Chapter 6 #3
Erin looked around at the scene they'd just processed, at the evidence of someone's hatred. "Your place or mine?"
The question hung in the crisp evening air, loaded with possibility and risk in equal measure.
"Mine," Lena said finally, her voice decisive. "Twenty minutes."
She drove away, leaving Erin standing on the sidewalk with her heart racing and the smell of smoke in her nose.
Erin sat in her truck for a full minute long after Lena drove away, her hands gripping the steering wheel as she tried to process what was about to happen.
Twenty minutes. She was going to Lena's house in twenty minutes, and they both knew it wasn't really about talking.
She inhaled deeply and exhaled before turning the key in the ignition.
The drive to Golden Dragon took five minutes. She ordered enough Chinese food for two, then sat in the restaurant’s parking lot with warm cartons of lo mein and orange chicken in the passenger seat while she tried to convince herself this was just a practical decision.
They needed to debrief the case together and piece together the details to predict the arsonist’s next moves. And they needed to eat. Why not do both at the same time?
None of those explanations accounted for the way her pulse was racing or the nervous energy thrumming through her veins, though.
Lena's house was in a quiet neighborhood fifteen minutes from downtown, a craftsman bungalow with a tidy front yard and porch lights that created warm pools of yellow against the darkness.
Erin parked behind Lena's car and grabbed the bag of takeout, grateful for something to carry to steel her nerves.
She knocked, and Lena answered almost immediately, like she'd been waiting by the door. She'd changed out of her blazer into dark jeans and a soft gray sweater that made her look younger, more vulnerable and almost…human.
"I brought dinner," Erin said, holding up the bag. "I figured we'd both be hungry after the day we've had."
Something shifted in Lena's expression—surprise, maybe, or appreciation for her thoughtfulness. "You didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to." The honesty slipped out before Erin could stop it.
Lena stepped aside to let her in, and Erin found herself in a living room that was distinctly, unmistakably Lena's.
It was full of clean lines and neutral colors, but it was warmed by books stacked on every surface and framed photographs of people who were clearly family, a wine-colored throw draped over the back of a leather couch, and plants thriving in the window that faced west toward the ocean.
"Your place is beautiful," Erin said, meaning it.
"Thanks." Lena took the bag of food, leading her toward the kitchen. "I'll get us some plates."
The kitchen was small but efficient, with granite counters and copper pots hanging from a rack above the stove. Lena confidently moved around the space, pulling out plates and silverware while Erin tried not to notice how natural and easy this felt.
Lena set the plates and silverware on the small dining table, then began pulling containers from the bag. But before she could start dividing the food, she paused and looked at Erin.
"You know," Lena said, "you're welcome to use the shower first if you want to wash off the smoke. I can lend you something clean to wear."
Erin looked down at her fire department uniform, suddenly aware of how she must smell after hours at the scene. "That's really kind of you. I probably reek of smoke."
"We both do." Lena's smile was soft and genuine. "Occupational hazard."
“You know,” Erin said, her heart fluttering behind her ribs, “you could join me if you want.”
Lena stood up straighter. "Are you sure?"
Instead of answering with words, Erin stepped closer and kissed her—soft but certain, nothing like the desperate collision in Lavender's Cafe.
When they broke apart, Lena's eyes were bright with want and something deeper.
"Come on," Lena said, leading her toward the hallway. "Let me show you where everything is."
Erin followed Lena to the bathroom. Lena opened a linen closet and pulled out two large mint-colored towels, then placed them on a towel rack next to each other.
While Lena turned the shower nozzle to what looked like a warm setting, Erin peeled off her clothes one by one, first starting with her pants, letting them fall to the floor and pool around her ankles before stepping out of them.
When Lena was satisfied she found the perfect temperature, she turned around to face Erin, her eyes softening around the edges as she walked closer.
“Here, let me help you,” she said as she lifted Erin’s shift gently over her head and placed it on top of the pants.
Lena reached behind Erin’s back and unclasped her black bra, the straps slipping off Erin’s shoulders before falling to the floor. Erin kicked it away, and it landed on the pile of clothes in the corner. She slipped off her pink panties and flicked them in the corner with her foot.
By time she was fully undressed, Lena had already made quick work of taking off her clothes, and Erin marveled at how soft and smooth Lena’s skin looked.
Lena held the shower door open. “You first.”
Erin stepped inside the shower, letting the spray of hot water run down her body. Her aching muscles protested before relaxing, and she let out a soft sigh. It was exactly what she needed after a hard, stressful day.
After almost a full minute, Lena stepped in the standing shower next to her. “I turned on the heated floors for us and made sure the towel warmer is working.”
“Fancy,” Erin teased, but she was grateful for the gesture.
“I wouldn’t want you to be cold,” she said as she lifting her hand and tucked Erin’s hair behind her ears.
Erin closed her eyes and the corners of her lips upturned just slightly.
She felt her entire body softening and her inner walls melt away, and she heard a small inner voice protest, but being here, right now, in this shower with Lena, it was exactly what she wanted.
She reached for a pouf sponge and poured some liquid soap on it after wetting it under the steady stream of water.
“Here, let me,” Erin said, lowering her voice.
Lena stood in front of her, her entire body on display for Erin.
She started with Lena’s shoulders, running the pouf over her left shoulder and down her arm, then back up the inner part of Lena’s arm.
She ran the soapy pouf over her chest, traveling just over the tops of her breasts, perky and perfect, to her right shoulder where she ran the sponge down her arm and back up to her chest. Erin sponged Lena’s chest, then over her left breast. With her other hand, Erin cupped Lena’s right breast and squeezed softly as she brought the sponge lower, over her ribcage, the softness of her belly, and the curve of her hip before bringing the sponge back up to do the same on Lena’s right side.
Erin looked up at Lena, finding her already staring at her, and she ran her thumb over Lena’s nipple and slipped it in her mouth, swirling her tongue around it.
She flicked the pert nub with the tip of her tongue, and she felt Lena’s body respond.
She planted a light kiss on the peak of Lena’s nipple.
“Turn around,” Erin said, her voice low.
Lena complied and faced the water, and Erin added more soap to the pouf before pressing it against Lena’s back.
She circled the sponge along Lena’s back, taking care to clean every inch, all the way down over the gentle curve of her spine and her round ass.
As Erin soaped up Lena’s ass, she grabbed Lena’s waist and pulled her even closer, unable to tell whether the heat she felt between their bodies was from Lena or the water.
She ran the sponge over the swell of her ass, then through the crack, pressing it slightly harder against Lena’s hole before continuing downward.
Erin tapped Lena on her shoulder to have her turn around, and she knelt on her knees, grateful for the smooth shower floor.
Erin started with one leg, running the sponge over Lena’s muscular thigh and down her sculpted calf and over her foot, before she soaped up Lena’s other foot and traveled upward, over her knees, thighs, to the back of her hamstrings and down the back of her leg.
She put the pouf on the shower floor next to her and looked up at Lena again, seeing affection in her eyes. Erin raised herself up until she was level with Lena’s pussy. She flicked her eyes upward again, and Lena nodded silently, a smile forming and raw desire in her eyes.
Erin didn’t hesitate. She licked Lena from the bottom, letting her tongue slip between her folds, to the top where she felt Lena’s clit already swollen with want.
Erin braced herself by placing her hands on the side of Lena’s thighs and gripped them hard as she voraciously lapped up Lena’s taste, propelled by her own hunger that lit a fire in her core.
All she wanted was more of Lena, and she couldn’t get enough of her sweet taste.
She pressed her face even harder against Lena and sucked on her clit, and she felt Lena’s legs buckle.
Erin backed Lena up, all while continuing her pace with her tongue, until she felt more than heard Lena’s back flush against the shower wall.