Jane had jumped at the knock on the door and her wriggling fingers froze where they were. She might have been having second thoughts but her body told another story – the gathering events of the past half hour had made her insanely wet.
I stood, wiping her juices from my chin. As the second, much louder knock came, I hid my stiffness as best I could and walked over to the door, taking a deep breath. Jane sprang off the bed and into the bathroom without a word, the bolt sliding into place just as I opened the door. Duncan had intercepted room service and he stood there, proudly displaying a trolley loaded with two bottles of champagne wedged into a large ice bucket. He wheeled it into the room, shoving the door shut behind him with an elbow.
"Hope you don't mind – thought this might be more... appropriate."
"No problem, thanks – Jane's favourite drink in fact."
"Excellent! So where is she... haven't frightened her off have I?" I nodded towards the bathroom as the hiss of running water started beyond the flimsy door.
"Ah... right. Well, let's get a bottle open shall we?"
Duncan tossed his jacket to one side, sat on the bed and began opening the bubbly with practised expertise. I stood there and watched him, feeling increasingly twitchy and wondering what on earth Jane might be thinking right now.
The moment we were in was verging on the surreal – in just two short weeks we had separately conspired to engineer this reckless event. We had turned a simple fantasy into something real without once actually discussing what we imagined or expected from it. We had both relinquished control and freely allowed events to overtake us. And the thing was, the danger and uncertainty of it somehow was intensifying the erotic charge. I swear, I was getting harder and harder just experiencing each moment.
Even so, I was worried that this could all go horribly wrong, and very quickly. I needed to at least let him know we weren't exactly who we'd pretended to be.
"Listen, Duncan... there's something I probably ought to tell you. We weren't entirely honest with you last week... we're not... well, we don't exactly have much experience at this."
He looked up, bemused. "I see... so how... inexperienced are you?" A few seconds of silence ticked by as I searched for words. Then he nodded. "First time, right?"
I nodded back. "To be honest, right now I'm not even sure if Jane will come out of there - or what she'll do or say if she does..."
Duncan was visibly pissed off. "So what... this was something you wanted, yeah? And she thought it seemed like a cool idea at the time but then got scared. It's OK... happens a lot. Still – gotta say... you went further than most."
He stood up and looked ready to leave.
"No – it wasn't like that. It's something we both wanted. She sort of lost it in the bar, but when she gave you our room number that was genuine – she wanted it to happen right then and there as much as me. Maybe even more. And then... I dunno."
Suddenly the bathroom went quiet and in the silence we both stared at the door.
"I'm sorry Duncan – it was stupid of us, but... as you say, it seemed a good idea at the time..."
And then the door opened slowly and Jane walked straight into the centre of the room. She had thrown the dress back on, except now it was unbuttoned all the way down and flapping open to reveal the sheer, black lingerie she had picked for this imagined moment. And she had put on extra make-up - her deep red lips were now spread by a curious, unfamiliar smile. "Hi Duncan."
Still holding his jacket, he grinned manically as he literally looked her up and down, his face suddenly shiny with sweat. "Well, well, well... just look at you. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous."
Jane thanked him and turned to the small sofa, slowly and deliberately crossing her long legs as she sat down. I watched and waited.
"Paul was just telling me about your little white lie... Seems you're something of a virgin... as it were."
Jane stared at him, the smile wavering, Then she leant back into the sofa, toying with a stray wisp of hair. "Are you going to open some champagne or what?"
He grabbed the part-opened bottle from the trolley. Staring straight at her he twisted the cork decisively, holding on to it as the bottle popped discreetly. We all watched as the fine mist escaped the top. He quickly filled three glasses, handing one to Jane and me, but leaving his own where it was. She began to sip immediately, a little too fast perhaps.
"Anyway... first-timers. How exciting. But I think Jane here looks pretty relaxed – all things considered. Am I right Jane? You feeling... comfortable?" She took another gulp of champagne, her smile steady.
He was stood in front of her, chest puffed out under a tight black t-shirt and the crotch of his blue jeans just a couple of feet from her face. He looked over at me then fixed her with a wolfish stare.
"Thing is... I mean I don't want you to think I'm pushy or anything... but it will probably make things a whole lot easier if you both just let me, y'know, take charge... Anyone says 'stop' at any time and we'll stop – other than that, just trust me."
The two of them stared at each other. Outside the window a police siren briefly wailed then faded. I lowered myself into an armchair to one side of them and broke the silence. "What do you say hun? How do you feel about Duncan 'taking charge'?"
