the exit. She had just stepped out into the narrow passageway that led to the street when Deo caught up to her.

  “I take it the blonde wasn’t to your liking?” Deo said.

  Nita slowed, taking in Deo’s tight white tank top, form-fitting black jeans, and boots. The shirt left nothing to the imagination, and even in the murky light cast by the neon signs on the street, Deo looked sleek and sexy. In one beat of her heart to the next, Nita became completely aroused.

  “On the contrary,” Nita said coolly, desperately trying to smother the flames licking at her insides. Several women left the bar together and she stepped off the wooden walkway to let them pass. Deo followed until they stood in the shadows of the building. “She was very pleasant.”

  “Pleasant.” Deo said the word as if she were speaking of something that should be crushed under her boot. “You don’t want pleasant.”

  “You don’t know what I want.”

  “Sure I do.” Deo leaned into her until their bodies touched. “You want the burn. You want the fire.” She stroked Nita’s cheek with one finger. “So do I. Come home with me.”

  “No.”

  “Why not? You came out looking for more than a kiss, and I never got a chance to touch you last week.” Deo skimmed her hand lower, tracing Nita’s throat with a gentle caress.

  Nita’s heart felt as if it might pound out of her chest, and she was glad Deo couldn’t see her face very clearly. She doubted she could hide how badly she wanted Deo to keep touching her. “I told you, it was a one time thing.”

  “I don’t consider a quick grope anything more than an invitation. I want to make love to you all night,” Deo said. “Then maybe it will be a one time thing.”

  “I’m sorry.” Nita stepped around Deo. “Good night.”

  “I need to go over some things with you at the job site,” Deo said, grasping her arm. “You can’t keep avoiding me.”

  “Fine.” Nita pulled free. “I’ll be by sometime this week. If I get time.”

  “There will be plenty of people around. You don’t have to worry.”

  “You don’t worry me.” Nita turned and walked away, aware that Deo was watching her. No, Deo didn’t worry her. What worried her was how desperately she wanted Deo’s hands on her. Walking toward home, she knew that she faced another restless night and she had just said no to the only person who could have given her some relief. She’d said no because she had so very badly wanted to say yes. A mindless yes had nearly destroyed her once, and she could not let it happen again.

  Chapter Sixteen

  When her office phone rang, Nita gulped down the last of her soda and snatched up the receiver. “Burgoyne.”

  “Nita,” Randy said, “it’s Deo Camara again.”

  “Tell her—” Nita hesitated, feeling guilty about forcing Randy to make excuses for her. Deo had already called twice that week, and she’d ducked the previous calls with the message that she was with patients. Then she had conveniently not called back. “I’ll take it.”

  A second later, Nita said, “Hello.”

  “It’s Deo.”

  “I know.” Nita couldn’t help herself. She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. The sound of Deo’s voice filled her with pleasure, and since Deo couldn’t see her, she had no reason to hide her response.

  “What time do you get off work?”

  “Around seven, if no emergencies come up. Why?”

  “I need you to do a walk-through with me,” Deo said. />
  “Can it wait until the weekend? I’m off on Sunday.”

  “No. We should have done it two days ago but you’ve been avoiding me.”

  “I’m not—”

  “Yes, you are.”

  Deo sounded both edgy and sexy, and an image of Deo in the tight white tank top that showed off her muscles and breasts came quickly to mind. Nita shivered with a full body memory of Deo gasping with excitement while they rocked against one another. Recalling how she had rushed to orgasm in Deo’s arms, Nita’s body quickened instantly, and she had the exhilarating, absolutely petrifying thought that if Deo kept talking she might come just sitting there.

  “I can stop by your office if it’s inconvenient for you to co—”

  “No!” Nita couldn’t see Deo at work. She wouldn’t be able to concentrate for the rest of the evening. Worse, she couldn’t trust herself. Her plan to diminish Deo’s unsettling impact on her by avoiding her had backfired. With each passing day, she thought of her more frequently. And the nights. Her nights were a nightmare of erotic dreams and feverish sleep.

  “I’ll meet you.” Nita glanced at her watch. For a Thursday night the patient load was light, and there was no telling what Friday would bring. “I can be there in an hour and a half.”

  “That’s fine. Thanks.”

  Nita hung up and rested her face in her hands, drawing deep breaths while she willed her traitorous body to calm. After a minute, she slumped back in her chair and opened her eyes. Tory stood in the doorway watching her.

  “Bad news?” Tory asked with concern.

  Nita laughed shakily. “No. No, that was Deo—something about the house.”

  “How’s it going?”

  “Fine. Fine.”

  “Deo is supposed to be very good.”

  Nita feared that Tory could tell she was blushing from across the room. When Tory moved further into the room and closed the door, Nita was certain of it.

  “The last couple of weeks I got the sense something was bothering you,” Tory said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “We’ve got patients,” Nita said.

  “We’ve always got patients. Ten minutes won’t change anything.”

  “It’s nothing. Just stress—the house, you know.”

  “Uh-huh. The house.”

  Nita chewed her bottom lip. She had never told anyone what was happening with Sylvia. Who could she possibly have told who wouldn’t tell her exactly what she’d been telling herself—getting involved with Sylvia was insane. It was a recipe for heartbreak. Worse, it was wrong. All the time her life had slowly been consumed by her affair with Sylvia, she had become more and more alone, until all she had left was thwarted desire.

  “Deo is very attractive,” Nita said quietly.

  “Deo Camara is gorgeous.” Tory sat down, looking as if she had all the time in the world. “Is she hitting on you?”

  “Now why would you ask that,” Nita said sarcastically.

  Looking surprised, Tory said, “Because you happen to be very attractive too, and I imagine Deo has noticed.”

  “Apparently Deo makes a habit of hitting on women.”

  “I don’t know her well enough to say,” Tory said. “I doubt she lacks for company, considering that she’s young and single and seems to be very nice.”

  “Not to mention the gorgeous part.”

  “Yes. There is that too.” Tory paused. “And you’re not interested?”

  “No,” Nita said after a long second. “I am.”

  It felt good to say it out loud, even if she had no idea what it meant. It felt good not to be alone with the feelings.

  “You don’t sound happy about it.”

  “I don’t have time for the kind of upheaval a woman like Deo creates.”

  Tory frowned. “What kind of upheaval?”

  “The distraction, the obsession. The…the…God, I don’t know. I can’t think.”

  “Sounds like you’ve already got the distraction part,” Tory said with a small smile.

  Nita laughed shortly. “Oh God, I do.”

  “You’re attracted to her, but you’re not sure you want to be.”

  “No. I’m quite certain I don’t want to be.” Nita stood and picked up the closest file. “As long as I remember that, I’ll be fine.”

  “All right. That might work.” Tory rose and gave Nita a quick hug. “If you ever want to talk, let me know.”

  “Thanks. I…just thanks.”

  *

  Deo paced on the wide front porch of Nita’s house. Maybe Nita wasn’t coming. Nita obviously didn’t want to see her, but she just couldn’t take the hint. Hell, Nita had gone out looking for sex with a stranger rather than take Deo up on her offer to go another round. That should have hammered home the message that Nita wasn’t interested. But after slowly going crazy all week when Nita wouldn’t return her calls, she had finally pushed her into a meeting. Totally unlike her. Then again, nothing about her reaction to Nita was like her.

  It would have been so much simpler if she didn’t know that Nita wanted her. Contrary to what everyone thought, there were plenty of women who weren’t interested in her, and she didn’t chase after them. She never made it a secret that she wasn’t interested in anything resembling a long-term relationship, and that was enough to send most women running in the opposite direction. Now and then she misjudged and ended up going home with someone who said she only wanted a casual thing, but really believed she could change Deo’s mind after a date or two. When that happened, Deo extricated herself as quickly and painlessly as she could.

  But whatever else was going on with Nita, Nita wanted her body, at least. That had been amazingly and very pleasurably obvious for those few incinerating moments in the dark. Ordinarily, when Deo got the sense that a woman didn’t want a repeat, she let it go. This time she couldn’t, and not being able to get Nita out of her mind not only pissed her off, it confused her. Sure, she wanted Nita in bed again. Christ, who wouldn’t. She was beautiful and sexy, and she set Deo off like a 220 volt blast straight to the groin. But it was more than possibly the best sex she’d had in her life that kept her thinking about Nita, that had her craving the sound of her voice and the lightest touch of her fingers all day long and half the night. When Nita told her about Sylvia, Nita couldn’t hide how much she hurt. And she hurt in a way Deo understood. Passion and pain ruled Nita with equal measure, and Deo was drawn to both.

  She braced her hands on the railing and watched the crowds passing by beyond the iron gates at the end of Nita’s flagstone sidewalk. Men in groups, mostly shirtless, jostling and cruising. Women, usually in couples, many pushing strollers. Straight families, the kids oblivious to the passing spectacle and the parents trying to act as if being surrounded by same-sex couples was ordinary. All different, but still families of a sort. When she allowed herself to stop working and screwing until she was too tired to do anything else except drop into bed, Deo wondered what her life would have been like if she hadn’t lost hers. And those pointless ruminations were exactly what drove her to fill her days with work and her nights with women.

  The rusted wrought iron gate creaked open and Nita slipped through it. With the setting sun at Nita’s back, Deo couldn’t see her face clearly, but the air shimmered around her as she glided toward her. Her dark hair flowed loosely around her shoulders, and she lifted a hand to push the wind-blown strands away from her face. She was beautiful in the unselfconscious way of women who had no idea how truly beautiful they were.

  “Sorry I’m late.” Nita stopped at the bottom of the broad wooden stairs to take in Deo as she leaned with her forearms on the railing. Her T-shirt was damp at the neck and her hair looked wet. Nita had noticed several of the workmen dousing their heads and shoulders with a hose, washing away the grit at the end of the day, and she imagined that Deo had done the same. She could see Deo, the hose coiled in one hand, tossing her head back while water cascaded from her face. In the next breath, she envisioned Deo’s face above he
r in bed, sweat dripping from her jaw onto Nita’s cheeks as they rode each other. The image was so intense she nearly moaned.

  “I thought you weren’t coming,” Deo said, trying to read what she saw in Nita’s face. For a minute she thought Nita was going to turn and walk away.

  “I was just about to head over here,” Nita said breathlessly, “and we had an emergency. Tory is going to be seeing patients for another few hours as it is, and I couldn’t leave her with an add-on, too.”

  “Something serious?”

  Nita climbed the stairs, thankful that discussing work helped ground her. Her heart rate was slowing toward normal, and she could actually look at Deo without imagining how Deo would feel stretched out on top of her, naked. Almost. “A two-year-old with a peanut in her ear.”

  Deo laughed and led the way into the house. “Ouch. I bet that was fun.”

  “She was actually fine. It was her mother who was stressed, which is usually the case.”

  “I’ll bet.” Deo flipped a switch and a temporary overhead light, sans fixture, came to life. “Voilà.”

  “Very nice,” Nita replied, admiring the dangling bare bulb. “Quite an improvement.”

  “Thank you,” Deo said with a small bow. “So how did your patient manage to get the peanut stuck in her ear?”

  “Compliments of her four-year-old brother.”

  “Ah, now I see.” Deo walked into the kitchen, caught up in the easy conversation. Without thinking, she said, “I stuffed a bb up my brother’s nose when we were four. They had a hell of a time finding it.”

  “I imagine.” Nita was fascinated by the glimpse of pure pleasure that suffused Deo’s face. She had so rarely seen her so unguarded. She looked young, carefree, happy. Then, the light in Deo’s eyes died and she looked away. Without a second’s thought, Nita grasped her hand. The scar that snaked across the top stood out starkly against her tan. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” Deo asked hoarsely.

  “About your brother.”

  “Yeah. Well.” Deo wasn’t certain why she had even mentioned Gabe. She never talked about him. No one did, at least not when she was around. Maybe it was just easier to confess while standing in the middle of the century old kitchen with the fractured rays of sunlight slanting through the wavy glass windows, feeling as if she had been transported to another time. Nita’s voice was so gentle, her fingers so warm and so soft. No one ever touched her just to soothe her pain.