Berlin: A Novel (73 page)

Heidi was disappointed. Was this going to be all? No, certainly not. Instinct guided her. She bent over him. Between her lips he grew large again. Ben let her do as she liked. As she sat astride him, and he found his way back into her with amazement, he realized that he had made a start. He braced himself against her, moving in time. Her little squeals spurred him on. It got better and even better, and the world around ceased to exist, including the sounds of the rustling leaves and cracking twigs which, as it happened, were not made by a deer. Afterwards they lay there flushed, holding hands.

'Was it good for you too?' whispered Heidi.

Ben was his old non-committal self. 'It was OK.' He thought of the condoms. Should he put one on now? 'So that most precious part of you doesn't catch cold,' Herr Pagel had said, as it easily might now after what had happened. The box was in his jacket pocket.

He stood up to get it, and froze to the spot. His suit and shoes were gone. The young birch tree swayed innocently in the October wind.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE