We’re in Salt Lake City. Did she rent the suite again?
I got my answer when Midnight handed me a key and told me to take the elevator to the second floor. I rushed away from him, not even saying goodbye. My heart ached for Simone. I wondered if she was okay and couldn’t wait to have her in my arms.
As I rode the elevator up to the second floor, I twisted the key from side to side in my arms. The doors slid open, revealing the same suite we’d had. But this time, a large box sat in the hallway. I went to it and opened it up.
Simone. Simone.
A small pink train sat inside with a heart formed into diamonds on the roof. I picked it up and slid my fingertips along the wheels, watching them spin.
Midnight must’ve shown her the room or told her about it.
For some reason, a little embarrassment came over me that she knew I enjoyed playing with toys.
A sky-blue card lay at the bottom of the box. I picked it up and read the words out loud. “Put the train on the tracks, press the button, and follow it.”
Tracks?
And that was when I noticed a long line of tracks behind the box. It was a long line that ran toward the living room and then rounded the corner. I placed the pink train on the tracks and pushed the red button next to it.
Damn. She’s better at surprises than me.
The train led me past the living room, around the kitchen, and to the library where a cold beer and my favorite sandwich awaited me. It sat under a silver platter with a note.
I munched on the sandwich like a starving man and took a swig of the cold beer. Everything was exactly what I wanted if I’d been thinking of myself and not her.
How did she know my favorite sandwich and beer? Midnight must’ve told her.
I finished half of the sandwich, too excited to see what was next. Taking the beer along with me, I pressed the button and followed the tracks out to the hallway. The train went right, but I saw that the tracks would be rounding back down the hallway and toward the living room again.
I’m sorry, Simone. But I must see you now. I can’t wait.
I let the train go in the other direction and followed all the tracks, dipping back to where the piano was that held a present. I didn’t even open it. My body filled with excitement, knowing Simone was close by. The tracks didn’t go to our bedroom. Instead, they moved toward the steam and rain shower room and didn’t go further. This had to be the last stop. A note hung on the wall asking me to undress.
I tore off my clothes, ready to take a shower. The last thing I wanted to do was come to her smelling like my jail cell. My clothes fell to the floor. My heart slammed in my chest.
I opened the door and she screamed.
I jumped back and drank in the view around me. The room was small. The walls were made of black crystal glass. Warm air filled the space. It was mainly dark besides the soft glows of blue along the ceiling.
“Gio?” She widened her eyes in shock, looking amazing and seductive under the blue light. “How did you get here so fast? I had five more minutes.”
“I was too eager.” I drank her in some more. She’d just taken off her robe and lay it down on the solid black bench on the edge of the rain shower. She stood on a circular, silver floor that sat in the center. The ceiling above was covered in holes to let the water drip down once she turned it on. I couldn’t wait to get closer to her.
There she stood completely naked and utterly beautiful.
“Simone. Simone,” I whispered.
She tossed me a wicked grin. “You skipped my gifts?”
“I wanted you so bad.” I slowly stepped in. The door shut behind me. “I needed to see you.”
“You have to promise to check them out when I’m done...cleaning you.”
I groaned but tried to maintain the space between us. Ru had put her through a lot. I knew she might not want to make love yet, and promised myself that I would be patient as she healed. But I wasn’t going to lie, at night I lay in my cell and thought about her naked and in front of me just like this.
“Come here,” she whispered.
I stayed where I was, even though my whole body blazed on fire. “Are you okay?”
She glanced at the floor for a second and then looked at me. “I have nightmares now.”
“I’ll make sure that ends. I’ll be holding you the whole time.”
She smiled at me. “All I needed was your arms, and now you’re here.”