Erin felt something quiet and sure settle in her chest. This was what she'd wanted without knowing how to ask for it—not just the physical connection, but the acknowledgment that they were choosing each other with eyes wide open to the complications and possibilities alike.
The single bed didn't feel like an obstacle for them to navigate anymore. It felt like an invitation.
Lena gently guided her to the bed, and they sat next to each other, just taking each other in. Lena’s hair was in her typical ponytail, but it wasn’t as severely pulled back as usual. Lena had let some wisps fall out of her ponytail and they framed her face and softened it. Erin reached up to pinch one of the strands between her fingers then tuck it behind her ear as she leaned in to kiss her again.
They lay down, facing each other, and Erin felt her heart swell seeing Lena and having her lay down next to her. Lena reached over and ran her hands down Erin’s body before she swiveled and was on top of Erin. Lena quickly took off her shirt and bra, then leaned down to take off Erin’s. Erin sat up just enough to let Lena slip off her shirt and unclasp her bra too. When Lena buried her face in Erin’s neck, Erin closed her eyes, reveling in Lena’s lips on her skin.
She melted under Lena’s touch as she kissed her body all the way down, leaving little sears of kisses down her stomach, acrossher thighs, over her knees, and all the way down to her toes. Erin couldn’t suppress a smile as Lena left kisses all over her body like a quiet devotion. As she kissed, her hand roamed, and Erin willed Lena’s hand to gravitate to her core.
And it did.
As Lena trekked her way back up, her hand cupped Erin over her mound, capturing the heat. When she got closer, Lena let her thumb tease Erin’s entrance, and Erin felt heat coil inside her. She let herself go as Lena finally slipped her finger deep inside her. Lena kept pumping her fingers inside Erin as she bent down and licked her clit. Erin felt herself pulsating with pleasure as Lena licked her in all the right places with the perfect amount of pressure. Lena’s tongue swirled over the swollen nub as her fingers continued to curl and hit her G-spot, and Erin bucked her hips rhythmically against Lena’s hand as she moaned.
“Lena, oh my god, oh fuck. Keep going, right there, right there…”
The pressure built within her, and soon, it consumed all of her, and Lena kept going, her tongue working its magic, leaving figure eights all over her. When Lena drew her clit into her mouth and sucked, Erin lost all control and came undone, screaming Lena’s name and squeezing her eyes shut.
Erin felt completely spent, and it took her a few deep breaths before her breathing returned to normal. Lena laid down next to her, a satisfied smile stretched across her face.
“You taste phenomenal,” she said.
Erin blushed despite herself. “You were incredible. I almost felt my soul leave my body.”
Lena laughed and pulled Erin tight against her body and squeezed. “I know what you mean.”
Later, Erin carefully extracted herself from Lena's arms and the warm tangle of the sheets and shared blanket. Lena murmured a soft protest, but she didn't wake fully, just reachingone hand briefly for where Erin had been before settling back into sleep.
Erin pulled on her clothes quietly and moved to the window, picking up the binoculars and settling into the chair they'd positioned for surveillance. The forest was silent, and cabin twelve was dark except for a single light in what looked like the kitchen. Nothing suspicious, nothing that required immediate action.
She should have been focused entirely on the case, but her mind kept drifting to the conversation they had earlier, to the word that still made her pulse quicken: partners. They’d finally acknowledged that whatever this was between them, it was real and worth fighting for.
The hours passed quietly. Erin maintained her vigilant watch, while her mind processed the shift that had occurred between her and Lena. Around 4 a.m., she switched on the thermal imaging equipment for another scan of cabin twelve. The device hummed softly as it calibrated, then displayed the heat signatures on its small screen.
There—something different. Multiple heat sources clustered in what appeared to be the cabin's back room, too concentrated and organized to be normal household items. Accelerants would register exactly like this: containers of flammable materials generating distinct thermal patterns.
Erin adjusted the equipment settings and took screenshots of the readings. This was the evidence they needed, and there were possibly significant amounts of accelerant based on the thermal density. She made careful notes about the patterns and locations, critical documentation for when they returned to the station.
At five-thirty, as dawn began to lighten the forest, she heard the sound of an engine starting up near cabin twelve. Through the binoculars, she watched a figure emerge from thecabin—male, medium build, wearing dark clothing. He moved purposefully to the pickup truck, but instead of leaving, he began unloading containers from the truck bed and carrying them into the cabin.
Erin grabbed the camera with the telephoto lens and began documenting everything. The man made several trips, organizing what appeared to be a substantial collection of containers. When he moved the truck to access the cabin's front more directly, she had a clear view of the license plate that had been partially hidden by trees the day before.
She photographed it from multiple angles, making sure she captured every character clearly. This was the break they needed, and they had complete identification to run through the system back in Phoenix Ridge.
The man finished his work and drove away as the sun cleared the tree line. Erin continued watching until his vehicle disappeared, then immediately began organizing her evidence.
"Lena." She kept her voice low but urgent. "Wake up. We've got something."
Lena stirred, instantly alert. "What is it?"
"Heat signatures consistent with accelerant storage. I watched someone moving containers about twenty minutes ago." Erin handed over the camera. "And I got the complete license plate."
Lena sat up, taking the camera and scrolling through the images. "This is exactly what we needed: storage location, organization, vehicle identification." She looked up at Erin. "Solid work."
"We should head back and run that plate to ID the guy and start building the case for a search warrant."
"Agreed. This gives us what we need to move forward properly."
They packed up their surveillance equipment and broke down their observation post efficiently, then loaded everything into Lena's car and were driving back down the winding mountain road toward Phoenix Ridge within thirty minutes. The early morning quiet settled around them as they descended through the forest.
