Naked he is magnificent. A god. Muscles rippling.
He positions himself over her and very slowly sinks his hard flesh into her. He is stretching her, filling her, in a slow, hot movement of pain and shock and…strangely, pleasure…as her sex struggles to accommodate the unfamiliar invasion. His eyes, nearly black with passion, never leave her. Watching. Watching. The widening of her eyes, the way her lips part, the shudders that shake her body.
It is sweet torture.
She arches with satisfaction and moans. Her soft moan seems to incite him further and he increases the pace of his thrusts. He forces himself deeper and deeper inside her, filling her right to her core.
‘Does it still hurt?’ he asks.
This deep? Yes. Of course it does. ‘No,’ she gasps.
So he rocks inside her. Suddenly like a whip passion curls and races through her body, surprising her with its ferocity. It erupts in a strangled cry that surprises even him. He looks at her possessively, proudly, as if he has branded her. He is the owner of her lust. In his hands and mouth and body he holds her pleasure. He said he wanted to fuck her senseless and he does. His pace becomes punishingly hard and fast, but she loves the pounding.
Something is billowing through her; it feels as though it could bring some kind of release. When it comes it is a riotous, glorious tidal wave that rips through her. She becomes one with him, one body, one mind, one soul. But he is still moving. Unfinished.
Then her name tears past his lips. The tidal wave is upon him.
She comes back slowly. The lethargy is luxurious. She remains spread-eagled in her ecstasy. He gathers her tired limbs gently and shuts them. She looks up at him dreamily.
He pulls a sheet over her naked skin, and then he leaves her. The door shuts with its thick click.
Seventeen
y the time Lana arrives at the Black Dog, it is heaving Bwith lunchtime trade and Jack is already sitting at a table by a window nursing a pint. As always, the sight of him makes her feel safe. She longs to run into his arms, he’s been fighting her battles for her for as long as she can remember, but this time he can’t help.
She makes her way through the crowd, many of whom she knows, towards him. His straight brown hair is still wet and has been slicked back carelessly. He looks so dear and yet so far away from her. He has always been a deeply mysterious person. Hardly anyone really knows him.
He looks up and sees her. He has the pained blue eyes of a tortured artist. He should have been one. He stands slowly, and, unsmiling, opens his arms to her. With a sigh, she goes into that place where she has felt safest since she was a child. She breathes in the familiar smell of his soap, so clean, so honest. When she pulls away, he looks at her carefully.
‘Your hair…’
Lana smiles. ‘Yeah, it’ll grow back.’
‘No, it’s good like that. You all right?’
‘Yes,’ she says.
‘Take a pew and I’ll get you a drink. What d’you want?’
‘Orange juice.’
He raises his eyebrows. ‘And?’
She dimples at him. ‘Vodka.’
He nods and makes his way to the bar. She watches him. He is tall and broad-shouldered and Julia is watching him eagerly. For as long as Lana can remember Julia has lusted after Jack. And now that he is studying medicine, her desire for him has grown to unmanageable proportions. Julia catches Lana’s eye and waves. Lana smiles and waves back. Immediately, Julia begins to make her way towards Lana. Lana sighs inwardly. Now she will have to make small talk. Besides, she is only coming to talk to Lana because Jack is here.
‘Hey,’ she says. She is dressed from head to toe in shades of pink.
‘Hey,’ Lana replies.
‘So Jack’s down?’ She lays a palm down on the table and drums her fluorescent-pink, plastic nails on it.
‘Mmnn.’
‘Are you guys having lunch?’
‘Yup.’
She looks lingeringly at the empty chair next to Lana, but Lana doesn’t invite her to join them. She knows Jack will be irritated and besides, she needs to talk to Jack and explain.
Jack has arrived and is standing beside the table with her drink and two packets of salt and vinegar crisps—their favorite flavor.
‘Hi, Jack,’ Julia simpers up at him, fluttering her eyelids like a black and white movie star.
Jack smiles tightly. ‘Hi.’
‘Lana was just telling me that you are about to have lunch. Mind if I join you?’ She smiles invitingly.
‘Not this time, Jules… We have private things to discuss.’
‘Oh.’
‘Sorry.’
‘Maybe next time then,’ she says, and, flashing a hurt smile, flounces off.