I wiped the sweaty beads from around Ivan’s eyes and waited as he slowly came back to himself. When he finally rolled over onto the bed beside me, he muttered, “Jesus H. Christ. That was good!”
Fucking hell, she gave as good as she got! She didn’t just lie there and let me do my business. She let me screw the arse off her. Christ, I wasn’t used to a lover keeping pace with me! I usually had to hold back, but not this time. My intensity didn’t put her off, it downright spurred her on!
Chapter Six
I felt myself going flaccid and knew I had to get rid of my condom. I gave Pash a quick kiss. “I’ll be right back, I have to take care of business here.” Holding my flagging willie in my hand, I went to the toilet to clean things up.
A few minutes later I heard her say, “Ivan, there is someone at the door.”
“What time is it?”
“Your watch says eleven thirty.”
I reached for a towel, thinking, Right on time. I came out, wrapping the towel around myself, and told Pash, “It’s all right, it’s just room service.” I opened the door to find a cart sitting outside with a bottle of iced champagne, fruit and a single red rose. I wheeled it into the room, stopping by the bed. She had put her slip back on, but I noticed her hose and knickers still in the crumbled heap on the floor where I had tossed them.
“Dash it all!” She had her back to me, sliding her hand over the bed.
“What’s wrong, Pash?” I asked, coming over beside her.
“Oh, I lost an earring. Here’s your hair band and the earring, but I can’t find the back.”
I helped her look, running my hand over the spot where her head had been. “Here it is,” I said, feeling it under my hand. I stood up, taking the earring and my gum band out of her hand. I replaced the back on the earring. Lifting her hair, I took the other earring off and tossed the whole business onto the bedside table with my watch.
“Just want to make sure you have them both come morning.” She didn’t contradict me. She walked right past her lingerie, coming over to investigate what I had on the cart. It seemed we were still spending the night.
“When did you order room service?”
I took the champagne out of the bucket and dried off the bottle. “I ordered when I got the key for the room. They close up shop at midnight and I didn’t want to miss getting us a little something.” I could tell she still might be a little piqued.
“You’re just full of surprises,” she said flatly.
Now I knew she held a loaded pistol. I clearly heard the edge in her voice. I opened the champagne and poured us each a glass, waiting to see if she would fire.
“How long have you known about my books?”
Bang! I handed her a glass and told her, “Since this afternoon. Steve mentioned to me that you write, so I looked up your name at the library before I started to work.” Whether or not she believed me, it was the God’s honest truth. She sipped her champagne, considering what I had said.
“Did you look at them?”
“I wanted to, but someone beat me to it.” I paused, wondering how much I should volunteer. I decided to push on. “They didn’t have either book so I asked the librarian to hold them both for me when they come back.” She went around the cart to check out the fruit. I followed her.
“If you don’t want to wait, I could lend you copies. I have a few at home.”
We both reached for the same strawberry, but I got there a split second before she did. “I would like that,” I said as I held out the strawberry for her to take a bite. She looked at me and then at the berry. I felt her making a bigger decision than just taking a bite from my strawberry. When she leaned over and bit it in half, she smiled at me, wiping the juice from her chin. I returned her smile, popping the rest of the berry into my mouth.
There Ivan stood, chewing on a strawberry, grinning like the cat that just ate the canary. And why shouldn’t he? He did just snare his bird. I picked out a piece of melon. I shushed my feminist alter ego and held up the fruit for him to bite. He was an arrogant bugger, with bollocks as big as his donger. So why the devil did I like him so much?
Of course, he did gain more than a few points by rubbing me off before he finished, and then by wanting to read my books. He would stand to gain a few more points right now if that towel would fall off. My stomach fluttered a little when I remembered we would be sharing that bed all night, probably without the towel. I wondered how much time we actually had. “When do you have to be back tomorrow?” I asked as nonchalantly as I could manage.
“I should be back by nine; I have a student scheduled. But I’ll call Steve in the morning to cover for me, so we don’t have to rush. We’ll have time.” Ivan sipped his champagne and then refilled both glasses.
The implication of We don’t have to rush. We’ll have time both excited and frightened me. I had to get away from him and gather my wits. Walking over to the bureau, I picked up my bag. “Would you excuse me for a few minutes? I need to freshen up.” Having returned to his charming and well-mannered persona, he nodded agreeably. As I turned to head for the loo, he adjusted the towel around his waist, giving me a glimpse underneath. I felt myself blush yet again.
I closed the door and leaned against it. What the devil was wrong with me? I just couldn’t seem to get a grip. I felt as though he had just taken me and spun me around like a top and then asked me to walk a straight line. I simply couldn’t do it. I had to let the ground stop moving under me and understand what had just happened.
I’ve done this before, I told myself. I may not be the most experienced woman in the world, but I have slept with enough men to know the territory. Not that I had my tits bored off by it all! Hardly. I liked what I had tasted, in a manner of speaking.
I couldn’t help smirking over my double entendre. Still with the jokes, I thought as I checked my cap. It hadn’t come loose, in spite of the jostling it had received. I looked at the door and thought of Ivan waiting for me on the other side. None of my reactions to him felt familiar. Sweet Jesus, I still burned when I thought of him holding me in place, forcing me to just lie there.
I closed my eyes and hugged myself, rolling his words over in my mind. I felt the burn intensify when I remembered him saying to me, “You like this, don’t you?” Did I really like being forced to submit to him? But he didn’t force me to submit—I did so willingly and with my eyes wide open. So what was it, then?
After I relieved myself, I washed up a bit. The cold water on my face brought me around even more. Was I afraid of him? I looked in the mirror and smiled. Don’t be a nitwit, I thought to myself. I remembered him hosing me off after falling in the mud. I felt his arms around me on Nutmeg and his patience with my inept attempt to learn to ride. I had seen him in the library, surrounded by poetry books. No, he would never hurt me. But I had seen a side of him tonight that belied that gentleness, a more forceful, controlling side.
That wasn’t what scared me, though. I held on to the edge of the washbasin, steadying myself as something unsettling rose to the surface. The intensity of my reaction to him was what scared me. He saw something in me I had never seen in myself. I did like it. I did like submitting to him. I have never felt so helpless in my life, or so powerless, and God help me, never, ever so inflamed. He controlled everything, including my orgasm. I looked in the mirror again and hardly recognized the face staring back at me.
Pash had started to come around. I would give her some space now so she didn’t feel pressured. She had to decide to stay the night with me of her own accord. We would have to settle in for the night sometime.
Even though I knew she needed some time, I started to wonder