“How did you get in?”
“Your doctor,” she said softly.
“He let you into the house?”
Leticia nodded. “I have his cell number.”
I frowned. “You have my doctor’s phone number?”
Leticia shrugged. “I’m a journalist.”
I nodded my head and then muttered, “I will have to have words with him in the morning.”
Leticia’s smile ghosted out of the night. “I wouldn’t bother if I were you, Jonah. He seems to think that I am exactly what the doctor ordered.”
There was a moment of silence between us, and then I asked carefully, “Why are you here? Why are you waiting for me in my bedroom?”
Leticia came closer – close enough for me to wrap my arms around her, close enough for me to kiss, close enough for me to undress.
“When I finished writing the articles I went back into the editor’s office and left my work on his desk, and a sudden question came to me.”
“Question?”
Leticia nodded her head.
“What question?”
Leticia smiled. “I asked myself if I was willing to offer my throat to the wolf with the red roses.”
Oh, clever girl!
She had clearly picked up on my reference in the editor’s office to the lyrics of a song by 70’s rock legend, Meatloaf. I nodded my head, conceding that I had been outwitted, and outplayed. I had thrust, and Leticia had parried.
“And you decided that you would?”
“Yes.”
I paused for a moment – just long enough to inflect my voice with a broader accent, and then said winningly, “I bet you say that to all the boys.”
Counter-thrust… because I hate being outwitted.
We both grinned at each other, a spontaneous moment that changed the atmosphere between us. Leticia fell into my arms smiling and lifted her chin to look into my eyes. “I couldn’t stay away from you, Jonah. Not just because of how you left me at the office – not just because of the anticipation,” Leticia’s voice was filled with sudden emotion. “I couldn’t stay away from you because I feel so much better when I’m near you. When I’m by your side or in your arms the world just seems to make more sense to me. I feel a peace and happiness that… that makes my heart sing.”
I kissed her, the atmosphere changing again, becoming romantic. I held Leticia in my arms and tenderly covered her lips with mine. The scent of her perfume enveloped me, the press of her body against mine seemed like a perfect physical fit: she melted against me and her arms tangled themselves around my neck. Her lips were soft and cool, our tongues flicked and brushed together. I could feel the thrust of her breasts against me and sensed the fluttering beat of her heart. I stooped to hook one of my arms behind the back of her knees and lifted her so that she was in my arms, against my chest. She clung to me, burying her face against my shoulder as I carried her to the big bed.
“Jonah… I know I agreed to be your submissive,” Leticia’s eyes were huge and her voice impassioned. “I know that I agreed to submit to you as a lover, but this night – this first night we are together – can it be as man and woman?” she clung to me fiercely, gazing up into my eyes. “I’m willing to obey you, and I’m willing to give myself to you whenever you demand, but please let’s just make this time for you and me, not for a Master and his woman.”
I took Leticia carefully into my arms, holding her as though she was something fragile and very precious. Her body softened and her breathing became shallow. She trembled, and then a small quivering sob shook her shoulders. She was weeping and emotional. I kissed her again and her lips tasted salty with her tears. I felt a surprised choke of emotion deep in my throat.
“Lady, you talk too much,” I said softly and kissed her again, this time more deeply.
Our clothes seem to fall away from us and under the soft starlight our bodies twisted together in a blend of sensual kisses, and caresses of rising need and desire. Leticia’s legs fell open to me and I covered her body with mine, bracing my weight on my hands and staring down into her eyes as our hips moved in an erotic sway until I felt the hardness of me press against the damp heat of her.
The folds of Leticia’s body opened like the spreading petals of a flower and I felt myself slide deep within her. Leticia’s eyes closed and her mouth fell open in a silent moan. I stared down at the beauty of her face, the soft planes of her cheeks made pale by the moonlight, and the gorgeous tangle of her hair glinting on the pillow, as I began to rock my hips and she began to lift her body to meet my every thrust.
“Look at me,” I whispered, and there was a strain of passion in my voice. “Open your eyes.”
Leticia’s eyes flickered open, swimming with some soulful expression as deep and as fathomless as the ocean. I felt her hands cling around my waist and the tensing desperation in her fingertips as she clawed to draw me more deeply into her.
We made love with slow tender touches, our faces close so that we shared the same breath and I could see every detail of her perfect features, and the play of every emotion across her eyes. The rhythm of our bodies undulating together became urgent – became overwhelmed – until at last we slipped the bonds of restraint and let loose our primal passions.
Suddenly the thrust of my hips was more demanding, and the groans of Leticia’s want swelled to a crescendo. I felt the knot of lust tighten within me. I covered Leticia’s lips with mine and she moaned into my mouth as the strain of our passion suddenly unraveled and I felt myself exploding.
“Yes!” Leticia cried out.
I felt her heels seize around my legs and her hands clawed desperately at my back. The muscles in her neck pulled taut and then she erupted with me in a deep sensual moan of pure satisfaction. The swirling rapture of our release swept us away like leaves on the gusting wind.
For a long time we lay wrapped within each other’s arms, gasping for breath, fighting to control the ragged race of our heartbeats until every emotion was spent and exhausted. We drifted slowly back from the far frontiers we had been swept away to. Our eyes met, changed by the shattering experience we had shared – that we had made sacred and special, and could never be forgotten.
Chapter 18.
Sunlight seeping through the big window above the bed woke me. I lay perfectly still for a moment, overcome by an unfamiliar sense of contentment until, not understanding why, I opened my eyes and turned my head, drawn somehow towards the radiant warmth of the woman lying beside me.
Leticia had kicked the sheet aside during the night and was curled up with her knees tucked close to her chest. She was laying facing away from me. The soft filtered light through the glass painted the highlights of her skin with a gentle pale glow and cast the shadows on her body to the color of caramel. I could see the gentle curve of her spine, and the shape of her shoulder blades. I could see the dip of her narrow waist and then the curved flare of her hips. Her hair was a luster of soft curls, cascading across her pillow in glinting highlights the color of gold, and rippling gently with each slow steady breath she took.
I rolled onto my side, pressing my body against the curve of hers, and wrapped an arm around her. My hand cupped one of her breasts, filling my palm. Leticia sighed softly, moved her body, and then I felt her stir gently awake.
Leticia made a sleepy, purring sound in the back of her throat, and then pushed back provocatively with her hips against the swelling hardness of my length.
“This is a nice way to wake up,” she said softly. She rolled onto her back, still within my embrace so that my cock was like an iron rod against her thigh. With my fingers, I kneaded the flesh of her breast, feeling the nipple there begin to firm. Leticia’s eyes fluttered open and she stared up into my face. She ran a caressing hand across my cheek, feeling the stubble of new beard on my jaw. “This is a very nice way to wake up,” she repeated, and the sigh of her breath was one of pure satisfaction – like someone who had at last reached the end of a road that had been long travelled.<
br />
I said nothing. I stared down into Leticia’s face. She reached around the back of my neck and drew my mouth down onto her breast. I felt her fingers tangle in my hair, and a soft low moan of her desire. Her nipple hardened between my lips. My free hand meandered lazily down to her waist and I felt her midriff concave as she sucked in a hissed breath of anticipation. Her legs relaxed, fell open, and she tilted her pelvis up to meet my touch.
I felt Leticia’s hands cup my chin. Tenderly, she lifted my mouth from her nipple and guided me to the other breast. There was a soft mewling sound in the back of her throat as I hunted the hard little button there and sucked it between my lips.
My fingers became more determined. I slid my hand over the mound of her sex and brushed my palm lightly across her clit. Leticia groaned. The heat of her was like the warm embers of a burned out fire – still smoldering. I knew that it would only take a spark for her desire to be re-ignited.
I sensed her arousal, welling up within her like a spring. I touched at the soft folds of her sex, like I was carefully unwrapping a precious gift. Leticia’s fingers clenched at the nape of my neck, and her whole body became taut.
And then there was the urgent sound of a phone ringing.
“Damn!” Leticia cursed. She sat upright in the bed and scraped the fingers of both hands through her hair, the sunlight glowing on her skin, and her breasts changed shape with the movement of her arms. She turned herself away for me and thrust a hand urgently into her bag at the side of the bed. She pressed the phone to her ear.
“Hello?”
Leticia sat with her knees drawn up to her chin, her feet tangled in the twist of sheets. I rolled onto my back, slid one arm beneath my head, and stared silently at the ceiling.
“Yes,” I heard her say. There was the tinny echo of a man’s voice, the words muffled. Leticia frowned, and then smiled. She turned her face to look at me and there was an excited glitter in her eyes. She was grinning. She cupped one hand over her mouth as though in disbelief and her eyes became huge with wonder.
“Really?”
There was another short burst of talking from the caller, and then Leticia nodded her head, thanked the man, and ended the conversation. She put the phone down on the bed beside her, like she was in a dumbfounded daze.
“That was the editor,” she said softly, staring into my eyes, but her gaze somehow distant and out of focus. “The articles… he loves them. He is selling syndication rights to the biggest papers in the country…”
I propped myself up on one elbow. “Congratulations,” I said. “I assume this means he will have no trouble with you taking the next three months off work.”
Leticia frowned. “Jonah, it means much more than that,” she gushed – and then choked the rush of words off.
I frowned warily. “Go on…” I said carefully. “Tell me what else it means…”
Leticia made a face. She flapped her hand in the air, but her voice dropped to an almost guilty whisper. “It means… well it means you’re going to become even more popular, I’m afraid. It… um… it means a lot of exposure for you, Jonah. All around the country, and maybe internationally.”
I sat up. My expression turned to stone. “From just those interviews?”
Leticia nodded. “Once they’re syndicated… well we’re talking about millions of people reading your advice and suggestions.”
“Millions? From a few interviews in a local newspaper?”
She nodded. “Syndicated,” she said the word again.
I swung my legs off the bed, and reached for my clothes. I felt the boil of dark thunderclouds threaten my mood, so that my voice was strained and flinty as I began to button my shirt. “I had no idea…” I began and then broke off. “If I knew the price I was going to have to pay to be with you was the loss of my privacy…”
Leticia’s face became pale and stricken. She reached out to me and there was a distraught haunted look in her eyes. “Jonah – I didn’t expect the editor to sell the rights to these articles. Please don’t hate me…” Her words trailed off and her outstretched hand fell to her side like a bird that had been shot in flight. There was just a few feet of space between us but the gap seemed to stretch and become covered in ice. I felt heavy shutters slam down behind my eyes and my manner became distant and brittle.
“I don’t hate you, Leticia,” I said flatly. “The mistake was mine. I should have had a better understanding of the risk, but I was too focused on the reward.”
“And that will still happen, Jonah!” Leticia vowed. “We have three whole months ahead of us. Three months where nothing in the world matters apart from you and me. We can go away. We can go anywhere in the world you want to.”
I said nothing.
I went into the bathroom and filled the vanity basin with steaming water that I splashed over my face. I scraped my fingers through my hair and when I glanced up at my reflection the eyes that stared back looked suddenly black and hunted.
I came back into the bedroom and Leticia was standing by the window, staring at the distant mountain ranges made blue and misty by the sunlight. She was dressed, her shoulders slumped, her poise uncertain, and there was an air of resignation in the way that she stood with her hands clasped before her. She heard me and turned her head slowly.
“I… I have to go into the office again today,” she said. “The editor wants me to re-work one of the articles, and I need to go back through my notes of what you said to me.” She shrugged her shoulders as though helpless and somehow deflated by my steely mood. “I’m sorry, but I promise after today everything will be finished with the newspaper, and it will be just you and me.”
“And a million crazy women, who think I have the answers to all their sexual problems,” I muttered.
Leticia wrung her hands in exasperation. “Jonah, we could go away,” she offered again. “This doesn’t have to be a problem for us – not unless we let it become a problem.”
I narrowed my eyes and felt my lips press into a thin pale line. I said nothing.
We walked in silence to Leticia’s car, our feet crunching on the gravel of the driveway as bright sunshine warmed my shoulders and painted color into the flowerbeds and the trees. I had my hands thrust deep into my pockets, bunched into fists, and my head lowered thoughtfully.
Leticia unlocked her car, pulled the door open, and then turned back to me. “Jonah…” She was searching my eyes for some flicker of hope, or some small sign that my cool reserve had begun to melt again.
“Do you wish to meet tonight?” I asked.
Leticia nodded her head willingly. “Yes, of course.”
I nodded. “Very well,” I said, my expression like stone. “Your place?”
“Yes. I should be finished at the office no later than six,” her voice became enthusiastic. “I will pick up something for dinner on the way home.”
I nodded and kissed her chastely on the cheek. “Very well,” I said. “I will see you tonight.”
Chapter 19.
When I knocked on Leticia’s apartment door she flung it open after a moment, looking breathless and agitated. She smiled genuine pleasure and beckoned me inside.
There were several small plastic containers on the kitchen counter. Leticia unpacked them like she was disassembling plastic building blocks.
“Chinese,” she explained, and then lifted the lids off several of the containers and pulled open a cutlery drawer. “I only just got home a moment ago.”
I glanced around the kitchen and then narrowed my eyes. “Leticia, your co-workers and friends must think highly of you,” I said abstractly.
She looked at me and blinked. “Pardon?”
“I said that your friends and your colleagues at work must have a high opinion of you.”
Leticia began serving the takeout onto two plates, sharing the contents evenly. She frowned, puzzled. “What makes you say that?”
“It’s a theory I have,” I explained. “In my experience, women judge other women in three
ways. If you have children, women judge you as a mother on how well dressed and how well behaved those children are. They judge you as a home keeper based on how clean and well organized your kitchen is… and they judge you as a woman based on the quality of the clothes you wear and the way you present yourself in public,” I said, then arched an eyebrow. “Based on those three factors – and bearing in mind that you don’t have children – your friends and colleagues must have a high opinion of you considering how clean your apartment is and how well you dress.”
Leticia’s face crinkled with a bemused expression and she smiled at the compliment but said nothing. We carried the plates to the dining room table and sat opposite each other.
We ate in silence for several moments. The food was good. Each time I glanced across the table I saw Leticia gazing at me furtively. I set my fork down, put my elbows on the table and laced my fingers together, resting my chin on my knuckles. “Tell me about your day,” I offered. I glanced at my wristwatch. “I thought you would be finished at the newspaper before now. It’s almost seven.”
Leticia nodded. She dabbed delicately at the corners of her mouth with a paper napkin and carefully set down her fork. “I ran into some unexpected delays,” she said evasively. “There were some additional things the editor wanted for the articles.”
I resisted the urge to pry. Instinct told me that the less I knew, the more easily I would sleep tonight. “Is the newspaper still publishing?”
“Of course,” Leticia said. “The first article is being rushed for publication. It will be on the streets in a couple of days from now.”
I balked. “So soon?”
Leticia nodded, more slowly this time, and with cautious reserve. “Yes.”
She said no more.
We finished the meal in silence, and I brooded darkly over the troublesome implications of being exposed and being pursued by a voracious media. The heavy pall of gloom that had hung over me throughout the morning swept back to darken my mood like a horizon of brewing storm clouds.