Aphrodisiac (23 page)

“Damn.” I took a sip of wine. “Anyway, this Bardarson dude said he’d hurt Benita or members of my family if I went to the cops. Should I believe him?”

“You have to ask me that after what I just told you?”

I shook my head, but hearing him acknowledge it brought a chill to my limbs. “Plus, he’s not working alone.”

“Obviously.” He knocked down the last two mussels on his plate. “When you’re dealing with a bunch of jokers who are part of an operation, it wouldn’t matter if the police picked him up or not. Somebody else fills in and makes good on the threat.”

“Trouble is, I do have to go to the police at some point,” I said. “It’s ultimately the only way out. But I need to come up with enough evidence within the next twenty-four hours to wake up the homicide division and hope they do something before it’s too late. So far I’m not exactly batting a thousand.”

I considered going back to the remaining details of why Gwen’s ancient tablet was so valuable. Getting sidetracked on Curtis, I hadn’t yet divulged the tale of the aphrodisiac perfume. But two things stopped me. First of all, Eldridge might think I was making it up, since I already had a quasi-fib-teller status with him. The second was pure Darwin. I possessed a powerful tool other women did not. Why should I reveal it to the one man I’d most like to use it on?

Our dinner arrived. Good thing I’d only ordered the salad. My hunger drive

remained stuck in high anxiety land. Eldridge, however, ate like there was no tomorrow. I tried to pretend there wasn’t, since tomorrow was Friday, my last day before the Saturday meeting with Curtis. For now, I would just be in the moment, as Lana would say.

I asked Eldridge how his window-washing business was doing and confessed that I was terrified of heights. He asked about my work and told me about an old tradition of tribal wise ones who taught the mysteries of sex. Like that night at Sunny’s Bar in Red Hook, we moved easily from one subject to the next. We discovered we both loved Beethoven’s piano sonatas and watching Animal Planet.

Eldridge was a great listener. Soooo unlike the men I usually dated. Including Alan.

Sure, most men have a little trouble being receptive, but I seem to have a sign on my back that says, “Need to complain, brag, worry, or spend the whole night telling your life’s story? Call Saylor at…” You get the picture.

We split a slice of carrot cake for dessert. To thank Eldridge, I insisted on paying the bill. Unfortunately, my wallet was in my canvas bag, which I’d left in the Camry. Now that’s class. Guy comes to my rescue and in return I stick him with the check. Eldridge picked it up in his usual save the day way. My guilt runneth over.

“You can pay me back tonight with a walk on the beach,” he said. I knew Binnie would be waiting for me to get home and discuss new info and strategies, but while I tried to come up with a sweet way to say no, Eldridge leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the mouth that very effectively eliminated any opposition.

Once outside, I nervously scanned the parking lot. Mace put a comforting arm around my back, guided me to the passenger seat of his SUV and took the wheel. Suddenly I felt like a nervous teenager on a date. “You haven’t told me where you’re staying,” I said.

“I’ve got this lawyer friend who lets me use his condo in Amagansett. A white-collar boxer I train at the gym. He only comes out here on week-ends.”

We parked in the lot and sauntered through a corridor that led to a broad yard with a pool surrounded by a two story U of apartments. Beyond that were the sand dunes with their spiny grasses bristling in the chilly breeze coming off the Atlantic. We followed a long wooden walk to the beach and pulled off our shoes. I dug my toes into the sand. Eldridge took my hand and guided me closer to the water. The surf was so loud, he’d have to shout if he wanted me to hear anything he said. But, aside from the fact that we’d talked so much at dinner, I had the feeling Eldridge was a person who liked to share quiet. It was one of the few things my mom and I did well together. Whenever it rained, we’d sit by a window or on the porch and share the listening.

We ambled down the beach and stopped to stare out into the dark waves. I shivered from the night air. He reached out, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. I’d just been thinking there couldn’t be any smell more wonderful than the briny ocean, when I noticed that cinnamon, sweet grass, juniper scent on his skin. Eldridge not only looked and felt like nirvana, he also smelled like it. I didn’t ask him about the scent. I didn’t want to break the spell, especially now that his lips were tracing the side of my face, moving slowly down to my mouth. His kiss started out tentative, and then became hungry, passionate, definitely heat-producing.As my hands explored his muscular back, I thought about an essay I was writing that examined whether visuals improved the sense of touch or if it was heightened when you couldn’t see. Like now with his strong arms tightening around my waist, gripping me closer, his chest and thighs pressing against me. Ohmigod. Every part of the Mace-man was hard and firm. Every part. I hoped he carried condoms in his wallet, since my bag was in the Camry’s trunk.

Eldridge easily removed my flimsy halter-top, tucked it into his jeans pocket and caressed my breast until the nipple hardened against his palm. Bending on one knee, he moved his tongue from my naked shoulder down to my boobs and then to my belly. Mmm. I threaded my fingers through his shaggy hair and held on. He looked up, grabbed the back of my neck and pressed my face down to his for a five-star smooch. I began sinking to my knees, but he stopped me and stood up. “The ground is cold. You want to go inside?”

I balked, thinking of Tara’s perfect body and of that tightly stacked twenty-something girl who approached him at Sunny’s Bar. I couldn’t bear the possibility of encountering disappointment in his eyes when he saw me naked under the cold harsh lights of his room. Yes, the sex therapist had a few issues of her own. “Um, it’s so pretty out here.”

Eldridge took my hand. “We passed a beach chair over there.”

“You can see a beach chair out here in the dark?”

He just laughed softly. I knew he was a cat, but this was too much. He led me a few yards, and as he sat in a low cloth fold-up chair, he drew me in and cradled me on his lap. We kissed and cuddled for a few moments before the heavy breathing set in. Eldridge’s left hand slid under the elastic waistband of my capris and fooled around with my butt. His sent his other hand down the front of my pants, found just the right spot and worked his fingers until I was nearly over the edge.

I yanked off his tee shirt and dragged my tongue from the gorgeous hollow at the base of his throat to the clean lines that defined his ripped torso. I wanted him so badly my hands shook as I unfastened the fly of his jeans and stroked him. He tugged at my capris and panties until they were off, then squirmed out of his jeans. Knowing something of the Mace-man’s history, I was relieved when I saw him tearing open a tiny square condom package. Refusing him for lack of one might’ve been next to impossible at this point.

I straddled him, easing him into me. Eldridge let out a small moan, cupped my hips and pulled me hard against him. I breathed out an ecstatic sigh. With my arms around his shoulders, and his around my waist and hips, we rocked and panted, groping and kissing. I could hear the relentless rush of the ocean that seemed to urge us on. Even the wind grew stronger as our intensity built to a screaming pitch and exploded.

Afterward I slumped against the Mace-man’s chest in post-coital bliss wondering if he had controlled the timing of our perfectly unison climax, or if it had occurred naturally. Eldridge wrapped his arms around me, his forehead leaning against mine. I listened to the whispers of surf, dune grasses and ocean breeze, so contented in my spell that when a crack of lightning split the dark I thought it was the gods celebrating the orgasm he gave me after my three-month drought.

“Come on,” Eldridge said. “Before the rain hits.” He set me on my feet and we scrambled to get dressed. We’d just surpassed partial nudity status when another streak of lightning grabbed our attention. Thunder rolled and the sky opened up, drenching us.

Laughing and jubilant, the two of us ran for the apartment, grabbing our shoes on the way. We crossed the lawn and clumped up a wooden slat stairway to the second story walkway that was covered by a roof.

Eldridge grinned at me and stroked his fingers along my wet cheek. “Fucking on location sure has its benefits,” he said, nuzzling his lips along my neck, “but when it comes to classic lovemaking, there’s nothing like a nice comfy bed.”

“I think we should make a test,” I said, running my tongue around the outer edge of his ear. “Definitely need more data.” Visions of a gorgeous naked Eldridge sprawled across the sheets danced in my head. I recalled what Jaleel told me that day at the gym: “A woman never come back the same after a night with the Mace-man.”

He stopped at number 203, unlocked the door, and we stepped in.

“Hello, Ridge.” A familiar breathy singsong voice. Tara Buckley was curled up on the sofa in teeny weenie ass-baring shorts and D-cup lace bra. Miss
Playboy
centerfold.

Had Eldridge planned this? Was he into threesomes?

“How did you get in here?” he asked, sounding a bit surprised.

“That nice super I met when we came here last month.” Extending her legs, Tara was careful to point her feet to prettify the line of her luscious gams. I lurked near the door, praying Eldridge wouldn’t look back at me just now. One guess who’d win the compare and contrast contest. I’d learned over and over that short and cute always loses out to tall and beautiful.

Eldridge tilted his head. “The super let you in?”

She flashed her perfect smile, which no doubt cost her a bundle. “Uh-huh. He wouldn’t want your
fiancée
to be left waiting in the parking lot.”

His fiancée? Suddenly I felt sick. And angry. How could I let myself walk into this again? I was back in high school. Another rendezvous with a sexy bad boy, cut short by the arrival of his cheerleader girlfriend.

Eldridge flicked me a worried glance. Was their engagement something he didn’t want me to know about? Something that would ruin his chances for spontaneous sex with the dingbat when the A-list lady wasn’t around?

I struggled to keep my face and body neutral, non-expressive and perfectly still, fearing that my slightest move would reveal my rage, or worse yet, the tears I was fighting like mad to hold back. If only I had some of Gwen’s perfume to splash on. Then
he’d
be the one who made a damn fool of himself over
me
. I ransacked my brain for a hideously cutting and superior insult to drop on Mr. Mace before I left, but couldn’t think of any. So, I just turned for the door.

Eldridge quickly blocked my way. While holding the door shut with his forceful hand, he looked at Tara and said, “How did you know I was here?”

“I went down to Gleason’s and asked around.”

Mace’s brow creased as if her answer did not compute. “Jaleel’s the only one who knew, and he’d never tell you.”

“No, but he told Miguel, and I had no problem getting it out of him,” Tara said with self-satisfied glee.

Mace dropped his hands to his sides and walked toward her, visibly strained. “Please don’t do this, Tara. I told you from the beginning that I have no intentions of getting involved. But you just keep on crowding me and trying to control me. Trying to take over my fucking life. Crashing in on me at my apartment, or the gym, or when I’m out trying to get something to eat. All that’s bad enough. But this? You’re going way too far.”

So. They weren’t engaged. Sounded like the fiancée thing was just a trick Tara used on the super. And from what Eldridge just said, they weren’t exactly the hot and happy duo I’d imagined. Knowing Tara, I was already aware of her obsessive control issues, but I couldn’t help wondering if it were more than that. Did the former pro-boxer possess a knockout power in the romantic arena as well? A power that left women at his mercy?

I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.

The door was free to open now, but I realized I didn’t have my phone or a car. There was a phone on the coffee table. I lifted the receiver and punched in Benita’s cell number.

Eldridge touched my arm. “Please don’t leave.”

“Looks like you guys have some unfinished business to take care of.”

He let out a sigh. “Then let me drive you home.”

“No, that’s okay.” It was after midnight, but luckily Benita was still awake. After my brief exchange with her, I hung up and slipped my wet feet into my espadrilles. “Binnie’ll be right over,” I told him.

Tara strolled to the refrigerator, opened it and said, “You didn’t buy any eggs, Ridge. Looks like we’ll being going out for breakfast. Unless you want to spend the morning in bed. That might be more fun.” She seemed oblivious to the things Eldridge said. Or maybe she saw my exit as a triumph. Actually, I felt kind of sorry for her. Or as sorry as you could feel for a domineering competitive megalomaniac.

I stepped outside onto the deck, pulling the door shut. I was halfway down the wooden stairway when I heard Eldridge behind me. “Don’t,” I said, hurrying my steps. I couldn’t stop picturing him going back to Tara, having a passionate quarrel, and then screwing the hell out of her for the rest of the night. I’d been telling myself that I only wanted a little sexy fun with the Mace-man, but the deep rage and hurt I felt only moments ago told me I was playing with fire.

He caught up with me at the bottom and grabbed my wrist. “I’m not letting you wait in that parking lot alone.”

“Eldridge, I don’t want a bodyguard. You did a great job rescuing my butt from those creeps tonight. Who knows if I’d be alive right now if you hadn’t been there. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for that. But from here on Binnie and I can handle this on our own.”

“Too bad. You’re stuck with me.” That stubborn tone was back.

“No. I mean it. You’re fired. And please don’t discuss what I told you with
anyone
.” My eyes darted to the door on the second floor.