She (33 page)

I lean forward and smile against his mouth. “I’m glad to hear it,” I say.

Without another word we begin making out again. I love kissing him; I love getting lost inside of our bubble. It’s intoxicating and exhilarating and makes me yearn for more.

After a few rousing minutes, I climb off of the bed, Logan following me, and we begin undressing each other in haste, both of us ardent to make love. In no time at all we’re back on the bed, intertwined and writhing against one another’s naked bodies. Logan rolls onto his back, pulling me on top of him. I sit up, straddling him, and he sits too, wrapping his arms tightly around my bare back and gazing up at me like I’m the most beautiful thing to have graced the earth. I smile at him as I remember that that’s exactly what Logan thinks of me.

“I love you,” he tells me, making this moment even more perfect.

“I love you, too,” I say.

Down below he takes his firm erection in his hand and places himself at my opening. Wasting no time, I ease onto him, savouring the full, delicious, erotic feeling.

“Is this my
personalised
touch?” I ask, sliding my arms along Logan’s shoulders, bringing my face closer to his.

His arms hold me tighter to him, my chest pressed against his; there is nothing separating us, we are entirely united.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” he grins. A grin that is too beautiful to resist.

I kiss him passionately, and I start to move. Up and down, bouncing lightly. I glide easily onto him, so wet and wanting. Logan can feel it too. He makes that guttural noise in his throat at the feeling of me on him, and it sends my arousal sky-high, making me wetter. His hands slide down my back to my backside which he squeezes tightly, and then onto my legs. He pulls my legs outwards, spreading me even wider, making me take him deeper.

Oh
!

The feeling is exquisite and makes me moan against his lips.
Jeez
, he feels
so
good! His hard member is relentless, pushing me further in every moment. There is no let-up from the pleasure that is building; it just keeps on getting better and better.

My mind abandons me as my body groans for more. “Do that again,” I whisper to Logan.

Immediately his hands grip my thighs and he pulls, spreading me wider again.

Ah
! I can’t remember ever feeling him so deeply before, and it feels
incredible
! I call out loudly, ignoring the screaming muscles in my legs. Holy
shit
! Every feeling, every sensation intensifies. I move quicker, taking him into me with fervour. Oh,
yes
!

“Ah,
baby
,” Logan groans, his eyes closed, his face screwed up in pleasure.

I relish watching his reaction to being inside of me.
He
loves this,
I
love this!

I move quicker still, building perfectly, and moaning into his mouth as I kiss him. The closer we both get, the harder it becomes to concentrate on kissing. Instead we hold our mouths open against one another, breathing into each other, and sporadically thrusting a tongue into the mix.

“You feel
so
good,” he says breathlessly. Just when I think I can’t possibly become any
more
turned on, Logan’s words do it.

Satisfaction courses through my veins, making me smile. “So do you, baby.” I close my eyes and tilt my head back. “Do it again,” I plead.

Logan pleases me instantly, pulling my legs and taking me so deeply. We both cry out in ecstasy. Deciding to ‘do a Logan’, I slow my pace a little, but there’s no going back now, I’m too close!
Ah
!

Don’t come yet
, I tell myself, I want this to go on; I want this to go on forever!

We last for a few more pleasure-drenched moments before coming together, noisily, both of our orgasms stimulating the other, elongating our moments of coital delight. My body shakes, inundated with euphoric sensations, and my heart races overtime.
Ah
, that was phenomenal!

I close my eyes and rest my forehead against Logan’s, breathing hard. After a moment, I open my eyes and find him looking back at me.

“The rest of our lives,” Logan pants; he looks both besotted and filled with carnal gratification. “That’s what you said earlier:
the rest of our lives
…”

I nod and he smiles at me.

“Can you imagine doing
this
…
feeling
this for the rest of our lives?” he asks me, looking elated.

I grin back at him. “Sounds pretty fucking good to me!” I say. Animatedly, I scan both bedside tables searching for something.

“What could you possibly be looking for right now?” Logan chuckles.

“One of those guest-feedback reports,” I tell him. Hotels always have one lying somewhere. Then I push him backwards so that he’s flat on his back and I drape my body over his, whispering against his lips, “I’ve some
very
good service to report!”

*

We don’t have time to look around the hotel. At least, not now. Our dinner arrives shortly, and once we’ve devoured it, both feeling ravenous, it’s time to get ready to go out.

When I emerge from the bathroom after twenty minutes of primping and preening, Logan’s mouth hits the floor. “You look phenomenal!” he gushes.

So does he! I’ve never seen him look so suave before. He wears his black tuxedo, white shirt and red tie, which just so happens to match the colour of my floor-length dress, like he was born in it. I’m strangely proud of myself for admiring him with his clothes
on
instead of wanting to tear them off.

“Thank you,” I say, giving a little twirl. “You look even
more
gorgeous than usual,” I tell him. “This is a very nice touch,” I smile, stroking his red tie.

“I thought you might like it,” he smiles back. “Cue Chris De Burg’s
Lady In Red
to play in my head all night,” he grins, as I walk past him to the full length mirror.

“I like that song,” I giggle, as I give myself a quick once over.

Logan follows me, looking me up and down as well. The desire in his eyes makes me want to swoon. I take his hand and wrap it around my middle and we stand together in front of the mirror, observing ourselves all dolled up.

“Our first proper outing as a couple,” I say, unable to keep the excitement out of my voice.

Logan smiles again and kisses the side of my head. “I can’t
wait
to be seen with you,” he says to me. “I can’t wait to be known as Gemima Samuels’ boyfriend.”

I grin. “This is
your
function. I doubt anyone there will know my name,” I point out.

“There’s one person who will,” he says, reminding me that Jerry will be there.

“Ah…
Him
…”

“Yes. Him.”

I shrug. “You work in the same industry, we are bound to run into him at some point.”

“Hmm, unless he moves,” Logan says.

“Or dies,” I quip, cheekily.

Logan chuckles, looking at me in the mirror. His eyes leave mine and sweep down my body, resting at my feet. “Can you walk two blocks in those shoes?” he asks, and I nod. “In that case…” he offers me his arm, “Allons-nous?”
Shall we
?

*

As we walk the two blocks to Logan’s work function, I can’t shake the feeling that this place, these streets, are somehow familiar. It’s only when we’re standing across the road from the Hall D'Infini that I realise why.

“It’s in
there
?” I ask, alarmed.

“Uh, yes…why?” Logan looks perplexed.

“That’s…just…uh…”

“What, Gemima?” he wants to know, though I don’t really want to tell him.

Reluctantly, I do. “That’s where my work party was a few months back…the, uh, one during which Jerry cheated on me,” I confess in a small voice.

“
Fuck
!” Logan chides himself. “I’m so sorry!” He starts pulling me away, back in the direction of the hotel. “Come on, we don’t have to go.”

I plant my feet firmly on the ground so that he can pull me no further. “I
want
to go,” I tell him earnestly. “This is important to you, and I
want
to go. The location just caught me a little off guard, that’s all.”

“Are you sure?” he asks, looking wary. I nod vehemently. “You’re absolutely sure?”

I nod again, smiling at him and his evident concern for me. I throw my arms around his neck, declaring, “I couldn’t give a fuck about Jerry. I’m happy to be here with
you
, and I
want
to go, Logan. I promise you, I do,” I say, meaning it.

Sure, I
did
vow to myself after that fateful night that I would never return to the scene of the crime. But, fuck it! Things change.

“OK…if you’re sure,” he says for the third time, relaxing at last.

“I am,” I say, before kissing him.

I intend our kiss to be quick, but he holds me to him, kissing me slowly and passionately. This is Logan’s way of reassuring me; his way of promising that he’ll never do to me what Jerry did. When our kiss ends I can’t keep from beaming at him.

“I really love you, do you know that?” I ask him.

He nods; the dimples in his cheeks seducing me. “I do. And I love you, too. More than anyone. More than anything. I’ve loved you since the moment I first saw you,” he reminds me.

“Oh, yes,” I remember.
Lucky me
!

Totally blissed-out, and forgetting entirely about the former significance of the Hall D'Infini, we walk into the hall to the elevator, waiting for it to arrive with our arms around one another. Beneath us is the Hall’s car park, and above us is one of the many function rooms and our intended destination. When the elevator arrives from below, the doors open and I automatically begin walking towards them…until I register the two figures that are already inside, and I falter in my step.

Jerry is staring at me.

His mouth goes slack, opening slightly, and his eyes fill with anger as he takes in Logan and I. It’s the first time I’ve seen him since the day he confessed his secret to me, and we broke up. Well, actually, as I recall
I
didn’t break up with him. I left our apartment, a cramped one bedroom place that we lived in for eight years, amidst my shock and tears and fled to Amber and Seamus’ house. Amber was the one who broke up with Jerry on my behalf. I couldn’t do it; not because I didn’t desperately want to, but because I could not bring myself to look upon him again. My anger and disgust was overwhelming already, just thinking about what he’d done. If I had had him before me my inner-Ali might have surfaced and sent my fists flying.

We stare at each other and it’s like time is moving in slow motion. A million things go through my head in the space of one second: out of the blue I remember when we first got together — that it was an action born out of my ‘why not?’ kind of attitude rather than a true desire to be with him. I remember thinking…
he likes me
…
he’s cute
…
I’ve got nothing else to do with my summer
…

Why
did I do that
, I ask myself now. Why did I settle? I note immediately that I no longer think he’s cute. His mousy brown hair, grey-blue eyes and frustrated-looking face do nothing but piss me off now. Then there’s his suit; it’s an off-grey colour, and it’s too big and hangs off of him in a very unflattering way. He used to
always
wear his clothes like this, in an effort to try and make himself look taller (he’s five-ten) and not realising, despite my well-meaning comments, that it has the exact opposite affect. His clothes dwarf him, he looks ridiculous! And scruffy. And he’s evidently not pleased to see me. Ah, make that not pleased to see
us
!

Too bad
,
fucker
!

I’m not exactly brimming with joy at seeing him, especially when I see who he’s brought with him: none other than Mimi Pims, his partner in crime. No doubt he called her after hearing from Seamus that Logan and I are now together. Low, Jerry!
Very
low considering he was seeking advice on how to win me back less than a week ago! I wonder if she knows about that? I wonder if she knows that he referred to her as ‘nothing’ in his email to me? I wonder if I should enlighten her? Oh, how the spiteful part of me would
love
to! But, of course, I won’t. I could never be so cruel.

Logan’s hand gives mine an infinitesimal squeeze and I’m brought back to life, stepping forward once more before the elevator doors close. Jerry and Mimi are positioned at opposite sides of the elevator, but when Logan and I walk into the confined space with them, Mimi quickly scurries across to join Jerry, who drapes his arm around her shoulders in a very obvious show for attention. I want to roll my eyes but I refrain.

Jeez, I’m doing good! All of the profanities that could have flowed out of my mouth in this short time, and yet I’ve no desire to say any of them. I’m feeling cool, calm and collected.
Way to go
,
Gem
! Feeling Logan’s hand in mine certainly has something to do with it.