Carter grinned. “Is that some kind of half-assed come-on?”

“No,” Rica said as she slowly ran her tongue down Carter’s neck. “It’s an invitation to take a shower with me.”

Carter felt her knees weaken and her stomach flutter. “I thought we agreed…”

“No,” Rica said once more. She pulled Carter’s T-shirt from her jeans, slid her hand underneath, and pressed her palm low on Carter’s belly while her fingers skimmed beneath the waistband of her pants. “We didn’t agree to anything. I asked you to make love to me and you wanted to wait.” She knelt, bumping the largest piece of luggage with her hip to move it out of the way, and unbuttoned Carter’s jeans. “We didn’t discuss me making love to you.” She slid down the zipper, opened the denim, and kissed the soft skin at the base of Carter’s belly.

“Rica…” Carter whispered, her thighs trembling. She knew there were things they should discuss. She knew there were dozens of reasons they should stop. She knew…she knew…she couldn’t think. “I want you so much.”

Rica brushed her cheek against Carter’s stomach and wrapped her arms tightly around her hips. She closed her eyes. “I know. Me too. I’ve been crazy all week thinking about you.”

Carter bent and gently grasped Rica’s shoulders, guiding her upward. She folded her in her arms and kissed her, slowly and deeply. She felt Rica’s hands delve under the back of her T-shirt, one hand racing up and down her spine and the other diving into her pants to squeeze her ass. Carter pressed her thigh between Rica’s legs and heard her moan. The sound of Rica’s excitement cut through her like a scythe slicing ripe wheat, and as her resistance fell beneath the onslaught of unbearable pleasure, she unbuttoned Rica’s blouse. Rica cried out when Carter dipped beneath the satin cup of her bra to close her fingers around Rica’s breast.

“Too hard?” Carter gasped.

“No,” Rica moaned. “I like it hard. I like to feel your hands on me.” She dragged her hand around Carter’s side, her nails leaving faint red lines in their wake, and pushed her fingers into the open vee of Carter’s jeans. She moaned again when she encountered no other barriers, only Carter, swollen and hot and wet. “Oh my God.”

“Don’t.” Carter slammed one hand over her crotch, trapping Rica’s hand beneath the denim. “Don’t touch me there.”

“Oh, baby why?” Rica’s voice was a plaintive plea. Her eyes were wild, her lips shining with their kisses, her breasts tight and firm in Carter’s palm. “I want to. Oh God, I want you so badly.”

Carter swayed, half undressed, vision hazy, her stomach knotted with excitement. “I want us to make love in bed.” Her breath came in irregular spurts and she struggled not to come beneath the pressure of Rica’s fingertips. “I want you to make me come slow, while I’m looking into your eyes. I want to see you when I…” She groaned and closed her eyes when Rica’s fingers twitched over her clitoris. “Please.”

“All right,” Rica panted, pressing her face to Carter’s chest. “All right, darling. Slow. I’ll try. I’ll try.” She laughed shakily. “I’m usually not like this.”

“No.” Carter gazed down through half-closed lids to where Rica’s arm disappeared into her jeans. “Neither am I.”

Rica leaned into Carter, one arm around her waist to steady herself as she pulled her hand from Carter’s jeans. “Maybe we should take that shower and cool off.”

Carter kissed Rica’s cheek, then the corner of her mouth. “Shower sounds good. But nothing’s going to cool me off.”

“Even better.”

The sheets were cool and crisp against Carter’s heated skin. She lay facing Rica as they kissed and caressed, their legs entwined, her sex pressed tightly to the smooth skin of Rica’s thigh.

“Are you okay?” Rica asked quietly.

“Never better in my life.” Carter massaged Rica’s breasts, rhythmically brushing over her nipples until they grew impossibly hard.

“Feels so good.”

“Oh yeah.” Carter skimmed her mouth over Rica’s, then worked her way along Rica’s jaw to her ear. She tugged on her earlobe with her teeth and traced the rim with her tongue before teasing inside. Rica whimpered and arched against her. Carter didn’t think she’d ever been so hard and so ready. “Rica,” she whispered. “Open your eyes.”

Rica, her flickering pupils wide and black, met Carter’s gaze. “Can I touch you now?”

“Please.”

Smiling dreamily, Rica skimmed her fingers up and down the center of Carter’s stomach, then brushed through the hair between her thighs, then circled three fingertips over the base of Carter’s rigid clitoris. She massaged her in slow, steady circles. “You’re so wonderfully swollen and wet. Does it feel good?”

“Amazing.” Carter gasped and kissed Rica urgently, unconsciously squeezing and twisting Rica’s nipple. They kissed and stroked and caressed until Carter could barely breathe. Every muscle in her body was in an unrelenting state of spasm. “Can’t take much more.”

“You need to come, don’t you?” Rica breathed against Carter’s mouth, flicking her tongue between Carter’s lips as she kept up her firm, methodical strokes. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want to come all over you. So fucking hard.” Carter released Rica’s breast and slid her hand between Rica’s thighs. She cupped her sex, her fingertips gliding just inside her.

Rica moaned softly and twitched on Carter’s fingers. “Shall I finish you now, darling? Would you like that?” She thrust into the depths of Carter’s engorged flesh, switching to long, full caresses.

“Yes. Yes, Christ, please,” Carter said, hips lifting frantically. “Make me come, Rica. Rica, Rica…”

“That’s right, darling, that’s right,” Rica crooned, working Carter into a smooth deep climax. “You come for me now.”

Carter’s head snapped back as her orgasm surged beneath Rica’s skilled fingers. She was only vaguely aware of her legs thrashing and her fingers pushing hard into Rica. When she registered Rica’s wild cries of pleasure and felt Rica writhing next to her, she roused herself enough to thrust Rica to a jolting climax.

“Oh God,” Rica sighed. “At last.”

Carter laughed and kissed Rica lightly. “I don’t think anyone’s ever said that to me after sex before.”

Rica slapped Carter playfully on the hip. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep that kind of information to yourself.”

Suddenly serious, Carter kissed Rica again. “I know exactly what’s good for me. You.”

“Carter.” Rica stroked Carter’s cheek and brushed her fingers through Carter’s damp hair. “I love you.”

Carter went completely still. She searched Rica’s face and found only certainty. She felt the wariness and distrust that she had carried for years like a tight chain around her heart simply break and fall away. She smiled. “I think that would be a matter of some consequence.”

“Oh, it absolutely is.” Rica caressed Carter’s face, her shoulders, her back, pressing closer until their bodies touched nearly everywhere. “For me.”

“For me too.”

“I’m so glad.”

Carter brushed her thumb over Rica’s chin and kissed her again. “I can’t seem to stop doing that.”

“That’s just fine with me.”

“Are you happy?” Carter asked gravely. Of all the questions she had ever asked, this felt like the most important.

“Oh yes.”

“It’s going to get complicated, because as crazy as it sounds, I’m not good at hiding. Not something like this.”

Rica laughed. “You? The undercover detective who managed to stroll into my father’s study without anyone even noticing?”

“There will be other Enzos, Rica. Other men your father will want to see you with. Men who will believe you should be with them. I’m not going to just stand by and watch them try to take you.”

“That will never happen.” Rica sat up and pulled the sheet up to her waist, turning so that she could face Carter. She wanted Carter to see her as she explained why nothing would ever be the same again. “I told my father I will never have anything to do with his business.”

Carter pushed up against the pillows, but did not bother with the sheet. “Telling him in so many words counts for a lot. But that doesn’t mean he won’t try.”

Rica shook her head. “I also told him that I’m a lesbian, and that I don’t intend to marry any man for any reason.”

“You’ve had a busy week,” Carter said, admiration in her voice. She took Rica’s hand and kissed her palm. “How did he take it?”

“He’s always known, of course, at least since I’ve been an adult. But we’ve never actually brought it out into the open. He tried bargaining, but I think he was convinced when I told him I was in love with you.”

“Me!”

“Did you expect me to say someone else?” Rica asked with an amused smile.

“I thought you might tell me first.” Carter held her hands wide in astonishment. “Jesus. Does he know…oh man, Rica. He’s got to have some idea what I was doing there because he saw me with Rizzo.” Carter frowned. “We’ll just have to make sure that he doesn’t see us together. And we’ll have to be sure that…”

“No,” Rica said flatly. “No more hiding. From him or because of him. He knows I love you, I told him you wouldn’t hurt me, and he accepts that.”

“Why don’t I know any of this? When did you decide you can trust me?” Carter ran both hands through her hair. “Do you know what this last week has been like? I thought I was going to lose my mind thinking I’d never see you again.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” Rica leaned forward and kissed Carter lingeringly. “I know. I needed time to sort it out. I realized after I told you that I didn’t want to see you anymore that we both lied, to ourselves and to each other. I couldn’t not forgive you.” She stroked Carter’s face. “And God, I love you so much.”

Carter pulled Rica into her arms and they settled down again side by side. “He’ll probably find out sooner or later that I used to be a cop.”