Eve - Iris Johansen [26]
“You said it was going to happen sometime, and it might as well be you. You were right.” She gazed out the window. “You were right about a lot of things.”
“What things?”
“Chemistry. You said it didn’t happen very often like this. I don’t see how it could. Too intense. But that’s good in a way. Because it can’t happen like this very often. I’m not going to have to worry about being pulled into another … situation like this. Once you go away, I’ll be able to go back to the way things were.”
“Will you?”
“Yes, and so will you. That’s what we both want. That way this won’t hurt us, it won’t interfere.”
He didn’t speak for a moment. “You have it all worked out.”
“You exploded into my life like an atom bomb. I had to find a way to make sure that I wouldn’t be destroyed by it. How do you expect me to behave?” She looked him in the eye. “You’re the one who was hunting me, telling me how we deserved it. Well, you convinced me. As long as we don’t hurt anyone else or ourselves, then this could be a good thing. I’m going to make sure that we don’t.”
“I guess I wasn’t sure how you’d react.”
“Did you think that I was going to give you some kind of guilt trip? That I was going to beg you to tell me you loved me?” She shook her head. “That isn’t what this is about. I don’t even know what love is all about.” She shrugged. “I don’t even know if there is such a thing. I’ve never seen it. There’s a lot of talk, but it seems to go away pretty fast; and then there’s a lot of arguing. Maybe it’s only something in the movies. What do you think?”
“I think maybe there could be a lot of different kinds of love. And there are people we’re supposed to love and people we do love. I couldn’t stand my mom and dad. I love my uncle. As for the movie kind of love…” He smiled. “I’m a guy. Sometimes we think with our dicks.” He met her gaze. “There were a few moments back there that if you’d asked me, I would have said I loved you.”
And there were a few moments that he had been the giver of a pleasure so intense that she had loved everything about him, his body, his skill, the way he had made her feel part of him. She had wanted to keep him with her forever. “But I didn’t ask you. I promise I’ll never ask you.”
“I suppose I should feel relieved. I guess I do.” He glanced back at the road leading to the reservoir. “Sure I do. You’ve just made me a little dizzy. You’re right, this is what’s going to work for us.” He paused. “As often as possible. When?”
“Tonight.” She looked at him. “Every night. Until we decide we don’t want it anymore.”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“It might.” But it didn’t seem possible to Eve, either. She had thought she was satiated when they had left the reservoir, but she could feel a stirring as she gazed at him. She knew his body so well now. It was a beautiful body, sleek and tough and strong. He could lift her, move her, hold her, with no effort. Yet he didn’t make her feel helpless. She’d learned she could stop him with a touch, make him shudder just by a movement. She hadn’t realized she’d have that power. He’d always been so dominant and forceful that it had amazed her that she didn’t have to take power, it had been given.
He pulled up in front of the development. “You’ll only have a few hours to sleep. Are you going to go to school today?”
“Of course.” She got out of the car. “School is important. I told you, I can’t let this hurt me.” She started across the street. “It probably won’t be like this every night.”
“No?” She heard the car pull away from the curb. “Don’t count on it.”
She couldn’t count on anything, she thought as she unlocked the door of the apartment. Everything was new territory. She just had to keep on with her usual routine and try to keep her head straight.
Shower, first. Then set the alarm.
Even the drops of warm water falling on her body felt different. Her breasts were taut, and there was a tiny mark. A bruise? Strange. She hadn’t been aware of any roughness. But at times they’d been like two wild animals. She remembered his mouth … It could have happened then.
Don’t think about it.