I woke up feeling rested and relaxed. The smooth linen under my cheek still smelled faintly like Kathryn’s perfume. The sun was bright behind the curtains. I yawned a little and stretched reaching out to where Kathryn had been snuggled next to me for most of the night. She wasn’t there. I rolled back over and checked the silver analog alarm clock. 8:30. Fuck I was already late for work. I sat up and looked around for my clothes. I pulled on my jeans and sweater quickly without bothering with my underwear. I dashed into the bathroom and gargled some mouthwash before jogging down the carpeted stairs. The marble of the foyer was cold beneath my feet. To the left at the bottom of the stairs was an office or study so I tried going right. Through the dinning room was a beautifully bright kitchen. Kathryn was behind the counter steaming milk with a small cappuccino maker. Her hair was a little rumpled and curlier than usual. Her silk robe emphasized the erectness of her nipples. Suddenly I wasn’t in such a rush. She looked up at me and her lips curled into a delicious smirk.

"Well good morning beautiful." She said.

"Morning."

"I hope you like Cappuccino."

"Mmmm-hmm." I said as I reached the other side of the counter where she was standing. I waited until she turned off the steamer and wiped it. Placing the clothe next to two perfectly froth topped cups, she turned into my arms. Her robe wasn’t tied very securely. I pulled her close and we kissed each other deeply. The feel of silk sliding over her skin was almost as sensual as the feel of her naked. I moaned a little at the intensity of our kiss.

"I need to call work." I said not letting her go. She was sliding her hands up and down my back under my sweater.

"What are you going to tell them?" she kissed my jaw line, as her hands found my breasts.

"I don’t know. I’m not … I don’t." I suddenly felt very flustered. "I really need this job, you know."

"Of course." Kathryn stopped torturing me and simply looked into my eyes. "Do you want me to drive you in?"

"I’m already really late, and … and I’d really like to spend the day with you."

"I could call pretending to be your visiting spinster aunt from Alabama." She said with a twang, surprising me.

"Spinster aunt? Are spinsters allowed to be this sexy?" I kissed her neck.

"Oh that frumpy exterior is just a front."

"You are so not frumpy." I slipped her robe a little further off her shoulder.

"I was speaking of our ancestors, the blue-stockings, the suffragists."

"Oh?" I trailed kisses along her collarbone.

"Mm-hmm their frumpy exteriors masked incredible passions."

I kissed my way up her neck.

"You mean like your executive mask? It doesn’t hide that much you know."

"That’s only because you know what to look for darling." After many delicious kisses she pulled back and smirked at me.

"I suppose I had better make that call." She trailed her index finger along the edge of my lower lip before giving me a quick kiss.

"I’ll take these out to the balcony." She said. I watched her walk into the slight breeze of the open door, her robe billowing and fluttering, falling off one shoulder. She half turned back to me her right breast exposed. She smiled wickedly and raised an eyebrow. "Would you mind bringing the sugar with you." She glanced at the counter behind me. I nodded feeling quite happily wicked myself, and watched the sun shining off her red highlights and the freckles sprinkled over her shoulder. I’m already addicted to her skin.

My boss wasn’t very impressed with me: "Nika why the hell didn’t you call earlier?"

"Sorry Stan, I’m at a friend’s place and she thought I needed to sleep."

"You know the 26-Once flu is no excuse!"

"I wasn’t drinking Stan I think it was food poisoning. I was up half the night with cold sweats, finally threw up at like 3 in the morning." I hadn’t lied so well in a long time, but old habits …

"Spare me the details. Look the cops called for you this morning."

"What?" The warm buzz from being with Kathryn was quickly replaced by chill fear. "Why?"

"Apparently there was some sort of disturbance at your building last night. This cop gave me her name, in case I heard from you. Good thing you got sick." Stan said as I found a pen and a small notepad.

"Why’s that?" My heart was thumping.

"Well there was a fire or something, I think they just want everyone accounted for, you got a pen?"

"Yeah go ahead." Stan read out the name and number slowly. I repeated back to him to make sure that I’d got it right.

"You’re in no shape to work and you’d better get this cop thing sorted out, you can make up the time on a weekend or something."

"Thanks Stan, I’m really sorry I didn’t leave you a message last night."

"Yeah well you’ll know better next time. I got work to do. You look out for yourself Nika." I thanked him quickly before he hung up. I stared down at the name on the paper. I was clenching my jaw, my eyes and temples hurt. I stuffed the paper in my pocket taking a few breaths to calm myself. I wasn’t sure how much I could tell Kathryn. Maybe it was just a coincidence, a tan sedan, and then a fire at my building. Perhaps there was nothing to tell; the past could stay where it belonged.

Kathryn was lounging like a cat in the sun, an incredibly sexy cat. She shaded her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. She sat up a little straighter, pulling her knees up. I straddled the lower end of her chaise lounge and accepted the cup she offered.

"I forgot the sugar." I moved to get up.

"I don’t need any darling, are you alright?"

"I’ll be back in a sec" retrieving the sugar gave me a few more moments to collect myself. I resumed my position at her feet. Her small pale beautiful feet. I stroked one as I stirred the sugar into my cup. "You have beautiful feet." I smiled at her.

"Darling." She smirked at me and shook her head a little. "So how did the phone call go?" I glanced away from her, I didn’t want to lie to her. I was so tired of lying.

"Oh it was ok, I told him it was food poisoning." She nodded approvingly. "He said the police were looking for me." Kathryn’s face was suddenly pale and serious.

"The Police? Why? What’s happened?"

"There was a fire or something at my building last night " A sudden wave of nausea overtook me, I swallowed a hot sip of coffee. "I didn’t go home so they were probably just wondering where I was." I met her eyes again.

"Well, thank goodness you weren’t there, was it serious?"

"I don’t really know." Her brows furrowed. She stared down at her cup.

"Well, shouldn’t we, I mean, don’t you want to go find out?"

"I, I’d kind of like to have breakfast with you at least, before … before reality comes crashing in. I’m sure if it had been serious Stan would have said something. I’m sure everything’s fine. " I looked at her wondering if she was convinced.

"If that’s what you want darling, but if it was me I’d be rushing right over to check on my stuff." She smiled sympathetic, we held each other’s eyes as we sipped on our coffees.

"Well, stuff isn’t that important to me. I’d rather have a life full of experiences than a house full of stuff." I regretted it immediately, thinking she might assume I was judging her, one woman with such a large house.

"I know what you mean, I love this house but sometime it feels like a tomb, or an anchor." Her eyes had gone sad. I took a large swig of coffee and put the cup on the floor. I was starting to get hot in my knitted top. I leaned forward and kissed her.

"Kathryn, don’t be sad." I said looking at her. I Ieaned back but not very far. Her eyes searched mine for a long time. She set her cup on the balustrade and pulled me closer, both hands in my hair. Our kiss was long and sweet and gentle. "It’s so warm out here in the sun." I said straightening my back and pulling my top off over my head.

"Nika." She sighed, her eyes sliding up from my waist to my eyes, "You are so beautiful." She moved her legs apart and leaned forward to kiss one of my nipples then the other. Then she leaned back and slowly pulled the belt of her robe it slide open just enough for me to enjoy a gorgeous ‘V’ from her shoulders to her bush. I love the way her eyes reflect her mood, they had shaded to a bluish grey. That look makes my mouth water. The tension in my temples turned to slight lightheadedness. I wasn’t used to such strong coffee on an empty stomach. I balanced on one hand leaning forward to catch her lips in a deep kiss with the other hand I pulled her waist closer to me so she was mostly underneath me. I was standing with my legs spread over the chaise lounge, bent at the waist to keep our lips in contact. While we were kissing like this Kathryn’s hands explored my arched back and straining thighs. Eventually sweeping up my inner thigh to rub my mound through my thick jeans. "Goddess I love you in this position." Kathryn said. Pulling open my jeans and sliding them down. I moaned in response, my mouth full of her glorious nipple. I shifted one knee to lean on the woven chaise between her legs, and shoved my pants to my knees. Her hands moved to my hair. The whole situation provoked memories of last night. I was getting incredibly wet just kissing her. She pulled me down on top of her so I could feel the heat from her core against my abs. Our bodies began the dance they had shared that first night on the hood of Kathryn’s car, surging together, lips locked, hands everywhere. "Darling!" Kathryn gasped as I slid my tongue down her torso. As much as I loved kissing her right now I needed to taste her. I glanced up just before submersion. She had stretched her arms above her head creating a glorious view, she looked down at me through half closed eyes. "Please Nika, please." She murmured low. I spread her wide and teased her with my breath before closing my eyes and diving into her bliss. She was delicious. She gasped and moved her hips to press up against my mouth. Incoherent moans echoed through her. The cool breeze tickled my ass, I was dripping wet and I wondered if any of her neighbours could see us. I didn’t particularly care. I opened my eyes to see her hands gripping the sides of the chaise, Her breasts bounced, her robe had virtually disappeared and her whole body was moving with the motions of my lips and tongue. I could feel the sweat on my back as we worked together taking Kathryn higher and higher. I slid my tongue inside her while my upper lip rhythmically massaged her clit, one of her hands grasped my head. "uh Gott!" she grunted, "yes, keep … keep…uuhhh!" Her fingers loosed in my hair as she lost herself to sensation. Her whole body rippled and shuddered as her wet heat pumped against me. I moaned into her pussy as her bucking intensified. A few intense moments later her spine liquefied and she relaxed repeating my name quietly like a mantra. I did not come up from my delicious dive until her thrusts had completely subsided. I took my time licking my way up her tummy but she was impatient. She pulled me up and kissed me deeply, wrapping her legs around my hips. She moaned with pleasure at the taste of herself on my lips. As I leaned one arm along the top of the chaise I slid the other down Kathryn’s side tickling her a little, or at least making her writhe.

"Kathryn you taste so good." I kissed her again and she moaned down my throat, her fingers had just found my wetness. "You see what you do to me?" She leaned over and pulled my crumpled jeans from my ankles.

"Darling, can you straddle me? I need to taste you." I moved back into the position I had been in earlier, this time completely naked standing above her, one foot on each side of the chaise. I leaned over letting her suck on a nipple and giving her hands greater access. One hand massaged my ass, the other teased my thigh. Kathryn shifted and moved lower; wrapping her arms around my thighs she spread my cheeks with her hands. I arched back pressing my ass into her palms. With my hands on the high back of the lounge Kathryn held me in place blissfully trapped between her hands and her mouth. She was doing things to my clit that I couldn’t have conceived of until now. One of her hands left my ass only to slide into me. I felt incredibly wet and open. I wanted nothing more than Kathryn filling me up. She established a steady rhythm, sliding in and out while torturing my clit.

"Please Ryn. Fill me up." I managed, hoping she could. She murmured and the vibrations thrilled my labia. Her fingers were gone for a moment only to return. This time she filled me. I reveled in the feel of stretching around her and then squeezing her. With each squeeze she groaned into me and thrust a little harder. "Goddess, yes!." I whispered as she slammed into me. My legs were feeling weak. I stood for a moment and then leaned back on my hands pushing Kathryn deeper into me while making it impossible for her lips to stay. She changed her hand position between thrusts and slid her body so her hips were under mine. Kathryn helped me maintain my balance as her lips once again locked onto my clit. She stopped thrusting and stayed inside me, the tips of her fingers tickling my G-spot. She was sucking hard on my clit. I felt near to exploding. Then I did. Sensations swirled and intensified; my pussy pulled and pulled on Kathryn's fingers. I leaned back on my elbows my glistening mound thrust up towards Kathryn’s mass of tousled red-brown hair. Her eyes squeezed tight in concentration. My body rushed towards orgasm many times, each time more intense, until finally I collapsed in a flood of liquid ecstasy. The orgasm Kathryn had been pulling from me came and came and came. When I completely regained my senses my ass was on top of Kathryn’s hips and I was almost sliding off the bottom of the chaise. Kathryn was leaning back panting looking at me amazed.

"Nika, Goddess, you’re incredible."

*****************

Once Nika and I had recovered from our lovemaking, I took a quick shower while she called the detective. The few minutes she was in the shower I spent on the phone with Gil. She seemed anxious when she came out of the bathroom. Anxious but gorgeous with her wet hair pulled into a loose ponytail, the white linen shirt I had loaned her clinging to her damp skin.

"Darling you look so much better in that shirt then I ever have." I said appreciating the way the fabric clung to and outlined her breasts. She smiled softly at me. "I’m craving a smoothie, do you mind if we just pick up a couple on the way to your place?"

"Sounds good."

"Thank you darling." I gave her a quick kiss on the lips, she tried to pull me back. "No, you don’t!" I said laughing, "if we start that we’ll miss lunch as well as breakfast." She grinned at me.

"Mmmm I am pretty hungry."

I kissed her hand before she got into the car. While driving we talked about the weather and the Moroccan restaurant. Once we’d bought the smoothies the rest of the ride was silent. I could see peripherally that she was getting more agitated the nearer we got to her apartment.

The detective was waiting for us, she got out of her car and walked over as we got out of mine. She was petite, perhaps an inch or two taller than I but with a sturdier build, and short curly auburn hair. She pushed her sunglasses up and looked us over as we neared each other, she seemed to recognize me but shifted her eyes quickly to Nika.

"Hello, I’m Detective Jeffries." She extended a hand to give Nika a firm handshake. Then she shook my hand as well. Nika looked nervous.

"Hello." I said. The Detective and I both looked at Nika expectantly. She was staring at the building, not moving.

"Shall we go inside?" Jeffries said, pulling Nika out of her trance.

"Yes, ok, sorry about that." Nika led the way.

"No need to apologize, these situations can be upsetting." Jeffries said.

"I understand you missed work this morning, Ms. Raven." Raven? Unusual I think as I realize I don’t even know Nika’s last name. How could I have fallen so in love with someone fo soon and not even know her name?

"Yes, I wasn’t feeling well." Nika said as hse unlocked the front door.

"And you did not spend the night in your apartment, Correct?"

"No, she was with me." I interjected as I followed them up the stairs.

"Thank-you, ma-am, but I was asking Ms. Raven."

"My stomach was upset, and I didn’t want to get too far from the bathroom if you know what I mean." Nika smiled over her shoulder going up the second flight of stairs.

"How are you feeling now?" Jeffries continued.

"Fine, perhaps a little woozy." Nika had reached the top of the stairs and strode quickly to the furthest door on the right, she stopped for some reason. The musty smell of the first floor and staircase was replaced with the distinct smell of smoke, even though the window at the end of the hallway was open.

"Before we go inside, I need to ask you one more question."

Nika paused near the door and nodded,. "When was the last time you were in your apartment?" the detective asked quietly.

"Yesterday, around seven-thirty. Kathryn came to pick me up. Why?"

"Your neighbor called the fire department just after ten." Nika looked at her expecting more information. "Go ahead, there’s no major damage, from the fire anyway." She was saying as she sliced through the tape holding the door closed, then she stepped back to let Nika be first into the apartment. Nika didn’t get very far; she stopped and stood staring. I stood in the doorway and looked around the door had been kicked in. It was a small studio type apartment. To the left of the door was the bathroom down a short hall. Nika and the detective blocked most of my view of the main room but I could see a mountain bike leaning against the wall. A scorched Japanese style folding screen was propped against it. Something that looked like long silk curtains hung over the bed in the corner; one purple one blue much of the blue one had been burned and was hanging in tatters. Nika moved and I could see the blackened bedspread had once been a beautiful hand-made crazy quilt. The detective followed Nika so I followed her. Nika sat down heavily in a leather club chair; the one piece of furniture in the room that looked like it had been bought new, not salvaged or inherited. I gasped as I noticed the word bitch staining the wall between the two far windows. I looked at Nika’s back. She was bent over, head in her hands, elbows on her knees; she was shaking. I moved to the leather ottoman and took one of her hands in mine not knowing what to say. They looked to me like tears of anger and her face was filled with rage. She would not look at me, her jaw was tightly clenched, her cheeks white, the skin around her eyes red and blotchy.

"You have insurance?" Jeffries asked. I glanced over my shoulder to look at her. She was leaning her hip against the kitchen counter, her arms crossed over her small breasted chest. At least the look on her face was sympathetic. When I looked back to Nika she was nodding ‘yes’ in response, her lips tightening. "As you can see the perpetrator somehow gained access, threw some of your things around, then used one of your red candles to graffiti the wall. It appears the same candle was used to smash the dresser mirror." I concentrated on Nika’s face; watching her eyes move with each piece of information. "Then they sprayed the bed with lighter fluid, and used another candle to light it." Nika’s eyes veered towards her bicycle, both tires were flat and sporting deep gashes from a very sharp knife. She leaned her face down into her free hand and tears dripped through her fingers. "No-one else has keys to your apartment?" Nika shook her head. "Luckily the older lady across the hall smelled something, she called 911 and then went to get your other neighbor," she checked her small notebook, "Mr Hoang, he kicked in the door and was using the extinguisher from the hall, when the Fire department arrived."

"Is he ok?" Nika asked from behind her hand.

"Minor smoke inhalation, they were both very worried about you." More tears.

Jeffries had walked closer and crouched down looking at me. "It appears this was not a random attack, nothing of value was stolen." My face felt suddenly hot, wondering if Mark could go this low.