Page 22 of Heat of Justice (Duty #3)

“Hey, don’t pass out on me, Detective.” Kim teased her gently as Cody stared. “You’ve gone pale.”

“Um… It’s okay. I’m fine.”

“Yes, very fine. Now open the box.”

As Cody did, to find the set of keys she’d placed in there, Kim stood up and went around the table. From amused initially, she felt almost anxious all of a sudden. As Cody glanced up, she looked deeply into her eyes.

“Keys to your apartment?” her lover prompted when she remained silent.

“Yes. I thought you may as well be able to come and go as you like.”

“Oh, right. Well, thanks, I—”

“Wait.” Kim pursed her lips, irritated at her own self. There was nothing casual about the gesture. She did not want to make it appear as if it were a business transaction of little importance just because she was afraid of rejection. “Let me be clear. I’d like you to move in with me, Cody. Officially. I know it’s fast, but it feels right. If I read you wrong, and you’d rather not—”

“Oh, no,” Cody interrupted. “Kim.” She pulled her onto her lap and into a fierce embrace. After a few seconds, she leaned back just enough to meet and hold her gaze. Hers was literally burning now, in sharp contrast to her earlier reaction. “Hey, this is the best gift.”

“Are you sure?”

“Hundred percent! Kim, there’s nothing I want more than to be with you all the time. This feels right to me too.”

“But you went white.”

“Did I?”

“Uh-huh.”

Cody flashed a sweet, open smile.

“Now you’re showing your observant and tenacious lawyer side, Ms. Reed.” She laughed and gave a light shrug. “I don’t know why I paled... Surprise, probably.”

Relaxing, Kim caressed her cheek with a folded knuckle.

“Did you think I was proposing to you?”

“No.” Cody’s blue eyes sparkled. “Maybe.” She flushed. “I don’t know, perhaps on some level, yes... I saw the box, and my mind went blank. You have to admit it looked a bit suspicious, right?”

“Suspicious, huh?” Kim frowned again, jokingly this time. “What? Like a grenade?”

“Not quite as lethal as that.” Still amused, Cody kissed her on the lips. She traced a soft finger over her mouth. “I mean, you could have just handed me the keys, eh?”

“I could have.” Kim shrugged. “Didn’t.”

“No…” Cody’s expression grew tender, tentative, and eager all at the same time. “Makes me wonder if maybe, on some level, you meant to present them to me as a bit more than just a living arrangement.”

“Now you’re showing your shrewd and clever cop side.” Kim mirrored her earlier words and statement. “What if it were a little bit more?” she prompted. ”On some level, maybe? How would it make you feel?”

Cody kept her eyes fixed on her face. She answered easily, pretty much instantly. “It would make me feel great. I love you, Kim. I am in love with you. You know it, right?”

For sure, they had danced around that a lot… But of all the ways she might have told her, for the very first time, this hit the deepest and strongest with Kim. Perhaps because her tone was so calm, quiet, and sure. So undramatic, but also charged with undeniable feeling and truth.

“Don’t cry,” Cody added in a whisper.

“Ah!” Kim blinked back tears. “It’s just... God, Cody!”

She kissed her long and deep, full of the joy she felt. Cody was grinning from ear to ear when she let go. Happy and a little dazed. Gorgeously so. When she looked up, her eyes were a bit wet as well. Kim cupped her face in both hands.

“I love you too.” She blew air out sharply. “Wow.”

“Yes, it is,” Cody chuckled. “Totally wow.”

“I don’t know what else to say.”

“Then shut up and kiss me again.”

Kim laughed. Yeah, she was right. Anything else, any more words, could well wait. She tasted clean heat on her lips as she resumed the kiss. She felt her emotion in the way Cody kissed her back. And as she held her, so gentle, and even with a touch of reverence, yet firm and self-assured at the same time. Like Kim belonged to her. Cody did not protest when she slid off her lap and offered her a hand, she just nodded once and rose eagerly to follow. Dinner could wait too. Their kisses grew more urgent on their way to the bedroom. Bumping into walls as they shed clothes was fun. There was an audible rip as Cody relieved her of her bra.

“Oops,” she said. “Sorry.”

Kim laughed, and surprised herself at how heated her own voice sounded. It may have made her blush under different circumstances, with a different woman, but now she just felt so free… So safe with Cody! She loved to feel this part of herself finally being re-awakened. A more raw, wild, and shamelessly demanding side, for sure.

“Give me more,” she instructed and fisted both hands into her hair.

A little rough and plenty possessive, she knew Cody liked her to be this way. So, Kim pulled a little harder, eliciting an approving grunt out of her. It sounded needy too. Like sinful pleasure.

“More, Cody,” she prompted her.

Reading the mood just right, Cody took hold of her wrists, raised them above her head, and pushed her firmly against the wall. Pinned her there for another scorching kiss that made Kim whimper.

“You like this?” Cody whispered.

“Yes!” Kim laughed and moaned at the same time. “Oh, yes, keep going!”

Cody flashed her a sizzling look, approving and hungry in equal measures. Then, with another dazzling smile, proceeded to set fire to every cell in her body. She seemed to know exactly how to touch her. Understood intuitively the degree of intensity required. She was at once beautifully gentle and excitingly commanding. Kim would not remember moving to the bed, so focused was she on the wonderful sensations being unleashed. But then, they were there, and Cody lay on top of her. It was all so intimate and arousing. The reassuring weight of her body, her gifted hands as she went on providing sensual caresses... Kisses behind her ear, on her eyelids, brushing over her lips...

“You are such a treat,” Kim said to her drowsily. “Such an amazing lover.”

“Enjoy,” Cody murmured, and made her sigh as she moved to her breasts.

Her lips were like little flames over her nipples, dispensing fiery tingles and arousing her from the inside out. Kim caressed her slender back and shoulders. She raked her fingers through her hair, gently first, then harder. She made her gasp alluringly with that, and again when she yanked her close and crushed her mouth over hers. Cody was burning hot, her naked skin like a fever. They moved as one, gliding smoothly to the rhythm of their shared passion. Locked in a tight embrace, fingers roaming freely, limbs entangled. All boundaries erased and forgotten. Under Cody’s lead, the kissing turned slow and languorous. No less intense, and actually just the opposite.

“Mine,” Kim murmured, melting into her. “Say it.”

“I’m yours.” Cody breathed against her mouth. “I love you, Kim.”

She drifted down lower. Kim arched as the pleasure built. Slow and relentless, wave after wave, until she could no longer stand it.

“Cody,” she panted. “I’m there.”

“Just a little more,” Cody whispered.

She stayed where she was and wrapped her fingers around her breasts. Tweaked her thumbs over rock-hard nipples. Said ‘Mm’ in the huskiest, most erotic voice ever.

“Jesus.” Kim covered her hands with hers. “Yes. Yes! Like that. Please.”

In answer to this, Cody did something with her tongue that made her eyes roll back in her head. She squealed, thrashed. The orgasm started deep and powerful, then rolled through her like thunder unleashed over the ocean. Pure, unbound pleasure. Kim heard herself cry out once. She gripped Cody when her partner moved up close. She felt her go off, too, with the same sort of intensity and abandon. Then, there was only silence and bliss. Kim throbbed for a long time, twitching with slowly ebbing swells of sensation. As these faded and her awareness returned, she opened her eyes.

“Hey,” Cody said.

Sexy little smirk. Blue eyes still a little hazy from desire. She looked a mix of demolished and supremely satisfied, which was exactly how Kim felt. They stared at each other, then burst out laughing.

“Did you just come from… you know…”

“Licking you?” Cody grinned when she hesitated. “Yes, I did just do that.”

“You’re awesome.”

“Not when just a glance from you turns me on, Kim.”

“Mm, is that so?” Kim chuckled, delighted and amused at the same time.

“Yeah. And now I’m exhausted. Hold me.”

Kim did not have to be asked twice, and she immediately wrapped her in a full-body hug. For a woman to make love to her the way Cody just did, then to be so at ease demanding to be held… Yes, Kim reflected as her heart swelled. She was special in more ways than one. They lay dozing for a while, content in each other’s arms, until Cody’s phone on the nightstand beeped. She flinched, grunted, and muttered a sleepy ‘No’.

“Could be important,” Kim said.

“Nah.” Cody snuggled deeper into her arms. “They’d call if it were important.”

“Want to check?” Kim offered as the phone beeped again.

“I guess I should.”

Kim extended an arm to pick up the phone. In doing so, she caught the two lines of text highlighted on the locked screen.

‘Hey r u free this wknd? I miss u!!!!

Call me. XOXO from ur best girl’

“Who is your best girl, Cody?” she demanded.

“Hmm?”

“The one who misses you and wants you to call her,” Kim prompted ironically.

Cody read the text, and she laughed.

“Aw, busted.” She then explained about her nine-year-old friend. “Anna likes to text to remind me when she decides we’re due for an outing.”

“Right. You just did it,” Kim declared.

“What?”

“Made me fall a bit more in love with you.”

“Ah.” Cody smiled. “Good. So maybe you won’t mind if we spend a bit of time with her this weekend? She loves going to the beach and getting ice cream.”

“Me too,” Kim remarked. “I’d love to meet her.”

“Great. Just prepare yourself for a proper grilling.”

“I’ll be okay. I’m a lawyer, after all. I’m sure I can handle a kid.”

“I’m sure you can.” Cody chuckled again. “Just be warned: she’s a super-smart girl with an insatiable curiosity and absolutely no filter whatsoever.”

“Sounds like fun,” Kim approved, and she meant it.

◆◆◆

More fun was to be had. Lazy summer parties at Demi’s house, especially, were a long-established tradition. The Lewiston P.D. Chief Administrator’s wife, Carole, worked as a nurse at the local hospital, so guests included not only cops but also other fellow nurses, doctors, and first responders in general. That weekend, a select group of friends were all invited to screen Lia’s finished documentary for the first time. As expected, it was a roaring success. She earned herself a standing ovation, and then a couple of enterprising cops picked her up and threw her fully clothed into the pool. Lia came out laughing, clearly delighted. Quinn looked on in approval.

“We need more supplies,” Demi declared as people spilled out onto the lawn to enjoy the afternoon sunshine. Some took a dip in the pool – in appropriate swim gear. “Quinn, would you mind getting us beer from the pantry, please?”

“Not at all. I’m on it.”

On her way to the kitchen, she happened to bump into Lia coming down the stairs after changing into dry clothes. With a beaming smile, her wife grabbed her around the neck and pulled her aside to deliver a heated kiss.

“Hey, I’m on a mission here,” Quinn protested.

“Can’t help it,” Lia chuckled. “I’m still a little too revved up about the fact that everyone loved my film!”

“You weren’t really nervous about that, were you?”

“Well…” Lia laughed, attractively sheepish. “Not too much, but a little bit, yeah, for sure. No matter what, there’s always that little pinch of nerves when I put something new out there, you know?”

“Oh, sure.”

“Like, what if I am totally deluded thinking that my work is good, and everybody hates it?”

“Well. Even if I didn’t love you with every last drop of my blood, Lia, I would still think this new documentary is fantastic,” Quinn declared.