A French Kiss in London

by De Ross, Melinda

  “Come on, you know you want to go. Who doesn’t want to go to Romania? Especially to Transylvania, the enigmatic and exotic territory in the heart of the Carpathians?” he asked theatrically.

  As he’d hoped, she expelled a long breath and started laughing, disarmed.

  “I can’t believe this! Is there a woman in the world who can resist you?”

  “I don’t know, but I doubt that.” He grinned smugly. “In any case, I’m not interested in anybody but you. So, tomorrow I can reserve the plane tickets, right?”

  “Fine,” she consented grudgingly. “So we go by plane. And after that what? Will your friend meet us at the airport?”

  “No. Our flight-stop is in Bucharest, which is the capital of Romania. Jean-Paul lives in another city, called Cluj-Napoca. I thought we could rent a car and drive there. It’s only a few hours away from Bucharest. Besides, we have the chance to admire the scenery. I heard that country has splendid landscapes.”

  “To be honest, you’ve made me curious. Perhaps it’s indeed going to be an interesting experience.”

  “I’m sure of that. I could tell you this city is right in the center of Transylvania. Maybe we’ll encounter a creature of the night,” he growled with a Dracula accent. Then he burst out laughing, seeing her cautious expression.

  “Don’t worry, beautiful. I’ll be there to protect you. We can even take some silver stakes with us if you’d like.”

  A smile flickered over her face, but before she could reply, he said, “Tell me about the statue that looks like me.”

  Linda bit her lower lip in an attempt to control her laughter.

  “You have an ego the size of Russia, haven’t you? There’s nothing to tell, it’s just a coincidence. I sculpted that statue of Apollo long before I met you. Granted, there’s a resemblance between it and your features.”

  “You know I don’t believe in coincidence, right?”

  “Then how do you explain it?”

  “Well, analyzing things logically, I assume you sculpted that statue from your imagination, inspired by a fantasy-man. Correct?”

  “Sort of,” she consented, suspiciously.

  “And after that, you’ve met me. This means I am literally the man of your dreams,” he reasoned with feigned soberness. “So it’s clear that we were predestined to meet and fall in love with one another.”

  For a few moments she remained speechless, her mouth open, without uttering a sound. Then she started massaging her forehead, shaking her head and laughing softly.

  “You are the most arrogant man I have ever come across.”

  He smiled, saying nothing.

  They put together a plan for the next few days during which they would be away, discussing the arrangements each had to make. Linda decided on asking Mrs. Adams to take Pirata home with her during those three days.

  “It breaks my heart to leave him alone. We’ve never been apart,” she complained. “What if he becomes depressed and thinks I won’t come back?”

  “Baby, as long as he’ll have food, toys and TV, he’s going to be just dandy. Besides, you told me that Mrs. Adams adores him, and vice versa.”

  “That’s true,” she admitted, her face brightening a bit. “In the beginning I was a bit jealous of her and of all the affection my cat showed toward her. Now I’m glad that…Where are we going?” she asked curiously, noticing that, although they’d reached the city, he was heading the car to a direction other than her house.

  “To my flat. Aren’t you curious to see where I live?”

  “Yes, I am. As a matter of fact, I was wondering when you planned to invite me.”

  His flat was situated in the center of London, relatively near Francesco’s gallery. They navigated the crowded streets until they reached a neighborhood of modern buildings. Nearby, there was an underground garage. Gerard greeted the guard with a hand-gesture, as they entered the garage, then he parked the car. He opened her door and helped her climb out. Hand in hand, they walked to the exit and he guided her to a path paved with gravel. It led to the entrance of a coquettish, four-story building, which was painted light beige and had multi-colored flowerpots beaming at every window.

  “There are only a few small flats in this building and one of them is mine,” he explained.

  They took the stairs to the second floor. He unlocked the door and urged her inside, saying, “La mia casa è la tua casa! My home is your home.”

  Linda turned to him, shocked and impressed. He’d practiced hard the correct pronunciation and accent of the Italian words he’d Googled.

  “Don’t tell me you can speak Italian!”

  He smiled softly, looking at his shoes as he confessed, “No. Actually, I’ve learned only a few lines just to impress you.”

  She stared up at him in amazement. He could see she was truly touched by his gesture.

  “You’ve succeeded!” she congratulated him, her voice charged with emotion and pleasure.

  After they gazed at each other for another long moment, he urged her inside.

  The flat was indeed small, but he liked it that way. It was extremely comfortable and nicely furnished. The spacious hallway split into three directions—to the left was the kitchen, to the right his single roomy bedroom, and straight ahead was the living room.

  To simplify matters and suit his own taste, he’d ordered the furniture, drapes, even the floorboards to be all in shades of brown—a blend of dark walnut and sweet, honey-like tones.

  What caught Linda’s attention and made her gasp was the huge aquarium. It was placed along one wall, facing the wide living room window.

  “Oh, my! They are gorgeous!” she exclaimed, moving toward the glass beyond which dozens of colorful minuscule fish undulated in the water, in an exotic setting that simulated their natural habitat. Some were more energetic, others lazier, but they all seemed to move in a dance of their own, by a choreography known only by them. She liked watching their tiny bodies intertwine through the rocks and plants, artistically arranged for their delight.

  Gerard came up behind Linda and embraced her tenderly, laying a kiss on the soft skin of her bare shoulder.

  “Do you like them?”

  “They are wonderful! I would love to have some of these, but I think Pirata would go mad with frustration because he couldn’t catch them. And the fish would die of stress,” she joked. “I could sit watching them for hours. It’s so relaxing…It’s like I’m transported in their fluid little world, with no worries.”

  He smiled and took a box from a shelf.

  “Look, this is their food. Take a little with the tips of your fingers and spread it on top.”

  “It looks disgusting!”

  “Trust me, they love it.”

  She took some grainy mixture and sprinkled it gently into the aquarium, after Gerard had lifted the lid. Then she started laughing in delight when all the fish rushed to the surface, greedily devouring the treat with their tiny, round mouths.

  “Told you,” Gerard said smiling. “What do you want to drink?”

  “What have you got?”

  “Soda, tonic water, red wine, white wine, beer and coffee,” he enumerated, counting on his fingers.

  “I almost never drink coffee. Just today I had to make an exception, for an emergency situation,” she said in playful reproach. “Some tonic water, please.”

  “Coming right up. Make yourself at home. The couch is over there, the TV remote must be around too.”

  “I’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

  He left her sitting on his massive couch, in front of his massive TV—both typically masculine. She found the remote under one of the couch’s cushions and turned on the TV.

  He brought a glass of tonic water for her and a beer for him, then sat next to her.

  “Who’s going to feed your fish while we’re gone?”

  “Well, I get along with all my neighbors. I’d trust any one of them. I think I’ll ask Danielle. She’s on top of me,” he explained, indicating the ce
iling. “She’s an exotic dancer.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  Linda looked ready to choke for the second time that day.

  “Yeah, she’s a nice girl. We’re friends, nothing more,” he accentuated when he saw her dark expression.

  Then he noticed the pearl-necklace around her neck and smiled endearingly, moved by his mother’s gesture.

  “Gift from Mother? It means she liked you very much, if she gave you this. It was her biggest treasure, inherited from grandma. It’s very old.”

  “I was bewildered! I can’t believe she gave me something so important to her. I’m practically a stranger. But you’re wrong. You are her biggest treasure.”

  He smiled fondly, taking a sip from his beer.

  “True. Besides Aunt Sophie, I’m all she has in this world. They both adore me, and I adore them.”

  “I can see you’re used to women’s adoration,” she teased. “And now shut up. I want to watch the show. It’s one of my favorites.”

  “What’s this?” he asked, looking at the screen.

  “Dynamo, Magician Impossible. This guy fascinates me. He’s not like other illusionists. In fact, I don’t think you could actually call him an illusionist, because I don’t believe the levitations and the other things he does have anything to do with illusion. I probably speak unknowingly, but I think I can say one thing with a fair degree of certainness.”

  “What’s that?”

  He watched Dynamo slowly coming off the ground, rising toward the sky, in front of an entire crowd next to a huge statue of Jesus.

  “I don’t think he got his abilities by practicing yoga. Some advanced masters reach the levitation stage after long periods of intensive training. I don’t think that’s his case though. And I don’t believe him to be a fakir either.”

  “Why do you say that?” he asked, intrigued by the topic.

  She put her glass on the table and turned to him.

  “I’ve read somewhere he suffers from a terrible disease—Crohn’s disease. If he’d practiced yoga at such a high level, he would’ve been long cured. Be as it may, I’m telling you, the guy is not a regular person. He has some special abilities and qualities…”

  “Do you want to sit here all night so you can extol this Dynamo dude? I’m becoming jealous.”

  “Why?” she replied serenely, entering his game. She smiled wickedly at him, moistening her lips seductively. “If Dynamo comes from Dynamite, the guy must be dynamite in bed. Do you realize? He must be able to levitate a woman using only his…”

  “You want levitation?” he interrupted slyly, his tone charged with amused threat. “I’ll give you levitation. Come here.”

  He lifted her effortlessly off the couch in a smooth, fluid motion, and placed her onto his lap. With a surprised giggle, she straddled him, draping her skirt over his thighs. He drew her to him as close as he could, until he felt almost every inch of her body pressed to his.

  Her breath caught in her chest and she stopped laughing. For long seconds they stared into each other’s eyes, transfixed. Her laser-blue eyes were spellbinding as she looked down at him. His gaze travelled over her every feature, followed by the tips of his fingers. He cupped her cheeks between his palms, tracing the elegant curves of her cheekbones with his thumbs. Her nose was just a tad impudent, dusted with an almost invisible sprinkle of freckles. He couldn’t see the freckles now, in the faint light of the TV screen, but he’d seen them in daylight and marveled over their cuteness. They would have made her look almost like a teenager, but her lips were definitely those of a woman’s. They were full and soft, and undeniably sensual.

  He traced them now with the pad of his thumb and the tip of her tongue flicked out to tease him. Just that small touch sent a constricting pressure through his loins. He detached the pins from her hair, sliding his fingers through that golden mass when she shook her head to let it flow down her back.

  Then he drew her down and kissed her ardently, sliding his tongue deep into her mouth, absorbing a low moan from within her chest. His hands moved down over her body, without restraint or discipline. He kissed her neck, her shoulders, then his lips traveled lower, and lower. He tugged down her dress straps and buried his face in her cleavage, cupping her breasts. They were soft and full, fitting perfectly into his palms. When he bent his head to take one sweet, rosy nipple into his mouth, he heard her sharp intake of breath. He flicked each of those delicious peaks with his tongue, then drew them into his mouth, becoming increasingly aroused by her every gasp and moan.

  She responded to his touch with a sensuality that he knew intuitively had remained hidden until now, undiscovered in the depths of her being. She pushed him back and leaned over him, kissing his every feature. He let her have control, let the passion take him and throw him into the maddening trance of rapture and pleasure. She lightly grazed the skin of his throat with her teeth, causing a rough growl to escape his lips. Encouraged, she stroked his strong torso, then pulled his T-shirt over his head and threw it on the floor.

  When her hot tongue descended over his chest, tasting his nipples, he felt his head spin and any shadow of control left him. He unfastened his jeans and lowered them slightly. Her eyes shone in the dim light, glazed with arousal, as he pulled her even closer, his fingers digging into her thighs. He pressed her down, while his hips pushed up, high and deep into her, rocking in the rhythm of their rapid, shallow breaths.

  There was nothing in the universe but the smooth motions of the two lovers, lost in one another, consumed by the intensity of their feelings.

  When he sensed her body quickening, he gripped her hips hard, holding her in place as he moved against her and inside her, stroking her body with undulating, powerful thrusts. He clenched his teeth to hold back the breathtaking pleasure that was ready to erupt, until she buried her face into his neck and cried out his name, while her body shivered, crossed by thousands of volts of ecstasy. Only then did he let go, quivering beneath her as they clung hard to one another, listening to their mixed labored breathing.

  After the deluge of their passion was temporarily satiated, a euphoric calmness descended upon them. She collapsed onto his chest, still holding him tight between her warm thighs.

  “Ti voglio bene, amore mio!” he whispered huskily through a dry throat, his lips touching the delicate lobe of her ear. It meant I love you. He wanted to make memorable the first time he said those words to her.

  He felt her breath stop for a moment. The significance of this statement in the melodious sounds of her maternal language must have stirred a very powerful emotion into her soul. He wondered if it was happiness.

  It must be, because he knew she was serious when she whispered back, “Anch’io ti amo, mio caro! I love you too, Gerard.”

  She embraced him tighter than she’d ever had before, laying her head on his chest and listening to his heartbeats.

  Outside, darkness had fallen. Only the inconstant TV light and the fairy-like colorful lights of the aquarium lighted the room.

  Eventually, Linda raised her head from his shoulder.

  “Baby, you have to take me home. Pirata is alone. I can’t leave him like that. I’m going to the bathroom.”

  “It’s in the bedroom, on the left,” he mumbled, steeped into a state of euphoric relaxation. After a few moments, he sighed contentedly and got to his feet.

  He felt invincible, as though nothing could shadow his happiness. Linda had told him she loved him. He knew she meant it. He gathered his T-shirt from the floor and dragged it over his head.

  When she returned, she grabbed her handbag and switched the TV off. After switching off the lights, he locked the door behind them.

  On the way to her house, driving on the illuminated crowded streets, they talked about various things, especially regarding the trip they were going to make together.

  “You said your art exhibit is the day after tomorrow?” he asked.

  “Yes. Actually, it’s not only my exhibit. There will be the works
of other artists too.”

  “But you’re the best and the most famous, right?”

  She laughed, as she pinned her hair back up.

  “If you want to put it like that…Sort of.”

  “Do I have to wear a suit?” he complained, playing the martyr.

  “If you want Francesco to let you in, yes. Francesco is the gallery owner. He’s a perfect gentleman who never breaches etiquette. I took him the carving of your hands, by the way. He was thrilled.”

  He smiled and glanced at her.

  “Of course. You made it. No matter how banal the model, it’s still a masterpiece.”

  “You, banal? Not in a thousand years, and you know it!”

  He stopped the car in front of her gate and they both climbed out. She disabled the alarm, then turned to him.

  “Won’t you stay here?”

  “Do you want me to stay?”

  “Yes,” she admitted, causing his heart to throb with the pleasure and satisfaction of knowing she needed him, that she wanted him close.

  He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her softly, then trailed a finger down her cheek.

  “We became addicted to one another in a very short time,” he remarked. “Does it scare you?”

  “A little. Doesn’t it scare you?”

  “No. On the contrary—it’s the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever felt for a woman,” he confessed, his eyes holding hers. “I’m sorry, my love, but I think I’d better go home. Tomorrow I have to wake up very early. I have a hundred problems to solve, so I can arrange our trip. I don’t want you to feel obliged to wake up with the sunrise.”

  She sighed resignedly, pouting a bit. But she smiled after a moment.

  “It might be for the best. I wouldn’t want you to be next to me if I ever have to wake up with the sunrise. Trust me, it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience for either of us.”

  He laughed softly and kissed her again, embracing her tightly.

  “Go! When I see you getting inside, I’ll leave too. Good night, ma belle!”

  “Good night.”

  She slid through the gate, reset the alarm, and then walked up the driveway until she reached the house. At the front door she turned. He was still in front of the gate, watching her as he leaned against the thick bars. She waved to him and he called out, “I love you!”