Part 3 (2/2)
”We'll feed her later when she wakes up.” Tory grasped Reese's hand. ”How about you? Did you eat something?”
”Yeah, I'm fi ne.”
”That's not exactly what I asked,” Tory said quietly.
Reese stopped at the top of the stairs and pulled Tory close. She nuzzled her hair, then kissed her neck. Some of the doubts that plagued her receded. Tory was real. Tory was alive. ”I'm fi ne. Stop worrying.”
”Comes with the territory, Sheriff.” Tory stroked Reese's cheek.
”Besides, I enjoy looking after you.”
”You'll get no argument from me.” Reese wasn't hungry for food, but she still felt empty. Nothing fi lled her up except Tory. In the recesses of her mind she heard the thunder and felt death coming. She hesitated, uncertain for the fi rst time in her life of how to face it. She gasped, ”Tory.”
”What, sweetheart?”
In her mind, Reese saw Tory silhouetted in the moonlight, saw her s.h.i.+mmering in the bright light of day. Tory knew her. Tory touched her inside, beyond the fear and doubt. Tory was all that kept her from the dark. Reese pressed Tory into the shadows, maneuvering her back against the wall. Gripping her shoulders, she kissed her neck again, then her mouth. Pinning her with the weight of her body, she slid one hand under the lower edge of Tory's T-s.h.i.+rt. Tory's b.r.e.a.s.t.s weren't as full as they had been when she was breast-feeding, but they were still fi rm and hot under her thin satin bra. Reese cupped her, squeezing until Tory's nipple tightened in her grasp. Groaning, she kissed her way down Tory's neck and fumbled to push Tory's s.h.i.+rt up with her free hand.
”Reese, honey, we have people in the house,” Tory warned.
Aching, echoing with emptiness, Reese worked her hand into Tory's bra and lifted her breast free. She bunched Tory's cotton T in her fi st and caught a nipple in her mouth.
* 36 *
Winds of Fortune ”Reese. ” Tory sank her fi ngers into Reese's hair and pulled her mouth from her breast. She cradled Reese's face against her throat, not wanting to push her away. Reese had only been home a few weeks, but it had only taken a few days for Tory to realize that something was wrong. Something had changed. Reese had always been pa.s.sionate- sometimes gentle, sometimes urgent-but always always exquisitely present. Now, her need rose with the fury of an unexpected storm that broke over the horizon and lashed everything in its wake. Sometimes Tory wasn't certain Reese was even aware of what she was doing.
”Sweetheart. We can't.”
”Sorry. Jesus. I'm sorry.” Drenched with sweat, Reese broke Tory's hold and jerked her head away. ”Tory, I'm sorry.”
Reese was trembling, and that nearly broke Tory's heart. ”It's all right, darling. It's all right.”
”No it isn't,” Reese said sharply, backing away another step. She held up her hands to ward Tory off when Tory reached for her. ”My need. Not yours. I'm sorry.”
”No,” Tory whispered fervently. ”Your need is mine. It always has been.”
Reese shook her head. ”Not this way. Not this way.”
Before Tory could protest again, Reese turned and disappeared down the stairs. A minute later Tory heard the door slam. When an engine revved in the driveway outside and tires kicked up stones that cracked like rifl e shots, she knew it was Reese in the patrol car. Leaving.
Reese had never, ever walked away from her before and the pain was so acute she was nearly ill.
y ”h.e.l.l of a party,” Cath said, dropping into a chair next to Tory on the deck. ”Wait'll next year when she actually knows what's going on.”
”Thanks for helping out.” Tory sipped her wine, then set it aside when she realized she couldn't taste it. ”Where are Marcus and the kids?”
”I sent them back to the B&B. Where's Reese?”
”Working, I think.”
”You think.” Cath reached across Tory and grabbed her wine gla.s.s.
* 37 *
RADCLY fFE Then she settled back and took a swallow. ”I noticed she disappeared earlier.”
”She's not quite herself.”
”Is she having a hard time with what happened over there?”
”Yes. At least I'm sure that's part of it.”
”How are you doing?”
”I'm not sure.” Tory regarded her sister. ”No, that's not true. I'm scared to death. I don't know what to do for her.”
”What's wrong, exactly?”
Tory laughed humorlessly. ”I don't know and I feel like I should.
I'm her partner and I should know.”
”Uh, I don't think just because you love her you're supposed to be a mind-reader.” Cath took Tory's hand. ”Give yourself a break, honey.
You've both been through a lot. Is it post-traumatic stress?”
”At fi rst I thought so. I'd pretty much expected it. Even troops who haven't been captured or wounded suffer some form of reentry shock.”
Tory watched the stars overhead, thinking of the nights she had sat out here alone wondering if Reese could see the same stars from where she was. ”She certainly has reason to show those kinds of symptoms, but now I'm not so sure. She's not eating or sleeping, and that's typical enough-but there's something more. Sometimes she seems so lost. I hate not being able to help her.”
”It hasn't been that long. You both probably just need some time.”
”I know. I've been telling myself the same thing, but tonight...”
Tory swallowed back tears. ”She left tonight. She left the house, she left me, because she was upset. She's never done that before.”
”Does she... G.o.d, this is really hard to say. Does she drink or abuse drugs or anything like that?”
Tory laughed incredulously. ”Reese? G.o.d, no. She has always been so solid, so certain. She's unshakable.”
”Until now.”
”Yes, until now.” Tory said softly, wondering where she was. If it had been KT leaving after being rebuffed, Tory knew where she would go. KT would have sought respite with another woman, at least when she and Tory had been lovers. But Reese was not KT-she had never...
would never... ”G.o.d, I want her to come home. She's the strongest * 38 *
Winds of Fortune woman I've ever known and seeing her like this just about kills me.”
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