TheHealers (7 page)

Now, all I needed was Leo to walk through the door and I would surely be able to make a fool of myself. Cue embarrassment… I’m pretty sure my cheeks were flushed as all the thoughts raced through my head. I decided at that point to bury my head into Alexander’s shoulder. As I leaned in blindly, I seemed to find myself somewhere between there and his extremely hard chest. His lips came close to my ears and the words he breathed caught my attention. “Would you feel better if they leave?”

Umm…of course not. They were safe. Alexander wasn’t. Right? This is what my mind said, but my body tucked itself closer to him. You would think the police would hear him, but between their chatter and the radios on their belts, it was a conversation just between us. The smell of the mountains wrapped around me and encouraged me to feel safe. If he intended to manipulate me, at this point, I didn’t care. I needed this drug he gave me.

I looked up at the officers and spoke in almost a whisper, “Is there anything else you need from me?”

Officer Banks responded promptly, “I would strongly recommend that the window gets patched up before you spend another night here. Being that it’s the middle of the night, do you have another place to stay, or materials to repair the window?”

Confusion colored my voice. “I don’t even know what those materials would be.”

Alexander’s voice boomed as my head still rested on his chest, “I can take care of that, Layna.” Somehow there were others in the room, but he was only speaking to me.

“Do you feel comfortable enough with this man, or would you like me to call someone else for you or help you get checked into a hotel somewhere?” Officers Banks’ words were automatic, but at the same time there was a protective overtone. I guess that was all a part of the job.

I only intended to look up at Alexander to protest his help but as soon as I did, a more powerful necessity took over. The need to have him next to me.

“I’ll be fine. Thanks for all of your help.” I started to stand up, reluctantly, to see them to the door. Alexander stood up with me and kept his arm folded around my waist. Sweet desire licked its way over my hips and in other places. I knew he had to be bad because anything that felt this good always was.

“Here is my card, please call if you think of anything else, or if something else happens.” Officer Banks extended his hand and I reached out to accept the card. Without a pocket in my pajama pants, I fumbled with the card in my hand as I shuffled to the front door.

I closed the door and locked it. It seemed a little silly since anyone could just come through the window now.

I realized we were alone. I could touch him again.

“Why don’t you sit in the living room,” he said, “and I’ll fix you something to drink. It will soothe the nerves. Then we can start to find ways to temporarily fix the window.”

The cadence of his voice almost commanded my adherence. But a tiny question still begged to be answered. Why? No one was this nice. What did he want from me? I think I was just cynical. I sat in my convoluted mind as I heard all the normal sounds that came from the kitchen. Then I looked up and saw him. He walked toward me carrying a coffee mug with steam evaporating off of it.

“Thank you. It smells wonderful.” I gracefully reached out to get the mug and inhaled. I identified the smell as my herbal tea from the counter. The jasmine and chamomile were blended together in an almost perfect union. I brought the mug to my lips and took a small sip. The warmth brought on immediate comfort.

Alexander sat down next to me and purposefully asked, “So, tell me about your nightmare.” It became impossible to focus as the heat from his body seared me. I could hear his intake of breath and feel the energy coming off of him. Rough and forceful, it crowded the sofa. I liked how it felt. Alarms sounded all over my brain.

I took another sip before a response came. I turned to look at him, “It was nothing serious. I don’t think it had anything to do with the broken window.”

His deep tourmaline eyes locked on me as he spoke, “Sometimes we underestimate the power of the human mind. There are so many things that we are capable of that we have yet to discover.” Did he want me to ask about the magic? No matter how allured I was, years of practice keeping my secret protected me now. The soft sound of another dialect was still on the tip of his words. I guess I could just ask. It would steer the conversation in a safer direction.

“Are you from here?” That was pretty nonchalant, right?

“No. But I think you already figured that out.” A small smile was pulling up his lips. Those kissable lips that kept my eyes as he spoke.

“Okay. Where are you from?” I thought I might have sounded a little impatient in my head but the words that came out started to sound drowsy. I guess it was the tea.

“I’ve traveled all over the United States and have lived here for most of my life. But my family is in Greece. I was born there.”

That was the sound I heard in his English.

“I go back frequently and still have a lot of family there.”

Umm…I think anyone from Greece has a lot of family. Aren’t all Greek families big? Well, I guess if they’re all like the people on
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
. This, of course, Hollywood must have gotten right.

Suddenly, the scruff on the side of his face tickled my cheek and a warm breath touched my ear.

“It’s alright, Layna. You can relax. I’m going to stay with you.” Something tight in my chest relaxed as I heard that. I guess I
was
afraid to be alone in the house. Or did he see how wound up I was just being close to him? He’d have to blind to miss it.

Calm down, Layna, and say something normal.
“Thank you so much. I want you to know you can go. I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I’ll be fine.” As the words slurred out of my mouth, my hands fumbled to put the cup down. Sleep sounded perfect right here on the couch with him. Who was I kidding? Oh, I hoped I had said that in my head only.

A small chuckle escaped his lips as he helped me put down the tea and carefully pulled me onto his chest. The hardness of it made me feel safe in an unexplainable way. I wanted to talk to him more and find out about him, but my lips wouldn’t work.

I slept.

In and out of sleep, I thought I was in a dream. I would hear Alexander’s hushed words and feel his accelerated heartbeat. However, his arm always stayed and wrapped me to him, so I was not scared once. There were no nightmares about snakes with him around.

I guess he must have been on the phone several times, but it proved difficult to pull the words into my head. They sounded foreign. One word I heard that seemed familiar to me even though I knew that was impossible. “Kinigos” I had no idea why this word sent alarm into me but it did. I felt my arms come undone and wrap themselves around him.

I felt so intoxicated. I couldn’t stop. My head started to nuzzle into the soft part of his neck and I heard him get off of the phone. His body responded to me. Everything was hard, and smelled like him. My body was awake now, but I still kept my eyes closed. Maybe if I pretended it was a dream I wouldn’t feel so desperate. His hands softly gathered my face and then drew back.

“Look at me, Layna. I want you to know it’s me touching you right now.”

I opened my eyes and yearned for him. Everything about what I wanted to do was wrong, but I wanted it nonetheless. My lips reached out to his. It felt as though I had waited for this forever. His hand tugged me, guiding me closer and I felt the warmth of his lips slowly brush mine, I exhaled. It seemed like everything in my life was about this. No one had ever kissed me like this before. This felt like the first real kiss.

He playfully nibbled and kissed on my lips as he waited for me to open up to him. Slowly, I parted my lips for him, and his tongue slipped right in. The forceful thrust it made in my mouth was more x-rated than any sex I had ever had.

My tongue began to respond to his and explored the soft and rough places he had. Slow in the beginning, but then speeding up with demand. A groan sounded from his body and I shivered all over in pleasure. I just wanted to lick and touch everything. I brought my tongue out and slowly tasted his lips. Then I found my way back inside of his mouth. He was inside of me. His breath, his scent, it all made me feel too much. It became physically painful to be only this close. I wanted more. I needed more.

I now straddled him and began rubbing back in forth in a fit of need while his hands gripped me from behind.

His tongue began to slow and his lips pulled away from me. I wanted to cry out in pain, but I forced my lips closed. With my eyes open I saw his face. My hunger almost caused me to jump on him right then. Just when I thought I would not be able to control myself, another expression started to cross his beautifully sculpted face…regret. Why were we stopping? The hurt look on my face must have been very readable because he pulled me back to him.

“You don’t really want this. Your body is going through shock right now. It’s normal for someone in your position. I won’t take advantage of you.” His voice mumbled while he lazily twirled my hair as he held me close. The action seemed calm, but the stir in his body indicated otherwise. Even though we had stopped, our bodies continued to slide over one another. The pained expression in his face led me to think he fought his demons, too. We were fully clothed and yet it was intensely erotic. His nose traveled up and down my neck to inhale me as though I was his drug of choice. My fingers wandered aimlessly all over his arms and chest. There was hardness everywhere that sculpted his perfect body. We finally settled into a position that allowed us both to feel the comfort of each other. It was a haze, almost dreamlike.

Whispers in my ear soothed me with words from another language. My body felt so erotically rocked and spent that I fell asleep again to the sound of Alexander in my ear and the feel of him everywhere on my body.

Chapter Ten

The
sunlight demanded attention as it pried me from sleep. Alexander lay propped up against the arm of my sofa and held me tightly to him. God, he looked beautiful. What could be wrong with him? Why would he be so attracted to me? Maybe he wasn’t. Last night could have been about something else. It could be the magic in our blood. It pulled us together, but I wondered if it was like this with others. He was, after all, with a woman in the middle of the night who also happened to be not fully clothed. He had also been the one to stop. Was it just a dream? No, because if I had dreamt it, he would have never stopped. Just as I felt embarrassment rise into my face, someone began to knock at the door.

Alexander’s eyes flew open and I quickly spoke. “It’s okay. Just wait here and I’ll look through the window before I open the door.”

A peek through the window made my body color with shame.

“Oh…it’s my ummm…he’s a guy I’m dating.” It was Leo! Deep breaths…slow deep breath. There was no good way out of this. I opened the door and then realized my appearance. And Alexander’s.

“Layna, I saw the broken window. I’m so glad you’re alright.” Leo started to throw his arms around me when he actually noticed the guy next to me that looked like he had just crawled out of the same bed as me. We were both in our pajamas. Technically, we had crawled out of bed together. Even though it was a couch. We had both slept there, and done other things.
Oh no. Get control
—
don’t think about his hands and his tongue.

“You’re alright, aren’t you?” Then he took another glance at the disarray of the couch and me.

“What’s going on?” Rage swiftly crossed his brows and then he hid it. Disbelief replaced that emotion so fast I wondered if I had seen the rage. It was like he couldn’t possibly register in his head what this looked like.

“Leo, this is my neighbor Alexander.” I stepped aside so they could shake hands. At least that was my intent, but my legs were so wobbly from my nerves right now that I started to go down. Alexander immediately caught me. His reflexes were incredible.

“Alexander came over to help after the break in.” My words fumbled trying to say something pertinent.

“Well, I can take over now. Thanks for your help,” Leo’s voice boomed. Or maybe that was just my heart. I didn’t want Alexander to go.

“Nice to meet you, Leo, and let me know if you need any more help, Layna.” Alexander respectfully stepped out of the house. As Leo shut the door, my heart crushed.

Leo’s eyes were wide with amazement, but no words came out of his mouth. I think he was in shock. His eyes followed me to the couch and then he decided to sit down with me. The tears just started to spill out of my eyes. There was a name for this kind of reaction, wasn’t there? Post traumatic stress disorder? His arms folded around me and his voice reassured me.

“Everything will be fine. You can’t stay here with your window like that. Why don’t we pack up some stuff, and you can stay at my house.” The warmth and comfort in his eyes and arms was nice, but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t placate myself back into that former personality mold at the moment. Maybe, not ever. Nothing would feel the same after Alexander.

Worry crossed his face. He spoke, “You’ll have my house to yourself. I have to get back out to the spill.”