Accidentally in Love, page 22
“Ethan, cut it out.”
“I’ve never been more serious in my life.” he said. And strangely, it was true.
“But I don’t want to kiss you!” she exclaimed desperately. Her cheeks, red with panic, told a different story, though.
“Bullshit! That’s bullshit and you know it.”
“What the hell is wrong with you tonight? Have you been drinking?”
“Oh, cut it out,” he replied. He realized how funny it was that for once he couldn’t even blame the booze – it would be weird to live with the knowledge that it was actually him , and not some drunken caricature of himself, who was calling the shots.
“Don’t you dare! I’m serious, don’t you dare do it! I have a terrible sore throat… really, really terrible! Right now there’s a colony of lethal bacteria in my throat just waiting to attack, so you’d better keep me away from me if you know what’s good for you!”
She was babbling. It was a decent attempt. These lawyers had the unpleasant habit of being able to function well under stress. Even patent lawyers. In that moment, Ethan felt favourably disposed towards all the patents in the world.
It only took a moment, but it was one of those moments that were destined to change the course of events. He suddenly realized that there were things worth taking a risk for: she was one of them, so to hell with bacteria and viruses!
He put his arm around her waist and approached her very slowly, giving her time to realize what was about to happen. Sara’s body put up much less resistance than he would have expected and her eyes seemed almost dreamy. Ethan hoped it was a good sign. For someone who was always boasting about never wanting anything from life, he felt a strangely commanding desire taking control of him.
With his other hand he stroked her cheek, which fit perfectly into his palm. Sara gave a kind of moan. In that moment, if she had asked him to jump into the fire, he would have done it, no arguments.
“You are an incredibly stupid man,” she hissed.
“There are plenty of people out there who would quite happily agree with you,” he smiled, looking pleased with himself. It was official: Sara had a strangely therapeutic effect on him.
“Well, lucky them for being out there and not in here…” she mumbled.
Ethan tried to ease her discomfort a little. “Come on, it’s not the end of the world.”
“Of course it is,” were Sara’s last words before the gap that separated their lips disappeared.
Without waiting another second, she kissed him .
For a moment Ethan froze, but his amazement lasted only until he realized that Sara’s lips were pressed against his own. The second afterwards he had already taken her face in his hands. The hell with taking it slow – he’d been dreaming of sliding his tongue over that mouth for days, and he had no intention of wasting any more precious time. There was always the risk that she would suddenly snap out of it. Although, judging by the ardour with which she was kissing him, perhaps that was not such a risk after all…
Sara had seriously not intended to give in, but she would have liked to see what any other woman would have done in her place. And she – who in her defense could honestly claim to have a sore throat – with one almost imperceptible movement had thrown away years of discipline as well as all her much vaunted professionalism. For some strange reason, she doubted Richter would have looked kindly upon that exchange of microbes. In the long run, it would certainly reinforce their antibodies, but in the short term it seemed more likely to give her a heart attack.
The main problem was that the man kissed divinely. Whether it was a natural talent or just a lot of practice didn’t matter – most of the men out there had no idea how to really kiss a woman: there were the ones who drooled all over you, the ones who thought they were playing a game of ping pong and the ones who thought that getting their tongues in your mouth meant immediately being authorized to put their your hand up your skirt. Which, by the way, Sara almost never wore – she was strictly a pants gal – but even if she had been wearing one, she was certain that Ethan would never have gone too fast. He was one of those who wanted to savour the moment and give everything its proper importance. And at that moment, he seemed to think that kissing her unceasingly was the most important thing in the world.
He might be behaving like the perfect gentleman, but she was on fire. She got up on her knees without breaking the contact of their lips and climbed astride him. Ethan not only managed to hide his surprise, he actually seemed to appreciate the gesture, because he pulled her to him even harder than before, and Sara, who had never been the type of girl to jump on top of someone, discovered just how inebriating and thrilling being in close contact with a human being able to kindle your inner flame could be – fireworks weren’t only for the fourth of July.
Ethan broke off for a moment, just long enough to move his mouth to her neck, and when he started sliding his lips up and down with a slow and careful rhythm, Sara felt like she was in paradise. “Oh God…” she moaned. Her brain had totally stopped working. She slipped her hands under his t-shirt and held his back. Smooth and perfect, just as she would have expected.
“Do you want me to take off my shirt?” he asked, without hiding an impertinent smile. At least one of them found that situation funny.
“What?”
“Do you want me to take off my shirt?” he repeated patiently.
“Errrr, no?” she answered, uncertainly.
Ethan, though, had obviously decided to listen to her tone and not her words, because he laughed and with a quick gesture he pulled off his black t-shirt, rolled it into a ball and threw it across the room.
“Damn…” murmured Sara, impressed. His body went beyond temptation.
“Like what you see?” he asked at the sight of her face.
“But don’t you spend all day doing nothing?” Sara stretched out a hand to timidly touch his shoulder. The contact was so enjoyable that the other traitorous hand followed soon after.
“I did a lot of sports as a kid,” he explained.
“Well, I’ve always said that sport is very good for kids…”
“What sport did you do?” he asked in response.
“Nothing…” she had to admit .
Ethan burst out laughing and started kissing her again. “You unsporty women taste nice though,” he whispered.
“Ethan… Maybe we should…”
“Go into the bedroom?” he suggested.
“No, that’s not what I meant…” Sara wondered when her conscience had decided to start working against her. Ethan must have realized that if he left it up to Sara to decide, they wouldn’t be going far, so he got up from the couch and took her in her arms, a predatory expression and an enigmatic smile on his face.
“My room or yours?” he asked, staring at her with those incredible eyes.
“I’m not much for black furniture,” Sara admitted.
“Me neither,” said Ethan.
“You know, I realize this might not be the best time to tell you, but your room is black because you chose to have it that way.”
“And I’m sick to death of it. Enough with all this black.”
“Yeah, well let’s not throw out the baby with the bathwater – black makes me look slim,” she reminded him.
He opened the door of Sara’s bedroom with a pretty determined kick. “Eat less potato chips and you’ll see that you don’t need it.” Then he walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge with Sara still in his arms.
“That isn’t exactly the best thing to tell a woman you’re hoping to see naked – you’re aware of that, right?”
He smiled at her with surprising innocence. “I know, but you’re a special woman – that evil little mind of your likes a bit of sarcasm and it likes a bit of tenderness.”
Sara had to struggle to stop herself from crying, because as absurd as his words might sound, they were terribly true. She sat astride him again and ran her hands through that blonde hair she had found so ridiculous just a few weeks earlier. She hoped that the fact she had changed her mind was a sign of intelligence and flexibility, not of utter craziness.
“So, shall we take this top off?” he whispered in her ear.
“I’d rather keep it on, if you don’t mind. It feels like the last defense I have against you. And I think we should talk first…”
He stared at her as though she was completely out of her mind – which, after all, was quite probable – then put his arms around her and kissed her as though it was the only truly intelligent thing left to do. And at that moment, maybe it was.
Ethan tried to go slowly, knowing that Sara needed time to process what was happening. Of course, if on one hand he wanted her to be absolutely certain about her decision, on the other he was running a risk by allowing her to think too much. Who knew what more or less plausible objections she would come up with if he pulled away from her. For that reason he had not yet ripped off her clothes, but also hadn’t stopped kissing her.
For someone who went around saying he was no lover of that dumb exchange of saliva, it was ironic he didn’t seem able to separate his lips from hers. The truth was that he’d been a fool – something he only realized at that moment – because kissing the right woman was a bit like getting drunk on the finest vintage wine. It was nothing like the cheap stuff. It would turn the head even of the most committed teetotaller.
Sara was making him feel so excited that for the first time since he had moved in with her, he wasn’t suffering from the lack of alcohol in his veins. She was much better than alcohol – a blast of adrenaline a thousand times more powerful flowing through his system. He would have to work out how to keep her in his life, if only because she gave him all the buzz of an epic binge. He just hoped there wouldn’t be any side effects. Or at least that she wasn’t too bad for his health.
“Sara, take this damn top off or I’m going to do it for you,” he insisted, more and more tormented by her indecision. He had promised to go slow, but half an hour seemed like a reasonable amount of time to make your mind up.
“But we haven’t even started talking…” she objected, still doubtful.
At that point Ethan put his hands under her damn t-shirt and with one began to stroke her belly while the other went quickly to grasp one of her breasts.
“Okay, okay, we can talk as we go…” moaned Sara, surrendering.
“So can I take this top off or not?” He wanted a complete and voluntary surrender, with no recriminations afterwards.
“If you don’t take it off within two seconds, I’ll have to rip it off myself,” she panted.
“I love a violent woman,” he whispered.
A black lace bra. He would never have imagined it.
“That’s beautiful lace, but it’s going to have to go,” Ethan uncoupled the hook at her back, sliding it off her arms.
“This lingerie cost a fortune. Treat it with care.”
“If it gets spoiled, I’ll buy you some more,” he reassured her solemnly, as he caressed first one breast and then the other and kissed her on her neck.
“You can’t afford to. You blew all your money on cocktails with your friends. ”
“Then I’ll economize…” he muttered, almost resentfully. “It’s in a good cause.”
The contact with Sara’s naked skin soon made him forget his momentary irritation. He bit one of her nipples gently to tell her to stop talking nonsense.
“God, you’re driving me crazy…” she moaned as Ethan kissed first one breast and then another.
“Not crazy enough, if you can still talk.”
“That’s only because I really talk a lot…” she said, and then began to cover Ethan’s neck with kisses.
“Yeah, I’d noticed…”
He was about to explode. Either this woman made her mind up quickly or he was in danger of being the victim of one of those embarrassing situations that he’d thought only happened to kids. He got up from the bed, taking her with him, turned around and lay her down on the blue bedspread. With one hand he loosened the button of her pants and then lowered the zip. He slid them off slowly, still leaving her time to change her mind. Luckily, she didn’t – in fact her hands reached out to undo his jeans too, and lingered there.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said through gritted teeth. “I mean, not if you’re interested in having this thing go any further…”
Sara laughed. “Problems?” she teased him .
Ethan took off his pants and loomed over her. “Didn’t they ever tell you not to joke about that delicate issue around men?”
“I thought your ego could handle it, no problem…”
“Who, me? The poor fragile alcoholic?”
Sara took his face in both hands. “You’re not fragile,” she said with conviction. “You just need someone to believe in you.”
For a moment, Ethan stopped breathing, feeling something heavy in his stomach. “Well, don’t offer yourself up for that thankless task – it’s just a ton of trouble and nothing else.”
She put a hand in his boxers in an attempt to distract him from his gloomy thoughts. “You need to begin to believe in yourself. What other people think doesn’t matter,” she whispered, kissing him immediately afterwards.
“Sara, I…” he began, but realized he was too vulnerable at that moment to be able to say anything meaningful. She made him feel so alive, and feeling so alive meant being exposed to great pain, because no one had ever thought enough of him to let everything else fade into the background.
“Sooner or later it’ll happen, you’ll see,” she reassured him. And so saying, she took off first her panties and then his boxers. Ethan let her do it, without interfering .
“God, you’re gorgeous…” he whispered in a moment of weakness.
Was he actually at risk of becoming one of those jerks who came out with ridiculous romantic stuff right when they were getting intimate with a woman? What the hell was happening to him?
Sara smiled and kissed him. “Are you sure you are sober?”
“Can I ask you to just ignore everything that comes out of my mouth tonight?”
“Well, you can try . There’s no guarantee I’ll obey…” she laughed, stretching a hand toward a less talkative, though no less communicative, part of him.
“Don’t stop…” he murmured as soon as she stopped caressing him.
“Should I ignore that too?” she laughed.
“God, you’re a cruel woman…”
“That’s exactly what I tell myself all the time.”
“Not often enough – and now close that mean mouth of yours,” he said with a kiss. When they eventually parted to take a breath, he was still lucid enough to ask, “Have you got a condom in here?”
Sara got up on one elbow and opened one of her drawers, from which she took a condom. “Oh shoot … this is pretty embarrassing,” she had to admit with a blush.
Ethan gave her a perplexed look. “What’s the matter? ”
“It’s past its use by date,” she confessed, turning almost purple in embarrassment.
He laughed and kept laughing for quite a while. In his whole life he had never been so comfortable with a person that he could feel both turned on and amused at the same time. But with Sara, intimacy had some unforeseen pleasures. “Wait, I’ll get one from my room – one that’s not past its use by date,” he said, and vanished for a few seconds.
“Here you go – a real condom.” He tossed her the packet as he lay down beside her.
“I can’t believe it! You buy extra large condoms? Really?” said Sara, chuckling to herself.
“So, what’s wrong with that?” he said defensively. “I don’t like feeling uncomfortable…”
“The male ego knows no limits, huh?” She climbed astride him again and opened the packet. “Comfortable enough?” she asked, after she’d put the condom on him.
Ethan raised himself up on his elbows just enough to enjoy the scene. She really was gorgeous, with that long black hair surrounding her, partially hiding her breasts.
“I’m grand,” he murmured. He wasn’t capable of much speech. The temptation was too strong that, after a while, he grabbed her hips and pulled her to him. Sara not only let him do it, but lifted herself up to take him inside her in a single fluid movement .
“Oh Jesus…” moaned Sara. The experience was too intense for her to keep quiet.
“Don’t you dare talk now,” he warned her, concentrating on trying not to lose control. Which was turning out to be practically impossible.
“One last thing and then I’ll shut up, I swear!”
“Let’s hear it then,” he murmured, forcing himself to be patient and go slow. “What’s so important…?”
“You know this is really dumb, don’t you?” she whispered in a very serious voice.
Ethan began to move, forcing her to close her eyes. Then he grabbed her by the waist and a moment later he was on top of her.
“Is this your way of telling me that you know but you don’t care?” she asked with dreamy eyes.
“Partly. And partly it’s my way of letting you know I’m about to stop fooling around…”
Sara put her arms tightly around his neck. “Thank God for that.”
Chapter 13
Eva’s voice shouldn’t have been in that wonderful dream. Nobody should have ruined such a perfect moment. But instead…
“Sara! I brought you breakfast! Are you up?” came her sister’s voice, forcing her very much against her will to open first one eyelid and then the other. With all the numerous suitors who went through Eva’s life like meteors, wasn’t there one who was able to keep her away from Sara’s house?
She grimaced and discovered that, no, it actually hadn’t all been a dream. Ethan really was lying next to her. He had one arm possessively around her, holding her to him. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who would hold you like that, but then again, he hadn’t seemed like the type of guy who would do a lot of other things either. Much more important things.
“Sara?” Eva called again. She was starting to sound impatient.
“Shit …” she whispered anxiously, after the moment of bliss had turned into panic. “Since when has Evie had the keys to the new door?” she asked.
