Adila, Adila, Adila…
The voice kept calling her name from somewhere far away. It echoed through her brain in a breathy, phantom like voice that was unfamiliar but at the same time her heart beat faster with recognition. She was cold and her body began to shiver. The frigid tentacles of fear penetrated her chest and gripped her heart, squeezing until it was hard for her to breathe.
Warm hands slid up her chilled arms which made her feel that much colder. The long, delicate fingers of the soft hands splayed across her shoulders, massaging momentarily before they moved to her neck.
"Adila," the voice called, closer this time, whispering in her ear.
Silky hair touched her face, tickling her nose. She tried to open her eyes but nothing happened. Was she blind or was it too dark? Trying to move her arms to touch the man, she was unable to move. What was happening to her?
"I'm coming for you."
"Teru," she gasped, just before the fingers squeezed her neck.
Adila screamed and sat up in the bed. Throwing back the covers in annoyance, she got up. It was time to give up on getting any sleep. That was the third nightmare tonight. The first two bad dreams had been about the victims of the serial killer. Her imagination had filled in all the gaps, replaying the grisly crimes in the theater of her mind thereby giving her a front row seat to a horror movie she did not want to see. She had not forgotten she was wearing only her panties and L's t-shirt when she stalked out of the bedroom to the tiny kitchen area for a glass of water. What was the point in trying to hide? L had a camera in the bedroom so he had already seen more than she would be showing him right now.
Adila began searching through the cabinets to find pain medication, sleeping pills, chamomile tea – a hammer – anything to relax her. With any luck, she could find something that would knock her out and put her to sleep for several hours. So far she had been unsuccessful at sleeping more than an hour or two and most of that was destroyed by a nightmare.
"Dammit," she grumbled, realizing with dismay that luck was not on her side. She found absolutely nothing.
"What do you keep dreaming about?" L inquired, standing right behind her.
"AHHHH! OHMYGOD!" she screamed, turning around and jumping back into the cabinet when she was nearly nose to nose with him. How typical. Damn, he was a scary individual. Her nerves were already on edge and his brand of strangeness was not something she needed right now. In addition to being exhausted and terrified, he had added physical pain to her list of ills with an oncoming headache and soreness in her back and butt hurt from bumping the counter and drawer handles.
L moved closer to her, holding her eyes with his intensely direct gaze. He reached past her into the cabinet that she had left open to retrieve something. Pushing the bottle into her hand, he did not step back from her.
"Tell me your nightmares," he said, putting his hands on her jaw to hold her face. His eyes seemed to grow more penetrating as if he was trying to read her mind.
'You, for starters, are a nightmare,' she almost told him. Instead she was breathless and unable to speak as her chest rose and fell heavily to bring air into her lungs. Her nipples hardened as they grazed his solid chest. Whether it was bone or muscle under that shirt she was not sure, but her body liked the closeness of his male form. This guy was freaking her out on many levels. Since she could not talk, she pressed her flattened palms against his chest to push him back. It also helped her answer her question. He had smooth muscle stretched over the bone that gave her the impression that he was athletic to a small degree, probably practicing a form of martial arts meant strictly for defense. He would not start a fight, but he had the capability of kicking someone else's ass who came looking for one.
Adila turned her face up to his to see amusement in his eyes as he took a step back. She knew then she would not have moved him if he had not allowed her to. Despite being slouched down, he was still taller than her. She wondered exactly how tall he would be if he stood up straight. Could he stand up straight? Maybe he was humped over like that because he spent so many hours in front of a computer and paid no mind to his posture. What an odd but fascinating individual. She kept her hands on his chest, moving close to him again until her nose touched his.
"What are you doing?" he inquired, backing up another step to distance himself from her.
Oh, so that's how it is. Adila closed the gap, brazenly allowing her lips to brush his to see how he would react to a little extra friendliness. She laughed when he stumbled backwards and fell to the floor on his behind. Hovering over him, she dropped to her knees to straddle his thighs. Her eyes held his as he leaned back on his hands to stare at her. The little game between them had become a battle of wills as to who would give in and cower away first. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his, expecting some kind of reaction but getting none. What a disappointment. Sighing with resignation, she decided to call it quits because she was tired. Pushing against his shoulders, she intended to shove herself up to her feet. Instead, she was pulled to the floor and found herself lying on her back with his body on top of hers.
"Defense, my ass," she grumbled because she had missed that mark. His offense was pretty impressive and unexpected. Her next complaint was halted when his lips pressed against hers. Her fingers invaded that amazingly untidy mop of black hair, clutching firmly to hold his lips securely to hers.
"Are you going to tell me about your nightmares? Or will I have to extract the information from you by more…" he paused, his hand sliding down her neck and going lower. He grinned smugly when she grabbed his hand before he reached her breast. "Persuasive means," he finished giving her a self-satisfied smirk.
"Are you always so friendly with your fellow investigators?" she inquired, trying to wiggle from underneath him. She immediately felt the rigid results of her squirming pressing against her hip.
"Just the pretty female ones. I've never had any complaints before," he arrogantly replied.
"There's a first time for everything," she cautioned, poking him between the ribs hard enough to make him grunt. "Get up, and I'll tell you what you want to know."
L stood up and held out his hand for her. Adila took it and smiled at him when he pulled her to her feet. He was a lot stronger than he looked. He was a hell of a lot more enticing than she had first thought as well. Or was that the self-imposed celibacy of the last three years making her think that way? She was becoming more aware of her own kind of hidden strangeness. Teru had made her aware of it first and this guy seemed to bring it out in her as well. Speaking of Teru, why had she had that horrible dream about him? She would leave that part out.
Following L to his computer that was set up on the desk in the other bedroom, Adila looked for somewhere to sit. Glancing at the bed, she noticed it appeared that it had not been slept in at all. She made herself comfortable in the bed while he took his bird stance on the chair in front of his computer.
"So doc, where do I begin?" she joked, feeling as if she were in a psychologist's office. Glimpsing at him, she smiled with the thought that he would be a very eccentric and extremely friendly psychologist. He would have a psychologist of his own no doubt.
"Where everything begins…the beginning," he replied without turning to look at her.
Adila told him every detail of the dreams about the murder victims. She was hopeful that there was a hidden clue within them somewhere that would help with the investigation. There had to be some good reason for having them besides her troubled mind trying to work through the trauma of what she had seen and read. Afterwards, they sat in silence with nothing but the tapping sound of his keystrokes filling the room.
"What else is bothering you?" he queried while still typing.
"Nothing," she lied, rolling over to turn her back to him.
"Would you like to stay here and sleep? You seem comfortable. If you have another nightmare, I'll be right here to help you," L said, still pecking away at the keyboard.
"Thank you," she mumbled, drifting off to sleep. It had eased her mind and helped her relax to talk about the bad dreams. A smile touched her lips when she replayed his last words in her head: 'I'll be right here to help you.'
...
"When I said get a boyfriend, I didn't mean the lead investigator of the high profile case I'm working on," Naomi huffed, ignoring the fact that her friend was choking on her soda after the unforeseen reprimand. "God, Adila, what the hell are you thinking?"
"He's not my boyfriend," she coughed, wiping the soda that was dripping from her chin. She was relieved they had opted for eating outside on the balcony. She was also thankful L was hidden deep within the cave of his room that was lit only by his computer screen. It would have been mortifying if he had heard that.
"That wasn't the impression I got when I found you two this morning," her friend responded spitefully with an impish grin on her face.
Adila could feel the blood rushing to her face so violently it made her shiver from how quickly it drained from the rest of her body. She was sure she would be reminded of that incident quite often. At some point during the night, L had gotten into the bed with her and inserted himself securely into her arms using her breasts as his pillow. The man finally decides to take a damn nap after how many days or weeks and it just had to be with her.
"It was sweet. You two were so cute cuddled together. From what his assistant Watari told me, that's the first time he's slept in at least a month," Naomi told her, sipping her tea primly.
"I'm so glad I was just what he needed for a good night's sleep. I never considered myself the cuddly teddy bear type until now," she muttered, finishing off what was left of her soda.
"What did you do to him beforehand to get him so relaxed?" her friend inquired casually.
"I don't know. Ask him. I was asleep," she countered, flipping open her notebook to hide the wide grin on her face.
"Ladies, are you ready to get started with the investigation?" L asked, appearing on the balcony like an apparition. His eyes fell on Adila and he smiled softly, lovingly. "Thanks for last night. I hope we can do it again very soon."
Adila was glad all she was holding was her notebook when it fluttered to the cement floor of the balcony. She mentally added L to her 'people to seek painful revenge on' list right below Naomi's name while her ridiculous excuse for a friend brayed bawdily with unrestrained laughter. Unfortunately the laughter had to end because it was time to get serious and get started trying to find this psychotic maniac before he kills someone else.
...
Adila was sitting on the side of the bed allowing her head to hang down with her eyes closed. It gave her the appearance of being a lifeless ragdoll which was pretty much how she felt at this time. She wished there was some way to cleanse her eyes and her brain, some method of washing herself of those images and information. Grabbing the bag of supplies that Naomi had brought her, she dumped it out on the bed to retrieve items for a good, long, cleansing shower. At least she could wash her body and escape the thoughts for a while. While the hot water flowed over her body, thoughts of a different kind invaded her mind. Dirty thoughts of a more pleasant nature formed enticing images of her and a particular bizarre black haired detective. After an unusually lengthy and boiling hot shower, she stepped out looking like a boiled lobster but feeling fabulously relaxed. Covered only in a towel, she went to the bedroom and dropped down on the bed in exhaustion. She lay back on the bed and was asleep within minutes.
...
Adila. A different voice called her this time from the dreamscape. She felt his hands on her body and sighed. He kissed her while his hands investigated her body. His manhood penetrated her yearning body to discover the secrets she held deep within her. Before long she knew without a doubt he truly was the greatest detective ever.
"Adila!" L shouted in his anxious efforts to wake her.
"Wh-what?" she stammered, opening her eyes. She knew it was a dream, but it had been a good dream.
Suddenly, with distressing clarity, she grasped two important facts: he was really in the room with her and she was really in nothing but a towel. Looking down at her body that was now covered with a blanket of unknown origin, her eyes gradually rose to meet L's. His pale face was healthily colored in the loveliest shade of rose red; two extra dark spots of red burned brightly on the tops of his cheeks.
"I heard you moaning from the other room and I thought you might be in pain. Was it something else?" He held her gaze, but he self-consciously scratched the back of his head.
No innuendos? No crack comments to embarrass her further? He was not even giving her a lewd look-see. "I'm just a little bit miserable, that's all."
A truthful answer but not so honest it caused humiliation. She was indeed miserable because for the first time in well over three years she wanted something. It was so shocking she did not even want to admit it to herself. She deliberated which part was more alarming: the fact she wanted sex or the fact that she wanted to have it with him. Naomi was right – she really did need to get out more.
~\..'../~
Over the next few days, Adila gathered more information about the serial killer as well as the detective on the case. She would like to write a paper on L because he was endlessly fascinating with his long list of quirks that seemed to grow every day. He was a hopeless sugar addict who perched on chairs like an owl and even looked like one. His insomnia was chronic and severe which gave him all of the time in the world to think and think some more. A child prodigy and genius, L was already a seasoned detective who held the distinct honor of solving many notorious cases that had been deemed unsolvable. Despite that fact, he was sometimes staggeringly immature and relied heavily on his companion Watari. Watari was the gentleman who had found L and raised him. He still took care of him completely even though L was in his early twenties.
"What's it like to be you? Is it lonely? Have you ever been in love? Would you ever get married?" she asked, blinking slowly as drowsiness set in.
It was bedtime, for her at least, on her fifth night at the hotel. She was lying on the bed in his room talking to him as he typed. They were so close to solving this thing a near hysteria had set into L. He was still calm and collected as ever on the outside, but she could see the wildness in his dark eyes and hear it in his vigorous, stabbing keystrokes that he made with his forefingers. She envied Naomi for being able to go home and not have to deal with the obsessive detective who was becoming more fixated on the case with each passing day.
"I have Watari. I'm too busy to be lonely. I've never been in love and never will be, therefore I will never get married," he answered with resolve behind his words.
"What a shame," she mumbled, rolling over onto her belly. "Underneath all the weirdness and bullshit, you're a really nice guy. I could love someone like you."
Adila opened her eyes in alarm when she heard the typing stop abruptly. Cautiously, turning onto her back, she gulped when she saw him leaning over her. Without a word, he sat down beside her and pulled her against his thin but powerful body. He was the definition of meekness: strength under control. By the rough kiss he was giving her, he felt on the verge of being out of control.
"You should never say things that you are not one hundred percent sure of," he told her, letting go of her rather hastily to stand up.
Seizing his wrist, Adila held him for all she was worth to keep him from walking away from her. "Sleep with me tonight."
"I told you, I don't sleep."
"What if we were doing something besides sleeping?"