Promise Me Eternity (22 page)

Her words calmed him. He told himself again
not to get involved with her in any way. It was too dangerous.

“Stay with me a little while longer,” she
pleaded. “The pills will start working soon. I can’t be alone.
Please, Simon, I need you.”

He was right above her, leaning on his arm
and still looking into her eyes. He didn’t know what to do.

“Lie down next to me,” she said. “Hold me,
please. Let’s be friends. Just for a few minutes, until the worst
of the pain goes away.” She let out a hollow groan.

Simon was left with no choice. He leaned on
his elbow and lay down beside her, as she’d told him to. With so
little space, he had to squeeze up to her in order to stay on the
bed. He gently put his left arm around her.

They lay peacefully like that for a few
minutes. When she now and then let out a moan, Simon calmly soothed
her and stroked her hair and face.

“It’ll be OK. Hang on a little longer.” He
kept swallowing saliva and felt like he’d eaten chalk. He was
trying with all his might to remain indifferent to her, but he
simply could not. The pressure in his body was rising due to her
closeness and he could feel his loins stirring, and a tingle ran up
and down his spine. His breathing was shallow and jerky. He could
only hope she wouldn’t notice.

It kept getting worse and the effects started
to show. First his hands started shaking; a little later his legs
as well. In the end, his whole body was shaking and his teeth were
chattering as if he were cold. He felt he might explode.

She looked at him in surprise. “What’s
happening to you, Simon? Why are you shaking like that?”

Leaning on her elbow she lifted herself,
while he lay on his back, sweaty and shaky.

“Poor Simon.” She gently stroked his
forehead. “Calm down. Calm down, please. Your face is all red.” She
started unbuttoning his shirt. At first she undid only the first
two, but since they opened up easily she undid the third and the
fourth. “You need air. Take deep breaths and everything will be
OK.”

Instead of getting better, it made things
worse. He started shaking even more and gasping for breath.

“Poor Simon.” Her hand went under his shirt.
The remaining buttons undid themselves. She gently massaged his
chest. “This will help. Calm down.”

As things still weren’t getting better, she
moved to his stomach and started massaging it with circular
movements. “You’re tense. My God, what’s happening to you?”

Simon kept his mouth closed. However hard he
tried to resist, to get up, he couldn’t do it. He lay helplessly on
his back, staring into her eyes and sighing loudly as he felt her
warm hand caressing his skin. Then he remembered her saying that
they would be just good friends and he said, “Didn’t we say
that—”

“You’re trembling so much. Poor Simon. Don’t
be afraid.”

Then something happened that shouldn’t have.
He saw her lips come closer to his and didn’t have the strength to
turn away. All the time he was thinking how dangerous it was, but
still he did nothing. He thought that if he stayed perfectly still
and it was she who took the lead, it would all be her fault.

When their lips touched, they both sighed
deeply, indicating how much they wanted each other and how long
they’d been waiting for this. Any negative thought was gone, time
stopped, nothing existed but them. They were intertwined, they
became one and both moaned loudly with pleasure.

In less than a minute they were naked. Their
tongues sought each other feverishly, their bodies held on to each
other as if they were afraid of never seeing each other again.

Simon kissed her neck and breasts; he wanted
to kiss every inch of her body. She seemed so soft and vulnerable.
Every time he touched her, she trembled and thanked him for his
kisses. He had never enjoyed being with a woman so much, never felt
such wild passion. He was so aroused he could barely breathe and
her touches and warmth filled him with happiness.

Christine played as full a part as he. Ever
since she had seen him for the first time, she had been thinking
about him constantly. Wherever she was, she could see his face,
thinking how nice it would be to have a husband like that. He
impressed her with everything he said and the moment he rejected
her husband’s money, she was in love. However hard she had tried,
she couldn’t forget Simon. She had to see him again. Even fully
aware of the danger of Carlo finding out about it, she couldn’t
help herself. So she accepted the risk and went to see him at the
hospital, making up a story about a headache. And when she finally
succeeded in seducing him and they did all those things they
shouldn’t have, she felt so good that she started trembling and for
a few moments didn’t know where she was. She only came to later and
realized she had experienced an orgasm with Simon, the first one in
her life.

And now she was finally with him again. She
had lied about another headache and waited for him agitatedly in
front of the hotel. Everything happened exactly as she had planned.
Even better than planned, since she had been afraid he would reject
her. Because she liked him so much, his rejection was what worried
her most.

“Oh, Simon, I enjoy being with you so much …”
she managed to say just before the waves came. And again he made
her experience something no other man before him had managed to.
She felt as if she was being caressed by a thousand hands and the
tension in her body grew and grew until it reached its limit,
followed by a release she had not known until now.

Simon lay on his back, exhausted. He stared
at the ceiling, waiting for his body to recover. The more his
heartbeat slowed, the worse his mood became. He was riddled with
guilt for having been unfaithful to Helen for the second time. Then
he remembered Carlo Vucci and the recent terrible dream. He quickly
started getting dressed.

“What’s the hurry?” Christine asked
anxiously.

Simon didn’t reply. Without looking at her,
he put on his pants and shirt.

“I don’t see why you have to rush away. Stay
here, please. We can do it again later.” She got up and embraced
him from behind.

“We shouldn’t have done it, Christine,” he
said with a cold voice. “My God, do you have any idea what would
happen if your husband found out about this?”

She pressed herself closer to him. “Please,
Simon, don’t leave me. I like you so much. I think about you all
the time. Carlo won’t find out about us, I promise.”

Christine held him so tightly he had to push
her away brusquely. “I’m not stupid enough to risk my life. I did
some research on Carlo. I hear he’s a very dangerous guy.” He held
her chin with his right hand. “Christine, you’re a very attractive
woman. However hard I tried, I couldn’t resist you.” He paused for
a moment and looked down. “But I have a wife and I shouldn’t be
doing this. And you’re married too.” He quickly did up the buttons
on his shirt and put on his shoes.

“But Simon, I thought you loved me, how can
you …”

He turned to her and said, “Christine, I’m
married. I love only my wife.” He opened the door and left.

Chapter 38

_______________________

John Melton returned home slightly drunk and
tired. He had spent three full hours with his bar friends and had
knocked back three large beers. Dizzy and with a smile on his face,
he thought about the subject he was intending to teach his students
the following day. He had been a teacher for so long that he didn’t
have to do anything else but read through the material, which he
had done as soon as he returned from work.

He was looking at the ground, thinking,
nodding now and then, and smiling to himself.

When he was near home he noticed a man
approaching the Pattersons’ house. Straining his eyes, he licked
his lips.
Why, that’s Simon,
he thought.

He ran toward him and shouted, “Hey, Simon,
how are you?”

But Simon didn’t turn round. He lifted his
hand in greeting and continued on his way.

John was disappointed.
Let him go. I don’t
care.
He stood there watching him for a few more moments, then
glumly turned and went home.

The man hoped that no one had heard the crazy
neighbor shouting. Maybe it would be better to go home and come
back another time. He decided to go to the back of the house and
wait there for ten minutes. If he didn’t hear anything unusual, he
would enter.

As expected, he found another door at the
back and waited there a few minutes.

Later, he picked the lock without any problem
and stepped inside. Again he stopped for a few moments and
listened. Nothing. Obviously no one had woken up.

He pulled a pair of cotton slippers out of
his left pocket and slipped them on over his shoes, pulling a pair
of special night vision goggles out of his right pocket. Then,
putting on rubber gloves, he made his way upstairs with quiet
steps.

He opened the first door and stepped into the
bathroom. Swearing under his breath, he left the door open. Opening
the second door, he saw his victim was asleep. The intruder’s
adrenaline surged and he became as taut as a string.

He approached the bed and focused on the
victim.
What a shame,
he thought.

Chapter 39

_______________________

On the way home, Simon thought about what he
had said to Christine. Did he really love his wife? Did Christine
really mean nothing to him? He was in a strange state, in which he
no longer recognized his own feelings. He was scared of Carlo Vucci
and was making decisions with his head rather than with his
heart.

He wanted to get home as soon as possible,
crawl into bed, and fall asleep. He had always been precise and
careful in his life; everything had always gone the way he wanted.
He avoided conflict and never got himself into risky
situations.

Even at school he had been a model pupil who
frequently got good grades and was never late. All the teachers
liked him. Later on, at medical school, he passed all his exams
with the highest possible grades. The professors respected him and
liked talking with him. Before meeting Helen he had only had three
girlfriends and had always been faithful to them while the
relationship lasted. He was a good boy, who never let stupid ideas
get the better of him.

What was happening to him now? He had become
involved with a rich, married woman. While his wife was peacefully
asleep at home, he was knocking around remote hotels and messing
about with a mistress.
God’s eyes are everywhere, punishment
will surely come
, he told himself.

As he drove into the garage, he hoped he
would not wake Helen. For a moment he thought about the pleasant
evening they had spent together. He was happy that they had finally
calmed down and owned up to their mistakes. He thought of it as a
new start, after which they would get along better and care for
each other more.

While closing the garage door, he gazed at
the dark sky. The stars, which were bright, captivated him, making
him decide to go for a short walk. It was a wonderful night.
I
should have resisted her. I can’t afford this. Oh, but she’s so
beautiful.

He shook his head a few times while thinking
of Christine. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever
experienced … as if she had a strong magnetic force which drew him
to her. He couldn’t explain it to himself. He felt bewitched by her
when she looked at him with her miraculous green eyes. He couldn’t
look away. It was incredible.

Then his thoughts traveled back to Helen.
They’d been married for about fifteen years. There had been many
good and many not so good times over the years. Of course, they’d
had to adjust to one another, but even so, they’d had periods when
they were madly in love and because of that were very happy. Every
time they got through a problem, they were even more committed to
each other and everything was nicer and better.

But Simon, I thought you loved me, how can
you …
kept echoing in his head.
What had Christine meant by
that? Had she totally lost her mind? Does she really love me?
He kicked a stick that was lying on the path. He hoped Christine
was smart enough not to do anything stupid. He thought about her
losing her mind and in anger telling Carlo who she’d been with.
Again he felt like he was suffocating. He decided it best to go to
bed.

It took him quite a while to find his keys.
He’d forgotten that he had put them in the top pocket of his
jacket.

In the kitchen, he poured himself a glass of
water. Only when drinking did he realize how thirsty he had
been.

Then a hollow sound coming from the upper
floor made him jump. It was as if someone had hit the floor. He
thought of Helen and got angry with himself for not closing the
front door more quietly.
I’ve obviously woken her.

For a while he stared at the ceiling and then
looked for Helen’s favorite chocolate-covered cherries.
It’ll be
easier for her to go back to sleep,
he thought.

He left his shoes in the hall, making his way
upstairs in stocking feet. There was that sound again. He stopped
on the landing and listened. Judging by the noise, Helen had opened
the window. He found that odd. She never slept with the window open
because she was scared of burglars.
Maybe she’s hot.

He quietly stepped into the bedroom and
whispered, “It’s me. Sorry for waking you. I brought you some
chocolates.”

There was no answer. He felt the fresh air
coming from the open window.

“They’ll help you go back to sleep quicker.
I’m really sorry I wasn’t more careful.”