by C. L. Coffey
Joshua reached over and pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. I settled into him, glad that all my nerves had finally disappeared, and enjoyed the rest of the ride.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Memories Made, Memories Remembered
The NOPD Winter Ball was being held at the Roosevelt Hotel. At Christmas my aunt Sarah and I would call in for an evening meal and stare in awe at the lights. Every Christmas the enormous lobby turned into a beautiful winter wonderland full of Christmas trees and thousands of lights. Tonight, close to Christmas, was no exception. We were greeted by a doorman who informed us which of the ballrooms the event was being held in. We passed the old, ornate clock and took the time to admire the decorations. Well, Joshua was admiring the decorations. I was still admiring him.
The ball itself was magical. There were so many exquisite dresses which put mine to shame, worn by so many beautiful women. The food was divine – I’ve never had duck cooked so well – and the jazz band was exceptional. Leon was there with his wife, Felicia. She was amazing. I had seen how much time Leon had given up recently, especially to help out with us angels, and she seemed incredibly understanding.
It was just after the deserts had been cleared away that a gentleman in blues took to the stage. “That’s the Captain,” Joshua whispered in my ear. The man was short, which surprised me. He had to stand on a step to be able to speak into the microphone on the podium – wasn’t there a height requirement for the police? Apparently not.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he started. For the next few minutes I had to concentrate on not trying to laugh that I missed most of what he was saying. The man sounded like Fozzie Bear. “... hard times of late. This city will pull through, and it will pull through because of the bravery and tenacity shown by my boys, and girls, in blue. You are the blood which keeps this city thriving. With that in mind, I would like to announce that an interim Lieutenant has been found to replace Asmodeus. I won't ask him to make a speech, but instead welcome Leon Roi into the position.”
The room burst into applause. Leon stood, accepting the congratulations with a modest bob of his head, before sitting back down. “Congratulations,” I told him, meaning it.
* * *
By the time the dance floor started filling up and Joshua asked me to dance, I had decided this was the best evening I’d ever had. “Did you say something?” Joshua asked.
I’d been resting my head against his cheek as we swayed on the dance floor and hadn’t realized I’d said that aloud. I pulled back and grinned. “Just that I’m enjoying this.”
“I can tell,” he said. “I’ve not seen you look this relaxed and happy for a long time.” Then he wiggled his eyes at me. Before I knew what he was doing, he had sent me out in a spin. If it hadn’t had been for him still holding onto me, it would have sent me flying. Instead, he reeled me back in and started leading me in some basic steps.
“What are you doing?” I asked, my eyes wide in horror as I stared down at my feet, or at least tried to – the skirt was doing an excellent job of hiding them.
“We’re doing a very basic waltz, but it works better if you look at me and not at your feet,” he informed me, matter-of-factly.
I stared back at him, my forehead wrinkled in confusion. “You know how to waltz?”
“Maggie insisted on dancing lessons when I was a kid,” Joshua shrugged.
Great. I had the rhythm of a drunken giraffe with three left feet, even when I was sober. There was no way this was going to end without Joshua limping in pain.
Seeing my panic, he smiled. “Just relax and let me lead.” I did tread on his toes more than once, but, after some time, I relaxed into a rhythm with him. The next time he sent me spinning I was more prepared, but he caught me with both arms, wrapping them tightly around me. “Mine,” he declared.
“Yours,” I agreed.
Joshua gave me a smile, but shook his head. There was a moment of alarm (on my part), before he clarified. He reached for my hand and placed it over his heart. “Yours.”
“I love you,” I whispered back as he leaned in and kissed me.
The thing that had me pulling away was the hair on the back of my neck. All of a sudden, despite the number of people in that room, I could feel a pair of eyes focused on me. A pair that weren’t Joshua’s.
I didn’t like it.
I tried not to tense in Joshua’s arms and alert him to my unease. Instead, I used the motion of us dancing to scan the room, trying to spot anyone that looked out of place. The room was lit to create an atmosphere. There were lights on the dance floor, and dimmed areas around the outside. Perfect for a private rendezvous, but not so much for trying to see who was lurking. Nevertheless, as I continued to peer into the shadows no one and nothing stood out to me. There were faces that were familiar, but considering all the time I’d spent in the precinct, any one of them could belong to someone I had seen in passing.
“You’re distracted again,” Joshua murmured in my ear.
“What makes you say that?” I asked, even though I was, as I asked the question, distracted.
“You just stood on my foot and didn’t apologize for it.”
I stepped back, mortified. This was when I managed to walk straight into a drink. I have no idea what the owner was doing with it, but a large part of it ended up in my hair, and then dripping down my cleavage. Nice. At least it was only white wine.
“I am so sorry,” the owner of the drink hurried to apologize. He grabbed a napkin from the table and got within two feet of my breasts before Joshua snatched the cloth from him.
“I don’t think so,” he grunted.
“There’s no harm,” I sighed, taking the napkin and dabbing it against my skin. “I’m sorry, that was my fault,” I apologized to the man, leading Joshua away. I dabbed at the dress as I was going, but the wet patch was spreading out down the bodice, aided by my dripping hair. I blew out a breath. “What do you think the chances are that the hotel will have a spare room that I can borrow for half an hour?”
“I don’t think it’s that kind of hotel, darlin’,” Joshua told me with a smirk.
“All I want is a hairdryer, doofas.”
Joshua shifted his weight. “Now, don’t go reading into this too much, but I have a room here.” Unable to form words, I tilted my head and stood, blinking at him. He shifted again, folding his arms. “They bulk blocked rooms so we can have a drink and not worry about driving home.”
“You haven’t had a drop all night,” I pointed out.
Joshua shrugged. “I had the room booked since May. They go quickly.”
“I will take what I can get,” I shrugged. I pointed to the door. “Lead the way.”
With a quick detour to the welcome desk to check in and collect a key card, Joshua took me upstairs into his room. It was just a standard room with a Queen sized bed, but given this was a Waldorf-Astoria hotel, even standard was elegant. I felt like a girl who had sneaked away to a hotel room at her prom. The thoughts of drying off disappeared. “Can you help me out of this dress?” I asked Joshua.
Joshua had been lingering in the short hallway (if you could call the four feet a hallway), leaning against the wall, watching me. At my request, his bedroom eyes made an appearance. Slowly, he paced across the room. I turned and closed my eyes.
When his warm fingers brushed over my shoulders and trailed down my back to the top of the dress, I let out an involuntary shudder. The unfastening of the dress seemed to take three times as long as it had for me to put it on. I clutched at the bodice, sure Joshua was taking his time.
Finally, his hands left my back and I could feel that the dress was only staying up because I was holding it there. I had three seconds to make a choice. It took one. Sucking in my confidence (and my stomach), I allowed the dress to fall to the floor and stepped out of it. When I turned around to face Joshua, I found him back on the other side of the room. His eyes, though smoldering, were pained. “Darlin’, you’re making it really,
really hard for me to keep any promises right now.” His voice was low and strained.
I strode over to him, wearing nothing but my gloves, underwear, stockings, and heels. The sword was pulled off and tossed onto the dress before I reached him. “I hope we can scratch the last eight words off that sentence,” I informed him as I pressed my body up against his.
He let out a noise somewhere between a groan and a hiss, but his hands remained at his sides. “I think that’s a given.”
This wasn’t the first time I’d made the first move, and it wasn’t my first rodeo. It was the first time a guy hadn’t put his hands on my semi-naked body when I was standing right in front of him. Uncertainty clouded me. I stepped back, wrapping my arms around myself. “Unless you don’t want to, because I’m not going to force you into a situation you don’t want to be in. People don’t like to talk about it, but it works the other way around and-”
“Angel.” Joshua cut me off. “Maggie told me that cutting a woman off when she’s ‘mid-spiel’ is rude and improper. More so, if I do it with a kiss, but so help me, if you don’t shut up, I will be doing that.”
I clamped my mouth closed.
“Although you make it exceptionally difficult sometimes, I am a patient man.”
I arched an eyebrow it him.
“I can be a patient man. I am trying to be with you. That’s why I’m going to ask you one last time: are you sure? There’s no going back from this.” The look he gave me – restrained need – it was the deal breaker.
“I’m sure.” I was. I was sure of him, and I was sure of myself. I was completely sure that the two of us being together wouldn’t result in me losing my wings, either.
Joshua hesitated for only a moment, and then his hands were on my waist as he lifted me up like I weighed nothing. My legs wrapped around him as his lips captured the sigh that escaped mine when I came into contact with his muscular body. He carried me over, and gently deposited me on the center of the bed, his mouth never leaving mine.
His kisses were full of heat and need, but all the while, he kept his pace slow, like he was committing everything to memory. It was too slow for me. My legs were still wrapped around his waist and I took advantage, rocking myself against him. The friction between us felt good enough for both of us, that Joshua seemed to spring to life. With my help, his clothes had joined my dress somewhere on the floor.
Time stopped. For someone who has the freakish ability to always know what time it is, this was a wonderful thing. Everything outside of the hotel room – off the bed, even – stopped existing. The only thing for me was Joshua. I lost myself in him and was allowed to forget about everything else that was happening in the world. A lifetime could have passed and it was not enough time. I was content with kissing him, taking breaks only when we became breathless and needed to explore each other’s bodies. My hands roamed his hard lines, while his sought out my softer curves, our bodies becoming entangled with each other.
When his actions had me arching my back, pressing into him, and I moaned his name in his ear, he grew still, hovering over me. His eyes, the color of a night sky, bore into me. His weight pressed down on me in a way which was oddly soothing, but he still paused to cup my cheek. “Are you sure? There’s no going back from this? There’s a lot you’re risking for this.”
My hand was on his chest, tracing over his heart. I reached up and placed a kiss there. “I’m not risking anything.” I was sure of that. This could happen and I knew that it would not stop me being his guardian. I pressed one more kiss over his heart, and then turned my attention to his mouth, reaching for his cheek. I told him, without words, that at that moment, everything was as it should be. My hands left his face, tracing the lines of his neck, shoulder, back – his chest, and lower over his stomach. There was a growl in the back of Joshua’s throat which I felt through his kisses, completely addictive and completely delicious.
His hands which had previously been exploring my body were now moving with purpose, setting my skin on fire as they travelled over me. This wasn’t his first time. It wasn’t my first time. But it was our first time, and we were quickly deciphering each moan and gasp, finding a rhythm.
Hours later, I lay beside him, feeling sated, and a different type of tired. The type of tired I would happily feel for all eternity. Time had passed, and although there was no desire to return to the party, I would have to leave this bubble we had created at some point in the near future.
For now, I was content, wrapped in his arms and using his chest as a pillow. The steady breathing was suggesting he was asleep. I tipped my head up and found his eyes closed but his lips twisted up into a satisfied smile.
“Stop watching me sleep,” he muttered, his voice heavy. His eyes remained closed, but the smile widened into a grin.
“I’m not watching you sleep. I’m waiting for you to fall asleep,” I corrected him.
One eye poked open. “You planning on bailing?” he asked me as his arms tightened their hold.
“Hardly. I’m waiting for you to fall asleep so I can give you your birthday present.”
Both eyes were wide open now, accompanied by his all-too-familiar smirk. “You don’t need me to be asleep for that, darlin’.”
I laughed, slowly shaking my head. “That’s not what I had in mind for your present, and while I’m happy to go for round two later, right now I want you to sleep.”
“I’m not sure I will be able to sleep now,” he pouted.
I was. I yawned, closing my eyes and allowing the sleep to take over me. Hopefully, Joshua wouldn’t be too far behind.
* * *
It didn’t take long for me to wander into Joshua’s dream. He was waiting for me on the banks of the Mississippi, minus the muggy, diesel laden air I was familiar with. “What’s this birthday present then, darlin’?” he asked me. He had a sparkle in his eye – excitement or anticipation. Maybe both.
“I need to pull it off first,” I told him. “I’ve not exactly done this before, so I need you not to fight me.” He cocked his head, but stood still, waiting.
One thing at a time.
First up was the easy stuff; the clothing. I looked down at the biker jeans and vest top I was wearing and replaced them with a red bikini top and a pair of shorts. When that earned an appreciative noise, I turned my attention to Joshua, my eyebrow arched. “You’re not getting out of it.” I promptly replaced his jeans and dress shirt with a pair of patterned board shorts I’d seen in the mall recently.
The next task was harder: wiping out the city around us, but stretching out the grass bank from the river beside us. The location wasn’t perfect, but it would do. The final part was going to take a lot of concentration. “I’m not sure how long this is going to remain in place,” I told Joshua. He was staring at me like I’d managed to part the sea. Okay, this was almost as impressive, but this was his dream I was manipulating. I sat down on the grass and closed my eyes, focusing on Joshua. It took a long time. I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to pull it off after all, and then my mind, which had been trying to search through the dream, found what it was looking for.
My out of body experience had an out of body experience. I left me, sitting cross legged on dream grass and somehow ventured into Joshua’s memory. It was like walking into a gallery with thousands of digital pictures hanging on the wall. The ones closest to me were vibrant and colorful, until further back, they started fading and becoming more pixilated. I wandered around finally finding the picture I wanted. I grabbed it, clutching it tightly as I returned to my bikini-clad dream body.
With the memory still firmly in my head. I concentrated. I knew I succeeded when I heard Joshua’s gasp.
“Bethany?”
“Why are you acting weird, little brother?”
I opened my eyes, finding Joshua standing there, his eyes already lined with tears as he stared opened-mouthed at the girl in front of him. I hadn’t completely succeeded in what I wanted to achieve. I was hoping to let him relive
a memory of a water fight – the one in the photograph at his place (and in his memory gallery) – but Joshua had stayed the same age, whereas Bethany looked to be the nineteen or twenty year old she had been in the photograph.
Conjuring this was exhausting enough. I was sure I wouldn’t succeed if I tried to age her, so I didn’t bother.
Even with Joshua now being older than her, it was easy to see the family resemblance. They both had blue eyes, though hers were more the color of the sky compared to his darker ones, and they had the same dark hair, hers possibly straight like his, but I couldn’t tell as she wore it in two braided pigtails.
Joshua finally took his eyes off his sister to look at me. “What is this?”
“Your birthday present.”
Bethany whirled around, finally seeing me. “Who are you?” she asked. “Don’t tell me little Josh has a girlfriend?”
“I’m just here to supply you with water pistols,” I assured her as one appeared in her hands. She didn’t question it.
“What are you doing?” Joshua asked.
I had no problem meeting Joshua’s family. I would have happily chatted with Bethany and gotten to know her, but that wasn’t what this was about. I could already feel myself getting weaker and I wanted Joshua to remember something from this. “It’s your birthday present,” I said again. “I’m not going to keep this up for long, so go enjoy this.”
A water pistol appeared in his hands, just as a stream of icy cold water hit the back of his neck. “You’re going to pay for that!” he yelled, happily. He spun around, the water quickly meeting its target, as a high pitch squeal escaped Bethany.
I kept my concentration up for as long as I could, but slowly, like the water escaping the large reservoir of the water gun, the memory started to slip though my fingers. Around me it was getting darker. The grass which had stretched out as far as the horizon began creeping back towards the river. And then Bethany started to flicker.