Vibrations (12 page)

“Mmmmmm. I love breakfast
food.”

Nick laughed. He was enjoying
watching her so much he tried to not think about the fact that she could read
his mind. It was pretty confusing. He wanted to be with her, but he didn’t
really want her to know every thought he had about her. He knew he wanted
something with her, but he wasn’t sure what. He decided he had to stop
obsessing over what thoughts she could hear. He would pretend he could block
her out. Maybe he would even figure out how that worked. She could just tell
him if she didn’t like something he was thinking. He wished he could read her mind.
She looked relaxed and happy this morning. He kept thinking about spending a
whole day with her alone, and he knew he had to taste her again.

“If I don’t get dressed and out
of here, we’ll never make it out the house today.” He hadn’t said it out loud,
but Whitney had blushed. “Yup,” Nick thought. “She knows what I’m thinking
.
”

He gave her a wink and put his
dishes in the sink. “I’m gonna go get ready. You just leave the dishes where
they are. I’ll take care of them later.”

“It’s alright. I’m all ready.
I’ll just straighten up a little.”

“No, it’s supposed to be your
little vacation today. You’ve already gone shopping and cooked for me. Just
relax and I’ll be ready in a few.”

Whitney sat on the porch to
wait for Nick. She felt like a kid. Her stomach was doing flip-flops and her
heart wouldn’t slow down. She was supposed to be ignoring him and accepting her
fate. She was trying to ignore his thoughts, but having a man want her so badly
was confusing. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she couldn’t let him get his
hopes up. He made it seem possible when he pictured it in his own mind. She
couldn’t believe what she was thinking, or what he was thinking. She’d had
plenty of men interested in her. She’d always been scared. She was afraid of
being hurt. She was afraid of falling in love only to scare someone off with
her “gifts”. The more she thought about it the more she realized she had been
protecting herself instead of the people around her.

Nick knew what he was getting
into. He wasn’t promising anything. He’d let her know he was afraid of
relationships too. He was afraid he wouldn’t be there when someone he loved
needed him. His life as a cop was very demanding and he had seen enough
divorces and broken hearts to know the risks. She knew he’d really tried not to
be interested in her, but had failed. She wondered again what it would feel
like if she followed her heart. She’d never felt this way around any other man.
She felt safe, and comfortable. She could be herself and he didn’t care.

When he looked at her
with his intense blue eyes her knees got weak. She couldn’t help but wonder how
this day would turn out. Too bad she couldn’t predict the future too. “No!” she
quickly said aloud. “Be careful what you wish for girl. You have enough
problems now.”

When they headed out of
Phoenix there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was a typical Arizona day. Whitney
remembered reading somewhere that out of three hundred sixty-five days in a year,
Phoenix had something like two hundred twenty days of sunshine. Only Las Vegas beat
them out at two hundred sixty days. That was one of the reasons she loved
living here. No matter how depressing life got, it always seemed easier to
handle on a sunny day than on the many gray and dreary days they had in her
hometown in New York.

Whitney loved the changes in
scenery as they left the city and drove up into the high desert. The mountains
were quite barren compared to those where she grew up. Only a few shrubs and
cactus could grow amid all the rocks. A few of the hills were covered with Saguaros,
the large cactus native to Arizona.

If they had continued the drive
north one more hour to Flagstaff, the landscape would have continued to change
so that it almost matched the Adirondacks of New York. You could leave the hot
desert in January and in three hours be skiing in Flagstaff. Sedona was in
between the desert and the mountains. Whitney loved the breathtaking views of
red rock mountains and formations. People came there for vacations from around
the world. Sedona was also said to have three or four vortexes. These were the
areas where the conditions were just right for the energy of the earth to be
focused there. People traveled from all over the world to try to feel the
energy. There was an abundance of little shops setup to cater to these people.
They had crystals and gems of all kinds, tarot cards and psychic readings. You
could even bring some of the genuine Sedona rocks home with you in a can.

During the drive north Whitney
could feel the sexual tension building. This was an easy vibration to pick up.
Even people without special gifts could sense it sometimes. She felt like it
was so obvious that even Nick would see it. How could she think about anything
else with the excitement sparking between them?

Nick pestered Whitney with
questions to keep her from going quiet on the long ride. He had thought she had
no family, but he learned she had one brother and one sister. She was the
middle child. Her Dad had been strict but her Mom had been her confidant. Both
her parents had died, and her brother and sister avoided her. They didn’t want
her reading their minds or judging their lives.

Nick hadn’t known his Dad, he
had left them when he was young, but he had plenty of family in his life.
Everyone who knew his mother knew she was devoted to raising honest,
hardworking kids. She worked more than one job to keep Nick and his sister fed
and in proper clothes. Nick had decided to become a policeman because she had
stressed the value of helping others and having pride in your job.

Nick tried to watch the road
and keep up the conversation, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off Whitney. Her
eyes would change from distant to excited and then back to sad again. That was
the closest thing he had to reading her mind, so he was determined not to miss
anything. He could tell when she was lost in thought, or remembering something
painful. They could look so distant and disturbed or so warm and inviting. He
wanted to hold her, taste her, and smell her. She smelled like a vanilla
candle. His lips curved up as he wondered why she smelled like that.

There were times she seemed to be
less guarded, but then he would see the shields go back up. How could he move
forward slowly when she knew all of his thoughts? “Total honesty,” he thought.
“I’ve always heard that was good in a relationship.” What other choice did he
have if he wanted to be with her? What if she knew all of his secrets? Of
course, she might know them already. The point was that if he accepted her
abilities, and she accepted him for all his faults, they might be able to have
something amazing. Nick had always sucked at love, and amazing seemed far out
of reach.

As Nick drove into the small
town of Sedona he remembered another thing about Sedona. It was very expensive
to live here. The FBI must be paying her pretty well for her abilities. They
drove past some small shops and Whitney directed him to turn up the mountain
road. The houses were set apart from each other on large lots, and looked to be
at least 4,000 square feet or more. He could tell by the ornate designs and
perfectly manicured yards that these people had money. Somehow he had not
pictured her living like this. He imagined the “energy” of the area had drawn
her to live here, but he didn’t picture her as part of the elite social circle
that existed in Sedona.

They took a turn up a little
lane called Boulder Drive. At the end of the road sat Whitney’s house. It
wasn’t as big as the houses they had passed, but it was landscaped just as
beautifully and surrounded by a gorgeous desert view. Nick liked the Cedar
siding on the house. Especially the large starburst effect set over the garage.
He could see a large open room off to the left as they entered the house. She
gave him a quick tour of the one story home finishing in the large room he had
noted when they first entered. He knew before he stepped in what he would find.
He could hear the birds squawking and yelling throughout the house. Whitney
closed the door to the room and ran to open the cages.

“Hello Charley. How are you? Did
you miss me?”

She introduced Nick to her Blue
and Gold Macaw named Charlie. Next she opened the cage to let out a large white
bird that sounded like he was saying “I Love you” over and over again.

“This is Cockatoo Dundee.”

The bird answered in a squeaky
voice, “Good day mate.”

“Took me a year to teach him
that!”

Nick laughed and reached out to
pet him. The bird suddenly stood up and hissed at him. The feathers on his head
shot straight up and made him look much taller. Whitney placed her hand on his
head and murmured to him.

“Birds are afraid of new
things, especially when they come from above. Take it a little slower, and talk
softly. Don’t reach over his head. Just offer your hand low here and then
scratch his head like this.”

Nick felt a little foolish for
being afraid of the bird that looked so cuddly in her arms. But the bird’s beak
looked like it could take off a finger. He reached over slowly and told him he
was a friend. Once Nick started scratching him the bird relaxed and snuggled
back into Whitney’s arms.

“Want to pet the Macaw?”

Nick looked at the bird and saw
that his beak was twice the size of the Cockatoo’s beak. “No thanks. I’ll wait
until we get to know each other better. Matter of fact, I’m going to take a
little walk and stretch my legs. That’ll give you some time to visit your
babies.”

Whitney took advantage of the
time to clean the cages and play with the birds. They were so excited to see
her they were climbing all over her. She tried to give them both attention so
that no one would get jealous. “Just like kids,” she thought. Charlie, the
macaw soon flew off to find something else to do and she played with Dundee for a few more minutes. On her way back through the kitchen she decided to leave a
note for Tina.

Tina,

I had some time off, so I drove up for
the day. The birds look great. You’re doing a great job. I cleaned the cages
and changed the food and water. I’ll be here ‘till late so you can take the day
off and come back tomorrow if you’d like. Call me if you need me.

When she walked into her
bedroom she found Nick looking at the things on her dresser. He turned and
smiled at her.

“I hope you don’t mind me being
in here.”

“No, I guess not. Feel free to
look around.”

“Well, I was thinking how
unfair it is that you know so much more about me than I do about you. Since I
can’t read your mind, I need to find other ways to catch up. What better place
to learn about a woman than in her bedroom.” His slow smile spread to match the
mischief in his eyes. “So what would you like to do while we’re here?” He
looked quite please with himself.

“Um, well what would you like
to do?” Her face flushed red and she couldn’t figure out what to do with her
hands.

Nick had to remind himself to
proceed with caution. “Looks like you need to get me out of the house so I’ll
behave,” he said laughing to ease the tension. “Did you have anything else you
wanted to do today?”

“If you feel like stretching
your legs some more I could show you my favorite place to go hiking.”

She looked like she would bolt
out of the room if he moved an inch closer. He backed out toward the door.

She let out a sigh as he
backed away. “I’ll be in the car as soon as I get my stuff packed.” She threw
some supplies in a backpack for the hike and hurried outside.

“Stupid,” Whitney kept
saying to herself. “Just stupid. How is he supposed to think I’m not interested
when I blush like that? Of course I’m interested. Wait, no I’m not.”

The realization hit her. She
could pretend not to be interested, but she couldn’t really fool herself. Her
logical brain wasn’t getting through to other parts of her body. She had wanted
him to kiss her. She had been dreaming about it in the car for the whole ride.

The hike up the steep rocks
helped Nick to burn up some energy. He enjoyed leaping from rock to rock,
following her up the path. He liked the view from behind too. This must be how
she kept herself in such great shape.

When they reached a large
boulder near the top, Whitney climbed to the middle of it and sat. Nick sat
next to her and they quietly took in the beautiful view as they caught their
breath.

Finally Nick spoke. “Whitney?”

“Yes Nick.”

Whitney’s insides were
trembling. He wanted to kiss her and she wanted it to happen. If she let him,
she’d be responsible for his hurt feelings later. She looked up to see him
waiting. He was waiting for her to answer his question. She tried to speak but
couldn’t find the right words.

Nick’s eyes softened and he
bent his head toward hers. At first he softly stroked her cheek, and then slowly
he slid his hand around the back of her neck. Pulling her closer, he kept his
eyes locked on hers. Leaning in he gently brushed her lips with his own.
Whitney let out the breath she had been holding. Nick felt her warm breath
brush over his lips and his kiss deepened. He pulled her body against his.

Whitney could feel his strong
arms surrounding her. Her breasts were pressed up against his warm strong chest
and she gave in to the compulsion to her hands through his thick black hair.

Nick’s other arm reached around
and cupped her breast with his thumb slowly moving over her nipple.

Whitney felt a jolt go through
her as she moaned in pleasure.

“Whitney, you’re so beautiful.”
Nick’s kisses started trailing down her neck. “You’re so hard to resist.”

“I bet you say that to all the
girls you kiss.” It came out as a whisper, but she pushed away a little as she
said it.