The Checkpoint, Berlin Detective Series Box Set

by Michele E. Gwynn

  No longer needing to watch her feet, Sarah looked up at Paul, who towered over her. The look in his eyes said I want you, but his actions said I can wait. In that moment, Sarah didn’t want to wait. It was a vacation. After tonight or tomorrow, she’d never see this man again, and she wanted to satisfy at least one small curiosity, one that wouldn’t violate her promise to either Anno or herself—not much, anyway.

  “Paul?”

  “Hmmn?” He maintained eye contact without missing a step. His hand on her waist shifted, lightly caressing her lower back.

  “Kiss me.” She whispered the command with as much confidence as she could muster.

  Paul stopped mid-step, the casual look on his face turning serious. He searched her eyes, seemed to find the answer he was looking for, then pulled Sarah in for a long, soft kiss. It was lovely, but not the deep kiss she was looking for, now longing for. She reached her arms higher, wrapping them around his neck and deepened the kiss. She took the initiative, tasting his lips, sucking his tongue, and drawing him in as close as she dared.

  Paul let her do with him as she wished. It was incredibly sweet and tempting. He could feel her body pressed against his, urgent and seeking. His own body responded, growing hard as his hands pulled her hips closer still, but he held back, eventually breaking the kiss. Looking down into her passion-glazed eyes, he knew he could have her, but suddenly realized that was not all he wanted. He dropped soft kisses onto her cheek, and pulling her back to him, began to dance again.

  Sarah was disappointed, but also thankful. The kiss was great, hot and sexy. The fact that he pulled back made her want more. Still, it was her own volition that deemed she wouldn’t let things get out of control with him tonight. But it rattled a little. Doesn’t he want me? A frown creased her brow, one he couldn’t see.

  But he felt it. “I do want you, Sarah. Believe me...” he said as he ground her hips against his hardness. Her body responded, heating up. “But let’s take it slow. Let’s savor this time and each other for a little while longer, yes?” He leaned back a bit and looked into her eyes.

  After the no-holds-bar passionate affair with Anthony, Sarah didn’t know what to make of this. However, she took him at his word, and nodded. “Okay.”

  Paul kissed her lips softly. He found himself surprised that he would put off what he knew he wanted when it was falling into his lap. She really wasn’t like the type of women he usually slept with at all. Sarah was the type you treat with the utmost respect. Women like her didn’t usually fall for men like him. They knew better, but she was too naïve to know this. She only saw the better side of him that he’d shown her since their first meeting. The way she reacted to that side of himself, his love of art, his gentlemanly manners, made him want to be a better man. And a better man wouldn’t take advantage of an innocent woman high on romance, good food, and even better wine. He remembered her being tied up and worked over by Nadia and Nicolette, and yet he knew that deep-down, she was remarkably innocent of the ways of the world.

  The music ended, and he pulled back, his body controlled once again. “Let me take care of dinner and we’ll walk back to your hotel. It’s not far, and the stroll will be nice. Plus, it gives me a little more time with you before I must say goodnight.” Paul kissed her fingers and went inside to pay the check. Sarah stood in the moonlight, in the middle of a lovely five-star restaurant garden, smiling.

  Inside, Paul retrieved his uncle’s company travel credit card from his wallet and handed it with the check to the waiter. When he came back, he added a thirty percent tip and signed the receipt. Noting the amount of the tab, he grinned. Take that, you monstrous fuck.

  Sarah came up behind him, reaching around to pick up her purse. He offered his arm and they left, exiting the hotel and heading back toward the Holiday Inn Express. They strolled arm in arm talking about art, movies, their friends and family. The journey passed by in less than an hour but didn’t seem quite long enough. Paul walked Sarah up to her room, patiently waiting while she dug out her room key.

  She turned and looked at him. “I had a great time, Paul.”

  “So did I, Sarah.” He lifted his hand to caress her cheek. Leaning down, he claimed her lips in a thorough kiss, leaving her in no doubt of his desire for her. She pressed her body against the length of his, indulging in the feel of muscle beneath his suit. Again, he ended the kiss before she was ready.

  “You don’t have to go.” Her breathy voice whispered the words forgetting, in the heat of the moment, her promise to herself and to Anno.

  Paul smiled. “Yes, I do, or I’ll never leave.”

  She looked so disappointed that he chuckled. “But I’d like to see you again tomorrow.”

  Her face lit up. So, this isn’t the very last time I’ll see you. “I’d intended to go shopping for a book tomorrow.”

  “A book?” Surprise registered on his face. He wound a strand of her hair around his finger while tracing the tip around her ear.

  “Yes, a book. I want to press one of your beautiful roses inside the pages as a keepsake.” His subtle ministrations were making her long for bolder caresses.

  “Oh, I see. Well then. Perhaps I can help you pick out just the right book to remember me by.” He liked knowing she wanted to commemorate their date. It made him feel special for a change. It was nice that a woman, this woman, thought enough of him to keep him as a treasured memory. However, he wasn’t a memory yet, and maybe, just maybe he could offer her more to add to that mental treasure chest of hers. A thought was growing from a seed of an idea.

  “How about I pick you up here and we go have lunch, do your shopping, and see what else we can get up to?” He leaned closer and waited for her reply.

  Sarah felt heat rush up her neck to her ears, and then back down where it settled low, throbbing in need. The nicer and more reserved he was, the more her body wanted him. The whole gentleman thing was working for her like magic.

  “That sounds like a good plan...” She licked her lips, feeling anticipation and some nervous anxiety.

  His eyes focused intently on her movements. “Let me do that,” Paul growled as he kissed her senseless, licking and sucking her lower lip. With his desire rising, and his body painfully erect, he pulled back and tried counting to ten as he held her close, breathing in the scent from her neck and hair.

  “Tomorrow, Miss Brown.” Once again in control, he stepped back, turning to walk away.

  “Tomorrow, Paul.” Sarah went inside her room and locked her door. As she leaned against the wall, she acknowledged the unfortunate, unsatisfied state of her body. Tears stung her eyes, and emotions erupted as Sarah realized she truly missed Anthony. Knowing this, she felt guilty about Paul, which made her more miserable. She laid back on the crumpled duvet and cried.

  Finally, she stumbled to the bathroom where she shed her clothes and washed her face. As she came back to bed, she looked at her phone. Picking it up without another thought, she found his email and hit ‘REPLY.’

  Love the pictures. Thank u...I miss you too. S.

  Then she hit ‘SEND.’

  The food, the wine, the romance, the feeling of being desired, and the sting of unrequited love for another, all took their toll, and Sarah curled up, falling into a restless slumber.

  GRUBER WATCHED AS PAUL left the Holiday Inn Express a mere ten minutes after entering. He’d walked the woman in but didn’t stay. His observation of the way Christiansen treated the female all evening was one that showed he cared about her. He pulled out his mobile and fired off a text. This information would be of great interest to Mr. Knudson. He included a picture of the two he snapped back at the bridge by the museum. Two cozy lovebirds. Gruber smirked. He waited until he got a reply, then headed out. He had plans to make.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  ANTHONY CRACKED ONE eye open. It was dark. He’d been asleep for about an hour after spending the evening talking about cameras, lenses, and lighting with a group of student filmmakers staying at the bed and breakfast. D
inner was served in the main dining room promptly at six; a somewhat dry pork roast with potatoes and green beans, but the wine was good, and the company made it all palatable.

  The three students, Jack, Eddie, and Elysa were all from Columbia University School of the Arts in New York City, so they immediately gravitated to Anthony, and the four of them ended up dominating the conversation at the table that included the B&B owner, Nanette, who cooked their dinner, Hugh Langley III, a mortgage banker from Lloyds of London, and Edgar and Francesca Fouquet from northern France. Everyone was interested in the college students’ film project; a deeply intellectual documentary about a conspiracy theory that Ann Frank didn’t actually die at Bergen-Belson but survived and was among the few remaining Jews liberated by the British army. Their focus was to be on the famous diary, evidence of editing after her proposed death from Typhus, and interviewing some people who claimed to have seen her in Amsterdam and even Belgium years after the war ended. The subject caused quite a debate amongst the guests before it turned to the technical side of the project; camera angles, lighting, lenses, and more. Bored with all that, Nanette, Hugh, and the Fouquets retired for the night, leaving Anthony and Jack debating Canon over Nikon for still shots, and Eddie and Elysa arguing over sequence of events in their upcoming interviews.

  After polishing off four bottles of wine among themselves, everyone sauntered off to bed. Anthony was sleeping deeply when a nagging sound pulled him from his muddled dreams. PING.

  He blinked. Clearing the fog from his head, he realized it was his cell phone. Someone had sent him a message via his email. Derek, you fuck! It’s the middle of the night, you drunken Irishman! Anthony mentally cursed his best friend as he reached for his phone. Ready to send a blistering text back to Derek suggesting he both go to AA and purchase a clock he was surprised to see that it was not from him. Not recognizing the address, he clicked on the message.

  It was from Sarah. I miss you too.

  He lay there in the dark, staring at the screen and reading her short message again. He could hear a loud thudding over and over and realized it was his heart beating. Her smile, and the image of her face came to the forefront of his mind with ease. He felt warm, happy. Must be all that wine. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he remembered holding her, kissing her, and just talking to her. He smiled into the darkness. Sitting up on the edge of the bed, he contemplated answering. Should I? She said she was going to Berlin. Is she still there? I could see her again, maybe get her out of my system.

  All these thoughts flooded his sleep and fermented grape-addled brain. His fingers ran ahead of his senses.

  Where are you now?

  SEND.

  Sarah was finally asleep when her phone vibrated on the nightstand. Waking suddenly, she reached for it. She opened her inbox. It was from Anthony. He wanted to know where she was. Her fingers danced across the mini keyboard.

  I am in Berlin. Where are u?

  SEND.

  Her phone vibrated in her hand as the message arrived.

  In Amsterdam working. A.

  Sarah didn’t know what to make of that. Had she interrupted him? Was he saying he was working to offer some kind of excuse, so she’d leave him alone? She wasn’t sure what to say, so she lay there biting her lip, thinking.

  BUZZ. Her phone vibrated again.

  What R U wearing?

  She laughed. He included the smiley face emoticon. So, he wasn’t trying to blow her off. Sarah wrote back.

  If you were here, you’d know the answer to that.

  Back in his room, Anthony received her cheeky reply and laughed out loud.

  Send me a picture, princess.

  SEND. He waited.

  In her hotel room, Sarah melted. She was still his princess.

  PING. An image icon flashed in his email. He clicked to open it. Bam! There she lay, naked and inviting in a tangle of sheets, just like he’d left her, but in a different country this time. “Damn!” Anthony smiled as his heart pounded, and his groin became tight, growing hard. The idea occurred to him that it would be nice to have her with him, have her by his side on the remaining canal cruises. Have her in his bed again.

  Come join me in Amsterdam.

  SEND.

  Sarah got his message while she was putting her nightshirt back on. The happy smile on her lips spread wider as she repeated the word “princess” in her mind. It was his term of endearment for her. Not just ‘baby’ like he most likely called all other women, what he’d called her in the beginning before he switched over to the other. For that, she gave him an eyeful of her body, reaching for him all the way from her bed in Berlin. Come join me in Amsterdam, he said.

  She thought about it. If she did, she knew she would not only enjoy it, but might fall harder for him, and then what? Would he just leave again when he was finished with his job, with her? Elsa said she would have the upper hand, be able to set the rules, but could she? Would he respect her demands? You never know until you try, she thought.

  I have a few conditions, Anthony.

  SEND.

  She waited, holding her breath.

  And what would those be? A.

  Anthony knew he’d been a first-class shit, so wasn’t surprised she would have reservations, but conditions?

  Sarah thought.

  First, absolutely NO leaving without a proper goodbye. That means I need to know when you plan to leave. That was just rude. S.

  Anthony’s mobile burned in his hand from her blistering words. He deserved it he knew. He was also kind of proud of her standing up for herself like that. She was a feisty one and wasn’t about to take any shit from him. Instead of making him angry, that thought caused a huge grin to spread across his face.

  Okay. What else?

  SEND.

  Sarah lost all the wind in her angry sails when she read his response. No argument from him, just surrender.

  I don’t actually have anything else, but if I think of something, you have to do it!

  She added the blushing emoticon to indicate that some of the things she might have him do would be naughty.

  Anthony read more into that blushing smiley face than he should have at the moment because he was harder than Thor’s hammer and she was too far away for him to nail her.

  I’ll do anything you want me to do...and more. And I’m sorry...

  This last email made Sarah’s heart flip-flop in her chest. He’d apologized. She hadn’t expected that.

  Okay. Then I’ll come.

  She waited, feeling warm in her heart, and all over her body at the thought of being with him again.

  Yes, you will!

  Anthony tossed out the line, then got serious and told her where he was staying. He asked her to text him with her flight information as soon as she was confirmed.

  Sarah was so excited that she went ahead and called Lufthansa to make her reservation. She was to fly out the following afternoon. After she wrote down her information and messaged Anthony, she remembered she had a date with Paul the next day. Crap! I’ll have to call him in the morning and cancel. She felt bad but figured that he would be okay since they’d only just met. No big deal, right?

  She fired off a text to Elsa to let her know of her change of plans. Elsa was still up and responded back immediately. Somehow, she wasn’t surprised.

  I knew it! You love him. Anno will be devastated.

  Elsa typed her message as she walked out of her dungeon into the dark hallway, finished with her appointments for the night. Leaving out the back door, she walked quickly across the street and down toward the tube station. She nearly ran into a large man sporting a dark goatee and wearing a Trench coat despite the warm weather.

  “Sorry,” she said, and then moved a little faster to get down the stairs and onto the well-lit platform. The man had that dangerous look about him. Several other people waited for the next train, making her feel a little safer.

  Her phone pinged.

  I don’t love him, Elsa. I just...like him a lot. And
he apologized.

  Elsa smiled a knowing smile.

  You doth protest too much. But glad he said sorry. Maybe you’ll come back to Berlin after you two get married.

  Elsa pushed the send button and waited for her phone to blow up as she knew that would set her friend off. She tried not to laugh out loud in public.

  ELSA! You’re too much. I would come back no matter what. You and Anno are my friends now. Stop pushing me to marry!

  This time she did laugh out loud, and a few people around her looked at her sideways.

  The train pulled up, coming to a stop. She jumped on when the doors opened and found a seat. At this time of night, seating was plentiful. The ride home was uneventful. She scrolled through her playlist as she exited and picked a song. Sticking her earphone into one ear, she climbed the stairs to the street level. The sounds of a few cars passing and the wind in the courtyard trees greeted her unplugged ear. It was late and people were home tucked away in their beds.

  The light over the door to her building flickered, as if it was about to go out. It gave her the creeps walking under it, and she quickly punched in her code for entry. Once inside, the silence was overwhelming. She rode up the lift to the fourth floor and made her way down to her flat. Inside, all was dark. Anno had not left on the hall light for her like usual nor was the front door locked. What is wrong with that boy! She set her backpack and keys down on one of the living room end tables after stumbling in. The only light provided came from the moon outside filtering in through the sheer curtains covering the floor-to-ceiling windows. Although it was nearly two-thirty in the morning, she was mad enough to poke her head into her little brother’s room to chide him for not leaving the light on or locking the door.

  “You forgot something, little brother! Thanks a lot!” Elsa’s voice carried, but no reply was forthcoming. No sounds of snoring or stirring. She tried again. “Hey! You’re not getting off that easy, Anno.” She flipped his light switch on and off several times, then stopped. She flipped it back on again to confirm what her eyes relayed to her brain. He wasn’t in his bed.