Pushing Up Daisies (20 page)

He found her and she threw herself into his arms. “I thought they killed you,” he said in a harsh voice. “I thought you were dead.” He dropped his head against her chest with his arms around her and choking sounds emerged from his throat. Crying was so unfamiliar, he didn't know how to do it. All he could do was choke on the huge lump in his throat.

Sarah stroked his hair. “I saw Daisy. They all saw Daisy,” she said with wonder in her voice.

All House could do was nod.

He drove out of Qandala to where he'd hidden the Rover. Coop climbed out to drive it, carrying bottles of water for the girls waiting inside. “Where should we go?” Coop asked.

Sarah leaned out the passenger window. “Boosaaso, the UN will take care of us there.”

House climbed in beside her. “Perfect, we need to report and call off the hunt for Coop and Freidrick. And Berry's got to get some medical help. I'll call for an evac.”

Sarah sat as close to House as she could get. Freidrick sat next to her and Berry was sprawled across the back seat. She knew he was in terrible pain but he never uttered a word.

As the SUV bounced over the rough road, she thought about what had happened. House was a werewolf. She'd seen him shift and she'd seen him kill. Killing was something she had never condoned for any reason. It was why she'd joined the U.N.; to help people, not to hurt them. She loved him with all her heart but wasn't sure she could deal with House the crazy soldier or House the werewolf. It was a lot to absorb.

When they reached the U.N. headquarters, she climbed out of the SUV on her own power. The soft silver of the bullets had been stopped by the vice grips. She was bruised and sore but more than able to walk. The impact of the bullets had thrown her against the wall where she'd hit her head. She rubbed the back of her skull as she walked into the familiar building. She was finally home.

It was about three in the morning. No one was awake. She led the way into the cafeteria area and switched on lights. Coop followed close behind with Freidrick, both supporting the injured man from House's team.

The U.N. commander, Walter Smith, stumbled from his room clutching a faded blue terrycloth robe around his skinny body. “Who's there?”

U.N. soldiers who had been on guard duty in the office came out holding their rifles in front of them. They all saw Sarah and stopped. She pulled the cap off her hair and smiled. “It's me, Commander Smith.”

Coop and Freidrick laid Berry on the floor. “I need the medic out here for this man,” Coop said.

House followed everyone into the building leading the two Bedouin girls. Smith turned first one way and then the other as he tried to absorb what he saw. The medic showed up wearing a pair of khakis and no shirt. He glanced around the room and immediately went to tend to Berry.

Sarah slowly slipped away, down the hall to her room. Her roommate, Anna, was asleep. She rose off her bed on one elbow. “Who is it?” she asked.

“Go back to sleep,” Sarah said. “I'm home, Anna. It's just me, Sarah.”

“Sarah!” Anna screamed and doors banged open all along the hall. Sarah sighed. She'd hoped to quietly get into her bed and let all the recent events flow away in a stream of dreamless sleep.

Her friends and coworkers crowded around her asking hundreds of questions all at once. Sarah told them her story omitting all of the werewolf stuff. That was House's secret, never to be shared. It was just one more difficulty to accepting him and any kind of relationship with him.

The French girl, Eloise Lefavre, shook her head when Sarah finished her narrative. “This is so unbelievable. You were kidnapped by pirates and al Qaida? Why would they want you?”

“They were holding me for ransom, El,” Sarah said. “The U.N. would pay to get me back.”

The French girl snorted with disbelief. Hillary put her arm around Eloise and they leaned against each other. Sarah suddenly wished for Daisy to be there. The pain of her friend and lover's absence was harsh and impossible to handle. As tears rushed down her face, she reached into her pocket and held the golden idol in her hand.

“I'm right beside you,” Daisy breathed into her ear.

The women standing around her made her feel crushed and short of breath. As tired as she was, she needed air, the freedom of the night and the desert. “Go away,” she said as she waved her hand at her coworkers. “Leave me alone.”

The room emptied and only Anna remained. She stood looking at Sarah sitting on the bunk. It seemed rude and insufferable. Sarah snarled at her. “Leave me alone.”

“My, aren't you touchy,” Anna said.

Suddenly, she couldn't take being in the small room any more. She hated all the self-centered people she worked with and wanted to be far away from them. As she ran out the door and into the night through a back exit, she realized she'd never grieved for Daisy, probably due to lack of time and the fact that Daisy was still with her as a ghost. Her loss filled her with so much pain she doubled over and slumped to the ground with her knees drawn up and her back to the building. She sobbed as the agony filled her heart and tears flooded her cheeks.

“Daisy,” she cried. “I miss you so much.”

She felt the warmth of Daisy surround her. “I'm here, Sarah. I'll always watch over you.”

“What do I do about House?” Sarah sobbed.

“He loves you in a way you can't understand. Wolves only love once in their lives and you are his chosen.”

Sarah scrubbed at her eyes with a fist. “I'm not sure I can deal with the killing and…you know, the werewolf thing. It's kind of horrible.”

Daisy chuckled, a low and eerie sound. “He is who he is. Don't you find it exciting?”

“I need a hug,” Sarah sniffled. “Why are you gone? Yes, he's exciting. But I'm not sure I'm ready for the entire forever commitment. It's a heavy burden. His love, I mean.”

Daisy touched her hand and to Sarah it felt like a feather drawn across her skin. “Only you can decide.”

Sarah wiped the last of her tears away and stood up. She squared her shoulders. “I hate everyone in there. They won't leave me alone.”

Daisy looked off into the distance. “Do you see the light?”

Panic swept Sarah. Daisy was going to leave her, but as much as it hurt her to think about Daisy leaving forever, she knew she had to let her go. Daisy's mission was accomplished. It was time for her to go to her reward. “It's for you, Daisy. Go and find peace. You deserve it.”

“There's so much love. Can you feel it?” Daisy's eyes opened wide in wonder.

Daisy's ghostly form shimmered and she shifted. Sarah felt the loneliness of Daisy's imminent departure sweep over her. The black wolf glanced up and Sarah saw infinite love in her dark eyes. “Go on,” Sarah said. “I have House. I'll be fine.”

With a yelp of happiness, Daisy bounded off into the night. Sarah knew she was gone forever. She would never see her friend again.

More tears flooded her eyes. She was standing there staring at the spot where she last saw Daisy when the back door flew open. It was House.

He saw her crying and slipped an arm around her shoulders. “What is it, Sarah? Tell me. Whatever it is, I'll understand.”

Sarah had the immense realization that she could confide in House. He understood her as no one else had except Daisy. Together, the three of them had been one. Now they had to go on without her. “Daisy just went into the light. I told her to go. I told her I'd be fine without her.” Her voice broke. “But it's not true. I'll never be fine without her.”

House nodded clearly, unable to speak. He pulled Sarah into his arms. “We'll always have the memories she gave us and her love. Nothing can take that away.”

House's powerful embrace felt wonderful. The pain and loneliness was gone when she was in his arms.

“As long as we're together, Daisy will be part of us.”

Sarah nodded.

“You want to go back inside?”

Sarah shook her head. “No way. It's awful in there. Everyone's staring at me like I was a calf with three heads.”

“I can find a place for us to be alone.”

“Where?”

“I might have been here before,” he said.

“Really? Where haven't you been?”

He tucked her hand into his and led her through the alleys of Boosaaso. He ended his circuitous route beside a house right on the water. A balcony protruded over the incoming waves. They went inside through an arched entrance that was at the bottom of three stone steps. House turned the old-fashioned brass handle down and the door opened. It was cool and dark inside. He lit an oil lamp and Sarah gasped. The underground room featured a bathing pool that shimmered in the light.

“What is this place?”

“Before Somalia became a toilet, this was a spa. The baths are spring water. I know you must be as filthy as me.”

He stripped off his borrowed clothes and stood before her naked. He was so magnificent. His broad chest and huge arms tapered to a tiny waist and abs that rippled with muscle. He tugged at her torn burqa. “This bad boy has got to go.”

She laughed as he pulled it over her head. When he reached for her purple-flowered dress, she stopped him. She found the idol in her pocket and pulled it out. It felt warm in her hands, but no amount of squeezing it produced either Daisy or Gopher. “She's gone.”

“I know, Sarah. I felt her enter the light. I felt her joy.” House pulled off the dress and unsnapped her old-fashioned bra. She allowed him to remove her panties and lead her to the water. It was cool, but not cold, and felt delicious on her hot skin. She held onto the idol hoping against hope that Daisy's familiar voice would come out of the emptiness around her.

House saw her clutching the gold snake, pried her hands open and took it. “Stop, Sarah, this won't bring her back.” He threw it into the spring. “She's gone and she's at peace. We'll always miss her but she's not unhappy. She's finally home.”

House tore a scrap off the burqa and scrubbed her entire body clean in the cool water. Water bubbled out of the center of the pool, faintly visible as sparkling bubbles in the light of the flickering lamp. He was incredibly tender with her, his touch light and sure. Suddenly she longed for him to hold her and make love to her. It seemed like the most important thing in the world.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I'm clean, House, stop. Kiss me.”

He groaned as he brought her hard against his chest. “I don't know if I can be gentle. I want you so badly.”

“I don't care,” she whispered and opened her mouth for the invasion of his tongue.

Their wet bodies slipped together and heat filled her sex and her chest. Heat and love for him. He scooped her into his arms, laid her on top of the burqa and knelt over her. “I love you,” he said to her.

“I know,” she said.

“Can you love me? I know what I am. Can you accept that?”

She reached up and lovingly stroked his square jaw. She'd seen him kill, seen him shift; it was a lot to absorb. That side of him was wild and primal. “I don't know,” she said. “But I need you now.”

She reached between them and rubbed her hand along the length of his erection. “Once again, we find ourselves with no protection.”

“If you want me to stop, I will.”

“No,” she whispered. “Make love to me.”

He kissed her breasts, her belly and finally buried his head between her legs. It seemed perfectly normal for her to open them so he could invade her sex with his tongue. His breath was hot on her flesh and his tongue strong. He had her moaning with excitement in seconds as he sucked and nibbled on her engorged flesh. When he inserted two fingers in her opening and moved them in and out, she arched her back and gushed with a powerful orgasm.

House growled and moved up. She opened to him and he penetrated her with his huge dick. It was so big he had to push to get it fully inside her. The sensation of being filled, stretched and maximally penetrated melted her. She whimpered with the strength of her passion.

In response, House growled again and grabbed her ass with his large hands, squeezing her butt as he lifted her, moving her down for better access. His desire for her was obvious in the glint of his silver eyes and his expanded nostrils. Sarah was carried away on the tide of their passion as he pounded into her with strong, sure strokes.

When he was near finishing she knew, because he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her as close as possible. His face was buried in her wet hair and he chanted, “I love you, you're mine,” into her ear.

She chose to ignore his possessive statements and concentrate on the rising tide of her second orgasm. It was so powerful, she screamed at the moment her climax washed over her and over her in what seemed to be endless waves of pleasure.

House held her tightly as he froze with his cock all the way inside her. She felt it pulse and jump and the flooding warmth of his semen. They lay locked in the close embrace for several moments, not speaking, just breathing deeply as they enjoyed this small instant of peace after so much turmoil, death and sadness.

They fell asleep in each other's arms, there on the tile floor of the bathing room. With House holding her against his chest, she slept a dreamless sleep listening to the powerful beat of his heart. When she woke, one leg was between his. He lay on his back and she was draped over his chest with her face in the hollow of his throat.

The sun streamed in through windows that opened to the sea. Sarah hadn't even known the windows were there. She disengaged herself without disturbing House and waded into the pool. The water was warm and soft on her skin. It smelled faintly of minerals. She went to the deepest part where the water entered the pool and dove under the water searching for the idol. House had tossed it in there and she couldn't bear to part with it. It represented her only link to Daisy and she wanted to keep it.