Rapture

Bonnie had drawn the drapes. The place was only dimly illuminated by the little bit of late-afternoon light that filtered in around the edges. She sat on the. bed waiting for him, one leg dangling toward the floor, the other curled under her. She wore some kind of corset affair and thigh-high stockings. She had a ribbon tied around her throat. There was something about the way she held herself there, the way her hair was brushed or the way she looked up at him, like a child hoping for approval, that reminded him of a picture pose in a Combat Zone window display or ... something about Diane. It was how Bonnie thought she should look to appear sexy and sinful. The effect wasn't as natural or as exciting as the day before, when she'd simply peeled off her T-shirt, but he liked it, and he appreciated the effort. He started to say something, but the words wouldn't come, and he had to clear his throat, which pleased Bonnie, who thought she'd knocked him speechless.

"It's called crystal gray," she said softly, running a hand across her outfit. "Do you like it?"

"You're beautiful, very beautiful," he told her as he went and stood beside the bed. "Undress me ..."

They were in the middle of coitus when Jeff opened his eyes and saw Bonnie watching him. She was smiling sweetly, but beyond that was a look of curious, almost detached interest. It confused him momentarily, and he slowed the rhythm of his movements.

"Are you thinking of my mother?"

Her voice was a ghost of a whisper. He couldn't answer, nor could he control the emotions that transformed his face and froze his body.

"It's all right," she murmured gently. "It's all right."

OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The sea was crusted with whitecaps, the sand was still hard-packed from winter, and the sky was uniformly gray. A sharp breeze licked in off the water, swept along the shore, and then died, only to reappear a few minutes later. It was Sunday afternoon, and the weather had turned. It wasn't really cold, but brisk and invigorating or chilly and raw, according to taste.

"When I was back in Connecticut just about a year ago," Jeff said, "there was a tremendous heat wave the whole time."

"That was the exception," Bonnie told him. "This is normal for the beginning of May."

"I guess."

He took a slug of malt Scotch. There was about a third of the bottle left, and he passed it to Bonnie. She hoisted it like a veteran drinker, but pursed her lips tightly and took only a small amount of the whiskey.

"This stuff numbs my lips," she said. "You know that?"

He smiled. "It's actually very smooth."

"But it does give you a nice warm feeling inside," she added, completing her thought.

There wasn't a boat to be seen on Cape Cod Bay, weather threats apparently having prevailed. The shore was equally deserted in both directions. Jeff and Bonnie had come to this place more or less by accident. Boston had looked dreary and uninviting from the ninth floor of the Hyatt that morning, but neither of them had wanted to hang around the hotel room all day.

"We could do this every year," Bonnie said.

"What?"

"What we've been doing. Three days and nights of sinful sex and fun. We could get together once a year, every May, just for a long delicious weekend, and then not see or talk to each other at all until the next year."

" ?" VVFhy

"I don't know. Wouldn't it be kind of adventurous and romantic?"

"A reunion," Jeff said, and the word reverberated through his mind.

"Right. I bet it would be fun."

"I'm not sure reunions are such a great idea."

"I think there was a movie about two people who did that," Bonnie continued. "They'd meet once a year, and they kept the affair going for about twenty years."

"There's a movie about everything, but that doesn't mean it would work."

"Oh, Jeff." She poked him playfully. "You're getting tired of me already."

"No, it isn't that. I wouldn't mind taking you back to L.A. with me tomorrow. But a year is a very long time in some ways, and you'll be a different person next May.*

"Yeah, but I might still like the idea of spending a dirty weekend with you."

'Bonnie ..."

But she knelt forward and put a finger to his lips while she tried to keep herself from giggling.

"Never mind, Jeff. I was only kidding. Honest to God, you take things so seriously, sometimes it's impossible not to put you on."