Page 131 of The Sleepwalker
‘Nope, sorry,’ she replies with a laugh. ‘Just kidding. It’s through here.’
He smiles as he follows her out into the hall, where the walls are clad in dark green paper.
‘Sweden is actually ranked first globally in terms of freedom,’ he tells her as they walk. ‘But at the same time, the safeguards we have for democracy are incredibly weak.’
‘Oh?’ she says, pausing outside the bathroom.
‘It’s hard to believe, but there’s basically nothing protecting the constitution. The independence of the judiciary isn’t guaranteed either .?.?. I mean, the system is working at the moment, but it might not be in five years’ time, and that should probably worry us more than it does.’
‘I’ll be in the bedroom, which is just there .?.?.’ she says, pointing to another doorway.
He locks the bathroom door behind him, and Ida heads back into the kitchen. She pours herself another glass of wine and carries it through to the bedroom. After taking a sip, she lowers it to the nightstand, then checks her phone and switches it to silent. She dims the lights, and has just started to fold back the bobbled bedspread when Linus comes into the room.
Ida moves over to him, standing on her tiptoes to give him a quick peck on the lips.
‘Shall we take our clothes off?’ she whispers.
‘Now?’ he asks, swallowing hard.
‘We can get under the covers.’
They undress, half turned away from each other. Ida tosses her dress onto the armchair, and Linus neatly folds his shirt and balls up his socks. Her bra straps have left deep grooves in herskin, and he keeps his underpants on as they get into bed.
They lie face to face, gazing into each other’s eyes, and quickly warm up.
Oddly enough, Ida doesn’t feel any guilt. What they are doing feels natural. Right.
The mattress creaks as she wriggles towards him, and they kiss, calling each other Bumper and Amy, Perfect Amy. Ida laughs softly, her lips against his throat, then kisses him. She strokes his cheek and kisses him again.
‘Come here,’ she whispers, trying to pull him on top of her.
‘I don’t have any condoms.’
‘It’s OK, I’m on the pill,’ she lies.
His hands are like ice, and she shivers as he strokes her breasts.
‘Come on.’
Linus pulls down his boxers and climbs on top of her. His entire body seems to be shaking, and he doesn’t have much of an erection, but still manages to enter her when she parts her thighs and closes her eyes.
‘No stress,’ she whispers.
He lies still for a moment, then starts moving a little, to avoid slipping out.
Ida groans quietly. She is incredibly wet, but she doesn’t know whether he is getting any harder; she can barely feel him. She has been looking forward to this moment for so long.
Linus begins thrusting a little harder, and she sighs and grips his buttocks, pulling him towards her and trying to get him to pause deep inside her. She wants him to keep going, to get harder and fill her, flip her over and do her from behind.
‘Don’t stop,’ she whispers, right as he lets out a loud groan and slumps down on top of her.
His back is sweaty, his heart pounding and his breath hot on her throat. He pulls out and rolls over onto his back.
‘Sorry,’ he says, looking away.
‘Come on, don’t say sorry. That felt great.’
‘I don’t usually .?.?. you know .?.?.’
