Five Senses – The Way to Awakening
Chapter Two - Taste
They were sitting on the hood of their unmarked staring out across the city. The excuse for this exercise used to be they were "talking through their cases." It wasn't why they did it anymore. Without the dual distractions of the office and other people they could just be. Sometimes no actually talking occurred at all. It was a chance to be together alone.
They sat side by side, with sometimes a shoulder or thigh touching, gazing out to the city and sea below. Some days she leaned against him and those days he liked the best - even if she never said a word. He held a plastic cup or some fruit du jour and she invariably sipped a rich, dark coffee often flavored by him during the ordering with some new syrup or taste. He liked to surprise her, but he knew enough about her tastes to always select something she found palatable.
Charlie realized that sitting here with Reese was like meditation for him. The warmth of the sun and friendship beamed down on them and they felt as though they could actually feel their internal gyros winding down, muscles unkinking and their minds cooling to the point where no conscious thought occurred at all. There was simply silent company, warmth and the world with all its attendant problems miles was away in the valley below them. He'd unconsciously match the rhythm of her breath, until she caught him and scolded him. But sometimes he still did it without thinking. She'd gotten somewhat used to it – somewhat.
"Stop doing that," she chided, but her anger was false and they both knew it. So he ignored the comment entirely.
"Would you like to try some of this mango?" he offered as he often did.
"Pass," she said out of habit.
His reply was sigh of disappointment, also out of habit.
"Wait," she stayed his arm, changing her mind. "Gimme that," she demanded taking the cup from him. She was in a particularly good mood today and felt adventurous, besides it wasn't like he was asking her to eat a hybrid cactus or a fruitcake. How bad could a mango be?
She speared the orange fruit and inspected it like it might bite her before taking it off his fork with just her teeth and wrapping her lips around it before sucking it into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully. Charlie thought absently she could make chewing on a pencil look sexy. He really enjoyed watching her taste things, but he kept that thought to himself.
"Tastes like cantaloupe," she pronounced.
"Uh…that was cantaloupe," he said shyly. She shot him a dark look and he at least had the good sense to look chagrinned. He wordlessly speared a deep orange fleshy looking sample from the cup and offered it to her on a white plastic fork with a simple smile. "This is mango."
She took his offered gift and again inspected it before taking it off the fork with the same particular care.
"I don't have anything," he commented. "You germs or things…"
She realized he misinterpreted her gesture as disdain for eating after him. "I know that Crews," she explained with her mouth full, "but I'm thinking you'd much prefer your food without lipstick on it." She waggled her coffee cup at him and showed the ring of her lips on the rim. He grinned sheepishly.
"So?" he asked after a moment.
"What?" she wondered.
"What's it taste like?"
"Crews," she sounded exasperated with him. "You eat this stuff everyday. You know what it tastes like."
He looked down and rubbed the toe of his shoe in the dirt, admitting his interest almost bashfully. "I don't know what it tastes like to you."
Now it was her turn to be embarrassed, she felt the flush creep up her neck and flashed warm from the interest he showed. Personal interest. Crews was interested in how mango tasted "to her." Unexpected and not annoying, but kinda weird just the same.
"I've made you uncomfortable," he noticed. "I'm sorry."
"No," she corrected. He waited for her and her eyes returned and they sparkled with interest – in him. "It's sweet," she smiled tightly.
"What's sweet? The fruit or me asking that?" he asked pulling at his collar.
"Both," she smiled at his discomfort.
"Are you going to tell me?" he asked pressing further for facts anxious to get away from the tingling feeling he got when she thought he was sweet.
She rose off the car and turned to face him. She stood examining him for a moment and then he saw a devilish look cross her face, one that made him a little queasy. He didn't know what she planned, but she was definitely up to something. He remembered the giddiness at his own freedom that he felt after Pelican Bay and how impossible it was to cork it and keep it bottled inside. She must have felt something like that after her experience with Roman. Joy at simply being alive.
She seemed lighter, more free than before. The air crackled with possibility and as she stepped closer and he actually squirmed. She smirked and lightly rested a hand on his shoulder signaling he should remain still. Then she deliberately stepped over his crossed legs and leaned deeply into his personal space. She watched as his eyebrows short north in surprise. She stopped just short of his lips and grinned before planting her hands on either side of his face. Her thumbs brushed the rust of his sideburns and his cheeks burned from the warmth of her hands.
Her lips were so close when she whispered, "I could tell you but I'd rather show you," he couldn't help but reach for her. The forgotten fruit cup rolled onto the ground unnoticed, spilling juicy little morsels into the dust for the ants as his hands found themselves locked onto her hips. He felt the coarse denim against the pads of his fingers and under that the curves of her body. He pulled her close and she kissed him. She was not shy about lip locking her partner and all his heady thoughts about the dangers of this liaison flew right out the window.
Dani Reese kissing him was not something he intended to be a passive bystander for. So as her surprisingly soft lips curved into a knowing smile, he opened his mouth and deepened the kiss. His tongue flicked across hers for a moment before he seized the initiative and drove deeply into the heat he found there. Then they tangled together - arms, hands, limbs and tongues; the kiss got away from them both. He groaned into her mouth and they broke apart laughing.
"Good?" she teased withdrawing.
"Best mango I've ever tasted," he murmured stroking her back. "Think I could talk you into strawberries or blackberries later?" The timbre of his voice was sultry. It was incongruous with broad daylight in public, but it set every nerve in her on fire. Spoken in the coolness of clean sheets and the dark of new moon, this man would be her undoing.
"I think that might be possible," she tempted. "But we have to go back to work now, Charlie." She brought him back to reality, climbing off him.
"I know," he sighed. "When do we get off?"
She shot him a wry smile at his unintentional double entendre and he knew he was in serious trouble with this woman. She had a wicked sense of humor, a quick mind and faster tongue. He could tell a snappy retort stayed on her lips, but given the right setting, her fiery side would show. He knew he would be lost. Hell, he was already lost he realized. She owned him. She leaned very close and the rumble of her voice reverberated against his ear as she said naughty things he couldn't wait to hear again when he had the time and privacy to hold her to them.
He grasped her by the shoulders and pulled her back to him, "you better be able to back that up," he joked before pulling her close, sinking his hands into her hair and turning her head just a bit to the side. He kissed her hard and then softened as she melted into the contours of his body. He released her when they could both no longer breathe.
"We are going to get into such trouble together Charlie," she whispered breathlessly.
"I like trouble," he responded with a smile. "Let's go back to work," he whispered. "I can't wait for this day to be over and tonight to begin," he confided.
"Patience Grasshopper," she teased kissing him quickly once more before stepping away. She retrieved her coffee from the hood of the car and examined his spilled fruit littering the ground. "Awww," she teased.
"It's okay," he shrugged. "What I got was the sweetest part," he squeezed her hand and rejoined her in the car.
"I promise I won't touch you at work," he said to set ground rules and allay her fears.
"Unless I want you too," she baited.
"What?" he stammered.
She didn't answer but she wore a smirk all the way back to the station. Charlie flipped down his visor and concentrated on trying to wipe the expression of shock off his features. They traded positions as he scowled at her while she smiled as she sashayed into the office with a hidden wish occupying her thoughts – and his.