Page 81 of Now and Forever

Delighted, I do as he says. I straddle him, and, as I slide down onto his firm length, I sigh; we’re enveloped in a cloud of chocolate and sex. I slowly open up to receive him and start to move. But my Iceman is too impatient. He throws off the mask, and, before I even realize it, he has me on my back on the bed.

“Now it’s my turn to take control. Let’s move on to the third game,” he whispers as he looks me right in the eye. “You know the rules, love. Be still, or I’ll have to tie you.”

I smile as he kisses me. He opens my legs with his own and penetrates me without mercy. I gasp and try to move, but he’s pinned me with his weight as he presses hard inside me.

“That must be quite a recording,” he says when he spies the video camera.

I can’t talk. He kisses me again and makes me his as he thrusts his hips over and over and euphoria overtakes me. The game has clearly overstimulated him, and he seems to have forgotten all about the operation. He lifts my legs to his shoulders and begins to torpedo into me. It’s electrifying.

That night, we watch the video and enjoy reliving every minute. I surprised him with my games.

“I want a rematch,” he whispers into my ear just as I’m falling asleep.

Two days later, they perform the surgery.

Marta and her team do the trabecular microbypass. Just saying the name of the procedure scares me. I sit in the waiting room with his mother. My love, my guy, my German, is on a table in the operating room, and I know he must be frightened.

Sonia takes my hand to offer me support, and I offer my support back to her.

We wait. Time goes by so slowly, and we keep on waiting.

Just as it begins to feel like an eternity, Marta exits the OR. Everything has gone stupendously well.

I insist on spending the night with Eric in the hospital. I sit and stare at him in the darkness while he sleeps. I can’t imagine life without him. I’m so in love that even thinking one day this could end breaks my heart. I close my eyes; finally, exhausted, I give in to sleep.

When I wake, I find myself directly in my guy’s line of vision. It seems he has been watching me as he lies in bed, and, when he sees my eyes open, he grins. I do the same.

That morning, they release him, and we go back to the house. To our home.

25

As the days go by, Eric makes a miraculous recovery. He is incredibly strong, and after a few adjustments, the doctors determine all is well. We’re both happy and pick up our lives again.

As he’s going to work one morning, I ask him if he’ll drop me off at his mother’s house. I need to see what kind of state Hannah’s motorcycle is in. I don’t say anything to him about it because I know he’s just going to raise holy hell. As soon as Eric leaves, his mother and I run to the garage. We move several boxes and get covered in dust up to our eyebrows, but, then, there’s the motorcycle. It’s a yellow Suzuki RM-Z250.

“My dear, I hope you have as much fun with it as Hannah had,” says Sonia, now very emotional, as she hands me the helmet.

I hug her. When she leaves me alone in the garage, I smile to myself. As might be expected, the motorcycle is dead. After so much time without use, the battery is drained, so, two days later, I come back to the house with a new battery. I install it, and the motorcycle instantly purrs. So happy to be riding a bike, I say goodbye to Sonia and head back to my new house. I’m really enjoying the ride and want to shout with enthusiasm. When I get home, Simona and Norbert stare at me.

“Miss, I don’t think Eric is going to like that.”

“I know,” I say as I get off the bike and remove my matching yellow helmet. “I’m expecting it.”

As soon as a grumbling Norbert walks away, Simona comes up to me. “Today, onEmerald Madness, Luis Alfredo Quiñones found out Esmeralda Mendoza’s baby is his and not Carlos Alfonso’s. He saw the same birthmark he has on the baby’s left butt cheek.”

“Oh God, I missed it!” I say, bringing my hand to my heart. Simona shakes her head. “I recorded it for you,” she confesses, which makes me laugh, and together we run to the living room to watch it. After this tacky soap opera that has me hooked, I go back to the garage. I want to check the motorcycle out completely before trying to use it on a regular basis and going with Jurgen and his friends on those dirt paths they love so much. First, I need to change the oil. Norbert doesn’t want to, but he goes to buy me oil when I ask him. Once I have it, I position myself in a hidden corner of the garage that’s not so easy to access, and I begin to do the safety check exactly as my father taught me.

After the Müller visit and Eric’s surgery, I decide I don’t want to work for the time being. I want to enjoy this feeling of fullness without haste, problems, and office gossip. I prefer to walk with Susto, watchEmerald Madness, swim in the wonderful indoor pool, or go with Jurgen, Eric’s cousin, to ride my bike. It’s a thing of beauty, and it rides like a dream. Eric still doesn’t know anything about it. For now, it’s better that way.

One Wednesday morning, I go with Marta and Sonia out to the field where they take their skydiving classes. I watch eagerly how the instructor tells them what to do when they’re in the air. They encourage me to join them, but I prefer to watch. To skydive must be pretty cool, but when I see what’s involved up close, it scares me. Today they’re going to make their first free jump, and they’re nervous. So far, they’ve always done their jumps hooked to an instructor, but this time will be different.

I think of Eric, what he would say if he knew about this. I feel terrible. I don’t even want to consider that something could go wrong. Sonia seems to read my thoughts.

“Easy, dear. Everything will be fine. Promise!”

I try to smile, but my face is frozen from the cold and my tight nerves.

Before getting on the plane, they both kiss me.

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