It started innocently enough. There was a chill in the air as a breeze kicked up, so I slipped off my long brown coat and wrapped it around her.
"You really don't have to, I'm fine, this is my city remember and I'm used to the cold," Andisheh protested, but not enough that either of us believed it.
"Uhuh. There, that's better," as I said as I held it open so she could put her arms through. Facing her, I slowly did up each of the four buttons, working my way from the bottom to the top. She held my eye contact, to begin with, but by the third button, which I lingered on a little too long she smiled shyly and turned her head away.
"Don't make me blush," she said, still smiling and looking anywhere but into my eyes as I fastened the final button. Then I patted her shoulders firmly.
"Much better."
"Thank you," she said, though the words caught in her throat.
Her cheeks were rosy now and without thinking I brushed her face, enjoying how smooth it felt, and she broke back into a little smile. I kissed her forehead affectionately and suggested we make our way home.
I was staying in an apartment a few miles from her house and she had left her own coat there earlier in the evening after we departed in a hurry, to catch a car to dinner.
"We'll get your coat and then I'll take you home," I suggested.
"Oh you don't have to do that, it's too far," she said.
"I'm afraid I insist," I laughed, though I meant it.
She still looked cold so I took her hands in mine, holding them tightly and rubbing them, then lifted them to my lips to blow warm air across her fingers.
"Is that better," I asked. She nodded her approval, her eyes telling me a story that her words would not yet speak.
Almost unconsciously, my thumb was tracing little circles affectionately on the palms of her hands. My heart was also racing, and she seemed to be hardly breathing at all.
Almost to break the spell, I squeezed her hands a little harder and said:
"Let's go, mon Amie."
We walked quickly, bumping into each other every few steps, joking and recapping the night, and the evening we had shared.
It was my first day of three in Venice and we were determined to fit as much into that short stay as we could.
Andi loved the idea of showing me her city, and I loved the idea of time by her side.
We hardly noticed the walk at all before we arrived at the front door of my apartment. Instinctively I reached for the keys then remembered they were in the pocket of my coat which she was still wearing. She grinned when she realized the same thing.
With the cheekiest of smiles and with an exaggerated sense of performance she undid each button slowly and let the coat fall open. As I had all night, I admired again the aqua blue dress she wore, how it revealed just enough of her breasts to tantalize a man's curiosity, and how her skirt gave up trying to reach her knees once it got halfway along her thighs. I'd have camped there myself if I was that dress.
Andi might not have even noticed that she licked her lips as she held the coat open for me so I could reach into the pocket.
"They are in there somewhere, take your time" she teased.
Warmth radiated from inside the coat, and I liked how that felt. I enjoyed, even more, brushing against her soft breasts accidentally and I pretended not to notice that her nipples were fully erect.
I was caught unaware by the sudden power of my arousal.
I lingered longer than necessary to pluck out the keys from the coat pocket, then I opened the door and guided her inside with a playful smack on her behind. That earned me a punch on the arm.
Then the storm began.
Turning to face her I put my hand on her chest and felt its slight rise and fall under her shallow breathing. Her heart beat fast under my touch and she turned a little crimson at the revelation. I kissed her on the top of her head, on her forehead and on the tip of her nose. Then I took her hand and put it over my heart so she could feel my own emotional rhythm.
Neither of us moved or spoke a word. We were barely inches apart. I lifted my hand to her face and drew my fingertips across her cheek with one finger coming to rest on her lips which were partly open. I pulled my finger away, placed a kiss onto it with my own lips then returned it to hers.
The fingers of my other hand were now tangled in her hair before I moved that hand slowly down in one long deliberate arc coming to rest on the small of her back.
