Page 37 of About Love and Revenge

Against my will, I get up and put her back in her seat. I fasten her seat belt but don't go back to my seat yet.

I stand there, looking at her mouth swollen from our kisses. Looking at her breathing heavily and the almost wild way in which her chest rises and falls.

I don't want to go to my chair, not yet, but I guess that Elina has been through a lot for one day.

As soon as I sit down, however, she surprises me.

“You said a kiss. If a single kiss from you feels like that, I don't doubt that you can spend hours having sex.”

It doesn't go unnoticed that she used the expressionhaving sex. I'm already getting to know her a little better, and I guess that's her way of keeping our attraction a little less important.

“That was just a kiss. If we were making love, you would now be naked, showing yourself to me, while my mouth and tongue tasted every bit of your body.”

“You make love with words.”

“Perhaps." I hide a smile, pleased to see how aroused she is. "But I like to listen too. You shouldn't hide anything you're feeling when we're in bed.”

“That won’t happen. I'm honest enough to admit that your kiss feels really good and that I'm on fire, but let's stop there. As I said before, I don't want to mix work with sex.”

“We don't need to mix anything, although I'd love to make love to you on my desk in the office, while people outside the door have no idea that inside we are both naked in each other's arms.”

She shakes her head, as if to dismiss the scene I've just described, and changes the subject. “You said you work with computer programs. Do you create these programs? I don't understand any of this.”

“Not so much these days. I have people all over the world doing that for me. I am theCEO. Only the boring boss.”

“The bossy boss.”

“What?”

She gives me a smile. “You're very bossy. You like to control everything.”

“I can't control you.”

“I'll never let anyone control me again. You are giving me the opportunity, for the first time, to take charge of my own life. Don't ruin it by trying to seduce me. I know our attraction is very intense, Odin. I'm not experienced, but I know my body. It reacts to you regardless of my will. I don't have the strength to resist, but you can have any woman you want, so why mess things up by having sex with me?”

“We can keep everything separate. No sex in the office.”

“I’m serious.”

“Me too.”

“Really? Then how will it work? And when our affair comes to an end, what will happen? I'll lose my job, and I can't afford that. We have to stop whatever is happening between us right now.”

Before I can respond, the flight attendant appears to check that ourseat belts are fastened. I know she's just doing her job, but it annoys me to be interrupted.

I look out the window as I think of a way to overcome our impasse. Rationally, of course she's right. If we got involved, it would likely bring embarrassment when it all came to an end. I've never mixed work and pleasure, so I know she has a point.

The thing is, I don't see myself getting tired of her anytime soon.

Despite that, I'll back off for now. Decisions made in the heat of the moment never work well. The best thing is to analyze the whole thing before I end up pushing her away for good.

I feel her watching me, but I pretend not to notice. My desire for Elina is so wild that if I don't put in the effort, I'll send the decision to slow down for now to hell.

So I close my eyes and try to calm the animalistic way my body still remains attached to hers.

MANHATTAN - NEW YORK

My secretary did as I asked. When we arrive at the building that will now be Elina’s residence, the apartment is ready to receive her. Clean and with enough groceries so she can eat for at least two weeks.

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