Crash Into My Heart (8 page)

T
his morning, none of that mattered. He’d had amazing sex
and by the stirrings in his body, he wanted it again.
First thing.
Coffee.
Second.
A quick run to the shop for a bo
x—
economy-sized—of condoms.

He rolled out of Janice’s bed and used her bathroom. He pulled on his boxers and wandered out into the kitchen. He saw her before she saw him. She
stood
at the window looking out into the garden.
She
wore
a
clingy
t-shirt and
cotton
shorts that hung
low
on her narrow hips. Her hair was swept up
in a French twist again
. He wanted to
free
it and run his fingers through its silky length.

The morning light bathed her face, revealing the extent of
her
bruises and he felt a momentary stab of guilt at bedding a woman who’d just
had
a
n accident. The bruises didn’t
detract from the beautiful shape of her nose and lips,
nor
the
deep
blue of her eyes as she turned to look at him.
The sun lit her
pale
hair like a halo around her head.
It punch
ed him
in the gut and his chest
contracted
. He actually stumbled
slightly
. He realized
he
wanted to
wake up to
her
face
every morning
.

“Hi,” she greeted him
. “I’ve got
coffee and
breakfast
. H
ungry?”

Adrian str
ode
to her,
cupped
the ba
ck of her neck and pulled her close
for a deep kiss. She tasted like coffee.
Sharp, fresh, earthy.

When she kissed him back,
he slid his hand down, tracking
the curve of her back
,
impelling
her possessively against his
arousal
.
Reluctantly,
after a minute,
he released her, stepping back.

“We need to put that on hold un
til I
can
follow through
.”

She
laughed
, a
deep,
husky
sound
, making him want
to kiss her again.

She moved away.
“Let me pour
your
coffee.
How do you like it
?”

“
Black,
thanks
.”

He lean
ed
against the counter, watching
her mo
ve around, getting him a mug,
filling it with coffee. She turned to hand it to him and noticed
him
watching her. She smiled
self-consciously
and busied herself by going to the stove.

“B
acon and
eggs
okay
? I have a couple of bananas too, but I don’t have much else in the house.”

“
Anything s
ound
s
perfect
.
I
f you’re dessert
.”

She look
ed
him
over
, raising curious eyes to his.

“You’re ready again
. I mean, is that normal for you?
”

She
obviously
had no idea the effect she had on him.

“
Koulka
mou
,
when you’
re around,
I
seem to
have one goal
.”

***

After
breakfast
, Adrian
joined Janice in
the shower. T
hey washed each other, a pleasurable task made more so when they masturbated each other to orgasm.

Back in the bedroom, t
hey
dress
ed
quietly, each
thoughtful
.
Adrian broke the silence.

“I need to drive
up
to the
factory
to meet with
the
manager
.”

“Of course.
I’m feeling much better. Other than my face, I’m good. I don’t have a headache this morning and the rest of my symptoms have cleared as well. I remember everything from the accident perfectly. I’m good. You don’t have to worry about me—“

Adrian stopped the flow of nervous chatter, gently placing his index finger over her lush lips.

“I want you
here
waiting for me
after the meeting,
koulka
mou
.
I’ve got some possible misconceptions about my
sexual prowess to disprove.
”

“You do?
” Janice looked at him, her eyes wi
de
.

“
Following a
brief
but essential
run to the
shop.
F
or condoms.”

“Oh.”

Janice
pursed her lips
.

“You’re pretty confident I’ll
let you back into my hou
se
,
” she said, speaking against his finger.

“Want to
argue about it
?” Adrian
replaced his finger with his
lip
s and kissed her
.

“Not really,” she admitted
when he
eased back. “Adrian, maybe th
is i
s not..
.”

“
Not?”
He started kissing her
hairline
, moving towards her ear.

“This…
” she breathed, her body
responding
to him
, her mind slowing
.

“Come with me. We’
ll stop on the way back and buy whatever we need for
a night in. We can get a movie
, though I don’t know
that
we
’ll find time to watch it
.”

Janice pulled back.

“Are you inviting yourself to stay with me again tonight?”

“
Are you objecting
?”

“Well, actually—“

He started kissing her again. When he lifted his lips, she tried again.

“Adrian, this is
—“

He claimed her lips again and kissed her senseless.

“
Just say yes. You know you want
to
.”

His hands circled her waist and held her against him.
He was so strong. He slid a hand down her back and into her
panties
to c
aress
her
bare skin
.
She
groaned
her agreement
.

“Okay.”

He rewarded her acquiescence with a
nother
deep kiss.

He pulled back, turned her towards her closet, and g
ave her a sound swa
t
on her
bum.

“Get dressed,
koulka
mou
. I want to get
back as
soon
as possible.”

***

Adrian brought Janice into the central office of the plant and settled
her
with a cup of coffee before he disappeared down a hall
beside
a tall, shaggy-haired man. She pulled out her phone and called the boys. Nathan answered breathlessly on the fourth ring.

“Hi,
M
om.”

“Hi, honey. What are you and your brother up to today?”

“Swimming.”

Janice could hear shrieks,
splashing water.

“W
e’re going to the zoo
too
. We’re going to see elephants and rhinos and monkeys and leopards!”

“
S
ounds like a
great
time.”

“It’s been the b
est. We still miss you though, M
om.”

Christian came on the line
.

“Hi,
M
om.
I miss you.”

“I miss you too, honey.
I hear that you are going to the zoo. That’ll be fun, won’t it?”

“
Sure
, Mom
…oh, they’re calling
us
. We have to change to go
.
”

“
I’ll call
again
at bedtime
.”

“Okay. Love you
,
Mom.”

“Love you too.”

Her chest ached at the absence of the boys. They were her world. Other than
work,
a few close friends, her life was
completely
about the b
oys. She felt physical pain
be
ing
away from them. She wondered whether Adrian
w
as
just
a
n easy
distraction
.

She leaned her head back against the wall and contemplated the
wild choices she’d made last night
. Not even twenty-four
hours and Adrian had
turned her upside down
, inside out
.
S
he couldn’t believe she’d let hi
m stay
.

She’d
shut down
after Karl died. Naturally, at first, she needed to mourn the loss of Karl’s li
fe. He’d been a
great guy
. He’d have done anything for
his family
. Their days and nights were consumed with
work, house
keeping and raising
twin boys. Like most couples with small children, t
hey’d struggled to sustain the romance.

I
t wasn’t that they had stopped having sex completely. It was just that it was
generally late at night when
Karl would
feel like it
. She’d
usuall
y been
too tired to care whether she ca
me or not. T
owards the end, she’d
sometimes
faked her orgasms
so he would fall asleep
. Then
she could
sleep
herself.
Most
evenings
, s
he was a walking zombie
by the time the boys had eaten, bathed and
gone
to bed.
Even
with
someone like
Karl
,
a
good father who helped wi
th all aspects of child-rearing
.

Until last night, she hadn’t
really
missed sex all that much. But
then
she’d never ha
d sex like that.
Ever.
Was
something different about her?
About Adrian?
About them together?
Just remembering the ways he’d touched h
er
ma
de her body respond
. She
clenched
her thighs as she felt herself
grow moist
. She
thought
about the orgasm he’d given her
after
he’d already come
. No words
described it adequately
.

She
wondered at his attraction to her
. She’d been considered pretty in high school, had been nominated to the homecoming court, had dated
the star athlete, Karl, but she’d aged.
Fine lines marked her previously flawless skin.