by Sophie Davis
“I think I’ve had enough surprises to last a lifetime,” I grumbled, the aggravation evident in my mental voice.
“This one you’ll like,” Erik promised, skirting my reference to the discovery that my best friend was a spy for the person responsible for killing my parents.
With Gretchen in the same house, our mental communications were not safe. While I doubted she would tell Mac that Erik and I were disregarding his words about keeping the physical contact to a minimum so I wouldn’t become overstimulated – if one more person told me not to overstimulate myself, I would scream – I also doubted that her unspoken vow of confidentially extended to conversations regarding Penny and her betrayal. Between Dr. Wythe, Mac, and Dr. Thistler, there was no shortage of people trying to convince me that what Penny showed me in the courtroom was fake.
“This weekend is about you and me,” Erik sent, reading the thoughts about Penny right from my mind.
Apparently I needed to put up stronger barricades. He was desperate to talk about everything that had happened after Mac ordered him back to headquarters, but now was not the time. “Why don’t you go rest in your room? There is some stuff I need to take care of.”
“You just got here!” I protested.
Erik brought the hand resting behind his head down to stroke my cheek, brushing back the stray hairs peppering my face. He brought his lips to my forehead, placing a soft kiss right in the center.
“Do you trust me?” he asked.
Odd question, I thought. He knew I trusted him implicitly.
“Of course,” I sent back.
“Then go rest for a while and let me work my magic.”
“Fine,” I said grudgingly. “When will you be done with your secret project?”
Erik chucked softly. “Can’t a guy do something nice for his girlfriend without getting the third degree?”
“I just want to spend time with you.”
“I know. And I want to spend time with you. Give me two hours and then I am all yours. For the rest of the weekend, you won’t be able to get rid of me.”
I craned my neck to meet his gaze. His eyes were open now, mischief and amusement causing them to twinkle. It was nice to see him this way; it had been too long. I’d nearly forgotten that it wasn’t Erik’s strength or even his perfect features that I’d fallen in love with. It was his caring nature, the one he hid beneath all that bravado, that had reeled me in. He rarely showed that side of himself to the rest of the world, reserving his secret for those closest to him.
I felt guilty for giving him such a hard time. I had to be the most ungrateful girlfriend in the world. What were two hours apart when we had an entire weekend together?
“Deal. But I am holding you to that promise.”
Erik repositioned himself so that we were face-to-face. He kept his eyes open as he brought his lips to mine. The kiss started off just as gentle as the one at the hangar, but just as that one had, the intensity increased quickly. Soon, my hands were tangled in his hair, his body pinned me to the couch. The fingertips of his left hand trailed lightly from my wrist, up the length of my arm, across my collarbone, and finally to cup the side of my neck. His thumb massaged my pounding pulse, gauging how off-the-charts my heartbeat was becoming.
When I reached for the buttons of his shirt, Erik stilled. Gently, he took hold of one of my wrists and guided it away. “Not a good idea, Tal. If clothes start coming off, I will never leave this couch.”
“So?” I sent back. How could he possibly think that was a bad thing?
Erik rolled off of me, well as much as he could considering we were wedged on a sofa that was smaller than a twin-sized bed. “So? So, I don’t want the Director coming back, finding me on top of you, and shooting me.”
“No way, Mac is too busy to be bothered with having to dispose of your body,” I teased. “He is way too practical to shoot you.”
Feeling like a tremendous weight had been lifted off of my shoulders, I retreated to my own bedroom to rest. Erik’s mere presence had done wonders for my psyche. The fog that had invaded my mind after Penny’s sentencing, and refused to leave in the days afterwards, finally started to dissipate. I felt less like a zombie, a shell of my former self devoid of any real emotion, and more like the person I’d been before my life took a nose dive.
Unfortunately, Erik wasn’t a shot of adrenaline and even the short make-out session left me fatigued. He’d said I had two hours to rest while he prepared my surprise, so I curled up in my own bed and slept. Thanks to the increased dosage of my medication, I had no dreams.
A short while later I awoke to someone gently shaking my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, Gretchen’s smiling face and cornflower blue eyes stared back at me.
“How are you feeling?” she asked. It was the same question Gretchen always asked me the instant I woke up, before my brain was fully functioning. And I gave her the same answer now that I did the previous fifty-two times – I kept a mental tally.
“Better.”
“You might want to throw on a sweater before you go out,” she told me. “There is a slight breeze tonight.”
Always such a mother, I thought with a twinge of longing for my own parents. Even with a breeze in the air, the night was likely too warm to necessitate a sweater; summers in Maryland were disgustingly humid.
Gretchen stood and offered me help out of bed. Despite feeling like a child, I accepted her hand and swung my legs over the side of the mattress. I glanced down at my dress, now wrinkled from having been slept in. Then I decided that I should probably change before going out. Wait, where was I going?
“Gretchen?” I asked. “Where am I going that I need a sweater?”
Gretchen’s smiled stretched wider, giddy anticipation emanating off of her in waves. “It’s a surprise, sweetheart.”
I added the word “surprise” to the mental list of words that I hoped never to hear again, right below “protocol” and “overstimulation.”
I narrowed my gaze suspiciously. “Do you know what Erik has planned?”
“You should freshen up, dear. You need to leave in a couple of minutes.” Gretchen’s eyes sparkled with excitement. I tried to read her mind, but found the barriers were up and firmly in place. I considered knocking them down, but lacked the energy. There was the fact that Erik had obviously put a lot of effort into whatever he’d planned and reading Gretchen’s mind would ruin the surprise.
I padded to my bathroom to “freshen up”, dreading the mirror over the sink since Gretchen had felt the need to comment on my appearance. My reflection was as bad as I’d feared. Instead of the few stubborn pieces of hair that had refused to stay straight, my head was covered in curls once again. My eyes were bloodshot from the crying stint when Erik first arrived, and no makeup remained, save several smudges of mascara under my bottom lashes.
With a groan, I quickly washed my face, brushed my teeth, and piled the unruly mess of hair into a bun. When I emerged from the bathroom, I found a strapless, lavender sundress lying on my bed with a white cardigan displayed next to it. The dress was one I recognized from my closet, but not one I’d ever worn. I quickly traded the wrinkled sundress I currently wore for the freshly pressed one Gretchen had selected, and wrapped the cardigan around my shoulders for good measure. The sweater was unnecessary, but I hated for Gretchen to think I was ignoring her warning about the breeze.
My sitting room was empty, so I wound my way through the McDonough’s house until I finally found Gretchen waiting in the foyer. She still wore a bright smile, and now had car keys and a long strip of black cloth in one hand. The cloth gave me pause.
“What is that?” I asked, pointing at what appeared to be a blindfold.
Gretchen’s grin turned maniacal, matching the one her son often wore when he was up to no good. “It’s for you, dear. Come here so I can put it on.”
I hesitated. Surprises were bad enough; blindfolds were where I drew the line. Nothing good ever came of being blindfolded.
&nb
sp; “Natalia,” Gretchen began in an inpatient tone, “relax, sweetheart.”
After several more moments of deliberation, I finally walked over to her and allowed her to tie the blindfold around my eyes.
“You do realize that this is pointless,” I told her once she guided me to the backseat of her car. “I can just look into your head to see where we are going.”
This was only partially true since Gretchen was doing everything in power to keep me from doing just that. For most people, that task would have been monumental, if not impossible. Gretchen, though, was a Mind Manipulator, same as me. Her ability to block my intrusions was better than most.
“I know, dear. But don’t you want to be surprised?”
I said nothing. No, I didn’t want to be surprised. When you are a mind reader and always know what others are thinking and feeling, you fear the unknown.
Ten minutes later, Gretchen stopped the car and opened her door. I fumbled with my seatbelt and then felt along the side of the door for the handle. Before I located it, the door swung open, and I nearly fell out. Long fingers encircled my upper arm, catching me before I got a face full of gavel. Instantly, I knew the fingers belonged to Erik. His touch was so familiar, firm and soft at the same time. He took my other hand and helped me from the back seat.
“Thank you, Mrs. McDonough,” Erik called to Gretchen. Then the sound of tires on gravel signaled her departure.
“Was the blindfold really necessary?” I asked Erik. Since he refused to let me into his mind, I refused to communicate with him mentally.
“Yes,” Erik replied. He kept hold of one of my hands while placing the other on the small of my back to guide me. “I like you this way, all damsel-in-distress, in need of prince charming to help you.”
I knew he was teasing, so I smiled in his general direction. But his comment bothered me. Lately, I was helpless. Without Gretchen, Mac, and even Donavon, I barely functioned. Gretchen hadn’t helped me get ready for Erik’s arrival simply because she was excited for me, her pseudo-daughter, and my big weekend with my boyfriend. She’d gone through all the trouble because I was incapable of doing it myself. The effort of making myself presentable, applying makeup, doing my hair, even getting dressed in anything more elaborate than pajamas, was too much. Even my doctors came to the house since I was frequently too tired to go to them.
“Step up, tree root,” Erik was saying. I was so lost in self-pity that I didn’t comprehend his words fast enough to react. The toe of my flip-flop caught on the tree root, and I pitched forward.
“Can I please take this off now?” I grumbled as Erik righted me.
“No.” Erik laughed, finding my predicament entirely too funny.
Erik rambled on about his latest mission, Henri, and a bunch of other stuff that I paid little attention to. Determined to bulldozer through his mental barricades, I focused all of my energy on that task. Unfortunately, one thought kept playing over and over again in Erik’s mind: Talia, get out of my head. Smartass.
After a walk that left me winded, sweaty, and second-guessing the decision to wear flip-flops – I thought my big toe might be bleeding – Erik stopped. He released my hand and moved to stand behind me, resting his palms lightly on my shoulders. I figured he was finally going to remove the blindfold, but the next thing I knew his lips were on my neck, trailing kisses along the nape and up behind my ear. Every kiss sent tingles through my entire body and my stomach tightened.
“I love you,” he whispered when his mouth was right next to my ear, his lips brushed the lobe as he spoke. A shiver ran down my spine and suddenly I was glad for the cardigan. Not that Gretchen knew I’d need the garment because Erik’s touch had this type of effect on me, but still.
Erik’s hands moved down my arms while his mouth moved across my shoulder. That was about the time I reconsider my earlier stance on blindfolds. Being able to concentrate solely on the feel of Erik’s skin on mine was intoxicating, amplified by the fact that he still refused to open his mind. I inhaled. The scent of fresh flowers and damp leaves mingled with Erik’s natural musk. He rarely wore cologne or aftershave, he didn’t need to. The pheromones he gave off were better than any scent that came in a bottle.
His arms circled my waist, pulling me flush against him. The sharp point of his chin rested in the crook of my neck when he softly kissed my cheek.
“Ready to take the blindfold off?” he murmured against my skin.
I nodded, though I was actually enjoying being devoid of sight now that I’d grown accustomed to the sensation. Blocking off one of my senses cut the fog in my head even more, making me feel more like my old self.
In one swift motion, Erik’s arms were gone, and the blindfold fell away. I blinked several times to get my bearings. From the smell of trees and flowers, I already knew we were in the woods, but I didn’t immediately recognize the area. But I wouldn’t have, not with the way it was decorated.
Strings of white lights were woven through the tree limbs overhead, the dirt path in front of us was lined with red and white rose petals, a trail leading to a round table set for two. A bouquet of flowers in varying shades of purple sat in a vase in the center. Two china place settings complete with crystal water goblets, and gold utensils were on either side of the vase. A cart with three tiers of covered dishes was several feet off to one side.
Beyond the table was a metal fence, a large section of which had been cut away. The rose petals continued through the hole and out onto a ledge. That was when I realized where we were. Erik had taken me here several weeks before, after Festivis. We’d sat on that ledge and gazed at the stars, then he’d held me while I had a seizure.
The memory was bittersweet. I’d been so scared that Erik would run the instant he realized how bad my condition was. But he hadn’t. And he wasn’t going to now. Bringing me here was his way of telling me that he really was in this for the long haul, for better or worse.
“So, what do you think?” Erik asked shyly.
He was nervous, I realized. It was so out of character for him. Everything Erik did, he did with purpose, without hesitation, without regret. Preparing an overly romantic evening for his girlfriend apparently didn’t rank high on the list of things he was confident about.
“I love it,” I breathed. “I love you.”
I turned and placed each of my palms on his cheeks, stood on my tip-toes, and brought my lips to his. “I’m sorry,” I sent as I kissed him.
“Sorry? For what?”
“For being such a pain in the ass while you were planning this.”
Erik smiled against my mouth before deepening the kiss. “Actually, I was just thinking how easy going you were about letting me sneak away. I expected a bigger fight when I told you to go rest.”
Erik ended the kiss too soon, leaving me breathless and dizzy. “Let’s eat before the food gets cold,” he said, gesturing towards the cart of covered dishes.
Overwhelmed by what he’d done for me, tears prickled at the backs of my eyes. I blinked to keep them from falling. Erik offered me his hand; I threaded my fingers with his, keeping my eyes downcast. The petals guiding me towards the table began to swim as the tears pooled in my eyes, the reds and whites swirling together until the ground looked like a giant piece of abstract artwork.
“Tal? What’s wrong?” Erik asked, alarmed by how quiet and distant I’d become.
“Nothing’s wrong. It’s perfect. This is perfect.” I pointed to the table, the cart, and finally the ledge, which I now realized was blanketed with the same rose petals that lined the pathway.
“Then why are you crying?”
“It’s just,” I started to say, but then didn’t know how to finish the thought. I wasn’t actually sure why I was crying. The thought of Erik doing something so ridiculously sentimental for me sent my fragile emotions over the edge.
For the past several days, not only had I been living in a haze, but I’d also been hollow inside. The pain of Penny’s betrayal was too great, so I’d severed t
ies with the part of my brain that registered emotion. All I wanted was to be numb, but planning a night with flowers and dinner and twinkling lights was so out of character for Erik that it thawed the chamber of my heart where I’d frozen all the hurt that I wasn’t ready to deal with.
“It’s just that this is exactly what I needed. It’s like you can read my mind or something,” I joked.
Erik pulled out one of the chairs, and I sat, still stubbornly refusing to meet his eyes, which seemed silly considering he already knew I was crying. He knelt down next to the chair, totally disregarding the tiny rocks that littered the dirt floor.
“You don’t need to be brave for me, Tal. I know how strong you are, being upset or confused or whatever, doesn’t change that. If you want to spend the entire weekend crying, then you can.” Erik paused, placed one finger under my chin, and forced me to raise my head. “Of course, when I go back to headquarters and tell my friends about how we spent the weekend,” he shrugged, “the story will involve less clothing and the only crying will be my name when you are so overcome with passion that you can’t contain yourself.”
I laughed through the tears. “So you’d ruin my virtuous reputation to protect your badass playboy one?”
“What type of badass playboy would I be if spent two whole days with my girlfriend fully clothed?”
Erik’s mental shields were no longer up since his big surprise had been revealed. The empathy was only overshadowed by his love and the overwhelming desire to protect me from both physical and emotional pain. But he had no intention of disobeying Mac’s rules, Erik agreed that overstimulation – which was now edging out protocol for my least favorite word of all time – was not what I needed. Much to my dismay and relief, Erik did plan to spend the weekend fully clothed.
“The kind that cares about his girlfriend’s well-being,” I said quietly.
