“Yes, you have. I notice these things about you, even if you think I haven’t. What did my father say to you?”
Oh scoot.
Alex adopts a scolding tone. “Oh come on, Liz. We’re supposed to share these things.”
Reluctantly, I tell him.
He sighs when I’ve finished.
“I’ve never wanted to hurt you,” he says, “and so I never really told you about my life.”
You mean there’s something in what your father and Claire says?
My heart clenches. I’m so afraid of hearing something I can’t bear to hear. I’m in an extremely fragile state these past few days.
I brace myself.
“Tatiana and I were informally betrothed since we were twelve.”
He puts his hand on my back and firmly shepherds me away from the frogman and into the light falling across the mouth of the cave.
“When I was twelve, I didn’t know much about betrothals and stuff, so I thought it was some sort of game. Tatiana used to stay in the palace for months during the school holidays. My father used to call her his ‘ward’. Very antiquated, I know.” He rolls his eyes.
I wait, my fists bunching behind me so that he cannot see how agitated I am.
“When we both sixteen, she seduced me.”
The word ‘seduce’ is like a splinter of pain in my chest. OK, I know Alex was far from a virgin when he first met me. I’d be a fool if I thought he didn’t have a past. But it still is a very hard thing to hear.
I was right.
#p#分页标题#e#
I’m not emotionally prepared to be a high profile girlfriend of an international (former) playboy.
“We both dated for about two years till I was eighteen and I went off to college. I met other people and she probably did too. Nothing was really serious for me.” He turns to regard me out of his serious blue-green eyes. “Until now.”
My nerves are on tenterhooks.
I whisper, “Your father said you’ve loved a lot of women, and they never lasted.”
He barks a short laugh.
“I’ve had sex with a lot of women. It’s the truth. But love … ” He shakes his head. “When we are young, what do we know?”
We are still young now, I think. But I keep silent.
He lifts my chin up to face him. “Don’t think too much about what other people say, Liz. Our love is between us – you and me. It’s not dictated by my father, my mother or the public. Or even by Tatiana.”
There’s heat gathering behind my eyes. Tears that are threatening to form and spill to the front of my orbs.
Alex leans over and kisses my lips. I mold myself into that kiss, wanting so much to believe that we have a future and that not everything is what other people make it out to be. His lips are purposeful and commanding and nuanced, and I let the world melt away as I fall into that kiss.
His mouth opens and his tongue flickers out insistently. I let my lips part as well, and soon our tongues merge.
We kiss and kiss, parting only momentarily for air. His kisses grow more urgent, and his hands snake down my back to cup my buttocks. I’m wearing jeans and a sweater under my coat. Is it me, or has the temperature risen in here?
Oh Alex, Alex. Please don’t hurt me. I’ve given you my body, my soul, my all.
Please …
His lips trail from my mouth to my neck, and he begins to kiss me wetly upon my throat. I tip my head back and let him savor the contours of my throat and the sweet spot where my clavicles meet. He tugs at my open coat, pulling my shoulders and arms out of its sleeves. Then he yanks at my T-shirt. I let him roll it off my torso and my head. I’m not wearing anything underneath and my breasts spring free in the hazy morning light.
I wonder if anyone can see us here at the cave mouth. From where we are, the view opens to a glorious valley between glacier-streaked peaks. Down, down below, an icy river washes through a bed of grass – lush and verdant. No one seems to be in sight, but then, you never know.
But I need him as desperately as he needs me. I need affirmation – the surety of physical love to assuage my wounded psyche.
We shuck off the rest of our clothes in record time, tossing them across the cave floor. My bare feet tread carefully upon the hard cave floor, littered with rocks and pebbles.
His pupils are dilated with desire as he leads me to the stone table. It is a large piece of basalt, relatively flat upon its surface … and smooth. A shiver courses through me as I envision ancient man using it for sacrificial purposes. Indeed, I’m certain someone has lived in this cave. Perhaps whole families, or why else would the frogman be there?
“You OK, baby?” His voice is hoarse.
“Yes.”
“I want to take you … from behind.”