"You're going to make me say it, aren't you? Fine. I can stand a little more humbling. I don't want you to see me naked, OK?"
He glanced down toward my breasts, shameless hussies that were barely restrained by my bra. "Ah. I begin to understand. You are self-conscious about your body and think that I will find fault with it."
"Well, you have to admit there's a lot of me to find fault with," I said frankly, nodding toward the light. "If you could just turn that off, I'll go dump the skirt and we can proceed from there."
To my utter and complete relief, he did as I asked, his laughter filling the suddenly darkened room as he switched off the light. There was a rustle of sheets followed by, "You have nothing to fear, I assure you, but if it will make you feel better, I will satisfy myself with feasting my other senses on you."
While in the bathroom shucking the remainder of my clothing as quickly as possible, I had another quick check that everything was as it should be, wished I had time to brush my teeth quickly, and prayed that I wouldn't do anything to screw up what was surely going to be the best evening of my life.
Alec chuckled as I blindly groped my way to the bed, pausing to hop on one foot for a moment when I stubbed my toe on the bedstead. "You are a tease, Pia Thomason. But such a delightful tease, I can't find fault with your decision to drive me insane with desire. Ah, there you are."
He was warm and male and pretty much fit the description of every fantasy man I'd ever imagined. I slid into bed beside him, crossing my fingers that he wouldn't insist on feeling all the pudgy parts of me. Men liked breasts - maybe if I could keep him interested in those, he wouldn't notice my stomach and thighs and just exactly how big my butt was.
"What have we here? Nipples? How delightful." Before I could point him to the appropriate spots, he dived at my chest, his hands tweaking and touching and generally getting right to business.
"Do you like this?" he asked, and I about jumped off the bed when he took one nipple in his mouth and scraped his teeth against it.
"Dear god in heaven!" I yelled, clutching his head.
"I will take that as a yes." Laughter was in his voice as he turned his attention to my other breast, one hand starting to move downward. I sucked in my stomach, but needn't have worried - his hand kept drifting lower until he reached points south.
"I'm sorry, I don't wax," I blurted out, suddenly mortified. What if all European women were naked down there, or at least trimmed? "I tried a bikini wax once, when my girlfriend was getting married, and she begged me to try it with her, but I almost passed out from the pain, and swore I'd never do anything like that again."
His hand, which had paused a moment as I babbled, nudged my legs apart. "You make the most interesting bed talk, Pia. I assure you, I am not shocked or horrified. And please relax, my love. Your legs are as tense as a tightrope walker's."
I made an effort to relax and just enjoy the ride, wondering if I should bring up the subject of condoms now, or wait until things got a bit more heated. I assumed it would take Alec a while to regain his stamina, so it probably could wait.
That was my last coherent thought as his fingers dipped down into sensitive areas, his tongue swirling at the same time across one tender nipple. His fingers danced as I writhed on the bed, my hands clutching his shoulders as he spun me higher and higher. It didn't take long to send me flying, and I had a horrible feeling I shouted out something completely inappropriate as my body burst into a nova of pleasure.
His laughter wrapped around me in a cocoon as I regained my senses. "You are so very responsive, my adorable one. That does wonders for my ego."
I was about to tell him that there was no need for his ego to doubt his abilities when he rolled me onto my side and snuggled up behind me, his breath brushing my ear as he spoke. "I am delighted to have found you, Pia. More delighted than you can ever know."
I lay for a bit in confusion, listening as his breathing evened out and eventually fell into a sleepy rhythm. My emotions were in a tangle, disappointment raising its ugly head. Despite the orgasm, I felt as if the whole experience had ended too abruptly, as if it was unfinished.
"Don't be ridiculous," I whispered to myself. "Just because you didn't need the condoms doesn't mean anything. He's a man, and they can't do these things as frequently as women can. Be happy he didn't just roll over and go to sleep as soon as he got his jollies."
The words made sense but felt hollow nonetheless. Perhaps Alec had intimacy issues. Perhaps he was tired, and just didn't have a lot of stamina that evening. Perhaps he was one of those once-a-night guys, and that was that.
"Stop finding fault with the poor man," I murmured, and snuggled back against him, enjoying the feeling of a warm body spooned up behind me.
Besides, I had two more days in Iceland. There would be other opportunities. Mindful of the horrors of morning breath, I kept my mouth firmly closed as I rolled over to see if Alec was awake. To my utter disappointment - and, if I was strictly honest, a lot of relief, since I'd been wondering how to make it to the bathroom without him getting a good look at my butt - the bed was empty of insanely handsome, green-eyed men.
"Crap," I said aloud, then cocked an ear to listen for sounds of occupation in the bathroom. There were none, but the bathroom door was closed.
"Good morning," I called out brightly as I snagged my bathrobe from a nearby chair and pulled it on, adjusting it so that it left some cleavage showing while covering less savory parts. "I hope you don't mind that I'm one of those annoying morning people. I've tried to be a little less chipper in the morning, but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it. I'll just order us some breakfast, OK?"
There was no dissenting comment, so I dialed the number for room service and placed an order for a breakfast for two.
"Coffee or tea for breakfast, Alec?" I asked, one hand over the phone.
I frowned after another moment of silence.
"Madam?" the room service person prodded.
"Um... how about one coffee and one tea," I said to cover both bases, then hung up and went to the bathroom door. "Alec? Do you prefer coffee or tea?"
No sound of running water greeted me. There was a faint scrabbling sound, however, a sort of odd rustle that had me suddenly panicked. What if he'd slipped and hit his head on the counter? "Alec, are you OK in there?"