All Things Come... Vol. 2

Definitely not a stand alone; a longer chapter, harder to write, and the sex is secondary to the characters. If you've been following the story, you'll see where it's going, but if it's the first time you've clicked on 'Satyricon'..., well, sorry, people: this is in 'Novels and Novellas' because that's more or less what it is - to understand the cast, their motivation, and what's happening to them, I advise you to (at least) skim the earlier chapters rather than skip them. Luke and Uli's relationship is changing: they aren't exactly out of control, but they're developing a life of their own, and I'm keen to see where they end up. Thanks for all the feedback: I'm not quite sure why most of it is private rather than public, but keep it coming. To those of you who've made suggestions, extra thanks. I've used some of your ideas in this and subsequent chapters.

Satyricon

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BRUSSELS / THE ARDENNES, FEBRUARY

MAGDA, ELENA, ANITA

Magda put the phone down feeling frustrated. Where was he when she wanted him to need her? She shook her head and laughed at herself. Who was she trying to kid? This wasn't a love affair, and the need wasn't equal. On the other hand, she thought, it was more than just an arrangement. She counted on her fingers. From the end of August to the middle of February; call it five months, and she'd been in his bed exactly... exactly nine times. That wasn't very much, really, but she couldn't believe the change in herself: she was taking control of meetings, putting her point of view, arguing her corner, feeling confident. She was beginning to be noticed. The deputy head of the German delegation had asked her out to dinner, and she'd accepted, surprising him by taking charge afterwards, brushing his advances aside gracefully, and then saying goodnight politely and leaving. Word had spread and now she was successful, mysterious and unattainable, and highly sought after: everything the skinny little small town girl had ever dreamed of; she was honest enough with herself to know that she'd leaned on him while she did it, and to acknowledge that he'd never pointed that out.

The office door opened and Elena came in. She threw her briefcase on her desk and sat down. Magda looked at her.

'You can't always get you want,' she sang mockingly. Elena's head whipped up and she stared at the younger girl, who looked straight back at her. Finally she nodded wryly.

'Not this weekend anyway.' Magda shrugged.

'Neither can I. Elena, I need to say something unwelcome.' Elena looked suspicious.

'What's the problem?' Magda crossed her fingers.

'Us. You're pissed because he's somewhere else, and you were wondering if he'd made plans with me; I was wondering the same about you, we're both wondering about Anita, and unless I'm mistaken, that blonde receptionist at the hotel was pissed with him and with me too. There's a word for that and it's called jealousy. Now then, as friends, what are we going to do about it, and as the boss, how are you going to prevent it affecting the team? Are we going to blame him for having his own life? He doesn't do anything without thinking, and if he's pushed off somewhere without saying anything it's deliberate.' She stopped and sat back, gazing calmly at her boss. Elena's eyes half-closed as she thought it through.

'Well, fuck you for being clever.' She sounded annoyed. 'I should have picked up on this. It's been getting worse recently, hasn't it?' Magda said nothing, but her eyes agreed. Elena was about to continue when the door crashed open and Anita stamped in. When she saw the other two she blushed deep red.

'Sorry. I didn't realize there was anyone still here. I thought you were....'

'Off with Luke and you were being neglected,' interrupted Magda. 'We're talking about that.' Anita blushed again.

'How did you know...?'

'Working week's over, kids,' said Elena decisively. 'I'm inviting you for a TGIF drink, in the first decent bar we come to. Come on.'

***********

They found a bar and commandeered a secluded table but by common consent they didn't raise the subject that was at the front of everyone's mind until the first drink had arrived, and the realization that it really was the weekend was trickling through them. Anita put her glass down and sighed.

'That's better. I actually went to the pension to find him. And that big blonde girl on the desk told me that he'd left, and that he'd said he was going away for the weekend. So I asked if he said where he was going, and she shook her head and said that he'd hired a car and had a bag with him. She looked sort of bottled up and angry, and I immediately thought that he was taking one of you away, and that's why I was banging about when I got back to the office. I'm sorry...' Magda raised a hand.

'It's no good beating ourselves over the head. If he's gone off with a car and a bag, then he's meeting someone, and the only person I can think of is the Austrian girl, the one I told you about, who tore that Bruno to pieces for me. (Author's note: for details of this incident see Vol. 2, Ch. 02b: A little gentle castration) And it's either to get away from us, because we're getting too complicated, or to spend time with her, because he's really fond of her. It's probably a bit of both.' She sat back and drained the rest of her rum and coke. 'I want another one of these, please.' Elena signaled the waitress.

'As long as you don't get tipsy. So one way or another he's avoiding us, and if we're honest with ourselves, we can't blame him. We've been pushing him too much and it's up to us to sort something out. One thing's definite: I don't want to lose him. We're beginning to punch way above our weight in this town, and that's mostly because your English has improved so much, thanks to him. He's worth every exorbitant cent we're paying him. So how do we sort things out?'

'I'm not going to put up with a rota,' said Anita. 'I had enough of that at school. Elena, you're the boss. Make an executive decision that doesn't involve rotas.' Elena shook her head.

'Easy to say. Let's be honest: we're all a little bit in love with him, but we're not stupid, none of us and we don't think we've got a future with him: he's not the type, and we wouldn't be here if we weren't ambitious bitches. If you had to choose between him and your career, what would you decide?' She looked challengingly at the other two and waited. Neither of the younger girls replied. Then Magda stirred.

'Point taken. We've got to stop using him as our default setting. I think I'm going to start dating. I quite fancied that German guy I had dinner with; in fact walking away at the end of the evening was difficult. So I'm going to take the blinkers off. Part of his attraction is that he doesn't make any demands. If we say, "sorry, busy tonight", he smiles and gives us a kiss and goes off to do his own thing, so we really shouldn't expect him to be on hand whenever we need... whatever. I'm confident enough to handle other guys without needing to be in his shadow any more, and if I screw up, he'll help. I trust him completely to do that. I don't want to cut him off completely though. There's something about him...' She stopped, embarrassed. Anita looked worried.

'I've always had a boyfriend, so I've never dated or anything like that. I'd worry about feeling like a slut, and, and... I've never met anyone who makes me feel the way he does. I could hardly bear to have Goran touch me at Christmas, and I felt so mean.' Elena waved to the waitress for another round.

'I don't think we should sleep around, but making proper lives for ourselves is a good idea. After all, if he was just another English teacher, we'd be doing that anyway.' She was quiet for a minute. 'I'm not giving him up either, but I'm going to try and put him in perspective. And another thing: something changed over Christmas. That's why we're here. When he was totally focused there was nothing to fight about, but now...'

'You're right.' Magda's voice was quiet. 'There's someone at the front of his mind, and it isn't any of us.'

The three women sat quietly, staring into their drinks, feeling the bittersweet regret of necessary loss.

LUKE AND ULI

'The Ardennes?' I protested feebly. 'We'll freeze to death and get lost twice a day. Why not somewhere civilized?'

'No cellphone cover, no distractions, and if it's cold we'll just have to snuggle.' Uli reached over and put a hand on my thigh. 'It's not exactly the third world, you know. Straight down the motorway and I'll tell you which exit. I was looking at maps and guides on the plane.' I was concentrating on the road but I risked a glance at her out of the corner of my eye. She was wearing an old sweatshirt and a pair of jeans and looked as stunning as ever. When she'd come out of the arrival gate at the airport my heart had done flip-flops in my chest. It wasn't a feeling that I recognized.

'You've let your hair grow.' She ran her hand through her bright golden tresses and looked pleased.

'Do you like it? I'm doing some of my own modeling for the Spring Show, and the designs need the longer look. I've still got a ton of work to do, but I'm glad I'm here. I needed a weekend away from everything. It's been a long time since it was just us.' She sounded pensive, and I felt a flutter of apprehension. Women are wonderful, and I love them, but every so often they want to haul everything out and inspect it. Still, better her than anyone else, I thought, and then realized with a start what I was implying. I pretended to concentrate on driving again. She was fiddling with the radio and when she'd found a station she could tolerate she leaned back.

'Tell me what's been happening. I know about Christmas already. I've spent hours on the phone to Trudi and Inge and they insisted on giving me all the details. It sounded so much fun. I ended up feeling quite jealous. What about the job?'

'If I start telling you about that we'll miss our exit.' I sighed. 'Well Christmas was ... it was fun, but I ended up wanting more than fun. I think Trudi and Inge noticed that, so they probably didn't have as nice a time as they should have. As for this lot here, they seem to need me more than they did. Fun is fine, wanting is fine, lust is fine, loving a little bit is fine, but needing makes me nervous. Them needing me makes me nervous, is what I really mean, I suppose, so I sent a message in a bottle to you, begging for help. Are you nervous that I need you?' She patted my thigh more firmly.

'Certainly not. That's what love-buddies are for. It sounds as though there might be some sensitive spots under your Mr. Cool packaging, though. It'd be better if we talked about it when I can soothe your sensitive spots if I need to.'

'Sounds like a plan. What about you? I feel guilty about not being more in touch, and that's bugging me too. I'm beginning feel I'm not functioning too well at the moment.'

'What about me?' Her voice was thoughtful again. 'I've got my sensitive spots too. Trudi told you I'm having an affair with one of my supervisors, didn't she?' I nodded, wondering what was coming next. 'He's a really nice man,' she said, 'I mean, he annoys me sometimes, because he's a bit obvious about showing me off, and telling people who my father is, but I've told him I'm not just arm-candy and he's working on that. He's a good teacher, and a very talented designer, and he's respected by everyone, and the sex is good, and we laugh a lot, but when I told him I was going away for the weekend he couldn't understand and was really upset. The sad thing is that I don't feel as bad as I ought to about hurting him.' She lapsed into silence and I didn't reply. There were a lot of things not being said. I drove and tried to decide what I wasn't saying. After another sixty kilometers she nudged me.

'Next exit: I'll give you directions.' By now it was fully dark, and I slowed as she peered at the map. After only one wrong turn she gave a crow of triumph. 'Who says women can't navigate? There it is, look!' Sure enough, there was a sign saying 'Hotel'. I didn't have time to count the number of stars.

'Uli, this place looks like the royal palace of Ruritania. I wasn't thinking quite so far upmarket.'

'This one's on me. The book says it's really comfortable, and that they're friendly and welcoming, and ideal for quiet luxury. It sounds perfect.'

'They won't be quite so friendly and welcoming with a couple of scruffy layabouts spoiling their décor. We'll probably have to rent a tie to get in, or promise never to leave the room in daylight, or...' She reached over and ruffled my hair.

'You're so sweet when you get nervous. I live in a shared flat, you know, and do my own cooking and everything. But with you I can splash out without feeling self-conscious, because you don't care much about money.' I pulled up outside the huge double doors of what was really quite a respectable castle.

'Money's not important until you haven't got any. OK, but I'm leaving you to do the arguing. I'll just be a bit of rough that you've picked up for the weekend.' She giggled.

'And you can look shifty, as if you're casing the joint for valuable ornaments. Come on.' I followed her, lugging the bags. Why do women need so much luggage?

'Even our cases are inadequate,' I muttered, and she giggled again. We pushed through the doors and trekked across a couple of acres of polished floor to the reception desk. A stuffy-looking character peered down his nose at us and Uli went into action. To my complete lack of surprise we were expected, along with her platinum credit card, and ten minutes we were being shown into a suite that was larger than some flats I've lived in. The bell-hop put our bags down and left, and she jumped at me.

'I've been waiting for this for ever. I started planning the moment I got your e-mail. Let's get our clothes off and into the Jacuzzi and say hello properly and then have something to eat. I'm hungry for everything.' As she spoke she was pulling her sweatshirt over her head. Underneath she was wearing a simple white bra. Throwing the sweatshirt on the bed she began to undo her jeans.

'Come on, you, I don't want to do this by myself.' I began to take off my own clothes, hurrying to catch up with her. I was still hauling my chinos down my legs when she pulled her panties off, then darted forward and held them to my nose.

'See what you do to me. Breathe in.' The crotch of the panties was damp and I inhaled her scent with a shiver of recognition. She dropped them to the floor and bent to pull my boxers down, then straightened up and melted into my arms. The long warm length of her pressed against me as she wrapped her arms round my neck and pushed her face into my shoulder. Her voice was muffled when she spoke.

'I promised myself I wasn't going to say this yet, but I can't help it. I've missed you so much and I've been trying so hard not to, but it's no good. I think I'm a Lukeoholic. And when I read that bit in your e-mail about between the ears as well as the legs I started to cry, and I remembered Spain. It's exactly how I've been feeling.' I squeezed her hard and tried to ignore the flash of panic that ran through me. (For details of Luke and Uli in Spain, see ATC vol 1, June and July.)

'I've been missing you too. Let's get clean.' I scooped her up and staggered into the bathroom, then stopped dead. 'Jesus, Uli, it's like the engine room of the Enterprise. Where do we start?' She wriggled out of my arms.

'I bet you can't program a video player either. Let an expert have a look.' I watched as she squatted over the huge sunken Jacuzzi and examined the taps. She balanced easily, her slim body twisting gracefully as she tested the controls. She was paler than I remembered, and although her increasing maturity had added a fraction to the curves of breast and hip, her waist was as slender and supple as ever. I could just see the soft outer surface of her breast and a hint of darker pink between her legs, and my stomach fluttered with anticipation. Suddenly there was a coughing roar, and water began to spurt into the tub. She straightened up looking pleased with herself.

There's temperature control and everything. What do you want to smell of?'

'Excited girl would be nice,' I said, and she came into my arms again.

'That's a given, but we don't want to empty the dining room when we go down.'

'We could eat here: that'd save getting dressed.' She shook her head.

'You know this isn't just a sexfest. Look at me and say it ain't so.' I tried, but my eyes fell away and I grinned sheepishly.

'I hate it when you're right.' She kissed me lightly, but the contact deepened and lengthened as our bodies engaged. She purred and forced her hips forward against mine.

'You made me grow up,' she murmured, 'and I bless you for it every single day. But underneath I'm still a brat. I want to get horizontal and taste you.' She pulled at my neck and we lowered ourselves onto the soft mat that lay in front of the tub. She reached out and turned off the water, then ran her tongue over my cockshaft and round my balls.

'Some sweat, and a whiff of piss, but nothing to complain about.' She dipped a hand into the tub and scooped warm water over my glans, massaging it gently as it swelled in her hand, then nuzzled the tip and stretched out next to me. 'That's better. I love feeling it grow. Just lie back and enjoy.'

'No way sweetheart. Together or not at all. Get yourself over here.' Her mouth enveloped me as she swung round and raised her thigh before lowering her crotch to my face. Her scent was stronger than usual, and my head swam as I caught the mixture of musk and sweat that emanated from her. My cock jerked in her mouth and she gave a muffled chuckle. The delicate folds of her labia were glistening with the dew of anticipation, and I reached out tentatively with my tongue, lapping at the warm petals as they unfurled for me, reacting to my gentle intrusion. The rhythm of her mouth on my shaft faltered and she purred again before settling back to her task. I pulled her closer to me and separated her pussy lips with my thumbs. Her clit was peeping out of its cave and I flicked my tongue tip over it, eliciting a gasp. My cock began to vibrate and I knew that she'd started the wordless, almost inaudible humming that I remembered so well. I continued laving and nibbling at her, unwilling to hurry matters or break the spell that she'd cast over us, letting her dictate the tempo, concentrating on the young body that I knew so well. I closed my lips over the nub of her clit and focused on her sensations. It was if a warm, powerful engine was running inside her, and my cock swelled as I imagined her moving into a higher gear. Her breathing became audible and I suckled harder at her clit before slowly sliding two fingers into her now sodden pussy. Time slowed and accelerated simultaneously.

There's a point at which sex morphs into sex plus, and another point, a little further on, where it turns into something else that I've never really understood. Uli and I didn't reach that third plateau then, but we came close to it. I thrust involuntarily into her, striving to bury myself completely in her mouth, and she moved back, prolonging the teasing, and most unfairly forcing herself harder against me. All my senses were overwhelmed by the immediacy of our union, and I felt the familiar lurch as my center of gravity dropped to my balls and they contracted and rode up to the base of my shaft. Uli felt the change and the cadence of her movements changed, becoming slower and stronger, as she pulled herself in my wake. I moved my head back slightly.

'You're tailgating, girl.' My cock throbbed as she giggled round it, then her dripping crotch was glued to my mouth again. I stabbed my tongue hard against the tip of her clit and twisted my fingers inside her, stroking against her G spot, and thrilled to the feel of her muscles beginning to contract and spasm. My balls tightened again and her mouth slowed, then quickened as my seed erupted into her. Her own climax gripped her and she pulled her mouth from my shaft and cried out softly, her hands digging hard into my buttocks as I fountained over her face and hair. I felt my senses spinning, and from nowhere, and completely unexpectedly, a feeling of coming home swept over me.