The Seven Steps to Closure (29 page)

‘Hey, do you think it might just be walking up the hill?’ Matt asked.

I darted to the side, holding my breath while the bull plodded on by.

‘I guess he was,’ I said, leaning over and laughing so hard I couldn’t stand up straight. ‘I really thought he was going to attack me.’

‘I don’t think he had enough speed up to do any real damage,’ gasped Matt between laughs.

‘Ohh.’ I straightened up and wiping tears from my eyes, stepped straight into a huge pile of steaming cow dung. I could feel the warmth of it wrapping over the end of my toes. ‘Oh no,’ I said as I felt my foot slipping out from underneath me.

I was like a cartoon character with my arms and feet peddling backwards in an attempt to regain my balance: finally losing the battle and collapsing with a huge ‘whoompf’, straight into the pile of dung.

‘Oh dear,’ I said. I could feel it seeping through my clothes.

‘Oh dear?’ asked Matt, thumping his hand onto his knee as he buckled over with laughter. ‘Oh dear?’ he said as he slid to the ground next to me. And then he saw the remnants of poo oozing out from underneath me. ‘Oh dear,’ he said. And then we both lost it.

‘Stop. Stop,’ I begged him as I howled with laughter. ‘I think I’m going to wet myself.’

‘Go ahead,’ said Matt, gesturing at my pooey pants. ‘It won’t make any difference.’

‘It’s a matter of pride,’ I tried to explain. But he only laughed harder.

Finally, he clambered to his feet. ‘Come on,’ he said holding out a hand, ‘we have to get you home and into the shower.’

‘Yucky,’ I said as I walked up the street. I was leaving pooey footprints behind, and my pants were stuck to my ass. I reeked.

‘Don’t make me look,’ said Matt, ‘or I’ll probably wet myself.’

I took my shoes off when we got to the hotel. ‘After you,’ I said politely gesturing at the stairs to our room.

Matt led us into the room and I headed straight for the bathroom.

I looked at myself in the mirror and started to giggle. ‘I’m disgusting,’ I called out.

‘I know. I can still smell you.’

I stripped the filthy pants off and then looked at my shoes. They had been pretty satin slip-ons I had bought in Delhi; now brown liquid poo stained the shiny material.

‘I don’t think my shoes can be saved,’ I said.

‘I’m not surprised. I’ll go and get a laundry bag for your clothes,’ he called out as I hopped into the shower.

A few minutes later, I was clean again. I wrapped a white towel around me and then realised I had no clothes to put on. I’d have to duck out and get them before Matt got back from downstairs.

Darting into the bedroom towards my bag, I stopped in fright when I saw movement in the door to the balcony. I gasped and then realised it was Matt – standing there, staring at me.

‘I didn’t hear you come back,’ I said, realising just how short the towel was. It only just covered my bottom.

Matt stood still in the same spot, seemingly transfixed by his view of me. I could feel my breathing getting heavier as I met his eyes. I licked my lips nervously. He moved towards me, stopping just short. ‘You’re so beautiful,’ he said, reaching out a hand to my face. I felt myself moving towards him as if in a dream.

He trailed his fingers down my face as if mesmerised by the feel of me. In their wake I could feel tingling spreading out and dancing across my skin.

‘Matt,’ I whispered as his fingers reached my neck, ‘I think you need to kiss me.’

He pulled me closer and bent his head to mine, and finally I got to feel his sweet lips – once again – caressing mine. I melted towards him, into him, distressed when he pulled away. ‘I’ve wanted to do this to you ever since I saw you on that plane,’ he said, running a hand through my wet hair.

I stared up into his beautiful eyes. ‘Do what?’ I asked breathlessly, hoping it was to rip the towel off my body and have his wicked way with me.

‘This.’ He picked me up easily, laying me on the bed in my towel. Then he proceeded to unwrap me. First he unwrapped my body as he peeled back my towel, and then he unwrapped my mind as he caressed me and kissed me, driving me crazy with my need for him. I writhed in ecstasy beneath him as I clutched at his clothes trying to shred them from his body.

‘Not fair,’ I complained in between frantic kisses, ‘you’ve still got your clothes on.’

He hopped off the bed and let his pants fall to the floor.

I groaned in anticipation looking at him in all his glory. And I mean all of it. He had an erection that would have made King Kong proud.

‘Is that for me?’ I asked teasingly, watching him roll on a condom.

‘It’s all yours baby,’ he said, smiling as he climbed back onto the bed to kneel over me.

If I had thought I had felt good up till then, it was nothing compared to how good I felt when I finally felt him slide inside me.

‘Oh – my – God.’ I could feel my eyes rolling back in my head. ‘I’ve wanted you to do this to me ever since you stopped doing it to me the first time.’ I gasped as he thrust further and further into me. I wrapped my legs around him and clasped his rock hard buttocks in my hands. The feeling of his body on mine, his lips on mine, his tongue in my mouth and his hands on my body – I was having trouble breathing with the overwhelming sensuality of it. I groaned and urged him on harder and faster as I moved my hips to match his rhythm.

‘I think I’m going to come,’ he said, sounding dismayed.

Lifting my pelvis up, I encouraged him even deeper inside me. ‘Then come,’ I said as I dug my nails into his back. And he did.

‘Sorry,’ he apologised. ‘You feel so amazing and I’ve been imagining doing this to you for weeks now, I couldn’t stop myself.’ He started kissing and caressing me, moving slowly down my body. ‘I’ve also been imagining doing this to you,’ he said huskily as he placed his tongue on my clitoris and licked it.

‘Jesus Christ,’ I moaned, as he also stroked my nipples. I could feel the knot of tension inside me tighten even further. ‘Oh please,’ I heard myself cry, as I started to move rhythmically against his mouth. ‘Oh yes,’ I said, as I felt myself riding higher and higher towards an orgasm.

And then he stopped just before I peaked and I let out a frustrated yelp.

‘Look what I found,’ he said, reaching for another condom as he nodded towards his erection.

‘Oh my,’ I said admiringly, ‘come to Momma.’

He slid inside me and this time we came together. I bit his neck to stop from screaming as my body spasmed with my orgasm. I’d never felt anything like it. He shuddering inside me in time with my climax, and finally we both collapsed exhausted onto the bed.

I held him to me to stop him from moving, enjoying his body pressing me down; his naked skin on mine. I tried to memorise the feel of it but he started to kiss me lazily, nuzzling my neck and tickling my ear, and all of a sudden, I could have gone again, right then, right there.

Eventually when we had both emerged from the cloud of lust he said, ‘To think, we could have been doing this the whole time.’

I smiled at him and said, ‘Yes, but we wouldn’t have gotten any sightseeing done.’

‘I know what I’d rather be doing given a choice between sightseeing and making love to you.’

‘It’s all right,’ I said teasingly, ‘the lake is pretty spectacular.’

‘Hmm yes,’ he said, rolling over and kissing me, ‘but not as spectacular as you.’

Then we made love again.

* * *

I opened my eyes to the clear blue skies of Udaipur and the soft warmth of Matt’s chest against my back.
Mmmm
, so it hadn’t been a delicious dream. I moved my body experimentally. Yep, it certainly felt like it had had a night of passion. I smiled unable to believe my extremely good luck that this man wanted me, wanted to be with me. It all seemed too good to be true.

‘Good morning,’ he said, raising himself up and kissing me on the shoulder.

I wriggled around in his embrace so I could kiss him on the lips and then said, ‘Right back at ya.’

The kissing continued for several minutes, getting more and more intense until suddenly I screwed up my nose and pulled away.

‘Phew,’ I said. ‘What’s that smell?’

‘I think,’ said Matt laughing, ‘that you’ll find it’s your clothes.’

‘Oh no.’ I had totally forgotten about the dung covered clothing left deserted on the bathroom floor.

He swung his feet out of bed saying, ‘I’ll take them down to the laundry and get us a coffee.’

‘I could kill for a coffee,’ I admitted, wrapping a sheet around me and climbing out of bed. ‘And I think the place needs airing.’ I opened the windows onto our balcony as far as they would go in an attempt to look busy, but really I was waiting for Matt to leave so I could commandeer the bathroom. I desperately wanted to check my hair and give my teeth a quick brush. I was sure I had morning breath.

We were on the balcony drinking our coffee and enjoying the vista of the lake beneath us when I remembered something I had noticed the day before and wanted to ask him. ‘Hey what’s the deal with the whole
Octopussy
on the rooftop thing?’ I said.

‘Haven’t you seen
Octopussy
?

Hating to seem ignorant, I shook my head.

‘Not a James Bond Fan?’

‘I don’t mind the latest one,’ I said.

‘So Daniel Craig is my competition then?’

‘Him and Edward.’

‘Edward?’

‘From
Twilight
.’

He laughed. ‘Well I don’t think I have much to worry about there.’

‘I don’t think you have much to worry about with Daniel Craig either.’ I leant back on my chair. ‘So
Octopussy
is a James Bond movie?’

‘Yep. It was filmed right here. They show it at the rooftop restaurants in the evening. Did you want to go tonight?’

‘Sure. But why the roof top restaurants?’

‘You can see all the places in the movie while you’re watching it. Tomorrow we can go sightseeing and visit them.’ He smiled cheekily at me as he said it.

‘Tomorrow?’ I asked hopefully. ‘What are we doing today?’

He smiled and pulling me onto his lap kissed me. ‘I thought maybe today we could stay in our room,’ he said as he pulled my sheet apart and kissed the top of my breast.

‘I like the way you think,’ I said, gasping at the feel of his tongue on my nipple.

‘Well, at the moment I think we both need a long hot shower.’ Lifting me, he carried me effortlessly into the bathroom where he deposited me gently. He flipped the shower on and pulled his shirt off over his head. Eagerly I reached out and undid his pants, sliding them down to the floor. I stood, admiring the beauty of his form, unable to believe it was being offered to me. Then shyly I let my sheet go. He kissed me deeply as he pulled me into the water with him. The combination of the hot water streaming over me and his body pressed up against mine was divine.

‘I think,’ I said, ‘that today is going to be my favourite day of the holiday.’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘as your tour guide, it is my job to make sure of it.’

Many, many hours later hunger finally drove us up to the rooftop. The sun was setting and a sprinkling of lights had started to sparkle across the city. I walked around the rooftop admiring the night-lights. ‘Look at the City Palace,’ I said to Matt, snuggling my back into him as he wrapped his arms around me. The whole building wasn’t so much lit as glowing. It was a breathtaking site.

We watched
Octopussy
on a television which was positioned so we could also see the lake. Roger Moore worked his way through the tourist attractions of Udaipur, many of which twinkled below us like large floating candles.

‘Wow,’ I said to Matt when it had finished, ‘that Lake Palace Hotel is something to behold.’

‘Yeah, it certainly is,’ he agreed.

I stretched my arms above my head and faked a huge yawn. ‘Bed time?’ I asked him cheekily.

‘Sure is babe,’ he said smiling.

We headed back to our room where I found, to my delight, that we weren’t tired at all, and instead had to find some other way to entertain ourselves. It wasn’t very hard.

* * *

Once again, I woke to the glory of an Indian blue sky and Matt’s arms around me. I sighed. I could get used to this. After a lazy breakfast on our balcony, we spent the morning at the City Palace Museum. From there we strolled down to the water’s edge where there were children swimming and playing in the water.

‘Fancy a boat ride?’ Matt asked me.

‘It’s not one of those pedal boats we saw those people using the other night?’ I asked suspiciously.

He laughed, ‘No, I promise this boat uses an engine.’

The breeze coming off the water was a welcome relief to the humidity of the morning. I relaxed against Matt as I enjoyed the feel of the boat gliding around the lake. Eventually it docked at the Lake Palace Hotel and I watched enviously as some tourists departed the boat.

‘Shall we?’ asked Matt.

‘What? Get off here?’ I asked in confusion.

‘Well, it is where we’re staying tonight.’

I stared at him, stunned. He laughed and shooed his hands at me shepherding me off the boat. ‘It’s not often that I see you speechless,’ he said.

‘I don’t know,’ I advised him primly. ‘I was pretty speechless when you did that thing last night with your tongue.’

He laughed again and stroked my face before enveloping my hand with his. At that moment it wouldn’t have mattered where we were staying; I was the happiest woman in the world. I floated beside him up through the magnificent surroundings to the reception where we were given a welcome Masala tea before being taken to our room.

I have never experienced anything like our suite at the Lake Palace Hotel. Huge silk rugs covered the floors. The walls were intricate murals, the plasterwork so ornate I continuously saw more detail. The bed was huge; a sumptuous banquet of silk and cushions. The bathroom had a freestanding claw-foot bath by a bay window; the simpleness of the enamel only enhancing the beauty of the surrounding mosaics.

‘I don’t ever want to leave this room,’ I said, slowly turning to experience its full glory.

‘I know it’s gorgeous,’ said Matt, taking some photos. ‘But I am sure the rest of the hotel is amazing as well. We really should go exploring.’