Chapter 10

BACK TO BED....

Elaine was jolted out of a sound sleep by the ringing of the phone. As she scrambled out of bed saying a lot of words that wouldn't win approval from the Ladies' Home Journal, her fuzzy mind told her it was Saturday morning and any fool who would phone at nine o'clock should at least be shot, preferably low in the stomach.

"Hello," she snarled into the phone as she picked it up.

"I'm sorry if I phoned too early, Elaine. I guess I'm just some kind of an ass."

"Carl," her anger changed and developed the sparkle of elation, "where are you?"

"Not far away. I have to talk to you, but I'll wait a while. I'm sorry I woke you, get back to bed and leave your phone off the hook."

"Carl Jordan, you're the only person in the world who is entitled to wake me any time he wants to. Stop talking and get here as fast as you can."

There was laughter at the other end of the phone as he assured her he would hurry and definitely be there within the hour.

It seemed like much too long to wait, so after she hung up, Elaine went to the kitchen and took her time about making coffee. She was naked be-cuase she liked sleeping that way.

She ran the water and measured the coffee strictly by instinct because her mind was too filled with excitement to be concerned with such mundane tasks.

Carl wasn't due back until sometime Sunday, yet he was back in the city and phoning early on Saturday morning. It had to be a good sign.

She almost dropped the coffee pot when the knock sounded. It was louder than any knock she had ever heard. It could have been her imagination telling her that, Elaine knew, but at the moment, that didn't matter.

Some fool was knocking on her door and she was going to have to get rid of him in a hurry. She set an indoor track record as she headed for her bedroom and a robe to throw around her.

When the knock wasn't repeated in spite of the delay, she begun to think she had imagined it in the first place. She jerked the door open angrily and stared into the laughing face of Carl Jordan.

"Carl ... you couldn't ... I mean...."

"You look sleepy first thing in the morning, beautiful."

He had intended saying more, but the sight of her sleep-softened face was just too much after all the thinking he had done at the lodge. Instead, he swept her into his arms and crushed his mouth down on hers.

There was nothing in her attitude as she melted in his arms to indicat that she wasn't happy about what was happening.

"Wow." Elaine managed to get words out as they pulled a little apart. "I don't know what that was all about, but I think I like it. Would you care to step inside and discuss it at greater length."

Laughing, he followed her into the apartment and closed the door behind them.

"I'm sure I owe you at least a half dozen apologies, Elaine."

"Maybe you think so, but I don't. Offhand, I can't recall a more interesting Saturday morning in a hell of long time."

"Well, it was sneaky of me to call so early and then play games about being an hour."

"We can talk about that later, Mister Jordan. For now, please excuse me, this is the kind of robe I wear to impress my aunt Matilda. I'm going to slip into something better before I scare you away. If you know anything about making coffee, the perc is somewhere in the kitchen. Make yourself at home"

Back in her bedroom, changing into a much more seductive looking robe involved about one minute. Brushing her hair took much longer. Elaine even considered cosmetics, but that didn't seem honest so she skipped it. When she opened her door, she could hear the perc bubbling in the kitchen.

"It's a wonderful surprise, Carl," she greeted him as she walked into the kitchen, "but will you please tell me what it's all about?"

"Who are you? I just saw your sleepy, older sister, but you're a real beauty."

"Damn you, Carl. If I had shoes on I'd kick you in the shins or something. Stop playing games with me."

"Oh well," he pretended to leave, "if that's the way it is, I may as well go back to the lodge and make passes at the fish."

"Oh no you don't." She slipped an arm around his waist and held him. "When a desperate career woman traps a handsome man in her apartment on a Saturday morning, she doesn't give up that easily."

"I hope you mean that, lady." He held her arms and looked into her face intently.

"I mean it, Carl. Do you want to talk now, or later when the coffee's ready?"

"We seem to do most of our best talking over coffee. I'd like to wait, if you don't mind."

"I'd like it better that way too. I need a few minutes to recover from the shock of it all."

While they waited, Elaine filled him in on the latest developments at the agency. There was nothing really important, but it was enough to bridge the gap.

The automatic perc clicked to indicate the end of the cycle. Elaine hoped he didn't notice that her hand was shaking a little as she poured the two cups.

"What on earth time did you leave the lodge?" She asked as she suddenly realized how long a drive it had been.

"Around five?"

"Have you eaten?"

"Like a pig. Give me my coffee and stop stalling."

Walking ahead of her into the living room, Carl sat on the couch and indicated the place beside him. As she sat, Elaine noticed he had handled it as if he were the host even though it was her apartment. She liked it.

Continuing to control the situation, Carl began the discussion by telling her how important her friendship had been to him for so long.

"Welcome to the club, Carl. You've become very important in my life"

"I'm pleased to hear that, Elaine. My problem is that I've discovered a friendship like ours carries a built in trap."

"Keep going, Carl."

"Will you help me if I get in trouble?"

"Of course." There was enough warmth in the two words to assure him that he wasn't going to need help after all.

"Okay, Elaine. We seem ideally suited to each other in every way. We talk and laugh and drink and enjoy everything until we reach the stage when it would be logical to advance that one step beyond friendship."

"If it's any help, Carl, I've done a lot of thinking about that myself." Elaine saw the look of relief on his face.

"Then I guess you know why I ran away the other night"

"Because you were afraid of what might happen?"

"Because I was afraid that if I'd stayed one minute longer, I'd have torn your clothes off and made love to you right there in the lobby."

"Maybe you wouldn't have had to tear them off, Carl."

"That's where the friendship trap comes in. I didn't dare risk spoiling our wonderful friendship-"

"Thanks for saying all this, Carl. Now it's my turn. Deep down inside me, I didn't want you to leave. I wanted you to come upstairs with me, undress me and make love to me. Does that make me a shameless hussy?"

"Does it hell. It makes you a very wonderful woman. If I had any brains at all, I'd have seen it a long time ago."

"A woman is supposed to be able to control these situations and make them develop the way she wants. For a long time, I think I've been jealous. You have quite a reputation with females, yet, with me, you always stopped short of that point. By the time I realized what was going on, I had fallen into what you call the friendship trap."

"Then there's only one thing more for me to say, Elaine. I think I love you. I think I've loved you right from the beginning, but I honest to God can't be sure. I guess that's a hell of a statement to make."

"It's a hell of a good statement, dear. Will you accept the same from me for the time being?"

"Gladly."

"And will you take me to bed now and make love to me?"

"Hey, it's supposed to be the man who makes the play."

"Is that a refusal?" Her eyes were dancing as she asked.

"Not bloody likely, it isn't."

Before she knew what was happening, Carl was standing and she was cradled in his arms like a baby. He was carrying her to the bedroom.

Carl felt waves of passion breaking over him as he walked with his precious cargo. Through the filmy negligee, he felt the warm firmness of her body. There was just the right woman scent. The expression on her face told him she too was anxious.

In the room, he paused, looked into her face again and deposited her gently on the bed. The negligee clung to all the curves of her lovely body and promised him the world and all the stars.

Still looking at her, his eyes moist with desire and anticipation, Carl began undressing. He did it without haste, without affectation.

Lying on the bed, Elaine watched and changed her evaluation of him. She had always considered him rather good looking, now she decided he was magnificent.

It wasn't the figure of a body building nut, just the firm, well muscled body of a man who took care of himself and carried his body with pride and dignity.

The last thing he took off was his briefs. As he pulled them down and stepped out of them, Elaine saw how beautifully ready he was. He was no bigger or smaller than a man should be, she decided, and he was magnificently strong. It would be good.

Before standing, Elaine tugged the cord of her negligee and it fell open. She felt his eyes warm and comforting on her naked breasts. His hands were strong and gentle as they pushed the filmy garment off her arms so that it fell with a sighing whisper to the floor beside her.

For a few seconds, she saw his eyes caressing her from her face, down over her proud, jutting breasts, over the swell of her tummy, then down her thighs and legs.

His arms wrapped around her nudity then and they fell into a naked embrace. As their bodies clung, both knew that they had wasted so much time and now, at last, they were together with all the years of the future to make up for the past.

Without realizing how it had happened, Elaine saw that they were no longer standing. It seemed there had been no break in the embrace, and yet they were lying on the bed now, their arms still wrapped tightly around each other.

Carl's hands had been good as they fondled her warm, sensitive body, but then his mouth began doing so and she cried in sweet ecstasy as every nerve in her body tingled with joy and anticipation.

Elaine had known it would be good, now she knew this was more than good, it was the ultimate distillation of every joyous sensation she had ever known.

With another glad cry, she allowed her thighs to open wide and raised her body from the bed as she felt his mouth brushing her thighs and seeking the very center of her desire.

His strong hands slid under, cupping and holding her, his moist lips moved from inner thigh, paused for a moment, then pressed against the warmth that waited to become searing, beautifully burning heat.

And then his tongue was moving deep inside her with a delicious lashing effect.

"Oh Carl, darling," she gasped, "I'm ... I'm ooooh ... oh ... oh ... oooooohhhhh."

While her body exploded, he withdrew his tongue and allowed his mouth to hold her. When the sweet storm passed, her arms reached for him and drew his body onto hers.

Catching his face in her hands, she pressed her mouth hard against his and sighed through a long kiss during which she tasted the mingled flavor-of both their bodies. It was an erotic banquet of flavor that caused desire to rekindle within her.

Sensing her readiness, Carl reached between them and she felt the strong male desire coming to her. And then the throbbing muscle was moving into her symphonic cry of love.

Carl pushed firmly, easily until she felt his body rubbing hers and knew he had filled her all the way, had given her everything he had to offer.

They took a moment to adjust to each other for their ride to the stars, then he began stroking. They were long, slow strokes and each time he touched a million nerve edges so that she trembled in delicious ecstasy that promised to go on forever.

But the end of forever was approaching fast for Elaine as she felt her body tense for another sweet explosion. As it began, Carl stroked faster into her receptive body, then gasped and rubbed against her belly so that she knew he too was experiencing the beautiful, shattering death of climax.

It was a long time before either could find breath enough to speak. When they did, they spoke disjointed words which told each other how good it had been and how good it would be.

In a little while, they walked naked into the kitchen for more coffee. Smiling, their eyes singing erotic love songs to each other, they sipped their coffee and talked of beauty and happiness.

Carl wanted to say the words of love, but they refused to be uttered. He was filled to overflowing with love, and yet, his mind intruded and warned that the act of love can produce a lovely delusion. Before he said the words to her, he wanted to be sure that they came from his mind as well as his heart and his loins. She seemed to understand.

Later, they bathed together and played in the tub like a couple of excited kids. Dressing, they held hands as they walked in the warm sun of late morning.

They ate lunch in a little Hungarian restaurant and walked a little more. At a store near Elaine's apartment, they collected a store of liquor and wines of the world before returning to their private playground.

Alone again, clothes were no longer a necessity. He made her undress slowly so that he could fully savor the thrilling beauty of his woman in lingerie which caressed her in a shimmering nylon whisper.

They had intended having a drink to toast the birth of their new happiness, but instead they fell to the bed and tasted the joys of each other again.

It became the pattern for the weekend which consisted of eating, drinking, talking and making love. By Monday morning, they had done everything, but both knew they had merely whetted appetites which would crave more and more.