Fine Lines - SA (32 page)

Anna wore only a pair of brief white pants under the skirt. They seemed dazzling against the tanned darkness of her skin. Zeppo removed her blouse and eased them down, sliding them over the swel of her behind, and then she was naked.

She was even more splendid than I remembered. Her back was to me, and her spine arched in a deep, indented curve to the dark cleft between her buttocks. A whiter strip of skin, an echo of her bikini bottom, cleanly bisected them. Below it her thighs were strong and graceful.

Zeppo's clothes joined Anna's on the floor. She tilted her head back as he kissed her throat, his hands cupping her breasts. She hooked one leg behind his, and then he was lifting her, holding her by the buttocks as she wrapped herself around him. He turned, taking the single step that brought them to the edge of the bed, and as he lowered her on to it, I had my first sight of his body. His tan matched hers, a ruddy brown to her gold, but unbroken by any strip of white, testimony to the privacy of a sun lamp. He was taut and sleek, with no fat to soften the marked definition of muscle. His member was erect, surprisingly dark and, it seemed to me, abnormal y long. I had a moment's fear that it might prove impractical, and then his body came down on to hers.

She ran her hands across his back as he kissed her chest, and my breath caught when his mouth went to her breasts. His hands squeezed and cupped them as his lips encircled first one smal , dark nipple, then the other. Then he was moving lower. More and more of her body was revealed as his own descended. His tongue laved her stomach, paused over her navel, then moved on. Eyes closed, she undulated slightly beneath him, hands twined in his hair. He eased between her legs, sliding down stil further until his lower body was off the bed, and the dark patch of Anna's pubic hair was visible under his mouth.

I watched, dizzily, as Anna moaned and offered herself to him. She opened her legs wider and raised her knees, obscuring al but the top of Zeppo's head. Her hands left his hair and she stretched them above her on the pil ow. Eyes closed, her head lol ed towards me, an intense, almost pained expression on her face. She matched the almost imperceptible motion of Zeppo's head with short, graceful movements of her hips. They gradual y increased in tempo, and a smal whimper came from her. Then another. Her head turned from side to side and she groaned, arching her back so that her ribs were clearly visible under the skin. Her breasts thrust out, tautly. She groaned again and suddenly reached down and with both hands pul ed Zeppo's head hard against her, grinding herself into him. His hands gripped the tops of her thighs, holding her as she began to buck and thrash about, and then in one smooth motion he pushed himself back up her body, between her legs, and Anna said, "Oh God," as his hips came up to hers.

For a moment they stayed locked like that. Then their bodies were moving slowly and rhythmical y together. Zeppo supported himself on stiff arms, his chest suspended above Anna's breasts, lightly brushing them. Her legs were spread wide, knees raised, her heels digging into the bed as she pushed against him. Her eyes were shut tight, and each time their lower bodies met she gave a low moan. Her face was rapt, but Zeppo's was expressionless as he watched her writhe under him. Her hands raked down his flanks, clutching his buttocks, and as her movements became more insist ant a sensation of heat began to grow in my groin. The two bodies began to smack together more violently. He lowered his head to her breasts, sucking fiercely. She wrapped her legs around his waist, almost doubling herself up under him. He lifted his head to look down at her, his face glazed with sweat and concentration, and increased his tempo stil further. She cried out, throwing her head back and tossing it from side to side, and I felt the heat in my bel y spreading. She cried out again and clung to his shoulders, and as her mouth contorted in a silent scream, I looked in the mirror opposite and saw a second Anna and Zeppo framed there and almost cried out myself as I was racked by a sudden hot spasm.

I closed my eyes, lost to it, almost fainting. Then it was ebbing, and as the tension left my limbs I sagged weakly back into the chair, and only at the last moment remembered it was stil by the door.

I clutched desperately at the nearby table as I staggered backwards, almost knocking over the jug of water. I only just managed to retain my balance and froze, heart bumping, waiting for signs that I had been heard. But none came. Shakily, I went back to the wal and peered through the thin band of light.

Anna and Zeppo were stil locked together, but now al urgency had gone. Anna lay limply, eyes closed, one hand gently stroking the nape of Zeppo's neck. Her legs slowly slid down his until they rested on the bed once more. He lay between them, supporting himself on his elbows, looking down at her with a clinical detachment that contradicted the sweat coating his body. When Anna lazily opened her eyes and smiled up at him, he smiled back: when she closed them, his smile vanished.

I should have left then. I had assumed Zeppo had reached his climax with Anna, and that now they would separate, perhaps talk for a while and eventual y sleep. I only wanted to linger until then, to see a rounded ending to what I had brought about. But a moment later Zeppo began slowly to move his hips again, and it was too late for me to leave. I had to stay and watch.

His face stil held its same detached expression as his buttocks began to gently rise and fal with a slightly circular motion. He studied Anna's supine body and face coldly, as though the actions of his lower body had no relationship with the rest of him. At first there was no response from her. She lay passively under him, and except for the hand that lightly stroked the back of his neck, she could have been asleep. Zeppo continued to move in the same unhurried, steady rhythm.

For what seemed a long while nothing happened. Then Anna shifted slightly, a luxurious, cat-like motion. Giving a low murmur, she began to stir against him.

As if this were the signal he had been waiting for, Zeppo turned his head and looked directly at me. Without breaking or altering his pace at al , he closed one eye in a slow, deliberate wink.

The acknowledgment was like a cold shock. I drew back from the hole, and stood in the darkness uncertainly, almost giving way to the impulse to leave. But the urge to look back through the sliver of light overwhelmed it. Instead I fetched the chair from the doorway, sat down, and put my eyes to the gap again.

I caught them as they were changing position. Zeppo was sliding his legs under Anna's, his hands behind her back, lifting her. She had her eyes open, smiling at him as they came up into a sitting position, facing each other. They kissed. Then Zeppo lay backwards until he was flat on the bed, and Anna was upright and astride him. She smiled.

"It's my turn now, is it?"

"I've got to save my strength." Leaning over him, Anna began to move her hips. Her hair fel forward, curtaining her face. Her breasts swung. Zeppo reached up to fondle them, craning his neck to bring them to his mouth. She pushed him back down on to the bed and bent to kiss his chest. Lifting her hips, she began to edge slowly backwards. She slid gradual y down the length of his body, her hair trailing across him, obscuring her. She moved until she was kneeling between his legs and her head was above his groin, and there she stopped.

Zeppo's face, which had remained impassive, now held a nicker of animation. His eyes briefly shut, and he put his hands to Anna's head in a gesture almost of benediction. Her hair stil concealed what she was doing, but then, with a glance towards me, Zeppo moved it to one side.

The gross, slimy object was in her mouth. Her lips were stretched and distended as they conformed to its shape. Hands and fingers stroked and squeezed. Her cheeks hol owed and bulged as her face descended, engulfing more, then rose until the entire length of it was exposed.

Her tongue circled, ran down the shaft to its base, then retraced its path. Her lips pursed to kiss the tip before suddenly covering it once more, slobbering over it like an uncouth child with a stick of rock.

I could feel Zeppo's eyes on me. I looked away from the spectacle and saw that he was looking towards me with an expression of amused contempt. As if he knew I had chosen that moment to look at him, he gave a groan, and with both hands on the back of Anna's head, slowly thrust his hips up at her. More of him slid into her mouth as he arched his back, holding her head in place. She pul ed against his grip; waiting until he subsided before descending on him in a series of quick, gulping jerks. He groaned again, louder. But when his head turned towards me again, his eyes were stil cold and control ed.

Abruptly, he lifted her head from him. Freed from Anna's mouth, the thing slapped wetly back against his stomach. Kneeling up, Zeppo kissed her before urging her into a new position. She swung around until her feet were towards me, and at his coaxing lay back on the bed and opened her legs. I was directly opposite. The curly, almost black hair at the juncture of her thighs was entirely visible, and so too was the pink gash that bisected it. It glistened like an open wound, even more so when Zeppo put his fingers to it and spread it wide, exposing a glutinous hole. Then Zeppo pivoted until his crotch was once more in front of Anna's face, angled her on to her side, and put his mouth to the raw oval of flesh.

He kept his head tilted so I could see what he was doing. His tongue lightly circled, then pierced its centre with a quick stab. I lifted my gaze to the mirror, and saw Anna inverted, her mouth on him as before. I looked away, back to Zeppo. His tongue and

fingers stretched, probed, and manipulated. Heads busy between each other's legs, they remained locked until Zeppo pul ed away and knelt upright again. His face was flushed, and there was a new urgency to his movements as he helped Anna reposition herself on al fours.

Kneeling behind her, he moved until they were angled obliquely away from me. There was nothing now I could not see. With one hand on her buttock, he guided himself into her with the other, permitting me to see every detail. Then, gripping her by the hips, he gave a brief glance in my direction and thrust into her. Impaled, she responded by throwing back her head, exposing the line of her throat. I stared at it, clutching at its beauty, but even that disappeared as her head sank down on to the bed and she whimpered, rocking back on her knees to offer her rump to him more prominently.

They coupled like dogs. Zeppo grunted each time he slapped against her with the viscous sound of disturbed mud. His hands gripped and clutched, pul ing her back onto him. She squealed. Their rutting became more frantic. He no longer glanced towards my hiding place. His mouth hung open slackly, his grunts growing louder, and it was then I became aware of the smel . Rank and feral, it came to me faintly, but once noticed it was as pervading as rotting fruit. Suddenly the sense of deja vu returned. For an instant, my mind was taken to the dream, and I had a brief vision of another, similar scene peering through the crack of light in a partly open door, looking past the trail of discarded clothes, past the puddle of white silk on the carpet to the two naked, grunting figures on the bed, staring beyond the clutching white limbs to the faces … and then I had jerked my head away and was blundering from the room, fleeing from the strip of light and the awful, bestial noises. I reached the door at the end of the hal way and fumbled with the lock, unable to see in the darkness, but then I was outside and the noises were gone, and the night was cool, and empty, and quiet.

I stood on the pavement in front of the house, panting. A breeze chil ed the sweat on my body, making me aware of how damp my clothes were. When I started to shiver I walked back to the car. I felt clammy and unclean. My clothes clung to me, sticky and abrasive. Every inch of my skin seemed sensitive to the slightest nuance of texture.

The cool upholstery of the car greeted

me like a balm, and I sat for a while without turning on the engine.

When I drove away, I went past Zeppo's flat without looking at it.

I intended to leave the house early the next morning. But I slept late, the result of having lain awake until almost dawn. When I realised what the time was I panicked. I quickly showered and dressed and went downstairs. The shower was a mistake, but although I had had one the night before my body stil felt soiled and sweaty. Even so, I might have escaped in time had I not lingered for a cup of coffee. I had no appetite for breakfast, but it seemed unnatural to leave the house without anything. I told myself that ten minutes would make no difference, and had just taken my first sip when the telephone rang.

I did not answer. I knew who it would be, and cursed myself for not leaving sooner. Or at least having the foresight to take the receiver off the hook. I tried to ignore it, hoping the ringing would stop, but the telephone continued to clamour for attention. I picked it up.

"Morning, Donald. Not got you out of bed, have I?" Zeppo said.

"No."

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't sound like nothing." I hated the sound of his voice. "What do you want?"

"My, we are tetchy this morning! I thought you'd be ful of the joys of spring. Obviously I was wrong."

"I asked what you want."

"Wel , a little civility wouldn't go amiss. But if that's too much to ask for, I thought I'd pop over and see you. Have a chat. Exchange notes. Settle up."

"I'm on my way out."

"Oh, I'm sure you can stay in for a while longer. Don't you want to talk about last night?"

"It'l have to wait."

"Donald, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to avoid me. You're not, are you?"

"Of course not."

"Oh, good. Then let's say I'l see you in about an hour."

"I've told you, I'm going out."

"Wel , now you're not," he said, and hung up.

I was tempted to leave anyway. I had no desire to see or speak to Zeppo, and it would serve him right to have a wasted journey. But I knew I would have to face him sooner or later. I might as wel get it over with.