StrangeDays (3 page)

Christian wouldn’t be leaving Dodie here alone. He moved to
her side, her strawberry scent washing away some of the misery in the hallways
outside. Did she know what a creature of light she was?

“How is she?”

She looked at him and, to his shock, reached out to hug him
around the waist. “Thank you so much for being here.”

“You’re welcome.” He squeezed her against him. “Where else
would I be?”

“I guess you’re right. You have no way to leave, since you
drove my car.”

“That’s not it at all. I could take a cab. I wanted to make
sure your friend is okay.”

His heart clenched in sympathy when she wiped away a tear.
“Well, obviously not. I mean, it’s really unclear what happened. Her boyfriend
was murdered—the doctor said sliced up.” She shuddered and he rubbed a circle
on her arm. Small shapes like little triangles, quiet touches, did more to
quiet the soul than words ever could. Or at least that had been his experience
when his parents had been murdered.

“They found her like this. None of the drugs or treatments
they have seem to be working. They’re sending her home with me. She’s all
checked out, but I don’t know what to do. How can I get her out of here? I
can’t find an orderly. The doctor ran in and out of here so fast, he was
practically a blur.”

“Mindy has no family who could help you with this?” He hated
to see Dodie burdened with this pain by herself.

“No. One of the things we have in common is that we’re
alone, without family.”

“So you became each other’s family. I have that too. My
family died when I was twelve.”

“Really?” Her eyes got wide. “What are the chances the three
of us would all have that in common?”

“What are the chances?” He smiled at her and, even though it
strained him to do so, he moved away from her embrace to approach Mindy. Dodie
needed to leave the hospital and so did Mindy.

In that he could help. Christian pulled the necklace he wore
from his neck. It was a piece of hematite, a green iron ore. It wouldn’t be
appealing to most people as far as jewelry went, but he’d found it one day
while walking with Master Foy and he’d believed in it ever since.

“Mindy.” He wrapped the necklace around her neck. “My name
is Christian Casillo. You don’t know who I am—”

“Actually,” Dodie sniffed when she interrupted him, “I may
have mentioned you once or twice.”

“Really?” The thought warmed him and he winked at Dodie, who
turned a delicious shade of red. How many other things could he do to her to
get that response? “So then, you know who I am. Okay. Well, this is my jewelry.
I’m giving it to you to keep you safe. It doesn’t matter what we wear, any kind
of gemstone can mean any kind of thing.” Personally, if he had the money, he
would have Dodie wear nothing but rubies. Naked, draped in rubies. His cock
hardened at the thought. Not the kind of distraction he needed at that moment.

He continued to speak to Mindy. “This is my gift to you. It
has kept me safe and it will keep you that way tonight. We’re going to take you
home now, to Dodie’s place.”

She nodded at him, the first response she’d managed since he’d
entered the room. Her constant uttering of the word “no” stopped and she
relaxed on the bed, her eyes closed.

Dodie walked up beside him. “How did you do that?”

“I have a way. Some things I’ve learned through my…martial
arts training.” He would tell Dodie of his life, but not yet. It was too soon. “I
can be persuasive.” Like the way he’d convinced Tricia the nurse to lead him to
Dodie. “She needs to sleep.” He picked Mindy up in his arms. The woman barely
weighed one hundred pounds—nothing for him to carry.

Dodie bit down on her lip. “Do you use that ability all the
time?”

“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t. It’s saved only for
situations of desperation. Otherwise it would be unethical. You don’t need to
be nervous about that.”

“If you don’t mind carrying her, we can go. But, um…maybe I
should get a wheelchair? There are rules.”

“Those seem to have gone out the window tonight. Let’s get
out of here.” He would return to handle the hospital, but not with Dodie. He’d
get her and Mindy home, make sure they were safe, and deal with this later.
“This night is just going to be a memory soon. I can promise you that.”

Dodie shoved the key in her door and let Christian, who was
carrying Mindy as if she weighed nothing, into her apartment.

“Which room? The big one with the small closet or the
smaller room with the bigger closet?”

She was just about to answer when his question struck her as
odd. “How do you know what the rooms in my apartment look like?”

“I knew the women who lived here before you.”

Of course he had. Christian had probably been intimately
acquainted with every woman in the building.

She nodded and pointed to the smaller room with the bigger
closet. That was technically the guest room. Not that she ever had any, but
she’d gotten the two-bedroom for the purpose of being able to let people stay.

Dodie followed Christian into the second bedroom and took
off Mindy’s shoes while he adjusted her friend on the bed. Mindy never stirred.

Staring down at the woman who had been as close to her as a
sister for years, Dodie broke out in goose bumps. They hurt and she rubbed them
away. “Think she’s okay? She hasn’t moved.”

“That’s a good thing.” Christian grinned at Dodie. “And
she’ll be as okay in the morning as a person who’s been through what she has
can be. You’ll be there for her. It’ll make a difference.”

Nodding, Dodie walked from the room, controlling her
instinct to flee Christian. Now that things had calmed a bit, some of her
earlier trepidation about him had returned. He was still the really, really
good-looking guy who lived next door and had known the previous renters of her
apartment well enough to be familiar with their closet sizes.

Of course, he’d also turned out to be kind, sweet,
considerate, gentle, helpful, patient and sort of Eastern in his philosophy. A
real mix of traits for her exotic male-dancer-slash-cover-model neighbor across
the hall.

“I’m living in a strange episode of
Friends
.”

He walked up behind her. “What was that?”

“Nothing. Just muttering to myself. I’m weird like that.”

He took her hand. “Everyone’s a little odd. That’s the
reason human beings are so individual and unique.”

“I agree.” She looked out the window, early morning sunlight
streaming in from under her shades. It didn’t bring with it the usual relief of
a new day. The night still weighed on her shoulders.

Christian stroked the side of her cheek. “You okay? You just
got a little pale.”

She stared at him. Having already decided that he was a huge
flirt, she wondered whether she should take him up on the offer in his gaze. He
wanted her. Maybe he went home with a different woman every night and she’d
never see him again except an awkward passing in the hall when they happened to
bump into each other. But right at that moment, with her friend traumatized in
the other room, Dodie could use all the comfort she could get.

What was the worst that could happen? He’d say no and she’d
be stuck bumping into him awkwardly in the hall? The same scenario loomed if he
agreed to a morning of meaningless sex together.

“I was wondering…” She swallowed. It was easier to
rationalize asking for intimacy than to actually ask Christian if he might like
to roll around in the sheets. He might be taken or, even worse, be in a
relationship and agree to have sex with her. Then she’d be the other woman.
Could she do that? Be the other woman? The home-wrecking sex-kitten who stole
the sexy dancer-slash-cover-model away for a night? Her hands moistened and she
wiped them on her pants.

“Your mind is working a million miles a minute. I can see it
in your eyes. You were wondering…what?”

Part of the problem with Christian was that he kept making
it impossible for her to stick him in the prearranged boxes she used for
people. Hot male, exotic dancer and cover model—he should be an asshole. That
level of smoking maleness had always meant, at least in high school and
college, ego and rudeness. Guys like him made fun of girls like her as if it
were a religious requirement.

Except that Christian seemed genuinely interested in what
she had to say and he’d yet to make a snide remark about anything.

“I’m really attracted to you and I wanted to know if you
would like to stay and, you know, go to bed with me. But now that I’ve said it out
loud it seems like the most ill- conceived idea, and why would you want to do
that? I’m sure you have a million girls you could call anytime.” Her face could
have burst into flames if the heat coming off it indicated anything. She was
speaking way too fast, yet she couldn’t seem to slow herself down. “So thank
you so much for everything tonight and I guess this is goodbye.”

She tried to turn around but he shot out his hand and
grabbed her shoulder, holding her where she stood.

“I have something to do today, but I’d rather do it around
noon and I have to work tonight.” He pulled her closer against him. “But I have
hours until either of those things has to happen. You can’t believe how much I
want you, Dodie.”

Tightly pulled up against his chest, she could actually feel
how true his words were. His cock pushed against his pants, pressing toward her
belly. She swallowed. Okay. He wanted her too. That didn’t mean anything. He
probably got hard for everyone who asked. Christian must—

Her inner dialogue went mute when his mouth met hers. At
first he kept the embrace light, just the barest touching of his lips to hers.

Christian had the slightest touch of whiskers on his face.
Not so much that she’d noticed when they’d been talking, but she could feel the
scrape of them against her chin. She closed her eyes, giving in to the warmth
from his mouth and the rough touch that the hair on his face created on hers.

He deepened the embrace. She was pushed flat against him so
that her breasts touched against his hard chest. Their mouths fused together. His
tongue plunged toward hers. She met his exploration eagerly and for a few
minutes all time ceased to exist. Only Christian and the way their mouths
danced together, tongue, teeth and lips charting new territory.

He pulled back and she opened her eyes. His blue eyes met
hers. She had no idea what he was thinking. Had she done something wrong? His
rigid cock pressed against her, so she hadn’t turned him off. Unless—horror of
horrors—he’d changed his mind.

He stroked her face with his thumb, starting below her eyes
then running it down her nose, across her lips and up around her cheeks and
forehead. Why had he done that? The sweet gesture nearly undid her and she
forced the tears that wanted to spill to go back down where they belonged. This
was not a time for tears. She didn’t want anything to spoil what she hoped
would soon happen.

“You should have flowers, wine and dinners out before we get
to this point in our relationship.”

She sucked in her breath. “That’s quite a line.”

“So cynical.” He shook his head. “Why shouldn’t you be
romanced?”

“I don’t want romance right now.” Sometimes she did—sometimes
she craved it so badly that she thought she might explode from the need for
someone to show her they cared. But right then? She really wanted him to help
her to leave the night behind her.

“I know.” He kissed her nose. “I get it.”

Why did he have to be so gentle? It disarmed her and she
didn’t need to turn into a ball of mush on her living room floor.

He scooped her up in his arms and she gasped from the
suddenness of the gesture. She hadn’t seen that coming.

Maybe she should have. He’d swept Mindy up earlier as if she
weighed nothing. Of course, Dodie had height and weight to spare in comparison
to her best friend.

She’d never liked being off-balance. It tilted her world.
“Please don’t drop me.”

He smiled down at her. “Never.”

In under a minute he had her in her bedroom and she was
lying on her back on top of her bed. He moved until he was positioned directly
above her, his legs straddling her body as he looked down at her.

“Hold on.” She squirmed out from under him. There were a few
things she had to do before this could go any further.

“You okay?” He watched her as she ran for the door. Finding
the switch, she turned off the light.

“Better now.” On her way to the bed, she stopped at the
nightstand and pulled out a condom. Lights off, check. Condom found, check.

Now she could officially relax and enjoy this.

When she approached the bed he pulled her up against him,
taking the condom from her hand. “I’m glad to see you’re so prepared.”

“Well, what can I say? I make checklists for my checklists.”

“Me too.” He slid his tongue along her bottom lip while he
ran his finger up her cheek. Her panties drenched. Wow. It had been a long time
since she’d done this, and no one had ever spent so much touching her face
before. Who knew it would turn out to be an erogenous zone?

“You do?” She spoke on a sigh. Any second, she’d officially
be putty. He’d be able to shape her any way he wanted under his obviously
skilled, practiced hands.

“Yes.” He whispered in her ear, planting kisses up and down
her cheek. “I do have a question.”

He did? “Really? You seem to have everything well in hand.”

“Dodie, I haven’t even started yet. Only first I need to
know, why did you turn off the light?”

“Oh.” She rubbed at her face as if she could hide it from
him. The low light from the window wasn’t enough to illuminate, she hoped, just
how red she’d gotten. He had to know. Surely he would prefer the room darkened
as well.

“Yes?” He planted a kiss on her neck. “Tell me.”

“Because I don’t really want you to see what I look like
naked.”

He jolted upward and she wished she’d come up with a better
excuse. The truth almost always worked better, but the way his body stiffened
told her he hadn’t liked her answer.

* * * * *

Christian hadn’t seen her insecurity coming. It flipped over
his shoulder, slapped him in the face and landed straight on his gut, where it
made him want to throw something. How did a woman like the beautiful lady he
desired more than he wanted to breathe come to the point where she didn’t want
to be seen in the nude?

“Is there some reason?” He tried to keep his voice light. Controlling
his urges came with the martial arts training. Somehow he’d manage not to make
this even worse. “A crazy scar you think I’m not going to like?”

Although his had faded over time, if she really took a good
look at his back, she would see all his imperfections on display.

“I’m a little overweight, which you must have noticed.” She
sat up on her elbows. “Some might even say fat, although I detest that word. I
think we could both enjoy this more if I knew you couldn’t really see me, and
you might like it better not getting a real good look. Everyone is pretty in
the dark, right?”

“You’re pretty in all lights.” He got up and walked to the
light that sat on her desk. It had less glare than the room’s overhead
illumination. “But we’ll compromise. I want to see you out in the open, on
display to me in broad daylight. You want the pitch black. How about this?
Somewhere in the middle.”

She shuddered and he wondered if maybe he shouldn’t just do
as she wished. He’d make love to Dodie in the dead of night in the middle of a
cave if she wanted. That would certainly be dark. But he really craved her
trust. Someone—or maybe more than one person—had done a number on her
self-confidence.

“I really don’t know. I mean you look like you and I look
like me. I’m sure the women you’re with usually have looks like yours. I’m
going to notice the second you realize I have flabby parts. Then that will
spoil the whole thing for me.”

“You have flabby parts?” He stared down at her. She worried
her lower lip and he wanted to bite it again. He would in just a second. “I
don’t see flabby. I see gorgeous curves.”

Christian walked over to her and tugged at her shirt. “I
want this off you.”

The muscles in her throat clenched and she rubbed at it,
which made him smile.

“Okay.”

When they’d finally managed to remove the article of
clothing—and it did take the two of them—he gasped.

“What?” She stared up at him wide-eyed.

“Your breasts are perfection.” They really were. More than
ample, they were bigger than his hand and he wanted to lick them all over. A
thought occurred to him. “You haven’t been wearing a bra this whole time?”

“I woke up and ran.” Her tongue ran across her lips. “I
never go around without one. I didn’t have time. In fact, these are my pajamas—what
I had on.”

“I love the show
Firefly
. Good choice for sleepwear.”

She smiled and he saw her relax. “Thanks. Really? You like
the show?”

“I’m a science fiction junkie.”

He lovingly touched her breast. There would be hours of fun
to be had with them. Lots of things he could do. For now all he wanted was to
get his tongue on her and to let nature take it from there.

Bending over he, stroked his tongue over her breasts, his
cock aching to do more, take more, claim more from her. He dealt in darkness,
but he’d known from the moment he saw her that she would be his light. This
morning he would begin what he knew would be a lifelong claiming of her.

Dodie was his woman. He was a man who believed the universe
when it sent him signals. Listening to fate’s quiet whispers kept him alive,
strong, and now had brought him to this time, this place, this woman.

She tasted both salty and sweet on his tongue, his favorite
combination. Dodie sucked in her breath and he raised his eyes to look at her
face. “You like that?”

“I do.”

He grinned. He’d known she would be like this—responsive to
the smallest touch. Not a blasé lover.

Christian took her taut nipple in his mouth. He swirled it
around his tongue and bit down. Her back arched and she cried out. He raised an
eyebrow, trying to judge her reaction. If he cared less about making this work,
he’d feel fine about assuming that was a good cry and not an “ouch, you hurt me”
kind of response.