[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

decide between a nice healthy belt of Scotch or a glass of milk.
129
A grey shape materialized in the darkness of the kitchen
doorway. I lunged for the light switch. When I saw it was Tonia,
my pulse dropped about fifty beats.
 Are you all right? she asked, appearing genuinely
concerned.
 Yeah, I said.  I just had a bad dream. Sorry if I woke you up.
She shivered and rubbed her arms.  I couldn t sleep anyhow.
 Well, you could join me in drink, I suggested.  I m
vacillating between Scotch and milk. What s your pleasure? I
got up, walked to the cupboard, and took down two glasses.
 Neither, she said, from behind me.
I turned around in surprise.
 You.
For one of the few times in my life, I was without a clever
riposte. I stood there, a glass in each hand, feeling like a tongue-
tied adolescent.
 Come to bed with me, Caitlin, she said.
I put the glasses down on the counter behind me, took a deep
breath, and looked directly at her.  Tonia, I said,  please don t
think I don t want to. God knows I do. But we don t... I shrugged
helplessly,  click. We grate. We re like cats and dogs. Oil and
water. East and west. We stand for different things. And 
 For God s sake, Caitlin, I m not asking you for forever. Just
tonight.
She didn t have to ask me again. I stepped toward her and
she came eagerly into my arms. Through the thin cotton of her
blue pajamas, I could feel her body s warmth as I embraced her.
She ran her hands over my shoulders, careful of my bandaged
wound, then gripped my arms.
 Strong, she commented, surprised.
 We thugs are like that, I said smiling, my lips against her
throat.
She laughed, and I felt some of the nervous tension drain out
of her.
With my lips I traced the line of her jaw, then brushed her
hair aside and began to kiss her ear.
She gasped a little, and I felt her shiver.
Slipping both hands under her pajama top, I caressed the
130
warm length of her back, then the smooth skin over her ribs.
When I felt the swell of her breast against my hand, I paused. She
made an inarticulate sound and, fitting her body closer to mine,
put both hands in my hair, pulled my head back, and kissed me.
I felt as if a jolt of electricity had traveled directly from my
lips to somewhere far lower. First I was aware of the exquisite
softness of her closed lips, then, as she pressed her mouth to
mine, the warm satin wetness of her tongue. It entered between
my lips slowly, gently, as if asking permission, then more urgently,
meeting mine with an insistence that left no doubt as to what
she wanted. Then she withdrew, and I followed, entering her,
accepting the invitation of her tongue with my own.
Breathing hard, we finally broke off the kiss. I leaned back
against the counter, weak-kneed, my hands on her hips. If some
support hadn t been there, I would probably have oozed to the
floor. She smiled, and I took her hand.  This is crazy, I said.
 Let s go to bed. Fortunately, the spare bedroom was close by.
In the half-light we embraced again, and Tonia s kisses were
even fiercer, more urgent this time. So much passion surprised
me, but in another moment I understood. This was Tonia s way
of holding back the fear. It was a good choice making love was
one of the sweetest distractions I knew.
Tonia peeled me out of my sweatshirt, and I unbuttoned her
pajama top and let it fall to the floor. I ran my hands over the
incredible softness of her skin, and she shuddered, taking my
hands and putting them on her breasts. I felt her nipples harden
under my palms, and bent to brush them with my lips. As I took
each hard bud in turn in my teeth, Tonia moaned. She put her
hands in my hair again, not gently, and raised my head from
her breasts. Looking at me for a moment, she kissed me open
mouthed, her tongue demanding. I slipped my hands inside her
pajama bottoms and held her against me, a knee between her
legs, and she began to move against me in a rhythm of her own.
 Caitlin, please, she breathed, taking her mouth from
mine.
My hand found her hot, wet center, and she gasped, her arms
tightening around me. I stroked her lovely velvet wetness until
she began to tremble.
131
 Now, Caitlin, she gasped,  now.
I slipped inside her and she closed immediately around my
fingers in a series of fluttering spasms. As she clung to me and
gasped my name, some of the sharp, sweet pleasure that claimed
her claimed me, too, and I felt pierced to my soul by the wonder
of holding in my hand the throbbing center of her.
I put both my arms around her and held her, stroking her
hair and kissing her.
 Come on to bed, I whispered.  Maybe you can stand here
all night, but I can t.
 I can t stand at all, she said weakly.  If you weren t holding
onto me, I d collapse.
Getting rid of the last of our clothing, we fell together onto
the bed. I pulled the sheets up over us, and she leaned above me
on one elbow, looking down. I ran my hands along the long,
warm, lovely length of her back, and she sighed.
 Thank you for that, she said.
 You don t need to thank me, I told her, smiling.
She tapped my nose with one finger.  Oh? Is that part of
your service, too?
I chuckled.  Not as a rule. Only under special circumstances.
 Hmmm, she said thoughtfully, bending to kiss me, a little
more gently this time.
Through her barely parted lips our tongues met, turning my
blood to molten lava, and her tongue invited me to tell her what I
needed. For my part, I was fast becoming unable to tolerate much
more of this. My desire was now as urgent as hers had been, and
I was at the point where it was impossible to delay much longer. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]