Ryan stopped the mower and leaned against it as she attempted to mop up the sweat that was pouring off of her brow. She had thought that by mowing the lawn at 9:00am she would bypass the worst of the day's heat. However, the heat wave that was currently tormenting the valley was cruel. It was only 10:00 and the thermometer had already nearly hit the century mark. Jesus, it's gonna hit 115 today. Glad I have the day off. She replaced the old baseball cap on her head and trudged on, pushing the roaring machine around the flowerbed that she had weeded the previous weekend.
Janna, likewise, stopped to mop up her own rivulets of sweat as she stood on the hot brick walkway. She was sweeping up grass clippings behind her mate. When she saw that Ryan was nearly finished, she rested the broom handle against a nearby tree trunk, enjoying the momentary shady respite from the hot sun, and went into the kitchen. She returned minutes later with two large glasses of iced tea and walked to where her mate was dumping clippings into the compost pile.
"Oh, baby, thanks" Ryan grinned as she took the offered refreshment and quickly downed it.
Janna shook her head and grinned at her, asking, "Would you like another one?"
Ryan put on her best, "Yes, please" face and grinned widely, offering her mate the empty glass. Janna grabbed it and returned to the house for more.
Ryan called after her, "Thank you baby!" and then pushed the mower into the small shed and secured the door.
As she walked back along the walkway and finished her partner's sweeping she heard a cheery, "Morning!" and turned to see the mail carrier.
She waved a friendly hello and approached him. "Hot one today, huh?"
"You better believe it. I'm glad I have the weekend off." He handed Ryan a handful of mail. "Here you go Ms. Zamora. Have a good one."
"Thanks Eric. Hey, drink lots of water today!"
He waved and nodded as he turned and headed back down the driveway.
Ryan set the broom back against the tree and went around to the back deck, taking a seat on the redwood steps. Janna returned to find her mate reading a letter, the rest of the mail sitting beside her on the deck. She handed the glass to Ryan, who grabbed it absentmindedly as she continued to read. "Thanks, Janna." She took a sip and then added, "I got a letter from my brother, Zac." She looked up at Janna with surprise and continued, "He wants to come to the commitment ceremony!"
"Oh, Ryan, that's wonderful!" Janna picked up the rest of the mail and sat beside her. "I can't wait to meet him."
"Hm, that's what he says about you." Ryan stared at the letter in her hand with amazement. "Um, he says he's been wanting to stay closer in touch with me and was thinking about coming up for a visit anyway." She looked at Janna with sparkling eyes. "He says he won't believe that someone has tamed me until he sees it with his own eyes."
Janna laughed and threw an arm around her mate's shoulders. "It sounds like he has your sense of humor."
"Yeah, he does, sort of."
"He's in New Mexico, right?"
"Yes, Los Alamos. He's an MP."
"Another cop? Oh, God!"
"What?"
"Nothing! I happen to love cops. And it looks like I'll be surrounded by them at the wedding." She leaned over and kissed her mate's temple. "I need to take a dip, how about you?"
"You betcha!" Ryan hopped up and reached down to her mate, helping her to her feet.
"You are so chivalrous Ryan!"
Ryan grinned rakishly and Janna suddenly felt even hotter. "Thank you, baby!"
Janna grabbed her mate's arm and pulled her toward the spa. "Come on, hot stuff, I'm scorched."
"Baby, if you get in that spa with me you're gonna be on fire."
"I'll take my chances."
They entered the gazebo and Ryan started stripping off her clothes.
"Honey, wait until I close the screen." Janna scrambled to protect her mate's modesty.
Ryan pulled the tank top over her head, revealing the fact that she hadn't bothered with a bra that day, as if Janna hadn't already noticed. "Janna, forget that, I don't care. I just wanna get out of these sweaty clothes." She pushed her shorts and underwear down and stepped out of them, then approached Janna to help rid her of her clothes.
Janna giggled and playfully slapped her hand away. "Stop that!" Ryan continued her playful advance and pulled at Janna's tank. She managed to remove it with one smooth motion and was pleased to note that Janna had felt like going braless as well. She eyed her lover appreciatively and ran her hands along her mate's sides.
"Honey, it's too hot to fool around." Janna didn't sound at all convinced herself.
"Baby, it is never too hot…besides, the water's cold." She pulled Janna close and nuzzled her neck, as she skillfully pushed her mate's lower garments off.
Janna enjoyed the feel of her mate's body against hers and wrapped her arms around Ryan. "Mm, it is isn't it?"
She nibbled a nearby earlobe as her hands dropped to Ryan's waist. She noted the familiar, pleasant tingling sensation that occurred wherever skin touched skin and breathed deeply, letting the gentle electricity begin to course throughout her body. She could feel Ryan doing the same thing and knew her mate's desire was beginning to build and swirl like hers was.
Ryan dipped her head and captured Janna's lips passionately. They kissed for several minutes, tongues dancing and hands roaming sensuously. Warm hands and loving fingers blazed trails of fire along warm skin, igniting, once again, a passion that could not be ignored. Ryan bent down and scooped Janna into her arms, never losing contact with her lips, and Janna laughed into her lover's mouth and threw her arms about her neck as Ryan skillfully stepped into the spa and sat them down together in one corner. The cooled water of the spa chilled hot skin but was powerless against their passion. They sat together and necked ardently for long minutes before Ryan lifted Janna and turned her so that she straddled her mate.
In that, their favorite position, they were able to mutually pleasure each other and engage in their special sacred sexuality rituals: loving, honoring, respecting, and worshiping each other. The intense heat of the day went unnoticed for more than an hour.
Ryan sat behind the wheel of her Explorer, fingers tapping to the beat from the radio. She smiled as she watched her mate flit down the walk towards the car. God, she looks great in that uniform…green is definitely her color. Janna hopped into the truck and Ryan patted her thigh. "Ready babe?"
Janna threw her a happy smile and covered the larger hand with hers. "Yep!"
"Good!" Ryan glanced at her mate and added warmly, "It's gonna be great playing with you again."
"But, honey, we play together all the t…"
"Softball!"
"Oh right!" Janna laughed, enjoying the fact that she had turned the verbal tables on her mate.
Ryan glanced at her sideways, and then grinned. They drove into the sunset, toward the softball complex.
Since they were in Ryan's vehicle, the musical choice was classic rock. Recently, feeling that she couldn't tolerate the five billionth replay of "Bohemian Rhapsody", Janna had tried to find another radio station but found to her dismay that all of the preset buttons were tuned to the same station. Her practical partner had explained that she didn't like to take her eyes off the road while driving and, until recently, had really only cared to listen to classic rock anyway, so she had made all the buttons the same.
However, both women smiled in unison as a familiar tune started playing. "Oh, Ryan, it's our song!"
"'Take It Easy' is our song huh?" Ryan smiled widely before adding, "I kinda thought maybe 'Teenaged Queer' was."
Janna mock glared at her. "Are you making fun of my music?"
Ryan dropped her smile. "No, Janna...absolutely not. I'm serious. Honey, it's the first song of yours that I really related to…that helped me to understand who you were." Her serious gaze warmed her mate's heart and Janna softened her serious expression.
"Thanks, Ryan. It's just that it's not my most serious song."
"It is serious, Janna. It's clever and witty, but very serious." She picked up her partner's hand. "Janna, I sincerely hope that teenaged kids are still listening to that song…and others of yours."
"They may be soon. I have a good feeling about this Attack of the Pansies CD I'm producing. These kids are really, really good. And that type of music is big right now…plus, I've been in touch with some distribution people I know in the City who are very interested."
"Very cool, babe. So, are the kids looking to sign with a big company?"
"Actually, no. One of their main goals for the time being is to remain indy, and I think that with my connections I can get them heard without their having to sell out."
Ryan nodded and they sang along with the Eagles once more, each envisioning her own version of the girl in the flatbed Ford.
Janna giggled. "Honey, you know what?" She looked at Ryan, who inclined her head and smiled. "My very first ever lesbian fantasy was about that girl." She squeezed Ryan's hand.
"Oh? Care to share?" Ryan threw her a lopsided grin.
"Well…I'll give you the details later, when you're not driving." She leered gently at her mate. "I will say that she was a Native American girl, though."
"Jesus!"
"Yep. And I must also say, Ryan Zamora, that you have more than fulfilled all of my fantasies."
Ryan smiled widely. "She looked like me huh?"
"Oh, she more than looked like you. She was you." Janna looked seriously at her partner and added, "I must have been channeling the future or something because the similarity is uncanny."
"Shit…"
"Again, yep." Janna brought her mate's hand to her lips and kissed it tenderly. "You've made all my dreams come true Ryan." She sighed contentedly.
"And so have you for me, my destiny."
As she drove on, Ryan noted that the sky above was the color of the turquoise in their wedding bands. She sighed contentedly as well, gazing at the bare finger that would soon hold the ring.
Janna threw warm up with Ryan, then sat on the grass beside her mate and stretched taut leg muscles. As she leaned over and touched fingers to toes she remarked, "I never did like playing these late games."
"I know…me either. I usually feel washed out by game time. This thing won't end until after ten and I'd rather be curled up with you by then." Ryan's features perked up then, as she added, "But tonight I'll have my lady out there with me, and I know that will keep my blood pumping."
"I aim to please, love!"
"And you certainly do, Janna." Ryan stopped stretching and smiled warmly at her lover.
"Ahem."
Ryan and Janna both looked up, startled out of their mutual reverie.
Their manager, Sharon, stood looking stonily down at them, arms crossed in front of her chest as she grumbled, "If the mutual lovefest is over, I'd like to talk to my new recruit." She looked and sounded every bit the retired soldier that she was.
"She's all yours, Sharon…for now." Ryan leered at her mate, mainly for Sharon's benefit.
"Shit, Ryan, you're so sappy I could tap ya for syrup. Get over there and throw some heat to Carrie, will ya?"
"Aye, aye ma'am." Ryan drew the line at saluting, but just barely, and grinned at Janna as she headed for the bullpen area.
"Okay, Janna. This team is tough…they're right behind us in the standings and gunning for our asses. Keep your head up out there. A couple of their girls are dirty players." She looked Janna squarely in the eye, getting her point across.
"Will do, coach. Thanks for the heads up."
"Janna, you played well last week...looked real sharp...just keep your focus and you'll do fine again."
"Thanks Sharon. I feel good, and ready, and I know the team will back me up." Janna patted the coach's back and turned and headed toward the dugout.
She sat on the warm concrete bench and uncapped her water bottle as she watched Ryan warm up with her catcher. She looked to be throwing extreme heat. Looks like someone is pretty hyper tonight. Maybe I should have kept her in the spa longer this morning. She smiled at the fond memory and her body did as well, shivering in all of Ryan's favorite intimate spots. She tilted her head and took a large swallow of the cold water. It felt good on her parched throat but she remembered to drink slowly and sparingly.
She was joined on the bench a few minutes later by her thoroughly warmed up and sweating profusely mate. "Sharon give you the old pep talk?" Ryan took a large swallow of water as well and waited for Janna's reply.
"Yep."
Ryan could feel some of her nervousness through their link and she rubbed her mate's thigh. "You'll do fine again, you know, Janna."
"Yeah, babe, I feel ready. I can't wait to get out there."
"Great. Well, it's about time." They were joined in the dugout by their teammates and they all took the field as home team a few minutes later.
Janna jogged onto the field beside Ryan, who gave her a slight pat on the rear with her glove as they reached the pitcher's mound, and she continued on, settling into position between the first and second bags. She looked around the ground briefly, making sure there were no rocks or debris that would cause a ball to take a nasty hop.
Janna felt some anxiety and jumped up and down a few times to try to dispel the nervousness. She took a deep breath and let it out as the umpire yelled, "Play ball!" and the first batter took the plate quickly. Ryan held the ball chest high in both hands, then wound up and made her first, powerful pitch, beginning the game.
Ryan, definitely throwing major heat, retired the first two batters on strikeouts. The third batter, the opposing shortstop, came up to bat. She was a compactly built young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair who sneered at Ryan, then gazed over the pitcher's left shoulder and fixed a menacing glare in the direction of the second baseman. Ryan glanced over her shoulder at Janna and saw her bend over slightly and hit her glove with her hand, winking at her mate and nodding to indicate that she was ready. Ryan turned back toward the batter and narrowed her eyes, fixing her own menacing glare on the batter, who responded with a snarl.
Ryan put her first pitch high and inside, intending to send a message to the batter. The woman jumped back to avoid being hit in the face and started to raise her bat at Ryan in challenge, but apparently thought better of it and simply glared at her before stepping back into the batter's box.
Ryan set herself and smiled menacingly before delivering the next pitch. The batter jumped on the strike pitch and sent a powerful line drive directly at Janna. Janna reacted as the ball was hit and jumped a good three feet off the ground, reaching with her arm fully outstretched and snaring the ball in the webbing of her glove. As she landed with the ball in her glove, she threw her right hand up in the air victoriously as a cheer went up from her teammates.
Ryan yelled, "Yes!" and pumped her fist in the air, grinning like an idiot. "Beautiful, Janna!"
Her teammates patted her on the back and on the behind as they all made their way back to the bench. Before they sat, Ryan grabbed her mate and picked her up bodily in a tight hug. They both laughed and enjoyed the contact, lingering as long as they felt was prudent.
Ryan whispered in her mate's ear, "Love you, baby."
"Love you too, Ryan." She grinned as her mate set her back on the ground. "Nice pitching out there, honey!"
"Thanks, baby." Ryan smiled warmly and sat beside her mate.
Carrie approached and sat next to her pitcher. "Ry, I think you really pissed off that shortstop. She's giving you the eye." She looked back at the irate player. "Either you or Janna...I can't tell who she's glaring at."
"Well, if she knows what's good for her, she'll give it a rest."
"Yeah, I don't know what her problem is tonight." Carrie remarked.
"Jealous, maybe?" Liz piped in. "Maybe she has a thing for Ryan." She glanced at Janna and grinned, adding, "Apparently that's not an impossibility."
Ryan shot her a glare while Janna laughed.
Carrie continued. "I don't know…could be, I guess. She's generally a bitch, but not this bad."
Sharon yelled from the other end of the bench, "Alright ladies, give it a rest and lets get some runs."
The team complied, but only insofar as quieting down. The first two batters flied out and the third struck out, and the ladies returned to the field. They retired the other team handily again and returned to the bench, the game scoreless in the bottom of the second inning. Ryan sat next to Janna again, pleased to be able to be near her, and uncharacteristically losing some of her intense focus on the game. It's great having Janna here.
From her spot at the other end of the bench, the coach shook her head and looked confused as she looked down toward Ryan. "Zamora, did you forget you're cleanup hitter? You've only been batting in that spot for five years."
Ryan grinned, somewhat embarrassed, and replied, "Sorry coach!"
As she made her way to the plate, bat on her shoulder, Ryan eyed the shortstop, rather than the pitcher. The woman glared at her and frowned. Ryan shook her head slightly but didn't let the woman's attitude bother her. She stepped to the plate and swung the bat out towards the pitcher, then brought it up above her shoulder and awaited the pitch. The pitch arrived, right down the middle of the zone and Ryan stepped forward and confidently swung in a graceful arc, sending the ball over the heads of the opposing team and over the center field fence.
Her bench erupted in raucous cheers as Ryan rounded the bases and scored the team's first run. Her teammates surrounded her as she neared the dugout, offering congratulations and providing enough privacy that her mate was able to give her a quick congratulatory kiss.
"Beautiful hit, honey!"
"Thanks, baby!" They sat together on the bench and clasped hands.
Carrie approached and said, "Hey, Ry, what'd the shortstop say to you when you ran by her?"
"Lucky shot."
"Yeah? And what did you say?"
"Bullshit."
Carrie laughed. "Goddamn right!"
The next two batters singled and flied out respectively and then Janna was up.
As Janna stood at the plate and took a few practice swings she heard the unfriendly shortstop say to her pitcher, "Okay, Bobby, this little twerp can't hit…put her away."
Janna just grinned at the pitcher and took her stance. After taking one ball and one strike, Janna swung at the third pitch and connected, sending a hard grounder between third and short. The shortstop had to dive to her right to make the stop and after picking herself up out of the dirt was only able to get the leading runner at second. Janna was safe at first with two outs.
Ryan yelled from the bench, "Alright Janna…nice! Two outs babe."
Janna nodded and eyed the batter, pointedly ignoring the offensive woman playing shortstop.
The next batter, Sarah, jumped on the first pitch, as was her habit, and grounded to the shortstop, who made a quick throw to second to get a sliding Janna out, ending the inning. As Janna stood up and brushed the dirt from her legs the shortstop said derisively, just loudly enough for Janna to hear, "You're out, bitch."
Janna looked at her incredulously and replied, "Right. Nice play" and calmly walked to the dugout.
In the top of the next inning, the unfriendly woman came up to bat with one out and a runner on first. After taking Ryan to a full count, she hit a fly to short center field, which dropped for a hit, advancing the runner to second. She stood on first and graced a nearby Janna with quiet taunts and disparaging remarks, some having to do with her sexual orientation. So that's her problem…what a loser. Janna shook her head disgustedly but didn't respond, not wanting to stoop to the woman's level.
The next batter took two strikes from a sharp-eared and increasingly agitated Ryan and then hit the next, sending it to Jackie at shortstop, who, thinking double play, got it very quickly to Janna at second base. Janna smoothly caught the toss and as she pivoted to make the throw to first for the next out, saw the runner sliding into the bag with her leg upraised, aiming deliberately for Janna's legs. Janna reacted by jumping as high as she could as she made the throw, but it wasn't high enough and the runner's rubber cleats caught her on the ankle, throwing her off balance and causing her to land on the edge of the bag, turning her ankle and tumbling to the ground.
As Janna writhed in pain on the ground, grasping her ankle, the dirty runner snorted down at her derisively, "Now you're really out, bitch" and laughed.
Her laughter was short-lived however, as Janna's mate ran up, screamed, "What the fuck was that?" and pushed her hard, sending her flying backward into the dirt and landing on her butt.
Just then the infield umpire pointed at the blonde woman on the ground and screamed, "You are out. Ejected. Get off the field now!" He then turned to a seething Ryan and yelled, "Back off, Zamora, or you'll be joining her."
"But Blue…that was blatant! Shit!"
"Yes, it was…that's why she's out of the game. Now you calm down or you'll be out too." He looked back at the offending player. "One more incident like that Jones, and you'll be out of the league. For good."
Ryan's teammates surrounded her, preventing her from causing any more trouble for herself as the other woman slowly picked herself up and limped into the dugout.
Ryan then went immediately to Janna on the ground, who was already being tended to by Sharon, who had removed the shoe, sock, and leg guard. She reached out and laid a gentle hand on Janna's leg, above where a nasty bruise had already formed above her ankle. The ankle itself was also showing signs of nasty bruising and swelling. "Janna, baby, are you okay?" With her other hand she caressed her mate's cheek.
Janna grimaced and tried to smile but wasn't very successful, and her eyes filled with tears. "It feels like it's sprained, honey."
"Jesus fucking Christ…I'm gonna kill that bitch" Ryan muttered angrily.
Janna covered her hand and quietly said, "No, you're not Ryan. I mean it. This is part of the game. I should have been quicker."
"Fuck, Janna, she was gunning for you! There's no way you could have avoided her. That is not part of the game." She looked furiously over toward the opponents' dugout.
"Still, Ryan, it stops here." She looked seriously at her mate. "I mean it Ryan. We'll repay them by beating them fairly." She looked around at her teammates. "That goes for all of you…promise me." Her teammates, and finally Ryan, nodded dejectedly, and Ryan and Sharon helped her to her feet. When she tried to put her weight on the injured left foot, it would hardly bear any weight at all and streaks of pain shot up her leg. "Yep, it's sprained."
Ryan grimaced and bit off another choice swear word. Then she looked at her mate and grinned lopsidedly. "But you made the double play Janna. Beautiful play, baby…beautiful." Her eyes shone with love and admiration, in addition to the concern.
"Thanks love, but I'm not sure it was worth it."
Three pairs of slimy eyes watched the scene with interest from the bleachers on the opposing side of the diamond. "Look at that Billy, she's hurt. This should be easy now."
The owner of the beadiest set of eyes nodded. "Should be." He looked at each of his two partners in slime. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens. They might leave early or the dyke might have help getting her to the car."
The umpires approached and one of them gently patted Janna's back. "Sorry guys, I hate to see this. Coach, do you have a replacement?"
Sharon nodded and let Jackie take her place in helping Janna to the bench. "Okay, Sarah, you'll move to second, Liz, you'll take third." She turned to Elaine, who was on the bench. "Elaine, I know you're not feeling great, but you're all I've got…I need you in the outfield."
Elaine nodded, "No problem Sharon."
Sharon made her way across the field to speak with the score keeper.
Ryan helped Janna to settle on the bench and retrieved ice packs from the cooler, wrapping one around her ankle with an elastic bandage and placing another above it on the contact bruise. She rubbed Janna's leg and said, "I'm so sorry, baby. Can I give you some Reiki?"
"Yes, please."
Ryan put the cooler on the bench and then gently placed Janna's foot on the cooler, elevating the injured ankle. She then sat beside the cooler and placed her hands on her mate's injured ankle joint. The energy started to flow immediately, and quite strongly, relieving the pain enormously almost instantly.
The other players were interested in what was going on but gave the two women their space, and then the game resumed.
Spurred on by their teammate's injury, the girls played with renewed vigor, hitting well and scoring two runs before Ryan came to bat with no outs. As she approached the plate, she spotted the dirty player sitting in the stands and glared at her with a look full of hatred and malice. The woman looked away, uncomfortable under the scrutiny.
The pitcher delivered the ball and Ryan teed off on it, just like in her previous at bat, sending it flying over the fence. She made it look effortless. It was almost as if she controlled the elements and could do as she pleased, at will. The members of the other team sat on their bench, dumbfounded, while Ryan's teammates whooped and hollered across the field. Ryan adopted a look of calm reserve as she trotted around the bases and didn't stop long enough after crossing home plate to accept her friends' accolades. She went immediately to her mate's side and resumed the healing treatment.
"Ryan, honey, at this rate, you'll have me walking by tomorrow." Janna grinned at her serious mate.
"That's the idea Janna." Ryan spoke quietly, obviously trying to control her emotions. Besides the torment of seeing her mate hurt, she was also feeling the uncomfortable prickling sensation that acted as her internal warning sensor. She looked up briefly, quickly scanning the surroundings. The darkness of the areas beyond the field prevented her from seeing a lot of the peripheral activity.
"What is it, Ryan? There's something else." Janna rested her hand on her mate's shoulder and gazed into serious blue eyes.
She returned Janna's direct gaze and sighed, knowing that she couldn't hide anything from her mate, not that she wanted to. "I feel like we're being watched again. My gut is telling me to be on alert." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's probably just the tense atmosphere around here right now."
Concern knit Janna's brow. "I don't know, Ryan, you've felt it the last few times we've played here. Something may be going on. Remember what the Reiki Guides told you. I trust your instincts, Ryan, and you should too."
The Reiki finished, so Ryan clasped the hand that rested on her shoulder. "Okay, love. I will." She turned and leaned against the fence, closed her eyes, and stretched out with her senses. She felt a very definite sense of danger, of malice directed at her. She sighed deeply. "I feel something, Janna. A sense of malice, almost. Maybe it's the bit…woman who hurt you. She's still sitting over there." Ryan indicated the stands on the other side of the field.
"It could be, honey, but she hasn't been at our other games, has she? I doubt we can consider her as a threat. Anyway, I think you got through to her pretty clearly with that shove. She won't even look in your direction now."
"Not if she knows what's good for her she won't," Ryan mumbled. Janna pretended not to hear the statement and leaned back against the fence, letting the buzzing energy in her body sooth her nerves. The adrenaline having worn off now that she was no longer playing, she noticed the intense, uncomfortable heat again. The evening air was heavy and hot, especially so near the water. The softball complex sat next to the channel leading into the port, and there was a small lake in the park that bordered the other side of the complex.
The inning ended shortly and Ryan and the other ladies returned to the field. The rest of the game passed quickly, with the opposing team having had the wind sucked from their proverbial sails by the strange situation, and Janna's team having been invigorated by their anger. The Bob's Shell ladies won handily, increasing their lead in the league standings.
Carrie and Ryan helped Janna out of the dugout and over to the stands. Though the throbbing had subsided greatly thanks to the Reiki, she still didn't want to stress the injury by putting any weight on the foot. She also didn't want to rush home. She wanted the team to know that she was okay and that the injury wasn't serious. So she asked Ryan if they could hang around and visit, like they usually did. Her overprotective mate had grumbled about it, but had given in.
They sat in the bleachers with their friends, Janna's left foot resting on Ryan's gym bag on the seat in front of her. Ryan sat behind her, supporting her and gently massaging her shoulders. They had a little while before the remaining games finished and the lights would be turned off, so someone passed around some beers, and they all relaxed somewhat.
The three pairs of watchful eyes remained riveted on their quarry, now from a discrete distance in the bleachers at the adjacent diamond.
As the friends sat joking and visiting, several players from the opposing team approached and one of them said, "Um, we want you to know that we don't all condone what our shortstop did. We hope you'll be okay."
Janna smiled and thanked them. Then Carrie piped up with, "What's her problem, anyway?"
The same woman shrugged and replied, "She's a bitter person. I'm not sure why. She's also, well, um…"
Ryan interrupted, "Homophobic?"
"Yeah."
Ryan shrugged and shook her head. "Takes all kinds, I guess." She gazed at the other players. "Thanks for coming over here. We appreciate it." She gave her mate's shoulders a squeeze as Janna nodded in agreement.
"It's the least we could do. Good luck." They turned and left.
Movement across the field at the opposing bleachers caught Ryan's sharp eye and she gently rubbed Janna's shoulders and said, "I'll be right back, honey" and extricated herself from behind her mate.
Seeing where her mate was headed, Janna said, "Ryan, please…"
"Don't worry, Janna…I'll keep my promise. I just want to talk to her."
Ryan quickly caught up with the blonde woman, Jones, and her two friends as they left the complex. She cleared her throat as she approached their backs and said, "Excuse me."
When she turned and saw who was trying to get her attention, the blonde became defensive, a look of fear entering her eyes.
She raised her hands and backed away a step as she said, "Stay the hell away from me Zamora, or I'll call the cops."
"Didn't you know, Jones, that I am a cop?" She grinned wickedly, thoroughly enjoying the acute look of discomfort that arose in the woman's features. She continued, "And technically, I could arrest you on assault charges." She raised her expressive eyebrows smugly.
The woman started to sputter a protest when Ryan interrupted. "Oh, I'm sure the charges wouldn't stick, but it'd be a hell of an inconvenience for you." Ryan took a step forward and entered the woman's space, letting angry energy spill from her being as she stated quietly, "All I want, Jones, is to know why you did it. Why did you deliberately hurt my girlfriend?" Her questioning look was sincere as she awaited the woman's reply.
The woman looked about to make a malicious comment, because her lip began to curl into a snarl, but the anger rolling off of the tall woman in front of her apparently convinced her to hold her tongue. "I don't know," she said weakly as she shrugged her shoulders. She looked up at Ryan somewhat defiantly, but plainly not wanting to challenge her.
Ryan, clearly not happy with the answer, but determined to keep her promise to her partner, shook her head. "Well maybe you oughta think about it so it doesn't happen again, huh?" She bestowed a penetrating gaze on the woman before turning and walking away. She walked a few yards and then stopped, turned, and called out to the woman, "Oh, and if it does happen again, you will be very, very sorry." Ryan's tone left no doubt as to the sincerity of her words and the three women hurried on their way.
Ryan stood and watched the women exit the complex, letting the anger drain from her body before returning to her mate. As she turned to return to the bleachers where Janna sat with Sharon, Carrie, Jackie and their partners, the bright field lights all shut off; leaving the complex bathed only in the orange glow of the security lights. Time to get my baby home.
Just then she heard the loud sound of shattering glass, followed by a blaring car alarm, coming from the parking area. Her first instinct was to look for Janna, and as she ran toward her mate, she saw that she was fine, surrounded by her friends. Ryan quickly ran to the bleachers and grabbed her athletic bag as her cop's instincts kicked into gear. As Janna and their friends stared in disbelief, she rapidly keyed the combination lock on the bag and grabbed her police ID and her holstered weapon, removing it from the leather holster and stuffing it into the waistband of her shorts, and shoving the ID badge into a pocket. She looked pointedly at Janna and said, "Stay here."
Janna nodded as her teammates gathered more closely around their injured friend and they watched Ryan race away and head out of the complex.
As she made her way toward the blaring alarm, Ryan's senses were on full alert and her inner alarm was screaming danger. She scanned her surroundings, noting the locations of the few remaining bystanders, possible ambush locations, and routes of escape for the perpetrators of the apparent break in that was in progress. As she passed a handful of people exiting the complex gates she said, "I'm a cop…stay back here for a few minutes folks, while I check this out." They eagerly complied.
As she entered the nearly deserted, dark parking lot, Ryan noted with vague interest that the car alarm sounded like hers. She looked toward her truck and noted that the front driver's side window was broken. Glass littered the pavement, as well as the grass strip in front of the truck. The many trees in the parking area drastically cut the illumination from the few lights but she could see the shards shining dully.
Suddenly, her hackles rose and her instincts sent her into full defensive mode, and she crouched, grabbing her weapon as she heard a shout and saw several bodies jump from the shadows, surrounding her.
Over in the bleachers, Janna felt an acute jolt of fear through their link and looked over toward the parking lot. She stood up; wobbling on her injured foot, and murmured, with fear tingeing her voice, "Ryan's in trouble."
When she realized that she was surrounded by three men, one behind her and two in front, slightly to her left and right, and that two of them held baseball bats, Ryan felt a very brief jolt of fear, but with the rush of adrenaline that accompanied it came a sense of self-confidence, and she also felt a stirring of Janna's strength.
"Drop the gun, dyke. You can't shoot all us at once," the man in front of and to her right growled.
"Why don't you drop the bats and no one will get hurt?" Ryan's reply was so calm that it unnerved two of the guys.
The first man laughed and was joined by his cohorts, though with noted nervousness in their voices. "There's only one of you and three of us…do the math." He laughed evilly and added, "When we're finished with you maybe you'll think twice about arresting guys for beating up queers. You're all fucking perverts."
Ryan calmly maintained her position, gun pointed straight ahead. In the brief instant before they made their move, she smiled maliciously, looking each of the guys in front of her in the eye. As she eyed the leader, his eyes shifted almost imperceptibly, revealing to Ryan that the man behind her was attacking.
As the first man attacked, he seemed to be moving in slow motion, and Ryan felt an extreme sense of peace settle over herself. She could see him, as clearly as if she had eyes in the back of her head, and she turned just as the bat descended and caught it in her left palm, yanking it forcefully from the guy's hands and tossing it over the fence into the softball field. As he stood dumbly in front of her, she executed a smooth aikido maneuver that threw him to the pavement roughly.
Before he hit the ground, his two buddies advanced on the cop, and she skillfully evaded the double-pronged attack, sliding gracefully around one guy and grasping his arms tightly behind him. She addressed the other thug as she brought her gun up and trained it on him, "Drop the bat. Now!" Her voice was deep and full of menace.
Billy, being much more intelligent than he appeared, did as the cop ordered and dropped the bat, holding up his hands.
"Now, on the ground, on your stomach!" She ordered. When he complied, she pushed the man she had a hold of down next to him and kicked the bat away. "Hands behind your backs and spread your legs!" She looked at the first man she had disarmed. "You, join them, now!" As the third idiot joined his friends and assumed the position, Carrie and Jackie ran up.
"Ryan!" Carrie yelled. Both their faces held looks of disbelief. "Are you alright?"
"Fine. Do either of you have a cell phone?"
"I do," Jackie responded and pulled the item from her jacket pocket.
"Call 911 and report an assault…tell them there's an off-duty officer involved."
Jackie nodded and made the call while Ryan kept her gun trained on the thugs. She addressed Carrie. "Where's Janna?"
"Sharon and Kathy are helping her out." She glanced toward the complex gate. "Here they come."
Ryan didn't chance taking her eyes off of the perps as she said, "Go tell them what's going on and tell them to stay away until my backup arrives. Should just be a few minutes."
Carrie and Jackie left to join their friends as Ryan had instructed. She eyed the three scumbags on the ground. "So, friends of Simpson's are you?"
"Fuck you, bitch." Billy seemed to have lost some brain cells in the previous few minutes.
"You wanna see what dyke cops do to homophobic assholes who beat up women?" She snarled so menacingly that the guy's face visibly paled. The half that wasn't smashed against the ground, that is. None of the men uttered another word.
A minute later, sirens could be heard and presently two squad cars raced into the lot. Three cops made their way quickly to Ryan and she briefed them on what had transpired.
After loading the creeps into the cars, one of the cops, Tom, smiled at Ryan and said, "Zamora, you attract trouble like clover does bees!"
She grinned but quickly sobered. "Tom, I think these guys may have been in on the attack on my partner last month…she may be able to identify them."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because I think they had targeted me. One of them said they would teach me a lesson about arresting guys who beat up gays."
Her coworker shook his head. "Jesus. Where do these guys crawl out from, huh?"
"You got me." She looked up and saw that her friends were helping Janna over and went to meet them. Janna fairly leapt from her friends' arms and fell into Ryan's.
As they embraced tightly Janna muttered, "Ryan, sweetheart, what happened?"
Ryan kissed Janna's hair and breathed deeply of her summer scent. "First of all, baby, I'm fine. They were pretty inept. Secondly, I think they were waiting for me, and thirdly, I think they were involved in your attack somehow. One of them insinuated that."
"Oh, my God, Ryan…" Janna began to sob quietly.
"Shh, it's okay, baby. We're fine and the jerks are on their way to jail."
"But Ryan, there were three of them…they could have killed you…"
"No way, babe." Ryan smiled. "They didn't have a chance."
"But what if they'd had a gun…what if…" Janna closed her eyes and swallowed hard. "It would have been my fault.
"Janna! What?" Ryan looked at her in shock and grasped her shoulders. "This in no way was your fault. It was the fault of those warped assholes who couldn't stand the fact that women, gay women, had bested them. They're small, slimy, pathetic excuses for men who are going to jail now, where they belong." She pulled Janna close again and added, "Honey, please don't blame yourself. Anyway, I was ready for them and able to handle them easily."
"Thank God, Ryan. Thank all the gods." She sighed and wrapped her arms tightly around her mate.
"Yeah, thank you." Ryan looked up towards the heavens. "Hey, we need to get you off of that ankle…come on." She helped her mate over to the back seat of her Explorer. Some of her coworkers were still gathering evidence around the left front side of the truck but they indicated to Ryan that she could seat Janna in the back.
As she stood beside Janna, their friends approached the truck.
"Hey, you guys, is it safe now?" Sharon shook her head and grinned. "You two can find more trouble together in two months than I did in twenty years in the Army."
Ryan grinned and pulled her gruff coach in for a hug. "Yeah, ya big lug. It's safe. Thanks for taking care of my girl while I was otherwise engaged."
"Shit, Ryan, you really took care of those guys. Remind me never to cross you!" Carrie grinned and punched her arm playfully.
Ryan shrugged. "It's what I'm trained to do. No big deal." At that statement all of her friends, including her mate, rolled their eyes and stated, nearly in unison, "Yeah, right!"
Ryan blushed mildly and looked down at her shoes, at which point Janna took pity on her and pulled her closer so that she could kiss her cheek.
It was after midnight when they finally got home after dealing with all the police necessities. Despite the several Reiki applications she had received, Janna's ankle was throbbing painfully again. The stress of the attack on her partner, and the ensuing investigation had prevented her from treating it properly with elevation and icing. Now, however, as she lay in bed, her mate was applying another ice wrap and settling her foot comfortably on pillows.
"There, babe. Twenty minutes of ice, then we'll wait an hour and do it again before going to sleep." She lay down beside her tired mate and scooped her into arms, kissing her cheek. "You rest, I'll take care of the ice for you."
"Nope, if you're staying up then so am I."
"You are so stubborn!"
"I am?" Janna looked mystified. "You take the cake, my love."
"I do not."
"You do too."
"This will get us nowhere, because we're both stubborn. Give me a kiss."
Janna willingly complied and forgot about her pain for a little while.
A stray sunbeam found its way to the bed, where it illuminated two entwined figures writhing in ecstasy. The tall, dark figure caressed the smaller one below her with every part of her body at once. Her mouth, hands, legs, torso, and thighs all moved together in unison, giving exquisite pleasure to her life mate. As the smaller form received pleasure from her mate, she returned it in kind, matching her sensual caresses, strokes and kisses.
As one, they arched and cried out, their movements slowing and then stopping, their sated bodies melding together as they lie still, catching their breath. Words escaped them for long minutes, but weren't really needed. The two joined souls were able to communicate silently everything that truly needed communicating through their unique bond.
A person gifted with second sight would have seen the golden energetic bond that linked their heart centers and spread out to envelope them in it's loving glow. They would also have seen how their auras merged fluidly and filled the room.
The lovers lay together, quietly embracing, for nearly an hour, neither wanting to break their physical bond. Finally, the dark one spoke quietly. "Did I make you forget about your ankle, love?"
"What ankle is that honey?"
Ryan tilted her head back and laughed, then squeezed her partner and kissed her tenderly once more.
"God, it's great with you Janna. I've never experienced anything like it before." She wiped a drop of sweat from her mate's temple. "I know we've talked about it before, but it's just so incredibly good that it blows my mind over and over again."
"I know, Ryan. I have trouble finding words for it myself." She kissed the throat near her lips. "Honey, you are so incredibly good at finding my two most sensitive spots…every time. Every single time, Ryan."
"Hmm, would those be your little g and c type spots?" She grinned as Janna giggled, then added, "I was made to love you, baby. There's no doubt in my mind." She kissed the tip of her mate's nose. "And you're expert at finding my special spots, too."
"There's no doubt here either, love." Janna giggled and shuddered happily. "And two weeks from tomorrow I'm marrying you."
"Yep...God, Janna, I can't wait!" She picked up Janna's hand and caressed her ring finger. "I can't wait until you're wearing my ring, and I'm wearing yours." She wiped away a tear as it escaped from her eye. "I never thought I was cable of loving like this, Janna, but you've shown me that I am. Thank you." Ryan hugged her partner gleefully, experiencing fully the love that bound them and knowing with every shred and fiber of her being that she was home.