All Things Come... Vol. 2 Ch. 06

The timeless moment passed and our muscles slackened in the afterglow of orgasm. Uli took me in her mouth again and held my cock gently as it softened, and I lapped gently at the fresh juices that she had released. Our breathing slowed, and then reluctantly, she rolled off me.

'So sweet.' Her eyes were wet and I sat up and slipped my arms round her. I was beginning to get an idea of what I hadn't been saying.

'Perhaps it's a good thing we're going down to dinner after all. Let's have another stab at getting clean.' She kissed me, her face still smeared with cum and sweat, then sniffed.

'Better than sitting here wishing we could stay like this forever. This bath seems to add essence of whatever to the water and I think I programmed roses, so you'll just have to put up with that.' She rolled over and disappeared with a splash, and I followed her. We found each other and rose to the surface together.

'Uli, this is a young swimming pool. I need somewhere to relax.' She snorted and hauled me over to a submerged ledge, cunningly formed to take two bodies comfortably. We lay comfortably, warm water bubbling round us, and stared at each other.

'That was kind of intense,' I said softly, rubbing her calf with the sole of my foot. 'A bit more than just "long time no see".' She nodded but didn't answer, and closed her eyes.

'It fills me so full I can hardly speak,' she said finally, 'and talking about it is going to feel a bit like swearing in church.' I knew what she meant.

'Is it any help to know that I feel the same?' I asked hesitantly. 'It's not really cool Luke here. Something's happened to him.' She slithered sideways and hooked one leg over mine.

'New territory for both us. It's a good job we're an unbeatable combination, or heaven knows what might happen.' Her eyes were sparkling again and I felt my own mood lightening. She was right, dammit. Who better than us to cope with almost anything? I leaned back further and put my arms behind my head.

'Wash me, woman,' I said loftily, 'and take special care with the parts of me that you soiled.' She gasped and pushed me off the ledge, then launched herself onto me and tried to hold me under. After some difficulty I reached air again.

'And another thing while I think of it,' I spluttered. 'It's not just on your head that the hair's been growing. You've given yourself a sweet little landing strip. Is that for the fashion show too?' To my surprise she blushed.

'It was by request. I thought about getting rid of it, but then I decided that you could cope with it and he might have trouble wondering why it had gone. Do you mind?' I checked myself for minding, and found that I really didn't.

'When did I ever tell you to do anything? Your body, your choice.' She nodded, and her shoulders relaxed imperceptibly. I felt as if I'd passed some kind of test.

'Let's get properly clean and then dry,' she said, 'and then I've got a surprise for you, but you can't look while I unpack it.'

* * * *

'What the hell is this?' I asked as I took my hands away from my eyes. Lying on the bed was a navy blue suit. Next to it was a shirt and tie. On the floor beneath them was a pair of gleaming loafers. On the other side of the bed an evening dress was displayed. Uli beamed proudly.

'You were right about the tie rule, but that's only in the dining room in the evenings. So we made these.'

'We?' She looked smug.

'My flatmate and I. I'm a brilliant designer and she's so good with scissors and a sewing machine it's untrue. They're actually models that we're going to use in the show, so making them up to fit wasn't a problem.'

'How did you know my size?' She snorted exasperatedly.

'I know every measurement you've got. Don't laugh like that, I'm serious. You're the one who told me I've got a talent for this sort of thing. Put it on, please. I want to see.'

'I've never owned a made-to-measure suit,' I said, wonderingly. 'What's it made of?'

'A silk and linen mix,' said Uli, 'and the shirt's your exact size, and it's silk too, and will you please hurry up. Our table's in forty minutes and I've got to do my hair.'

'Yes, ma'am, straight away, ma'am.' I climbed into the clothes and eased the loafers onto my feet. Uli had slipped behind me, still unselfconsciously naked, and was twitching and adjusting things. She looked up delightedly.

'Just right, even the fall of the pants. You can only wear these shoes though. If you want a different pair you've got to take me with you. The heel height is important.' She straightened up and my heart did that unfamiliar flip-flop again.

'Come on woman, 'I said. 'I'll thank you properly when I'm not speechless. Let me see you in the dress.' She looked mischievous.

'No. Go down to the bar and show off your suit, and I'll join you there. I want everyone to see my entrance, and I want you to watch them, and then I want to see their faces when I kiss you.' Women can be so innocently cruel. I did as I was told.

For a Friday night in February in the middle of nowhere, the joint was rocking. The bar was three-quarters full of people who all looked as if they could buy and sell me with their spare change. I don't usually give a fuck about that sort of thing: I deal with it by not hanging out with people who might be tempted to buy and sell me, but here we were, and I was damned if I was going to let Uli down. As I approached the bar I caught sight of my reflection in the mirrored back wall and nearly choked. I looked rich too. Better than that: I looked confident and rich. I realized that the suit fit me perfectly and the snowy silk of the shirt emphasized the remains of my Christmas tan. I leaned on the bar and peeked at myself again, trying not to appear obvious. To be absolutely and honestly truthful I was slicker than gooseshit.

A waitress materialized in front of me. The rich get good service

'Can I take your order, sir?' Time to celebrate, I decided.

'Brandy and Tia Maria over ice, please, and I'll have it at a table.' I found an empty half-booth and relaxed. My drink came and I sipped contentedly.

The crowd appeared to be evenly divided between youngish and older, and there were slightly more women than men. I seemed to be the only unaccompanied person, and I noticed a couple of the younger women glancing at me casually. I was looking back at one of them when her head turned to the door and a comical expression of jealousy appeared on her face. At the same moment I became aware that other heads were swiveling and conversation had stopped. I half-turned to see what was happening.

What was happening was Uli. Her dress was a deep burgundy, setting off her bright hair and creamy skin to perfection. She had paused in the doorway, and the swathe of glowing silk, expertly cut and fitted to her slender form, enveloped her almost completely. She saw me, and her face lit up and she began to move towards me. As she floated across the floor, the promise of imminent, daring exposure was plain to everyone, but somehow the effect remained one of modesty and restraint. The men at the bar were desperately waiting for a revealing fall of the fabric: hell, I knew what was under the dress, and I was getting excited too. Bad luck, guys, she's too good for that, and what's more, she's mine. The women's faces all wore identical expressions of envy. I felt like a king and gestured to the waitress, pointing to my glass.

She reached the booth and slid in next to me, leaning towards me and giving me a deep, open-mouthed kiss. I could almost hear the sigh of disappointment from the men in the room, and hoped that the two women who'd been checking me out were feeling cheated too. We broke the kiss and the waitress materialized with two fresh drinks.

'Unbelievable,' I said sincerely. 'Absolutely all your own work?' She smiled.

'The design and the major cutting. Lottie did the fine tuning and the sewing. We're talking about setting up something when we graduate.'

You'll make more money than your father,' I said fervently. 'Jesus, girl, every jaw in the room hit the floor when you walked in.' She beamed happily.

'I know. Isn't it fun?' Her face changed. 'Luke, there's a girl I was at school with over there, with two guys. Look, the one in blue.' I followed her eyes. It was one of the women who'd been eyeing me. She said something to her companions and moved towards us.

'Ulrike? Ulrike Fischer? I hardly recognized you. What are you doing here?' Uli got to her feet and they exchanged kisses of greeting. I stood too, and Uli introduced us.

'Luke, this is Myrta Schröder: we were at the academy together. Myrta, this is Luke Lancer. We're just here for a quiet weekend. Are you on holiday?' The girl pouted.

'With my fiancé and his parents.' She looked at me. 'What do you do, Mr. Lancer?' There was curiosity in her voice. Uli jumped in, her eyes sparkling with wickedness.

'Luke spends most of his time in Brussels, but every so often I drag him away. I'm lucky enough to be his lover of choice.' I choked on my drink.

'The luck is all mine,' I said gallantly. An imp of mischief whispered in my ear, and I continued. 'Austrian women are terribly demanding, but they're very clean and the most sensual in Europe: well worth the effort, in my opinion.' I turned to Uli. 'I need to keep my strength up, sweetheart. Shall we go in to dinner?' Her turn to choke. Myrta had turned red, and began to excuse herself. I finished my drink and offered my arm to Uli. In the corridor she let out the breath she'd been holding and punched my arm.

'You're so bad. She'll tell the world what you said. Everyone will be talking about us now.'

'Good. It's about time we went public. You were the one who said the words "lover of choice", bless you.' Her eyes went soft and I hurried on. 'Come on, girl, I'm starving. Have you organized the meal? You seem to have arranged everything else.'

* * * *

'I'll never eat again,' I moaned two hours later. 'You've done this on purpose to frustrate me.' She flicked my nose with a finger.

'Nobody forced you to have two desserts. I'm glad you won't be able to distract me while we talk though. I'm not going to let you get away with it this time.'

I was prone on the bed and she was sitting cross-legged beside me, wearing the camisole set that she'd purchased the Christmas before. She'd insisted that I hang the suit up carefully, so I'd slipped into a T-shirt to hide my overfull stomach. I looked at her carefully and tried to sense her mood. Seriousness, nervousness, determination.... She was radiating hope and apprehension in equal quantities.

'You first.' I said cautiously. She sighed and nodded.

'OK, that's fair. Do you remember how we felt in Spain? I mean, how we connected completely, as if we were in bed even when we weren't?' I remembered very well, and it must have showed on my face, because she stroked my shoulder and continued. 'Well, that's when it started. You'd been so patient, and you never pushed me, and you even stopped me when I wanted to rush things, and then, when we went there, and we finally went to bed properly, it was just..., I don't know, like nothing I'd ever imagined.' She looked at me solemnly. 'I'm terrified this might frighten you away, but I'm going to say it, because otherwise I'll be keeping stuff from you. I've been a little bit in love with you almost since I met you, but since last summer it's been more than "in love". In my head we've never fucked; we've always made love; even the times that we've been with other people, for me it's been making love, and now I think I actually love you, and that's a completely different thing.' She stopped and lowered her head slightly, watching me through the blonde strands that fell forward over her face. Nervousness was the dominant note in her now, and I knew how she felt.

'Uli, sweetheart, I thought I loved someone once, and that she loved me, but it didn't work, so I settled for fun instead, and that's worked fine. I do what I'm good at, and I give in to temptation if I think no-one's going to get hurt, and that's where it stops. I'm thirty-eight, and I've lived like this for a long time, and I'm not sure I want to change. And on the other hand, something's happened, and I don't know what. I've been off-center since I came back from The Maldives, and I've been spending a lot of time thinking about you... and if thinking about you sends me off-center, and I've got to the point where thinking about you is interfering with my life, then what the hell is happening? If I'm not careful it's going to affect my work.' I paused, and she uncoiled herself and lay beside me, propped on one elbow.

'You mean it's somehow my fault?' I shook my head.

'It's not a question of fault, and you know it: you've become more important to me than I've been able to admit, until you forced me to have two desserts and confess. If you love me, it's a privilege and I don't want to screw up. But I don't know how to do it. It'd be easy to say "I love you too, let's fuck", but you're worth more than that. I'm not your teacher any more, and I'm in unknown territory. What do you think we should do?' She leaned over me and kissed me lightly.

'I want to believe that you feel more for me than for the others. I love Inge and Trudi, and I like Magda, and the rest must be alright or you wouldn't have anything to do with them, but I want to be special to you like you're special to me. If we can have that then the rest can follow if it wants to. I had to say something, or else we'd be thinking that we couldn't go any further, and nearly all of me wants to go further.'

'What about the rest of you?' She put her head on my chest.

'The rest of me thinks I should settle for what I've got, and it's scared stiff that I've pushed you too far and you'll curl up in your shell and disengage. You wouldn't be cruel: you'd do it kindly, and without hurting me too much, but if you thought it was best then you'd do it, and I'd want to die.' We lay quietly next to each other and thought about what we'd said.

'I've used the words, "making love".' I said after a while, 'and people have said them to me, and I know what they're meant to mean. But in my head there's fun, then fun plus, then something that I'm not sure about. It's there, and sometimes I can feel the edge of it, but I don't think I've ever... Shit, I've felt that way with you more than with anyone I've ever known, but...' I didn't know how to go on. She reached up and pulled my hair gently.

'Don't get worried about it. You're good at teaching, in fact you're the best, and you're fun plus for more people than you think, and you're finding this difficult but you're doing it anyway, because you don't want to hurt me. I understand all that, and you taught me most of it. But a day at a time, just like learning English. What do you want to do?' I felt a laugh bubbling up in me.

'I want to scream for help and cling to you for comfort,' I managed to say. 'But I think "What do we want to do?" would be a better question. I know what I don't want to do.'

'And that is?' Her voice was still light, but the nervousness was back.

'Well, I don't want you to give up on me, and I don't want to drive you away, and I don't want to change my life, and I'm not sure what else. It's strange. Saying that you're more important than I'm prepared to admit shouldn't be a big deal. After all, I'm not stupid. If you weren't a lot more than fun you wouldn't be messing my life up so sweetly. Tell me what you don't want.' She put her head on my chest again.

'The same as you, I suppose. I don't want to settle down or anything. I'm learning so much, and Dieter, my... the guy I'm with, my supervisor, is helping me loads, and I'm going to be a bloody good designer soon, better than I am now, so I don't want to give up everything for you, and I don't want to be a nun, or have a sad long-distance relationship, being frustrated half the time. I've seen that, and it doesn't work. But I'm quite happy for people to know that even if you're not the only man between my legs you're the only one between my ears, and that I'd do anything for you because you've got a stranglehold on my heart.' I replayed her words in my head. They weren't really so frightening. I couldn't think of anything I wouldn't do for her if she asked.

'It's the 'C' word, isn't it?'

'What's the 'C' word?'

'Commitment. You want a form of commitment that lets us belong to each other in a way that doesn't exclude the rest.' She lunged at me and caught my head in her hands.

'I hoped so much you'd understand, and I was so worried you wouldn't. That's enough talk for tonight, darling Luke. Can we snuggle now, and think about it, and go to sleep in each other's arms?'

'You'd better be here when I wake up in the morning. We've got to deal with legs and ears and what's between them. We'll start off with legs, and after breakfast we'll go for a walk and think about ears.' She kissed my cheek, and didn't say anything, but when I slipped my arm round her she wormed closer against me. I lay and looked at the ceiling, wondering if I was going to be good enough to handle the thing that was beginning to take shape.

* * * *

LAURA AND MAGDA

As Magda entered the pension she wondered if she was going to do more harm than good. The blonde receptionist was a completely different proposition to Elena and Anita. She hardly knew her, and she wasn't sure how much she wanted to swap confidences with her. On the other hand, she might know more about what was happening. You're a diplomat, for heaven's sake, she told herself, and you can handle this.

Laura was at the desk sitting and staring into space. Magda looked at her carefully, and was struck by the blonde girl's calm presence. Physically, they were complete opposites, but Magda could see the beauty in her generous curves and the promise of sensuality in her ripe body. As she approached Laura looked round, and surprise, followed by curiosity, flickered across her face. Magda tried to appear calm and business-like.

'Laura, isn't it?' she asked politely. The receptionist nodded.

'Yes. I'm sorry, I know who you are, obviously, but not your name.'

'Magda. I'm glad you're here, Laura. Umm... it may be a bit forward of me, but I thought that we might have similar problems at the moment, and I wondered if it would be worthwhile having a chat about it.' Laura thought for a moment.

'Maybe. Sit in the lounge and I'll fetch some coffee. I can see the desk from there if anyone comes.' When she had returned with the drinks, and they were sitting opposite each other, Magda took a deep breath and began. Go for the jugular, she told herself.

'He's changed, hasn't he?' she said bluntly, 'and you've been wondering why, just like we have. You see him every day, and I'm ninety-nine percent sure that you spend leisure time with him too, but I don't know how much. And I know that until now he's handled everything in his own way, and we've all known about each other, and it really hasn't mattered, but now it's beginning to niggle. Aren't you curious too?' Laura looked cautious, but then nodded.

'There's three of you, aren't there? It surprised me at first that he was being so blatant. I mean, guys usually sneak around and try to hide everything; but when I finally plucked up the courage to... well, anyway, after I got to know him better, I understood. He gave me exactly what I needed, and when I've been with him I've never felt that there was anyone between us, and he made me feel so wanted and ... everything. I never even thought about any of you while I was with him, and when you were here with him it didn't matter either.' Her face darkened. 'Since Christmas though... I've been with him once, and it was good, but it wasn't quite the same and I don't know what's happened. I thought it was one of you, but then when you were all looking for him on Friday I knew it wasn't.' She paused, and Magda jumped hastily into the gap.