Beck wasn’t sure who’d initiated the kiss, but she’d been powerless to stop it. Not that she wanted to. No, stopping wasn’t an option. She wanted to lose herself completely in the velvet soft way Macy’s lips caressed hers, in the insistent press of her talented tongue. When Macy extended her hand, she had no choice but to follow.
The stairs creaked beneath their feet, but Beck barely noticed as she was swept up in the anticipation of what would be waiting once they climbed to the top. Macy paused when they reached the landing and pulled her back into her arms. She relaxed into her embrace, enjoying the unfamiliar freedom of surrender.
“I have a thing for balconies,” Macy murmured against her lips.
Beck looked down at the foyer from their perch. “Balconies are great until someone gets hurt.” She used her fingers to mimic someone falling over the edge to illustrate the point.
“Spoken like a true detective. Always suspicious.”
Beck leaned back in Macy’s arms and scanned her face to determine if she was kidding. “Hey now. If I were always suspicious, I probably wouldn’t be here right now.”
“Is that so? Do you think I have an ulterior motive in inviting you up here?”
“No,” Beck answered quickly, but she immediately questioned her instinct. “I mean you don’t, do you? I mean other than…” Had she misread Macy’s affection?
“I asked you to come to my house because I wanted to show you how serious I am about these cases, show you what evidence I’ve already collected.” Macy paused and slid an arm around her waist. “But I have to admit, I’ve been distracted from my mission after seeing you walk through Sue Ellen’s like a boss. It’s been a while since I hung out there, but I don’t recall anyone ever causing that many cases of whiplash simply delivering beers to a table.”
Beck felt the heat of a blush creep up her neck, but she was powerless to stop it. Kind of like she was powerless to stop whatever was about to happen between her and Macy. Deciding it was pointless to pretend the only reason she’d agreed to come here tonight was curiosity about the cases, she abandoned any pretense tonight was about duty over desire. She pulled Macy closer. If Macy liked it when she acted like a boss, she could work with that. She leaned down and ran the tip of her tongue along Macy’s earlobe, loving the way her breath hitched and she arched into her arms. She whispered, in her most commanding tone. “Take me to your bedroom.”
A few stumbles down the hall later, they stopped in front of another door, but this one wasn’t locked. Macy pushed open the door and led them into the room and Beck instantly felt like she’d walked into a time machine. The large four-poster bed with its billowing silk canopy was not at all what she would’ve pictured for Macy, but the second she had the thought she realized how much she’d thought about every aspect of Macy. What her life had been like before she’d met Lauren, and Donna, and Harrison. Before she’d become a reporter. Before Lauren had been killed. In all her thoughts, she’d assumed Macy was tough, having weathered tragedy. She’d assumed Macy’s toughness extended to all aspects of her life, and she was ashamed she’d assigned so little depth to this fascinating woman.
“It was my great-grandmother’s,” Macy said, pointing to the bed. “I bought a new mattress because people in the past must’ve thought back problems were a badge of honor, but everything else about it is the same.”
Beck read the trepidation in her voice. “It’s beautiful.” She squeezed Macy’s hand. “You’re beautiful. And complex.”
“You say that like it’s a good thing.”
“And you say that like you believe differently.”
Macy shook her head. “Just the facts, ma’am.” She leaned back against the wall. “You asked me to bring you here. Did you have something special in mind?”
Beck answered by kissing Macy again, but this time instead of the fast, hungry strokes, she took her time, lingering with each caress, leaning into the slow steady rhythm of their mutual arousal. She could feel the flutter of Macy’s heart racing against her chest, and she ached to feel her skin against hers. She slid one hand up and under Macy’s blouse, while using the fingers of the other to tug loose the buttons of her shirt.
Hands slid down the front of her jeans, tracing the fly and dipping lower. Teasing touches trailing a path of arousal designed to make her go mad. She thrust her pelvis against the light touch, aching for more strokes, more pressure, more of whatever Macy had to give. Her clothes grew tight and suffocating, and she struggled against them.
Like a mind reader, Macy reached for the buttons on her fly and very deliberately unfastened first one, then another, then another. When she was done, Macy slid her hand into her jeans and began slow strokes in an apparent effort to drive her insane. She braced her hands against the wall behind them and relaxed into the embrace, simultaneously hoping it would last forever and praying for release.
“You’re so wet.”
“Hard not to be when you’re touching me like this,” Beck gasped.
“Do you want me to stop?” Macy asked.
“God no, but I can’t promise I can stay standing if you do it much longer.”
Macy stilled her hand and slowly pulled her fingers from Beck’s jeans.
Beck put her hand over Macy’s. “Wait. What are you doing?”
“I’m not going to be responsible for you falling and hitting your head.” She jerked her chin toward the bed. “How about some righteous cushioning?”
Beck grinned and reached for Macy’s hand, letting Macy lead her to the bed. She settled in against the pillows. “I don’t know that I’ve seen this many pillows gathered in one place before.”
“I know, right?” Macy nudged her way onto the bed next to her, tracing her fingers along Beck’s thigh in a slow, teasing way that drove her to distraction. Macy, on the other hand, didn’t seem to notice her growing arousal and continued talking. “I think my grandmother owned stock in Bed, Bath, and Beyond,” she said. “Most of the time, I wind up tossing them into that chair over there, but…”
Beck propped herself up on one elbow. “But?”
Macy grinned, arranging the pillows around her. “But I think I just figured out the perfect use for all of this fluff.” She placed two soft, squishy ones behind Beck’s head and one to her right before leaning down to capture her in another of their slow burn kisses.
“You are the most fantastic kisser,” she said when she came up for air.
Macy poked a finger at her chest. “You are.” She trailed her finger down the front of Beck’s shirt. “The only thing wrong with you is the fact you have too many clothes on right now.”
This was it. She was in Macy’s bed. She was wet and ready, and she couldn’t remember ever having been this aroused. If there was a line to be crossed here, she was ready to vault over it. She placed her hand behind Macy’s head and arched up to meet her lips. The kisses before had been hot, but this time their touch was searing, signaling she was ready for more. Much more.
As if she could read her mind, Macy began unbuttoning her shirt and unfastening her bra, her progress excruciatingly slow and painfully exhilarating. Beck’s breathing grew labored as she imagined Macy’s hands on her skin, and she squirmed against the pillows in anticipation. She had no sense of how long she’d been waiting when Macy finally tugged away her clothes, tossed them to the ground, and fanned her fingers across her stomach, up her chest and began teasing her breasts with slow, raking circles.
“God, you’re beautiful,” Macy said, biting her bottom lip as she continued to stroke, and pinch, and tease. She bent low. “Tell me what you want.”
Beck stared into Macy’s eyes, reading the promise of her words reflected in her hopeful expression. There were so many things she wanted in this moment, but she wasn’t sure she had the fortitude to form the words with Macy continuing to touch her. One thing. Start with one thing. “Take off your clothes.”
Macy’s smile grew wide. She kept one hand on her chest and used the other to pull off her T-shirt. “Like this?”
Beck nodded and pointed at her bra. “More, please.”
Seconds later, Macy’s bra dropped to the floor, and she stepped out of her pants. Beck’s breathing grew labored as Macy stood next to the bed, naked, beautiful, and a little bit sassy, with one hand on her hip and the other held against her lips. Beck extended her hand, ready to ask for the next thing.
“Come here.”
Macy’s eyes grew dark as she stepped closer, and Beck knew she was going to come out of her skin if she had to wait much longer. She reached down and pulled off her jeans and briefs, tossing them to the other side of the bed. She was completely naked now, hungry for the press of Macy’s flesh against hers, but when it happened, she was totally unprepared for the shocks that shuddered through her.
“You feel incredible,” she murmured, running her hands down Macy’s side, curving to cup her ass and press them closer. “I’m so turned on right now.”
Macy reached between them and drew her fingers across Beck’s sex, her smile widening as she lingered with teasing touches to her inner thighs. “I can tell,” she purred. “Let’s see how wet we can make you.”
Macy stretched up along her torso and began to lick her breasts, with slow, gentle strokes that grew increasingly more intense. Beck writhed beneath her, clutching the bedsheets in her hands while arching into Macy’s touch, craving the pleasure of her, and completely oblivious to anything outside of the way her body reacted to each pass of Macy’s tongue. Her hips lifted of their accord when Macy moved lower and licked her way down her body to settle between her legs. Macy was a driving storm of fire and desire, and Beck surrendered, wet and ready for her touch. When the orgasm came, it was fierce and sure, and she rode it until every wave subsided and she lay spent in Macy’s arms.
Macy tucked up against her, holding her close. “Hey, beautiful,” she said, “I hope that was as incredible as it sounded.”
Beck choked out a laugh. “I guess I was a little loud.”
“‘Little’ might not be the word I would choose. I think my grandmother heard you from beyond the grave.”
Beck reached for one of the pillows and smacked Macy lightly on the head. “You’re hilarious. Besides, it’s all your fault.”
“Tell me more.”
Beck smiled at Macy’s eager face, as she replayed the night so far. She had been loud, and she wasn’t ashamed of exclaiming about the best orgasm of her life. But the thing she really dwelled on was the fact she’d been so consumed with how Macy made her feel, she’d managed to shelve her ever vigilant cop brain and tune out everything else around her. That had never happened. Ever.
Tonight, she chose to believe it was a good thing.
* * *
Macy rolled over in bed and grabbed one of the many pillows that lined the other side of the bed, but instead of squishing in her fist, the pillow moved against her grip. Her eyes shot open to find the pillow wasn’t a pillow at all, but instead the very tousled, very sexy Beck Ramsey, lying naked in her bed. A cascade of memories made the night before flooded her brain and she closed her eyes again and let them replay in slow motion. Best. Sex. Of her life. Without question.
Any other weekend morning, she would’ve been awake already for several hours. Coffee first, then the paper, then she’d unlock her study and sign on to Unfrozen and begin a fresh scan of all the posts, hunting for clues. It was her life. It was fulfilling. It was the most important thing she could do to honor Lauren’s memory. Yet here she was on Sunday morning, exhausted and sated after a night of sex with a beautiful woman, and torn between routine and refreshingly new. Routine was losing this battle.
“What are you thinking right now?”
She looked down at Beck and wondered how long she’d been awake, staring at her, and exactly what she’d been able to discern from her expression. “Just reliving the past ten hours.” She breathed deep. “You’re pretty incredible.”
Beck reached for her hand and entwined their fingers. “Said the truly incredible one.” She sighed. “I don’t think I can sit up, let alone walk.” She scooted closer and kissed Macy’s shoulder. “But I don’t need to do either of those things if we stay right here all day.”
All day. All day meant the soonest she could get to her study to sign on would be tonight. Maybe she could offer to make coffee and do a quick check-in right now. She stared at Beck’s gorgeous body, her exposed skin. She didn’t want her to leave, and she didn’t want to leave her either. Her mind raced, looking for a way to have all the things she wanted at once, praying this wasn’t a zero-sum game.
“Or I could go…” Beck said hesitantly.
Macy met her eyes and instantly regretted the question in them and the fact she’d left her wondering. “No. I don’t want you to go.”
“I hear a ‘but.’”
She wasn’t going to be able to get much past Beck, so why was she even trying? “I want to stay here in bed with you. And I want coffee. And I need to read the paper. And check in downstairs. And speaking of the paper, your profile piece comes out today.”
“It’s your profile piece, not mine. I’m merely the subject.”
Macy tucked into Beck’s arms and fanned her fingers out on her chest, and the feel of Beck’s warm skin under her hands sent heat coursing through her. “There’s nothing ‘merely’ about it. Though it’s a good thing last night didn’t happen before I turned in the piece or I’m pretty sure everyone who reads it would figure out I have a personal bias.”
Beck sat up and leaned back against one of the many pillows. “This is what we’re going to do.” She ticked the items off on her fingers. “First, we get coffee. Second, we read the paper. And third, we go down to your war room and start filling in blanks. You may have forgotten in all the kissing, that I’ve reviewed the department files on each case. If there’s something missing from what you have, chances are good I’ll be able to tell you.”
Macy stared at Beck, barely able to process what she’d just heard. Was she really willing to spend their morning-after going over cold case evidence? If so, she was a dream come true, and she should take advantage right freaking now before she changed her mind. But the mention of kissing caused her to pause and adjust. “I have a slightly different plan. First, we do a bit more of this,” she slid her hand up Beck’s naked thigh, letting it come to a rest, inches from her sex, “and then the rest.”
Beck answered by tossing off the sheets and rolling over so she was on top. Macy scooted back against the mountain of pillows, unsure who she even was right now because the call of the evidence in her study wasn’t nearly as strong as the thrum of her body at the anticipation of Beck’s touch. She told herself she wouldn’t allow her personal pleasure to overtake her professional mission, but the moment Beck closed her lips over her breast, her promise faded, and she surrendered completely to the sensations of pleasure.
* * *
Pleasantly delayed by a couple of hours, Macy made them each a cup of coffee, gathered the paper from the front porch, and led the way to the war room. She liked that Beck called it that because after ten years of battling to gather bits of information, she felt as if she’d been engaged in an epic war, and with the possibility of the killer being back in action, the climax seemed near.
The first thing she noticed when they entered the room was the flashing alert on her main computer screen, letting her know she had new messages from Unfrozen. She shot a look at Beck who was standing in front of the wall with her hands on her hips and made a snap decision. “Hey, do you mind reading the article while I check my email? I’ll be able to focus a hell of a lot better if I’m not wondering what you think about it while we work.”
Beck looked surprised at the ask. “Sure, but how about we agree not to let it come between us, no matter what?”
“Fine by me.” Macy had been telling the truth about the dread of being in the same room with the subject of her piece, which was another odd thing about the last twenty-four hours because it was not like her to care what anyone else thought about the way she chose to tell the stories she wrote. That she cared now, with Beck, signaled she needed to tread carefully in this relationship, both personally and professionally, but right now she was too anxious to get to her messages to dwell on it.
When Beck was safely settled across the room, she pulled up the link to Unfrozen and signed in. The first message waiting for her was from Huntsman363.
Any news?
Well, that was deflating. She’d hoped for some new clue she could develop, but maybe Huntsman was using one of her tactics, holding facts close until a higher level of trust was developed. She typed a quick response.
Nothing definitive. Opinions?
A few moments passed, and she was beginning to wonder if he’d already signed off, when Beck called out from across the room.
“I’m only halfway in, but I have to say I expected you to be a bit harder on me. I mean, especially after the last piece where you implied I should’ve known about Jack’s propensity for anger and should’ve reported it sooner.”
Macy tore her eyes away from the screen long enough to say, “You better read the rest of it before you let me off the hook.”
“Uh-oh.” Beck grinned. “I’ll report back in a just a few.”
Macy barely heard the words as the screen in front of her flashed with Huntsman’s response.
I think it might be a cop.
She stared at the screen, transfixed. She’d had the same thought. Lots of times. It would explain so much about why the cases had never been solved. The lack of any significant forensic evidence. The ability to lure young women off the park trails. And it wouldn’t be the first time a serial killer had law enforcement experience or aspirations. The Golden State Killer sprang to mind, along with Dennis “BTK” Rader and “Coed Killer” Edmund Kemper. Even the infamous John Wayne Gacy had pretended to be a cop to pick up his victims.
And it would explain why Claire Hanlon, a squad commander, was personally handling the recent cases. Cases that would normally be assigned to a detective under her command. Macy hunched over the keyboard, poised to reply, when Beck’s voice startled her out of her thoughts.
“I finished it.”
She looked up to see Beck walking toward her. She was steps from her now, too far away to see the screen, but in a second that would change. I think it might be a cop. Macy kept her eyes on Beck while she reached up and hit the escape button on her keyboard, watching the Unfrozen screen disappear from the corner of her eye before Beck was at her side. She breathed a sigh of relief, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and gave Beck her full attention.
“What did you think?” she asked, still surprised to find she really wanted to know.
“It was fair. You didn’t make me out to be a hero, which I’m not. It was way more stick to the facts than a lot of your feature pieces.”
Macy smiled. “I may have gone a little overboard with the whole trying to stay objective when I’m really not.”
“I’m cool with that,” Beck said, her slow, easy smile signaling she might be thinking of last night too. “I’m sure it won’t make much difference to the rest of the force, but I like the idea of having my side of the story out in the world.”
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I know, but there are hundreds of folks on the force who don’t know me well enough to judge.” She held up the paper. “Maybe a few will be able to set aside their prejudice and cut me a break after reading this. Thank you.”
“Just reporting the facts. I told you I wouldn’t sugarcoat things.” Macy flicked a glance back at her computer screen to make sure it hadn’t mysteriously come to life.
I think it might a cop.
What would Beck say if she shared that theory with her? Would she agree from her position to the left of the thin blue line, or would she reflexively side with her brethren because she aspired to be part of the group again someday? An image of Beck, sexy, affectionate, attentive, flashed in her mind. Testing her will.
She dug in. No matter what had happened between them last night, no matter how much she thought she knew about Beck, she couldn’t be entirely sure how Beck would react to this theory. And until she was, she wasn’t about to take a risk that might tank her life’s work. No matter how much she wanted to.