Without allowing a single inch of space to come between their bodies, they headed through to the bedroom. Ben had her dress unzipped with one, smooth, continuous move, and he did it without Catlin being aware of the motion. With a feather-light touch which made his groin burn intensely, Catlin unbuckled his belt and opened his jeans. Her hand being so close to his loins was too much for them both to endure. Discarding the last of their clothes, Ben guided Catlin down onto the bed, their naked bodies entwined together. Catlin thought she would explode - the sensations which swept through her were so strong and intense she dug her nails into the rigid muscles of his back. Ben was as gentle a lover as any woman could wish for. His hands carefully caressed every part of her body, delighting in the sensual discoveries they made. His mouth bestowed the softest kisses as he worked from her mouth to her neck and onto her breasts, his tongue devilishly accurate, making sure each inch of her was aflame before he sought more secret and sensitive places.
It was a new experience for Catlin. She was used to men hurrying through this part of love making, eager to reach their own climax. Ben not only took the time to ensure she was aroused but he too seemed to gain pleasure from it for Catlin could feel the growing throb of his manhood as the moment of their union neared. Leaning over her, Ben reached down and parted her legs, easing himself in between her thighs. The pressure of his weight on her pelvis sent erotic shockwaves through each of Catlin’s muscles of such an intensity she wondered how much longer she could delay her own release. She ran the tip of the nail of her ring finger in a curved line lightly down the length of Ben’s spine, starting in the centre of his shoulder blades and working all the way down to the small of his back, ending the serpentine tracing in a spiralling circle, drawing an involuntary groan from him and causing his hips to press harder against hers. She felt him harden between her thighs.
In the past Catlin had always been aware of the moment of penetration, no matter how much she had been caught up in the excitement, but as Ben entered her all she was knew was her longing was over, she was complete. They were not two separate beings, but one complete soul. She tightened around him as they rocked in unison, her cries of ecstasy lost as they mingled in with Ben’s own release as they were swept away and lost to the thousand overpowering impulses of their orgasm. When their passion was spent, and they lay locked together still, Ben lifted his head and looked down at her. He kissed her tenderly, saying breathlessly,
“I love you Catlin Manners.” Catlin fingered the contours of his face, bringing them to a stop on his lips to silence him.
“You don’t have to say that,” she told him. He brushed her hand away, kissing the fingers intended to keep him from saying something he either felt obliged to say or wish to take back later.
“Yes, I do, because it is true. I love you Cate. I always have and I always will.” Catlin sat up and kissed him.
“I suppose it’s just as well you feel that way. You see, I love you too.”
Ben smiled but there was something of a pained expression behind the joy, but Catlin could see this was not the time to interrogate him, but offer comfort. She settled back down on the bed, lowering him down beside her, holding his head into her chest, unable to ignore the way Ben clung onto her, as if he was afraid that should he allow his hold to ease for the briefest interlude, something would snatch her away from him.
“It’s all right,” she whispered. “I’m not going anywhere without you. Rest, my love.” It took a while for him to relax, and Catlin deliberately stayed awake until she was sure Ben slept, stroking his hair for reassurance all the while. “I won’t leave you. I will never leave you,” she promised and she too drifted off.
It was a few hours later that Catlin stirred abruptly from her dreams. There was something wrong. She was resting on her side and Ben was lying up against her. She would have been able to tell he was awake even if he hadn’t been holding her hand in a vice-like grip, as if he was frightened. She was sure of the cause, for she felt the same terror, had the same irrational sense of foreboding and it stole the warmth from her blood. She had not known Ben to be scared before and dread engulfed her but she fought it, not wanting to alarm Ben further and pretended to be asleep.
“Remember me. No matter what happens, please remember.” The words were faint, distant and Catlin thought they were a lyric from a song on the radio which was still playing. But the words had not come from a song or the radio. They came from Ben. It wasn’t a goodbye or a regret. It was a plea. Remember me. What did it mean? Had the ominous force which invaded their tranquillity been a premonition of some approaching misfortune? Catlin cringed inside and snuggled into the warm folds of Ben’s embrace. She would not risk going to sleep again that night, less some entity should swoop down and take Ben from her and she lay silent in her protective vigil until dawn broke.
Chapter Nine
Once the light of day filled the room the atmosphere of impending doom evaporated and, assured no supernatural entity was going to descend, Catlin permitted herself a few hours respite. Several hours later she woke again as the memory invaded her slumber, expecting the dream of the night before to have ended and that Ben would be gone. But he was still there, awake and beside her, looking at her with pleasure from the pillow next to hers.
“Hi gorgeous.” She didn’t reject or question his compliment this time, and to do so did not enter her mind.
“Hi handsome.”
“How are we this morning?” Catlin smiled contentedly.
“Absolutely perfect. You?” Catlin wondered if she should made that enquiry, given Ben’s midnight plea but whichever horror had visited him in the hours of darkness its influence seemed to have waned and had was every bit his usual self.
“Me? I must be the most blessed of men to have set foot on the earth.” He stretched over and kissed her before she could mock his assessment of her, his brown locks falling over his face and which Catlin brushed back into place. She loved it when his eyes fell on her, taking in her features and loving them all. When those two dark, gleaming pools were upon her it was as if she was the centre of his universe, that all existence came from her and nothing else was of any consequence.
Ben slid over towards her side of the bed, the merest contact of his skin on hers causing the burning fires of lust, which still smouldered dangerously, to be reignited. She shivered with anticipation.
“I meant what I said last night,” he said suddenly, catching her off guard. “I do love you.” Catlin placed her hand on his heart, her fingers trembling.
“I know you do, and I really do love you Ben.” She saw it there briefly, the shadow of something approaching, in his expression but it was gone to quickly to be identified. Ben tracked his finger from the bow of her lip, down over her chin and neck before slipping his hand under the sheets and down between her thighs. Catlin needed no further encouragement, her body ached to feel him within her again and she eagerly opened up to allow him to in.
Their love making was quicker this time, more urgent and raw as if they were attempting to drive away all traces of the malevolence which had sought out their happiness. Ben pressed himself forcefully against her but Catlin clutched him tighter still as they thrust vigorously together. She wanted them to remain like that until the end of time, bound together physically, emotionally and spiritually. He had brought her back to life, made her feel again, revived her soul. Her orgasm came but immediately after another one swept her away on a tide of unrestrained pleasure. Ben too was either unwilling or unable to allow the exhilaration to cease, his shaft so swollen with his desire for her that as he thrust deeper and deeper into her it was as if he was no longer in control, that he was the servant and not the master. The connection they shared went beyond all physical pleasures. There was more to their union than mere sex. It was as if their souls had mated, not just their bodies, they were bound by a bond no force in Heaven, Hell or on Earth could break and when they were eventually satisfied, they remained bound together and fell back to
sleep.
Ben was rarely anywhere else but by Catlin’s side after that. He stayed every night and spent most of the day with her too. Only when work took her out did they part company. Her writing was easier than it had ever been and she was so far ahead of her schedule that when Ben suggested a weekend camping along some of their favourite trails, Catlin jumped at the offer. It was Heaven on Earth. Two days with no phones, no texts, no distractions and best of all, no other company. She would have cheerfully lived the rest of her life under that piece of canvas so long as Ben was there to share it with her.
They came home to what had, to all intents and purposes, become their apartment, closer than they had been before. Not that there were no bad times. Once in a while Catlin saw Ben lost in his thoughts and the gloom that came with them temporarily shrouded the sunshine of those days. It was beyond her skills to get him to admit what bothered him so, and when she asked he would say only,
“It’s nothing for you to worry your pretty head over.” She did once hear him muttering something about why did good things have to start if they had to come to an end, but after that he’d say no more.
The answer phone was flashing irritably, demanding it be relieved of its burden so while Ben collected the post Catlin listened to her messages. As expected, most were companies, others reminders of approaching appointments, but one was from Guy.
“Hi Catie. Sorry to bother you but something interesting has occurred. The Goldburghs, you met them the other week, well Will’s been bugging me for a few days now. It seems he and Maria are desperate to see you. I told them you were going on a short vacation and I’d get you to contact them ASAP, but she was so insistent that I relented and gave them your address and phone number. Hope that’s okay. Check in soon.”
“Damn it,” Catlin hissed. She did like the Goldburghs, what she was not so keen on was her address being handed out at random. She loved her privacy. It was one of the reasons she lived out where she did.
“Problem?” Ben asked passing over the stack of mail.
“Yes. No. Guy has dropped me in it good and proper. There were some people I met at that get together who are apparently desperate to see me for a follow up meeting.”
“That’s good, isn’t it, a bit of recognition?”
“Yeah, but he’s given them my address. They could turn up whenever they fancy, any time, day or night.”
“Ah,” Ben replied, catching on.
“Exactly. I’m not anti-visitors, but I prefer to invite them myself. I want to keep this place as our haven, away from all their madness.”
Ben took a grasp of the belt of Catlin’s jeans and yanked her over to him.
“I understand what you mean.” Catlin melted as his lips met hers. She might have been no seven stone weakling, but when Ben held her like that she felt as fragile as porcelain, yet remarkably safe as if while under his protection, nothing could harm her.
“I’m not being unsociable but…”
“No problem,” Catlin butted in, guessing the coming query. “I don’t mind you going AWOL once the invaders reach the door. If I thought I’d get away with it, I go with you. On the condition you make it up to me afterwards.”
“Tell you what, how about I give you an advance?”
“Sounds like my kind of proposition,” Catlin said, allowing Ben to steer her in the direction of the bedroom.
There was no word from the Goldburghs or Guy, and Catlin began to hope they had lost interest or better yet forgotten her address. Ben began to ease back into their routine, having become wary of some unannounced visitor calling by suddenly. They were wrong. One evening, they were sat on the roof terrace when the sound of a turbo charged engine pulling to a stop on the road below reached their ears. Catlin peered over the rail and saw the expensive car. That meant money. Then she saw Maria.
“Invaders at nine o’ clock,” she groaned. Ben looked disturbed by the arrival of Maria too, though he had yet to see the woman. Catlin saw him shudder, as if a mortal convulsion had penetrated his body. “Are you all right?” He listened to her but did not hear a single word she said. He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts. “Ben?” He jerked out of his isolated musings at her shout.
“Sorry, did you say something?”
“I asked if you were okay.”
“Right.”
“Well, are you?” He ‘ummed’ an affirmative, but based on the speed at which the blood had drained from his face, Catlin knew better. She saw Maria entering the building.
“I’m going to have to go down,” Catlin grumbled. “Are you staying up here or what?”
Ben scrambled to his feet with such marked swiftness it was as if he’d been hooked up to the electricity supply.
“Look, you can’t tell how long you’re guest will be here for, so I think I’ll head off for tonight. I can use the time to check in with my people.” Maria would be at the apartment door but Catlin lingered on the roof. She and Ben had slept together every night since they first made love and the idea of his not being there made Catlin uncomfortable. She loved having him beside her, waking up and feeling the contours of his form alongside those of her own, his arm draped protectively, and possessively, over her. Had the previous night been the last time she would lie with him? Had the curse which had been circling them finally fallen? She went cold at the recollection.
“Don’t stay away too long,” she begged without meaning to. Ben, hearing her fears come through so openly in her voice, and being disturbed by his own memories, hurried over to her, seizing her up into his arms and kissing her desperately. She did not understand why, but Catlin could have cried. She never cried, especially not in front of others, but she could have wept endless tears and not cared had the entire city been watching. There was no cause for the lump in her throat or the tears which clouded her vision but they were there nonetheless.
When Ben released her, it was as if a bullet had passed through his heart, seeing the single tear rolling down her cheek. She had to be hurting, to allow a single drop to leak from her eyes in the presence of another, and he could not deceive himself this time. He was the source of her pain.
“Hey, listen to me. I’m not about to give up that easily on the best deal I’ve ever had. I’ll be back before you’ve had the chance to notice I’m not there.” Catlin held his hand and forced a faint smile but the feeling that something was about to crush her dreams once again would not leave her. “Look,” Ben continued coaxingly, “to prove I’m coming back, take this.” He let go of her hand and twisted the ring he always wore off his finger and put onto hers. It fitted as if it had been made for her. “See? A perfect match. Just like us.” Catlin straightened the ring up. It was a silver band with a turquoise stone set in its centre. “Now you know I’ll be back. My two most precious possessions in the world are here.” He kissed her once more. “Go down Cate. I’ll make my way via the rear stairs,” he said with a nod towards the fire escape. “And I will see you tomorrow.” Catlin reluctantly backed over to the staircase, keeping Ben in sight until the end. She closed the door to the roof, with the inescapable impression that something had met its end that night. She wiped the stains from her tears away and went in.
She opened the door to find Maria waiting, her face pensive and drawn. She had obviously not slept well for some nights and appeared to be torn between relief and regret at Catlin being home. Catlin was friendly. Maria was strained.
“Do you want to come in?” Maria stepped in warily, as if expecting to be set upon from all sides. “Can I get you something? A drink maybe?” Maria shook her head.
“Sorry to disturb you this late at night. I, er, I wasn’t sure if you’d be alone or with someone.” Catlin watched with amusement as the woman checked with caution that they were the only two there. “Is there anyone here?”
“No. We’re quite alone.”
“Oh.” Maria was disappointed, and immediately resumed her patrol of the apartment. She looked at the period fixtures with amazement, paused by t
he built in shelving unit with Catlin’s constantly expanding book collection on it, inhaling sharply as she read the titles. “My God, it’s hardly changed at all.”
Catlin’s ears pricked up at that.
“I beg your pardon?” Maria was rapidly spiralling from emotional to hysterical and Catlin began to think she was not quite the right side of sane.
“See, I knew this was going to be difficult, but I didn’t realise I’d find it quite so hard to choose where to begin.”
“You could try at the start and go from there.”
“No, to start there would make little sense. Lord, it won’t matter where I begin, it will sound just as deranged. William didn’t credit it until he spoke to those people who had seen you out with him, and I’m sure he was not truly convinced of it until he dragged your address out of Guy and found out that you lived here.” Catlin went from bemused to confused.
“I have no idea what you’re on about. And if you have something to tell me I would rather you got on with it. I’ve got a lot on and it is getting late. I take it from your remark that you’ve been here before?” Maria glanced around with a wistful stare of cherished memories.
Remember Me Page 7
