Page 45 of Together at Ruby's

Running her tongue over Tate again, she went deeper, sliding between her lips to find her hard clit. “Is that better?” she murmured against Tate’s burning skin and glancing up, saw Tate nod.

“Yes,” she said. “More of that.”

Happy to oblige, Liza licked again, circling Tate with her tongue. Once. Twice. She felt Tate’s body tightening. The muscles in her thighs grew hard as she fought for control of herself. Tate was always the one in control. In the bedroom especially.But not now,Liza thought as she started to suck on her.I’m the one in charge.

Liza felt Tate’s fingers run through her hair, taking hold of her in a gentle grip. The woman pulled Liza tighter against her and started to lift her hips in a rhythm to match Liza’s sucking. Slowly, she added pressure as her hips moved faster. “That’s it,” Tate said from deep in her throat. “That’s it.” Knowing her lover was close to the edge, Liza used all her mouth. She pulled and licked until the heat at Tate’s core started to melt. “That’s it.” The words were more of a roar than before, and Liza knew she had her. In a burst of shaking, Tate started to throb under Liza’s tongue as the orgasm rocked her. Every part of Tate seemed to let go until after a moment, her movements slowed. Tate’s hand slipped away from Liza’s hair, and she heard the woman let out several deep breaths. “That was fantastic.”

Liza smiled as she licked her lips. “Thank you,” she said. “Now, take me to the bedroom.”

30

At the hospital, while they took shifts sitting with Nikki, Tate took time to do a little research on her phone. As she sat with Liza on the bench seat near the window and Nikki slept, she searched for Danielle Salvador. There were, unfortunately, quite a few of them in Chicago.I’m going to have find a way to narrow this down, she thought.I should have known it wouldn’t be so easy.“Why don’t you try searching for where Aurora Price worked?” Liza suggested in a whisper as she looked over Tate’s shoulder. “That must be their connection.”

Liking the idea, Tate nodded and typed in ‘Aurora Price Chicago’. Google brought back several hits for her. Tate had to admit, Aurora had quite the résumé. On paper she looked like an amazing person, and Tate had trouble reconciling the two personalities. There were articles about her winning awards for her volunteer work with children who had Multiple Sclerosis. She was also a standout with one of Chicago’s biggest investment firms. When Tate clicked on a link that took her to yet another stellar article, she saw the face of the beautiful woman who was harassing her.She really is attractive, Tate thought.It doesn’t make sense why she takes advantage of her power to make people do things against their will. But maybe that’s what it really is—all about power.

As if reading her mind, Liza pointed at the picture on Tate’s phone. “Why would someone so beautiful, who seems to have everything, be so horrible?” Liza asked quietly.

“I’m not sure,” Tate replied in a murmur. “I was just thinking she does it to feel powerful.”

“Crazy, but now we know where she worked,” Liza said. “Maybe check out their website and see if you can find Danielle.”

After a few tries, Tate found an obscure connection between Danielle Salvador and the firm where Aurora used to work. She had been an intern there. Unfortunately, there was no contact information for her.So, what do I try next?she wondered and then had an idea. Quickly she typed in Danielle Salvador’s name again, searching for where she was an alumnus. Immediately her name came up with University of Chicago. “I wonder if I can contact their alumni office?” Tate said to Liza.

“That sounds like a good idea to me,” Nikki said from her bed. “You’ve got to track her down.”

“Hey,” Liza said standing to go to Nicky’s bedside. “We didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s all right,” Nikki said. “I could use a drink of water.” Tate watched as Liza used the plastic glass beside Nicky’s bed to give her a sip of water through a straw. She was tender and gentle, and in that instant Tate realized she would be a great mom. There was a nurturing side to her that wasn’t always evident until situations like helping Nikki. It made Tate love her all that much more.I’m glad she’s going to be my wife, she thought.And the woman I raise kids with.

Watching them, Tate was curious. “Nikki, how did you find out about Danielle and Aurora having a connection?”

Nikki sipped more water, before shrugging her good shoulder. “I just know a guy who knows a guy who is in Chicago.” Liza and Tate made eye contact at Nikki’s vague answer. Tate hesitated to dig deeper.Not today,she thought.But maybe one of these days, when she’s better…

Tate stood and kissed Liza on the cheek. “I’ll make a call to the university once they open in a few hours,” Tate said. “But first I need to go home and take a shower. I just hope I have time to get ahold of Danielle before I have to face the music with Chad.

“Areyou sure there’s no one you want us to reach out to?” Liza asked. “To at least let them know you’re in the hospital?”

Nikki started to shake her head but then winced. “I’ll take care of all that later,” she said. “There’s no one who needs to know I’m in the hospital.” From the tone in Nikki’s voice, Liza knew the conversation was pretty much over. It made no sense to her there wasn’t anyone in Nikki’s life who would think her being injured warranted attention. Yet it seemed to be the case, and Liza would not press it further.She’s so complex, Liza thought, and her mind returned to finding the gun in Nikki’s bedside table.There’s a story here, but I wonder if we’ll ever learn it.

There was a quiet knock at the door and in walked Lucy. “How are we doing in here?” she asked. “It’s nice to see you awake, Nikki.”

Nikki tried to smile but again winced. “It’s even nicer to see you.”

Lucy shook her pretty head. “You’re just saying that because I am the one who gives you the good drugs.”

“Well… that is part of it I’m sure,” Nikki said. “But you’re different than all the other nurses. Seeing you makes me feel better.”

“Well, thank you,” Lucy said. “But they’re all very competent, and I’m here to let you know my shift is over. I’m going to head out for the day.”

Liza watched Nikki’s face fall. “Okay,” she said disappointment clear voice. “When are you back?”

“I’ll be back in twelve hours,” Lucy said after checking Nikki’s vitals and logging them in the room’s computer.

There was another knock at the door. “Come in,” Nikki said, and Allie walked in to join them.

“Oh good,” she said. “You are awake.”

“So it seems,” Nikki said with some of the old familiar playfulness in her voice. “Thank you for coming, Allie.”

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