DISCLAIMER: CSI Miami and its characters are the property of Jerry Bruckheimer and CBS. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Questions
By sinjenkai
Part 13
The morning came way too fast to suit Natalia as she wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with the gently, snoring blonde, but they had a lot of things planned for the day so she felt the need to get up.
Reluctantly, she slid out from underneath Calleigh and headed into the bathroom to take a quick bath and to take care of other needs. After dressing in light blue shorts and a white tank top, she walked back in to the bedroom to find her wife just beginning to stir.
Watching Calleigh's lithe body stretch out the kinks, Natalia lost all restraint and muttered to herself. 'Can't wait.' Striding over to the bed, she pulled the sheet off, crawled onto the bed
and after putting an arm across Calleigh's hips, she began to lav the tiny little nub with her tongue.
Calleigh gasped in surprise as the sheet was ripped from her body and then gasped again in arousal at the first swipe of Natalia's tongue. Arching her body high off the bed, she almost sat up, but instead she fisted the sheet and thrashed about. Hearing Calleigh moan her name as she laved her beautiful sex with her tongue was probably the best thing Natalia had ever heard.
Natalia slowly teased in two fingers, then curled them up to rub moist ridges, causing her wife to moan out her pleasure. Repeatedly, Natalia brought her to the edge only to stop short.
Growling, Calleigh shifted and reached down in one motion to twist their bodies so that she was astride one of Natalia's thighs with her hands braced on either side of Natalia's head. Sliding against the toned muscle, Calleigh lowered her head so that her golden hair hung down like
spun gold, framing their faces.
Watching her wife's face, Natalia once again hated Stetler with a vengeance. Calleigh's face was very expressive, but what Natalia would give to have those green eyes actually seeing her right now. Surging up, Natalia fisted her hands in Calleigh's hair and crushed their lips together for a hard hungry kiss. Tongues warred for dominance as Calleigh answered back with the same hunger. With a final thrust, Calleigh finally found release and collapsed in her wife's embrace.
The room was silent for quite awhile save for heavy breathing until Calleigh finally said.
"And a good morning to you too, darlin'."
"I couldn't help myself, I saw you stretching and I just had to taste you."
Getting a sly look upon her face, Calleigh rolled out of Natalia's embrace to stretch again. When nothing happened this time, she laughed.
"I guess that it only works once a day, damn it."
It took a second or two before Natalia responded.
"No, it works each and every time, it's just that we have a lot of things planned for today and the faster that we get them done, the faster we can get back to this."
"Well, since you put it that way, it makes sense so I guess that I'd better get up."
Natalia helped her out of bed and into the bathroom where Calleigh took a shower while Natalia cleaned up. After getting out, drying off and getting dressed in black shorts and a green tank top, Calleigh braided her hair into a single braid that hung down her back. Before they left the bathroom, Natalia put the drops in Calleigh's eyes, kissing each one in turn.
Walking back into the bedroom, Natalia suggested.
"Why don't you change the sheets in here and I'll take the dishes and clean up the dining room before your friend and Ryan get here."
"Ryan? Why is he coming by?"
Natalia mentally slapped her head.
"I'm sorry; I totally forgot to tell you last night. He's got a friend that takes care of retired service dogs and he has a Golden Retriever that he thought that we could use so I told him to bring it by today."
Stopping abruptly, Calleigh looked shocked.
"You got me a seeing eye dog! So you think that I'm going to remain blind. Gee, thanks a lot for the vote of confidence."
"Calleigh! Of course not! I just thought that you might want a dog for companionship and a little bit of protection."
Calleigh took a step back and almost tripped, but she caught herself and shook off the hand that Natalia placed on her arm.
"We're getting a security system, so how much protection do you feel that we need? No, you believe that I'm gonna stay this way."
"Damn it Calleigh. I do not. I just thought that you might want to get out of the house and walk around the neighborhood. Or did you ever think that it might be for my peace of mind? That I might just want you to have something here so I don't have to worry so much… Fuck, now what?"
Natalia walked over to the dresser to pick up the chirping cell phone.
"Boa Vista."
A woman's voice was faintly heard.
"Natalia.... Please help me."
"Who is this?"
A raspy voice questioned.
"What are you doing home? She's waiting on you to find her."
And then nothing, but background noise.
"Damn it! Who is this?"
Holding the phone to one ear, Natalia ran to the house phone in the kitchen and dialed up Horatio with Calleigh following as fast as she could.
"Horatio, it's Natalia...I just got a call here at home...No, on my cell...He hasn't hung it up yet...I can hear background noise....I'm on my way in so can you get a squad here to watch the house and I'll get the one out front to follow me in...In about five minutes, I just need to change...Ok, I'll meet you there."
Hanging up the phone, Natalia turned to find Calleigh standing in front of her.
"What's going on Natalia? Who was that phone call from?"
Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Natalia tried to calm her racing heart.
"Babe, I'm going to ask you to trust me right now and not ask any questions. I promise that I will tell you everything when I get home, but right now I have to get to work."
"You can take a couple of minutes and get me up to speed."
Natalia's reply was interrupted by a knock at the door. Quickly maneuvering around her wife, she opened it to find Ryan and Calleigh's friend on the front step.
"Hi, you must be Steve. Would you mind just waiting here for just a moment? Thank you. Ryan, come on in."
Ryan stepped in and Natalia closed the door behind him.
"Listen, I just got another phone call and I have to get in to the lab. Would you stay here while I'm gone? Steve is gonna put in the security system and there's gonna be a patrol car outside, but I would feel better with you here."
"Not a problem. I need to get Calleigh used to the dog anyways."
Taking another deep breath, Natalia sighed.
"About that, Calleigh isn't too thrilled about it. She believes that I think that shes gonna stay blind. Just talk to her for me, but do not go into details. I'm gonna tell her everything when I get home. Now I've got to get changed and get out of here. Let Steve back in and let him install the system. Thanks"
Ryan raked his hands through his short hair and looked at Calleigh across the room. Opening the door to Steve, he told him to wait just a minute more and closed it, before walking over to Calleigh.
"Hi, I here that you're not too keen on getting a dog?"
"Ryan, what's going on? What isn't she telling me?"
Taking Calleigh hands in his, Ryan took a deep breath and tried to explain.
"I can't go into details so please don't ask. I just want to ask you one question. Do you believe that Natalia loves you?"
"Yes, of course."
"Then believe me when I tell you that she'll tell you everything as soon as she can. She only has your best interests in heart."
Right at that moment, Natalia came rushing out of the bedroom dressed in khaki pants and a short sleeve button-down shirt. Stopping short of her wife, she tried to explain.
"I'm sorry that I have to go like this, but I promise to explain everything when I get back."
Holding out her hand until Natalia took it, Calleigh whispered.
"Just come home safely, that's all I ask."
Placing a quick kiss on Calleigh's lips, Natalia replied.
"I'll be home as soon as I can. Thanks, Ryan."
Then she rushed off to the lab and Ryan finally let Steve in to start installing the security system.
By the time that Natalia got to work, she had calmed down and had her mindset on work. As soon as she got inside, Horatio was waiting on her, so she handed him her phone while telling him what had been said. They went to the communication department and had them get a fix on the location. They were both shocked when it came back to the same location as before.
Spinning around, they headed towards Horatio's Hummer with Horatio calling for a squad car to meet them there.
When they arrived at the scene, the officers just pointed in the direction that they needed to go. Horatio stopped Natalia right before she got out of the vehicle.
"I know the answer to this question, but I need to ask. Are you sure that you want to see this?"
Hanging her head for a moment, Natalia took a deep breath before raising her head and answering.
"I don't know why this person is doing this, but it's because of me that these women are going through this. So I'm not going to walk away until he's put away."
"Good woman. Now let's get to work."
Walking over to the body, they found that the victim was laid out in the exact same manner as the first, except this one had a rose lying on her chest. The rose looked like it was originally white, but had been sprayed in something so now it was red.
After photographing the area around and up to the body, Natalia stood there for a moment just looking at the young woman who looked so much like her.
Alexx walked over to stand next to her.
"I was hoping that I wouldn't be seeing you today."
"Yeah, me too. Would you mind checking to see if she has the same wounds as the other, please?"
Kneeling down, Alexx gingerly picked up the rose and handed it to Natalia who bagged it. Then she carefully lifted up the left shirt collar and peered down to look at the chest area. Swallowing briefly, she looked up and gave a slight nod to the worried looking young woman.
"Would you mind checking her pockets for a picture?"
Patting the pockets, Alexx found a folded one in the right front pants pocket and once again handed it to Natalia.
Closing her eyes briefly in a quiet prayer, Natalia slowly unfolded the paper until she saw a picture of herself at the same location of the first victim. It also showed Horatio and Alexx close by. Written across the bottom was, 'Not even you friends can stop me.'
Horatio came over and she wordlessly handed him the picture before turning away to walk to the water's edge. She didn't go more than three feet before she quickly turned back to ask him a question that she really didn't want to ask.
"This couldn't be Ryan, could it? He wouldn't do something like this."
Quietly Horatio replied.
"What's make you ask that?"
Ticking points off on her fingers, Natalia began.
"First, is that this all started after he found out about Calleigh and I. Second, is that the day that I got the call in the lab with Valera, he showed up just a minute later asking if I wasn't supposed to
be somewhere else. In fact, he has showed up almost immediately after every phone call.... Damn it, I left Calleigh with him."
She reached into her pocket for her phone, but before she could dial, Horatio reached out and placed a calming hand upon her arm.
"I'm sure that you are overreacting. Let me call the squad in front of the house and see what they say before you call her."
Natalia agreed to wait and as he made the call, she watched as Alexx got the body into her van and got ready to leave.
"I'll wait for you both at the lab. See you soon."
Nodding to her friend, Natalia looked back at her boss to see him closing the phone.
"Well, it looks like your security system is in because the guy left about thirty minutes ago. Now Calleigh and Ryan are in the front yard with a Golden Retriever. Did you get a dog?"
"Yeah and this throws off my Ryan theory. He has a friend that takes in retired service dogs and he suggested that we take one in so that Calleigh would have a companion while I was at work and have a little extra protection. She wasn't too thrilled about the idea because she thought that I believed that she was going to remain blind."
"That's just her insecurities coming out. Go ahead and call her. I know that it will make you both feel better."
Turning to walk back to the gently lapping waters, Natalia called her wife and waited for her to answer the phone.
She released a breath that she didn't know she was holding when she heard Calleigh's voice.
"Hey babe... How are things going there... Did Steve get everything installed... That's good. And how are things going with the dog... I'm glad... No, we're still at the scene, but we are just about to head to the lab... Ok, I'll call you before I leave... I'll be home as soon as I can... May I speak with Ryan please... Hi, very casually get up and walk a few steps away... Chalk this up to nerves or whatever you want, but I want you to listen very carefully to me... Are you listening... You need to make sure that nothing happens to Calleigh or I will personally hold you responsible and will not be accountable for my actions... Do I make myself perfectly clear...Good, I'll talk with you later."
Closing the phone, she turned to see Horatio slyly smiling at her.
"I see that you have also picked up her protectiveness."
"No sir, when it comes to her, I'm like a mother bear.... And please never tell her that I said that."
"Your secret's safe with me."
When they got back to the lab, Natalia went straight to the morgue while Horatio decided to run tests on the rose and picture. Alexx started the examination almost as soon as Natalia walked in, as she knew that she wouldn't want to waste any time.
After a complete examination, they discovered that everything was exactly like the first victim. No differences what so ever.
Natalia headed back to her lab and as she walked in just as Horatio was hanging up the phone. He turned to her with a sad look.
"Her name was Daphne Lawson and she was C.S.I. from Chicago. Also the rose was sprayed with the blood from the first victim and the ink used on the picture is Ms. Lawson's blood and the picture was taken with a telephoto lens so he could have been anywhere."
Placing her hands on the lab table to help keep her balance, Natalia concentrated on breathing and trying to remain calm.
"There's nothing more that you can do right now so go home. If something comes up, I promise that I'll call. And you promise to call me if he contacts you again."
"I will Horatio and thanks. I don't know what we would do without both you and Alexx."
Giving her a sad smile, Horatio replied.
"You'll never have to find out my dear. Now go home to your wife."
Unable to resist, Natalia gave Horatio a quick kiss on his cheek, grabbed her stuff and headed for home with her escort close behind her.
By the time she was a block away from home, Natalia realized that she hadn't called Calleigh to tell her that she was on her way home. She started to mentally slap herself on the head, but immediately forgot about it when she pulled into the drive to find Calleigh, Ryan and a
Golden Retriever sitting out on the front step.
'I told him to protect Calleigh and what does he do, he has her in plain sight.'
Pushing open the car door, Natalia got and started to head in their direction, when Calleigh called for her to stop. She stood there in amazement as Calleigh got to her feet and the dog immediately got up and stood on her right. Holding on to very short leather leash, Calleigh said something to the dog and they headed in Natalia's direction. With simple movements, the dog directed Calleigh around different obstacles that they had place in the yard for just this reason.
By the time that Calleigh made it over to stand in front of her wife, Natalia had tears in her eyes and was barely holding it together.
Calleigh could hear Natalia sniffling and knew that she was about to be hugged.
"Darlin', let me introduce you to Mallory. Just hold out your hand and let her smell it."
Kneeling now next to the dog, Calleigh whispered something to the dog and her tail began to wag. Suddenly rising on her hinds legs, Mallory placed her front paws on Natalia's chest and nudged her chin with a wet nose.
"Hello Mallory, welcome to the DuVista family."
The dog responded with a lick on her cheek.
Laughing, Ryan walked over.
"Well, it looks like Mallory likes Natalia just fine. Listen, I've got to run. Calleigh, it's been fun."
Placing a hand on his arm, Natalia said.
"Let me walk you to your car. I'll be right back babe."
As they were walking to his car Natalia started to explain, but Ryan stopped her.
"There's no reason for you to explain. I know that Calleigh is the most important person in your life and you have every right to be protective about her, especially with this nut running around. I do think however, that you need to tell her what's going on, because she can help us catch this guy. I know that you have every reason not to trust me, but I wouldn't do anything to harm either one of you. I didn't say anything to her, but I listened to what she didn't say…I mean, I listened how she talked about you and everything, but she knows something is up and it's tearing her up knowing that there is something that you aren't telling her."
They made it to his car and Ryan unlocked the door. Impulsively, Natalia hugged him. As she stepped back, she started to say something, but stopped. Instead, she just patted him on the shoulder and whispered, "Thanks," before turning back to head to her wife.
As Natalia got close to Calleigh, the dog rose from a sitting position to a standing one with the tail wagging.
"You've had a busy day babe."
Rubbing Mallory's head, Calleigh smiled.
"Yup, but it's been a good day. Oh, don't forget that we now have a hot tub now, but I realized today that I can't enjoy it until I get this bloody cast off."
"Well, then I won't either. Are you ready to go in or did you want to take a walk around the block?"
Taking a step towards her wife, Calleigh replied.
"What I would like to do is go inside, show you the security system and then just hold you for awhile. I need to feel you."
"Let's go."
Letting Calleigh lead the way, Natalia was nearly brought to tears again as the ease that Calleigh and her new friend maneuvered around everything.
Once inside, Calleigh showed her the main keypad for the system and they decided on the code and set it. Then she showed Natalia the other pads and explained that even though they had sensors on all of the windows and doors, that they would be able to have the sliding doors opened and still be protected as they were sensors on the gates.
Taking the leash and collar off Mallory and giving her the signal for play, Calleigh took Natalia's hand and lead her into their bedroom.
"Go ahead and lay down, darlin'. I need to wash my hands real quick."
Agreeing, Natalia pulled back the coverlet and lay down on her side, trying to get her thoughts in order because she knew that Calleigh would have a lot of questions
Coming out of the bathroom, Calleigh made her way over to the bed, crawled up and laid down behind her wife, spooning to her back and wrapping her arms around her.
The room was quiet for so long that Calleigh thought that Natalia had fallen asleep when finally her sad voice floated on the air.
"The day after we confronted Stetler, I received a voice mail of a woman screaming and then a voice said that it should have been me and that it soon would be. We weren't able to trace the call so we couldn't do anything. The next day, while I was in the lab with Valera, I got a call saying that she was waiting for me to find her. This time, they left the phone on and we were able to trace the call and find the location. It was at South Point Beach and once we got there, we found the body of a young woman and in her pocket was the picture of me that had run in the paper from the Girls and Boys Club street fair. Once we got the body back to the morgue, we discovered that the cause of death was suffocation as her eyes, nose and mouth were glued shut. "
Swallowing the lump in her throat, Natalia took a few moments before going on while Calleigh just held her and traced soothing circles on her stomach.
Clearing her throat, Natalia let everything out in a rush.
"We also discovered that the writing on the picture was in her blood and...that she was branded...He had branded my name over her heart...The next day he sent me an email of a picture of you. It was the same picture that had run in the inner-office newsletter of you blowing up balloons, except now the caption was asking if you were going to scream for him. And right after that, I got another call, but this time I had Horatio answer the phone and the caller said even the Great Horatio Caine wouldn't be able to stop him from entertaining me in his game room. And then the call this morning was of a woman's voice saying my name and asking me to help her and then he came on, asking what I was doing at home while she was waiting for me. Once again, he left the phone at the scene to lead us there and it was exactly the same location and everything. The only difference was what he left a rose, but this rose was special as it was originally a white one, but he had sprayed it with the blood from the first victim so that it was now red. Now the picture that he left of me this time was taken at the first scene and it showed Horatio and Alexx nearby and it had 'not even your friends will stop me' written on it in the second victim's blood. She was a C.S.I. from Chicago and her name was Daphne Lawson."
As she finished, Natalia seemed to curl up in herself and started shaking.
"That's not all. They all look like me. I don't know who is doing this, but it's because of me that these women are dead."
It was all that Calleigh could do to hold on to her as the shaking got worse.
"It's going to be all right. We'll find out what's going on."
Natalia turned abruptly in Calleigh's embrace, with a fierce look upon her face and a fiercer tone of voice.
"No, Calleigh I don't want you anywhere near this. This is why I didn't tell you in the first place. I knew that you would want to be involved and I couldn't take it if something happened to you, not because of me."
"Talia, listen to me. We need to do this together. When I sent you away, Horatio told me that you knew that our love made us stronger and that it would get us through anything and it will. We just need to take a step back and look at everything from a different perspective. Please don't shut me out, don't shut us out."
Caressing her wife's face, Natalia prayed that she was about to do the right thing. She silently offered prayers to every deity of every religion that she could think of to please keep the love of her life safe as she knew that she would be absolutely nothing without her.
"If you want to help, there are some rules that you have follow and there are no negotiations to these rules. Do you understand?"
Knowing that this was the only way that Natalia would agree to let her anywhere near this, Calleigh consented.
"Yes darlin'. I understand. Just as long as I can help you through this, I'm agreeable with anything that you decide."
"I don't want you anywhere near the crime scenes. I don't mind if someone describes the scenes to you, but I don't want you there. I would prefer that we not discuss this anymore after we get out of bed. We made an agreement that work stays at work and I'm sorry that this has followed me home, but as soon as we're finished here, we don't talk about it here again."
Lifting her hand, Calleigh found Natalia's face and leaned forward until she was able to brush her lips against Natalia's. She purposely kept the caress light for reassurance that she knew that Natalia needed. She didn't need anything hard and fast.
Moving her head away a fraction, Natalia instead placed it against Calleigh's neck and breathed in deeply her scent. Closing her eyes, she let that fragrance seep into her being, into every pore and fill her with a sense of calm and being loved.
Calleigh's strong hands gently kneaded and stoked the knotted muscles on her back, slowly loosening them until Natalia steady breath signaled that she was sleeping. She continued to massage the sleeping woman for quite awhile as her mind was racing with what she had been told.
'Ok, the first call came the day after I confronted Stetler at the department, but that was also two days after he attacked me and one day after I listened to the recording. The first picture was of Talia that ran in the paper about the street fair as was the first one of me, but mine was from an internal newsletter. Where did the blood come from and was it on all of the pictures or just on the ones of Natalia? And where did he meet the victims? The symposium wasn't open to the public so that would mean that he would have to be a member of law enforcement. He would also have to know that her and Natalia were at least good friends. Why use the first victim's blood on the rose? How did he get the bodies to the beach? If he followed the routine that he started, it meant that tomorrow Natalia should expect a picture of Calleigh.'
Natalia began to thrash about so Calleigh spent a few moments murmuring reassuring phrases and placing gentle kisses on the head that was tucked near her chin.
'It is strange that all of this started after Ryan found out about us, but I really can't see him doing any of this. I mean, come on! We have agreed to disagree about certain subjects and have had some healthy, fiery conversations about others, but he wouldn't go to this length….would he? I couldn't be wrong about someone else again…No, Calleigh…He's not Jake. He may not be as honorable as you would like, but he would never hurt someone like this.'
Mentally shaking herself, Calleigh put all of her thoughts to the side. She knew that if she dwelled on them for too long that she would drive herself up the wall. She also knew that sometimes if she didn't try so hard, things would come to her faster, so she mentally locked all the questions in a trunk and put them in the back corner of her mind. Snuggling closer to the napping woman, Calleigh soon her joined in the gentle embrace of Morpheus.
Sliding her hand around the bed, Calleigh realized that she was alone. Reaching to the nightstand, she found her cell phone and punched in the number for the time and found that it was still early evening. Swinging her legs to the side of the bed, Calleigh was surprised to find Mallory there waiting on her.
"It's gonna take some time for me to get used to you being around. So why don't you take me to Talia."
Standing up, Calleigh was able to brush her fingertips against the dog's neck and headed towards the living room. As she passed through the doorway, she could hear her wife in the pool, swimming laps and Calleigh knew she was working off nervous energy and that might be in there for a while so she angled over to the sofa and took a seat. Opening her cell phone once again, Calleigh this time called Horatio.
"Horatio…It's Calleigh…No, we're fine…Yeah, she told me everything… I think that I can help… From what I understand, the second scene was staged exactly like the first so I think that he's going to repeat everything and that means that tomorrow, he'll send a picture of me… I want to come into the lab and have either you or Alexx go through everything with me… No, we made a deal that we don't talk about it here… I need to come there, I need to be involved… I don't care what I have to do. I'm going to be there for her, with her… Yes, I know… I'll have Mallory with me…She's the dog that Ryan brought over today and she can help me get around… Ok, good…We'll see you in the morning around eleven…Thank you Horatio…Once again, we owe you big time."
Closing the phone, Calleigh sat there for quite a long time, listening to the relentless determination of her wife, racking up lap after lap. It went so long that when she checked her phone again, Calleigh was shocked to realize that she had been sitting therefor over an hour and a half.
"This has gone on long enough."
Standing, Calleigh and Mallory made their way outside to the patio before Mallory stopped them just short of the pool.
"Natalia… Natalia… That's enough… You need to stop now… Talia."
Standing there with her hands on her hips, Calleigh made a decision. Giving Mallory the signal to stay, she inched to the edge of the pool and made her way down the steps into the water until she figured that she was standing in the middle of the shallow end with her arms out stretched so Natalia would have to run into her.
And that's exactly what happened as Natalia's right arm bounced off of Calleigh's left. Sputtering, Natalia came to a stop barely an inch away from Calleigh's chest.
"What… Cal… What are you doing in here…? Your cast..."
"My cast can be replaced. You can't. You need to stop. You've been in here for at least an hour and a half without stopping. You're going to wear yourself out."
Taking Calleigh by the arm, Natalia tried to lead her out of the pool.
"I know… That's what I'm trying to do. I want to get so tired that I won't dream when I sleep. I keep seeing their faces, I keep seeing my name branded across their chests. And then all of a sudden, I'm looking at you and you're asking me why I didn't help you."
"That isn't going to happen, Talia. He's not going to get either one of us." Calleigh pulled her arm from Natalia's grip.
"Damn it Calleigh! You don't know that. Whoever this is has already murdered two trained C.S.I.'s and all because they look like me. This is my fault."
"TALIA!"
Jumping back a bit at Calleigh's shout, Natalia stopped talking.
Lowering her voice to a more conversational level, Calleigh explained.
"This is not your fault and I don't want to hear that again. I can't even begin to understand what you're going through, but I can help you through it. Trust me, trust Horatio and our team to protect you, to protect us. Ok?"
"Ok?"
Reaching out to find Natalia's hand, Calleigh turned and they started making their way out of the pool.
"Good, now let's talk about wearing yourself out because I can think of quite a few things that we can do to help with that."
"No, I don't want our lovemaking to be because I need to sleep."
Taking the final step out of the pool and sliding up to her wife, Calleigh chuckled.
"Baby, we will never make love just so one of us can go to sleep, I promise you that. I need you. It's that simple."
Sliding her hands up Natalia's body, Calleigh got a puzzled look on her face.
"Um… Talia… What exactly are you wearing?"
Leaning forward to whisper into Calleigh's ear, Natalia breathed.
"Nothing."
Taking Natalia by the hand, Calleigh led her back inside into their bedroom, making sure that Mallory stayed outside the door before going into the bathroom. Quickly taking off her sodden clothes, Calleigh pulled Natalia into the shower and turned it on. Tugging her wife up against her body, Calleigh once again marveled at the softness of the skin against her own.
"Now would you please darlin', tell me why you were swimming in the nude?"
Laughing quietly, Natalia explained.
"Well, when I got up I had every intention on putting on a suit, but as I finished undressing, I thought why? Why put something else on just to go and get it wet and take it off again? So I didn't. I just walked out and started swimming."
"Not that I'm complaining about the mental image you just gave me, but would you mind next time doing that when I can actually enjoy the view?"
Leaning down to nibble upon an enticing expanse of creamy throat, Natalia muttered.
"I'll see what I can do, but right now I want to concentrate on something else right now."
"And that would be?"
Sucking gently on a pulse point that was rapidly increasing its tempo, Natalia stopped long enough to say.
"Seeing if I can get you to quit talking and start screaming my name."
And with that she returned to the pulse point and let her hands wander down the creamy body that was slowly beginning to vibrate.
Sliding her hands over Calleigh's body, Natalia suddenly stopped and told her to wait a moment before she quickly got out of the shower to turn off the lights, leaving herself in darkness. Making her way back into shower, she swore as she bumped into the shower door.
"What are you doing darlin'?"
Finally closing the door, Natalia reached out until she found her wife.
"I decided to turn the lights out to experience you in the dark and I didn't want to use a blindfold so I wouldn't be tempted to cheat."
"So it's the blind leading the blind right now huh? Well, this is gonna be interesting."
Sliding her hands up Calleigh's body, Natalia started running her hands over her face, just like Calleigh had done when she first came home from the hospital. The high forehead sloped gently down onto satin eyebrows and
Moving her hand down the honeyed throat, it paused briefly on a thundering pulse point before her lips claimed the same spot and then moved lower and suckled eagerly on Calleigh's nipple. Natalia's fingers traveled lower to slide downs Calleigh's chest, over her hip, then between her thighs to tease, to explore, to too slowly glide across her lips and then slowly slid into the velvety warmth. Curling her fingers to rub across the tiny ridges, Natalia dropped to her knees, placed Calleigh's leg across her shoulder and started to hum against her clit and as she thrust her fingers in deep. Time and time again, she brought Calleigh to the edge only to draw back, making her plead. When Natalia finally added the fourth finger and drew hard on the tiny nub, Calleigh jerked so hard that she hit her head against the wall and could have sworn that she saw stars.
"Damn…Ow…Don't stop baby."
Standing and slowly pulling out, Natalia reached out to find Calleigh's head to feel the rising bump on the back.
"Leigh….Are you ok?"
"I'm fine darlin' and where did Leigh come from?"
Turning off the water, then opening the shower door, Natalia made her way back over to turn on the light and to grab a couple of towels. Walking back to her wife, she began to towel her dry as she tried to explain.
"I just wanted something that only I could call you and Leigh seemed to fit. It will only be when it's just us."
"I'd like that, but to change the subject….We need to get a larger water heater…It was cooling off quite quickly in there."
Laughing, Natalia started drying herself off as Calleigh got into her nightclothes.
"Ok, but at least we are very clean."
"There is that."
After Natalia dressed, they went into the kitchen and fixed a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Calleigh choosing guava jelly while Natalia chose strawberrry and they both had very tall glasses of milk. After finishing up, they took Mallory out in the back yard to do her business before they all went to bed for a very restful sleep.
Thunderclouds were rolling in the distance as the shadowy figure sauntered towards his new playmate. This was to be his final gift to Natalia before she agreed to be his. There would be no crude brand on this one; this one would bear his signature, in more ways than one.
He stood before her, watching as she strained against her bonds, loving the way that her muscles moved beneath her skin. Reaching out, he slowly caressed her face while remembering earlier in the afternoon.
"Personally hold you responsible. Who does she think she is? The only person that should be held responsible is herself. And she will most definitely be held accountable."
Taking a heated woodburning pen, he began to etch Natalia's name in his favorite spot, taking care that the spacing was even and the cursive was easy to read. The screams soon tapered off to whimpers before he finished and as he replayed the sounds, he smiled with glee as he knew that soon it would be Natalia doing the screaming.