‘Oh, no!’ Rebecca groaned. ‘Isn’t the morning rush over yet?’
‘Your traffic jams are as bad as Rome,’ Luca complained. ‘Nothing’s moving.’
‘It’ll take hours to get back to the Allingham,’ Rebecca said.
He gripped her hand tighter. ‘We don’t have hours,’ he said firmly. ‘Where is the nearest hotel?’
She began to laugh. ‘Luca, we can’t-’
‘Becky, I swear to you that if you don’t direct me to an hotel I shall make love to you here and now, on the grass.’
There was a note in his voice that told her he might actually mean it. There was simply no knowing what this determined man might do. It made him thrilling.
‘I’m warning you,’ he said, slipping his arms around her.
‘Stop it! Behave!’
‘Find us a hotel, then, quickly.’
‘If we cross the road and take that turning there are quite a few in that street up there.’
Crossing the road was easy, since none of the traffic was moving. They found themselves in a street of small private hotels, some of which had notices bearing the word ‘Vacancies’ in the window. Luca dashed into the first one they came to.
This was a different world from the whispering luxury of the Allingham. There was a small hall, with a cubbyhole for the receptionist, who was absent. Luca had to ring the bell twice, and the second time he did so with such force that a harassed-looking woman emerged from the rear, looking indignant.
‘I’d like a room, please,’ Luca said. ‘Immediately.’
‘It isn’t noon,’ the woman said, with a glance at the clock on the wall that showed half-past eleven.
‘Is that important?’
‘If you take possession before twelve I’m afraid I have to charge you for two days.’
‘How much is the room per night?’ Luca asked, breathing hard.
‘Seventy pounds, per person, per night. You would be requiring a double room, I take it?’
‘Yes,’ said Luca, almost beside himself. ‘We would like a double room.’
‘Then that would be a hundred and forty pounds for one night, so perhaps you would care to wait half an hour, and only pay for one night, which will be cheaper.’
‘That’s not a good idea,’ Rebecca said hastily. ‘We’ll take it now, thank you.’
‘Very well. Name?’
‘Mr and Mrs Smith,’ Rebecca said promptly.
The receptionist showed, by raised eyebrows, exactly what she thought of that.
‘I see. Well, we operate a liberal regime here, although it did seem to me that this was a foreign gentleman-’
‘He’s a foreign gentleman called Smith,’ said Rebecca, poker-faced.
‘Well, if one of you would sign here…’
Rebecca hastily seized the pen. Luca was in no mood to remember what name he was supposed to be signing.
The room, when they finally took possession of it, was basic but adequate. Luca shut the door firmly, locked it and turned to her swiftly.
But she was ahead of him, tossing her clothes aside, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.
‘Come on,’ she said. ‘Slow coach.’
He needed no further encouragement, matching her for speed, until they were both ready to fall onto the bed and claim each other with feverish intensity. No subtlety. No pretence that this was anything but frantic, exuberant lust, relished for its own sake, with no holds barred.
She wanted him inside her. She’d wanted that since he’d left her only a few hours ago, and when she had what she wanted she kept tight hold of him, arching against him insistently and looking up into his face with a smile that made him smile back.
It was she who decided that the moment had come, moving faster, and then faster.
‘Wait,’ he told her.
‘No,’ she said simply.
He tried to hold her back but his own desire was uncontrollable, and they finished triumphantly together, laughing and crowing with triumph.
When he had the strength to move, Luca sat up, and blew out his cheeks. ‘I’ve been thinking of this ever since-since I got up this morning.’
‘So have I,’ she said, relieved at being able to admit it. ‘Luca, I don’t know who I am any more. I have never been like this in all my life.’
He raised himself from his back, rolled over and looked down at her nakedness with appreciative eyes.
‘Shall I tell you who you are?’ he asked, sliding his hand over her breasts again.
She chuckled. ‘Does it involve vigorous exercise?’
‘It might. Unless you’re tired.’
‘Who’s tired? It’s early yet.’ She reached for him, letting him know with gestures what she wanted of him, and the pleasure was all given back to her, again and again.
As they lay together afterwards she said dreamily, ‘I’ll bet it’s past noon by now.’
‘It’s three in the afternoon,’ he said.
‘Ah, well, it can’t be helped,’ she said drowsily, not knowing what she meant by this.
‘Why did you tell them that we were Mr and Mrs Smith?’
‘I had to tell them something.’
‘But what did she mean about a liberal regime?’
‘In the old days, when people weren’t as free as they are now, people who wanted to be together used to book into a hotel under the name of Mr and Mrs Smith. So whenever you told a hotel that your name was Smith- well-’
‘They knew you were unmarried lovers,’ he finished.
‘Something like that.’
‘And that’s why she gave us such a funny look?’
‘Yes. She knew exactly why we couldn’t wait until noon.’
Luca began to laugh, burying his face against her neck and shaking. And she too laughed, because it was really incredibly funny. For years there had been no laughter in the world. Now there was nothing else but laughter and joy, pleasure and fulfilment, the one leading to the other, then back again, and round in an endless circle of delight.
All strain and tension seemed to fall away, leaving her relaxed and gloriously content. When Luca raised his head she saw that it was the same with him.
‘I could go to sleep now,’ he said, laying his head back on her shoulder.
‘Mmm, lovely.’
But the shrill of his cellphone brought them back to reality. With a grimace he swung himself off the bed.
‘I should have switched it off,’ he said. ‘Hello, Sonia-no, I’m not at the hotel for the moment-nothing wrong, just a change of plan. Anything urgent?’
He yawned as he listened. Rebecca too yawned. It felt pleasant to lie here, drifting into a light doze. Luca’s voice reached her faintly.
‘All right, there’s no problem, but he’s got to come down on the price, or no deal. Sure, I know what he was hoping for, but he’s not going to get it. I can go elsewhere, but he can’t.’
For half an hour she floated happily in and out of consciousness.
‘There’s no point in talking any more, Sonia. He and I have done business before. He knows I mean what I say. Now, about the future-I won’t be at the Allingham for a few days. You can reach me on this phone, but not too often, OK?’
He hung up. Rebecca slowly sat up in the bed.
‘Where are you planning to be for the next few days, Luca?’
‘Here. With you.’
‘And what about my appointments? My job?’
