Chapter 2: Dream Lover
Later that night at his apartment, Reese collapsed on his bed. When he'd undressed, he'd tossed the scarf on his pillow, where it glinted against the dark blue linens. He picked it up, inhaling her scent, aroused and repelled by his actions. Once he'd had a target who was a fetishist, turned on by women's shoes. The man gave up state secrets just to be able to smell some Jimmy Choos. Reese wasn't sure he was too far behind him.
Undone by a scarf – he really was losing it. As Reese drifted off to sleep, he reminded himself to return the scarf to her tomorrow.
Joss walked down a long alleyway towards him in a black trench coat and high heels, the scarf around her neck. Heedless of any passerby, slowly she unbuttoned her coat, revealing her naked body. She untied the scarf, trailing it over her breasts, stomach and thighs and then drew it against her sex. Pressing the scarf to his face, she let him feel and smell her wetness, while her other hand undid his pants. Freeing him, she rubbed the scarf against his cock, pulling it slowly over the head.
Dimly he felt the scarf against his hardness, mimicking her touch in the dream.
She looped the scarf around his neck, pulling their bodies together. "Still think that this scarf is 'nice'?" she taunted. Cursing, he slammed her against the alleyway wall, her cries of pleasure sharp and raw as he pounded into her.
He came so hard, it hurt.
In the morning, he rinsed the scarf out, draping it over the headboard to dry.
He'd return the scarf to her tomorrow.
He didn't.
Every night he told himself that he'd return the scarf to her the next day. And every night he had a different dream.
On her desk at the precinct, his head between her taut thighs…against the shelves in the library, books tumbling into the aisle…in the backseat of her car, finally letting her put handcuffs on him…astride the Ducati, along a deserted country lane…on a roof while they were installing surveillance cameras…hiding under a pier, cold water swirling around his ankles…in a closet while she was on security detail, her thigh holster rubbing against his waist…
Every night she had the scarf on, around her neck, wrist or in her hair as part of the dream. And every night he used the scarf to bring his release.
He couldn't face her.
He gave all the requests for police assistance to Fusco, even though he knew it would take longer. Taylor agreed to meet him at the firing range for their regular shooting and self-defense sessions, so that he wouldn't have to go to her apartment. He texted Carter once a day, but the messages were brief and perfunctory. She texted him, once, twice, three times asking if he was okay, but he never responded.
He shredded and burned the scarf.
Yet three weeks later, the dreams continued, the scarf now morphing in shape and size.
A strapless top, his mouth teasing her tight dark buds through the fabric…a low slung skirt, his fingers making their own rhythm between her thighs as they danced at a smoky jazz club…a hammock they fell out of, laughing as their naked bodies rolled onto the soft green grass…
He became distracted, missing an essential clue with the latest number – at the last minute they were able to foil the killer, but the intended victim got a nasty cut and a broken arm in the process.
Finch's silence said more than any spoken condemnation would have done. Finally he sighed, "You need to resolve whatever's bothering you, Mr. Reese. Take a few days off. I'll only call you if it's an emergency."
The next morning Reese took the Ducati and rode out of the city. Finch had numerous properties scattered around the tri-state area, including an old farm formerly belonging to two eccentric brothers who'd developed several lucrative technologies under Finch's patronage. The brothers had apparently never thrown anything out from the day they were born, so Finch, fearful that some random notebook or piece of equipment might connect their work to him, had bought the 40 acre property as is, much to the relief of the dead men's distant relatives.
Finch and Reese had discussed establishing an additional, separate area for their work. The farm might fit the bill.
Reese entered the code that opened the gate to the massive 20 foot high fence that enclosed the property. He wheeled the Ducati in, then closed and locked the gate behind him.
The front yard seemed to be littered with an example of every car ever manufactured in the US. He passed rusted running boards and tailfins battling for supremacy as he wended his way to the farm house.
The bones of the late brothers' home were good – two stories, a wraparound porch, at least two fireplaces and a widow's walk gracing the roof. There were several outbuildings including a brick structure that was the focus of today's visit. The brothers' had installed massive batteries to keep their property off the grid and to supply power for their experiments. Reese's task today was to clear out the junk and debris that cluttered the building and ascertain if the batteries were still operable.
Mindless, nasty, potentially dangerous – just what he needed.
As he worked, he focused his thoughts on his relationship with Joss. He'd always known that he was drawn to her, but this, this driving, desperate, and frankly dangerous need had broken apart the carefully constructed conceit he had built about his feelings for her.
She was an asset, an adversary, a sometime colleague.
She was a friend, his talisman and the love of his life.
Late that afternoon, he called Finch.
"Were you able to exorcise your demons, Mr. Reese?"
"I'd be gone for a long time if I tried to do that, Finch…I need one more day, and then I'll be back." He paused, "I also need you to do something, Harold – a favor - for me."
An hour later Finch called back with a time and an address. John thanked him, made another call and headed back into the city.
He led her out onto the widow's walk. Joss clung to his arm, laughing. "I can't believe you got me up here like this."
"It will be worth it, I promise." The scarf covered her eyes. He untied it, watching it float away into the red and gold of an autumn afternoon.
He kissed her.
"I see," she said.
And she kissed him back.
He slept through the entire night.
TBC