"I know." She was much to contented to fault me for such a small thing. She put the coffee cup back in front of me and looked deep into my eyes. "You don't need to be excused for anything." She looked at me piercingly once more. "Absolutely nothing."

She could've woken the dead with that look. At any rate, she woke me up with it. I started to tingle. I slid off the barstool. "I have to go to work now," I said, already halfway to the door. I didn't want her to kiss me again. If she did, I'd never get out of here today. She could tell what I was thinking and laughed knowingly, but she stayed on the other side of the counter. "Have a nice day at the office!" she called after me.

Chapter 14.

That I did not. At noon, she called me. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No," I said, surprised. "Not yet."

"Should we eat together?" What was she planning?

"You mean go out to eat?" I asked with astonishment. Our last attempt at that was still quite fresh in my mind.

"No. I meant at my place." What was with all this?

"You're going to cook?" Now I was really confused.

"No, not really." Her voice had suddenly changed. It sounded almost desperate. "Actually, I hadn't thought about food at all." She paused, and I asked myself what she was up to with all this sneaking around. Was she just trying to make me uncertain?

"I want to sleep with you," she whispered suddenly, out of nowhere. Seductively, temptingly, erotically.

The telephone receiver almost melted in my hand at her sensuous intensity. If I hadn't been sitting down, I would've fallen over. When I'd gathered myself halfway again, I whispered back. "Are you crazy? I'm not alone here!"

"Really? If I'd known that, I would've called earlier." Her gentle laughter followed through the phone.

The situation seemed to amuse her greatly. It amused me less. She was driving me crazy with her voice. It felt like she was reaching through the telephone and stroking every one of my erogenous zones.

"What's this supposed to be?" I asked, horribly tortured. "Phone s.e.x?" Too late! I hoped she wouldn't take that the wrong way.

She wasn't insulted at all. Her voice sounded like a feather caressing me. "Normally, I don't offer that," she said, almost giggling. "But with you, I could get used to it."

"Stop it!" I whispered from the very edge of sanity.

"Come over." She didn't let up. Her voice was arousal itself.

"I can't!" I could've screamed. "I have a lunch meeting." She'd have to understand that!

"Then come afterwards," she tempted promisingly.

"I have two appointments afterwards. I can't cancel them." Didn't she have any clients today? Then again, the morning was over. How could I think such a thing? She really drove me to the end of my wits! "I can't be done before four."

"Too bad." Her disappointment was clearly audible. Then she chuckled. "I could always come to your office."

"No!" This time, I really did scream. Everyone looked over at me. With great effort, I calmed my voice. "No," I whispered nervously, "don't you dare!"

She laughed boisterously. Playing with me like that probably helped her get over her disappointment. "All right," she agreed. "I won't." Her voice took on a motherly strictness. "But at four o'clock, you'd better be home!"

"My place or yours?" I asked, still completely helpless.

"Pick me up at my place," she said without hesitation.

I hung up. My colleagues stared at me with a combination of concern and extreme curiosity. "Just a logistical problem," I called across the room, somewhat irritated. And that's what it was, too - after a fashion!

Chapter 15.

When I arrived, she must've already been standing at the door. She opened it immediately, came out, and locked the door from the outside.

"Let's go," she said. She didn't kiss me, she didn't touch me, she didn't even say "h.e.l.lo." Did something go wrong again already? I didn't know how long I would be able to stand this emotional roller coaster. I could never be sure what to expect with her.

On the street, she walked next to me, but without looking in my direction. She took those long strides of hers that I always had to jog to keep up with. In the meantime, though, I was ready for the Olympics!

"What happened?" I asked, reaching for her hand.

She dodged me. "Don't touch me!" she warned forcefully.

"What's up with you?" It couldn't possibly have anything to do with me. What had changed since our telephone conversation?

She looked straight ahead once more and spoke through gritted teeth. "If I touch you now, I'm going to have to take you right here in the street. Is that what you want?"

So that was it! I grinned, gloating just a little. She'd gotten me so worked up over the telephone that the whole afternoon had felt like I was sitting on hot coals. But it obviously hadn't gone any better for her. I looked at her, racing along beside me. More likely worse.

We arrived at my building. She dashed up the four flights of stairs as though she were being chased by invisible ghosts. I'd never seen her like this before! If a little ma.s.sage could lead to this, I'd have to be more careful in the future. Then again - why? What did I have to lose? Just the opposite.

She waited impatiently for me at the top of the stairs. While I was turning the key in the lock, she grabbed my backside and shoved me up against the wall. I'd been through that once with her before, but this time it was something completely different. She pushed against me, and her hands pulled my groin against hers. I felt the heat between her legs. My goodness, she must be on fire! What a coincidence - I felt exactly the same!

"Please!" I begged her. "Let's at least go inside the apartment. We've made it all the way up here, haven't we?"

She allowed me a little bit of room. I turned the key, and the door swung open. We almost fell inside. I grabbed at the key, pulled it out, and slammed the door shut behind us. She was already at my mouth, on my b.r.e.a.s.t.s, everywhere. We sank to the floor. She pulled my shirt out of my pants and unzipped them. She slid one hand inside, right between my legs.

"You're so wet!" It sounded as if she were surprised by this.

"Ha, you're funny! - After your phone call this afternoon, and now this!" Sometimes I wondered where she got her naivete, given her experience.

She grinned. "Did that turn you on?"

I acted indifferent. "No, not at all. Women call me at my office every day and drive me to the brink of o.r.g.a.s.m."

She pulled me on top of her. "Then perhaps I'd better come see you in person the next time."

"Behave yourself!" I replied threateningly.

Her mouth was already on mine, stifling any further protest. The tightness between my legs almost drove me crazy. Her hand was being pressed into the middle by the fabric of my pants. I began to rub against it. She moved her hand with me, as much as she could. She'd barely begun to do that when I came the first time. She held me off the floor.

"My heaven!" she remarked. "And I thought I was turned on!"

I gasped. "I hope you are." I propped myself up next to her. "Since it's your turn next."

"Ahem," she said. "Understood. But could we maybe go to bed? I've got bruises all over already."

I rolled over and stood up. She rose with her ususal grace. While she turned, smiling, to walk toward the bedroom, she began automatically to unb.u.t.ton her cuffs.

"Wait!" I said. She stopped. I walked past her, in order to look her in the face. She looked at me questioningly. "I'd like ... please... May I undress you?" Her reaction was almost invisible, but it was there. She put up a wall. "It's ok," I said. "It was just a question. I thought..." I thought you trusted me, I wanted to say, but that would've caused her more than anything to grant my wish. And as well as she could act, I might never even have noticed that she was doing it against her own will.

I took a step toward her and took her in my arms. "Forgive me, I always want too much at once from you."

She laid her arms around me as well. "It's odd," she mused. "There was a time when I never would've allowed it, but now... I think I actually want it." It sounded as though she were genuinely surprised at herself.

I looked up at her. "Are you sure?"

"No," she said. She smiled enchantingly. "But we can certainly try it." We went into the bedroom together, and she lowered herself onto the foot of the bed.

I leaned over her and kissed her. While I was doing that, I slowly pulled her shirt out of her pants. When that was done, I crouched in front of her. I put my hands on her waist and looked at her. Was there any sign of discomfort, of defensiveness? I held her gaze and let my hands wander around to the front. She was still watching me calmly. I undid the b.u.t.ton and waited. Then I bent over her and kissed her again.

In contrast to the incredible arousal she'd demonstrated earlier, she was now very reserved. I ran my hands up beneath her shirt until I felt the velvety roundness of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. It overwhelmed me. "I love you so much," I whispered, my lips nibbling devotedly at her ear.

This time, she reacted. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me close to her. I leaned against her, and she sank slowly back onto the bed. I began to unb.u.t.ton her shirt. She still showed no sign of excitement. I pushed her shirt back over her shoulders. "I can stop any time you want," I offered soothingly. I sought her eyes. They were closed.

"No," she said hoa.r.s.ely. She grasped my head and pulled my mouth down to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "Please, make love to me!" Her voice was even hoa.r.s.er than before.

I kissed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and moved my lips downward. She shivered. I didn't know if that was from arousal or fear. I hoped it was arousal. I heard her breathing heavily above me. I unzipped her pants and slid one hand inside. She moaned. I looked up, but couldn't read her expression. Slowly, I pulled her pants down over her hips and laid a hand between her legs. Immediately, she began to push against me l.u.s.tfully. "Yes." I found the center and began to ma.s.sage it gently. Her hips rose, thrusting desperately into the air. My mouth wandered back to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. I entered her with one finger and began to stroke her inside. She moaned, loud and gasping. I pushed myself up a little higher and looked into her face. She tossed her head back and forth with excitement. With her eyes still closed, she whispered, "Please - I've been waiting for you all day..."

I glided quickly down between her thighs and took her in with my tongue. She went stiff immediately. She screamed. I'd never heard such a yell from her. She collapsed. I moved back up next to her and took her into my arms. She was breathing as though she'd climbed more than just one mountain. I suddenly had the feeling that this was the first time she'd ever truly given herself over to me. Today, she'd decided to trust me completely.

I brushed her hair out of her face. "My darling," I said. She twitched, then lay quietly. She still held her eyes closed tightly. She didn't answer.

I thought she'd fallen asleep. I laid her on the bed and started to stand up.

"Don't go away," she said softly.

"I thought you were asleep."

"No. I'm just..." She opened her eyes and looked at me. "I never want to go through another day like today," she said, shuddering. "It was awful."

It sounded like she'd really been suffering. I laughed. "It's your own fault. If you make phone calls like that..."

"I don't understand it myself. You're not going to believe this, but I've really never done that before."

"Never? But when you're newly -". Dammit, there it was again! People newly in love did things like that. But was she newly in love? I was, I knew that, but was she? For her, love might still be a ch.o.r.e. I'd better not say it. "When people haven't known each other long, they feel a need to do things like that," I stated.

"Oh yeah?" As if this were a completely new concept for her. It couldn't possibly be that she'd never experienced anything like it before!

"Oh, yeah," I testified, laughing. I stood up.

She reached out a hand toward me. "Please stay."

"Nothing would make me happier," I swore, "but I still have to pack."

"Pack?" The surprise in her voice was incredible. "You're going away?"

"Only for a week." It now seemed unbelievably long to me, too. "Business trip."

"A week," she repeated gloomily.

I tried to cheer her up. "We can talk on the phone every day," I suggested. I tried to put a hint of cheerful temptation into my voice. "Your voice on the phone is almost as good as..."

"Almost." She didn't seem convinced in the slightest.

"Oh, come on," I comforted her - and myself. "It will pa.s.s." At least she could imagine still being with me a week from now. That in itself was something. "Let's think about what we'll do when I get back instead."

For a moment, she still looked depressed, but then she began to smile a bit mischievously. "Is there any doubt?"

"Knock it off," I said. "You're just trying to coax me back into bed." I was already starting to feel warm again. Seeing her in bed was temptation enough. She saw my expression. She stretched. Normally, I wouldn't have been able to stand seeing her beautiful, long limbs laid out like that before me. I had to call on every bit of self-control. "Be sensible," I asked her desperately. "I don't just have to pack, I still have to go through some files. Otherwise, I'll get up for my presentation tomorrow and just stand there like an idiot. Would you want that?" I appealed to her sense of pity. That had always worked for me in the past.

It worked this time also. She sighed in surrender. "You're heartless." Her winks indicated that this was a complete lie. Then, she rolled up into a ball and covered herself with the blanket. "I want nothing more to do with you." She turned over onto her other side.

I laughed at her theatrics. They were really her greatest gift. Well, maybe her second greatest... "We'll make up for it when I come back. For certain." I turned toward the closet to get out a suitcase.

"That's what they all say," she murmured with resignation, but loud enough that I could understand her.

"Yeah, I know," I said laughing. "Life is hard."

"Pff," she replied contemptuously.

I laughed as I pulled down a suitcase and began to pack.

Chapter 16.

I had never realized how long a week could be. And this despite the fact that she'd "talked me into" one more time on the morning I left. Resisting her more than once required superhuman strength, and I did not have that.

Now, on the last day, I was already thinking about her with unbelievable desire. The phone calls had only served to amplify that feeling, as I might well have expected. As soon as I heard her voice, I was in flames. And she did her best not to extinguish those flames.