feet inside the door, she turned and looked down at her clothing, the black jeans, the handmade sweater, and the soggy tennis shoes.
'I guess you noticed my clothes. No time to pack and frankly I thought rural was like the Dixie Chicks. Out here is like… you know
… National Geographic. I understood that we were leaving the civilized world when we went to the Amazon, but across this river, man, this place is right out of Edgar Rice Burroughs. GORE-TEX would have…'
'Don't worry about it.'
She had a half smile that was delicious and it asked all sorts of questions that only a poet could define, and in the smile was mischief and secret knowledge and sexual stirrings too deep to describe. Michael's throat caught and he knew she was made for him. It was in the sound of her voice, in the bow of her lips before she laughed, the quiet mirth in her eyes, the way she took a small breath before she started a sentence. It was found in the way her body was formed to fit some strange hollowness that was a need he couldn't put in words, the way her eyebrows curved, the way her lips formed words and the way her mind strung them together. It dwelled in her sense of humor, her essence, the things that formed her soul. He wanted to inhale her through every pore. Her eyes looked larger than before, but also delicate, and he knew her intent could be easily dissuaded if he returned passion with uncertainty, and so he took great care to meet her stare with equal boldness, daring her to continue.
She glanced away, then back at his eyes, as if testing him. He tried not to waver.
'What are you thinking?'
'Sometimes in the jungle, where there is a very dark canopy, a single tree falls to make a perfect hole. Right after a heavy rain, when the sun first breaks out and shines down through that hole, it pours in and lights the droplets all around and there are rainbow colors everywhere, and it gives you a feeling like you are in a magic place made for just that moment. Right now I feel like I'm in one of those moments.' Michael could be devastatingly poetic.
She stepped forward and took his hand. He kissed the back of it and moved into her.
'Uhm, I would like to say that just as a for instance, I wouldn't mind going to the Amazon sometimes. I mean to visit you.'
Michael knew that she was getting at something more than the Amazon. He tried to think over the top of his desire. Then it struck him.
'You know I would not have to be in the Amazon all the time.'
'Like if you had kids or something?'
'Yes. That is a good example. But I would have to make a lot of trips to Peru and Brazil.'
'Sure, and I imagine that kids with the proper shots and everything could go to the Amazon.'
'You know, I have been told that I could get a position at a university.'
'You have? Just as a for instance, do you think you could fall in love again?'
'I think I already have. Is it the custom to talk about everything? Do we need to go out for dinner or something? The nearest restaurant-'
'No. No, Michael, are you joking?'
'Will you ever stop planning world history before it hap pens?'
'Okay. Okay. But there is one more thing that is impor tant.'
'Yes?'
'I was what some people call a stripper. I did it for a liv ing.'
'In Brazil there is lots of sex like that.'
'Not sex. Basically you take off your clothes and get naked while men watch, and then you dance for them and you touch them. They have their clothes on, but you tease them.'
'Why did you strip?'
'For money.'
'Ah.' His mind sought to focus. 'You did not have sex with them for money?'
'No. No. Not what I think of as sex. I undressed while I danced. Sometimes I sat in their lap, but they couldn't touch me.'
'So you just get naked and men pay you money?'
'I used to. Now I work for Sam and I've left that behind. But I wanted you to know, in case it matters.'
'Did they pay you a lot of money?'
'You are very beautiful. It is worth it I suppose.'
'No. No. You and me… that's not about money.'
'You want laundry soap instead?'
She punched him. 'Now you're teasing me.'
'Yes. I know about strippers. I don't care.'
He put his hand in the small of her back, as if they were going to dance. The slight smile increased and they began kissing, and he put both his arms around her middle and pulled her to him. There was a rush in his mind and body, and they began pressing themselves together and he could feel the energy in her body and the strength of her supple back. They kissed deeply and hard, and their tongues ex plored without hesitation.
Michael closed the door with his foot. Grady began to unbutton his shirt. Taking her pullover sweater by the bottom, he pulled it up and she allowed it to slip over her head by ex tending her arms. Michael tossed it on the bed. Her blouse was a reddish orange, the color of a jungle vromillius. It was far from wilderness clothing, but he liked it.
Putting his fingers at the top of her neck, he began a mas sage and, at the same time, looked in her eyes.
'You are beautiful,' he said.
Concentrating on her neck muscles at the base of her skull, he worked his fingers while he smiled at her.
'That feels so good.'
'I have wanted to touch you.'
And he tugged her to the bed, where she fell down, and he with her, and he continued on her neck and after a moment her shoulders.
She kissed him again and wrapped her leg around the outside of his thigh to draw him closer.
In order to facilitate the work of his fingers, he began with the buttons on her blouse while they each played with the ways of kissing. He succeeded with most of the buttons but popped one when pushing the blouse back over her shoul ders and then down over her arms. Her skin was smooth and slightly browned and there were a few light freckles like cinnamon sprinkles above her white satin bra. Her cleavage was noticeable and inviting, but he moved his fingers back to her shoulders as they kissed.
It did not seem possible that he could ever tire of putting his hands on her. She moaned, as if reading his mind. Gently he ran his fingers over her shoulders, neck, and chin, as one might feel the texture of silk or touch an object of veneration. He kissed the freckles on her back and slid his fingers lower, feeling a tightness unwind in her. Soon he sensed that the small of her back had some connection of sensation to her thighs, and he pressed in as she pressed herself to him. He could feel her start to breathe heavily as if finding a subtle rhythm. Her thighs wrapped around the meat of his leg while his fingers pushed in smaller circles.
She wanted to kiss again and they played with their tongues. When he left her lower back, they unzipped the front of the pants so that he could work his hands over her buttocks. He sank his hands into the flesh of her bottom and pressed her close and she breathed deeply in his ear and he knew it was good for her. He kissed her above her breasts and waited until she moved the bra to expose her nipples. Her breasts were brown in the areola and slightly rounded in their shape, and for him they were perfect.
Kissing her breasts, he let his lips feel the texture of them and of her nipples. She didn't finish with his shirt before moving to his belt.
As she loosened it, he willed her to slow down, playing his tongue over her ears. She shivered and laughed and he stroked her scalp, kneading it with a gentle touch, then smoothing her hair.
'You make love like you know me,' she whispered.
'I make love like a student,' he said, and she drew him in.
'I want to talk to you,' Grady said as she lay with Michael in the quiet after their lovemaking.
'Yes. I want to talk to you too, but when you are naked like this for the first time… well…'
