Seductive Truths (Seductive Trilogy) (35 page)

     Once she swiftly makes her exit I am quickly pulled down for a penetrating kiss.  His lips are slightly chapped but the friction only excites me.  I go to move away, but I don’t get very far before I’m swiftly being pulled back against his soft, hungry mouth.  I feel him pouring every inch of emotion in the kiss leaving me breathless and in need of oxygen. 

    
‘
Hmmm, much better,
’
he whispers and eyelids flutter open. 
‘
If only I weren’t all tied up in these wires,
’
he says wiggling his flirtatious eyebrows and looks me up and down.  My insides do a little jig. 

    
‘
Behave!
’
I gasp in mock surprise.
‘
They’ll be plenty of time for that
when
you’re fit and healthy.
’

    
‘
Well, you’re looking pretty fit and healthy, that’ll do for now,
’
and he reaches out to grab me but groans in pain when his side stretches.  His hand automatically comes up to shield his injury. 
‘
Maybe give it a bit more time.  Hey, what’s with the tears?
’

     It is only now I notice wetness escaping my eyes, streaming down my cheek.  I viciously rub it away,
stupid tears
. 
‘
I-I thought I w-was going t-to l-lose you.  I-I th-thought…
’
I choke as more tears leak.

     The playful banter quickly disperses into a sombre atmosphere as the fatality of what could have happened comes crashing back to me.

    
‘
Come here,
’
and I am drawn into the comfort of his arms, mindful of him wired up to the machines.  The last thing I would want to do is pull one out.  He has been through enough hell already, me being clumsy is a hindrance he is better off without.

    
‘
Seeing you lying against the wall, watching you bleed, bl-blood pouring from your side, I thought I’d lost you then and there.  It felt like
I
was the one who had been shot, shot right in the heart.  Watching the paleness creep into your skin, lips a faint tint of blue, pierced my lungs and I couldn’t breathe.  I felt limp right alongside you, completely numb.  It destroyed me seeing you like that.  I felt it to be over, finished.  I screamed for you Gareth, I screamed!  Next thing I knew, you were being carted off, away from me. 

    
‘
And when the doctor said the ambulance had just made it in time I, well, I…a few millimetres over and I wouldn’t be here in your arms, having them comfort me in their warmth, sooth me with the steady rhythm of your tender strokes up and down my back.   Never to hear the steady strumming of your heart vibrating through my ear as I rest my head against your chest
,
it
is unthinkable.
’
 

     Lifting my head, I latch onto his eyes, souls entwining, wishing to convey all I feel as I carry on. 
‘
Life without you, Gareth, is not worth thinking of.  You have changed me.  Not for the better or the worst, you’ve just…I have changed.  You’ve unleashed something in me that has lain dormant for years.  You have shown me the extent of what I can be and the lengths I can go.  There was more to me than meets the eye, but it took your strength, your…seductive ways if it were, to see it.  You have woven your magic.

    
‘
Gareth, I’ve never met a man like you.  You’re brutish, dangerous, frightening, relentless…
’

    
‘
Thanks!
’

    
‘
…But underneath it all, you’re really a kind, caring, decent man, who somehow makes me feel safe and I…I love you for it.  I love you Gareth.  You hear me.  I…I love you.
’
 

     There.  I’ve said it.  It is now out in the open for him to do what he will.  Toss it back in my face or make a declaration of his feelings.

     At first I see shock swimming in his silver pools and he tenses ever so slightly, hand stilling, but gradually the shock turns into a gentle smile that shines from deep within.  The hand resumes its ministrations, laying my head back in its resting place on his chest, eyes turn away.

    
‘
Shhhh,
’
Gareth whispers. 
‘
I need some rest, as I’m sure you do too.  Sleep Alex, it has been a long and tiring past few days.  Rest.
’

     He may not be courageous enough to say it, but, gazing deeply into his eyes, I saw it as clear as day.  I saw his unspoken three little words whispered directly to my heart. 

     I close my eyes and a tingling sensation spreads throughout my body warming me from head to toe and I finally rest my tired mind.

     Monitor’s bleeps and blips fade into the background, while his hypnotic caresses delicately gliding through my hair lulls me into a deep slumber. 




     Everything around me is dark, all except an illuminated, empty, hospital bed, sheets pulled back in a mess, as if someone had left in a hurry.  But whom did the bed belong to?  Why the need to disappear?  Were they discharged?  Are they running from something or someone?

     All of a sudden blood starts soaking the bed sheet, starting from the centre then spreads outwards, tainting the pureness of the white.  I reach out and touch the sticky substance.  Bringing my hand up to my face, I see it is already drenched in the royal, red stuff.  I carry on watching as the drips run down my forearm ending in a puddle at the crease where my arm bends.  I make no attempt to wipe it away, instead, strangely, I feel rather intimate with it covering my skin, paling in comparison in colour.  It feels as if it belongs there.

     Shifting my attention to refocus on the bed I am shocked to discover the blood gone and replaced by a single sheet of paper, no bigger than A5, with writing on it, a letter maybe.  Picking it up with my now surprisingly clean hand I scan the words.

     My heart clenches along with the paper and all my insides come crashing down.  My face drains of colour and I feel like death warmed up.  I begin to suffocate; my breathing source has been cruelly taken from me.  The spotlight begins to dim and the bed starts to shrink.  I lose grip on the letter and it floats its way to the ground.

     My life seems bleak, trapped in a dark hellhole.  The bed continues to diminish while the light grows fainter until nothing is left but a small spec
k
of both.  The letter hits the floor in time with the last shred of light fading altogether, leaving me in darkness, and with no indication of a future that I once dreamt of.  I am empty once more.

     From out of nowhere, a sharp pain shoots through my abdomen…




     The pain from my dream startles me awake.  Unconsciously, my arms go to wrap around my tummy as my protective instincts kick in. 
But what am I protecting?

    
‘
Alex?
’
  I glance up to see Gareth’s crystal blue eyes staring at me with concern, his thumb caressing the palm of my hand.

    
‘
I’m okay,
’
I give him a reassuring smile. 
‘
Just cramp.  I will be alright in a minute.  Think I’ll stretch my legs, may help,
’
and I go to stand up, reaching up to the ceiling, working out the chinks from my back.

     As I move about I can feel Gareth’s eyes staring at me, watching every move I make, no doubt trying to figure me out. 

    
I hope I didn’t talk in my sleep.
 

    
‘
How are you feeling?  Sleep well?
’
I ask, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

    
‘
Been better.  A bit.  Majority of the time I was watching you sleep.
’
  Heat creeps up my neck to the tip of my ears and I turn away in embarrassment. 
‘
You look beautiful when you sleep.
’
  He smiles affectionately, causing me to blush further. 

    
‘
Stop it.  Any redder and the nurses may think something is up with me.  I may be forced to join you in bed.
’

    
‘
You won’t see me complaining,
’
he winks and pulls back the corner of the bed sheet. 
‘
In fact, why don’t you just jump in now, saves on the testing.
’

    
‘
What has gotten into you lately?
’

    
‘
A bullet.
’
 

     The smile wipes from my face.

    
‘
Don’t,
’
I choke, emotion starting to well up again. 

     I have to turn my back on him; I can’t have him seeing the tears.    
Why am I such an emotional wreck?  I’m not usually so easily reduced to tears.
  My arms go to comfort myself; they have no use for anything else at the moment.

    
‘
I’m sorry Alex, I didn’t mean to upset you.
’

    
‘
Why do you have to make a joke of everything?
’
I whisper with my back still turned, shaking with my poor attempt to keep my emotions in check.

    
‘
It’s how I cope with things.  It is either that or to say nothing at all.
’

     Turning back round to face him I snap,
‘
I wish you’d do the latter.
’

     An uncomfortable silence settles and our eyes avoid contact.  Quiet murmurs of people in the background fill the gap - nurses talking to patients, friends and families coming to visit their loved ones. 

    
I can’t do this
and I break the moment by randomly saying,
‘
Two police officers came to speak to me.
’

     Blue, sparkling eyes snap back to mine. 
‘
When?
’

    
‘
While you were still unconscious after the operation.
’
  I stroll to the end of his bed, rest my hands on the rails and stare down at him. 
‘
Just regular procedure the nurse said.
’
  Gareth looks off to the side, staring at nothing in particular but frowning in concentration. 
‘
A Detective Chief Inspector West and Detective Sergeant Peters.
’

    
‘
Peters?
’
he questions, eyes growing wide.

    
‘
Yes?
’

    
‘
Tall, short, brown hair, pale blue eyes?  Looked between mid-twenties, early thirties?  An irritating little scroat who seemed to press all the right buttons to rile you?
’

    
‘
Yes, that’s him.  Do you know the guy?
’

    
‘
Know the guy?  I know him alright, more than he would like.  He’s the corrupt officer.
’

    
‘
The corrupt officer?
’
 
What is he going on abo…Oh
. 
‘
You mean he’s the one that gave you all that information on…
’

    
‘
Yes.
’

     I walk over and sink back into the chair by the bed. 
‘
Guess that explains why he was eager to link the explosion to us, or you which is more likely the case.
’

    
‘
What do you mean?
’

     Looking up from my hands I see the frown back in place. 
‘
Five minutes after the ambulance took us to this hospital a 999 call was made
to
your apartment
from a passer-by
.  Peters was hinting you and I had something to do with it, but thankfully DCI West was having none of it.  He literally berated the Sergeant right in front of me.  I think I may have steered them astray.
’

    
‘
I wouldn’t be so sure of that,
’
Gareth mumbles.