“That sure smells good.”
India yelped in shock and, and turning, skittered back, banging her tailbone against the hard counter.
Teddy Markham smiled at her. “Hey there, beautiful.”
She stared at him in shock. It wasn’t a dream. He was here, in her kitchen, this big, beautiful man. He stepped towards her and she quivered and put her hands up. “Wait.”
He stopped, ever patient. India studied him. “How are you here, Teddy? This isn’t real … oh God, am I going insane? Is that what this is? I’m crazy now?”
The email from the Detroit police commissioner popped into her head, and she sank to the floor, her legs unable to hold her up anymore. She dropped her head into her hands.
“When I look up, you won’t be here, and I’ll look up and realize I’m just traumatized or projecting or …”
She felt his hands gently encircled her wrists, and she whimpered.
“Close your eyes, India,” the silky voice said again, sending shivers through her. “Close your eyes and remember. I held you then; I held you last night. I am real, I am here. Sometimes there is no logical reason for something. I was meant to rescue you from that rooftop; I am meant to be here now … to love you, to heal you.”
“I am crazy,” she mumbled again but then she heard his gentle laugh.
“You’re not crazy, Indy …”
She risked opening her eyes. God, he was so beautiful … he reminded her tonight of Levi Granger, strangely enough, the same warm smile, intense eyes, the way he looked at her …
“India,” he whispered, his mouth an inch from hers, “Let me in again, and let me show you what love is, what it can be ...”
His lips brushed hers, and unbearable pleasure ripped through her. “Teddy ….”
“Shh.”
As he took her in his arms, her body curved around his hungrily, wanting his fingers on her, his skin on hers. He undressed her slowly, paying attention to every part of her skin he exposed, kissing, licking, and tasting. As his mouth found her nipples, sucking on them in turn, India closed her eyes. This is real … she didn’t know how, but then, she hadn’t known how she survived that night. Let it go. Let it happen …
As Teddy’s lips drifted down her belly and found her clitoris, she shuddered with pain and pleasure. With him, she didn’t care that her abdomen was horribly scarred from the knife wounds and surgeries, that she was carrying a few pounds of extra weight despite her previously low appetite, that she had never felt less attractive in her life since the attack. That sex had never crossed her mind until that day in Walmart with Levi.
She was eager when he found her mouth again, hitching her legs around his waist and guiding him into her warm and wet cunt. Every nerve ending inside her seemed ultra-sensitive and as they made love slowly, Teddy’s cock filled her, moving with increasing passion until his hips were slamming against hers, thrusting deeper and deeper.
As she came, her eyes closed but just before the darkness, she thought she saw his face change … as if somehow, Levi Granger’s face was half-superimposed on Teddy’s face. She blinked, gasping and panting through the climax and the image was gone. What was going on here?
Teddy stayed through the night, and they continued to make love, each time more exhilarating than the last.
In the morning, he was gone, and India smiled to herself. If this was her life now, it wasn’t a bad thing.
Teddy visited for the next few nights, each time appearing as if from nowhere. India just accepted his presence and the more they made love and laughed and talked—about inconsequential things, really—the more she began to feel her femininity return. She felt alive and vital and sexy and loved—and even trust was beginning to be a reality. She trusted that every night Teddy would come to her. She knew his physical body and his spirit were there, but now she didn’t even care to wonder what he was. Just accept, he told her, and slowly, she did.
And yet she could not get Levi Granger out of her mind. Two days after Boxing Day she even went back to the Walmart on the off-chance she might see him—she hoped she would but felt foolish on the drive home when he didn’t show. Like a lovesick teenager when I have a grown man waiting for me every night.
That night, after they’d made love, Teddy smiled softly at her. “You know, you have his number.”
India blinked at him, feeling guilty about thinking about Levi. “I have you.”
“For as long as you need me. But someone else may need you, India, and when that happens, when you allow yourself to trust …”
He didn’t finish his sentence, and she was glad because she knew what he was going to say. “I’m not ready to let you go yet,” she whispered to him.
“I know, sweetheart. I know.”
The day before New Year’s Eve, she finally went over to see Sam and Jay. Sam had, of course, accepted Jay’s proposal and they were still in a fog of love and celebration but were delighted to see India. They had cooked a turkey, and as they ate, Sam studied his best friend.
“You look wonderful, Indy, the best I’ve seen you for a long time.”
She grinned. “Stop flirting with me, Samuel. You’re engaged, dammit.”
They laughed, but Sam patted her hand. “I mean it.”
“He’s right.” Jay handed her the bowl of potatoes. “You look almost radiant. Tell me, Miss Ray. Have you been a good girl this Christmas?” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, and she grinned, reddening.
“I’m always good,” she shot back, hoping they would let it drop.
They didn’t. “Look at her face,” Jay crowed. “She only went and got some!’
Sam gaped at her and so India told them about her new lover—leaving out the parts about him being … not of this earth. That’s what she had decided he must be—an angel—as hokey as that sounded.
Instead, she found herself describing Levi Granger to them, where they’d met, how they’d met—she just fudged some details. No, you blatantly lied to their faces, girl, but she didn’t care. In her mind, Levi and Teddy were becoming almost intermingled—strange to think she’d only met Levi once but it was as if she knew him.
She didn’t tell them about the marathon sex, however; if and when she did hook up with Levi, she couldn’t really risk them telling him she’d said they had already slept together.
“Hmm,” said Sam suspiciously. “Well, if you look this good after a conversation with the guy …”
“I’m insulted and outraged on behalf of all women,” she grinned at him. “Why is it all men think they are the reason for this glow?” She gestured dramatically to herself.
Sam chuckled and leaned to grab her hand. “I don’t know, darling, but I am so happy for you. You will call him, right?”
She held the business card in her trembling hand. God, she could throw up, but just as she thought about hanging up, Levi answered his phone.
“Levi?”
“Indy?”
Oh, God, just the fact he used her nickname in that deep, warm voice of his made her stomach flutter. “Hey there. Merry Christmas.”
“And the same to you, sweetheart. I was hoping you’d call.” Why did it feel like they’d known each other forever? “Can I assume you’ve made your mind up about the drinks? Can I celebrate?”
She chuckled, her face flushing, her breath hitching a little in her throat. “You’re really easily pleased.”
He laughed. “What can I tell you? I have a thing for beautiful woman with exquisite taste in seasonal home décor.”
Suddenly she felt nervous and tongue-tied. “Um …”
“You okay?”
She gave a short laugh. “Been a while since I did this.”
“Then let me—can I come pick you up, or would you rather meet somewhere?”
She was about to say that she’d meet him somewhere when she heard a dog barking in the background and Levi started laughing. “Hey, I’m sorry, Indy, my dog’s just come in from the garden and jumped all over me. Get off me, you nu
tjob.”
His voice was so tender and warm that Indy’s heart melted. Anyone who loves his dog that much …
“You can come to my apartment. I mean, if you want.” Her voice shook.
There was a short pause. “If you’re sure … you won’t be too uncomfortable?”
“No, I really think I won’t. Come for a drink, in the afternoon. Are you free tomorrow?”
“For you, anytime.” Again, that voice, God …
She gave him the address, and they said goodbye. Well, she said goodbye. Levi said, “I can’t wait.”
She was smiling for the rest of the afternoon.
When Teddy came that night, it was changed between them. They didn’t make love, just talked until the early hours. Then Teddy said, “Come with me.”
He led her up onto the roof of her building. India was okay for a moment, then she started to tremble. “God …”
That night was coming back to her. Teddy held her face in his hands. “Do you trust me, Indy?”
She nodded, her body trembling from the cold and from fear now. Teddy took her hand. “Then come back with me to that night, and I’ll show you what happened …”
She was back on that rooftop in Detroit, but she was watching herself being murdered by Roger, being stabbed to death brutally, without mercy. She watched her own blood pour out of her ruined body into the deeply packed snow. She saw the light go out of her own eyes.
And she felt anger. She let out a primeval roar of rage, of injustice, stalking over to Roger and pushing him. To her shock, he staggered back as if she had made contact. He looked terrified, and she realized he couldn’t see her. She roared again, and Roger covered his ears, whimpering, turning this way and that, trying to see where this attack was coming from. India roared again and again into his face until he was gibbering in fear. She plucked the knife from her own body and grabbed Roger’s wrists, gouging deep chasms into his arteries from elbow to palm. Roger screamed, but as his own life-blood gushed from him, he suddenly saw her as she was now raging, vengeful, alive.
“How does it feel to be so beautiful?” he gasped as the last of his life blood left him, and he collapsed, now just a husk.
India dropped the knife and turned to Teddy. “It was me. I killed him.”
Teddy nodded with a smile. “An eye for an eye. You had every right.”
She gazed at him steadily now. “Teddy, don’t lie to me. Are you an angel?”
He smiled. “Something like that. I was human once. India, we need to do one last thing. Do you trust me?”
She nodded. “With my life.”
He held out his hand and led her to the edge of the roof. “Blink.” She did and they were on her roof in Portland again. “Indy … fall with me. Earn the right to trust again.”
She felt only a flicker of fear but then nodded and, together, they let themselves fall, the cold, cold, air rushing past them, destiny rushing to meet them.
India woke in her own bed. She breathed in a cool, fresh air and smiled to herself. It was New Year’s Eve, and today she would see the man she knew in her heart was her future.
She moved through her day in perfect peace and calmness until at four p.m. her intercom buzzed. When she opened the door, he stood there and they simply gazed at each other for a moment until they both broke into laughter. She beckoned him in, and he presented her with a gift bag.
“A little token of my esteem,” he said, somewhat shyly, but grinned as she raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t think flowers were original enough for a woman like you.”
India laughed softly. “I’d say how do you know, you barely know me but …”
He nodded. “Yeah. It does feel as if we do know or have known each other for a while, right?”
“Yes.” She laughed. “Can I open this? I’m curious now.”
Levi laughed. “Prepare yourself for the beauty.”
She giggled at his playful tone. “Here goes.”
She reached into the bag and pulled an object out. She began to laugh as she turned it around. “That is the ugliest freakin’ thing I’ve ever seen. I love it!’
It was a green-haired troll doll that Levi had glued to a plastic light-up star. He’d even made a bikini for the doll out of garishly orange tinsel. It was hideous. India laughed so hard, tears started to roll down her cheeks. “It’s perfect! Come on, help me put it on the tree.”
He was so tall, he didn’t need to use a step, just carefully replaced the boring star with the new improved one. He flicked the little switch and the tiny led bulbs inside the star began to twinkle. They stood side by side admiring it.
“I don’t think I’ve seen anything quite so magical,” she said, and he took her hand.
“I’m glad you like it.”
She looked up at him. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too, Indy.”
She grinned, already at ease with him. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”
Levi looked guilty. “Um, you know what? I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”
India chuckled. “Well, I can cook, if you like, and then we could go to a bar down the block. It’s pretty good.”
Levi nodded thoughtfully. “Or I can skip out and get some alcohol, and we can camp here instead of dealing with the crowds?”
She looked at him gratefully. “You read my mind.”
He touched her cheek. “Give me a half hour. I know a place.”
While he was gone, India prepared the chicken she had bought fresh that day. She had wanted to stay in, be one-on-one with him. She didn’t want to share him.
“Good girl.”
India smiled. “Hello, Teddy.” She looked up to see him smiling and truly saw him as he was. Otherworldly. “Teddy, thank you. For everything. For saving my life. For helping me trust myself again.”
He smiled and started to fade away. “Take care of yourself and Levi, India.”
“I won’t forget you, Teddy.”
And he was gone.
India took a deep breath in. She would never forget him, or question how it had been possible. She had survived thanks to Teddy and now she needed to honor him by really living.
Levi returned soon with a vintage red wine, and they ate together, laughing and talking like old friends. At eleven p.m., they went out onto her balcony to watch the fireworks. Levi swept her hair back over her shoulder, and she smiled up at him.
“Why is it I feel like we were meant to be here, right here, you and me at this moment?”
“I don’t know, except, yeah, I feel that too.”
He pulled her gently into his arms. “Is it too soon to do this?” And he bent his head to kiss her. She shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Not too soon at all.”
“And how about this?” He slid his arms around her waist.
“No.”
“Or this?” His fingers went under the hem of her t-shirt and stroked her belly. She shivered and moaned.
“No …”
Levi smiled, and they went back inside. India was trembling with cold, with desire, with nerves. Levi kissed her again, slowly, deeply, tenderly.
“This?”
His hand slipped into her panties and began to caress her. India shook her head and kissed him more passionately as her own hand cupped his rapidly hardening cock through his jeans.
Soon they were tugging each other’s clothes off and falling to the soft carpet in her living room. Levi smoothed the hair away from her face. “This is unexpected.”
She smiled. “You know what? It just feels right, Levi, like we’ve known each other forever.”
“It’s strange, right?”
She wrapped her legs around his big body. “Strange and wonderful.”
Levi gave a moan as she ran her nails down his bare back, feeling the rippling muscles beneath his skin. He buried his face in her neck. “Oh God, Indy …”
India’s fingers knotted in his short hair as his mouth found her nipples and he began t
o tease and suck on them. Every cell in her body was vibrating with excitement and pleasure, and when, finally, Levi slid his engorged and thick cock inside of her, she sighed with the release, with certainty, and they made love slowly, and leisurely.
At midnight, they were still making love and, hearing the fireworks outside, Levi paused and gazed down at her. “Happy New Year, sweetheart.”
“And to you, Levi.”
“Maybe this be the first of many,” he grinned and thrust his hips hard, making her moan and laugh at the same time.
“Many … many … oh God … yes … yes …”
Epilogue
Two years later …
They stared at the machine with the picture of their son on it with a mixture of disbelief and joy.
“Look at that,” Levi said, and India loved the wonder in his voice. Her husband. After that wonderful night, that New Year’s Eve, they had become inseparable. She’d learned he was a carpenter, made beautiful, bespoke pieces of furniture, and was very successful. That he’d never been married because he listened to his gut and waited for the right person.
He’d found her, he told her, just days after that first night, and they were married within three months. His family adored India; Sam and Jay welcomed Levi into their fold easily and comfortably.
India told Levi everything about the night she was stabbed by Roger—Levi was shattered and angry, furious at Roger, at the world, at men, at the police who hadn’t protected her when she went to them about Roger’s violence.
She omitted the part about killing Roger herself; she, even now, still had trouble accepting the scenes Teddy had shown her, thinking now that it had been part of his plan to empower her. She told Levi haltingly about Teddy, wondering if it was a step too far, wondering whether he’d think she was a nutjob and leave her.
He listened and nodded when she asked him if he believed her. “I do. Sweetheart, if we dismiss all the weird coincidences that brought us together, it would diminish our story. Of course, I believe you. I just wish he’d show up again so I could thank him for saving you that night.”
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