Trial by Fury (15 page)

Moments later, they were stretched across the smooth cool sheet, where Theo worked the clasp of the black lace bra. As she pulled it away, Celia’s ample round breasts fell to the side and her rose-colored nipples tightened.

Resisting the urge to ravage them, Theo returned to her mouth, deliberately forcing her senses to take in all the places where their bodies touched. Breasts together, her excited center straddling a smooth thigh. Celia’s fingertips digging into her hips.

Their breathing grew ragged as she lowered her lips to a rigid nipple. From one to the other and back. Kneading the soft mounds and pushing them into her mouth as Celia flailed.

Crawling lower still, she slid her finger under the band of the thong and pushed it down, her head filling with the scent of arousal.

Celia helped, rolling the lacy cloth off her feet and opening her legs to reveal a smoothly waxed mound, its pink folds glistening.

Theo moaned at the sight. Instantly losing all sense of restraint, she dived forward to bury her face in the wet flesh. A hand on her shoulder stopped her short.

“Oh, no. You don’t get to be first all by yourself,” Celia gently scolded. She sat up and urged Theo’s knee upward.

Following the not-so-subtle cues, she inched herself around until she could lower herself onto Celia’s waiting mouth. Eager lips drew her in and began their impatient assault. Theo slithered as she sought the perfect spot, the ultimate friction. Then tearing her thoughts from the rippling sensations, she dropped her mouth onto Celia’s center again, parting the slickness with one long swipe of her tongue.

Her concentration on the sweet wet nub was momentarily interrupted when she felt Celia enter her. She answered with two fingers, curling them so she could stroke the tightened walls.

Stiffening the tip of her tongue, she probed furiously until she realized Celia had stopped her motions. Hardened thighs, rising hips. Suddenly Celia let out a long low moan that vibrated against Theo’s inner lips, and gripped her bottom with so much force, Theo was sure it would leave bruises.

She continued until Celia began to twitch each time her tongue touched a sensitive spot. Nuzzling into the apex of her legs, she bathed it with her warm breath, gradually allowing her focus to return to her own pleasure.

* * *

Celia held on tightly as Theo’s orgasm started, even rolling with her as she tried to get away. Her persistence paid off with another, but then Theo lowered her hands to shield herself from the onslaught. Eyes closed, smiling, gasping for breath.

She was gorgeous. Soft skin covering firm muscles, the faint tan line of a bikini she might have worn weeks ago on a beach getaway.

“Come on, let’s do that again,” Celia said.

“It would have to be over my dead body, at least for the next hour or so.”

A blast of cool air from the air conditioner vent above the bed caused Celia to shiver and pull up the sheet. Snuggling close to Theo, she reveled in the continued throbbing from her own climax. “Just promise me there are more where that one came from.”

“Maybe a few…thousand.” Theo rolled onto her side and arranged her pillow so they could see each other while they talked. “Would you believe it if I told you I hardly ever come the first time I make love with someone? It takes me a few times to get that far. I think it’s because I sometimes have a hard time letting go.”

“But you did…didn’t you?”

“You were inside me. You know I did.” Theo tickled her collarbone with her fingertips. “It’s different with you. I want to know what it is about Celia Perone that makes me break all my rules.”

Celia had her own reason for wanting this time to be different. She liked imagining she was the one Theo had been waiting for, the one she was meant to fall in love with. That they’d fall in love together. “Maybe it’s just fate, counselor.”

“Now there’s an idea.” Theo capped off her reply with a light kiss. “I knew there was something about you the first time you came to my office. Your Windsor knot…that fedora.”

“Don’t tease me.” She still was embarrassed by her spectacle.

“Sorry. What if I told you I thought you were being brave? That I was impressed because you knew your job was at risk and you came anyway.”

“Is that even a little bit true?”

Theo chuckled. “I notice women who stick their neck out. That’s what it takes to shake things up. It was a selfless act.”

Celia had been so starstruck that day, she hadn’t even noticed being noticed. Sure, Theo had been attentive and kind, but she was all business. “Did you really feel something that day? Or was it the day you found out I was Little CeCe?”

“You remember when we met at the pub? You said you were surprised to see me, that you thought I’d send someone else.” Theo began to nibble on her earlobe. “No way was I going to do that. I wanted to see you again.”

“Hunh. That’s funny. I never got that vibe from you until you said you wished we could date. That blew me away.” But when Theo dismissed it, Celia had assumed it hadn’t been important enough to pursue.

“Chalk it up to my poker face. Part of my training for the courtroom. I’m very good at controlling my emotions…just not with you, apparently. I shouldn’t even have said anything, not before I worked out how we could do this without crossing any ethical lines. But I couldn’t help myself.”

Celia covered her hand and pressed it to her heart. “I like it better when you talk to me.”

“I will from now on.”

A wave of guilt coursed through her as she thought of how she’d felt that day in Theo’s office. It was time to come clean with why Hayley’s story had mattered so much.
“Honesty isn’t just telling the truth, Theo. It’s also not hiding things that might be important.”

“I know. I felt bad for not saying something sooner about what I was feeling…like that day I stopped by your office at the university. The bottom line was I wanted to see you again, plain and simple. But I was still trying to figure out a way to make it work.”

“I’ve…I’ve been keeping something from you too. Something about Hayley,” she blurted, feeling at once relieved to have opened the door. “Not about her, really. About me.”

Theo didn’t say anything, at least not with words. The gentle massage of her chest had stopped and a wrinkle appeared on her brow.

“It wasn’t totally selfless what I did. I was trying to make up for not doing it when it happened to me.”

She held fast to Theo’s arm as she tried to sit up.

“You were raped?”

“Maybe. I’m not really sure what happened, but it wasn’t nothing.” For years, she’d kept her teenage trauma bottled up, not even telling Gina. “It was at a party in LA after we finished my last slasher film. I was only sixteen at the time. One minute I was sitting out by the pool with some of the guys from the crew. Next thing I know, it’s morning and I’m waking up in a strange bed all by myself. No clothes, no memory of who I was with. And nobody around to ask.”

“Were you hurt?”

She shook her head, recalling vividly the feelings of disorientation. “No, I didn’t feel anything. It’s not like I was a virgin…but it’s hard to believe somebody would have knocked me out like that and put me to bed naked without doing something. I have absolutely no memory of what happened…but it couldn’t have been as bad as what they did to Hayley.”

“Celia, whoever did that to you was a lowlife…the worst kind of coward. Did you try to find out who it was?”

“I asked my friend Richard if he’d seen anything. He was one of the producers. It was his house. He said he had no idea. I know it wasn’t him because he’s gay, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t let it happen.” Twenty years had mellowed her outrage but not her questions. “I told my mother. You know what she said? ‘So some guy took advantage of you. Get used to it.’ That was the Judy Monroe School of Parenting.”

Theo snaked an arm underneath her and pulled her close. “I’m so sorry. I wish I could have been there for you.”

“You and me both. Something tells me you’d have found out who it was and kicked his ass.”

“Damn right.” She planted a series of kisses on Celia’s head. “It hurts me to know that happened to you, that you’ve been carrying it around by yourself for so long.”

“I don’t carry it all the time. It’s just here right now because of Hayley. I usually try not to think about it too much because it only makes me imagine all the awful things that might have happened. At this stage of my life, I honestly don’t want to know.”

“I can understand that. I’d probably feel the same way.”

Celia sighed. “I just wonder what I would have said to Hayley if she hadn’t shown me the video proving those guys really did it. ‘Tough break, kid. Shit happens.’ I’d like to think I would have been more supportive than that.”

“You would have. I see your anger, your indignation. It’s like mine, just as intense.”

Except Celia’s had laid dormant until Hayley’s horror brought it all back. Twenty-five years of skirting the fight while she folded herself into the establishment, becoming part of the hegemony. The reports she’d seen as part of the faculty senate had confirmed these attacks were happening, and the perpetrators were getting off with little more than a scolding from their peers on the honor court. Why hadn’t she questioned that? Why had it taken Hayley’s suicide to ignite her rage?

* * *

Though it wasn’t yet seven, sunrise had overtaken the room.

Theo slid quietly from the bed, careful not to wake Celia, who was sprawled facedown without a pillow. Her arms and legs lay juxtaposed as though in the midst of a freestyle swimming stroke.

In her walk-in closet, she slipped on the Atlanta Braves nightshirt she would have worn had she slept alone. Her summer robe she saved for Celia, dropping it at the end of the bed as she tiptoed out to the kitchen.

Their night together had proven greater than any of the fantasies she’d conjured. Celia’s somber revelation had interrupted their lovemaking, but by the time they talked it out, they were emotionally closer. When they kissed again, their passion was ready to burst.

Celia Perone
was
different. Whatever it was that had prompted Theo to toss out her rulebook was having the same effect on her heart. Until now, she hadn’t believed in love at first sight, or love at first anything. Celia was making her think again.

“Is that coffee?” Celia had eschewed the robe, choosing instead one of Theo’s crisply ironed white shirts. Its sleeves were rolled up and its tail just long enough to tease what she wore underneath. “I nicked some knickers from your drawer too, in case you’re wondering. And I gave them a good sniff before I put them on.”

Theo chuckled and held out her arms. “I tried to be quiet when I got up. You looked so peaceful. I could have watched you for hours.”

“You must like looking at roadkill. The only reason I looked peaceful was because you wore me out.”

“Believe me, I was tempted to wake you up so we could start over. You were so beautiful lying there.”

Celia grunted. “Bed head and morning breath. Always a winning combination.”

She seemed determined to deflect everything Theo said with self-deprecating humor. Either she wasn’t serious about their night of lovemaking or she didn’t think Theo was.

Theo placed a hand over Celia’s mouth and said, “I thought you were gorgeous and I couldn’t have been happier at waking up and finding you beside me. And now you’re supposed to say, ‘You’re so sweet, Theo. I’m delighted to know you find me irresistible.’”

They both began to laugh, and when Celia finally tugged her hand away, she said, “I get the message. Delighted, enchanted…enthralled. I’m all those things.”

“That’s much more like it.” She kissed her on the nose before presenting her with a mug of coffee. “Cream?”

“Black.”

“Good, because I don’t have cream.”

“Man, you’re spunky in the morning!”

Theo bit her tongue to keep from telling her to get used to it. Too presumptuous. “Let’s sit outside. It won’t get oppressively hot out there until about ten.” She led the way and raised the umbrella over a chaise lounge. “Want to sit with me?”

Celia waited for her to get settled and took the space in front, leaning back against Theo’s chest. “This is so nice, Theo. You might have a hard time getting rid of me.”

“Who says I want to? And before you toss that off with another glib remark, you should know I’m serious when I say that. I liked waking up with you. We’re going to have many, many mornings like this.”

After a long silence, Celia began tickling the back of her hand. “How can you know that already?”

“I told you. It’s different. You’re different. I woke up this morning and felt it all over again.” She swept Celia’s hair back and laid a light kiss on her temple. “Last night was just the beginning as far as I’m concerned. This feels right. I can’t explain it more than that…it’s like trying to describe lightning. All I know is I’m not going to question it.”

“Don’t question it.” Celia craned her neck upward so they could share a kiss. “Just run with it. That’s what I’m going to do.”

Theo had hired a pair of limos to take her team to the press site. On the short ride with Jalinda, she finished a call with Penny. “I won’t have time to go to Rhode Island this week. See if you can schedule a teleconference on Wednesday or Thursday. If she insists on meeting in person, maybe I can fly up there over the weekend.”

“Is this a new case?” Jalinda asked, brushing a piece of lint from her dark blue business suit. Theo had noticed she always dressed well for events in which she might appear in the background on TV news.

“Maybe,” Theo replied. “A woman from a prominent family in Newport just found out her husband’s part of a heroin ring. She wants to turn him in, but she’s afraid the feds will confiscate her house.”

It was an intriguing case. The wife’s “innocent owner” defense was on shaky ground, since their new home had clearly been built with funds from a criminal enterprise.

“Are we ready to roll?”

Jalinda nodded. “The press got the video about half an hour ago. They were told to show up at Harwood’s main entrance at two for an explanation.”