A Different Kind of Forever(66)

Diane rolled her eyes and went past him into the living room. She sat down gingerly on the edge of the coffee table and Michael sat across from her on the couch, his feet propped on the table next to her. “So tell me,” she said softly. “Tell me everything that you did while I was gone.”

He told her, watching her face. Her hair was wild around her, thick and curling from the humidity. Her face was tan, lips pale with no make-up. Her eyes, as she listened, got wider, dancing as she smiled. She leaned forward, and he could smell the clean lemon of her shampoo. He had stopped talking, he suddenly realized, and was staring, listening to the hum of air conditioning. The music changed. The Temptations.

“Don’t you listen to anything recorded after 1982?” he asked her.

She tilted her head to the side, thinking. “I don’t think so. What are you staring at?”

“You look gorgeous.”

She chewed her lip, glancing downward, and he could see her starting to blush.

“I look like a gypsy,” she said, bringing her hands to her hair and trying to pat down the curls.

“Okay. You look like a gorgeous gypsy.”

She smiled, grabbed his hand and pulled him off the couch. He followed her into the bedroom.

“What about your back?” he asked as he pulled off his clothes.

“You can’t touch. At all.” She pushed him onto the bed, and climbed on top of him. “I mean it.” Her hair fell around his face as she kissed him. He tried to bring his hands to her face, but she caught them and pushed them back against the bed, holding his wrists on either side of his face.

“Close your eyes,” she suggested, “and try to relax.” He gave himself over. He could feel her, her mouth, her hands, the thick fall of her hair. He kept his eyes closed, his hands buried into the bedclothes. He heard thunder, loud and very close. She stroked him, licked him, and kissed him until he thought he would burst. Her voice was in his ear, a warm whisper. Is this good? How about this? Do you like it? Tell me what you want. Then he felt her, her weight on his hips, sliding onto him slowly, rocking, and he opened his eyes and saw her watching him, a smile on her lips as she led him, faster, until he rose against her as thunder rattled the windows and rain pounded against the roof. She slid off him and snuggled against his shoulder. He was breathing heavily, damp with sweat.

“I think the earth really moved,” he said at last.

She giggled. “It could have been the thunder.”

“Oh - okay. Well, still.” He turned his head to look at her. “How about you? Do you mind when you don’t come?”

Diane kissed him quickly. “Sometimes it’s not about the big orgasm, you know? Sometimes it’s just about being close.” She traced his lower lip with her finger. “I just wanted you inside me, that’s all.”

He exhaled slowly. “That is such a chick thing.”

She giggled again. “Oh, d’ya think?”

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure, in the entire history of mankind, no guy has every said to his buddy, ‘well, I didn’t come, but that’s okay, I just wanted to be close.’”

Diane blew into his skin, making a loud raspberry noise. “You men are pigs. Seriously.”

“I know we are.” He got up on one elbow and looked at her back. “Man, your ass looks horrible,” he said, startled.

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said, turning to look. “A little cellulite, maybe, but not that bad.”

“You know what I mean.” There was a large scrape, looking red and ugly against her pale skin. “Are you supposed to be putting something on that?”

“Yes. The doctor gave me salve and gauze and stuff.”

“In the bathroom?” he asked, rolling from the bed and walking naked across the floor. He returned with a white plastic bag, sat back next to her, and spilled the contents on to the bed.

“Here, let’s try this first,” he suggested, examining a tube.

“Michael, you don’t have to do this,” she said, feeling embarrassed.

“Who else is going to do it? You can’t reach. Besides, you just fulfilled one of my long-standing fantasies.”

“Oh? You’ve always wanted to make love to a woman with rocks in her butt?”

He chuckled and applied the salve gently. “No. During a thunderstorm. It’s very tricky timing. Now, I can check another one off my list. Want some on your back?”