The Perfect Happiness(82)

Any doubts about her intentions were carried away with the soap. She closed her eyes and let Jack’s broad face surface in her mind. She found herself smiling with guilty anticipation at the prospect of kissing him again. She could almost feel his bristles on her skin, his breath on her neck, and his big arms around her body. After showering, she sat in her towel and took off her rings. They were not easily removed, and she had to twist and turn and pull. With a sigh of resignation she slipped them into the pocket of her wash bag. Her hand looked naked without them, but she felt free.

She switched on her mobile and reluctantly sent a text to Olivier with the hotel telephone number, adding that he wasn’t to call her as she was busy at an event. Jack had called three times. She pressed redial. It rang only once before he answered. “There you are!” His voice was so cheerful she forgot all about Olivier.

“At last.”

“At the Grace?”

“Right here.”

“I can’t believe you’re in the same city as me.”

“Neither can I.”

“So you’ve got this lunch event.”

“Here at the hotel.”

“Then what?”

“Nothing until four, when I have to go to Pretoria for a teatime event.”

“Then dinner with me.” She sensed his grinning into the telephone.

“Dinner with you.”

“I don’t think I can wait that long.”

“Well, you have to.”

“My God, you’re here in Johannesburg. It feels so surreal.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“It is now, because you’re in it.”

She laughed, embarrassed. “You are funny!”

“What’s your room number?”

“Two-o-seven.”

“I’ll call you this afternoon.”

“I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I.” He seemed in a hurry to go. Reluctantly, she hung up.

Her spirits high with excitement, she rummaged in her case for something to wear, pulling the contents onto the carpet, where they remained in an untidy heap. She chose a duck-egg-blue sundress from Heidi Klein and wedge espadrilles. Her skin glistened with body oil and an abundance of Stella McCartney rose and amber eau de toilette, and she scrunched her hair dry so that it fell over her shoulders in thick curls. In spite of the creases on her dress she was pleased with her appearance. She waited for Anita to ring from downstairs. Looking at her watch, she had twenty minutes to kill. She went and stood at the window, looking out onto the sunny gardens below, smiling at the small birds that played merrily among the trees and gardenia bushes.

The sound of the doorbell made her jump. Expecting Anita, she strode over to open it. To her astonishment, Jack stood in the corridor like a shaggy brown bear, his mouth curled into a triumphant smile.

“I couldn’t wait,” he said, taking her in with one greedy sweep of his eyes. Before she could reply, he pulled her into his arms, shuffled into the room, and closed the door behind him. “My God, you smell delicious.” He buried his face in the crook of her neck and inhaled hungrily. Angelica laughed with delight, then gave in to the sensual feeling washing over her like a tide of warm honey. Her legs weakened and she felt her stomach lurch, as if plummeting from a great height.

He placed his lips on hers, and she felt his bristles scratch her chin, then the warm, wet sensation as he parted her lips with his tongue. She forgot about Anita and the lunch event as he unzipped her dress and ran his hands up her back and around to her breasts, caressing her nipples with his thumbs. She let out a low moan and threw her head back. Her dress floated down to her feet, where it remained like a blue pool around her ankles. Before her legs gave way, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. For once her mind was lost for words, neither condemning nor justifying her infidelity. It remained empty and detached, allowing a sensual wave to wash her into a transient paradise where it was just her and Jack, at liberty to love each other.

He took off his glasses and placed them on the bedside table. She laughed. “Can you see me?”

His eyes looked bigger without them, the color richer, with a shade of sage green making them almost gray. “My sense of touch is more than enough to satisfy my need to savor you.” Gently, he brushed her hair off her face, tenderly kissing her forehead, her temples, her cheeks, and her chin, tracing her jawline with his tongue. While he played with her ear his hand stroked her belly and hips, moving down to her thighs and over her silky Calvin Klein panties. She closed her eyes, parted her legs, and invited him in with a wantonness that surprised her. With an ecstatic sigh she was swept over the final frontier.