Illicit Artifacts Page 10

  She hit the button for the wall jets and stood there while steady, pulsing streams hit every knot in her tense body. So nice. Two jets pulsated against the muscles under her shoulder blades. She concentrated on the water, letting her mind go blank.

  “I’m never gonna get out,” she muttered.

  “You might have to. I do eventually have to lock up.”

  Jil opened her eyes and saw Sian turning on the water in the inlet across from her.

  Sian’s tanned skin gleamed in the streaming water as the rain head soaked her dark hair and ran in rivulets down her round, smooth breasts.

  She stared for a second, without meaning to, feeling her nipples harden, then ducked back under the water.

  She finished rinsing out her hair and dared to look up.

  Sian’s arms were stretched up as she pulled conditioner through her own dark strands. Her skin stretched taut over her front ribs and her ab muscles rippled gently—tight, but feminine. She hadn’t crossed the line into body builder. As Jil squeezed body wash into her puff, she watched out of the corner of her eye.

  Sian lathered soap all over her body, then, slowly, like she knew she was being watched, put one leg up on the lower shelf of the shower and ran one hand down her abdomen, down between her legs.

  Jil gasped.

  Sian opened her eyes and their gazes locked. “Do you want me to join you, or are you joining me?”

  Jil felt her lower abs flutter.

  A small smile tugging at the side of her mouth, Sian left her own inlet and came into Jil’s. With a light shove, she turned Jil around and pressed her breasts to the gleaming mosaic tile, then took the soap puff from her. Starting at Jil’s neck, she lathered her up—her back, her butt, all the way down to her legs. Jil groaned under her breath as Sian’s perfect nipples made contact with her back and Sian’s fingers ran up the back of her thighs, across her waist, and around…

  “Christ,” she muttered as Sian’s finger and thumb gently squeezed her nipples. She felt herself melting under Sian’s hot touch. Heat flared between her legs, and she slowly turned around, wanting more.

  “What do you want?” Sian asked, her dark eyes searching Jil’s.

  Jil closed her eyes.

  “Tell me.”

  Jil breathed out. “I want to be fucked until I can’t think.”

  Sian ran her teeth over Jil’s breasts, teasing each nipple with the razor-edge of pain before sucking one, then the other, back into her mouth. Jil hissed, her back pressed against the wall as Sian’s mouth explored her.

  Tongue and teeth assaulted her skin while Sian’s hands slid around her back, drawing her closer.

  She let Sian slide one leg between hers, parting her knees, and turn her around so one of the jets streamed directly, though not hard, against her groin.

  “Fuck,” she moaned.

  “Yeah, that’s the plan.”

  Sian stepped behind her, holding her up and paying solicitous attention to Jil’s breasts with both her hands. Then one hand traveled down, parting her legs farther, and one finger slipped between her folds to caress her throbbing clit, while the water stream surged around her fingers, widening her pleasure zone.

  Jil gasped and opened herself more, letting Sian explore her hot slickness while the water pulsed her closer and closer to an orgasm. Sian took her time, stroking gently, then, as Jil’s clit throbbed harder, pressed harder, faster.

  Jil opened her eyes to see Sian flicking the jet switch on the wall.

  “I’m going to come,” she groaned.

  Sian tightened her grip and put her mouth to Jil’s ear. “Come hard.”

  The pressure built between her legs, surging higher and stronger as Sian worked her nipples. She moaned louder, not caring if anyone might be listening outside the door, as the sensations overwhelmed her, pushing her closer and closer. The water pulsed and carried her right over the edge. “Oh!” she cried, arching into Sian’s tight embrace. “God!”

  She felt her limbs go slack, and Sian pulled her gently backward, until she was sitting on the stone bench carved into the shower. She exhaled in a half groan.

  “How was that?” Sian grinned.

  Jil looked up and matched her smirk. “As close to fucked dumb as I’ve been in a while.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jil reached up and grabbed Sian by the ass, pulling her closer, then pressed her face into her hard lower abs. She felt the heat emanating from Sian’s skin as her fingers caught Jil’s hair.

  “You don’t have to,” Sian said gently, even as Jil moved her hands around her waist to hold her hips. “It was a one-way offer.”

  “I like two-ways,” Jil replied. She kissed down the inches of space between Sian’s bellybutton and the dividing line of her close-trimmed hair. Sian braced a hand against the mosaic wall and groaned quietly, leaning her head against her hand.

  Jil kissed lower, slipping one thumb into the tight, hot space above Sian’s clit and stroking gently. Sian’s legs melted, both hands on the wall now, parting her thighs to let Jil in.

  Jil slipped in her tongue, using the tip to stroke up the underside of Sian’s clit, slowly, maddeningly, toward the head, as her hand braced the small of Sian’s back, holding her in place.

  “God yes, just like that.” Sian tilted her hips upward, and Jil complied with her unspoken request, angling two fingers and pushing them gently inside, deeper, as Sian’s muscles clenched around her and she groaned.

  Jil set a slow rhythm in and out while using her tongue to drive Sian crazy. She felt her edging toward climax and kept it slow and steady until everything felt hot and tight and throbbing.

  “Please,” Sian whispered.

  Jil looked up and met her gaze, making sure Sian was really close. Sian groaned again, and Jil sucked her whole clit into her mouth until Sian bucked against her, moaning swear words.

  Jil pulled her mouth away and looked up as Sian pushed away from the wall, then leaned against the far partial wall and slid onto the opposite bench to turn off the body jets.

  Water still streamed from the rain head, making the inlet steamy.

  “Do that often?” Jil joked.

  Sian shook her head. “If I did, I’d probably be fired.”

  *

  When she came out of the locker room, Sian was waiting by the front desk, freshly showered, pink cheeks glowing.

  “The men’s showers were empty,” she said in answer to Jil’s unasked question.

  Jil laughed.

  “Want to grab a drink?”

  Jil shrugged. “Sure. That’d be nice.”

  “You look like you need to talk.”

  “Ha.” Jil walked out with her, across the street to a small pub. “Talking’s not something I do much of.”

  “I noticed that.” Sian grinned. “I would have been okay with the alternative. But something tells me you’re seeing someone.”

  “I was, yeah. You?”

  “Sort of. Not serious.”

  The pub was quiet, with only a few patrons, most of them with gym bags on their chairs.

  “It’s kind of pointless to work out if you’re just going to have a plate of apps at eleven p.m.” Jil pulled apart a mozzarella stick and dipped half into the marinara sauce.

  Sian took a sip of her margarita and shrugged. “I think you probably deserve it.”

  Jil smiled wanly through a mouthful of cheese. “I didn’t come to the gym to pick up a confessor.”

  “Yeah, well, turns out you didn’t come to pick up a casual fuck either.”

  “No. Believe it or not, I came to hit things so I could sleep tonight.”

  “I saw that. Anyway, I think you’ll meet your goal.”

  Jil looked down. Normally, a workout like that would put her in a coma, but she couldn’t shake this aching feeling that kept her awake at night. Losing Elise had been bad enough, but losing Jess too…

  “So, who is she?” Sian took a sip of her drink and put one foot up on her chair so she could lean against her
knee.

  “She’s…this woman I’ve been dating.”

  “Yeah, I gathered that much. Does she have a name?”

  Jil smirked. “She’s, um, private about her private life.”

  “Ah. A closet case.” Sian grabbed a mozzarella stick. “And you’re not.”

  Jil shook her head. “I said I thought we could work it out, but I’m finding that a lot more difficult than I planned…”

  “Is it her family or her work?”

  Jil considered. She didn’t know much about Jess’s family. “Mostly work.”

  Sian bit off a bite of cheese and nodded, shrugging. “Well, out of the two, I think work is the easier one to overcome.”

  Settling back into her chair, Jil tucked one foot up. Was this something they could overcome, or were they over for good?

  Chapter Fourteen

  The next morning, Jil’s eyes snapped open just as dawn started to break, and she watched the peak of the church tower light up with the first morning rays.

  She rolled out of her bed down the hall from Elise’s bedroom and straight into the en suite.

  She’d thought about moving into the master, but it still felt like Elise’s private sanctuary, and when she was here, she still felt like the sixteen-year-old runaway sleeping in the single bed down the hall.

  A sound like an eagle screaming issued from downstairs. Zeus yawning. She stretched, wondering why her limbs felt so relaxed, then remembered the gym the night before.

  She flashed to the memory of Jess storming out of her flat. Maybe she should just let her go. Things were complicated enough already without adding a relationship to the mix. She and Jess had been one step behind the ball the entire time they’d known each other. Was it possible to build something lasting out of so much conflict?

  Jess was not a one-night stand kind of woman any more than Jil was a monogamist. But since Jil had met Jess, she hadn’t even thought about other women—definitely unlike her. Especially when Sian had been ready and willing.

  She’d told Jess she wanted a relationship and she’d meant it.

  So why did she have this thorny, prickly feeling in her gut when she imagined making a home with her?

  Sian’s hands on her breasts. She felt her abs clench again, just thinking about it. But it wouldn’t fulfil her and she knew it.

  Downstairs, she opted for coffee and turned the machine on while she fed Zeus. He approached his raised water bowl and slurped noisily. Water splashed on his face and over the side of the dish.

  “Get a little in your mouth, why don’t you?”

  Zeus raised his great head, reminding Jil of a hippopotamus emerging from a swamp—water pouring from his loose jowls, pooling on the floor. Jil rolled her eyes and reached for a large tea towel while the Dane moved on to his breakfast.

  She waited for the coffee machine to fill the carafe. Sleep still edged the corners of her consciousness, and she couldn’t quite wake up. Zeus finished eating, then stretched his enormous paws in front of him, his ass in the air in the perfect downward-dog. And farted.

  “Charming.”

  Zeus shook his ears, his tongue lolling, then stared at the door.

  “Ready for a walk, are you? Let’s go, then.” If it weren’t for Zeus, she probably would have stayed out all night, drinking more than she should have at that bar, and doing God knows what with Sian. A tingle ran from her bellybutton down between her legs, thinking about what they could have done last night.

  Coming home had definitely been the best decision. Until she figured out what she and Jess wanted, she didn’t have room for any more women on deck.

  She shook that thought out of her head for the next four blocks.

  *

  Jil approached the counter at the bank.

  “How can I help you?” The young man behind the counter looked over his large square glasses.

  “I have a key to our family safety deposit box.”

  “Do you know the box number?”

  Jil read the number from the back of her hand, where she’d scrawled it. Normally, she would have memorized that without problem, but since Elise had died, her memory seemed to have followed her into the mausoleum.

  “I’ll have to ask you for some identification, please.” He stared at her oddly.

  Not this again.

  Jil produced her driver’s license and waited while he scanned it through a machine, then looked at something on his computer. “Do you have another piece of ID?”

  “What would you like?” Jil asked. “Credit card? Library card? Passport?”

  “I’ll take whatever you have.”

  She handed over several pieces of ID. “Do you need a urine sample as well?”

  He startled, then cracked a smile. “Sorry. I’ll be right back. He walked over to an older man in a tie—probably the bank manager—and said something to him.

  In a moment, they both approached. “Would you please come with me into my office?” the bank manager said.

  “May I have my driver’s license back, please?”

  “We need to take a copy of it first, and then Tyler will get it right back to you.”

  Tyler made his way to the copy machine behind the desk.

  “What’s this about?” Jil asked as the bank manager ushered her into an office and closed the glass door—though she could already guess.

  “I’m very sorry for the secrecy, but there’s been an issue recently with that box number.”

  “What sort of issue?”

  “Well, yesterday, a Jillienne Kidd arrived at the bank and requested access to the box.”

  “I never requested access.”

  “No, clearly not. The other woman looked just like you, but she could not produce a driver’s license, and her other documents did not pass our advanced forgery screenings.” She detected a note of pride in the bank manager’s voice.

  “Someone has been impersonating me here at the bank?” Now why wasn’t that a surprise?

  “It seems so. We reported the incident to the police, and they came to investigate. Then, just yesterday, we had a visit from another detective, who wanted access to the box as part of an ongoing theft investigation. I had to inform him that he would have to obtain a warrant for the contents.”

  Jil’s heart sped up, but she maintained a neutral expression.

  “Detective Fraser, by any chance?”

  “You’re aware of this investigation?”

  Best to keep her suspicions to herself for now. “Yes. Something was stolen from our house, and Detective Fraser is assigned to the case. Has he been back?”

  “No. He said he’d return this afternoon with the warrant, but in the meantime, you’ve arrived, and…you see…it’s rather complicated.”

  “Yes, I see that.” Jil sighed. “Well, to be frank, I’d like to get into the box first. There are some materials in there I’m not sure I want made public.”

  “I understand.”

  “So, without a warrant in place, is access to the box frozen, or can I get in?”

  The bank manager sighed. “Well, seeing as your name is on the lease as well as Mrs. Fitzgerald’s, it seems as though it should be business as usual until the warrant arrives, doesn’t it?”

  Jil smiled. “That would be my way of looking at things.”

  “Just so you’re aware of the situation.”

  Jil held out her antique key. “Also, I think I have a slight advantage. No warrant is going to open that antique box.”

  He smiled.

  “This way, please.” Tyler led her past the wickets and through a large steel door to a room filled floor-to-ceiling with small metal boxes.

  “Over here.” Tyler gestured to a column of boxes, and Jil found her number, second from the bottom. He pulled her box out for her and laid it on the table, then turned and left.

  Jil stood and stared at it for a moment, running her hands over the cool, smooth surface. A part of her didn’t want to know what it contained. So many things seemed to c
ome at her from the depths of Elise’s life—things she didn’t feel she had the right to know.

  She pulled a thin folder marked “Inventory” out of the box and opened it. The folder contained fifteen pages, single sided, with thumbnail pictures and a caption and description of each item. In total, twenty-two paintings, four Fabergé, ten Anglo-Saxon artifacts, fifteen pieces of jewelry, and ten miscellaneous pieces, including the cigarette lighter. She put the folder in her bag. No time to examine it now. She would have to read it later.

  In a small velvet pouch, she found another key.

  “Of course,” she muttered. When had Elise found enough time to orchestrate this elaborate treasure hunt?

  Tyler met her when she’d finished and moved inside to put the box away. He smiled at her on the way out and mouthed, “Good luck.”

  *

  In the middle of the night, Zeus let out a howl and jumped from his dog bed. He growled low in his throat as he paced wildly.

  Jil swung her legs out of bed, grabbed a flashlight, and headed to the door. For the first time since she’d left St. Marguerite’s, she wished she had her gun back.

  Zeus banged against the bedroom door with his enormous paw and would barely step back to let Jil open it. Once in the hall, he barked again. In the dark, ricocheting off the walls and chandelier, the sound was terrifying.

  Jil followed him down the stairs and he leapt against the front door, both paws up on the glass. “Down, Zeus!” What if his paws went right through the glass?

  She wrestled him away from the door by jamming her body in front of him. But by the time she slid back the deadbolt, unhooked the chain, and opened the door, nobody was there.

  Zeus barked again, but the hackles on the back of his neck had settled down a little.

  Jil looked down on the porch. There had been no snow, and the ground was dry, so she didn’t expect any footprints.

  Something glinted on the concrete. An earring…She picked it up. A gold hoop.

  She grabbed her coat and the flashlight Elise kept in the front closet, then made Zeus stand guard as she scanned the front garden.

  Silence.

  She ran to the end of the driveway and looked up and down the street.

  There.