Exquisite (13 page)

Lena walked into the bathroom and
turned the light on pushing her hair up and into a ponytail. She blinked and
stared in disbelief at the bluish mark at the base of her neck, he’d left a
hickey on her! She reached up and touched it trying to stay mad at him but
instead she felt a smile trying to force its way through. Running a finger
across it she wondered if she’d left any marks on him.

Mason looked at his chest a second
time that morning and noticed four little indents on his chest where Lena had
gripped him as he’d sucked on her neck. He felt a smug grin come across his
face and remembered her telling him softly,
second base is not down there
Langley
. She’d grabbed his hair lightly and pulled him back up then kissed
him quickly on the lips before pushing him away with a smile. Then she’d
turned, taken the hose and sprayed herself down. He swore if he hadn’t been
holding the side of the sink that sight would have brought him to his knees. As
it was he’d had to eat dessert opposite her while she was in just a wet bra and
her skirt and that had been some kind of monumental task all on its own, but he’d
made it through and she’d agreed to meet him for a run on Saturday morning.

He hadn’t been surprised that she
ran, she was in amazing shape and her legs were long and strong. Which only made
him think of her wrapping them around him, but he’d been shocked when she’d
invited him to join her. He’d jumped at the chance to see her outside of work
and in a way, outside of a date. This felt more serious, like she was letting
him in just a little bit. He wasn’t kidding himself though, he knew she had
huge walls erected around her and it would take a lot of hard work to get past
them, but Mason was shocked to discover her was looking forward to the
challenge. She intrigued him, made him think about things he never had. Like
his reaction to her. He’d never felt such an intense pull to another person.
She made him so angry at times but then she pulled him in another direction and
he wanted nothing more than to rip every piece of her clothing off. Lena was a
mystery and she was slowly letting him unravel her. He scratched his stomach
and reached over to pick up the phone. He quickly dialed her number, knowing
she had the day off. Three rings later she answered.

“Hello.” Lena said as she picked up
the phone.

“You left marks on my fragile
body.”

Lena sat on the edge of the bed and
found herself grinning at his deep voice. She scooted back lying back down.
“Well you left a damn hickey on me.” she heard a deep laugh travel through the
line and closed her eyes imagining his dimples.

“I did that on purpose.”

“I know you did.” she paused then
muttered, “Smug bastard.”

“What? I didn’t quite get that.” he
asked with a louder laugh.

“I said, you’re a smug bastard.”
she heard a rustle and asked him softly, “Are you calling me from bed,
Langley?”

“Hmm. Yeah I am. Where are you?”

Lena sank down in her covers and
rested her head on the pillow. “In my bed.” she heard a low groan and smiled
laying an arm across her forehead.

“What are you wearing?”

“Are you trying to have phone sex
with me?” she asked laughing softly. She heard a rustle again then he grumbled.

“Well no. Not now that you asked me
like it was an idiotic idea.”

That had her laughing even harder.
The sulky note in his voice had tears leaking out her eyes. Finally she calmed
down and heard him ask.

“You done?”

Clearing her throat she answered,
“Yes. Thank you. Has anyone ever told you that you act like a spoilt brat at
times? Man, you can work up a good sulk Langley. Were you a sulky kid?”

She heard him chuckle, “Actually, I
was. Just ask my mother.”

“Well I would but I don’t know your
mother.” she pointed out.

Lowering his voice he asked, “So
Lena, tell me something I don’t know about you.”

She paused, “Like?”

“Like how many men would I find if
I Googled you?”

“You did Google me.” she pointed
out then sighed, “Not many. I told you I don’t do relationships.”

“Just sex?” he asked quickly.

“In the past, yes.”

She heard him clear his throat then
continue, “How far in the past?”

Her eyes opened and she stared at
her irritating fan, almost happy to have something to concentrate on, as the
thwump thwump kept time for her.

“Doctor?”

“Three years.” she mumbled quietly.
She heard a soft groan over the phone and asked defensively, “What? There’s
nothing wrong with not having sex you know? I don’t know what it is about you
and Shelly, just because I don’t hop into bed with every available man, I’m
some kind of freak?”

There was nothing at the other end,
just silence. She waited knowing he was still there because she could hear him
breathing.
Well she’d be damned if she spoke first
.

“Are you done Lena?” he asked in a
low deep voice that sent a pulse right down between her thighs.

“Excuse me?”

“I asked if you were done? You’re
quick to accuse me of sulking but no one has you beat on throwing a temper
tantrum.”

“Ahh..”

“No.” he cut her off effectively,
“No. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I was just imagining how
tight and hot that’s going to make you when I finally do get to slide deep
inside of you.”

Mason waited on the other end of
the phone with his eyes closed and his breathing deep, wondering if she was
going to hang up on him. “Lena?”

“Yes?” she almost sighed and he
smiled to himself.

“Why don’t you have relationships?”

“Why don’t you? Surely you can’t
tell me all thirty three women in the past year have been meaningful and long
lasting.”

He laughed at her surliness and was
pleased to notice she almost sounded a little bit jealous. “Well no they
haven’t been long and meaningful, and for the record I’m almost positive that
number is exaggerated.”

“How reassuring.” he heard her
mumble.

“But at least I put myself out
there.”

“What a giant understatement.”

“See Lena, this is why I can’t argue
with you over the phone, always a quick smart ass comment. At least in person I
can shut you up.”

There was a pause then she asked
him, “Why do you date so much?”

“Because I don’t like to be alone.”
he answered quickly then added, “Plus I love women.”

Lena smiled at that response and
knew he was telling the truth. She didn’t know what she was doing with him. She
didn’t want a deep long lasting relationship but she also knew she didn’t want
to walk away.

“What do you want from me Langley?
You hardly seem the commitment type.”

There was a pause and she heard
some movement, “Right now or in the future?”

“Lets start with the future.”

“Hmm. I want to know at some point
in the future that I’ve made Dr Magdalena O’Donnell so happy that she walked
around smiling all the way to her toes, for a whole week, with not a care in
the world.”

It seemed like such a simple thing
to say and yet at the same time she was amazed at how perceptive he was. He
knew, from only a handful of meetings, that somewhere deep down inside her soul
there was a huge gaping hole and although she may smile it was only on the
surface
and
it was only for that second.
When had he become so
attuned to her?
Since she didn’t want to ask him that she decided to take
the easy button.

“And right now?”

He sighed as if he knew she’d
chosen to side step the huge elephant he’d just put in the room. “Right now I
want you to tell me one thing you’ve thought about, while you were around me,
but didn’t tell me.”

Lena groaned softly then answered
him in a husky whisper, “Last night,”

“Yes?”

“Will you be quiet and let me
finish?”

“Sorry. I got excited.”

“Last night when you took your
shirt off and your stomach had all that juice on it,” she paused then she heard
him suck in a deep breath, “I wanted to get down on my knees and lick it all
up. You have an amazing body Langley.”

She heard a breath whoosh out of
his mouth then he groaned, “I’m going to die of frustration I think.”

Lena laughed softly, “You asked.”

“I know. I never said I was smart.”

She paused thinking about what she
wanted to say then went on before she lost her nerve. “You tell me all the time
things you’re thinking. So what about things you wish you could do to a woman
but never have? What is one thing you want to do to me?”

He was very quiet while he thought
about his answer. She had the phone cradled against her ear, resting against
the pillow, which was a good thing because when he opened his mouth and
answered her she was sure she would’ve dropped it.

“I find myself feeling things with
you that I haven’t felt before. I feel edgier, more intense. You make me want
to strangle you and in the next minute throw you over my shoulder. I’m not
usually like that. I’m always the easy going guy and I don’t know how that
makes me feel.” he paused took a breath then continued. “My reactions to you
make me question myself because they aren’t light and carefree, they’re dark
and dirty Lena. I want to do so many dirty things with you, to name them all
wouldn’t be possible.”

His voice had hit that rough pitch
that grated over her nerves and made her throb between her legs. “But if you
want one thing in particular I’ll give you this. All that amazing hair you have
so neatly tucked away most of the time? I want to unravel that hair and wrap it
around my cock and feel it all over me as you sit on top of me and I stroke
myself with it.”

One heart beat, two heart beat.

“Holy shit Langley.” she murmured,
“If you’re gonna to die from frustration. I’m about to die from a meltdown.”

He chuckled breaking the intense
moment, “You asked.”

“Well on that note I need to go and
take a
long
cold shower.” she could almost see him smile when he spoke.

“I’ll see you Saturday. Be ready to
sweat.”

“See you then Langley.” and with
that she hung up the phone.

M
ason decided to go and visit his mother today
before driving into work. He pulled up around the back and unlocked the door.
He whistled as he moved through the back aisle up to the front and saw his
mother talking to a customer. Standing off to the side watching her with a
smile, he wondered what she’d think of Lena. Then he got to thinking about that
first day when he’d delivered the flowers and the way his mother had called her
poor Lena, almost as though she knew her.

“Mason.” she said with a huge smile
as she walked over to him. She took his face between her palms and pulled him
down to kiss him quickly. “What brings you by dear?”

“Do I need a reason? I just wanted
to stop by and see you. Plus Rachel is in the kitchen this morning so I don’t
want to show up until she’s done.”

She put her hands on her hips
shaking her head, “You two still can’t play nice?”

“We can. We just play better when
separated.” he watched as she moved past him to help the same customer from a
moment ago check out. He glanced around the shop spotting the sunflowers in the
corner, and smiled when he looked at them. She was right, they did make you
smile. Watching the customer leave he noticed the place was now empty.

“So I have a question for you.”

She wiped her hands on her apron.
“What’s that dear?” Picking up a red rose she clipped the end then placed it in
a vase beside her.

“Remember about two or three weeks
ago you sent me to that hospital?”

She looked up then nodded, “Yes St
Luke’s. What about it?”

Mason leaned his hip up against the
counter and looked down at her. “Well remember the lady I was delivering the
flowers too?”

“Yes, they were for Lena.”

Mason tilted his head to the side
then narrowed his eyes a little. “You know Lena? Dr O’Donnell?”

His mother put her scissors down
and placed her hands on the counter.  “For pete’s sake Mason, spit it out.
Yes I know Dr O’Donnell. Why? Do you?”

Boy did he
, he thought, then
remembered her sitting across from him in a wet bra and a skirt. Probably not
exactly what his mother was referring to.

“Yes. We had a date last night. I’m
surprised Rachel didn’t call you to gossip.”

He watched his mother frown a
little then she smiled and tilted her head up to him. “I haven’t spoken to
Rachel since she started dating that sous chef.”

“Charlie.” Mason nodded.

“Yes that’s right. But that’s not
what we’re talking about. You say you had a date with Lena?”

Mason smiled now full blown. “Yes,
last night.”

His mother carefully picked up
another rose and clipped the end.

“How do you know her mom?”

She looked back at him and smiled a
small almost sad smile.  “I’ve known Lena for years, son.”

Mason hadn’t expected that and
watched his mother silently, as she finish the arrangement in front of her,
trying to work out what she meant. When he came up with nothing, and his mother
didn’t offer anything, he said softly, “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

She turned to face him and walked
over to the sunflowers in the corner. “These are hers.” she paused then looked
at him with a gentle smile on her face, “She’s been coming to my shop since she
was in college. Every Monday night, she orders seven sunflowers.”

Mason didn’t quiet understand what
she was telling him. “Why?”

His mother tilted her head and
walked over to him. She stopped and reached up to cup his cheek. “It’s not my
place to tell you son. She’ll tell you when she’s ready. If she ever is.” she
paused smiling at him. “I’ve never met such a focused individual in my life.
Maybe she needs someone like you to shake her up a bit.”