by Siera London
“Yes, I suppose it did.” He lowered his eyes to her mouth. His attention was on her lips as she spoke. Lina felt the hunger in his eyes, a caress as tangible as the clothes she wore. She extended her tongue to wet her lip. Lost in his eyes, Lina didn’t realize she’d licked his thumb until her tongue slid off the tip. They both stilled. She cast her eyes up gaging his response. The surge of heat burning in his eyes, had her insides melting. She locked her knees together, afraid Cricket might force her to call out his name, but his arm slid around her waist pulling her closer.
“Ah, Gideon, I didn’t mean to do that.” This was embarrassing. Was there a rule of etiquette on how to apologize for licking a gorgeous man’s finger? A very tasty finger. Now she squirmed in his arms.
“Be still. Tell me what you didn’t mean to do.”
“You know. The accidental tongue to thumb thing.”
“That was an accident? I thought we were starting some male-female mating ritual. I stroke you, you sample me.” A devilish smile crossed his face. She was grateful for the reprieve his teasing provided.
“You’ve got jokes. I don’t go around licking men on my doorstep.”
“Like I said before, I’m not trying to analyze you. You could tell me what you like, but it’s better when you show me.”
“Hate to break it to you, but all the questions equal an analysis.” He grinned but she was in awe of the entire day. “You are not what I expected Gideon Rice.” He seemed more comfortable like this, than earlier in the evening. This seemed natural, more organic. She was privy to a side of him few people got to witness. This side of Gideon was congruent with what she gleaned from the evening together. Gideon and Dr. Rice were two halves of a different whole.
“And you are more than I hoped for.” She released a breath.
“I should probably go inside. Thank you again for a wonderful evening.” At his raised eyebrow she corrected her response.
“The evening was perfect.” She was learning.
“It was. When can I see you again?”
“Gideon, please don’t feel obligated to ask me out.”
“Why would you say something crazy like that? Not one thing I’ve done tonight communicated a hardship on my part. Accidental thumb licking or not, you like me well enough and I sure as heck like you.”
She double blinked at him. “I didn’t mean to upset you, country boy. Your country roots sure roar back to life when you get agitated.” Some unreadable expression crossed his face before she could register the meaning. He was clenching and unclenching his jaw. She had upset him. That wasn’t her intention.
“I’m just saying you don’t have to get involved in my drama.”
He ran his fingers through his thick, dark locks before speaking. “I’m not talking about drama. I’m talking about us spending time together.”
“Gideon, I’m on a thirty day man-fast.” She said it. Now he would turn around and leave. Temptation averted.
“What the heck is a man-fast?” He’d sealed her in. His large hands were planted on the beveled glass door, on either side of her torso.
“It’s a suspension of all romantic involvement with the male species.” The tic in his jaw was nothing compared to the sound of the grinding of his teeth.
“How long?” His question confused her. He should be walking away. Other men left her without the limitation of a fast.
“How long for what?”
“How many days until the fast ends?” His voice grated with a metal on metal quality.
“Thirty days minus…”
“Stop stalling, Lina.”
“Twenty-nine days and one hour.” Her voice was sure and steady.
“This thing started today.” Gideon voice climbed an octave. “Cancel it.”
“I had fun, but nothing can happen between us. This is the end, not a beginning.” She turned within his cocoon, inserting the key in the lock.
“Lina?” She turned, letting her eyes meet his and she wish she hadn’t. Firm lips pressed to her forehead and lingered. He pulled away first before it occurred to her to push him away.
“It can and it has. The story of us began the first time you let me taste those sweet lips.” She sucked in a breath and with it his scent, and just like that all the well-defined boundaries of her life blurred.
“Good night, sweetness.” This was the opposite of good.
She gave up the forehead on the first night. His lips had touched her body. Lina’s chin fell to her chest. Not her best idea to start a man-fast following a starvation diet. She could hear him whistling a country ditty as she collapsed against the closed door. He meandered away from her door like a man pleased with his progress. He’s a good kisser. Usher’s song would be at the top of her playlist by morning. His kiss had been sure, light at first touch, then a steady increase in pressure. His moist heat lingered on her skin, burning up her insides. Why didn’t she pull away? He had offered her a sample of premium white chocolate, but when she readied herself for a full portion, he had put it back in the wrapper and put it away. He would load it in a 2015 gun metal gray Cadillac sedan and drive it down the highway. He was worse than an insidious white collar criminal. Gideon Rice was a candy thief.
“It’s better this way.”
She couldn’t contain her smile. He’d given her an unexpected gift and she felt good. No, she had surpassed good and skyrocketed to great. The reserved psychiatrist had a Casanova effect on her common sense. She hadn’t lied about wanting to invite him inside for the night. Her skin still tingled from his touch. A touch that was firm, sure, and heated. There was nothing tentative about the man. And those gray eyes. They were intense and ever watchful. The kind of eyes a woman could get lost in for hours-the gray seemed to roll like storm clouds when he looked at her. She could see his desire lurking beneath his controlled exterior. Her three inch heels echoed on the tile entryway as she bounced on her toes. She could get used to utilizing her extensive footwear collection. She no longer had to consider height challenges on her dates. She halted. The realization that she had envisioned herself dating Gideon had her kicking off the conspiratorial heels, followed by the control top pantyhose. She picked up all three items, moving through the darkness toward the custom designed closet in the master suite.
She started to sing a Linearized of the late James Brown’s “I Got You” as she undressed.
“I feel good, dada dada dada, da, I didn’t know that I would.” Her voice rang out bouncing off the walls in the bedroom as she danced across the floor in her bare feet. “I’m so good, so good.” She gyrated her hips to the beat in her head. “Coz, I got somebody new, dent dent dent dent.” Wrong. Man-fasting and considering a relationship were diametrically opposed ideas. Opening her heart to Gideon was a foolish consideration. She did one full twirl then took a deep bow imitating the Godfather of Soul. It felt good to sing again. She rose from her concert bow, she extended her right arm, pressed the room light control, and froze. Body ridged, eyes wide, she unleashed a scream that ricocheted off every object in the bedroom.
The scream slashed through Gideon’s detailed plan for his next date with Lina. A woman’s scream from years gone by echoed through his brain bringing back memories of his failure.
Turning, he raced back to Lina’s door, as the screams intensified. Lina’s condominium resembled a large, single family beach house. Grabbing the door lever, he found it locked.
“Lina!” “Lina, open the door.”
Preparing to kick the door lock, he loosened his stance when she opened the door in bare feet with a long, hardwood stick raised over her head like a police baton.
“I heard your screams. What happened?” At her silence the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Lina didn’t suffer a loss for words often.
“The scream, Lina,” he prompted her.
“Someone broke into my house.” Her words came in a rush. Protectiveness and anger spiked through the very core of his being. The need to protect her besieged every fiber in
his body. She was blocking his entrance to the entryway.
“Let me come inside.” He was thankful that she didn’t hesitate. He’d alienate any threat to Lina.
“You stay by the door,” he told her. This was not the time to ask politely.
“You’ll get no complaints from me. It’s in my bedroom.” Her bedroom? She pointed to a flight of hardwood stairs that lead to a loft overlooking the living area.
He looked her over, reassuring himself that she was okay. Lina was rigid from head to toe as if preparing to attack or to be attacked.
Gideon moved in the direction she pointed. He scanned the surrounding space as he moved. Her living room combined with the dining area and overlooked a stone balcony with a view of the beach. With the hour nearing eleven in the evening the starlit night was beautiful. The house was immaculate. Her bedroom was off the far corner of the formal living area. He pushed away the fleeting thought that the intruder was someone who knew her house, and exactly where the bedroom was.
The metallic odor was the first red flag. A rectangle rhinestone studded headboard covered half of the right bedroom wall, in the center of the royal purple duvet were at least a dozen white, long stemmed roses, dipped in crimson liquid. Blood stained roses.
Gideon recalled what Lina told him about Jace and the roses, but breaking and entering to leave a blood-soaked message spoke to a more sinister intent. No man in his right mind would consider bloody roses a reconciliation gesture. Bending low he examined the lock on the bedroom door leading to the balcony. There were no visible signs of tampering. The hairs on the back of his neck were tingling. This stunt required pre-planning, timing, and patience.
He hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary about the surroundings when he picked Lina up for their date. But dense woods surrounded her dual unit condominium. It would be easy for a perpetrator to hide until the opportunity to enter presented itself. He had more questions than answers at this point. He knew he wasn’t leaving Lina alone tonight.
“Gideon? Is everything okay? BETAS and I are ready if you need us.”
Not hearing anyone enter the condo, Gideon started towards the woman waiting for him at the door.
“Who is Betas?” Lina aimed the hardwood stick approximately the length of a baseball bat, but half the diameter in his direction. The way she held the thing, he was hesitant to get too close.
“Dr. Gideon Rice, meet BETAS.” Gideon looked on as Lina gripped and released the smooth shaft of wood in comfortable familiarity. Gideon swallowed and willed his country boy thinking back into the barn.
He pointed at the stick then at the floor. She was slow to lower the wicked looking instrument.
“You named a stick?” She shrugged.
“I got it as a housewarming gift four years ago.”
“From who?” He tilted his head, interested to know who would give her a weapon.
“My mother if you must know.”
“It’s an unusual gift, don’t you think?”
“According to Bernadean James, a woman has to take care of herself.” He surveyed the room during her explanation.
“I don’t see any signs of forced entry from the balcony door. Who has a key to your house?”
“My mother. Oh, and Janna. She’s storing Ava’s engagement favors in my guest bedroom.”
“Not Jace?”
“I answered your question, counselor.” He held up his hands in mock surrender.
“Sorry, I know a lot of women give their boyfriend’s keys to their place.”
“Jace never had a key.” Knowing the other man hadn’t earned the privilege to enter Lina’s domain at will, set a part of his mind at ease.
“I think you should alert the authorities. Is anything missing or out of place in your bedroom?” She lowered the stick and pressed the fingers of the opposite hand to her left temple.
“I’m fine and nothing’s out of place. But you’re right. I should call the cops. I’ll see you to the door.” He didn’t budge.
“You have two choices. You come with me or I am staying the night with you. I’m not leaving you alone knowing there’s a potential threat to your safety. I’m not convinced this is Jace’s actions, maybe an unknown assailant entered your home.” The roses he could accept, but to secure blood, most likely from an animal source, then dip each individual one in blood with meticulous care, led him to think a more sinister plan was at work.
“What’s on the other side of the living area?”
“Another bedroom and bathroom are beyond the kitchen. I rarely use that side of the house.”
“I’ll go search the other spaces. You stay in this spot until I come back.” He could see the protest forming with the slight twist of her mouth. “Lina, I need to know where you are in the house.” He settled a determined look on her, he waited for her to accept his words. Patience earned him a stiff head nod. Reluctant, but he was sure she would do as he instructed. Gideon proceeded with his plan to ensure Lina’s safety and secure the perimeter.
“Call the police, while I check out the rest of the house.”
“I will, but first…”
“No buts,” he said, pointing in the direction of her bedroom. “That scene on the bed is a message. A calling card. Get the police here, first, anybody else can wait.” Lina James did not respond well to directives. That made for an interesting dynamic in a nurse. “Who might want to scare you?”
“First, I’m not scared. If anyone comes in this house uninvited when I’m here, they are going to get a kick from my whip ass shoes and a taste of BETAS.” A fierce warrior princess. Greeting him at the door with her humanized battering stick told him she brought the war to the enemy. Just like a Marine. He would give just about anything to call her his own. Running a hand through his hair, he refocused.
“Any names come to mind when you think about pulling out the whip ass shoes?”
“Other than Jace, no,” she said, deflated. “I’ve lived here for four years without incident.” He believed her.
“Remember, you stay here, no matter what.” Mindful, he made a slow approach to the closed guest bedroom suite. Even without his Kevlar boots, he kept his steps nimble, and light in his leather soled dress shoes. Out of habit, he reached for his sidearm weapon. A maneuver he’d done hundreds of times as a Marine in combat. His hands met a cell phone holster. It wasn’t there. Lina’s guest suite was equally decorated as the rest of the rooms, a bold mixture of texture, tone, and shades of the color purple. Both bedrooms had the look of a magazine layout for seductive boudoirs.
By the time he closed the guest bedroom closet, he could hear a car pulling into the parking area. When he walked into the living room Lina was peering through the wooden shuttered windows in the living room that faced the parking lot.
“Is it a patrol car?”
“No, it’s my neighbor, Estrella.”
“How long has she lived here?”
“A few months, give or take a week. She’s originally from Peru, she moved here because of her job.”
“Husband or children?” Huh. A woman that traveled out of the country for work. The women he’d grown up with believed in staying close to home. The residents of Waverly Falls didn’t venture far from the stable.
“She never mentions a family.” Neither did he.
“You know her well?”
“Well enough. She’s been supportive since things went sour with Jace.” Lina didn’t strike him as the type of woman that needed a shoulder to cry on. He rubbed his forehead at the image of Lina shedding tears over Jace Harper. “She cooks, I eat.” Ah. He could reconcile that kind of support with what he knew of Lina.
“Sounds like a good arrangement.”
“It works for me. Being trapped in the kitchen with raw ingredients and a cook book is equivalent to running with wolves, risky and detrimental to my well-being. I’m not sure what Estrella is getting out of it, but it makes her happy to watch me eat.”
“It would make me happy to see you eat
too. You enjoy your meal with all your senses.” She narrowed those chocolate eyes on him, for the second time this evening.
“There you go pouring on the syrup.” He watched as she shook her head as if to remove a cobweb.
“Is that your way of calling me sweet?” He asked.
“Yeah, you are too sweet.”
“There is no such thing, you just have to take incremental doses until you can increase your tolerance for what I have to offer.” She rolled her eyes, but offered him a smile. He’d take it.
“Lucky for both of us, I’m not accepting any offers.” Her words pulled him up short.
“There’s an easy remedy.”
They were facing each other when she spoke.
“Relationships are not my strong suit. I am determined to complete my thirty day man fast.”
“Twenty-nine days,” he corrected.
“Yeah, I may extend it. Make sure I’m good and ready for the real thing.”
No way on earth would she complete and/or extend this fast on his watch. Plus he noticed her eyes darted to the left with that last sentence. Meaning it was a lie or half-truth. The observation techniques he learned in the military still served a purpose.
Watching the woman named Estrella ascend the stairs, Lina pulled the door open before he could stop her. Immediately, Gideon stepped in front of Lina.
“Gideon? What are you doing?”
“Someone could be watching you.” It was a possibility he had to consider. The stalker could be watching how Lina responded to his message.
“Estrella, come inside.” Estrella stopped outside the door, but didn’t move inside.
“It’s late chica, we can rendezvous in the morning,” Estrella said.
“Someone broke into my house and left bloody roses on my bed.” Estrella’s tan skin, paled. Eyes wide she took stilted steps into the room. Gideon hadn’t moved.
“I vouch for her, step aside Jean Claude Van Gideon.” She made light, but he noticed the voice tremors when she spoke. She pushed on like a soldier, talking and moving to keep the anxiety from biting at her courage. Gideon eyes swung down in her direction, a hint of a smile graced his full lips.