The creaking of the bedroom door awakened him. He sat up in bed, instantly alert. Someone was moving toward the bed. Robert tensed, ready to spring. He smelled her perfume then and felt her slide in bed beside him.
“Pier—What are you—?”
“Ssh.” Her body pressed against his. She was naked. “I got lonely,” she whispered. She snuggled closer to him.
“I’m sorry, Pier, I—I can’t do anything for you.”
Pier said, “No? Then let me do something for you.” Her voice was soft.
“It’s no use. You can’t.” Robert felt a deep frustration. He wanted to spare both of them the embarrassment of what was not going to happen.
“Don’t you like me, Robert? Do you not think I have a beautiful body?”
“Yes.” And she did. He could feel the warmth of her body pressing closer.
She was stroking him gently, rippling her fingers up and down his chest, moving lightly toward his groin.
He had to stop her before the humiliating fiasco was repeated. “Pier, I can’t make love. I haven’t been able to be with a woman since—for a long time.”
“You don’t have to do anything, Robert,” she said. “I just want to play. Do you like being played with?”
He felt nothing. Goddamn Susan! She had taken more than herself away from him, she had taken a part of his manhood.
Pier was sliding down his body now. “Turn over,” she said.
“It’s no use, Pier. I—”
She rolled him over, and he lay there cursing Susan, cursing his impotence. He could feel Pier’s tongue moving along his back, making tiny, delicate circles, moving lower and lower. Her fingers were gently flicking over his skin.
“Pier—”
“Ssh.”
He felt her tongue spiraling down deeper and deeper, and he began to feel aroused. He started to move.
“Ssh. Lie still.”
Her tongue was soft and warm, and he could feel her breasts trailing along his skin. His pulse began to quicken. Yes, he thought. Yes! Oh, yes! His tumescence grew until he became rock hard, and when he could stand it no longer, he grabbed Pier and turned her over.
She felt him and gasped, “My God, you’re enormous. I want you inside me.”
And a moment later Robert plunged into her, and then again and again, and it was as if he had been reborn. Pier was skillful and wild, and Robert reveled in the dark cave of her velvety softness. They made love three times that night. Finally, they slept.
Day Eighteen
Naples, Italy
In the morning, as the pale light was coming through the window, Robert awakened. He held Pier close in his arms and whispered, “Thank you.”
Pier smiled mischievously. “How do you feel?”
“Wonderful,” Robert said. And he did.
Pier snuggled against him. “You are an animal!”
Robert grinned. “You’re good for my ego,” he said.
Pier sat up and said seriously, “You are not a drug smuggler, are you?”
It was a naive question. “No.”
“But Interpol is after you.”
That hit closer to home. “Yes.”
Her face lit up. “I know! You’re a spy!” She was as excited as a child.
Robert had to laugh. “Am I?” And he thought, Out of the mouths of babes…
“Admit it,” Pier insisted. “You’re a spy, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Robert said gravely. “I’m a spy.”
“I knew it!” Pier’s eyes were glowing. “Can you tell me some secrets?”
“What kind of secrets?”
“You know, spy secrets—codes and things like that. I love to read spy novels. I read them all the time.”
“Do you?”
“Oh, yes! But they’re just made-up stories. You know all the real things, don’t you? Like the signals that spies use. Are you allowed to tell me one?”
Robert said seriously, “Well, I really shouldn’t, but I suppose one would be all right.” What can I tell her that she’ll believe? “There’s the old window-shade trick.”
She was wide-eyed. “The old window-shade trick?”
“Yes.” Robert pointed to a window in the bedroom. “If everything is under control, you leave the shades up. But if there’s trouble, you pull one shade down. That’s the signal to warn your fellow agent away.”
Pier said excitedly, “That’s wonderful! I’ve never read that in a book.”