Part 12 (1/2)
”Not in Venice.”
”Jared .. . you're freezing.”
”I know,” he said, almost as if he were confused by that fact.
”Come back to bed, I'll warm you up.”
He turned with a sudden fervor that startled her. ”Will you? I am cold, so very, very cold.”
There was something about him . ..
They'd been married for years. Good years, because they were good together. She loved him, liked him, enjoyed his company, and very much enjoyed their s.e.x life. They had been together for years. Still, tonight. . .
His arms seemed stronger. The tension in him seemed to leap through his flesh, no matter how cold he seemed. The simple touch of his hands upon her shoulders felt erotic.
They'd made love that evening. Coming up from the espresso they had shared downstairs, they'd been warm and familiar and had fallen easily into bed, kissing, petting, slipping naturally into the act of love.
This ... suddenly seemed almost illicit Erotic, exciting ... and it was just the feel of his body beneath her fingers, and the way his hands felt on her shoulders ... and the way he looked at her, something in his eyes ...
The window remained open. Cold air was sweeping in. He leaned down and kissed her with hard, wet, opened mouth, pa.s.sion that belied the ice of his flesh. She felt his teeth graze hers, the length of his tongue seemed to sweep to her gullet, and it was like shooting a lightning rod straight down to every erotic zone in her body. A second later he was lifting her. When she hit the bed, her nightgown was already halfway ripped from her body.
Small loss . ..
His lips, his tongue were everywhere. Along her throat, her collarbone. Electric. She started shaking, not from the cold but from the eagerness aroused within her.
”My G.o.d, what were we drinking tonight?” she murmured.
He didn't reply. He was between her thighs. She went into spasms of ecstasy, trying to throw off everything around her, she was so on fire. She felt the graze of his teeth. He was growing too forceful ... almost painful... in his ardor. She wanted to whisper a protest. She couldn't; her voice wouldn't come, and she was shaking violently as o.r.g.a.s.ms pounded through her system. He rose above her, and she could wrap her limbs around him quickly enough. Dimly, she wondered if the whole of the bed was shaking, if the people in the room beneath wouldn't waken, and think that the roof above them was about to fall in ...
Later, she didn't know how much later-if the pa.s.sion they shared had raged through the night or lasted no more than a few volatile minutes-she felt the cold again. By then, Jared was crushed to her side, still panting.
”The window,” she murmured.
”Um.”
”The window. It's freezing.”
He still didn't move. She leaped up, stark naked, and rushed over to the window, drawing in the shutters first and securing them, then closing the heavy gla.s.s window.
s.h.i.+vering and bare, she wrapped her arms around herself, then decided to make a pit stop before flying back into the warmth of the bed. She closed herself into the bathroom- never being one to a.s.sume that such necessary things needed to be shared in marriage- and when she was done she washed her hands and doused her face with water. Looking into the mirror above the sink, she was startled to see thin scratches on her neck, and the slightest trickle of blood from one of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. There was a streak of the stuff on one of her thighs as well.
She washed up quickly. The little cuts were nothing at all.
Turning off the light, she scampered across the room and flew back into the bed, wrapping the covers around her. She slipped her arms around her husband again. For a moment, he didn't move. He was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling, or with his eyes closed, she wasn't even sure, it was so dark to her since she'd been in the bright light of the bathroom.
”Jared?”
At last he moved again, his fingers easing through her hair.
”Um.”
”That was ... wow.”
”Well, you know, I try.”
He sounded as if he were making an effort to speak lightly.
”Definitely different; I'm not sure I want to try it every night.”
”Why not?”
”You bit me.”
”Bit you?”
”Well, you know ...”
”Love nibbles.”
She didn't want to mention the fact that love nibbles didn't usually draw blood. After all, it had been ...
Spectacular.
”Jared?”
”Hm?”
”I love you.”
It seemed he was a long time answering. But then he turned, drawing her very close to him, holding her tenderly.
He was shaking.
”Jared, what's the matter?”
”Nothing ... I'm just cold. Whoa, so cold!”
”Well, you silly man, you were standing in front of an open window watching snow.”
His lips brushed her forehead with a kiss. So different. Now, a touch as tender as a breath of sweet, warm air.
He was still shaking.
”I'm getting another blanket.”
She got out of bed, stumbled over something in the dark, banged her toe against the bedstead, and swore.