Captivation (7 page)

Juliette jumped away – more from the surprise than the pain. Staring at the cat she was astonished to see that it was now just sitting back quite calmly, staring at her – almost challenging her to say something or to give it a reprimanding tap on the nose. Juliette did nothing, though – something about the way that cat was staring at her was making her more than a little uneasy.
She turned and hurried down the hall, snatching up her basket on the way past. Just as she was unlocking her apartment door, she heard the door to twenty K open down the hall, and a pleased exclamation of delight from the woman within. Well, good, at least the cat was back with its owner now. Hopefully, she wouldn’t run into it in the hallways again. She wasn’t sure what had caused the cat to scratch her. Normally she got on perfectly well with animals.
Never mind
, thoughts of Danny were now pushing the cat far from her mind.

Once safely inside, with the door firmly shut behind her, she tossed the basket to the side and kicked off her sandals.

‘Danny?’ she called out softly. ‘Honey, I’m back. I’m here.’ And she realised she was breathless with nerves and excitement.

‘Wow,’ she chatted as she walked down the hall to the kitchen, all the while preparing herself for Danny to suddenly materialise by her side – to begin stroking her arms, or to pull her into an embrace.

‘Is it just me or does it feel just like it’s the first time for you again too?’ She stopped still in the kitchen, grabbing a tissue from the box on the bench so that she could dab at the scratch on her ankle, as she waited for a response, waited for him to appear.

Something was wrong, it began to dawn on her. She wasn’t getting any of the normal sensations. She couldn’t feel his presence, couldn’t detect his spirit, which had felt so strong when she’d left the apartment just fifteen minutes earlier.

‘Danny?’ she asked again, her voice starting to quaver. ‘Danny, please. Where are you?’ Her skin felt cold, her arms prickled with goose bumps. She began to rush from one room to the next, searching for him. He couldn’t be gone again – not when she had only just got him back. She tried to keep calm,
to remember that he had told her he might still drift in and out. But why couldn’t she sense him at all?

In the bedroom, as she was starting to become panicky, she realised that she could smell just the faintest hint of Danny’s aftershave. She stood still, not daring to move, and breathed it in deeply. Ever so slowly, the scent became stronger.

‘Danny,’ she whispered, a note of desperation in her hushed voice, ‘are you in here? Are you okay?’

She squeezed her eyes shut tight and concentrated every fibre of her being on communicating with him. At least thirty seconds passed before she realised she could hear something – it was as though a voice was calling to her from far, far away. She curled her hands into tight fists, pushing her fingernails into the palms of her hands as she focused harder and harder on that far-off voice.

Juliette?

It was still so faint. And did he sound … frightened?

‘I’m here Danny, follow my voice, find your way back. I’m here.’

I’m trying.

Oh God
, thought Juliette,
he sounds so scared, as though he is in pain. What had happened in that short time that she had left him alone?

‘Come on, baby. You can do it. You can make it back to me.’ Keeping her eyes closed, she lifted her arms up and held her hands out in front of her, as though she could reach out and grab hold of him, pull him to her.

Help me, Juliette, help me.

His voice was growing stronger.

‘Take my hands,’ she called out desperately. ‘Take my hands, let me help you.’

All at once, she felt fingers lace through her own. She closed her hands around them, held on tight and pulled. There was a rush of wind, building up,
roaring in her ears, and then suddenly there was the full force of a body against hers and she was thrown backwards, falling onto the bed with Danny next to her.

Thank God,
came Danny’s voice into her ear.
Thank God you came back.

Juliette’s voice was shaky when she spoke. ‘What happened, Danny? Where did you go?’

I don’t know. All I know is that from the moment you left the apartment, I started to feel weak. The longer you were gone, the weaker I became, until eventually, it was as though I was just spinning through blackness – as though I couldn’t exist without you here to ground me. It felt like I was coming apart at the seams … disintegrating. I think you caught me just in time.

‘Jesus, Danny – but I was only gone for fifteen minutes or so! What if I’d been any longer? I don’t even want to think about it. I don’t understand, I’ve left the apartment before and this didn’t happen to you … did it?’

No. The only thing I can think is that it’s something to do with what happened between us last night. The fire, the alcohol, the danger you were in – it all called to me, and that somehow changed our connection. I had to come back for you, I couldn’t let you get hurt. But now it feels as though I rely on being near you. You needed me, now I need you. As if the pay-off for me being this strong is that I’m so much weaker when you’re gone.

Juliette felt tears well up as she imagined how horrific it must have been for him. ‘I’ll never leave you again,’ she sobbed, ‘I’ll stay inside this apartment forever.’

Hey, don’t cry, this isn’t your fault, neither of us knew that was going to happen. We’ll sort it out, we’ll find a way to make it work.

‘Yes, we will, we will make this work,’ she said through her tears. ‘Kiss me Danny. I need you, now.’

She felt him hesitate, but only for a moment, and then his lips gently pressed against hers, his tongue nudging against her lower lip until her mouth parted, and then their tongues joined and they began to kiss harder. She could taste the salty flavour of her tears and all of the emotions, of everything that had happened, were welling up inside and she cried harder as they continued to cling to one another.

Undress for me.

They didn’t need to stop kissing for Danny to deliver the words into Juliette’s mind and she nodded and reached down to unbutton her shorts and then tug them down over her knees, kicking them off when they reached her ankles. Then she lifted her singlet, pulling it off over her head.

Everything
.

His voice was commanding and it sent a tingle through Juliette’s body. She obliged, reaching around to unhook her bra, and when she pulled the straps down off her shoulders and allowed her breasts to spring free from the cups, she felt him gasp with pleasure.

Now your underwear
, he instructed.

She hooked her index finger into the elastic of her pants and slowly tugged them down, knowing as she did that in moments Danny was going to make her forget all about everything that had happened. Knowing that her tears were going to dry and that she was going to become lost in the throes of ecstasy, and she could hardly stand the wait.

She lay down on her back and felt the pressure of a body on top of hers, and then all her senses were set on fire as Danny pressed his thighs between hers. In one swift movement, she felt his groin push against hers and simultaneously felt him bury his face in her neck, so that they both groaned with longing: Juliette out loud, while Danny’s groan penetrated her thoughts as she felt his hardness straining against her inner thigh.

Let’s see how wet you are.

And she sensed his fingertips trailing over the softness of her breasts as his hand made its way down her body to slip between her legs. He teased her at first, running his fingers around her inner thighs, neatly avoiding the place where her hot wetness was gathering, but eventually, he brought his hand up to meet it and she felt his warm breath as he exhaled in pleasure.

Very wet indeed.

‘You’ve always been able to do this to me,’ Juliette replied, and she moaned as he began to massage her, his fingertips circling deliciously. She felt kisses begin to fall on her skin, down her neck, across her collarbone.

Gently, softly, he kissed his way across from one breast to the other, then touched the tip of his tongue to each nipple in turn, making them harden, standing to attention as Juliette began to shudder underneath him. Finally, he opened his mouth wide to take one nipple between his lips, as his fingers simultaneously plunged inside her.

‘Oh, God,’ groaned Juliette, ‘I can feel every movement your fingers are making.’

Teasingly, he pulled his hand away then, and began to walk his fingers up along her stomach, over the creamy flesh of her breasts, and lifted them to Juliette’s mouth. He ran the tips of his fingers over her bottom lip, and then brought his mouth up to meets hers, and together they licked at his fingers, tasting the depths of Juliette’s longing.

She could feel her body beginning to shudder and she writhed underneath his touch as she longed for the moment he would finally be inside her. Growing wild with impatience, she lifted her hips up to meet him, pressing herself against his straining length, inviting him to slide himself within. When he finally pushed his way inside, they moaned in unison. As he moved deeper, Danny’s hands cupped her breasts, his fingertips brushing
tantalisingly across her nipples, while Juliette rocked back and forth, taking him deeper and deeper.

When the moment came, Juliette lifted herself up onto her elbows, arched her back and ground her body against Danny’s form, as the wave of tingling pleasure rose up within her and overcame her, exploding from her fingertips and her toes and making her bite down hard on her lower lip to stop herself from screaming out in ecstasy.

‘Are you able to … can you … come?’ she asked then, through gasping breaths.

Hell yes.

She felt his hands tighten their hold on her breasts, squeezing – and then just as suddenly, his grip weakened and his hands were slowly trailing down her body as she felt him shudder and convulse above her. Keeping him buried inside, Juliette collapsed backwards onto the pillows and she lay together with Danny’s form close by, breathing deeply, regaining her composure.

When it was all over, Juliette opened her eyes, expecting to see Danny there beside her, expecting to be able to reach out and hug him to her, and instead, what she saw was nothing, just empty space. She was plunged into a moment of despair, because no matter how hard she wished for it, he was never going to be truly brought back to life. Once again, she wondered if she would ever run out of tears.

Chapter Ten

It was the following day and Juliette was standing out on the balcony, enjoying the feel of the fresh air on her skin, of the warm sun beating down on her shoulders. She gazed out towards the ocean, thinking of how nice it would feel to dive under those waves, to refresh herself, clear her thoughts.

She sensed Danny by her side and smiled.

‘Hi there,’ she whispered.

Hello yourself.

She felt hands on her waist, lips on her neck and she tilted her head, sighing blissfully at the familiarity of his touch.

‘Tell me something,’ she said, ‘Why is it that we’re able to make love, that I can physically feel your touch, your kisses, that you can be inside me – but I can’t turn around right now and grab hold of you. It just doesn’t make any damn sense.’

None of this does. It’s crazy I know
–
it’s like the normal rules of physics don’t apply … but look, at least we got to have fun last night.

‘A lot of fun.’ She paused and then added, ‘the sunshine is gorgeous this afternoon. Can you feel it at all?’

No. Your body is the only thing that I can feel. When I touch you, it’s like you bring my soul back to life. But everything else is … absent. Juliette, did you mean what you said last night? About staying in the apartment forever? Staying with me?

‘Yes, I really did. I don’t believe that there could ever be a goodbye for us – our love is different. It’s love that’s too strong to be broken by death. Love that’s going to keep us together, forever.’

And you’re sure you’ll be happy – trapped inside, always?

‘I’m not trapped, Danny, I want to be here. Nothing out there matters to me. I don’t care if I never walk across the grass again or stop to pick a stupid, fucking flower. All of that is nothing to me. Nothing in comparison to being with you.’

I guess it’s a part of life, right? A part of relationships
–
everyone makes sacrifices.

‘Exactly.’ Juliette paused before she spoke again. ‘Danny, I’m going to grow old in this apartment, with you by my side. And when the day finally comes for my life to end, I’ll come to you. We’ll be together for eternity.’

There was a long pause, and then she felt his hands on her face, drawing her close, and then lips on her lips.

I love you, Juliette.

They kissed slowly, passionately, and Juliette was filled with relief. It felt as though her entire life was starting over. From now on, it was going to be just her and Danny again – only this time, she didn’t need to share him with the public. No travelling the world, no meetings with publishers or agents. No pretty, young fans asking for his autograph. He could be all hers. Life would be perfect.