The doors to the lift opened. Greer Ross led Rimis down the carpeted hall to her apartment. He stood behind her, wrapped one arm around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder while she looked for the keys in her handbag. When the door opened, they fell into the apartment. Rimis kicked the door shut and took her in his arms. Greer collapsed against the nearest wall and felt the give of her breasts against his chest. She moaned and he kissed her hard, their tongues wet and sour from the wine.
Greer unzipped her skirt and let it fall off her hips, then pulled her jumper over her head. Taking Rimis’s hand, she led him towards her bedroom. She turned on a reading light. Rimis stood by the foot of the bed watching her, with a look on his face that said he wasn’t sure he should even be here.
Greer wondered how many drinks Rimis had had before she’d shown up at Otto’s but from the glow of his cheeks she knew she’d drunk considerably less than him. She wondered if the night would end in disaster. Was he even capable?
She removed her red, lacy underwear, walked up to him and slowly, carefully she undid the buttons on his shirt, removed it, noticed a scar from a bullet wound on his right shoulder. When she touched it, he flinched. She wondered about it for a moment but decided to wait. She would ask him how he got it later.
She ran her hands over his muscled chest, kissed the matted black chest hair showing the first signs of grey. She managed to remove his shoes and socks before he fell onto the bed. With his knees spread apart, the sight of the bulge in his trousers made her catch her breath. ‘Eish!’ she said in Afrikaans. She slid her hand down the front of his trousers while she fumbled with his belt buckle with the other.
‘Hang on,’ he said and reached into his trouser pocket. Greer was surprised when he pulled out four foil-wrapped packets. ‘The vending machine at Otto’s,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Got a few extra, just in case.’
‘Let me.’ She smiled, ripped one of the packets open with her teeth, straddled him, shivered, gazed down at him, at his mouth soft and open, eyes suddenly focused. She felt the stirring of his hunger.
He grabbed her, rolled her onto her back, she bit his lip and he caressed her full breasts. The misery and tension of her job blurred into the background as he worked cleverly and tenderly on her. His warm, naked body was eager to please, his kisses muffled her cries, she felt herself clench. ‘Ek wil dit hard,’ she groaned. ‘Baie hard.’
Rimis woke with a start. His head felt thick and heavy, his mouth tasted like he’d been sucking on sweaty socks all night. He slipped from the bed and after he’d been to the bathroom, he went and stood by the window. It was just before dawn. The curtains were pulled back and it was raining heavily outside, another bitter winter’s morning. There was an occasional mirror-like flash in the distance followed by a low rumbling of thunder. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and gazed down at the street below. The streetlights cast glimmering shadows onto the wet bitumen, the gutters overflowed with water, the storm water drains were blocked.
An occasional taxi whooshed along the street, headlights blazing through the misty rain. How good it felt to be standing naked in Greer Ross’s bedroom, listening to the beat of his own heart and remembering the warmth of the bed he’d just left. He looked around the room. He had other things on his mind last night and hadn’t taken much notice of Greer’s bedroom. He admired her taste; the room had African elements to it. The walls were painted a vibrant red-orange and the bedspread matched the wall colour. Two zebra-print pillows had fallen onto the floor during the night.
He studied the sensuous curve of Greer’s spine, her smooth dusky skin, her thick hair spread across the pillow. There was something deeply sensuous about the contrast of the colour of the walls and the bedspread against the silky sheen of her naked body. It was wild and exotic and the sight of her aroused him. He was tempted to return to her bed but thought twice about it. He knew it was going to be awkward either way. Awkward if he stayed, awkward if he left without waking her. She looked so peaceful lying there, the last thing he wanted to do was wake her. He grabbed his clothes from the floor, pulled on his trousers and buttoned up his shirt. He looked at her one last time, and then quietly left her apartment.