A Place Beyond The Horizon Ch. 15

Aidan begins to undress himself, feeling Mara's eyes on his body as he strips naked. He doesn't rush, revealing himself little by little, teasing Mara with his skin. He never did this with Rosa, he realises, but Mara is so very different. It's part of who she is, that there is a spectacle to it, a performance. The little disgruntled face as she showed herself to him, coming down the stairs in Sydney, has gone. Mara is showing off her new body, the one they have been working on together, seeing the validation of her efforts reflected in the steady gaze of the man standing over her.

Naked at last, Aidan approaches the bed. Mara's attention settles on the space between his legs and it's enough: Aidan feels himself begin to swell as she examines his bare form.

"I'm all yours," she breathes.

Aidan moves, climbing onto the bed, taking up a position over her prone body. He lowers his lips to her breast, kissing the soft, yielding flesh, tracking across her skin in increments until he finds her nipple. Aidan applies suction, drawing her hardening nub into his mouth, flicking the end with his tongue, and Mara writhes in response. He pulls away and she gasps.

"Tease."

Aidan chuckles, replying with, "So impatient."

He moves across her chest, dipping down to give her other nipple some attention, feeling Mara shift beneath him, arching her back to present herself to his ministrations. He breaks off again, trailing little kisses in her cleavage, like he's got all day.

He can feel the tension ebbing from her body as Mara sinks into the sensation of his lips across her skin. It's different, languid and sensual, lacking the urgency of their previous couplings, unhindered by alcohol or frenetic desire. He takes his time, working down to her belly button, dipping his tongue inside, making her laugh.

"That tickles."

Aidan laughs too, working the tip of his tongue across her lower abdomen with a feather-light touch, until she's squirming and bucking, little snorts of laughter escaping her mouth.

"Stop it," she giggles, "You're so cruel."

Suddenly, Aidan plunges down, pressing his lips against her entrance, and she gasps with the shock of unexpected contact.

"Fuck," she gasps, her body tensing as Aidan probes within her folds with his tongue.

He burrows within, tasting her, finding the hardening button nestled there, brushing it with his tongue tip. Mara's hands are in his hair, all at once, her fingers twining through his locks, the urgency building in her as he burrows deeper, sliding his tongue inside.

Mara hisses, a long, heavy exhalation, and Aidan can sense how much she's been building up to this. He breaks off, scattering kisses across her reddening lips, trailing out to her inner thighs, until she's grunting in frustration. Aidan works his way back in, pressing his mouth against her, pushing deeper, taking her clit between his lips and sucking gently until her hips begin to grind in the sheets.

"Aidan," she groans, "Just, uh, I want you. That's enough."

He pulls back, looking up the length of her body, meeting her gaze.

"Please," she whispers.

There is an innocence in her tone, stripped away of all pretence. He move up her body, kneeling over her, poised at her entrance. Mara lifts her head, kissing him deeply, waiting for him to make the move. She opens her eyes, face pressed against his.

"I...," she begins, but then her voice fades away, leaving behind a feeling.

He's looking into her beautiful blue eyes, hearing the thing between them, unvoiced but deep. Mara wants to tell him something, like it's a confession, but she can't bring herself to say it. Her expression shifts, and he can tell she's changing tack, burying the thing she wanted to say, and the moment is lost.

"I'm ready for you, babe," she murmurs instead, kissing him again.

"You want me to use protection?"

"No. I want to feel you. It's all good."

He feels her hands on his waist, sliding down, applying pressure. He yields, penetrating her slowly, rocking back and forth, pushing further, sliding deeper with each thrust until he slips into her entirely. Her fingernails dig into the skin of his buttocks.

Their lovemaking is leisurely; Mara seems content to let him dictate the pace, her hands exploring his body as she stretches out, savouring the feeling of him inside her. It's so different, it's almost like she's another person. Aidan buries his face in her hair, thrusting more firmly into her now, feeling the first stirrings of his climax building. He knows what this is, because it used to feel like this with Rosa. He's gotten to the same point with Mara now, past the point of fucking to the place where they're making love. He can tell that she feels it too, letting him take his time with her, letting him bring her gently up to orgasm.

Before, there had always been an urge in her, a violence, but as she moans softly in his ear, he can tell she doesn't want that now. Her hand brushes up her neck, her fingers closing into a fist in his hair, her breathing pattern shifting, panting, as her climax approaches.

Aidan doesn't pull back but he doesn't bury himself in her with any greater urgency either. There's no rush, feeling a deep urge building in his groin as he feels her begin to feather around him. She's close, on the brink, waiting for him and he lets himself build, powering at last to the point of release, finally thrusting harder and faster until his core contracts and he erupts.

Mara hisses through clenched teeth, orgasming too, cinching his body in her arms as he fills her. There is something primal about it, a desire beyond the basic need to climax that he's felt with her previously. At last he sinks down on top of her, pressing her body into the sheets, feeling the slickness of her skin against his.

"Jesus," she mutters, "Were you saving yourself up?"

Aidan laughs, his face in her hair, and he feels her laughing too, her body shaking beneath him.

"Babe, you looked like you were about to pop a vein."

"Maybe."

He knows what she means. This time had felt different, a better connection between them. He rolls to the side and she takes a deep breath, unencumbered now by his bulk.

"It was like a fucking sex scene," she says.

"Huh? I don't understand."

She turns to him, eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Y'know, like it is in the movies."

"Like what? Uh, is that a good thing?"

"It's always good in the movies, Aidan. It's always perfect."

She smiles at him.

"Though, obviously we had less slow piano music in the background."

Aidan laughs, and Mara grins at him.

"What you said, about protection, you worried?" she asks.

"Aren't you?"

"About what? Getting pregnant?"

"I guess."

Mara slides an arm around his shoulder, trailing her free hand down his bare chest, tracing the contours of his abdomen.

"You don't need to worry about that, Aidan. You're safe there."

Aidan frowns and she pats her tummy.

"Dead end," she says, "No chance of little surprises."

For her to come out with it like that, just stating it as a matter of fact, has blindsided him. Instantly, he thinks back to holding Rosa on their bed at home, the day that they'd found out it was her that was the problem. Rosa had cried, burying her face in his chest, and at that moment he had vowed to himself that he would do everything he could to give her a child, whatever it took. He couldn't bear the empty, broken look on his wife's face.

"I'm sorry," Aidan murmurs.

"It's all a long time ago. No point living in the past," Mara replies, "Such is life."

Aidan tries to find the words to say, but he can't. It feels awful, and sad. Mara rests a hand on her tummy, falling silent, lost in her thoughts.

"Did you want kids?" Aidan asks, gently.

"Oh, Aidan, I dunno. My life isn't exactly conducive. Not that it matters, anyway."

"What about treatments? There are all sorts of...."

"Yeah, I know. I looked. But there's something else you need too."

She curls up against him, her cheek on his chest, her breath warm against his skin.

"Sorry. I get it if you don't wanna talk," Aidan murmurs, stroking her hair softly.

Mara snuggles into him.

"A man," she says, "You also need a man, a child needs a father. I just never seem to get around to that part."

"Ever get close?"

Unexpectedly, she shifts her head and plants a kiss on his chest.

"Maybe, someday," she mutters, "Maybe a guy will come into my life and put me on the right track. A guy who wants to be with me, just me, and not fucking Mara Fey. Know anyone?"

Her head shifts again, and he finds himself meeting wide blue eyes. For a moment, Mara looks like she's going to say something more, but then she closes her eyes, pressing her cheek tightly against Aidan's bare chest and they lie together quietly instead, their bodies entwined.

"Do you wanna get a drink?" Mara asks suddenly, "Apparently the hotel bar is awesome."

She runs her fingers through her hair, coming to life again. Aidan regards her for a moment, caught off-guard by her mercurial nature.

"Okay. Sure."

"Give me a minute to get changed. You might wanna do that yourself."

She gets up and pads over to her room, barefoot. Aidan finds himself staring out the window at the high-rise buildings glinting in the late afternoon sun. He doesn't know why he said okay. He doesn't know why he's agreed to go to the bar. Nothing seems to make much sense anymore. Mara is like a chess game that he just can't work out the rules for; at one moment they are tender, entwined on the bed, and the next she wants to go out. Reluctantly, he goes over to his wardrobe and pulls on a shirt.

A few minutes later, he emerges from his room and goes to find Mara. She's still getting dressed, high heels in one hand, a dress draped over her arm, standing in just her underwear. She's fixed her face though and brushed her hair. Aidan watches as she drops the shoes to the ground and steps into them before sliding the dress down over her head.

"Little help?"

Aidan moves forward as she fusses with the dress, turning her back on him. He zips her up.

"Let's go. Apparently, it's a killer sunset."

She leads him out of the suite to the elevators and punches the button for the fifty-second floor. She fusses with Aidan's collar and smooths a hand down the buttons of his shirt.

"You brush up nice," she says.

"So do you."

Mara smiles, her eyes wide. "I know," she replies.

When the elevator opens, she steps straight out and up to the maitre d', who nods and beckons them to follow him.

"I phoned ahead," Mara confesses, "Being famous has gotta be good for something, hey."

They are led to a table by the windows.

"I'll have a champagne," Mara says to the man.

Aidan nods.

"Make that two," she says, settling into the chair.

Before them, Tokyo is laid out in an endless sprawl of steel, concrete and glass, reaching all the way to the far horizon.

"Thirty-five million people," Mara murmurs, "All living on a fault line. Three tectonic plates meet right here."

She laughs to herself, but her eyes are focused on the distant cityscape. "Talk about pressure."

The waiter arrives with their drinks. Mara holds up her glass and chinks it against his.

"Cheers to us," she says, "And a job well done."

Mara sips the champagne, looking back out at the view. Dusk is approaching and the sky is tinged with purple as they watch the oncoming night sweep over the horizon.

"What's next?" Aidan asks.

Mara shrugs, taking another sip of her drink.

"Ah, Aidan, who knows? Not Tony and his project, that's a certainty. He can go fuck himself."

"What?"

Mara shook her head. "Gabriella called me a couple days back, says they signed someone else on. Won't say who, but the rumour mill knows."

"Who is it?"

"Lara Borliase," Mara snorts, "Can't act for shit, but she looked fucking gorgeous in that red dress on the carpet at the Oscars last year."

She screws her nose up.

"No, wait," she says, "That's not fair. She's pretty good and from what I hear she works her ass off. Fair play to her. After all, that was me fifteen years ago, trampling all in my path."

She glances across at Aidan, a wry smile on her lips, "Now I guess I'm the tramplee."

Mara laughs. "Wait. Hold on. Is that even a word?"

Aidan smiles back at her, "No idea."

"Maybe I just made a word. I'm like William fucking Shakespeare," she replies, "Did you know he invented bubble?"

"What?"

"Really, look it up. First occurrence of bubble in the English language was from him. He had a green field, he could just make shit up and put it in a play and it became part of the language."

"You're kidding."

"Nah. Fuck, babe, imagine if I could do that. How cool would that be?"

"Maybe you can. Tramplee, for a start."

"Yeah. You gotta remind me, later. I need to write it into the screenplay. I need to immortalise it."

She laughs again, and her attention drifts back to the window. Aidan isn't interested in the view though, he's looking at Mara, the delicate curve of her cheek, the faint lines around her eyes, the way she has her blonde hair tucked behind her ear. He doesn't know what happens next, or where they go from here. He hasn't been able to figure out what he means to her, or how Andrew fits into her life.

Mara is enthralling in her own way, always on the move, like water changing direction, turbulent sometimes and placid at others. Like now, he thinks: Mara is quiet and open.

"You haven't told me what you think," she says.

"About what?"

"About the screenplay. You read it, right?"

She turns to face him, frowning. "You did read it? You didn't get bored, did you?"

"Yeah, I read it."

"So? What do you think?"

The blue eyes are watching him closely.

"I'm not sure I'm the best judge."

"But?"

Aidan smiles at her. "I liked it. I thought it was a good story."

He expects Mara to smile, or to crack a joke, but instead, she becomes contemplative, earnest. He can see just how much it means to her, the way she is exposing herself to him by letting him see her work.

"I thought it was sad," he continues, "That she never got away from the fact that love just brought her hardship."

"But what about the end? Where she finds someone new?"

"I liked that," Aidan replies, "I liked that it stopped when it did, at the start of something. It lets you imagine that it'll turn out right for them both."

"Do you think they stay together?" Mara asks, "Despite all her history? Do you think she can start again?"

Aidan drinks his champagne, watching the play of emotions across her face as she waits for his answer.

"I think that's the beauty of it, Mara, there at the end, where you leave them. You don't say they're gonna be together, but you do show that her world has changed. Even if it doesn't work out with him, she's already starting out again. You think she'll find what she's looking for after all."

Mara smiles.

"Good," she says, "It's good isn't it? Everyone deserves a happy ending."

Mara turns her attention to the skyscrapers, lighting themselves up one by one in the dark.

"Even her," she murmurs to herself.

Aidan follows her gaze, looking out through the windows and sipping his drink. They sit in an easy silence watching the night lights of Tokyo coming to life in the dark. Red aircraft warning lights blink on the rooftops of the skyscrapers and as the night settles in. Aidan can see those red lights stretching out across the cityscape, building after building, district after district, marching all the way into the distance, an endless megacity of high-rise monoliths stretching all the way to the invisible horizon.

Mara reaches out and runs her hand tenderly up and down his spine.

"What do you see?" she asks, softly, "Looking out at all the city, how does it make you feel?"

Aidan watches the blinking taillights of the flights descending towards Narita airport, and then down at the bustle of people in the streets far below.

"From up here, the people look like ants," Aidan says, "It makes me feel very small and insignificant. What about you?"

Mara sighs. He feels the warmth of her hand on his back through the cotton of his shirt.

"Here we are, sitting high above it all," she replies, "How does it make me feel?"

She takes a sip of champagne.

"It makes me feel like a god."

---

[Next chapter: They wrap up in Tokyo in a club, and Aidan discovers the full scope of Andrew's plan. Will he take what they're offering him? Can he live their life? Or is his place over the horizon, back home? Aidan finally decides where he belongs.

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