eyes, letting his warmth move into me.
“Okay. Anything else missing?”
“I should think that was enough, don't you?”
“Doc, spare me the drama. Was anything else missing, yes or no?”
“Only the traps. But I've already made you aware of that.”
“Okay,” I said. “When I get back to the office I'll start looking into that first thing.”
“Detective, I don't have to remind you that this is very serious. The fate of a great many people might rely upon the information contained in those drives.”
“I know what's at stake, doc.”
“Very well, then. I'll ring off.”
“Okay, Dr. Myers. Goodbye.”
I hung up the phone and handed it back to Billy.
“Problems?” he asked.
“That,” I said, sighing heavily, “is one strange little man.”
“He sounded British.”
“He is. He's one of the WHO doctors over at the Arsenal Morgue.”
“Ah,” he said, then, “Oh, I almost forgot. Your other two presents.”
He handed me a small, badly rumpled brown paper bag, which I took with a what-have-you-done-now smile.
“Go on,” he said. “Open it.”
I did, and squealed. I couldn't stop it from coming out. Inside was a replacement blade for my Venus Divine razor and a small container of sensitive skin shaving cream. Not my brand, but…
I took it, threw my arms around him, and kissed him as hard as I could.
“Billy, how?”
“They had them today. I couldn't believe it either. I figured you were tired of using those cheap plastic ones.”
The ones that cut my legs to shreds? You bet, you sexy, beautiful man.
“Thank you, Billy. Thank you.”
“You earned it, Lily. Go have a good bath.”
“Okay,” I said, bouncing and turning on my toes for the bathtub. He gave me a playful pat on the butt and I gave him an impish flick of my eyebrows.
Then I turned the water to as hot as it could get, turned on the 10,000 Maniacs CD that I had played down to the nub my junior year in college, and let Natalie Merchant's voice, the sound of the gurgling water, and the steam filling the air clear my head.
When the tub was full, I slipped out of my bra and panties and inched into the tub. I got settled, closed my eyes, and let the thoughts and thousand little worries that had crowded my last few days melt away.
One of my guilty pleasures is a long, hot soak, followed by shaving my legs. Once I had taken in the hot water, let it warm me all the way through to the bone, I loaded in the Venus Divine razor blade that Billy had stood in line all day to get for me, and proceeded to shave my legs till they were smoother than any baby's butt ever was. It was absolutely heavenly.
Later, I got out of the tub, steam still clinging to my breasts, and wrapped myself in a big blue plushy towel. I walked from the bathroom to the bedroom, where I stood in front of the mirror over our dresser and dried my hair.
Billy came up behind me and stroked my shoulders lightly with the tips of his fingers.
“Good bath?”
“Mmm hmm,” I said, leaning my face toward his hand and caressing his fingers with my cheek. “Very nice.”
Billy wrapped his arm around me and bent to kiss my shoulder. I almost balked. It was always so nice to feel his hands on my skin-God, the miracle of those hands-and yet I didn't feel like I wanted to be close at that moment. The day had been so hard, and though the bath had cleared a lot of the raw edge off it, my subconscious was still throwing horrific images across my mind.
I longed for Billy's touch, and yet at the same time I wanted to retreat inward, to pull the covers over my head and let sleep take me.
Billy's lips grazed my skin, and I started to say no, but couldn't quite bring myself to stop him. I did want him. I wanted him badly.
“Are you okay?”
“Mmm hmm.” I took his hand and guided it up the seam of the towel. He opened it slowly, pulling it back from my body with mouth-watering slowness, and then let it fall to the floor.
I turned, naked in his arms, and let him lead me by the hand to the bed.
I climbed into bed and reclined across the sheets, watching him as he slid out of his boxers and climbed onto the bed next to me. We kissed, slowly and deeply, his tongue pushing at mine, his hands on my breasts, on my thighs, my hips moving up to meet his fingers.
My breath quickened with his touch, and my heart thudded against my ribs. I dug my fingers into his shoulders, wanting to pull him close to me, but wanting also to linger there, at the edge, savoring the leap ahead of us.
He swung his body on top of mine, his hands on the bed on either side of me, the two of us chest to chest.
I winced, and he saw it.
“Something wrong?”
“Ribs,” I said.
He moved his arms apart, but it still wasn't enough. I like to move with him, and I could still feel the awful pressure against my ribs, cutting off my air.
I guided him over to his back and climbed on top of him, cowgirl fashion. His chest and shoulders were beautifully powerful, and I put my hands there, stroking my palms against his skin.
I could feel his breaths coming faster, and when he closed his eyes I knew we were moving together, ready to fall in on one another.
I moved my hips against his and he groaned.
“Like that,” he said.
“Yes,” I answered, the word leaving my lips like steam escaping a valve. “Yes. Like this.”
Later, as we lay on our backs, Billy running his fingertips lightly over my thighs, he said, “I took Connie down to the creek today.”
“Oh yeah?” I said.
He turned on his side and put an arm over my stomach. “Yeah,” he said, “and there's something I want to ask you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. See, we found something down there.”
Chapter 20
While Billy worked on his coffins, I sat in a lawn chair nearby, drinking an iced tea and watching Connie play beneath the oaks at the edge of our backyard. Beyond her, our property stretched down to Vespers Creek, which was still running high from the fierce rain storm of two nights ago.
A blue jay, Connie's favorite, was dive-bombing a squirrel not far from Connie. The bird would swoop down on the squirrel and nip it just above the tail, making it jump and spin in midair in a useless attempt to defend itself. Finally, it was forced to scamper off, leaving the blue jay to whatever it was protecting. A pecan, probably.
Connie watched the whole show, laughing every time the squirrel jumped, and she turned a few times to make sure I was watching too. I waved to her and smiled.
