Forgotten (33 page)

I found Saul
in the same position, peacefully asleep. I hugged the doorway and
stared at his beautiful body, at his ugly wound. I replayed Annie’s
guarantee that Saul would be okay. And then I left him,
alone.

I found Annie in the kitchen. She was now
dressed in a long, halter-necked dress, her hair loosely bunched
with a wooden clip. She moved with such grace, such fluidity.

“
That’s
better,” she said when she saw me enter. “I hope the dress is
okay.”

“I love it. You may not get it back.”

Laughter
trickled from her. “Come and help me,” she sang, handing over some
carrots and shallots.

I found a
nearby board and began chopping.

“
It’s a
chicken stir fry,” Annie explained as she seared the pieces of
chicken in a low pan, “and the chicken is free range, of course.”
There was a distinctive glimmer in her eye. “I have my sources from
a wealth of people in the area who raise their own. I couldn’t even
imagine eating store bought meat now. We barter, you know, my
vegies, their eggs, or in this case, some chicken.”

“
Sounds
perfect,” I said. The carrot made incredibly fresh crunching noises
as I sliced through it. “Even your house, it’s so
restful.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

We ate on
the sea-front porch, on padded swinging seats. Ahead the star-lit
ocean rumbled. Throughout it all, Annie and I talked about many
topics. I found the more time I spent with her the more I liked
her.

I learnt
that Annie was a qualified nurse and had worked for numerous years
at the large public hospital on the coast. She had become
disillusioned with political agendas that, in her opinion, often
weren’t in the best interests of the patients. So she left. Now,
she worked in a clinic that offered alternative
therapies.

She blew a
few, curly wisps from her brow.
“I’ve
never regretted the move,” she stated. “Where I work now, it’s
about the betterment of all patients and it’s so wonderfully
uplifting.”

She placed her empty plate next to her
sandal-clad feet. That’s when I noticed a striking tattoo on her
ankle. I commented on it.

She ran her
small, slim fingers across it. “I love it. I love how it signifies
the land and the sea. It’s so me, don’t you think?” Sleek, grey
vines,
spiraled from a white seashell,
spreading to bold, scarlet rosebuds and emerald green leaves. It
was definitely her.

At one point, I asked her how long she had
known Saul. She went quiet and simply stared ahead. I stared with
her, noticing a small, intermittent light flashing along the
darkened horizon. And I wondered why the odd silence?

I thought of
what Ethan had said earlier, on the hillside, questioning Saul
about going to Annie’s in the first place. I thought of my own
impression that Annie’s touch with Saul was a little too familiar.
Something green began coloring my judgment. But about what exactly?
That Saul and Annie could have once been together? Or that
Annie’s
karma free
personality would suit Saul better than my
flighty, anxious, emotionally reactive one?

My feet began tapping.

Annie looked
at them, looked at me. “Five years,” she said, in a soulful,
gracious way. “Saul and I have a remarkable friendship and that’s
all it’s ever been, one I would be lost without.”

She sounded
completely genuine. I scolded my overactive imagination. “I think
today has shown he’d be lost without you.”

So engrossed was I with our conversation,
that I didn’t notice how much time had passed. Not until Saul
appeared, freshly dressed. I bolted to his side.

“
M
mmm,” he mumbled, as he buried
his face in my hair, “you smell nice.”

“
It’s hard
not to, here.” But then, so did he. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”
Some color tinged his cheeks, but the dark shadows beneath his eyes
were still there.

“
What
I’
ve been doing. Thanks to Annie’s own
little blend of magic.”

“The only way to still your mind, Saul,”
Annie said, “even if just for a short while. And I guess wearing a
sling….”

“
Is totally
unnecessary
,” Saul answered.

“
Of course,
it is. What was I thinking?” Annie began collecting our plates. “By
the way, Ethan rang a couple of hours ago.”

“And?”

“
He’ll be
here around two.” She grinned as she balanced the plates on one
arm. “And something about whether, if he accidentally, on purpose,
failed to tell Shirley that it was unsafe to stay in her home
tonight and something actually happened to her, could that be
misconstrued as murder?”

Saul dropped his head as did I. Ethan was
truly irredeemable.

“I can see things haven’t changed.” Annie
laughed as she stepped indoors.

“Some days I don’t know what to do with
him,” Saul said.

I drew myself closer to him, took in the
wondrous scents of Annie’s candlelit bathroom on him. “You seem
better.”

“Only because of you.” His voice got lost
somewhere between my shoulder blades and the smoking skin of my
breasts. Aware that Annie was somewhere near, I grudgingly pulled
away. “Aren’t you hungry?”

He laughed. “You’re not serious with that
question, are you?”

Was that lust in his voice?

Saul grabbed
my hand. “Come on, we shouldn’t be sitting here on such a brilliant
night with the beach just yards away.”

“You and Ethan aren’t planning on working
tonight?”

“Yes, we are,” he said as he led me onto the
beach. We settled on the fine, cool sand, bathing in the light of
the near full moon. “Ethan and I work best while things are fresh
in our minds.”

“I’ll help.”

“I like that you want to.”

“Hey,” I said pointing seawards, “look at
that.”

Scores of
tiny waves, capturing the reflection of the
fiery-
colored moonlight rose. As they
did, a rapid succession of flames burst alight upon their crests,
extinguishing just as swiftly as the waves broke.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen that before.”
Saul seemed similarly fascinated. He turned to me. “Come here,” he
said. His eyes had hooded and something dangerous appeared in them.
“For a moment… this moment, I just want a bit of you.”

His words
shot searing arrows through me. I coiled around to face him,
balancing on my knees. “Are you sure? Your arm….”

But he simply grinned and cupped my chin.
And then his mouth found mine, softly at first but with each
degree, it became more intense, more predatory, rousing every
sexual nerve I had. My fingers gripped his hair and wrenched him
closer, careful to avoid bumping his injured arm. The unexpected
sound of his moan, deep and sensual, caused the spot between my
thighs to constrict in slow, maddening rhythms.

His
hand
caressed my face, stroked my neck
until it reached my breast, the thin dress fabric barely a shield
against his fingers. He massaged, he rubbed until he caught my
hardened nipple between thumb and finger and squeezed. I whimpered
out aloud. Crazy, hot sensations exploded in me causing the
pulsations below to strengthen.

Everything was throbbing in me now,
pounding, clenching, unclenching and it was all so delicious, and
all so mad.

My moans
went wild; I felt wild… fiery, wet and wild.

Holy shit.

Saul may
have wanted a bit of me
, but I now wanted
the lot. I drew back, fumbled with the buttons on Saul’s shirt and
yanked it open. To touch his chest, feel it ripple beneath my
fingers, sent fresh swells of excitement through me. Saul used his
good arm to support himself as he leaned back. I kissed him, then
began slowly skating my mouth downwards, lapping the salty taste of
him… his rich, masculine flavors. His heart was riotous, seriously
erratic and I loved that it was.

It made me feel powerful, unusually
bold.

My mouth slid on until they reached the top
of his jeans and there my tongue slipped into slow motion,
teasingly slow, as it moved along the inside of the jeans’ band.
Saul groaned a long, muffled groan. I propped up a little,
unfastened the button, began to pull on the zip. His good hand shot
to my thigh as he straightened, grabbed the hem of the dress and
yanked it to my waist. A million hungry cells shrieked in
anticipation of his next move.

And just as his fingers hooked themselves
into the band of my knickers, just as I felt them slip inside, he
froze.

Shit.

What was he doing?

“
Don’t
, stop,” I struggled to say.
He dropped his forehead against my own, his breath still steamy.
“Saul….” I could barely hear my voice from the thunderous hammering
in my ears. His hand was back on my cheek holding it a little
stronger than normal, his head still resting on mine, his breathing
still frenzied.

Eventually, it slowed until it was almost
back to its original pace.

Mine, however, was not. “I want this,” I
gasped.

Saul lifted his head. “So do I.” He was so
soft, I could barely make out the words.

“
Is it your
arm; have I hurt you?”

“My arm is fine.”

“I don’t understand.”

“
Not here,
and not like this.”

Why not, for heaven’s sake?

He closed his eyes as if still readjusting.
Once he reopened them, I asked him.

He tilted his face, looking a little lost
for words. “I don’t know. I just get the feeling it needs to be a
little less imperfect than this. Not with me winged, you looking
exhausted, and Ethan about to turn up.”

I wondered
if a part of this had to do with Annie, but I shoved the irrational
thought from my head. Perhaps he was right. Tonight would be
hurried, uncomfortable. Yet, in my uncontrolled blitz of passion, I
was willing to sacrifice any such awkwardness. He wasn’t. “Are you
for real?”

“
Probably
more crazy, but yes, for real.” He bent his head, neared his lips
to my ears, and murmured, “I want it to
be
somewhere special, somewhere
perfect, for
it
to be perfect…
like
you
.”

Me? Perfect? Was he blind as well as crazy?

“
And I want
all the time in the world to get to know every beautiful inch of
your beautiful body… slowly.”

Shit.
Talk like that wasn’t about
to settle my frenzied cravings any time soon. My heart brimmed with
a different kind of emotion. To him, it
was
about the place, a place
far from this madness, a place of our own, on our own with, much to
my delight, plenty of time.

My two hands
cupped his concerned face. “You’re so beautiful. How on earth did I
get so lucky?” I kissed him once more and then nestled up to him,
trying to subdue the fires still burning within me. “However, Saul
Reardon, your incredible self-discipline, wherever you get it from,
well… it’s not normal.”

Saul
chuckled. When he spoke again, it was in a low, serious tone.
“Besides, Claudia, not on our first date.”

What?

“Thought you’d have more respect for
me.”

Was he fricking serious?
I looked
up at him.

A sly,
wicked grin spread across his face, answering my question. I
thumped him, fortunately for him, on his good arm. “And I would
hardly call this a date,” I said.

Saul laughed.

I used the
next few minutes to reflect, about how much had happened between
us, about just how little I knew him. “Do you realize we only met
like two days ago, if that?”

“Yes.”

“
I feel as
if I’ve known you….”

“
Much
longer? I guess in one way I already have.”

He was
referring to the whole Charles Smith thing. “No, you knew of me.
Not the same.”

He said nothing, and I wondered if there was
something more. “It’s still unusual, don’t you think?”

“Nothing about the last two days has been
usual. We’ve spent just about every waking second together and have
gone through some pretty intense times.”

I took my time before asking my next
question. “What do you think is happening between us?” It seemed
inappropriate to ask, but I knew what I meant, and I had the
peculiar feeling that Saul would too.

He tightened his arm around me. “I’m not
entirely sure.”

“Does it make you feel uncomfortable?”

“Extremely. And you?”

“The same.”

More quiet followed.

“I don’t want any of this to interfere with
my ability to help you, but I can’t see how it won’t,” Saul
said.

I watched
him randomly scan the horizon. He was struggling with the thought -
that much was apparent. “I have faith in you.” And I meant
it.

But he
didn’t appear convinced. “Just before you arrived on the hill
today, I’d decided to give up on trying to understand it all and
instead just run with it, run with whatever I felt for you and take
it from there, that was of course if you felt the same. It was
amazing how easy it became after that decision.”

I was a
whole lot grateful for
that
decision.

“
Besides,
you know what Annie would say. That we were old souls.”