Forever (47 page)

- just the two of us!
she thought
warmly.

Sipping her champagne, she reflected
dreamily upon the last six hours.

The magic had started early. 'We'll explore
what we can before all the tourists arrive,' he'd told her on the
ride from the Chrysalis to shore. 'Then we'll find some wonderful,
deserted spot and drop anchor, swim, and have lunch. We can explore
the island some more after the hordes have departed . . . perhaps
enjoy a late dinner at A1 Grottino.'

it sounds lovely,' she'd told him.

And it was. She had never experienced a
place quite so beautiful and enchanting.

She said to him, 'One feels one is in the
Garden of Eden.'

He smiled. 'And this early, it is easy to
imagine us as Adam and Eve.'

They walked for nearly an hour to the Villa
Jovis, and the breathtaking view more than compensated for the
hike.

'This used to be the Palace of Tiberius,'
Eduardo explained as they strolled the villa's promenades,
terraces, gardens, and stairways. 'Like all the most beautiful
spots on Capri, it is accessible only on foot.'

The sun was growing steadily stronger, but
there were delicious breezes and much cool shade, thanks to the
arbors of flowering trellises overhead. And the scents and colours!
Everywhere she looked, flowers spilled over walls and rocks like
floral lava. This was truly a hanging garden of an island, with
geraniums, lilies, bougainvillaea, honeysuckle, and roses, and
trees such as laburnum, dwarf pine, and aromatic lime. On their way
back to the town, Eduardo showed her where, on the Via Camarelle,
the view of the Carthusian monastery was framed entirely with
blooms.

She had the sensation of always climbing
either up or down - much of Capri being vertical, paths would
suddenly turn into winding flights of steps bordered by flowering
hedgerows, orchards, tiny bucolic vineyards, views of sugar-cube
houses hugging the mountainsides.

'While we are here,' Eduardo told her, 'the
Gardens of Augustus are a must. They are but a few minutes' walk .
. .'

And so they ventured there, and she was glad
they did. There was every imaginable kind of tree and shrub and
flower, many of them species she did not recognise, and the exotic
colours were stunning to behold. He told her that eight hundred and
fifty different kinds of flowers alone grew on the island, and then
he steered her to the terraces.

The view was so breathtakingly dramatic that
words would have been redundant, and so they admired it in silence.
There were the impressive western cliffs and, offshore, the
fantastical, needle-like rocks of the Faraglioni rose from the
dazzlingly silver-flecked expanse of sea.

And now they were anchored offshore in the
blazing noonday sun, on the seaward side of those very same
theatrical crags and needles. Totally hidden from sight by the
Faraglioni. Content to let time and reality drift lazily by.

After a while, Eduardo got up. 'What do you
say we take a swim?' he suggested.

She was still lying face down on the
cushions. 'Mm.' She yawned and stirred. 'You go on ahead. I've got
to put my top back on.'

'Here. Let me.'

Kneeling down beside her, he helped her back
into it, and she moaned softly as his touch sent electric currents
rippling through her body. He could see the delicate muscles
shifting and tensing under the smooth surface of her skin, and
encouraged by her reaction, he slowly, ever-so-lightly, traced a
fingertip along the ridge of her spine.

Her back arched, and he heard her sharp
intake of breath.

Then he turned her around and hungrily
clamped his lips over hers, capturing her mouth.

His raging passion sent meteors of fire
streaking to the very core of her being, jolting every nerve in her
body. She had the sensation of the big boat whirling about and the
sea thrashing and the cliffs roaring.

'My love,' he murmured into her mouth, 'my
love.'

Perhaps it was those all-important magic
little words. Or the aphrodisiacal climate and the romantic
morning. Or it might even have been all the champagne. Whatever the
reason, she felt herself melt, and greedily now, her slim arms
entwined his neck and her lips returned his hunger in kind.

They were consuming one another, two starved
cannibals savagely tasting the sweetness of each other's flesh.

He rolled over on his back, pulling her with
him, and she knew she was incapable of stopping, that it had gone
too far and that she no longer had it in her to resist.

She gasped when she felt him loosening her
bikini top. It was as if his mere touch aroused her, made her drunk
with desire, and caused crackling static, like live sparks, to jump
from her skin.

And then he slipped the constraining fabric
off her and her breasts leaped free, full and strong, the swollen
nipples jutting imperiously from the violet areolae.

For a moment he could only stare, his eyes
raking the sleek perfect curves of her body. And then his hands
explored. Cupped her breasts. Smoothed her latticed rib cage.
Followed the firm flat belly that rose and fell with every breath
she took.

She cried aloud as he pushed her bikini
briefs down the curvaceous flare of her hips and off her legs.
Totally naked she was, her recently-dyed pubis a soft dark
arrowhead; inviting and mysterious. Her thighs gleamed moistly.

Now it was her turn to undress him. Like a
supplicant, she knelt before him and peeled his briefs down his
legs. Two inches of electric-blue spandex gleamed in her fingers
and then his phallus sprang free. So long, it looked, hard and
thick and bold; so clean he smelled, and masculine. She bent her
head solemnly until her lips touched it, and he reached under her
chin with his hand and raised her head with the tip of his
finger.

Looking solemnly up into his eyes, she
kissed his phallus.

The red glans throbbed and waved, as though
it had a life of its own.

Still looking up at him, she gently
tightened her hand around it. Tentatively flicked a snakelike
tongue over it.

Now his hands blurred and he grabbed hold of
her, the suddenness of the movement taking her by surprise. But
gently he lowered her down to the cushions, and then lay atop her,
flesh against flesh, life against life.

She shivered deliciously. So utterly perfect
was this moment. So thrilling, to feel his nakedness against hers
under the perfect dome of this vast blue sky. Body and soul she
wanted to offer him.

'I love you,' he whispered into her
mouth.

She did not reply, but stared at him with a
wild kind of abandon.

Fierce now became their embrace. Like
combatants they duelled. Over and over they rolled, fuelling each
other's passion.

Stephanie revelled in his strength. Eduardo
was so powerful, had such might contained in his tightly muscled
body and swollen manhood. Such urgency and power held barely at
bay.

Then he caught her hands and forced her down
flat. Frantically she bucked to free herself, but his tender lips
calmed her and she gave herself up to him.

His mouth was exploring her breasts, his
tongue trailing delicate little vortexes first around one nipple,
and then the other.

She luxuriated in just lying there, her face
tilted up to the sun like a sacrifice on a pagan altar as his lips
did unspeakable devotions. The sun dazzled, the heaving sea was her
bed, and the needle spires of rocks her silent witnesses - earth,
wind, and water bestowing blessings - and he was fire.

After a while, she imagined she was floating
deliriously higher, ever higher. He was nibbling on a nipple now,
rolling it gently between his teeth, and he let go of her right
hand so that he could use it on her other nipple.

She squirmed beneath him as he squeezed it.
Waves of pleasure and pain washed through her; a muffled cry
escaped her lips.

Her nipple still in his mouth, he looked up
into her face, but it held an expression of rapt concentration and
her eyes were fixed upon a point in the sky overhead. Again he
squeezed. And again she cried out. But now her eyes were shut and
her mouth was wide open in rasping ecstasy, as if she were drawing
pleasure from the very air itself.

Slowly he moved his head down, down, down to
her navel. . . his tongue kissing it . . . his lips sucking on it.
Heavy shudders that nearly approached orgasms racked her entire
body and made her cry out even louder.

And then he slid even further down, grabbed
her by the buttocks, and buried his face in her lap. Her body
arched. Her buttocks rose clear off the cushions. And she ground
her groin into his face, her hands holding his head captive as she
cried: 'I can't stand it! Oh Eduardo, I can't stand it! I can't I
can'tV And her body spasmed and her breath rushed out in an
explosive gasp as she came to orgasm.

Feeling his own torrent rise, he threw
himself on her. She was wet and ready and screamed in a delirium as
he guided himself in, and then they were locked together in that
immortal embrace from which all life stems.

Slowly began his thrusts; steadily they
increased in tempo. Beneath him, she moaned and writhed, her hips
rising ravenously up to meet him.

Deeper, deeper, deeper! The blood roared
deafeningly in his ears, his heart pounded to a crescendo, and
everything was reduced to the sensations of the groin. He tossed
back his head and clenched his teeth. He could feel her firm
muscles closing around him, clamping tight, her juices lubricating
his path.

Faster, faster, faster! Here between her
legs where she writhed like a vixen beneath him. Where they were
joined by the umbilical of sex and there was nothing on this earth
to tear them asunder.

And then her body arched and spasmed yet
again as her second orgasm swept her away.

'Eduardo!' she screamed. 'Oh, Eduardo! I'm
dying!
I'm dying!
'

And then she was but a collection of
molecules, a symphony of ecstasy.

Cruelly now, he assaulted her with the ride
of her life. Grabbing her buttocks, he raised her hips high. In he
plunged, and out again, and back in and then out! Her quivering
screams rose to the skies and echoed from the rocks and travelled
far across the water.

And finally, he could bear to hold back no
more. His own scream merged with hers and the juices of life spewed
forth just as a fresh wave of convulsions racked her body.

'Eduardo!' she screamed, her head thrashing
from side to side. 'I'm dying! Oh, Eduardo!
Eduardo!
'

His hips twitched one last time and then he
slumped. Panting now, he let go of her, and the two of them
collapsed on the cushions, still joined. Stephanie clung to him,
her fingers still digging into his arms as she sobbed, 'I love you,
Eduardo.
I love you
.''

Capri

The day tourists had gone back to the
mainland and A1 Grottino was packed. Wineglass in hand, Stephanie
looked around the vaulted, white-washed room. The restaurant was
located on the Via Longano, one of the tunnel-like viuzzi which
passed for streets, and its devoted clientele were locals, guests
from hotels on the island, part-time residents whose villas were
their second, third, or fourth homes, and expatriates who had found
paradise and stayed.

Setting down her glass, she smiled across
the table at Eduardo. Everything about her was radiant: her
heightened colour, her eyes glowing with fulfilment. 'This place
really is something else,' she said softly, plucking a crisp
matchstick of fried zucchini off her plate and biting off half. She
munched it slowly, savouring the taste, and on impulse reached
across the table and finger-fed him the other half.

His lips sucked in zucchini, fingertips, and
all.

'Eduardo!' she laughed, feigning
embarrassment. 'What are people going to think?'

'That we're lovers?' He grinned raffishly.
'I know I should behave myself, but -' He glanced over both
shoulders and confided in a stage whisper,'- the truth of the
matter is, I cannot help myself! You see, it is all due to an
ancient curse which is handed down through the men of my
family!'

'I see,' she said, making her eyes
appropriately round and wide. 'Genetic, is it? Just like thirsting
for other people's blood?'

'And baying at the moon.' He nodded
definitely. 'That is exactly what it is like!'

She rested her chin in the palm of her hand
and smiled. Curious, how she felt as though they were the only two
people in this restaurant ... on this entire earth. It was almost
as if the other diners had receded into another dimension, or a
curtain had come down to muffle all sounds but their own.

Eduardo smiled back at her. 'What are you
thinking?'

Her eyes were wide. 'Would you believe -
about how happy I am?' she whispered softly. 'About how magical
today has been?'

'Which is exactly what I have been
thinking,' he said.

She gave a wistful little sigh. 'Why am I
praying that tomorrow will never come?' she whispered, feeling a
choking come up inside her. 'Why do I wish that today would never
end!'

'Today does not have to end.'

She frowned at him. 'I -1 don't
understand.'

He stared intently at her. 'When the cruise
is over, come back to Brazil with us!' His dark gaze was like a
live spark reaching out to her. 'That way, you and I can be
together. And, I guarantee that you will love it there!'

'Eduardo!' Her mouth actually dropped open.
'Have you taken leave of your senses?'

He smiled. 'To tell you the truth, I have
never felt saner or happier in my entire life.' He was silent for a
moment. 'Well? What do you say?'

She stared at him and then slowly shook her
head. 'You and I both know it's impossible. Why dream, Eduardo? Why
fantasise about what will never be?'