Northern Moonlight (38 page)

Chapter 20

Footsteps pounded on the waving sand outside Sabrina’s bungalow, plucking her from a sound sleep.  She jackknifed her body into an alert upright position in the center of the bed.  The footsteps edged closer and then stopped just outside her door.  Refusing to breathe, Sabrina sat erect in the bed listening avidly to the sounds outside her door.  The night was deep, lit only by the pale light from her tiny bedside lamp. 

A soft knocking sounded at the door.  Sabrina was immediately paralyzed with fear, her mind racing with nightmarish scenarios of how Tom had come back to seek vengeance for her rejection.  Bravely, Sabrina threw back the covers and crept over to the door.  There was no peep hole to see who the intruder was, and she was too afraid to go near one of the windows lest she be seen.

Why didn’t I press to have that phone fixed
?
She rebuked herself, as the knocking became louder and more insistent.  If she had a telephone, she could call the hotel security or even the police, but in this bungalow on a remote section of the beach, there was no one to help.  She doubted that a scream would be heard if she could even get her fear-frozen vocal chords to work.  Panic coursed through her as her limbs began to tremble and her skin dampened into a cold sweat.  The knocking came once more and this time was accompanied by a questioning, “Sabrina?”

It was a man’s voice, but it did not sound at all like Tom.  If Sabrina were not completely delirious, she would have guessed that it was Gio.  But that was impossible!  It probably was Tom and she was hallucinating, hearing instead the voice of the man she wished with all her heart was there to protect her.  Impulsively, Sabrina tiptoed over to the nightstand and grabbed the lamp, yanking the plug from the wall outlet in one violent motion.  She crept back to the door and positioned herself behind it, fully intending to attack the intruder.  Slowly, she pulled the door open.  It creaked in the black stillness, and all she could see was the large shadow of a man, walking through the door.  Sabrina raised the lamp and struck the man with a sharp blow that was meant for his head, but landed clumsily on his shoulder.

“Ow! Sabrina, it’s me Gio!”

Oh God!  She wasn’t dreaming; that really was his voice and he was not an apparition before her, but was actually standing inside the bungalow.  Letting her tears of relief, joy, and shock freely flow, she cried out, “Gio!  What are you doing here?  My God, I could have killed you just now.”

“Not with that aim.  You’re more dangerous to yourself than to anyone else.”

The man had the nerve to mock her, and she did not even care.  He looked her in the eyes for the first time since she had opened the door and visibly melted before her, his whole demeanor softening and his muscles relaxing.  “Sabrina, I can’t believe we’re really in the same room.  I’ve missed you so much.” He pulled a still dazed Sabrina into his arms as she held him against her, caressing the back of his neck and then recoiling when she felt a sticky fluid oozing from his shirt.

“Gio, my God, you’re bleeding!  I did this. I’m so sorry.”

“No need to be sorry.  I do have a tendency to barge in unannounced, and this is my punishment, I suppose.  But it’s no punishment compared to being away from you for so long.” He roughly swooped down to capture her parted lips in a ferocious kiss that made them both feel deliciously off-kilter.

Sabrina pulled away from him to say softly, “Gio, take off your shirt.”

“You’re in a hurry, aren’t you…well so am I…” He said half-seriously, ripping off his blood-stained shirt and throwing it to the floor.

“You know very well that I want to take care of this wound.” She scolded.  “But I do want to do other things as well, so you might as well keep your shirt off…” Sabrina trailed off shyly, leaving Gio standing there bare-chested as she searched inside the bathroom for an emergency medical kit.

“It’s just a slight gash…actually more of an abrasion.” Gio called after her as she returned promptly with rubbing alcohol, cotton swabs, and bandages.  She paused in the middle of the room to survey him from head to toe, dreamily absorbing the precious sight of the man she loved.

“I can’t believe you’re here.  Gio…I don’t even know where to begin.” She said, gesturing for him to sit on the bed so she could clean and dress his wound. 

He sat on the bed, looking lovingly up at her as she cared for him.  “Sabrina, I was a fool to walk out.  You have no idea how I’ve been longing for you.”

He reached up a hand to caress her long cascade of hair as she swiped the gash with alcohol, eliciting a controlled hiss of pain from him.  Gio went on, “I’m sorry that I waited this long to come for you.  I should have gone to the airport the day you left---not to stop you from coming here, but to tell you how much I need you and how I would be there waiting for you when you got back.  Being with anyone else is unthinkable.  I want you in my life, Sabrina, and this time, I want you there permanently.”

Sabrina listened to his speech with delight and just the slightest sense of incompleteness.  She still hadn’t heard the word ‘love’ escape his lips.  But if the man
had come all this distance to be with her and emptied the contents of his heart even while blood was dripping from his flesh, love was an inadequate word for what he felt.  With that realization, she suppressed her need to hear him say ‘I love you.’

Affixing the bandage onto his shoulder and taping it securely, Sabrina spoke the language this relationship had taught her.  “Gio, I want to be in your life…permanently.  I’ve been thinking about you since I got here, actually before I got here.  On the plane, we encountered a severe amount of turbulence before landing and for a few moments, I thought that might be the end…”

Gio’s brow furrowed with concern as he pulled her onto his lap.  “If I had known you went through that, I would have been by your side immediately.  Thank God that nothing happened.”

“It would have been a terrible way for us to end things…trying to run away from each other and denying our feelings.”

“Yes, Sabrina, I would have lived with a guilt complex for the rest of my life, as if I don’t have enough of one already for being the sole survivor.” Gio shook his head in despair.

Sabrina passed a soothing hand over his forehead.  “It would have been horrible, but the point is that I’m alive and you’re here with me now.  We don’t need to dwell on what might have been.”

“We don’t need to dwell on the past at all.  I finally found a way to gain closure about my family.  I realized that it wasn’t enough to have solved the arson mystery or even to identify the perpetrator.  I needed to memorialize my parents and brother and that’s just what I did before flying here.” Gio spoke in a voice tinged with uncharacteristic optimism.

“How did you memorialize them Gio?” Sabrina asked, intrigued.

“I planted three trees in their honor.  The trees stand on the same land that was brutalized by fire several months ago.  The trees symbolize the progression of life.”

Sabrina threw her arms around Gio and kissed him soundly.  Between kisses, she exclaimed, “Gio, that’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever told me!”

He cocked one eyebrow up, “More beautiful than saying I want to spend the rest of my life with you?”

“Both those sentiments go hand in hand.  You couldn’t spend the rest of your life with me if you weren’t ready to move forward.”

“I’m ready to move forward,” Gio said in a voice strangled by raw emotion.

  He lay down flat on his back pulling Sabrina on top of him so every curve of her body molded seamlessly into his.  Soon, her teddy slipped away and he was making love to her with a hunger unmatched by any Sabrina had ever experienced or imagined. 

Completely uninhibited and joyful, Sabrina moaned as Gio became part of her. She moved in unison with his thrusting rhythms.  Sabrina tossed her head back in abandon as long mahogany hair fell to her waist and he pulled her back down for another tempestuous kiss.  The whole time, they both kept their eyes open, avid for the sight of each other’s unabashed nudity that shimmered in the moonlight.
Their reunion was tinged with the sweet fruit of longing finally fulfilled. 

Afterwards, sighing with profound contentment, Gio rose from the bed to rustle through his suitcase that he had dropped by the door.  From her curled up position tangled in the sheets, Sabrina asked in a murmur, “What are you looking for?”

“You’ll see in a minute.” Gio groped through the suitcase in the dark, feeling for a certain rectangular box.  “Here it is.” Gio held the box out to Sabrina to take.

“What is this?” She asked.

“It’s your birthday present.” He replied, wincing as he saw the emotion in her eyes.  “I know it’s a month late, and I’m so sorry.  I should have been with you on your birthday.  I wanted to be, but my pride was in the way.  But I didn’t forget your birthday.  I actually bought this present shortly after we started seeing each other, knowing that one day I would give it to you.  Open it up.”

Gently, Sabrina pulled back the wrapping paper and snapped open the velvet box.  She gasped to see a strand a pearls accompanied by matching dangle earrings.  “Gio, these are so beautiful.” She threw her arms around his neck, careful to avoid contact with his ailing shoulder.

“I’m glad you like them.” Gio whispered, returning her embrace.

“I do!  I’m going to put them on right now!” Sabrina was already removing the earrings from the box and sticking them in her lobes as Gio laughed.

“Do you really want to put jewelry on before you go to sleep?” He asked, amused.

“I’m not going to sleep tonight.” Sabrina replied in a naughty tone, and he could not mistake the import of her words. 

Hastily, he removed the pearl necklace from its setting and draped it around her slender neck.  Gio struggled momentarily with the clasp, his thick fingers clumsy and unsteady.  Finally, he fastened the necklace and drew her back into his arms, intending to make her hold true to her word that she would not be sleeping that night.

Sabrina and Gio were still making love when morning soared over the bungalow.  Mere moments after sunrise, a knock sounded at the door, as Gio released Sabrina from his embrace.  “Did you have an appointment this morning, Sabrina?”

“No.” Sabrina scowled.  “But I think I know who that is.  It’s my co-worker Tom who’s been bothering me ever since I arrived.  I told him I have a boyfriend, but he seems too dense to understand even that basic concept.”

“Oh really?” Gio was instantly angry and rose to his feet, pulling on a pair of boxer shorts.  He strode over to open the door, and Sabrina did not protest.

“May we help you?” was Gio’s curt reply as he faced the bulge-eyed man.

“Uh…is Sabrina here?  I’m Tom---“

“Yes, my girlfriend is here.  She’s still sleeping.  Is there a reason you’re at her doorstep at such an uncivilized hour?”  Gio placed a hand over the door ledge, as though showing Tom that he would not be permitted to enter.