The Other Side of Midnight

"No."

"Would you like a drink?"

"No."

Gently he took her in his arms, and they kissed. It was as though her body were being set aflame. Without a word Larry led her into the bedroom. There was a growing urgency as they both silently undressed. She lay on the bed naked, and he moved beside her.

"Larry--" but his lips were on hers, and his hands began to move down her body, gently exploring, and she forgot everything except the pleasure that was happening to her, and her hands began to grope for him. And she felt him hot and hard and pulsating and his fingers were inside her, opening her up gently and lovingly and he was on top of her and in her, and there was an exquisite joy that she had never dreamed possible and then they were together, moving faster and faster in a fantastic rhythm that rocked the room and the world and the universe until there was an explosion that became a delirious ecstasy an unbelievable shattering journey an arriving and departure an ending and a beginning and Catherine lay there spent and numb holding him tightly never wanting to let him go never wanting this feeling to stop. Nothing she had ever read or heard could have prepared her for this. It was unbelievable that another person's body could bring such joy. She lay there at peace: a woman. And she knew that if she never saw him again, she would be grateful to him for the rest of her life.

"Cathy?"

She turned to look at him, slowly and lazily. "Yes?" Even her voice seemed deeper to her, more mature.

"Could you get your nails out of my back?"

She suddenly realized that she had been digging into his flesh. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. She started to examine his back, but he caught her hands and pulled her close to him.

"It doesn't matter. Are you happy?"

"Happy?" Her lip trembled and to her horror she began to cry. Great sobs that wrenched her body. He held her in his arms, stroking her soothingly, letting the storm spend itself.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know what made me do that."

"Disappointment?"

Catherine looked at him quickly to protest, then saw that he was teasing her. He took her into his arms and made love to her again. It was even more incredible than before. Afterward they lay in bed and he talked, but she didn't listen. All she wanted to hear was the sound of his voice, and it didn't matter to her what he said. She knew there would never be anyone for her but this man. And she knew that this man could never belong to any one woman and that she would probably never see him again, that she was just another conquest to him. She was aware that his voice had stopped and that he was watching her.

"You haven't heard a word I said."

"Sorry," she said. "I was daydreaming."

"I should be hurt," he said reproachfully. "You're only interested in me for my body."

She ran her hands over his lean tanned chest and stomach. "I'm no expert," she said, "but I think this one will do nicely." She smiled. "It did nicely." She wanted to ask him whether he had enjoyed her, but she was afraid to.

"You're beautiful, Cathy."

She thrilled to his saying it and at the same time resented it. Anything he said to her he had said a thousand times to other women. She wondered how he was going to say good-bye. Call me sometime? Or, I'll call you sometime? Perhaps he would even want to see her again once or twice before he went on to someone else. Well, she had no one to blame but herself. She had known what she was getting into. I walked into this with my eyes and my legs wide open. No matter what happens, I must never blame him.

He slid his arms around her and held her close.

"Do you know you're a very special girl, Cathy?"

Do you know you're a very special girl--Alice, Susan, Margaret, Peggy, Lana.

"I felt it from the first time I saw you. I've never felt this way about anyone before."

--Janet, Evelyn, Ruth, Georgia, ad infinitum. She buried her head in his chest, not trusting herself to speak, and held him tightly, silently saying good-bye.

"I'm hungry," Larry said. "Do you know what I feel like?"

Catherine smiled. "Yes, I certainly do."

Larry grinned down at her. "You know something?" he asked. "You're a sex maniac."

She looked up. "Thank you."

He led her into the shower and turned it on. He took a shower cap from a hook on the wall and put it on Catherine's head, tucking in her hair. "Come on," he said, and pulled her into the piercing jet water. He took a bar of soap and began to wash her body, starting with her neck and working down to her arms and slowly circling her breasts and moving down to her stomach and her thighs. She began to feel an excitement in her groin and she took the soap from him and began to wash him, lathering his chest and stomach and moving down between his legs. His organ began to grow hard in her hand.