Martine The Beginning (Cruising to Love, The Prequel) (18 page)

  He picked her up and laid her in bed. Lucas smiled. 
“This is where you belong, my love, beside me.”

 
“I know, darling.”

  He bent and brushed his lips against hers, and then stood and walked into the bathroom.  He came out in his pajama bottoms, and climbed in beside her.  She smiled to herself.  She
’d seen the look in his eyes as her robe fell to the floor…how he had gulped as he saw her nipples crinkled under the emerald lace bodice of the gown.  And how he had not touched her…as if he could not trust himself to stop touching her.

  She turned toward him and stretched out along his side.  His arm held her close to him.  He kissed her hair.

  Martine lifted her face for his lips to find hers, and they did, gently, gently.  Then he lifted them away and smiled at her…”Perhaps it would have been better if you’d worn the flannel, darling. You’re far too tempting this evening…far too tempting.”

  Martine smiled. 
“Shall we just go to sleep then, Lucas?  Like we did last night?  I can see that you are pretty exhausted, and I am a little tired myself…”

 
“Much better that we do, sweetheart.  Much better that we do.  Here, roll onto your back, and hold my hand, and put your head on my shoulder, just like we did last night..”

  Martine stretched and pressed closer to him,
“Can’t we go to sleep like this, Lucas? I’m so comfortable…”

 
“Darling, if that is how you want to sleep, who am I to argue?  It’s quite delightful…”  He closed his eyes.

  Martine watched him
…he truly was planning to sleep, she realized.  “Poor man, he must be exhausted after this week,” she thought.  Her hand rested on his chest.  She moved a leg onto his and he sighed, a contented sigh…”Oh, well,” she told herself, “there’s always the morning…I’m tired myself.  But not too tired for Lucas.  Never too tired for Lucas.”

  She woke at three.  It was habit.  Lucas was sleeping deeply. Softly, so that she did not wake him, she moved her hand down, down, and found the fly in the pajamas.  Tonight it was buttoned up.  Her lips curved in a small smile.  She carefully undid both buttons, and slipped her soft hand inside.  She wrapped her hand around him, and snuggled closer. He moaned in his sleep
…”Oh, Tina, oh.”

  Martine smiled.  She stroked him softly, because she wanted to, but very softly, because she did not want to wake him. The arm that was around her moved
…she looked up.  He was still sleeping…

  His hand shifted, and moved down to her bottom.  Her nightgown had ridden up.  He

held her bare bottom and sighed contentedly. 

He pressed her closer to him. He began to swell in her hand, swell, and become hard.  She raised her eyes and looked at him.  His eyes were still closed, his breathing still even.  He had a beatific smile on his lips.  His hand fondled her bare bottom.  She found it very erotic
…an ache started to develop between her legs.  An ache, she knew that was for him…

  His other hand came down on top of hers, and stopped her stroking,
“Oh, no, darling….no, no, no, no.”  He was wide awake.  But his eyes were smiling as he said ‘no’, and his hand on her bare bottom pressed her close yet.

 
“Kiss me, Lucas, kiss me and touch me…”

  Their lips met in a slow, sensuous caress, their tongues danced together and he started to move her hand up and down again, faster, faster.

  She was breathing rapidly now, and the kiss deepened. His lips were crushing hers in passion…

  Still kissing her, he took her hand off him, and rolled on his side, facing her.  He looked down into her eyes. 
“I told you, Martine.  I am not going to take you until we marry…”

  His eyes burned with passion for her. 
“Lucas, Lucas…I feel married to you, what difference does it make?”

 
“No.  I said No, Martine.”  He rolled her onto her back, and his hand teased her nipples.  “Do you like me doing this, Tina?”

 
“Ah, ah…”

 
“I think you like this…” his lips found her nipples and he sucked them through the lace

bodice of her nightgown.  She gasped, the sensation was arousing her, making every part of her body more sensitive to Lucas.  .  She shuddered, and rode the wave of pleasure higher than she had ever imagined.  Lucas raised his head and smiled at her…”I think you like this, Martine…” 

  She gasped, “Oh, yes, darling, I like this…”

  His head went down and again and again he brought her almost to oblivion.  She lay spent on the bed.  Lucas raised himself up and lay back beside her, and kissed her fiercely. 

  “The night we are married, Martine, it will be me inside you…thrusting, filling you, taking you for my own…”

  She looked into his eyes.  They were heavy with desire. 
“Marry me soon, Lucas,” she begged. “Marry me now…”

 
“No, Martine.  We’re going to do this right.  If I make love to you now and then got hit by a bus tomorrow, and you found you were pregnant…everything you’ve worked for, strived for, would be lost.  No.  I love you desperately.  I want you so badly I hurt, but no.  No.”

  Martine smiled at him,
“Usually it’s the woman who says no, darling…not the man.”

  He was calmer now, not as aroused. 
“But you, you little minx, you want me as badly as I want you.”

 
“Yes, darling, I want you as badly as you want me.”

 
“You’re coming to live here, you know that, don’t you?”

 
“Well, I didn’t expect you to come and live behind the Gallery with me after we’re married.”

 
“No.  You’re coming to live here next week…in fact, we might as well get you moved over today. I don’t like you being there at night, alone in a commercial block.  I’m going to start knocking that wall down today, we’ll have to do the work Sundays and after you close at seven for the next few days until it’s finished.  And then you’ve lost your living space…”

 
“Here?  I was thinking I’d ask Penny if her offer to share her flat was still on…”

 
“Would you rather live there than here?”

  Martine giggled. 
“What a silly question from such a smart man.  Of course I’d rather be here.”  She pulled the covers up over them both and snuggled up beside him.  “Let’s see if we can go back to sleep, darling, shall we?”

 
“Oh, Martine.  What am I going to do with you?”

 
“Marry me, quickly.”  Lucas kissed her hair.  “I mean it, Lucas.  Marry me quickly.”

  They drifted off to sleep again, comfortable in their embrace.  Martine loved the feeling of going to sleep, lying pressed against him
…

  In her sleep, she flung her leg over Lucas, pressing closer and closer as she dreamed of him making love to her.  He woke at eight, to find her sleeping, pressed against him, in that beautiful emerald gown, a wonderful smile on her face.

  He woke her with a tender kiss.  “Hey, sleepyhead, it’s eight o’clock.  We have a lot to do this morning…I’m going to get you a cup of tea in bed…”

 
“Thank you, Lucas.”  She stretched and he had to stop himself from reaching for her, and ravishing her. 

  He jumped out of bed and came back a few minutes later with two large mugs of tea.

  “Do you remember what I told you last night, about having Belinda paint me, to hang on our bedroom wall?”

 
“Yes, I do.  The thought of waking up to you even when you’re not here is quite…tantalizing.  As long as I get to take the photograph she works from, and I get to give it to her…”

 
“Am I allowed to be there?”

 
“Maybe…”  They drank their tea.  Martine got a wicked gleam in her eye.

 
“Where’s your camera, darling?  I’d like to get the picture taken now.  Then we can have it developed tomorrow and I can give it to her.  I’d like it to be my Christmas present from you…” 

 
“I’ll get it, it’s in the desk in the living room.”  Lucas came back with the camera. “Do you know how to work this?”

 
“Yes, I do.  It’s the same as the one I have at the Gallery…Now take those pajamas off, Lucas, please.”  Lucas stepped out of his pajamas. 

 
“You are so sexy, darling, with nothing on.  This is the first time I’ve seen you naked…”  Martine smiled at him.  “Just put the camera on the dressing table, and come onto the bed.” She

flipped the covers down.  He lay on the sheets, and took the top one to drape and give himself some modesty. 
“Oh, no, darling.  If I’m going to have a nude of you on our bedroom wall, it’s going to be nude, not draped.  And it’s going to show you in all your glory.” 

  Lucas smiled.  Maybe this was going to be fun
…

  Martine positioned him half on his side, with his lower leg bent, and his upper leg a little behind.  She put his arms out, as if he were filling the whole bed.  He closed his eyes
…

 
“Open your eyes, and look at me, darling.”

 
“Martine, if I look at you standing there naked, I am going to get an erection…”

 
“Oh…good…”

  He opened his eyes in surprise.  She stretched and then ran her hands down her body, cupping

her breasts, then down her curves.  Lucas gulped, and could feel the heat flowing through his loins…

  Martine reached behind her and grabbed the camera. 
“Good, darling, look at me again, darling and think what it will feel like to have your hands on my breasts, your tongue dancing with mine in our mouths…

  Lucas looked at her through half closed eyes, and the heat intensified.

  She clicked the camera, moved him here and there, stroked him, and then she ran out of film…

 
“Finished, I guess.  I should be able to pick out one of these for Belinda to work with.”

 
“I asked her for a watercolour.”

 
“Oh, no, darling.  This has to be a charcoal sketch.  A study in black and grey on a stark white background.  Perfect on the pewter paint on the wall.”

 
“What pewter paint on the wall?  Which wall?”

 
“I think we should paint the bedroom, darling.  Pewter.  Your nude will be stunning then.”

 
“If we had any film left, I’d take some pictures of you, and get her to do a matching one…”

 
“Belinda doesn’t like to do women nudes, Lucas.  But Tom does, and he does a wonderful job.”

 
“Oh, no.  No man is going to see you naked.  No man but me.”

  Martine laughed. 
“Double standard, darling. Shame on you!”  She walked into the bathroom, and came out dressed in her jeans and a tee shirt.

 
“Just as well,” Lucas muttered to himself.  “Just as well she got dressed.  She’s driven me insane with desire.” He got dressed as well.

  Martine made scrambled eggs for breakfast.  They washed up, and then went over to the Gallery.  He sent her into her room to start packing her clothes, while he carefully measured and marked the wall where he was going to knock through.  He spied her camera sitting on a shelf under the counter.  Ah, it had film.  He smiled wickedly.  Slipped it into his coat pocket.

  It didn’t take Martine long to pack her clothes and toiletries.  She didn’t have many.  She came back out to Lucas, carrying her suitcase and a bag.  “This is it, darling.”

 
“Is that all?”

 
“Yes.  I’ve packed my clothes and the things from the bathroom, and my parent’s picture.  I thought the dishes and hot plate could just stay here, to make lunches.  Now that I can be open ten till six…”

  Lucas smiled. 
“Let’s take them over and get you unpacked right now, darling.  Then we’ll come back with some tools and start the dirty work.”

 
“Sounds good.”

  Her clothes took up less than a quarter of the wardrobe, and didn
’t even fill one of the two drawers he had emptied for her.  Lucas frowned to himself, and then smiled.  “It’s going to be a delight, creating a wardrobe for Martine,” he thought to himself, “picking out lingerie and dresses, oh yes…”

  She put the picture of her parents on the dressing table, beside the picture of his mother.

  “They are smiling at us, Lucas, your mother and my parents.  I’m sure they’re looking down on us and are happy we’ve found each other.”

  Lucas came up behind her. He kissed her neck. 
“I’m sure you’re right, Tina.”

  His hands came around her, up under her tee shirt and started to tease her nipples.  She sighed and leaned back against him.

  “Your turn darling.  I’m going to take your picture now….”