“You can cut the sex part of yourself off from the feelings part?”
“Easily. Can’t you?”
“Umm…”
“So you like Milan?” Evgeny laughed incredulously. “He’s a bastard. Come on. You have to agree.”
“He might be a bastard, but I love him. That makes the sex…that’s what the sex is about.”
Evgeny’s lip curled in disdain. “Love,” he said. “It’s such a stupid thing.”
“I know that. But we both love him, don’t we? And that’s why we’re doing it, when it comes down to it. It’s got nothing to do with sex—it’s all about love. Your love, and my love, for Milan.”
Evgeny’s lips turned down.
“Think what you like,” he said, hunching his shoulders. “I’m doing it because I fancy a shag and you’re here.”
“Well, that’s certainly not why I’m doing it.”
“I know. But you have to try sex with a person you don’t like. Let me show you how it can be.”
Lydia pushed her plate away. “This is weird,” she muttered. “Even by recent standards.”
“What’s weird? You fancy me, don’t you?”
She looked him over, long and thoughtfully. He was very attractive, beautiful really, with a look of Rudolph Valentino about him. Not many girls would pass him up, she supposed. If only he didn’t have the pouty, prima-donna personality to match.
“You’re pretty,” she said. “Pretty on the outside.”
“You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me.”
“You’re from Minsk and you play the cello and you’re Milan’s lover. And you don’t like me.”
“And that makes me ugly on the inside?”
“It makes you unappealing to me. It’s only natural.”
She flinched as Evgeny’s foot brushed her ankle under the table.
“No, that’s not natural. I can show you what’s natural.”
“Evgeny…”
He moved his foot up her calf, rucking the denim, prodding little dints in the heavy fabric.
“Don’t you want what Milan wants? What I want?” he said softly, caressing the back of her knee with booted toes. “Don’t you want to have us both? All our attention on you and what you want? Wouldn’t you like to have four hands touching you and two tongues licking you? I know you would. I know what you are. I know you dream of getting fucked by two horny men at once. Don’t you, Lydia?”
Blood roared in Lydia’s ears. Her jeans were uncomfortable, hot
around the crotch. Evgeny found her thigh and moved his foot inexorably upwards.
“Answer me, or I’ll get under the table and get those jeans off you right here.”
Lydia’s throat was dry, but she managed to croak, “Let’s go.”
Evgeny beamed and gave her crotch a nudge of approval before withdrawing his foot.
“Milan’s out but he said we could use the flat. As long as we promised to film it all.”