Slowly and wonderingly, she reached out to touch him, running her fingertips along his breastbone and then down his body, through the soft dark hair that thickened around the Nihale of his hardness.Her chest rose and then fell sharply as her senses responded to the intimacy of her exploration, and uncertainly, she stroked delicately along the rigid shaft.Arni shuddered. What Orla was doing to him was sheer torment, and she must have known it. He wanted to be enclosed by her, to be held firm, to feel her body embracing and caressing him. He wanted to take her and hold her and thrust deep into her. He wanted to feel her body’s desire for his. He wanted to lose himself in her. He wantedOrla could feel the heavy, uneven thud of Arni’s heartbeat, could taste the unique hot salt of his skin. "I want you," she told him, breathing the words out against his skin, the raw uneven huskiness of her voice matching the unsteadiness of her heartbeat. ‘Make love to me, Arni.’Her hands flat against
Orla had been awake for some time, lying in bed and marveling at the difference between the woman she had been and the woman she was now. Her body glowed still with the aftermath of her pleasure. Their pleasure, she reminded herself. Arni would know now that he had been wrong about her, and that what she felt for him was unique, something she had never shared with anyone else. She was still high from the night before, in a blissed-out state where the world felt like a fairytale come true and she was its heroine princess.And all because of Arni.Arni! Where was he? What would he say to her? What would she say to him? Her heart was thumping unsteadily. Already she misses him. She already ached for him and wanted to be with him. Already the effect of the night’s sexual intimacy had changed her and their relationship, and her heart was speeding on wings into a magical world where everything and anything was possible.It was Arni himself who brought her back down to earth, arriving with a
Any minute now, he was going to start asking questions she could not answer. She had to head him off with something plausible.I wanted a career and my own independence, and as a teenager, it seemed to me that as soon as a girl fell in love, she stopped wanting those things. So I vowed not to fall in love. It was far too dangerous. Remaining a virgin was a by-product of my decision not to fall in love.’She gave what she hoped was a convincingly careless small shrug.'Obviously, as I’ve grown older, I’ve been able to recognise that it is possible to have sex and remain emotionally independent, and I had begun to wonder what I might be missing because of a decision made when I was very immature.’And you’ve been looking around for someone to experience sex with? Is that what you’re trying to say?’Orla actually managed to laugh.I hadn’t got as far as that, and if I had done so, there would have been the embarrassment of my virginity to deal with. I’m old enough to understand that what
The ache that had taken possession of her heart now spread to the rest of her body, so that every part of her that had touched him or been touched by him longed violently for that physical contact once more.He was coming towards her, turning his head so that he could look at her. To make sure that she still understood what he had told her? Orla forced her lips into a professional smile, no different for Arni than it was for the man to whom he was introducing her, who was now smiling at her with male warmth and interest that threw into sharp relief Arni’s coldness towards her."My friends call me Nihal," he told her, "and I hope that you will do the same. I have heard a great many complimentary things about your work, and I am looking forward to featuring it in our magazine.’I expect Arni has already told you that part of his remit was that he wanted me to use local products as much as possible. Orla asked him as she stepped to one side to allow the two men to enter the show house."
Her heart was thumping unsteadily now, her body reacting to the promise contained in his words in a way that made total nonsense of her vow to herself to remain in control."You as good as said that you aren’t into virgins," she reminded him."You aren’t a virgin any more. Look, the reality is that whether we like it or not, there’s a sexual attraction between us that I’m prepared to admit is far stronger than I’d allowed for. It’s certainly strong enough to have kept me awake at night wanting you whilst I’ve been away—wanting only you. We both know the score: no long-term relationship, no commitment, no emotional trauma. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t be bed partners. My guess is that you want me every bit as much as I want you, and my proposition to you is that we give ourselves a break and ride the wave together rather than fight against it. The kind of intense sexual hunger we’re experiencing burns itself out quickly once it's satisfied. Right now, by resisting it, all we’re
He had been stroking her fingers, but now he stopped. Orla could feel the heat they were both generating pressing in on them, wrapping them in an invisible cloak of sensual longing."Rakesh will have brought our dinner.""Then we’d better go and eat it."Simple words, and yet the messages their other senses were exchanging went far deeper and were far more intimate.Dusk was stealing the light and the heat from the gardens, cloaking them in soft shadows. Orla didn’t know whether to be relieved or disappointed when Arni didn’t pause to kiss her as he guided her to the steps that led up to his private quarters and took her into a traditionally styled salon with low-lying divans drawn up around a table. Jewel-coloured glass lamps illuminated the room in rich reds and ambers, and scented smoke perfumed the air. The strains of soft music echoed softly through the scented darkness, brushing against Orla’s senses like a physical touch. This was foreplay, Kama Sutra-style, and already she was
Arni had been right. As the days had turned into weeks and the weeks into months—three of them, to be exact—there had been many wonderful times. There had been night after night during which she had thought she had climbed the heights, only to discover those heights had been mere foothills of pleasure.Orla admitted she was a very eager student—his pleasure was hers, and hers was his.There had been nights when they had lain on the divans and Arni had shown her the beautifully illustrated plates in the ancient copy of the Kama Sutra he had told her he had bought as a young man in a bazaar. It had originally been the property of a maharaja whose library had been sold, he had explained to her, and was of immense cultural and financial value.He had read the text to her, his voice sensually soft and erotic as he stroked the words as delicately as he stroked her skin. Uncertainly at first, but then with growing confidence, Orla studied the illustrated plates whilst Arni encouraged her to
He no longer read the Kama Sutra to her because now they had created their own personal repertoire of intimate pleasures—pleasures she had taken eagerly and adapted inventively to her own needs and to his, making them special and personal by the way she had put her own mark on them.And on him?Arni frowned. His thoughts were fast-tracking down a route that was becoming all too familiar. No commitment, he had said, and he had meant it. He still meant it.His car was waiting for him. He preferred to drive himself. He removed his suit jacket, throwing it into the back of the car along with his laptop and his case.He had seen Nihal whilst he had been in Mumbai, and the art director was pressuring him to set up an interview with Orla. The advertising was booked for the launch of the development, and he had seen the photographs of the interiors and understood why the agency he had hired to market the development had been so enthusiastic about its success.Orla had excelled in his remit an