0 comments/ 51491 views/ 7 favorites Strange Foreplay By: ForMySaniT The police department was a busy place to be. Her shift should have ended long ago but, somehow she had been roped into staying another few hours. The police detective didn't need to be told that she would most likely be late for her date with her girlfriend. With a weary sigh, Rachael answered the phone at her desk. "Yeah," she groaned. "This better be good." "I'm in trouble," she heard the voice on the phone utter barely above a whisper. Rachael sighed with a smirk. Her longtime friend saying that there was another crisis in her life was not a new occurrence. Sarah was always in trouble. When was she not? "What did you do, now, Sarah?" Rachael had asked with a laugh. Hours later as she drove home, Rachael wondered if perhaps she should not have been so quick to dismiss her friend's words as nothing more than Sarah overreacting to a minor problem. "If this is nothing out of the ordinary," Rachael asked herself, "then why am I so worried about it? It doesn't make sense. Sarah is hiding something." Resting her chin against her fist, she looked ahead to the steady traffic that was threatening to make her even more late for her date with her girlfriend, Gale. Unfortunately, this had not been the first time that she had not been on time for one of their dates. Gale was beginning to become accustomed to it which Rachael couldn't say particularly settled well with her. Why should she be happy that her girlfriend expected her to be late? And yet, this was just a part of her life as a police officer. Things came up. She hoped that Gale would understand. Much to her surprise her girlfriend was doing just that which usually tended to be a problem with her girlfriends. Battling traffic turned out to be more dangerous than any criminals Rachael had ever faced. She was more than happy, when she finally arrived to the safety of her home. This contentedness grew leaps and bounds as she enjoyed her hot shower. It was just before 8:00pm, when Rachael jogged lightly down the front steps of her Dallas home, seeing a black convertible parked along the curb. She smiled at the woman, leaning against it with crossed arms. "Is that what you're wearing?" Gale asked with a smirk. Rachael looked down at her jeans and her white t-shirt. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" she asked. Her smile intensified as she drew closer to her lover. "You like me this way." The twenty year old Latin woman looked away with both a blush and a smile. "Are you ready?" Laughing under her breath, the police detective could not get over how obvious that subject change had been. Her lover was terrible about avoiding topics concerning emotions, whatever those happened to be, even something as simple as her liking of Rachael's clothes. "Wanna take my truck?" Rachael pointed over her shoulder to the black Ram in the drive. Gale arched her eyebrow as she looked over to the menacing 4X4. As a petite woman, a truck, especially a large truck with a roll bar, lights package and its— she winced— lift kit, was just too much for her. "Sure, lover. I've been practicing my pole-vault," she joked. It wasn't a big surprise to her that Gale wouldn't jump at the chance to take her truck. Rachael knew that they would take her girlfriend's car which suited her just fine because Gale always let her drive the Corvette. When she was tossed the keys to the 1967 black convertible, she did not suppress her smile. She darted a kiss to her lover's cheek before eagerly pushing her out of the way so that she could move into the driver's side. Her eyes followed the young woman walking around to the passenger side. Slipping behind the wheel, Rachael relaxed in her seat. A faint frown wrinkled her forehead. "What's wrong?" Gale asked fastening her seatbelt. Shaking her head, Rachael said, "Someone short has been in here." Gale laughed as her lover adjusted the driver's seat to allow the room needed for her longer legs. "Someone short, huh?" she chuckled. "Damn those short people driving your car." Giving Gale a wicked grin, Rachael nodded in agreement. "I'm telling ya. This car always has the seat way too close to the wheel. How am I supposed to drive with my legs all bunched up like that?" "It's a mystery. I mean, who would do that?" Rachael shrugged, starting the powerful engine with a rev. "I don't know but, if I catch 'em, someone's getting handcuffed." Offering her wrists, Gale smiled. "Oo, I confess. I did it." Playfully slapping her girlfriend's hands, Rachael took relief in their playing. It had been a long day and having this chance to unwind with Gale certainly helped a great deal. "Come on," she said forcing herself to be serious. They were going to have a hour long drive north of Dallas to Sarah's country home. "We need to hurry or we are going to be really late. I told Sarah that—" "Sarah?" Gale held up her hand, putting an end to her lover's sentence. "What are you talking about?" "Sarah... you know my friend for years," Rachael reminded in a sarcasm-filled voice. "The woman that we are meeting." Gale closed her hazel eyes, taking a long moment to collect her thoughts. Rachael squirmed a bit under the silence emanating from her girlfriend. Silence was never a good sign, she told herself. She waited for Gale to speak and let her in on the reason that she was so upset. "You forgot; didn't you?" Gale whispered. "Forgot what?" "I told you that we had plans, tonight." Rachael knew that her memory was not always great but, she could not think of anything that she had forgotten. "Yeah, we have plans with Sarah." "Dammit, Ray! That is not what we were supposed to be doing, tonight!" "Well, then remind me what we are supposed to be doing." Gale held her breath for what Rachael thought must have been just long enough for the woman to pass out. Then, finally after exhaling a long weary breath, she turned away. With a wave of her hand, she said, "Hurry, Sarah is expecting us." Now, Rachael was upset. She hated, when Gale did that. It was like her girlfriend used some sort of on/off switch with her emotions. "Tell what you are thinking, Gale." "Nothing," the younger woman mumbled. "You're lying." Rachael arched her eyebrow. "Tell me." "There is nothing to tell. Let's go." "Not until you tell me what you wanted to do." "I had made reservations for us. It isn't anything important, alright." "If you thought enough to plan something out, then, yes, it is important." Rachael looked down at her watch. "Can we still make it?" Gale turned to look at her lover with a mix of emotions in her eyes. None, more apparent than the surprise which showed so clearly. "Yeah but..." "Okay, we'll go," Rachael promised. "Just as soon as we leave Sarah's house." If it were possible for a person to growl as an animal does, Rachael was certain that her lover just had. She reached out touching her girlfriend's neck, knowing that it would calm the woman. That growl slowly turned into a soft purr as her nails lightly scratched along the nape of Gale's neck. "I'm sorry, baby, but, this is business. I have to talk to Sarah. Then, I'm all yours." "As you wish." Gale slipped away from Rachael's hand, staring out to the opposite direction. Rachael arched her eyebrow. She hated those words, when said that way. "As you wish," in this particular instance meant that Gale was too weary to fight, that she was hurt but, would let this go because she didn't wish to drag this out any longer than necessary. "It's going to be a long drive," Rachael grumbled as she pulled out. A long drive, it had most certainly been. Conversation, tense to say the least, turned into arguing which ended the hour long drive in utter silence. The tall raven-haired woman got out of the black convertible. Rachael let the door close with an audible slam, putting a very dramatic end to the argument that she and her girlfriend were having and had been having for the past half hour. However, in those last ten minutes, her girlfriend had hardly said a word. That was never a good sign. It was always a bit like the calm before the storm. Or— and she hoped that she was wrong about this being the case in this particular instance— it meant that her lover was not angry but, hurt. Either way, it was not good. Looking over her shoulder to the woman, who sat sulking with her arms crossed, Rachael arched her eyebrow. Wearily, she shook her head. Rachael didn't like fighting with her lover. Sure, she could hold her own in a fight. There was no denying that she gave as good as she got. Then again, she wondered, what enjoyment was to be had in arguing? Leaning back against the car, Rachael crossed her arms. She looked down at her jean-covered legs, taking in the way that they were linked at the ankles. She could feel the first of that familiar pounding beginning within her temples. Damn, this day just kept getting better and better, she thought darkly. "Are you coming inside, Gale?" she asked softly. The younger Latin woman ran her fingers through her dark brown hair, staring into the other direction seeming to ignore her girlfriend with a weary sigh. After a long tension-filled silence, she spoke barely above a mumble. "Do you want me to?" "I'd like for you to." Rachael turned to see her girlfriend. "Sarah enjoys seeing you. It would be nice, if you came in to say, hello." Rachael waited out the pause with a terrible strain collecting in her shoulders. Sure they were talking again but, that didn't mean that everything was suddenly better. Their conversation was forced now. It didn't feel the same and they both knew it. Gale quietly got out of the car. She walked around to the driver's side to stand beside her lover. Although, her eyes avoided Rachael's at all costs. Long raven hair framed the police officer's face as she narrowed brown eyes on her girlfriend. What is Gale hiding by avoiding my eyes, she wondered. "You okay to go in, now?" she asked in the same gentle tone. "Fine," Gale answered so faintly that Rachael almost didn't hear her. Rachael knew better than to believe that answer. She was about to press for another more honest response, when she noticed that the front door was slightly open. A tingling inside the pit of her gut told her that something was not right. Her eyes focused on the door, seeing that there was a black scuff near the doorknob. Acting on instinct, she reached for her gun inside its holster at her left side. When Rachael withdrew the gun from inside her leather jacket, Gale turned to steel. She looked over her shoulder to the direction in which her lover was looking. "What's wrong, love?" "Stay here," Rachael commanded, heading for the front door, gun drawn. Gale started to protest but, a raised hand told her that this was not up for discussion. She watched nervously as her girlfriend disappeared silently into the house. Rachael entered into her friend's home, seeing that everything seemed to be normal. That is, everything was normal except for that unnatural silence that seemed to always take effect, whenever something was not right. Quickly maneuvering through the rooms of the first floor, she found that no one was here. Yet that nagging feeling stayed with her. A person racing through the dining room door caused her to aim her gun directly at the intruder. "Rachael," Gale shouted before blanching once she saw the gun pointed at her head. "Jeez, Gale. I coulda killed you!" Rachael lowered her gun. "What the hell are you doing in here?! I told you to wait outside." "Someone is driving off!" Gale said pointing to the front of the house. "Dammit, I lost 'em!" Rachael started to rush out the front door, when she heard something or rather someone moving around in the basement. Gale's hazel eyes widened in fear. "Love, aren't you supposed to call for reenforcements or something," she asked nervously following her lover. Rachael stopped at the door to the basement, feeling her girlfriend's hands resting upon her shoulders. She looked over her shoulder to the woman behind her. "Baby, they're called backup not reenforcements and I can't right now," she said. For a brief moment, she was distracted by her lover moving away from her and then quickly returning. She looked back at her girlfriend then struggled not to laugh. "Are you planning on building a fire?" she asked referring to the poker in Gale's hand. Gale smirked despite the gravity of the situation. "I am not letting you go down there by yourself," she whispered. "This could be dangerous. You could get hurt." Gale winked at her lover. "Like you'll let anyone hurt me," she smiled. It was true. Rachael knew that she would never allow anything to happen to her girlfriend. She was just protective in that way. It was the only thing about her that Gale's family appreciated in their relationship. She forced her thoughts away from the General and that entire overbearing family, for now. Taking in a deep breath, Rachael kicked the basement door in. Her mind immediately took in the depth of the basement and just how steep these stairs were. It would be so easy for someone to be injured. She rushed down the stairs feeling their wobbling under her weight but, ignored it as she pointed her gun in every direction until she was certain that this particular angle was safe to turn away from. "Police!" Rachael announced into the darkness. "Come out where I can see you. Do it slowly and keep your hands up!" Gale walked slowly down the stairs, stopping midway. She didn't like the shaky feeling. "Detective," she said softly. Gale knew that in certain situations her lover would much rather have the outside world see them as a bit distant to avoid people from using her as a means to get to Rachael. "We should go out to the car so that we can keep tabs on the other patrols coming. They will want to speak to you." Rachael smiled to herself as she searched the basement. There were no other cars coming. She knew that. Gale knew that. However, if there was anyone listening in the shadows, they might be sweating bullets now. She tensed with the sound of creaking floorboards above them. "Someone's back in the house." Rachael's brown eyes widened in realization. "Gale, out! We were set up!" Rushing back to the stairs, Rachael pushed her girlfriend to move. When the door slammed close and locked, she couldn't believe that she had fallen for this. If she was a rookie, she might have expected for this to happen but, now... She had more experience than this. Moving her lover to the side, the taller woman began ramming into the locked door. With each time her shoulder impacted into the door, she could feel the stairs sway. Gale looked down at the steps beneath them. "Ray, these stairs aren't going to hold us. Stop!" "What the hell did those bastards do with Sarah?!" Rachael asked emphasizing each word with a shoulder to the door. Losing her battle with control, Rachael backed away enough to aim her gun properly at the door. She fired several shots around the outside of the knob making the lock virtually nonexistent. She looked back at her girlfriend, who was standing motionless midway down the steps. "Come on, Gale." Gale shook her head slowly then held her breath in fear. "What's wrong with you?!" Rachael jogged down the stairs stopping just in front of Gale, ignoring her girlfriend's pleas for her to stop. "What is it?!" Before Gale could answer, the two women felt the stairs beneath them collapsing. They fell several feet to the hard basement floor. It might have helped, if there had been something to break their fall. Unfortunately, the only thing for them to use as a cushion were the remains of the stairs. Groggily, Rachael rolled onto her side. She pushed up onto her elbow, taking a moment to shake the fuzz out of her head. "Gale," she said, trying to focus her eyes clearly. The petite woman gave a hissed intake of air. "Still here, lover." Rachael crawled over to her girlfriend with a concerned frown upon her face. She searched Gale's small body with her eyes. There did not seem to be anything that was broken. Gale might have a few scrapes and bruises but, for the most part, she was fine. Taking a bit of relief in that, Rachael rose to her feet, then, helped Gale to do the same. There was only the smallest trace of light peaking into the basement now that the door was closed. Trying to keep herself busy so that she would not focus on killing whoever had been behind all this, the detective looked for a lantern or lamp of some kind. It was not long before she found a few candles and matches. Rachael placed the candles sporadically throughout the basement all the while ignoring her lover's mumbling. Whenever Gale was upset, she tended to mumble. She knew that. It was not the first time that she had heard her lover doing this. However, with the frustration of their fight earlier, Sarah's house being taken over by whoever was now ransacking the place and being trapped in this basement, it was just too much. "You know, Gale," she said in frustration. "Sometimes, you drive me nuts!" Rachael looked across to the woman standing inside this dank basement with her. In the little light that the candles provided for them, she could just make out her lover's petite form. Her memory went back to that saying about things coming in small packages. Like dynamite, she thought with a mischievous smirk. Her lover was a young woman, who never failed to make her believe that two Latin women engaging in a relationship was a dangerous endeavor, indeed. Two people with that much pride and that much fire just had to be an accident waiting to happen; right? Gale stopped her scan of the basement and looked at her girlfriend with an arched brow. She ran her fingers through her dark shoulder-length brown hair. Her first response had been to yell out the first curse word that she could think of — whether that be in Spanish or English, she didn't care— but, she held strong against that urge. "I feel the same way about you, too, mi corazón," Gale said in a silky voice that gave her lover chills. Rachael quirked her brow in response to the sweet disposition that threatened to make her teeth hurt. "Okay, smartass. You aren't helping the matter. How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" Gale exhaled a long breath of anger. "Like I'm supposed to just pull a solution out of thin air or something." "Why not pull it out of your ass like every other smartass comment that you've been pulling since we got trapped in here?" Rachael countered feeling mighty proud of herself for that one. "Ray, if you weren't my girlfriend, I swear, I'd..." Gale raised her hands as though she might lock them around her lover's neck. "You don't have the guts," Rachael taunted with an arrogant smile. Gale howled behind clenched teeth before she finally gave in to a heartfelt laugh . "Damn, you give me a good reason to plead insanity at my trial for your murder," she chuckled. "Hmpf, if you killed me, there would probably be a parade not a trial." Rachael's smile intensified as she felt the first of the tension beginning to subside. Their humor had always been a bit different than other people's tended to be but, it never failed to make them laugh. Rachael was older than her lover, a fact which Gale reveled in reminding her girlfriend about whenever she needed a quick way to get back at her. Her tall body was envied by and lusted after by many which she knew. It would not be an exaggeration to say that she might have even prided herself upon it. She placed her hands on her curvaceous hips while looking around the dimly lit basement with concerned brown eyes. "We're in trouble, you know," she announced rather calmly. There was no sense in trying to sugar-coat this. Strange Foreplay Gale nodded. "Yeah, those stairs really gave under all that weight." "And if you say that it was because of my weight on them, Gale, I swear, I'll throttle you!" Rachael warned. "What?!" Gale smirked. "I never said a word." She allowed her eyes to rake slowly over her lover. She did love the way that Rachael looked in jeans and a white t-shirt. Not to mention, her leather jacket never failed to drive this little rich girl crazy, she thought. "You don't have to; I know you." Rachael knew that even in circumstances like these Gale would not be able to resist making a joke to lighten the mood. It was just her lover's way to deal with a situation in that manner. Whenever things got too serious, out came the jokes. "Well, Ray, the stairs did break after you stormed down them in your 'I am Xena. Hear me roar,' frame of mind." "Xena?! What the hell are you talking about? You watch Way too much damn tv." Rachael turned away from her girlfriend, knowing that she had charged down the stairs, acting first and thinking later. Hoping to take the pressure off of herself, she added, "You know that stuff will rot your brain." "Oh, goody, I got trapped in here with my mother," Gale frowned. "You can't do the things that we do with your mother, Gale." Placing her hands on her hips, Gale's jaw muscles danced beneath the surface."Who says? Y'all are about the same age; aren't you?" Looking over her shoulder, Rachael huffed a laugh. "So you're saying you like to fuck your mother?" Gale's response was less than vocal but, it said plenty. The raised middle finger only brought about a laugh from Rachael. "Oh, you're going to need more than that one finger to get a rise out of me, lover," Rachael countered smugly. Fighting not to laugh, Gale placed two fingers to her mouth, parting them into a "v" around her lips and wiggling her tongue obscenely between them. "Have I mentioned how much I love it, when you talk dirty to me, Gale?" Rachael thought that she and Gale had always shared an odd sort of foreplay. Her girlfriend doing a small curtsey in her short black dress, only furthered Rachael's belief that this had to be one of the most facetious woman that she had ever met. Next to yourself, of course, her inner voice added. Brown eyes narrowed on the younger woman as she took in the sexy black dress. She wondered why she had not noticed it before now. Gale's dress looked more like it should be a slip or some sexy nightie than it did an actual dress. Why so dressed up, she wondered. Rachael might have asked about the reason for the sexy attire if now, had been the time or place for such discussions. For now, she told herself, it would just have to wait. Looking up at the first few stairs which had managed to survive the collapse, Rachael wondered how they could get up to the door. "Hey, if I lift you up there, do you think that you can reach the door?" Gale frowned, biting the corner of her bottom lip. "I guess, love, but..." "But, what?" Rachael asked. She motioned for her girlfriend to join her. "Come here, lover." Sighing, Gale went to her girlfriend. She used Rachael as support while she took off her strappy black heels. Her nervousness showed in her hazel eyes as she stared up at the stairs hanging ominously above them. "I've got you, baby," Rachael promised. "I won't let you fall." Gale took comfort in the words uttered by her lover but, she still looked very concerned about what might happen next. "I know that you wouldn't let anything happen to me, corazón. It's those stairs that I am worried about. They don't like me the way you do." Rachael tensed a bit. "Do you want to try to find another way?" Smoothing her lover's cheek, Gale shook her head. "Thanks for offering, love, but, we both know that this is our only way out." She hadn't wanted to pressure Gale into doing this, if she had felt that it was too dangerous to do. Then again, Rachael knew that this was, in all honesty, their only way out. There were no tables, no boxes, no ladders. There was nothing of any kind that they could use to boost themselves out of this makeshift prison. What stood out even more in her mind was that she could see no windows of any kind. Basements always had small windows in them. Why was this basement any different? Rachael bent her legs at the knees, placing her weight into them. While standing shoulder-width apart, she laced her fingers together tightly. She concentrated on strengthening her arms, then motioned with her chin for her girlfriend to go, whenever she was ready. Gale placed her left foot inside Rachael's hands. Securing herself by holding her girlfriend's shoulders, she could feel her body being hoisted upward. Once raised high enough, she crawled onto her lover's shoulders. Then timidly, she stood on those shoulders, hoping that she was not too heavy. "You're fine," Rachael said, seeming to sense what her girlfriend was thinking at that moment. She looked up, taking in the smooth line of the woman's lean legs, moving higher still until her eyes stopped on the apex of her lover's legs. "And you're not wearing panties," she added with a bit of surprise. Gale felt the heat of the blush upon her cheeks. "Yeah, well, that was supposed to be one of your surprises for the evening." She reached upward, straining desperately in the hopes that she might grasp the stairs. "Surprise!" she joked wearily. Rachael didn't want to take her eyes away from her lover's sex. She took in the natural slope of her and the thin sliver of dark hair left untouched by Gale's almost ritualistic waxing. Lips seeming to pout for attention forced her to finally look away. Her heart beating wildly inside her chest only heightened this hunger that was steadily taking over her thought pattern. Think about something else, her inner voice commanded. "Janet Reno. Janet Reno. Janet Reno," she whispered over and over again in a soft chant. "What?" Gale asked stretching even more to reach those elusive steps. "Nothing. I'm fine." Arching her brow, Gale glanced down quickly. "I will ignore that, for now." "What?" " 'I'm fine,' never means, I'm fine, when a woman says it." Rachael smiled in a way that showed the purity of her thoughts. "Lover, hurry. You are distracting me." "Oh," the younger woman blushed. "Sorry." Gale found her eyes locking with Rachael's for a moment which left her under their spell. Luckily, the hand patting her thigh awakened her from her trance. She immediately returned to her task, knowing that they would need to get out of here soon. While Rachael struggled with the wicked thoughts running throughout her mind, she knew that she would need to think of anything that might distract her from Gale's exposed sex. She forced herself to think of the situation at hand, concentrating on Gale's actions. Gale managed to catch hold of the bottom stair with her left hand. Clasping her other hand on the remnants of the railing, she fought to get a good grip. Rachael did her best to push Gale up as much as she could until the younger woman was in mid-air suspended by her arms, hanging onto the stairs. Pulling herself upward in the hardest chin-up of her natural life, Gale fumed. Why would someone do this to them? It didn't make sense. Who could possibly want to trap them like this? And what had happened to poor Sarah, she wondered. Watching her lover crawl up onto the stairs, Rachael could all but, feel Gale radiating heat. She wanted to tell her that the feeling was mutual but, decided against it, for the time being. Gale carefully stepped onto the next stair, hearing the wood creak and groan in protest. She held her breath for a moment as the steps lurched downward a few inches. "Gale?!" Rachael rushed forward, fearing that her girlfriend might fall. "I'm okay, love," Gale said more to assure herself than her lover. She took another step, ignoring the moan given by the swaying stairs. "Apparently, the gods of fate are against us doing this." Gale took another step after waiting for the swaying of the steps to cease. Rachael arched her brow, hating that she was down on the ground while her girlfriend was on that weakening platform. She was the police officer. It was her job to take these kinds of risks. It was not her girlfriend's job to be risking injury now. Gale reached out, taking hold of the railing, when a few nails began tearing away from the wall with an eerie slowness. Please don't let me fall, she began to repeat in a silent mantra. "Gale?" Rachael waited for what felt like an eternity before she heard Gale speak in confirmation of her safety. "I think it's going to hold me," Gale said infusing her voice with hopefulness. Arching her eyebrow, Rachael swallowed hard. Gale was lying. As surely as she could feel her heart beating out of control, she was certain that her girlfriend was lying to her now. "You're lying. Crawl back to me. I don't want you getting hurt. We'll find another way. There are always windows in basements. I know that we didn't see any but..." "I'm up here. I'm staying until I get through that door. Don't worry, love. This is a peace of cake." Again, she is lying to me, Rachael thought. In response to Gale's unspoken, "Things can't get any worse," there was a loud shrieking of wood tearing. The stairs drooped down several more inches as the young woman struggled not to fall to the cement floor below. From this high up, the fall would be much worse than it had been the first time, when they had been nearer to the bottom steps. Rachael was forced to jump back as the step behind the petite woman smashed into the floor just in front of her. "Gale!" Hazel eyes did not leave the nails steadily beginning to pull away from the wall. Their whining grew worse as she moved forward, knowing that if she didn't go for it and rush toward the door, she was going to shatter against the ground just as that board had done. The stairs groaned one final time as they tore away from the wall. The surface collapsing completely beneath Gale's feet was accompanied by a single scream. "Ray!!!" Throwing her arms up to protect her face from the pieces of scattering debris, Rachael felt her heart dropping with the sight of her lover impacting mercilessly into the basement floor. She rushed forward, kneeling down beside Gale, who lie crumpled motionlessly in the midst of the broken stair remains. Sweeping the younger woman into her arms, she gently cradled her head. "Gale," Rachael whispered smoothing her girlfriend's hair away from her face. Her fingers lightly traced over the gash above Gale's right eye. "Baby, wake up." The lump in her throat threatened to make her sick. "Come on, love. I know you like to make jokes but, this isn't funny. Wake up, now." The woman in her arms was so still. She watched over her now unable to take her eyes off of her. Rachael had found a blanket within the confines of this basement turned prison. She had placed her motionless lover gently on to it. Her leather jacket had been draped over Gale as a makeshift blanket with the same compassionate disposition. A deep sense of relief filled her as she heard a soft moan followed by the sight of lashes fluttering in the attempt at waking. It was not long before hazel eyes slowly opened to greet her. A sleepy smile curled Gale's lips as she looked up at her lover. She took in a deep breath, snuggling more into the warm jacket protecting her which smelt of her girlfriend's skin. "I do love waking up to you," she said dreamily. Rachael smiled happily after gently bestowing a kiss to Gale's head. "And you know how much I love to accommodate, you, pet, but, let's not make a habit of this." Gale frowned sleepily. Her eyes drifted down her girlfriend's torso then stopped on a collection of crimson at the abdomen. Fearfully, hazel eyes widened. "What happened? You're bleeding!" She lurched upward, then stopped as a wave of vertigo caused her to nearly black out again. Catching the woman, Rachael eased Gale's head to her chest. "Easy, love. That isn't My blood. You've been out for a while." She looked over her lover with concern in her eyes. "You fell; remember?" The slow nod that she received as her answer brought a slight comfort. At least nothing serious had been damaged in Gale's memory, she told herself. "How long was I out?" Gale held her head, feeling the pounding within. "Three hours." Rachael tensed her as mind recalled the sight of Gale's head hitting the basement floor. She pushed that thought away with much effort. "While you were out, I could hear them talking." "Them?" Gale frowned, unconsciously nuzzling her lover's neck. "How many are there?" A new kind of tension filled Rachael with the sensation caused by Gale's lips brushing against her skin. "There are at least four," she said. "I heard a woman that sounded a bit like Sarah. I couldn't make out what they were saying but, I'm certain that they haven't hurt her yet. They're keeping her alive for some reason. She must know something. Although, I haven't heard them for at least an hour. From what I can tell, I think they left." Gale took comfort in the arms embracing her. She turned inside embrace, leaning back against her lover. Her lips slowly kissed over Rachael's wrist while she theorized on what Sarah could possibly know that would endanger herself so badly. "When was the last time that you spoke to Sarah, Ray?" she asked absently, taking in her girlfriend's scent which had been lightly placed on Rachael's wrist. Rachael looked down on Gale, when she felt teeth raking teasingly over her wrist. She continued to dismiss Gale's actions as little more than affectionate touches. "We spoke today on the phone. She said that she was in trouble." A weary sigh left her lips. "I thought that she was exaggerating again. I completely blew her off." Gale reached around to the woman behind her, hugging her tightly. "There is no way that you could have known that any of this was going to happen." In deep thought, Rachael listened to her lover's voice. She had not been aware of her hand slipping beneath Gale's dress until she felt the contrast between the cool airy fabric of the black dress over her hand and the smooth warmth of Gale's breast against her palm. For the longest time her hand, remained motionless except for her thumb idly moving over the side of her girlfriend's breast. "Gale, I should have known that something was wrong. Maybe if I had..." Rachael felt the arms around her tighten their hold. The embrace put a definite end to her sentence. She gave a weary sigh, silently telling her girlfriend that she would stop trying to blame herself for this. Well, stop trying to blame herself aloud, she thought. Her lips kissed lazily over a cinnamon shoulder, moving their way up a long neck. In that moment, Rachael smiled despite their situation. Stabbing into her palm, she could feel the results of her kisses. A hardened nipple told her that Gale was enjoying her attention. "This is going to get us in trouble," she teased, nipping at her lover's neck. Gale was all but, purring. "I know. You really should stop doing that, lover." Rachael nodded. "I should," she agreed, moving her other hand around to cup Gale's other breast. A smile curled Gale's lips. "Oh, I can see that you are going to stop," she chuckled softly. "I am," Rachael protested weakly. She slowed her kisses. "See." Angling her neck to grant more access to her girlfriend, Gale let her hands slide over the woman behind her. "Perhaps, we should distract ourselves before we get too into this." "Hmm, maybe you're right. What should we discuss?" "You pick, love." "Anything?" "Anything, you want, my love." Rachael smiled victoriously. "I'm going to hold you to that." "Alright, give me your best shot." "There is something that I would like to talk about," Rachael started weakly. "Um... about earlier. You know, in the car..." A tension filled her lover. Rachael could feel it. She decided to press on allowing her concern to openly fill her voice. "We got into it kind of bad today and..." "Do you really want to talk about this now?!"Gale asked with a groaned displeasure. She pulled away slightly. "Why not?" "This isn't exactly a good time," the younger woman sighed. "I just need to know what happened... you know, in your opinion." "My opinion?" "Yeah, what do you think happened, Gale?" "I can't believe you want to have this discussion, now." "What's so bad about now? We aren't going anywhere, baby. Unless you have something better to do than talk to me about this?" "I don't want to talk about this, Ray!" "Why not?" Rachael already knew the answer to that question but, she was going to make Gale tell her regardless of that fact. "Tell me, lover." "Why do you always ask me questions which you KNOW that I would much rather not answer?" Sighing, Gale muttered something about Rachael not fighting fair which caused her lover to smile. She finally gave in to her girlfriend's request. Although, she was less than pleased with Rachael for asking this of her or herself for complying with the request. "I kind of broke my own code of ethics with you, today." "What code?" Rachael asked. "Getting too emotional about things..." Gale glanced over her shoulder to the woman behind her. "I really put myself out there with you. I felt just like I did on those stairs and my response from you was to... just kind of pat me on the head and say, 'Aw, that's sweet.' I didn't handle that well." The raven-haired police officer winced. "I wasn't that bad; was I?" Looking down, Gale remembered the tension-filled drive. "I said that I wasn't used to that; okay. You can call me a princess if you want but, I'm used to picking out what I like, saying that I want it and having it simply because I want it." She laughed softly under her breath. "I had more toys than any child I can think of." "What happened, when you got bored with them?" Gale opened her mouth to respond then stopped, suddenly thinking better of it. "Uh-huh." Rachael nodded. "You're past history with the things that you want hasn't been great after you lose interest. It worries me a bit. I mean, I'm not a toy to play with until you get bored, sweetie. I wasn't going to get out on that limb with you until I knew where you stood. I'm not making promises I can't keep. Can you respect that?" The right corner of Gale's mouth turned upward with a sigh. She backed into her lover, wrapping Rachael's arms tightly around her. Her head resting against a shoulder brought a bit of contentedness. "I'm not going to lie and say that I like this." Rachael smiled. "I don't expect you to." She quickly added, "Lie to me, I mean." "Alright, I will respect this, if that's what you need but, I need you to know that I didn't tell you that I loved you for any other reason than that is how I feel about you." Holding her lover closer to her, Rachael shifted so that together they could fall back against the wall. "I know, Gale." She paused. "I'm still working on that whole, 'There isn't any ulterior motive' thing. Penalty of being with a cop, I guess. We're always looking for bad guys." "Well, let's clarify. Criminals bad. Girlfriend good." Gale pointed upstairs. "Bad." Then, pointed to herself. "Good." When she repeated the act again, Rachael laughed. "God, you're a wise ass." "What did you say about my ass?" Rachael forced herself to stop laughing while pulling Gale even closer. "Just shut up and give me a kiss before I reconsider hanging around such a little shit." Gale gasped melodramatically. "Well, that's no way to talk to the woman, who loves you." Seeing that her lover was about to make another joke, Rachael silenced the woman with a kiss. Her lips moving softly against Gale's were almost lazy in their unhurried approach. She breathed in her lover, cupping her face and pulling her closer. The tip of her tongue slipping into a yielding mouth was welcomed by a muffled moan. She deepened their kiss, feeling the first of that familiar fever taking hold. Strange Foreplay Gale turned to face her lover, kneeling in front of the woman. She could feel Rachael's hands sliding down her sides, over her hips until they reached her thighs. Rachael smiled as Gale nipped at her bottom lip. A soft laugh was muffled by the mouth covering hers. Hooking her fingers under the hem of her girlfriend's dress, she pulled at the dress, lifting it upward. Her nails lightly raked up the length of flexed thighs where they moved higher still. Gale's fingers left their home in Rachael's long hair as she raised her arms to allow the dress to be pulled overhead. Hands against her back pulled her forward. Swirling around a deep brown areola, Rachael's tongue teased at her lover's right breast. The sensation sent shivers rippling through her girlfriend. A tugging at her shirt caused her to pause while Gale tore the t-shirt from her body. Her hands moved over the skin of Gale's naked body before she reached behind her back to unclasp the bra which was separating her from Gale. Kissing along Rachael's neck, Gale slid her hands down toward the waist of her girlfriend's jeans. She tugged and pulled at the jeans until they eased down the woman's long legs. Curling her thumbs around the fabric of cotton panties, she pulled away the last of Rachael's clothing. Moving forward, Rachael guided the petite woman onto her back. She eased her weight onto Gale, feeling her skin press against her. Their kisses were becoming more intense as their hands roamed over fevered skin. It was easy to forget where they were and why because in that moment nothing mattered but, feeding that need which takes control of all logical thought. Rachael kissed her way down the length of her girlfriend's body. Her hand took Gale's breast, guiding a waiting nipple to her mouth, where she suckled and teased at it until her lover was all but, begging her to take her. She smiled in a way that showed that she had no intention of letting Gale off so easy. With a frustrated groan of arousal, Gale let her head fall back. She brought both hands to her head, clutching handfuls of hair as she fought the urge to tell Rachael to hurry. There was no denying that Rachael knew what she was doing to her. Rachael knew that she was tormenting her in that way that only Rachael could. Gale could not repress a smile even as she realized that Rachael had her exactly where she wanted her. The nip at her thigh made her take in a quick inhalation behind clenched teeth. Her legs parting seemed to take much too long. This was nothing to the eternity that seemed to pass before Rachael moved between them. "God, Rachael," she breathed. "What are you doing to me?" A wicked little smile dawned Rachael's face. She breathed her lover in, noting the arousal that was emanating from the young woman. "Nothing," she answered. "Yet." Gale jerked forcefully as she felt the tip of a tongue flick over her clit. Again, Rachael smiled. "Relax, Gale." She took in a deep breath, trying to do as Rachael had asked. The joke-reflex immediately came into play as it always did. "That's easy for you to say," Gale smiled. "You don't have some beautiful woman trying to drive you wild." "You'll get your chance," Rachael promised. Rachael hooked her arms around Gale's legs, pulling her lover closer to her mouth. The rough movement caused her girlfriend to let out a soft gasp which she knew would happen but, never failed to grow tired of hearing. Her lips on Gale's caused a contented sigh to fill the air. She slid her tongue along the slit, tasting the excitement filling her girlfriend. She kissed along Gale's thighs growing dangerously close but, never exactly where Gale wanted her to kiss most. Just as she had convinced her girlfriend that it would be some time before she would actually touch the epicenter of her sensitivity, she surprised Gale by swiping fully the length of her slit which caused the younger woman to cry out. She continued pleasuring her lover with her mouth, feeling her own excitement building as a result. Nails digging into her shoulder did not distract her from her task. The hand lightly brushing her hair away inspired her to gentle her oral lovemaking. The soft purring that her lover was making brought about a smile. Rachael reached upward taking hold of Gale's hand and holding it in hers. She knew that this was a battle of wills. Gale was holding out for as long as she could but, the sounds escaping her lips told Rachael that she did not have far to go before this would all become too much. "Stop fighting me, Gale," Rachael said as she changed from using her mouth alone to using both her mouth and the fingers which she eased into her lover with tormenting slowness. Gale gave a quick intake of air. She felt her the muscles of her abdomen tighten forcefully. The fingers moving deeper inside of her over and over again made her gasp. Her heart beating within her chest was racing. She let out a moan that came from deep within her throat at the moment of release. Rachael heard her name uttered with such love. Gale always sighed her name in such a wonderful way at climax. The young woman fought desperately to catch her breath. It was not long before she felt her lover climbing up the length of her body. She opened her eyes to see Rachael straddling her chest. "Now, me," Rachael said. Gale had heard the slight pleading in her voice despite the words which could have been taken as a command. There was a shadow of lust inside Rachael's eyes which darkened them to new depths. She reached out to Rachael, guiding the woman to her mouth. Her lips kissed over moistened thighs while her hands reached upward to take full breasts into them. The hands covering hers encouraged her to squeeze upon the soft flesh. She manipulated a sensitive nipple between finger and thumb, pulling and pinching until her lover moaned. Growing impatient with need, Rachael lowered herself against Gale's mouth. She shivered at the teeth biting her clit. The tongue swirling over her caused her to lean forward with a moan. Extending her arm, she steadied herself against the cool wall. She closed her eyes beginning to sway once Gale started in on her slow sensuous kiss. Gale closed her eyes as she breathed in Rachael's scent. She curled her tongue along a fiery warmth. Delving deeper into Rachael, she pulled her girlfriend closer, reaching for new depths. The eager way that Rachael began grinding against her made her nibble at her shaven sex. Rachael lowered her hand to Gale's head, entwining her fingers in dark brown hair. She shifted her weight on her knees, trying to get some kind of balance while her lover pleasured her. Pushing up onto her elbows, Gale kissed a soft thigh. "Love, lie down," she said, knowing that it would be more comfortable for her girlfriend. Reluctant to pull away, Rachael smoothed her lover's cheek. The kiss to her hand assured her that Gale wouldn't mind waiting for her to get more relaxed. She quickly traded places with Gale so that she was the one reclining against the blanket. As Gale took a seat at her side with her back slightly angled to her, she pushed up onto her elbows wearing a curious frown on her face. Gale tucked her legs close to her body, inclining her weight more onto her right hip. She looked down on her bronze-skinned lover's body, allowing her hand to lightly caress over it. "You're so beautiful," she said with a contented sigh. Rachael giggled and squirmed a bit under the feathery touches tracing over the Asian-style dragon tattooed upon her left hip. She leaned back while her hand lightly scratched at Gale's back. Resigning herself to the idea of letting Gale do whatever she liked, she felt lips kissing over her hips working their way down. To grant her more access, she bent her legs at the knee then, part them. Moving her arms between Rachael's legs, Gale pushed back with her elbows, pressing against the area just behind the knees. She could feel Rachael moving her legs accordingly so that her calves rested along the length of her back while she grew comfortable with her Achilles tendons against her shoulders. Angling her hips upward, Rachael opened herself up to Gale and the fingers parting her innermost lips. She shivered at the breath curling over her smooth skin. Gale looked down on the satiny pink skin glistening in the dim light of the candles before she leaned forward, taking an inflamed clit into her mouth. She could feel the nails digging into her back as a result of her actions. Suckling harder at Rachael, she moved her hand to caress over the moistened labial lips. She pressed harder against Rachael's legs, forcing her girlfriend to open her hips more, exposing so much of her intimate places. Rachael encouraged her lover with lust-filled words while pushing upward against Gale's waiting mouth. She knew how close she was to climax and she was certain that Gale could tell as well. The fingers slowly entering into her pushed until reaching the hilt and stopping at the knuckles. Her inner muscles gripped tightly to them as they began their slow withdrawal. She loosened her grip as Gale pierced back into her. When Rachael felt the fingers beginning to leave her once again, she began that dance of push and pull. She pulled for Gale to be inside her again. Finding a rhythm, the two women accelerated their pace. Gale quickened the movements of her hand while intensifying her oral actions. Rachael clutched tightly at Gale's back. Her breathing grew shallow. She felt that familiar tension happening within her body. It was close. She could feel it. Feeling the inner muscles massaging her fingers, Gale tasted the results of her labor of love. The tremors rippling through her girlfriend passed through to her. She continued her loving kiss until Rachael's breathing slowed and her body relaxed. Gently, she withdrew from inside of the woman beneath her. She kissed her way slowly up Rachael's sweat-glistened body where she stopped at her lover's long neck. Rachael let her head fall back wearily with a contented smile upon her face. She enjoyed the kisses being given to her neck, when something caught her eye. Gale kissed her way along Rachael's jaw before noticing that her lover was not paying much attention to her. She followed Rachael's line of vision. "Those bastards," Rachael all but, growled. "Do you see that?" Focusing on the tiny glinting speck, Gale nodded slowly. "Is that what I think it is, lover?" "You bet your daddy's money it is." Rachael hurried into her clothes. Then, she rushed over to the far wall. Moving her hands blindly over the wall, Rachael could just make out the plywood which had been lined over the wall. She gripped tightly at it, using her anger-fueled strength to pull up the bottom right corner. The harder she pulled, the more sunlight she could see filtering into the dimly lit basement. Gale finished fastening her heels after slipping into her dress once more. "So that's the window?" "Yeah, those damn guys must have really wanted to keep us out of the way," Rachael grumbled. "They didn't even want us to see that there was a window." Giving one final pull, Rachael managed to rip the loosely-secured plywood completely from the wall. "Baby, I need you to slip through that window. Can you fit?" Nodding, Gale hurried to her lover. She was a bit surprised at the newfound strength in the hands taking hold of her waist as Rachael hoisted her upward. Quickly, she opened the window, pushing it outward, then wiggled her way through the small rectangular opening. Rachael looked up at her lover peering down on her with the morning sun at her back. "Now, see if you can find anything that will help me out of here but, Be Careful. I don't want those guys laying a hand on you; got it!" Gale pushed herself off the cool grass. She walked quickly along the side of the house, crouching down in the hopes that she would not be seen. After making sure that no one was around, she went to the garage, finding a small ladder for odd jobs. She found two larger ladders but, was not certain of the criminals absence which caused her to decide against it. It was not long before Rachael saw black heels outside the window. She waited impatiently as a small step ladder was lowered through the window. It was not large enough for her to climb out on but, it was tall enough to give her the boost which she would need to pull herself out. Just as Rachael was about to escape from the basement which had served as her jail for most of the night, she felt her ankle clasped tightly. She was pulled forcefully back into the basement, then tossed to the unforgiving floor. Looking up, she saw a man glaring down on her. "I knew that someone was down here," she grumbled as she returned his stony stare. "Ray," Gale called, peering down into the dark basement. "Are you alright?" There was a brief pause before she said, "I'm coming down." "Don't!" Rachael warned. She rose to her feet, hoping that for once her girlfriend would listen to her. The tall man dressed in black seemed to be at home in the shadows. "You two put on quite the show," he said. "I nearly gave myself away, when y'all started going at it." Rachael ignored that comment for the moment. She had other things to think about. "What have you done with Sarah?" He shrugged with a smirk. "I'm only gonna ask you one more time." Rachael arched her eyebrow while her body steeled itself. She could tell by the nervous behavior that this guy was displaying that he was about to make his move. "What have you done with Sarah?" Letting out a snarl, the man took a swing at her head. Rachael ducked, reared back her fist before landing a direct blow to his abdomen. She listened to the loud gasp for air as he had the wind knocked out of him. Shaking her head, she watched him fall to his knees. "You know, that was really pathetic." The sole of a boot was the last that he saw before darkness enveloped him. A sigh left her lips as she knelt down to handcuff him. Rachael was certain that he would be out for some time. Turning back to the window, she began to climb the small step ladder. She locked her ankles around the top step, pulling the ladder up with her as she pushed herself out. She wasn't taking her chances with this guy coming to before she could send a patrol out to get him. The morning sun felt nice as Rachael managed her way out of the basement. Finally free of that basement, she felt a bit like a con escaping prison. She rose to her feet while drawing her gun. "I need for you to stay here while I check the house; okay?" Rachael ordered. Gale frowned in confusion. " They aren't here," she reminded. "You said that you thought they left." "I need to make sure. More than that, if they are gone, I need to see if they took Sarah with them and if they left anything that might tell us where they took her." Reluctantly, Gale conceded to her lover's wishes. She waited, trying her best not to pace while Rachael hurried away. Rachael ran along the length of the house to a downstairs back bedroom. She opened a window without a sound. Climbing into the house, she listened for any sounds of the intruders. There was nothing. Moving stealthily throughout the house, she found nothing but, the chaos which the men had left in their wake. She searched through the papers scattering the living room floor, having the strange sense that those men were no closer to finding what they were looking for than she was at finding out why this had happened. Walking out the front door, she saw her lover standing there waiting. Rachael was about to scold Gale for not following her instructions, when she saw the car. The Corvette, given to the young woman as a birthday present, sat battered in the driveway. The glass had been shattered, the doors and hood brutally beaten. Opening the hood, Gale fought tears of utter rage. "If those bastards did anything to her engine, I swear to God people will die!" "Nice to know that you're so concerned about Sarah," Rachael joked. The glare which she received from Gale made her think twice about the humor of what she had intended to be a joke. Gale scanned over the engine. Everything seemed to be in order. She smiled with a relief-filled sigh. "Oh, thank God. They aren't complete pricks, then." Rachael might have commented on that but, never had the chance. Something was commanding her attention. She looked up with the sound of a vehicle quickly approaching. She looked away from the black Excursion roaring up the road to the woman smiling upon the remnants of her ravaged car. Rushing forward, she pulled her girlfriend backward, placing the car between the SUV and themselves. Gale hit the pavement with a grunt. "What the hell is..." Her voice was cut off by her lover moving on top of her. Rachael's weight upon her muffled her scream as a barrage of bullets plowed through her convertible. When the Ford gunned their engine, Rachael risked raising her head to look over the Corvette. She could see them getting away. Hurrying to her feet, she ran out into the street. Aiming her gun, she fired several shots at the back of the SUV. Her mind memorized the license plate with ease. The car screeching to a halt beside her startled her from her line of thought. She smiled happily as Gale motioned for her to get it. Hopping over the top of the door, she couldn't help but, mutter, "God, I love my job." That usual adrenaline was filling her, when Rachael felt her girlfriend peel out after the departing Excursion. She had only just managed to slide down into her seat, before being slammed backward against the car. "Can you catch them?" Rachael asked, reloading her gun. The raven-haired police detective calmly took in the way her lover shifted with ease. There was no denying that Gale could drive this car. Gale knew every little mood that her Corvette had. It seemed a shame that the Vette would not have much left in her after all this. "I can catch them," Gale promised. She jerked the car through traffic, feeling the usually squirrelly Vette swerve a bit. She didn't panic because she knew exactly how to compensate. They drew close enough for Rachael to sit up. She was leaning out over the door. Lining the back tire in her sights, she yelled over the howling wind to her lover. "And you say I never introduce you to any interesting people." Gale huffed a laugh. "I take it back, Ray." She followed the Ford into the far left lane. "And to think , I could be married to a doctor or something." "A doctor?! What fun is that?!" Rachael fired a shot into the back tire, hearing the loud bang of the tire blowing out. "Damn, I'm good!" The Excursion began swerving wildly as the driver struggled to keep control. It was not long before the SUV slammed into the median. Gale and Rachael watched as a group of four men bolted from their wrecked vehicle, carrying a shaken Sarah in tow. The Vette lurched to a stop while waiting to see their next move. A large burly man toting a menacing automatic weapon aimed his gun at an oncoming car. "Out!" he growled. The passenger of the car slammed on the breaks then immediately relinquished control of his vehicle. "Ray?!" Sarah screamed as they attempted to force her into the car. "Help me! Don't let them take me!" Rachael's blood boiled with fury as Sarah was struck roughly about the face and shoved into the car. "Make one move to follow us," the smallest of the gunmen said. "And we kill her." There was no doubt in Rachael's mind that they would not kill Sarah. If they were going to do that, they would have by now but, they hadn't so it stood to reason that they obviously still needed her. As she raised her gun to aim at the leader's head, she watched him give the word to aim at Gale. That caused her to pause all movement. She hated the cocky smirk that dawned that man's face as a result. Her only thought was of the time when she would finally wipe it off his ugly face.