SPARKS 34

We walk to the corridor; they are all ahead of us. I’m so disappointed I don’t even care to look at them until Julie squeezes my hand, smirks and says “happy birthday Bea”.
I look at her, look at them on the opposite end of the hall and I see him. I stop dead in my tracks and the whole world blurs. All I can see clearly it’s him. He’s standing in front of Tricia, arms opened, he’s frowning. *Look at me* my brain is whispering. And he does. And I feel like no-one has ever looked at me before. I feel like I’m naked in front of all those people. My heart is racing.
“Beatrice” father says “we’re so glad you could join us! I was just giving our Gordon here some information about our family… Beatrice?”
I’m not moving, not talking. Waiting for him to make a first step toward me, I smile faintly. He moves painfully slow. We are staying in front of each other, not touching.
Father is staring at us so Caro takes his arm “count Corsini, I’ve heard you bought an ancient copy of the Canterbury Tales, have you already started to study it?”
He’s still looking at us puzzled but the temptation of being able to talk about his precious books is too strong, and Caro knows it.
“It has the most amazing miniatures…” She nods and smiles politely.
Howard places a hand on my hip, and leans toward me. His face is so close to mine I can feel his breath and places a wet kiss on my cheek. I bite my lip to suppress a moan; I’ve missed his touch so much. His face rests between my cheek and my neck “happy birthday” he whispers.
I place my fingers on his hand “thanks”, blood is pulsing in my body.
Felix clears his throat and pats Howard’s shoulder. “Gordon here is great lover of modern art, maybe you could show him your Picasso”
I take a step back, Howard gives us a disappointed look. I catch my breath, “right, the Picasso … would you like to see it too gu…”
They don’t even let me finish the sentence and I hear a “NO” they manage to pronounce in unison.
Tricia looks at Howard “We have already seen it, and we just don’t feel like climbing all the stairs to get to Beatrice’s bedroom, can you imagine? She keeps it in her room”
He smiles at her grateful “I love Picasso”
“Right, this way” my little finger locks into his, I cannot look at him, it’s hard enough trying to keep breathing simply knowing he is so close.
I open a door hidden in the wall. “That’s a secret passage Gordon, my ancestors used it to move from one wing to another without being seen or heard” father tells him, but we are not listening.
I step into the little landing at the bottom of the stairs and I wait for him to follow. He closes the door behind us, his eyes never leaving me. I raise my head and I see he’s burning with desire as he closes the space between us and pushes my back against the door. Howard cups my face and leans in to kiss me. He stops, his eyes locked into mine. He moves smoothly his tongue along my bottom lip, then softly nipping it with his teeth, he takes my lip in between his own. My head is spinning and I press myself to him. I feel his hands on my waist, pulling me closer still. I press my lips to his sliding my tongue into his mouth; seeking exploring, finding his. And we kiss long, hard and deep.
He breaks the kiss “I hate you”
I lock my fingers into his curls “my room, let’s go to my room” I mumble. I take his hand and start walking up the stairs. We’re unable to speak, our steps are marked by our heavy breathing only.
I close my door behind us. I am staring at the Picasso, waiting for him to make the first the move. I stay there, waiting, but nothing happens, until I hear him whispering my name, with an almost perfect Italian accent “Beatrice”. I turn around and see him, he is so sexy. He's sitting on the bed, his back against the wall. His jacket, shirt and pants are lying on the floor already. His legs bent with his feet flat on the bed. He pats the empty space on the bed between his legs. I smile back walking to him. I take off my sandals and I climb on the bed to snuggle with my back against his chest. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my shoulder once. I lean over and kiss his knee as the palm of his hands start to glide lightly over my belly. I feel the warmth of his hand through my silk dress and I try to bury more of my back into his body. His lips touch the skin of my neck and I tilt my head so to give his lips more access. I moan when his lips move from kissing to lightly sucking. His hands move up and slowly cupping my breasts. “I guess we’re having a braless summer…don’t want to know why” he mocks me with a very low voice. I am trying to come up with words but I can only moan again. His hands carefully tease my nipples. I hear him take a deep breath. “I hate you so much” he whispers into my ear “the last two months have been hell”. I bury my hand in his hair and I start moving down and slowly back up. His mouth breathing warmly along my skin, sending small shivers down my back. I close my eyes “Howard” I whisper and his hands travel down from my breasts past my belly and towards my legs. I can hear him moaning softly and his fingertips lightly glide across my panties. “Kiss me” I beg and I turn straddling him. We smile faintly at each other and we kiss, long and hard while I find myself moving my hips as I feel his fingers through my panties. “Take them off” I command, he pants and placing his hands on my sides, slide them inside my panties and tear them apart. Then he grabs my dress and pulls it over my head. I raise my arms so he can take it off. I place my fingers on the waistband of his boxers and slide them down his legs until he can kick them on the floor. We’re both naked and we look at each other’s body. Slowly, his hands start to move down my body again, finally touching my clit while my hips continue to move. He nibbles my earlobe before kissing me again. We’re almost laughing now “I’m so glad you find me”.
He kisses me again, “Howard, I can’t wait any longer, please” I whisper while looking into his eyes. I feel his shivering. He nods. I can feel his erection between us and I can’t help but let out a soft moan muffled by his mouth still on mine. "Howard," I repeat “I need you inside me now”.He takes my hips and enters me. He starts moving inside me while I meet his thrusts, moving up and down. He grunts. “Don’t hold it babe, it’s fine” I tell him. I lean closer to him while his breathing is getting deeper and deeper. He buries his hands into my hair "I’ll wait for you, that’s something I’m good at, done nothing but waiting for you lately" and shivers thrusting harder. I moan and I feel the climax building for both of us.

We’re lying on my bed and he’s holding me so tight I feel like his arms are wrapped around me twice.
“What are you thinking about?” he asks running his fingers through my messy hair “talk to me”.
I close my eyes and bury my face in his chest, it smells so good. He sighs and he rolls me into my back. Takes my hands into his and raises them above my head. He gently rubs his nose against my forehead, and my nose eventually placing a soft kiss on my lips.
“This room is a damn museum” he says. I look into his eyes, biting my lower lip. “I can’t wait for us to leave this place. It gives me the creeps. And since my mother trained me well you will have a proper tour of my childhood home. We have a Picasso too” and smiles “it’s a postcard, you know the very big ones you can buy in museums, my sister sent it to my mom from Barcelona a couple of years ago. She loves it so much it got the honor spot on the fridge door. You’ll be impressed” and winks.
He lets go off my arms and caresses my hairs. “Talk to me, tell me your bags are ready. We could catch next flight back to England and live happily ever after” but he sees it in my eyes. He is silent, staring at me. I put my arms around him but he’s resisting me.
“Why?” he says simply “why?” and it is not a question. It’s almost a supplication.
“I have to, we have to”
“Who says?”
“You don’t really want a home wrecker by you. You have a family that needs you and I have to pay a small price to repay my debt to mine”
“You’re done taking decisions for both of us” he says in an intimidating tone
“You’ll always be with me” I am about to say something else but I get a glimpse of the alarm clock and it’s getting late. “They’ll be back soon” I whisper and I gently push him on one side. I slide off the bed and put my dress back on.
He’s lying on the bed, covering his face with his hands, I try to caress his curls but he moves harshly “don’t touch me”
“If in two years time…”
He’s standing by me now, getting dressed “in two years time what?” he hisses “you’ll have a proper husband, a big mansion somewhere posh and maybe a child and you’ll forget about me. And what makes you think I am willing to wait? Do you want me to pretend to be what I am not and one day pack my bags and run to you?”
I slip into his arms “you are my home, I could never forget about you. But that’s what’ best for you”
I feel his hands hugging me tight “we don’t have to do this”
I look at him “yes we do, and you know it as well as I do. You just needed me to say it out loud”. He cups my face and kisses me deeply.
“I don’t want to leave you, not here, not with these people” he says
“I’ll be fine, I love you, I know you’ll be by me. There’ll always be us and there’s them. I don’t care about them. I know you can see me without my mask, and you’ll be able to recognize me among thousands of other people. You won’t lose me because you’re part of me”.
He smiles at me weakly. I button his shirt up. “There you go” I whisper, “you are ready”. I hold out my hand to him “let’s go Howard, I will walk you to your car”, he looks at me and takes it. Our fingers lock. He’s standing right in front of me, resting his forehead on mine. He rubs my palm with his thumb “we better get going”‘Yes, we better”.