Taxi to Paris (29 page)

There was nothing I would rather have done. But I didn't touch her breasts. "Later," I promised her.

She moaned with disappointment. I began to massage her again. I placed my hands flat on her hips and pressed them into the sheets. She threw her head about. I massaged her legs again, down to her ankles. She moaned. "I want to kiss you. Please..."

"Not yet." It took an iron will on my part to deny her this request. I took her middle finger in my mouth and sucked on it. I ran over the base of her nail with my tongue. She dug her other hand in my hair. I freed myself from her hands and began to stroke upwards from her ankles once more, along the insides of her legs, up to her thighs. No farther. I repeated that about a dozen times. Then I ran along the very tops of her inner thighs, massaging her there as well. She moaned aloud at every gentle touch and began to breathe in short, excited gasps.

I couldn't make her wait any longer. I stroked her pearl very softly and tenderly with my fingertips. She came in seconds with an intensity that mirrored the strength of her arousal. When she had calmed down again, I undressed myself and lay down next to her.

She turned her head toward me. She smiled. "That was no massage."

"Yes it was," I protested. "It was an erotic massage."

"I noticed that. I've used some of those spots before myself. But I had no idea how intense that is." That meant she'd done something for her clients of which she knew nothing, or at least only theory. She shook her head a little. "My belly feels wonderfully warm and soft. As if the tension just melted away."

"So should it be." I was, for the moment, completely satisfied. I snuggled up to her and pulled the blanket over us, which had been warmed perfectly by the hot water bottle.

She slid her arm under my head and pulled me closer to her. "When you stroked the length of my leg the thousandth time, and stopped right before you got to the best part, I wanted to kill you!" she laughed.

"Not a thousand. Twelve at the most," I corrected.

"That was plenty for me. I do that with my clients three times at most. And that is sometimes too much." She spoke casually and relaxed.

I looked at her. At the moment, we could talk about anything. That was wonderful. But I didn't just want to talk. I leaned over and kissed her. She kissed me back in a new way. It was erotic, yes, but also trusting, as if we'd known each other for years and no longer required any other means of communication.

The telephone rang. I was so comfortable lying next to her, why should I pick it up? I let it ring. She stopped kissing me.

"Don't you want to answer that?" she asked.

"Why should I?" I answered in high spirits. "It can't be you. You're already here."

She smiled. "Perhaps there are other people you want to talk to now and then."

"Not at the moment." I continued to ignore the phone and sought her lips again. But she dodged me. "I'm sorry," she said, "but that's making me nervous." She started to get up. Her phone rang for only one reason. I understood why she was nervous.

I hardly realized that she almost had the receiver in her hand. "No!" I called. She gave me a hurt look. "It could be my mother," I explained. "And she always gets so irritated when strange women answer my phone." She shook her head, picked up the receiver, and handed it to me.

"Oh, Karin!" I was admittedly relieved when I heard who was there. I didn't think I could've handled an hour-long conversation with my mother just then.

"I hear you've been back for awhile. And you haven't called me!" As my best friend, she had every right to complain about my silence. The reproach in her voice was genuine, but I could be sure that she wasn't really mad at me for it.

"I've only been back for eight days." I knew that that was no excuse, certainly not in Karin's eyes.

"Ten," she said softly from the background. I spun around quickly and gestured violently for her to be quiet.

"That's no excuse," Karin scolded as expected. "After all, a lot of things can happen in eight days."

"That's true," I admitted. I squealed. She'd kissed me on the butt. I turned around indignantly.

"What is it?" Karin asked, a bit concerned. Our last telephone conversation had, after all, been of a serious nature.

"Nothing," I asserted quickly. "I pinched my finger in the phone."

"In the phone?" Karin was a little irritated.

I couldn't say anything at that moment. She was kissing the nape of my neck and caressing my stomach at the same time. She was only doing that to annoy me!

"Yes." Breathless, I tried to continue. "I have a new one with all the bells and whistles." She didn't stop. Now she was stroking my thighs. I gasped for breath.

Karin laughed. "Now I understand. You're not alone."

"No," I confirmed. I was incapable of anything more. She was teasing my breast with her lips.

"Is she there?" Karin asked, interested. Apparently, she wanted to continue the conversation.

"Yes." I could only gasp the answer. She had one of my nipples in her mouth now, and was running her tongue back and forth across it.

Karin chuckled. "And you don't seem to be fighting at the moment!"

"Not at all," I said to Karin. "But soon!" I hissed in her direction. She raised her eyebrows innocently, let go of my breast for a second, and waited.

"The reason I'm calling...," Karin continued harmlessly. At the same moment, she took my other nipple in her mouth and began to suck it. I moaned out loud.

Karin asked, "You're doing well, aren't you?" She knew precisely how I was. She was obviously getting heathenish enjoyment out of this.

"You two are just the same," I squeaked between gritted teeth.

Karin chuckled again. "I wanted to ask you if we can meet at the pub this evening." She was clearly repressing a giggle. "You can bring her along. When you're both dressed."

"Karin!"

Karin acted entirely innocent. "Well, you always got undressed for it before. Don't you do that anymore?"

"Stop it!" I said, directed at both of them. Her hand glided between my legs. I couldn't take it anymore. "We'll come to the pub." All I could do was agree. I was completely gone.

"At eight," Karin specified. She laughed. "And have fun in the mean time!" She hung up.

I let the receiver fall and collapsed onto the bed. She pulled her hand away and laughed. She laughed freely and high-spiritedly, as though she'd just learned it was a snow day from school.

"That was mean!" I fumed.

"Yes, that's true." She was still laughing, but she tried to control herself. "But it was so much fun!"

"For you!" I scolded. "For both of you!"

"She noticed?" she asked, smiling to herself.

"Of course!" I snarled. "She knows me well enough from before."

"Oh, yes," she remarked smoothly. "I'm convinced she can interpret all of your noises." She raised her hands in front of her face to protect herself from the pillow I threw at her.

I turned my back to her. I felt her crawling carefully up behind me. She wrapped her arms around me. "Please don't be mad at me," she whispered in my ear. "You looked so seductively busy."

"You've got a thing for that, eh? Driving me insane while I'm talking on the phone." I scolded her like a naughty pet.

"I only just discovered it with you. And you do it really well!" She laughed teasingly.

"And what do I get out of it?" I tried to sound annoyed, but I had really already forgiven her.

She leaned against me. "I hope a lot." If ever a voice could be called seductive, it was hers. Her hands began to wander over my body. A short time later, I had to admit she was right. I seemed to get a lot out of it.

As evening approached, I realized that she still knew nothing of Karin's invitation. And I had simply accepted. Understandable under the circumstances, but we weren't in Paris anymore. I didn't know if I could convince her to come along.

We were lying together in bed, occupied with nothing other than rest and recuperation. I turned to her and caressed her cheek. She turned her pretty face toward me. I could barely look at her. She knocked me out every time. She smiled. I ran my fingers through her hair.

"You're so beautiful," I remarked for the I-don't-know-how-manyth time since I'd met her.

"That doesn't help, either," she replied. She wasn't exactly sad, just realistic. She laughed. "And it's a fault that age will remove."

I felt my tenderness for her well up inside. "You'll still be beautiful when you're eighty."

She raised her eyebrows. "If I live that long, we can test your prediction," she joked.

I played with her hair some more. "Do you have any plans for this evening?" I asked harmlessly.

She looked at me with astonishment. "What made you think of that?"

"It could happen." I shrugged my shoulders.

"You mean: appointments?" She looked annoyed. Her face closed itself. I always got off on the wrong foot!

"No," I corrected quickly. "I actually hadn't assumed that. It's about something else." She still looked closed.

I sighed. "Karin asked me earlier if we could meet her down at the pub this evening." The diplomatic route was not in my cards! I would be damned to directness my whole life.

"We?" She'd picked out the deciding factor right away.

"Yes," I replied, as though it were completely self-explanatory. "And I said yes." She started to shake her head. I followed quickly, "You're not exactly innocent in this. At that point in time, I was unable to think at all."

She remembered and had to smile. That was something! "Still..." She was cautious. Her expression became serious again.

Her thoughts were the same as the last time I'd asked her out to dinner; that I could imagine. And they weren't exactly unfounded, as I'd seen for myself. "You won't meet anyone you know at this pub," I explained reassuringly.

"How do you know that for sure?" she countered defensively.

I laughed. "The people there can barely afford their pizza." Dammit, what had I been thinking? Nothing, that was the problem. And the expected reaction came right away.

"You mean the women there can't afford me?" I wasn't about to convince her to go this way!

"Pardon me, please," I pleaded softly. "I wasn't thinking again. I didn't mean it that way."

She wasn't quite ready to be calmed. "You're probably right," she snapped harshly.

I pushed myself closer to her and touched her cheek. She just let it happen. She didn't seem to feel anything at all. "Please. Let's not have this discussion now. I know I made a mistake. But I don't want to ruin the evening that way."

She refused to soften. Her face remained motionless. I just bent over and kissed her softly on the lips, that were so cool and reserved. "Can't you forgive me one more time?" I whispered against her mouth. "I'll behave myself better. I promise."

The corners of her mouth twitched a little. "But only this once." I had her - thank God!

I hugged her and rolled around the bed with her. Now she lay on top of me. I kneaded her butt cheeks. I would have liked most to pull all of her inside me. "Will you come?" I asked casually.

"No."

I squeezed her bottom tighter and pressed her against me. "Really?" I asked again.

"No." She persisted.

I let one leg slide between hers and lifted it gently. At the same time, I pressed her more tightly against me and began to move beneath her.

"You'll regret it," I warned.

"I already do," she said. When I reached a hand between her legs from behind, she moaned. It almost sounded like she was enjoying it against her will.

"Please, say yes," I begged her. "Karin will be very disappointed if you don't come."

"You just want to show me off," she countered laboriously. Her hips had begun to follow my movements.

"Yes, there's some truth to that," I admitted. "I also want to show you off. I don't know a single other woman who can match you."

"In what area?" she asked mistrustfully. Her voice already sounded very forced.

"All of them." I lay still. "I don't want to force you into anything," I explained softly. "I want you to do it willingly."

She lay still as well. Her breathing was still rather heavy. "Willingly," she repeated, as though she had to think about what that word meant. I waited. She changed the word a little. "Of my own free will," she said now. I caressed her back. She relaxed on top of me. "That must be nice," she philosophized, completely absorbed in the thought. "To do something of your own free will."

She almost made me cry with the thoughts she spoke aloud. Finally, she decided. "I think I'll do it. Of my own free will," she continued with special emphasis.

I pulled her head down to me and kissed her. "I'm so glad."

Chapter 26

K
arin came through the saloon doors into the pub. She saw me and came over to our table. Before she even greeted me, she looked my companion over. "So this is she." Karin gave me a reproachful look. "Why have you been hiding her?"

I looked back questioningly. What did she mean? "Venus would die of jealousy," she added. If I hadn't known Karin so well, I would've assumed she was only flirting. But I knew, if she'd ever meant anything seriously in her life, this was it. "You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." It was a genuine compliment.

I saw a defensive motion next to me. Karin saw it as well and sat down. She reached for the hand that lay next to mine on the table. As she had done back in the bistro, her first reaction was to pull away. Karin wouldn't let her. "No, no," she insisted gently. "We're among family here." She glanced around wildly. "And anyone else can just dare say something against it!" She grew more serious. "I'm glad you're feeling better. After what Aunt Hildegard hinted at - she couldn't tell me any details, of course, because of doctor-patient confidentiality - I was afraid there might be long-term effects." She indicated the small scar on her pretty face, the one that refused to be hidden by her makeup. "Is that all?"

My companion swallowed. "Yes," she said. She let Karin hold her hand now.