Chapter 25
Mid-May
Peter turned toward Josie, pulling her pillow closer, slipping his arm under her. Their naked bodies were pressed together, her face in the side of his neck. Of course, this was no way to sleep, but she and Peter seemed to sleep very little anyway. She’d sleep later, after he’d gone.
He had then dismantled her elaborate “Rey” hair buns and taken off her costume, layer by layer, as she removed the long-sleeved T-shirt and cargo pants he had been wearing under his Boba Fett armor. They’d had sex in front of her little fireplace and then dragged themselves to bed.
But she always found it hard to sleep next to him. For some reason, they seemed to generate so much heat that, even in May, with the window open, the room was stifling.
Peter moved away, sliding out his arm from under her, their bodies slick. “You’re a thousand degrees.” He flung the covers off, turning to the window.
“You are,” Josie mumbled into the pillow. She left a gap between their bodies but still felt the need to touch him, so she traced the outline of the guitar-strings tattoo on his upper arm.
Peter seemed entranced. He lay on his back and turned his head to Josie, taking her in, allowing her hand to wander over his chest, down his stomach, still tracing light swirling patterns.
Josie pushed the covers away and continued down to his genitals, which responded appropriately.
In a blissful state, Peter closed his eyes, a faint smile on his face.
He gasped out loud when Josie slid down the bed and took him into her mouth.
After a while he pulled Josie back up the bed, turning her onto her side, facing away from him, lifting her thigh and pushing himself into her.
They made love in a cross shape until they both came, loudly, crying out at the same time.
They remained in that position, gasping, chuckling at the suddenness and intensity of the sex.
The floorboards above their heads creaked, and they both laughed again. “Guess we woke up old Marcus.” Peter wiped the sweat from his brow.
“I’m not surprised.” Josie was breathless. “Oh my God. Holy simultaneous orgasm.”
“Yeah.”
They untangled their limbs and lay still, allowing the morning air to bring their body heat down.
Josie was starting to drift off when Peter leaned over to kiss her forehead. “I’m taking off,” he whispered. “I’ll leave you to sleep. I’ve gotta be in Queens by eleven, bearing Mom’s ingredients for my sister’s birthday meal, or I’m in trouble.”
“No problem, I am sated. You are dismissed.” Josie gave him a lazy smile. “I’ll let you out.”
She stood naked in the bedroom doorway, watching Peter in the living room as he found his clothes and collected his costume armor, Boba Fett helmet, and guitar.
“Next time, leave the helmet on. That bounty hunter thing is hot.”
“Noted.” Peter kissed her. “In return, a Leia thing with the hair? More my generation.”
Josie laughed. “I’ll try to source a gold bikini.”
“Ah yes . . . That would be a perfect birthday treat. You know my birthday is in a couple of weeks, on the 27th?” He stopped, then added, “I was thinking we could go away for a night or two. I’ve got a family thing that Saturday, but the day after my birthday is Memorial Day, so we could go on the Sunday. It’s a long weekend.”
A mini-break?
“Great idea,” Josie replied, not at all sure it was a great idea. “Sunday 27th. Leave it with me. You may have to drive, but I’ll do the rest.”
“Perfect.” He kissed her again. “See you at rehearsal.”
She opened her apartment door, hoping nobody was in the corridor to glimpse her nudity, and let him out. Then she climbed back into bed, much cooler, pulling the discarded covers around her.
A night away — that was a big step. They’d spent quite a few nights together, but going away meant at least twenty-four hours straight in each other’s company.
They had never even eaten breakfast together, and that somehow seemed more intimate than the act they’d just engaged in.
Consuming each other could be dismissed as casual sex, but consuming food was something a real couple would do.
Josie went from satisfaction to a sense of unease. She knew Peter wanted to be a real couple. Problem was she didn’t know what she wanted. He was funny and kind, and piercingly intelligent. She loved being in his company and their physical intimacy.
But it still seemed . . . wrong. Off. And it was that, not the overheating, that was preventing Josie from sleeping.
The fact was, as far as she was concerned, she was still married. Rob might not know her in this life, but her real husband was out there, somewhere. And she was being unfaithful to him.
Then again, she was pretty certain he was being unfaithful to her, too.