Third Eye Watch (A Serena Shaw Mystery) (10 page)

When he pulled up to the lobby of her apartment, Serena hesitated for a brief moment; then throwing caution to the wind, she invited him up for a nightcap. He too hesitated before accepting, and they took the elevator upstairs in silence.

They stepped outside on the balcony, drinking in companionable silence; a double shot of Baileys for her, and cognac, for him.

Serena thought the city looked so beautiful at night; cleaner, its ugliness hidden by the darkness, and magical almost, with the million glittering lights that stretched out as far as she could see in the distance. The downtown streets were deserted, as the city slept below them.

The night breeze played with her hair, swirling and covering her face, so she set her glass down, gathering up her hair to tie it into a knot.

xxxx

Sam stood lost in thoughts; he was keenly aware of Serena standing next to him.

He had not planned on asking her out, hadn’t known he was going to until he had heard the words spilling from his mouth. All he had planned to do was stop by, tell her he had a girlfriend, apologize to her, and leave. Instead, they had spent an entire evening together, and now here he was, alone with her on her balcony, struggling to keep his hands off her.

The light perfume she wore, teased him. He knew that if he reached out and touched her, he wouldn’t be able to stop the raw passion from exploding between them again.

For a week now, he’d tried desperately to stay away from her. He had buried himself in work, arriving early and leaving later than normal; even eating dinner with his girlfriend every night, hoping to banish Serena from his head.

At night, he had lain awake, his body aching with longing as he remembered Serena’s passionate kisses, her lips swollen from his, her heart thudding against his. He wasn’t that much older than her, they were only six years apart in age, but she had an untouched quality about her, and he felt like a perverted old man thinking about her like that. But holding her had felt so right too.

Tonight, he had texted his girlfriend and canceled dinner just before they had left the gallery. He knew she would be angry at the last minute ditch. She had already sensed something was different with him and had asked him if everything was ok; he also knew she hadn’t believed him when he had claimed that he was preoccupied with a case.

His partner had grown frustrated with him too, telling him today that he was driving her nuts with his “moping around.” Men don’t mope, he had told her and in answer, she had shoved him out of the office, enunciating every syllable as she told him to, “GO AND SEE HER.” He had decided to do just that, and now here he was, standing on her balcony, trying desperately to keep his hands off her luscious body.

She too appeared to be lost in thoughts, he thought, as he watched the breeze ruffle her long, lustrous hair and saw her hands, as she gathered her hair and prepared to tie it in a knot.

“Don’t,” he said huskily, laying his free hand on hers to stop her. Then he brushed the hair away from her face, his fingertips gently playing at her temples.

Her eyes fluttered close, and he let his gaze roam her face lazily, wondering what it was about her that made his usually strong willpower to desert him.

He set his glass down next to hers, then gathered her close, burying his face in her hair, inhaling the heady fragrance of Jasmine……Jasmine???? His mom had a jasmine plant, and he loved the way its fragrance permeated their home in the summer.

Even her shampoo was selected to seduce him, he thought, inhaling the sweet fragrance of Jasmine once again and again.

“I tried so hard; to stay away,” he murmured in her hair a few moments later, his voice guttural with desire.

Serena pushed away just enough to look at him, and he thought he saw hurt flash in her eyes before she lowered them. She tried to leave his arms, but he wouldn’t let her escape.

“I’m sorry. For standing you up for dinner.  For not calling. For…”

She looked up and placed her hand on his cheek, murmuring softly, “You already apologized earlier. It’s ok, it doesn't matter.”

He covered her hand with his; then brought it to his mouth, his tongue gliding across her palm. “Hush, you have to be quiet and let me apologize.”

When she smiled, as he had intended, he placed her hand against his heart and added, “It matters to me. I didn’t want to”, then he corrected himself; “I don’t want to hurt you”.

“Sam, it’s ok. You haven’t hurt me”, she whispered.

“You know that’s the first time you’ve used it,” he said huskily.

“What’s that?” She asked, confused.

“You've never said my first name until now.”

“Are you sure I haven’t, Special Agent Raina?” she teased him tongue-in-cheek.

“Say it again,” he demanded.

“Special Agent Raina,” she said, her lips curving in a smile.

He growled, and she hurriedly said, “Sam.” Then giggled, and said it again. “Sam. There, are you happy?”

He captured her lips hungrily.

Some time later, he gently disengaged her arms from around his neck and held them against his heart. He leaned back against the railing, putting her at arm's length from him, and watched her lovely face barely illuminated in the waning moonlight.

“I have to go, babe," he told her tenderly, his voice laced with regret.

She nodded, her luminous brown eyes unblinking.

“Good night, sweetheart,” He leaned down to give her a final kiss, then took her arm and walked to the front door.

FRIENDS, WITH BENEFITS

Serena awoke feeling fully rested. Nothing like a prolonged dose of kissing to banish insomnia, she thought, stretching luxuriously, as she remembering the previous night. 

Sam’s kisses had left her dizzy and breathless, and she knew he hadn’t been unaffected either; he’d been breathing just as hard, and his heart had thudded furiously against her. Except for kissing her senseless, he had acted the perfect gentleman, not getting close to even crossing any sexual boundaries.

Sam arrived thirty minutes later.  “Good morning,” She said as she got in the car, digging through her purse for a lipstick. Her body jerked as Sam braked suddenly; and when she looked at him inquiringly, she found his mouth swooping down to capture her lips in a hard kiss.

“That’s how you say Good Morning, sweetheart,” he told her with a devastating grin, and she burst out laughing.

As they drove in silence, Serena wondered what he would she were to suddenly blurt out the one question that had perplexed her since they had first met. “Why can’t I read you?”

“What?” He asked, when Serena looked at him thoughtfully.

She shook her head, and focused her gaze on the swiftly passing landscape.

He pulled into the parking lot behind her gallery, turned off the engine; and then shifted so he could look at her.

“Can I see you tonight”? He asked, his tone sudden.

“I can’t. Weekly dinner at my parents.”

“Ok.” His eyes reflected disappointment.
Does he think I’m lying?

But she didn’t offer any more explanation. He held up his hand, then got out and walked around to open her door, holding it open with his left hand and extending his right to assist her. Serena tentatively took his hand and then released it as soon as she stood, gazing up at him.
 

He is so tall.

“I’ll call you.” They were the same words he'd spoken a week ago.

Serena nodded, then walked to the door of her gallery; then stood watching him as he got into his car, waved to her, and drove away.

xxxx

Sam was standing outside Serena’s building when she pulled in and parked in her allotted slot. He watched her gingerly step out, just as the skies opened up, and then smiled as she covered her head with her purse, and dashed towards the entrance.

He pushed away from the wall he had been leaning on and came forward, standing in her path with his arms open. She stopped abruptly when she saw him, surprise on her face; and then laughed and ran straight into his arms causing him to stagger back. Using her momentum, he grabbed her and swung her around and around, causing them both to laughing uncontrollably.

“What are you doing here?” She asked as they walked arm in arm, to the elevators.

“I just wanted to see you,” he told her, pulling her into his arms as the elevator doors closed around them.

When they entered her apartment, she said, “Give me a minute to change?”

“Not yet,” he said, holding her loosely in the circle of his arms. Raindrops shimmered in her hair, and her cheeks were flushed. She swallowed as his gaze lingered on her parted lips, and he could see her breath quicken. But it was her eyes that made his blood heat and race through his veins.

“I missed you,” he whispered, looking into her eyes with emotion. He hadn’t seen her since the day he had dropped her off at her gallery. A new case had taken him and Audrey to DC, and he had just returned. His plane had landed just over an hour ago. He had texted Serena who had told him she had just left the gallery and would call him once she got home. Impulsively, he had decided to surprise her.

She ran into the bedroom to change, and he waited for her on the balcony, thinking this time he had kept his promise to call her, and they had spoken every day; also texting multiple times a day.

The forced physical separation was good, he thought with a chuckle, because it was clear that he was incapable of keeping his hands off her.

She hugged him now from behind, resting her head against him. He turned to face her, holding her at arms length; taking in her form-fitting black shorts and white tank, her damp hair swinging from a ponytail, which he thought, made her look like a teenager.

“Come," he said, taking her hand and leading her toward the living room, “I have something to tell you.”

xxxx

He waited for Serena to sit, then sat down next to her, settling her against him. She looked at him expectantly.

“I'm going to sound like a total madman, but what I'm about to tell you is real.” 

“You are,” she clicked her fingers, “Ah yes, a mass murderer of young women at night; and an FBI agent during the day?”

“Then prepare to die, my lovely,” He mock-growled and nuzzled her neck, making her giggle.
He cupped her face in his hands. Then looking into her eyes, he shared his secret with the woman he was falling in love with.

“Honey, there’s something you need to know; something that only a handful of people know.” He released her face and ran his hands through his hair.

Then taking a deep breath; he continued. “I…..I have something of a…..gift”, he said, hesitantly, not wanting to scare her off. “I have the ability to see things.”

“You see things? Meaning?” She drew her feet up on the sofa and hugged her knees as she looked at him curiously.

“I see things that other people can’t see.”

“You mean, ghosts or….….dead people? Like that boy in Sixth Sense?” Serena whispered.

He grinned at the excitement he saw on her face, and then said, “Not exactly. I see events, things that may have happened in the past and sometimes things that may happen in the future or are happening. Some things are clear, and others are only shadows. Sometimes I see people; not dead, just actors in an imaginary play.”

“So, you’re telling me that you are a witch, a male witch?”