Deep 8

She didn't look back. She had a determined stride, and turned the corner smoothly, with head high, looking forward.

I stood for a few seconds more, looking at the space she had just left, hoping she would turn back, step around the corner again, smile.

I knew she wouldn't.

That smile. My God, that smile.

She had walked into the conference room with her chin stuck out and scowl, said "Morning." curtly to Jimmy Heatherington, the sales manager who had arranged the meeting for me, and then saw me. Jimmy introduced me, and I saw how she scoped me from shoes to hair, a swift appraisal. The scowl was hidden, my appearance passed muster, but now she was merely formal. A brief handshake. The first touch of flesh. It thrilled me.

From the instant I saw her my heart had soared.

The severe black trouser suit and hair scraped back in a controlled ponytail, minimal makeup and stiff manner could not disguise the incredible beauty of her. She was trying to look serious, masculine and professional. I saw her beneath it, soft and feminine, joyous and passionate.

I almost shook my head to try and clear it. I couldn't understand why I reacted so strongly. I don't believe in past lives and soul mates, love at first sight or destiny, but something strange had happened then, something overwhelming.

We talked business. It was almost brutal. At one point I just held up my hand and said "One moment," while I jotted figures and did a rough calculation. She waited. Jimmy was on the edge of his seat. I got a figure. I closed the notebook, and reached for my case. "Sorry for wasting your time, Mr Heatherington, Ms Laird, but clearly this isn't going to work out."

Jimmy gasped. She just looked down at the table for a moment and then up, with a sad, almost apologetic expression, and said "Let's not be hasty."

"No haste. Your offer is no where near what I need, never mind what I want, and you don't seem to desire my product enough to change. That's okay, it happens. You will find another supplier, I'll find another distributor, but it is clear that there is no point in us wasting any more energy here."

She looked at Jimmy and said "Okay, back to work, Jim. I'll see Mr Harcourt out."

The office was on the eighth floor. At the fourth floor the other people in the lift got out and we were left alone. She turned to me as soon as the doors closed. "I'm sorry. I'm tied up by accountants. I have to confess, your tender was never going to get through. We had to go through the motions, competitive tendering and all that, government grant requires it. You didn't waste my time. We wasted yours."

"Ah. I thought as much. Thank you for being so honest."

"I hate doing this. I'm sorry, I realised I was being a bit rude earlier. A bit harsh. It is just that I hate being asked to lie. It makes me stressed and snappy, which only compounds the guilt. I really do believe that honesty is the best policy. I'm not sure I'm cut out for business. I wish I could do something to make up for it."

My heart leapt again, and I said "Well, if I was being honest I would suggest that you join me for lunch. I would very much enjoy that."

She laughed. She gave me another appraising look. She said "Okay. But my treat." Then she smiled. My God that smile.

It was a good lunch. I learned a lot about her, about her boss, about her ambitions. About her smile.

Her phone made a bling bling noise. "Oh," she said and looked crestfallen, "I have a meeting in ten minutes. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I have had a lovely time. It would have been nice if it was longer. But duty calls."

"Thank you," she said and smiled. "Maybe we can do lunch again sometime."

"Maybe, but I have to go back to London tomorrow morning, and then Belfast. I don't have many clients in Edinburgh, so it won't be soon. However, I am free for dinner tonight. Perhaps you would let me insist that it is my treat, this time?"

Again the appraising look. "Okay." again the smile.

She was in a knee length blue dress when she walked into my hotel foyer at seven o'clock. Her hair was loose and soft. Her high heels were patent black, matching the handbag, but her watch strap was as red as her lips and nails.

We ate in the hotel. It was a good kitchen. A good cellar. She ate well, not heavily, but delicately and with pleasure, open enjoyment. She gave me a taste of her dessert, on her spoon. I returned the gesture. She held my eyes as she took the scoop of creme brûlée, and smiled as I pulled the spoon away.

The waiter cleared away and asked if we wanted coffee or a digestiff. She looked at me and said "Is your flight early?"

"Noon."

"Coffee then."

"Okay."

"Shall we make it room service? With a brandy?"

I raised an eyebrow, and she smiled a wicked little smile, and I said "Okay."

She lead me to the lift, and took my hand as the door opened. She didn't let go all the way up, across the hall, through the door, through the bedroom, onto the balcony. Edinburgh glittered beneath us. She was still holding my hand when she turned to me and pressed close, and lifted her face, and I kissed her lips. She held on as I wrapped my arms round her, twisting her own arm in behind her back.

It was a surprisingly arousing pose. She was suddenly vulnerable, bent backwards a little, on the edge of balance, my grip holding her to my body, her neck exposed to my lips and teeth. She sighed, a slightly husky note in her throat as I kissed it.

I brought my head up again to look at her face, and saw the fire in her gaze. In a breathless rush she said "I don't do this you know. I never do this. I don't do one night stands. I haven't had a boyfriend for three years. But that's all this is. It's all I want. Okay?"

My kiss was my reply. Hers in return was fierce and hard.

I pulled her back into the bedroom as she dug her fingers into my shoulder and kept the grip on my hand behind her back. She gasped, and I thought I had hurt her, and then the door chimed.

She looked wild eyed for a moment, and then laughed. "Room service."

The waiter was efficient, and didn't smirk. She was on the balcony again when he put the tray on the table. She stepped back to the open door and over to the coffee as I saw the waiter out. "How do you like your coffee?"

"Black and strong. Like my men." I said, and grinned.

She smiled. "Airplane?"

"Indeed. Let me guess, you like yours sweet and white?"

"Strong. Not sweet."

She poured a cup for me and one for her, but didn't hand it to me. She said "It is a bit hot. And there is something I want to do first."

She walked toward me and put a hand on my neck, the other on my waist. She reached up to kiss me, briefly, and said "Why don't you get into bed. Clothing entirely optional. I'm going to the bathroom for a moment. I'll bring your coffee over."

She gave me a lingering kiss as she slipped around me.

I did as I was told. What else would I have done?

I sat up in the bed, the covers over my lower half, my heart fluttering. It was only few seconds more before she appeared, naked, and stood in the archway between the bathroom and the wardrobe. She had taken a classic pose, the swimsuit parade stance of beauty contests, one knee bent, a hand on her hip.

I was speechless. I couldn't even whistle. Then she smiled, and I closed my mouth and smiled back.

She turned around, one hand on her head, a slow spin, three hundred and sixty degrees of perfection.

She gave me the appraising look again when she had come back to face me. "Are you okay?"

"Ah." I croaked.

She smiled again, and said "I think you need a coffee."

She walked past the end of the bed with fluid grace, lifted a coffee cup, leaving the saucer, and a brandy glass. She walked towards me, and placed the brandy on the bedside table, saying "For later." and bent forward to give me the cup.

I managed to say "Thank you" and she whirled round and went to fetch the other cup, walking round to the other side of the bed and sipping it.

Her hair was shiny and golden in the light of the bedside light. The triangle of curls at the top of her smooth white thighs was only a little darker. Her breasts were full and heavy, nipples large and slightly raised, dark against the pale flesh. Her bottom was even paler. She got to the far side of the bed, stood facing me, and drained her cup. The light behind her shone through the gap between her thighs, silhouetting her pussy lips and making her pubic hair a halo.

She put the cup down and took the top edge of the covers in her hand as she leaned forwards. My eyes were drawn by hers despite the view of her breasts as they swung forward.

Her kiss was warm and rich. She threw the covers back as she moved further onto the bed, and swarmed into my arms, against my body, around my legs. Naked skin in contact from head to toe.

We kissed and caressed, hands gently exploring, smoothing, running though long hair, over curves, skirting the edges of the erogenous, then heading for the centres.

She almost purred when I stroked the small of her back. I gasped when she sucked hard on my left nipple.

Her fingers went into my mouth. She slid down and my cock went into hers.

I lay rigid as she sucked on me, stroking my shaft, blonde locks around her face as she closed her eyes and I felt her tongue move around my tip.

I held her hair back so I could see her, And she looked up at me with her pale blue eyes, knowing what I was doing. She lifted her mouth off me, leaving her tongue touching the sensitive bridge of skin beneath my knob, then swallowed me again slowly, giving a good view of her lascivious pleasure.

She licked down my shaft and over my balls, kissing each in turn, then back up the shaft for another suck, bobbed her head a couple of times, and pulled up, grinning at the noise she made as she sucked hard and popped her lips off me. She kept that bright smile as she moved up my body, straddling me, kissing me, her tongue on mine as her hand reached my cock and held it upright.

She was incredibly hot inside. My shaft was enveloped in her slick, firm embrace as she slid down onto me, and moaned gently.

She lay on me full length, her heels hooked behind mine, her breasts crushed against me, her thighs tightening her clasp on my cock. She kissed me languorously, and flexed her body to slowly move up and down on my shaft, her breath catching as she pressed her clit against the base of my cock.

I let my hands roam again, delighting in her skin, her long hair, the play of the muscles as she moved. I ran them down to her buttocks, taking a grip with each hand to pull her wide and press her down, exposing her and possessing her. She squirmed and sighed. I let her set the pace. Her breathing deepened with each stroke, her movements became more fluid, her kisses grew more forceful. She began to take little gasps of air on each cycle of her hips, and then moved her legs to raise her bottom, pumping it up and down. I was able to run a hand between us, get a finger to her clit, feel the sticky softness of her flesh between the hairy lips. My other hand found her breast, squeezing the soft handful, pinching her hard nipple between thumb and the side of my finger.

Her breathing deepened further, I knew she would come soon. I kept rubbing her clit, and she stiffened her back and legs. Her neck went rigid, and she broke the kiss, her nose resting against mine, her mouth open, jaw locked, as a strange ululating sound emerged. Her face was flushed, red and white, turning purple. Her eyes took on a look of disbelief, pleading, vulnerability, submission, release.

When she came I felt her muscles spasm, waves of pulsing inside her. She shook, and collapsed, still shaking, and made sounds that seemed almost of fear or loss, but then a throatier noise emerged, and her body began to move again with purpose, and she took a shuddering breath, and pushed herself up into a yoga 'cat' pose, concentrating all her force down into my cock, pressing deeply inside her.

She held the pose and her breath, her magnificent breasts pouting straight out above me, and then looked down.

"Thank you. That was..."

She didn't finish the sentence. She fell on me, mouth ravishing mine, and body moving to rub all of her against me.

It was suddenly wild and passionate. We rolled over and I was on top of her, her legs lifted high and wide, my balls slapping against her ass as I pounded her hard.

I raised myself on my hands to watch her, to see the blonde curls part around my wet shaft, see her breasts rock back and forth as our bodies flexed in synchrony, see her hair wild around her head, and her throat exposed to me as she lay with eyes closed and chin up, hands on my waist, pulling me hard onto her, wanting me inside her, wanting me.

I came then, lunging down onto that beautiful body, clasping her to me, wrapped in her arms and legs, pumping my soul into her, giving her my breath and body.

She kissed me gently when I got my breath back, and rolled me over onto my back. She ran a hand slowly down my body to touch my cock, and looked at it as it twitched. Silently she moved to suck it, cleaning it of my come and her juices, licking my balls clean as well, as she knelt beside me. Her bottom was pointed towards me, and I could see my come leaking from her pussy, running slowly down her leg. I wondered then if she was on the Pill. She said she didn't have a boyfriend, she hadn't had sex for a long time. There was no reason she should be on birth control. I wondered if I should mention it.

She turned back to face me, and kissed my lips, the faint tang of our come on her face. "I'll be back in a moment." she whispered, and slid off the bed and away to the bathroom.

I lay breathing, and thinking about what had just happened. It was hard to believe. She was beautiful, and sensual, and so in tune with my body and her own. It was like making love for the twentieth time with a devoted partner. I had only had that experience a few times.

She reappeared, and climbed I to the bed, giving me that devastating smile again. "Miss me?"

I laughed. "Yes." I kissed her "Thank you. For coming back so quickly."

She pulled the covers up over us and snuggled up against me, and we kissed like teenagers.

"How come you don't have a boyfriend?" I asked. "I mean, you are beautiful, sexy, good in bed, pleasant, charming and witty. I was astonished when you told me."

"I had a boyfriend. For years. He turned out to have another girlfriend. Broke my heart and trust. All the men I've met since have been... unsuitable."

"I am flattered then. To be found suitable."

She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. "I didn't say you were. You are charming, good looking, free, and I will never see you again. You are the perfect fling. And as a bonus it turns out you are very good in bed. But I'm not looking for a boyfriend. Suitable or not."

"Oh," I said, with genuine disappointment. "That is not quite so flattering."

She kissed me and touched my chin, and said gently "But I would like to make love with you again. Now."

"I'll settle for that." I said and kissed her back.

She was passionate and lithe, hands exploring my body again, moving herself to let me have access to hers. I sucked her nipples as I fingered her pussy and she rocked against my hand. I pushed her back and slid down, lucking her navel as I made my way to taste her sweet centre.

Her blonde curls were surprisingly soft, and her pussy really was sweet. She spread her legs wide for me, and let me raise them, showing me her depths, and exposing the pink puckered opening of her bottom. I took a risk and licked on down from her pussy, pressing my nose into her, stretching my tongue to lick her ass.

She writhed and sighed. She liked it. I rimmed her. With a thumb on her clitoris I tongued her ass, pressing into it with the tip, lacking round it, flicking up to taste her dripping pussy juice. She came as I fingered her, the tip of my index finger clenched in her sphincter, the thumb of my other hand in the pulsing tunnel of her pussy.

I pulled out my thumb but left the finger inside. I kicked her clit and up and down each side if her labia, spreading her pink lips wide, looking at the finger that I slid deeper into her ass.

She groaned, and raised her hips, pressing herself against the finger, pushing it deeper inside herself. She flexed back and forth as I held still, hardly breathing. I watched in awe as she began to rub her own clit as she used my finger to fuck her own ass.

She came again, and I kissed her pussy gently, slipping my finger free, then moving up to kiss her stomach, her breasts and neck, her lips and face. She kissed me softly, and said shyly "Thank you."

"No problem."

"I've only done that once before." She glanced down. "You were very gentle. I liked that." she looked up and her face had a puzzled frown. "I have only known you a day, and here I am doing things, telling you things, wanting to do things that I wouldn't think of doing or saying to boyfriend's after months of living together. Why is that?"

"I don't know. But I like it. I like you. I would be interested to see what we were like after a few months of living together. This has been incredible. You are incredible. Maybe we are both crazy. But it feels good. It feels right."

She looked at me sadly and gave the tiniest shake of her head. "Don't. Don't say that. Don't ask me. I told you, this is just tonight. Don't spoil it. Just take me as I am, now and tomorrow you fly away."

I started to ask "Why?" but her finger touched my mouth as I was half way through the syllable.

"Don't ask. Now reach me the brandy."

She took the glass and sipped it, and kissed me, and gave me the hot liquid with her tongue. Then she sipped again and went down to suck my cock, and lick my balls. Brandy balls. I could never walk past a sweetshop again without thinking of her.

She got me hard, and when I was close to coming she looked up at me and said "I'd like to taste you."

She sucked me dry.

We slept curled together, spooning. I woke in the morning to the sound of an alarm I had not set.

She groaned and reached for her phone, turned off the annoying beep, and rolled to face me and kiss me. "I have two hours to get to the office," she said. "Ten minutes walk, half an hour to shower and dress, half an hour for breakfast, so fifty minutes for this."

She kissed me. Fully. Warmly, sensuously. Her body flowed against me, smooth thighs and warm breasts and searching hands. I was just about hard already, morning glory. With her kiss I was steel.

We made love then. Smooth and soft and hard and slow and gentle and just a little wild, but most of all, deep.

When she came she clung to me and whimpered. When I came I felt her clutch me with arms and legs and pussy and lips, wrapping me in her body, holding me inside her, inside her love.

The alarm beeped again. She stiffened, then went limp, then sighed and raised her face to peck me on the lips with a strange affectionate finality. "You order breakfast, I will shower."

I grabbed the phone as she slipped away. I went to the bathroom a moment later. Placing the order did not take long. "Breakfast up in twenty, because we didn't order last night. Mind if I join you?"

We washed each other. But I felt that something was wrong. Something was changing. Her voice had a catch to it, and while she did not stop me touching her quite intimately she turned her body to make my hands move on. Her touch was gentle, and she cleaned every square inch of me, but this was not foreplay.

We dressed hurriedly, and she went to the balcony when the room service waiter wheeled in the trolly.

We ate with conversation about the day ahead. My flight to London, the meetings there, the flight I would get that night back to Belfast. She had a meeting with the guys who had got the tender, who were always going to get it, and then she was going to the cinema with her friend.