Adam's Thorn (24 page)

She really had to go and see Old
Man Parker.  Walking back inside to get ready for her client, she decided to
get his contact details that afternoon and ring him to arrange a meeting. 
Maybe he could come out to the house, that’d be interesting.  He could probably
identify some of the people in the old photos.

The phone rang just as she entered
the massage room, and she picked it up to hear Ali on the other end.

“Hi,” said Ali.

“Hello.  Booking in for a
follow-up massage?”

“Actually, I was wondering, do you
do vouchers?”

“Sure do.”

“Freakin’ fantastic.  How about
something for Saturday, that being tomorrow?”

“Sure, I’ve go no clients
tomorrow.  What do you want and what time?”

By the time the phone call was
ended, Barbie was biting her lip.

Oh shit
.

When it rang less than five minutes
later, she answered it.  This time when she hung up, the telephone cord was wrapped
so tightly around her finger that she’d cut off the circulation.

Oh
double shit
.

~*~

His rostered weekend off.  Ah, he
loved it…or should have loved it.  It was his birthday, his weekend off, the
day was spring warm, the time of year he enjoyed.  Peaceful, quiet.

And then his friends had sprung
his surprise birthday present on him.

Adam could have killed them.

His four friends beamed at him as
he stood in Ghost’s kitchen holding the voucher in his hands with all the enthusiasm
of holding a bomb.  The bloody thing was almost burning a hole in his tight
grip.

“A massage,” he said.

Ali nodded brightly.  “You’ve been
so tense lately.”

“Tense,” Matt echoed.

“We didn’t know what to get you,”
Lori added.

“Nope.”  Ghost shook his head. 
“Not a clue.’

“Then we got to chatting,” Ali
continued.

“Chatting.”  Matt nodded.

“This seemed ideal.”

“Ideal,” Matt agreed.  “Yes, sir.”

“A
massage
.”  Now, Ghost
and Matt he could believe would have thought of this, it was just the sort of
thing that would occur to their warped sense of humour.  Hell, he could even
believe it of Ali at a stretch, but Lori?  He pinned her with his narrow-eyed
gaze.

She busied herself plugging in the
kettle.  Then she got out the mugs.  Milk from the ‘fridge.  He followed her
every step.  She wouldn’t look at him.

Soft hands touched his arm and he
looked down into Ali’s smiling face.  “You like it, don’t you?”

Like it? He felt like shoving the
voucher down Matt’s throat, especially when his arsehole friend piped up, “Yeah,
you like it, don’t you?”

“It’s…unusual,” he managed to
grind out from between clenched teeth.

Ghost smiled broadly.  “Isn’t it? 
Just the thing for all that tension, man.”  He clapped Adam on the shoulder,
chortling.

“I’m just not sure-” Adam began, only
to be stopped by Lori’s guileless gaze when she looked up at him.

Uncertainty clouded her normally serene
eyes.  “I knew it.  I knew it wasn’t the thing to do.”

“Oh, love, it’s all right.” 
Crossing quickly to her side, Matt took the bottle of milk from her hands.  “He
loves it.  You love it, right, Adam?”

Now he felt like a louse.  Lori
was watching him unhappily and the smile had left Ali’s mouth.

Jesus.  Women
.  Matt and
Ghost he didn’t give a rats arse about, he knew how they ticked, but he’d
always had a soft spot for the girls with whom he’d grown up, and that meant…
He heaved a silent sigh.

“It’s not that,” he said
soothingly to Lori while patting Ali’s shoulder.  “I just…I’m not used to
massages.”

“What?” Ghost’s eyes widened in
mock innocence.  “Never?”

Oh boy, he was going to enjoy
burying his boot up that bastard’s arse later. 

“No.”  Adam’s grin was tight.

“Then this’ll be a real surprise.”
Ali’s smile was back.

Lori, bless her tender heart, didn’t
look so certain.  “I’m sure we can get the money back, Adam,   It’s fine,
really.”

“Lori, its okay.”  He smiled at
her  even as he cringed inside.  “It’s just what I need.  A massage.”

“Yeah.”  Matt said seriously, his
eyes dancing wickedly.  “Not good for a cop to be too tense, not when he has a taser
strapped to his thigh.”

The taser was looking mighty
tempting.  Man, he’d love to give Matt and Ghost a bloody good jolt with it.  Fantasies
aside…

Putting his arm around Ali’s
shoulders, he gave her a quick hug.  “Its fine, Ali. I like it. Really.”

“Great,” Ghost enthused.  “You’re
booked in for eleven o’clock.”

“What?”

“Today’s your lucky day, birthday
boy.”  Matt laid his chin on Lori’s shoulder from where he stood behind her,
one arm around her waist.  “Your birthday massage is all booked in.  In fact,” he
glanced at the clock on the wall, “you might want to get moving soon.”

Oh yeah, he was going to kill his
friends later.  Not the girls, of course, but the boys - they were
dead
.

So here he stood outside the
Declan house a half hour later, the voucher in his hand, his fingers gripping
the car door hard enough that his knuckles were almost white.

Those bastards were
so
dead.

The only thing moving in the house
was Fred sitting in the window balefully surveying the world.

Inside was Barbie Declan, with her
luscious curves and supple hands, waiting to give him a back and shoulder massage.

Not that it was an abhorrent
thought, those soft hands on his skin.  In fact, it had his heart rate picking
up a little. 
Just a little
.  That was the problem; he didn’t know what
to think.  Why should the thought of Barbie touching him make him feel
anything?  What was going on?

Just like he didn’t know what had
come over him the night at the pub when he’d insinuated himself between Bruce
and Barbie.  Yes, it was partly because he could see that she wasn’t happy to
have Bruce trying to hold her close, but it was also because
Adam
didn’t
like seeing Bruce trying to hold her close.

He’d sure as shit liked the feel
of her in his own arms, though.  She’d felt so right when he’d cradled her
close.  He’d had some very erotic dreams involving those curves that night in
bed.

But this was different.

Yes, very different.  He dragged
his thoughts from his increasingly lustful musings.  Barbie was a professional;
she was used to massaging men, running her hands over their skin and kneading
sore muscles.  One thing she wouldn’t be thinking while doing it, was lustful
thoughts.

In fact, he was surprised she’d
even agreed to do him.  That just proved what a professional she was. Hell, he
was  cop, he was a professional, too.  Yeah, he was a cop, she was a masseuse,
he had a stressful job, and she eased stress.  Kind of like a  doctor.  He
nodded determinedly. 
Just keep thinking that, Adam
.

Taking a deep breath, he beeped
the car lock before pocketing the keys and striding to the house, jumping up on
the veranda to knock at the door, holding the voucher between his fingers.

Barbie appeared from a small side
room, the one he knew she used for massaging.  Crossing to the door, she opened
it, a pleasant smile on her face.  “Adam.  Come in.”

She turned and led him back to the
room.  Right, she was dressed like a professional.   Good.  Neat uniform-style
dress, collar, zip down the front, two pockets.  Almost nurse-like.  Good. 
Flat pair of while ballet flats on her feet.  Hair up in a ponytail.  Very
professional.  Very good.

She looked cool, calm, poised. 
Professional.

He wondered what she’d look like
with that zipper down to her waist, her hair all mussed, bent over the table
with that dress pulled up to her to -
Jesus!

Adam took a deep breath, thanking
God he could keep his expression bland, drawing on his inner composure.

“You can hang your shirt on the
hook at the back of the door.”  Picking up a gas lighter, Barbie lit several
candles in the room, the scent of sandalwood filling the air.

Her hands didn’t tremble.  Okay,
she was calm.  Just like him.  This was good.

Adam slid out of his shirt and
hung it on the hook at the back of the door.

“Put your shoes and socks under
the chair,” she continued, sliding a disc into the small CD player.  “Pants and
under clothes you can fold and put on the seat.”

Wait.  What?
  Adam actually
blinked.

“Then lie face down on the table
and relax.”  She switched on the CD player, the room filling immediately with the
soft sounds of the ocean.

He didn’t give a shit about that. 
“Take off my what?”

“Your clothes.”  She glanced at
him over her shoulder, her gaze cool.  Detached.  “I’ll leave the room to give
you time to get ready.  There’s a towel on the table you can drape over yourself.”

Drape?  He stared at her, then,
like a dummy, held up the voucher.

“Yes,” she said coolly, taking it
from him by the tips of her fingers.  “Full body massage.  I’ll be back
shortly.”

His mind remained blank right up
until the door clicked shut behind her, then he slumped down, bracing his hands
on his knees, letting out a low, harsh breath. 
Full body massage?
  He
was going to bloody
kill
them!  Those
bastards
!

His mind buzzed.  Barbie’s hands
all over him?  No clothes?  Bare-arsed naked on the table?  Not freakin’
likely.  No bloody way.  Just the thought had his hands clenching.

And heat pooling in his loins.

No freakin’ way!

Just as he was trying to think of
a way to gracefully back out of the whole shitty arrangement without hurting
Ali and Lori, not to mention offending Barbie, there was a knock on the door. 
“Are you ready?”

Far from it.  He opened his mouth
to tell her that this wasn’t going t happen, when she asked, “Are you all
right?”

She sounded so cool, so in
control.

So professional.

Maybe it was just him that was
self-conscious.  Shit, she probably saw naked bodies every day. Or almost
naked.  This wasn’t anything new for her.

Being naked with a woman’s hands
running over his body wasn’t something he was a stranger to, either, but not
like this. 

Not with Barbie.

Straightening, he looked directly
into the mirror on the wall.  The reflection wasn’t reassuring.  Were the
whites of his eyes showing? 
Christ.

“Adam?”  Barbie called softly. 
“If you want to call this off, I understand.  If you’re nervous, it’s okay.  We
can just do a back massage, or nothing if you really prefer.”

Was it his imagination or did she
sound just a little bit too eager to call it off?   Frowning, he turned to the
door.  Maybe she didn’t want to do this.

“I’m a professional, Adam,” Barbie
continued, and suddenly he realised she was using that soft, reassuring voice
he used when the situation called for it.

Calming, soothing.  Talking to him
as though he were a high-strung man needing a gentle hand.

Matt and Ghost would scream
laughing, bust a gut rolling on the floor howling like a pair of hyenas.  They’d
be in hysterics if he backed out.  He’d never live it down.  He’d never live
himself
down.

Hang on, was he thinking of doing
this?  Actually doing this?

“Just put your shirt back on,
sweetie.”  Barbie’s voice coming though the door was full of sympathy.

Sweetie?
 
Sympathy?
 
Goddamn, he was a grown man, he’d had women fall to pieces in his very expert hands. 
No way was he going to fall to pieces at the hands of a woman just doing her
job, a
professional masseuse.

No way was he going to give his
friends ammunition to use against him for the rest of his life.

No way was he thinking of doing it?

Thinking of it?  Hell, he
was
going to do it.

Quickly unsnapping the button on
his jeans and pulling the zipper down, he toed off his shoes and socks, kicking
them under the chair.

“Almost ready,” he called back,
silently blessing God for giving him a deep voice that hid any uncertainty.

“Really?”  The reply sounded like
it was blurted out, followed quickly by a more serene, “Good.”

A slow grin crossed his face as he
peeled his jeans and boxers off, folding them and placing them neatly on the
chair.

So, she had been expecting him to
back out, too. 
Surprise surprise, Barbie baby
.

Grabbing the towel, he eyed the
padded table.  Wider than what he had imagined, it looked okay.  He’d soon find
out how comfortable it was.

Sitting up on it, he swung around
to lie on his belly, adjusting his manly bits to a more comfortable position
before awkwardly slinging the towel over his arse.  Folding his hands beneath
his chin, he relaxed.

The door swung open seconds
later.  “Ready?”

“Oh, yeah.”  He grinned to
himself.

Sweetie, huh?  Let’s see who
can be more professional, baby
.

Hushed sounds, a presence beside
him.  Keeping his eyes shut, he waited, every nerve in his body waiting in anticipation,
though he maintained his composure.

That nearly shattered at her first
touch.  Palms slick with oil slid right up his spine.

His eyes nearly crossed.  Holy
heck, if this was what the start felt like, God knew what he’d be like at the
end.  A gooey puddle of immense satisfaction, probably.  This was awesome.

Her hands smoothed, slicking the
fragrant oil across his back, her thumbs sliding up each side of his spine, her
fingers spreading out each side to glide.

Glide and glide and gliiiiiiiiide. 
His eyes almost rolled back in his head, his moan of pure pleasure slipping out
before he could even think to hold it back.