Arrhythmia (19 page)

I clambered up the pile of planks and smirked at Desiderio. “By the way, good job orchestrating this wet T-shirt contest.”

He looked down his front and immediately saw what I meant. His white shirt clung to his chest and had become almost completely transparent. What a shame that it was so dark . . .

“Tsk, pity that you’re wearing black today.” He grinned, looking at my top.

“Yup, a real shame. If only I had known!”

“And what if you had known?” he asked provocatively.

I made a “hmm” sound and let go of the beach towel, which was soaked anyway. “I suppose I would have brought an umbrella.”

Desiderio laughed softly and looked at me for a long time. I could make out the glow of his ocean-blue eyes even in the dark, and it took my breath away. He slowly approached me and, for the first time since I had met him, I did not move away. On the contrary, I had been waiting for him to approach. There was an almost palpable tension between us.

He stopped directly in front of me and silently looked at my face. I sat before him, totally motionless, and felt my pulse racing.

“You know, I wasn’t lying earlier when I told you that I loved that picture,” he said. His voice sounded rough and caused something to whir in my abdomen. He softly stroked my face with his index finger and continued, “The woman in the drawing is so beautiful that I never tire of looking at her. But she is much more beautiful in reality.”

My heartbeat and my breathing stopped simultaneously.

There was only one treatment option for my dire condition.

And it was called Desiderio.

With something approaching desperation, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close. When I felt his hot lips on mine, I was overcome by a wave of pure longing. I gasped for air and clung to his hair. He hungrily reciprocated my passion and kissed me in a way I had never been kissed before.

He tasted so good, and his lips were so soft!

All of a sudden, his hands were everywhere, and they set off sparkling fireworks in my insides. I pressed toward him and explored his beautiful body in turn, letting my fingers glide over him.

Desiderio left my lips and caressed my neck with his tongue. With a moan, I threw back my head to allow him more room. His breath tingled on my skin, and I wrapped my legs around his hips to get even closer to him. Our mouths found each other once again and fell into a rhythmic dance.

I started to undo the buttons of his shirt with trembling fingers. His hand grasped mine and stopped it.

“Wait,” he panted.

I paused. “What is it?” I asked in a quavering voice.

“I don’t want you to do anything rash.”

He was breathing heavily, and I could tell how hard it was for him to stop me.

At that exact moment, I knew that I had fallen for him with every fiber of my being. I was lost. I was hopelessly in love with Desiderio.

And I was not at all afraid.

Utterly overwhelmed by this realization, I let myself fall against him and searched for his lips. My hands went exploring and made their way under his soaking wet shirt. The skin underneath was so warm that it seemed to be on fire and so smooth that I could not stop touching it. Curiously, I moved my fingertips over the attractive midline of his abdomen and worked my way toward his back. His shoulders were so incredibly strong that I wanted to bury myself in them.

Meanwhile, Desiderio had found his way under my shirt, too, and was tenderly exploring my upper body. His touch was restrained and careful, as if he was afraid of breaking something. I leaned forward to show him that I was ready for more, much more.

“Lena.” He sighed and moved away from me a little. “You haven’t answered me yet.”

I held him tight with my legs to prevent him from escaping. “I have to think about it a little,” I muttered and sank my head into the crook of his neck. My tongue wandered over to his earlobe. I nibbled on it tenderly and felt how Desiderio’s back was covered with goose bumps, which fueled my passion even more. He moaned softly but pushed me away resolutely.

“I have to have an answer now,” he said with a tortured smile.

“Why?”

“You are driving me out of my mind . . . If we keep going, it’ll just get harder to stop, so you need to be sure that this is what you really want right now. Because I clearly remember you accusing me of only wanting to screw you.”

His words made my heart flutter. He wanted to prove to me that he didn’t just want to sleep with me, but I knew that now. I would never have let things go this far otherwise. However, I kept this thought to myself as my wits slowly regained their clarity and an inner voice told me to wait.

“You wouldn’t have a problem with waiting?” I asked, tracing the soft arch of his clavicle with my fingers.

“Of course not. It won’t be easy for me”—he grinned—“but we have all the time in the world.” He took my hands and gently kissed them. “By the way, the rain has let up.”

Indeed it had. Outside the shed, there was nothing more than a light drizzle. Disappointed, I released his hips from the grasp of my legs.

“Then I guess we’d better look for your key and go home,” I said sadly.

“Yes, we have to. Your skin is ice cold. We have got to get you dry and warm.”

I smiled at his concern for me. He didn’t seem to care at all that he was soaking wet too.

“Will you sleep at my place?” I asked hopefully.

For a moment, Desiderio seemed surprised, but then he nodded happily.

“You do realize that, since my clothes are soaked to the skin, I’m going to have to sleep naked?” he said with a chuckle.

I put my head to the side. “OK then, having always been a proponent of equal rights, I shall dispense with sleepwear as well.”

He made an excruciated groan. “Do you even know what you’re asking of me? The thought alone, of you lying in bed next to me . . .”

“I could wear a thong, if that makes things easier for you.”

“Stop it, you’re only making it worse!”

“Maybe you want to wear a thong too? I could lend you one.”

“God forbid. Now let’s go before you catch a cold.”

He reached around my waist and lifted me off the planks with no visible effort. No sooner had his warm body been removed from mine than I got miserably cold. The cold clothes felt nasty when I moved, and the damp wind seemed to reach right into my bones. My body was shaking, and it took great effort for me to keep my teeth from chattering. I realized Desiderio was right about getting me home.

We used our cell phones to illuminate the ground and, sure enough, we found the key just a little ways from the car.

If Desiderio hadn’t dropped it, who knows how the evening would have turned out . . .

Chapter 23

We arrived at my apartment shivering and chilled to the bone. Since Desiderio turned down my suggestion that we shower together, I devised a rational plan to save time.

“OK, you go into the bathroom before me. Just throw your clothes into the dryer; that way you can wear them again tomorrow. You’ll find clean towels under the sink. Meanwhile, I’ll prepare two hot water bottles. Afterward, we’ll meet in bed.”

If my teeth hadn’t been chattering so much, I might have sounded like a sergeant major.

“Don’t you want to go first?” he asked carefully.

“No. Now go, go!”

Desiderio briefly saluted me before I shooed him away, and he sprinted to the bathroom with a laugh. As soon as I was in the kitchen, I heard the running water of the shower. As I filled the electric kettle and turned it on, I tried to wrap my head around the situation.

It was four in the morning, I was soaked to the bone, and Desiderio was hopping around naked in my bathroom while I was preparing hot water bottles.

If anyone had described this scene to me two weeks earlier, I would have laughed and called that person insane. The story really was too crazy.

Crazy and wonderful.

Yes, I was happy. Although my clothing was sticking to me and my shivers had turned into a sort of full-body cramp, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Still, I had to do something about this damn cold. I unceremoniously peeled off my clothes, down to my underwear, right there in the kitchen. They landed on the tiles with a splash, and I felt much better.

The kettle began to whistle softly, and I rummaged in the lower drawer for the hot water bottles. Just as I was bending over, Desiderio appeared in the kitchen.

“Hey, I’m . . . Sweet Jesus!”

I jumped up with a start and pressed myself against the refrigerator door. Thank goodness I had kept my underwear on and hadn’t stuck my bare butt in the air. Although I doubted that the light blue lace thong concealed very much. At least for once I was wearing a matching bra.

“What are you doing?” I scolded with a burning face, waving the hot water bottles around in a momentary panic. “The bedroom was the meeting place!”

Desiderio tore himself away from the sight of me. “Yes, I’m sorry. I just thought that I . . . Well, I didn’t know that you . . . Oh whatever. Go on, get in the shower, and I’ll finish up out here.”

He came in and studiously avoided looking at me. I, on the other hand, placed the hot water bottles on the counter and took a good, long look at him. Desiderio had wrapped a towel around his waist, but otherwise, he was standing next to me just the way God had created him.

And how wonderfully created indeed! Everything in me wanted to throw myself into his strong arms. I was so fascinated that I almost forgot to shiver.

“Lena?”

“Hmm?”

“Shower!”

“Uh, yes. I’m going!”

I rushed off to the bathroom completely flustered. I left my clothes on the floor. The kitchen tiles could take it.

Desiderio’s clothing was cheerfully spinning around in the dryer while I finally felt the wonderfully warm water on my frozen skin. By that time, my toes had gotten so cold that I felt a painful tingle as they slowly warmed up again. The hot shower felt so good that I would probably have spent hours there had I not known that something even better was waiting for me in my bed.

Desiderio.

With a happy smile, I climbed out of the shower and quickly dried myself. I didn’t bother to stop and dry my hair lest I suddenly wake from this impossibly beautiful dream.

Wrapped in a large towel, I nervously scampered into the bedroom.

It was no dream.

It was real.

Desiderio was really there, smiling at me from my bed.

He looked just gorgeous, with his tousled wet hair and naked shoulders.

I turned out the light, heedlessly dropped my towel on the floor, and carefully climbed under the covers with him. Little by little, I groped my way toward him until our skin finally touched.

“Hey,” he greeted me with a soft voice.

“Hey,” I greeted him.

He raised his arm and offered me the perfect place to nestle. With a contented sigh, I buried my head in the crook of his arm. His body radiated so much heat that my chills quickly subsided. My only goose bumps were the ones his fingertips caused as they gently glided over my side.

Yes, I had once loved Marek more than anything in the world, but this feeling of immeasurable safety that Desiderio aroused in me was totally new. I could hardly believe that I had been fighting this bliss for almost four months.

“I’m glad that you’re so persistent,” I said frankly.

“So am I.” He placed a tender kiss on my forehead and held me even tighter.

“Desiderio?”

“Yes?”

“Will you be here when I wake up?”

“Of course.”

I fell into a deep sleep enveloped by warmth, intimacy, and happiness.

When I woke, I needed a moment to sort out my thoughts. What exactly had happened? Had I really opened up to Desiderio and given my feelings free rein?

And was it really true that we had slept next to each other without having sex?

This was an exercise in maturity. For both of us. Although the decision to wait had been mine, it had been difficult to stick to it. I had never been so . . . uh . . . hot for a man as I was for him. And yet I was grateful for the ability to choose for myself. The abstinence afforded me some sort of control, or at least that’s what it seemed like. At any rate, it felt like the right choice.

A faint clattering elsewhere in the apartment made my ears prick up.

He had promised to be there when I woke up and, of course, he was there.

I laughed into my pillow and stretched luxuriously.

I wondered what he was doing. Was he pouring coffee, making breakfast?

I blithely rolled out of bed, grabbed a new pair of panties out of the drawer, and put it on. Then I heard voices.

Is he watching TV?

The sound of a bright, rather familiar laugh reverberated through my apartment.

No way!

I threw on the first shirt I could get ahold of and stomped into the kitchen. As I had suspected, there was intruder number one, sitting at the dining table with Desiderio and chattering at him about her usual nonsense.

“Vera,” I barked and planted myself in the doorframe. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Why, good morning, sleepyhead!” she warbled. “I was coming to pay you a visit and found this lost boy here, so I thought I would keep him company until you woke up.”

“Are you crazy? You know very well that I’m a late sleeper and you shouldn’t show up so early!”

“It’s long past noon, sweetie.”

“We were out late,” I grumbled.

“I know.” Vera winked at me. “And someone had to show this poor guy where you keep the coffee mugs.”

To confirm this, Desiderio held up his mug and nodded eagerly.

“He would have found those by himself!” I snapped and put my hands on my hips. “And now, get out, and make it quick. While you’re at it, you can leave the key!”

“OK, OK,” Vera grumbled as she got up. “But don’t you think you ought to get dressed first? I mean . . .”

I looked down and blushed when I realized that, in my anger, I had forgotten to put on a pair of pants.

I pointed a threatening finger at Vera. “I’ll be right back!” I stormed into the bedroom, fuming, to finish getting dressed.

“OK then,” I heard Vera say to Desiderio. “It’s been a pleasure but I really must go. Oh, by the way, she’s always grumpy in the morning. Don’t worry; you’ll get used to it.”

Desiderio answered something that I didn’t catch but, judging by Vera’s cackle, it must have been hilarious.

“You’re right,” she chirped. “Have a nice day. I hope we’ll see each other again soon. Ciao!”

The apartment door shut with a rattle. She had probably taken my key with her, that stinker! Since Desiderio probably thought I was a complete harpy after my performance, I took refuge in the bathroom for a few minutes.

But I couldn’t stay in there all day, and I eventually slunk back toward the kitchen, dressed and proper.

“Are you still here or did you flee?” I asked carefully and gave him a shy smile.

“You’re not going to get rid of me that easily now.”

“Thank God.”

I awkwardly stood in the doorway and fiddled with the hem of my shirt because I didn’t know how to act. He saved me by coming over and taking me into his arms. The morning kiss lasted an eternity, and it tasted of toothpaste and coffee and, of course, Desiderio. Delicious!

I was a little breathless when we finally let go of each other.

“Did you sleep well?” he inquired and pushed a strand of hair out of my face.

“Yes,” I whispered onto his neck. “I’ve never slept better.”

Desiderio kissed my forehead. “I noticed. You even snored a little bit.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry. I thought it was incredibly cute,” he chuckled.

Cute? Sure. In all my life, I had never heard a snore that was even remotely cute. How embarrassing.

To change the subject from my snoring, I wriggled out of his embrace and busily turned to the coffeemaker. “Do you want any more?”

“No, thanks. Vera took good care of me.”

I groaned and gave him an apologetic look.

He leaned against the doorframe. “No, no. It was a little embarrassing when I came out of your bedroom naked and she was standing in the middle of the living room, but after that we had a very nice conversation. I like Vera a lot.”

“She saw you naked?” I repeated incredulously, picturing the absurd scene.

“Yep. I think she was a little shocked.”

I almost keeled over laughing. Desiderio watched me affectionately.

“Your laughter is gorgeous,” he said.

“You can stop trying to embarrass me all the time, you know,” I giggled.

He weighed his answer and swayed his head. “Hm, no, I believe I’ll keep it up for a while longer.”

“You’re mean,” I sniffled.

Desiderio shrugged and looked at me with twinkling eyes. I thought he looked terrific in my kitchen. Of course, his clothes were a little rumpled after a night spent in the dryer, and his hair was a little disheveled from sleep, but he had never looked more handsome than at that moment.

“What do you want to do today?” he asked.

“I don’t care as long as it’s with you.”

And I meant it. If he had wanted to climb Mount Everest, I would have followed, just to be with him.

“A friend of mine is having a birthday party at seven,” he said. “And tomorrow I’m on duty, I’m afraid, so I won’t get to see you again until Monday.”

I tried in vain to hide my disappointment. I didn’t want him to think I was clingy.

Of course he had to go to work; that was a given. But he could have asked me if I wanted to accompany him to the party . . . Oh crap. It would be totally over the top for him to introduce me to his friends already.

But he had already met some of my friends. Perhaps Vera knew him even better than I did right then—at least, she knew what he, um, looked like. That rat.

Enough of this insanity!

“OK,” I said at last.

“But I could stay with you this afternoon,” he suggested when he saw my lack of enthusiasm.

“No,” I said hastily. “I wouldn’t want that. For God’s sake, that’s not how I want things to be with us.”

Desiderio looked at me expectantly. “How do you want things to be with us?”

That was a good question. I hadn’t really given it any thought. I only knew that, starting immediately, I wanted to fall asleep next to him every night. That seemed like a good place to start. To start what? A relationship? I had never wanted a one-night stand with him, but if not that, then what?

“I . . . I don’t really know,” I admitted cautiously.

He registered my helplessness with a charming smile. “Well, one thing I’m sure of is that I want to be with you every free minute.” He took a big step toward me and drew me to him. As the butterflies were whirring around in my stomach again, he softly whispered in my ear, “And I know that I’ll be touching you much more in the future. Will be kissing you again and again . . .”

I acquiesced to his caresses with a sigh and just enjoyed them. His touch instantly inflamed an unbridled passion in me. I pressed myself against him and started tearing wildly at his shirt.

He grasped my wrists and held them firmly. “You wanted to start slowly, remember, little warrioress?” he said in the most seductive voice.

“You started it,” I defended myself breathlessly.

He whispered, “But you decide how it goes from here.”

Even though it was very difficult, I said, “I would like to wait.”

“All right. How about we sit outside?”

“Sounds good.”

Blissfully, I led him to the balcony. Desiderio settled comfortably into my rocking chair and, without hesitation, I climbed into his lap. Wrapped tightly in each other’s arms, we rocked back and forth, warmed by the autumn sun.

I could hardly believe how happy I was. If I’d known how to stop time, I would have done it. I had no fears or worries at that moment. There was only me and Desiderio. Now and then, there was also Mr. Kaltenberger, but I was able to ignore him. We spent two hours just sitting in the rocking chair. The harmony of our togetherness was indescribable.

Until the doorbell rang loudly.

“I’m not here,” I murmured into Desiderio’s shirt collar.

It rang again.

“Go on, it might be important,” he said and gently pushed me off his lap.

I resisted at first but then got up.

What could be more important than being held by Desiderio’s strong arms?

I sullenly shuffled to the intercom just as there was a knock at the door. I peered through the peephole and could only see red at first. Squinting, I was able to make out that all the red was actually a huge bouquet of roses.

A flower deliveryman?

Curious, I opened the door. The bouquet was lowered slightly, and Frank became visible behind it.

“Hi!” I said cheerfully. “Are you moonlighting at the florist’s now or something?”