“Do you ever sit on the bus, and the driver announces that the bus is being held at the station, and you think, gee, I wonder what it’s like to be held?”
Julian sucked in his breath at the suddenness of that, at the fragile look on her face, but said nothing.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she said. “What kind of girl am I to come with a man I barely know to a hilly dark chateau where people die?”
“People live here, too,” he replied.
“Yes,” Mia said. “Other people. Who aren’t so blue. They come together under the stars, dance a little, maybe hum ‘Endless Love’ or ‘I Hope That I Don’t Fall in Love With You.’”
Julian turned away from the night sky, to her. She was damp, wearing her wrap dress loose and barely tied. Underneath the sheer chiffon she was naked. Her eyes stared at him with ineffable longing.
“I hope that I don’t fall in love with you,” she whispered achingly.
“And I hope that I don’t fall in love with you,” he said.
“Okay, so don’t.”
Julian stood up.
Her stretched-out legs parted slightly. “Don’t fall in love with me,” she said. “But maybe you’d like to touch me?”
Love is modern like a Thursday night, and a black hole swallows every shooting star.
Julian stepped between her legs, leaned over her, his arms locked on the chair rests, and kissed her. Holding on to his forearms, she moaned, her head tipping up. The chair wobbled, out of balance, and they nearly fell back.
He knelt between her legs, wrapping his arms around her. Her arms wrapped around him. Julian couldn’t explain how full up he felt. And she kissed him back like she was pretty full up herself.
Let’s go inside, he whispered, tugging on her nipples through the silk, listening to her moan, running his hands under her dress.
No, she said. Right here. Under the open sky. The night was hot, a night of the tropics, not of the desert.
He pulled apart her wraparound dress. Her body spilled out.
You smell like coconut.
It’s coconut oil. I carry some with me. Do you like it?
I like you.
When his mouth found her nipples, she didn’t even try to keep quiet. And he kissed her as if he’d never touched a girl before, spread her open like he’d never seen a girl before. His fingers trembled. Her body trembled. He was still on his knees.
Mia, can you try to be quiet. He lowered his head between her legs.
If you try not to be afraid.
He made no promises.
You’re still wearing your clothes, and I’m naked, she whispered.
Yes. He caressed her.
Julian, look at me. Can you see me?
Oh, beautiful girl, I see you.
Put your hands on me. Her back arched.
They’re on you.
Put your lips on me. Her legs quivered.
They’re on you.
O my God.
O my God.
She couldn’t hold herself up. Clutching his head, she kept sliding forward. He had to stop. His mouth over her was about to bring the hotel security to their door.
Hoisting her into his arms, he carried her to the bedroom, her clinging to him like a marsupial, her bare buttocks in his palms. His clothes came off.
Finally, his hard body collided with her soft body.
She cried out like she was weeping.
Mia, Mia.
She was too open, too delicious, too defenseless, too willing to receive him, too excited to be touched by him, too fragile. She was too everything.
Whatever he did to her, she said was good.
It’s good, it’s good, it’s good.
Yeah, that’s good, too.
She turned over for him, let him press his hands into the small of her back, her face in the pillows. She lay flat on her stomach for him, her fingers spread out in the sheets.
Oh, it is so good.
Just make it last.
Briefly they lay in a saturated respite.
I’ve wanted to touch you for so long, Julian, she whispered, her hands stroking him gently, gently, gliding on him, caressing him. I wanted to feel you in my hands since I first met you. Since you wore your Armani to impress the understudy.
An Armani is timeless in any age, suitable for any occasion, he said. What I mean to say is, I’m glad I found my way into your hands.
I can’t explain it, she said. I looked at you, and it was like the light came on.
You don’t have to explain it, Mirabelle.
She knelt between his legs. I wanted to feel you in my mouth since the first day I met you. I