Chapter Three #2
“I told you the truth,” she raged. “Agh! Why am I even trying to debate it with you. You’ll think whatever the hell you want about me, no matter what I say.
” She gave him a stiff smile, even though he probably couldn’t see it.
“I’ve had a perfect evening. People say that all the time, only I mean it.
I got to wear a pretty dress that wasn’t in the least business-like or sober.
I spent a whole evening with my son. And he is so happy and in love, he’s glowing with it, and even losing his head a little over her.
He’ll do anything to make her happy. And I danced and drank champagne and got to walk home and let my thoughts drift and just soak up the pleasantness…
until you got in my way. Do not spoil my night, Brice Falcon. I mean it.”
She backed up a step. “I’m going to step around the corner here, and leave you alone with your suspicion and paranoia.”
“You do mean it, don’t you?” he said. His tone was touched with wonder.
“I told you I did.” She took another step.
“No, wait—” He moved toward her, a hand out, as if he was motioning her to stop.
His knee gave out. And he didn’t have his cane.
It was instinct to leap forward and thrust her shoulder under his as he sank toward the ground. He was just as heavy and solid as she remembered from the arena, and now he leaned on her.
They stood motionless, while her heart rammed and jigged. She could feel his heart against her, and it wasn’t steady, either.
“Damn it…” he whispered. Two simple words, yet they were loaded with such a cocktail of emotions, that Luciana couldn’t name all of them. Anger. Embarrassment. Irritation. Raw self-awareness. And underneath, a deep self-loathing.
He straightened, shifting his weight from her shoulder. “Thank you.” His tone was stiff. She thought she understood that stiffness, too. His embarrassment was building.
“It’s our secret,” she told him. Then she surprised even herself. “Maybe you should come into the house and give your leg a moment to recover. You can sit with your back to me, and pretend you’re still sitting on your box out here. Then you can call a pod or walk home…whatever you want.”
His voice was back to the low, rumbling tones as he said, “I thought you didn’t want to spoil your evening?”
“Helping someone doesn’t spoil anything.”
He didn’t reply. The silence stretched until Luciana was forced to say, “Well, never mind. It was just a thought.”
“You’re not what I expected,” he said.
She laughed. “I’d say the same but—”
His mouth pressed against hers, stealing her words and her breath with the sheer unexpectedness of it.
For a frozen moment, she felt nothing at all.
Then the kiss shifted and warmed. It built.
When did she put her arms around his neck?
She didn’t know. She only realized they were there when his arm came around her back and pulled her up against him. The solid wall of him.
Then she stopped thinking about anything except the glorious pleasure of the kiss. The effect of it sizzled along her nerves, made her muscles melt, and her heart to tango.
When it ended, she realized she was mashed against him, her body throbbing and her thoughts scattered. “Oh…” she breathed.
He was breathing just as hard.
“What was that for?” she whispered.
“That,” he said, his voice rumbling against her torso, “was meant to be a thank you. This isn’t, though.” He kissed her again, and the pleasure was again mind-dazzling.
When the kiss was done, they were both breathless.
Luciana shifted against him. Now what? What did this mean? She had never been so affected by a simple kiss. Did he feel it, too? Or was he…what was he trying to do, anyway?
Was he playing with her? Some perverted way of using her gender against her, to lord it over her?
“I…” he said, then cleared his throat. “I don’t know what this is.”
Relief touched her. “Oh, thank goodness.” She rested her head against his shoulder.
He lifted her chin. “I want more.”
There. Simple. No hidden meanings.
She trembled. “So do I.” She straightened and lowered her arms. “Stay there a second.” She went over to the box and picked up his cane. She gave it to him, then picked up his other hand. “Twenty meters, just around the corner.” She tugged. “Then you can lie down. But not to rest.”
Her heart leapt as he shifted on his feet and moved toward the corner.
·
The house was dark. Luciana left it that way.
They moved silently up the stairs to the top level, where her real life was located.
There, in the dark, they came together once more, and the kisses became frantic.
Explosive. Their bodies strained and worked.
There were few words, but many soft sounds.
Sighs, sounds of satisfaction, pleasure, and delight.
And afterward, and the night crept toward morning, Luciana could no longer avoid sleep. It claimed her drained body and hazy mind. She felt Brice slide his arm over her waist, then relaxed and let sleep take her.
·
She had forgotten to leave the house imp a direction to shut out the light. She woke to the powerful sun lights blazing through the window, for they were nearly directly over the house.
Luciana squeezed her eyes shut, letting them adjust. She stretched, feeling the pleasant ache of well-used muscles. She felt glorious.
She rolled onto her hip, facing the other side of the bed. It was empty, which she had fully expected. She rested her hand on the sheet. Part of her regretted that the night was over. There would be no repeat of it. She knew that in her bones. It was a chance thing, and would never happen again.
She rose and went downstairs and printed a coffee for herself. While it was printing, she looked at her desk, which took up most of the corner. There were data balls lined up in a neat row, waiting for her to read them. The screen emitter was beside them.
She sat at the table in the other corner, instead, and sipped the coffee.
It was so quiet in the house, it drew attention to the noises outside.
She could hear the marketplace was already open.
Vendors called out to customers, some of whom called back.
The knock and clank of food and products being arranged.
Music, from somewhere farther away. From much closer, she could hear the hiss of the hydraulics as the slice elevator lifted someone up to their letterbox on the sixth wall, which began right beside her house.
It was a whole new day. Time to go to work.
She remained where she was.