A CHANCE ENCOUNTER 5 (to be cont'd)

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011

A CHANCE ENCOUNTER 5 (to be cont'd)

Downstairs,  the Stranger awoke suddenly, maybe perceiving some noise in the silence, or sensing a change in the room and she realized she was alone. In her sleep, she had unconsciously relied on his reassuring presence and now she wanted him to be there, close to her. And she felt irrationally angry and resentful that he had left her alone. She stretched, -looking like a dangerous feline being in doing so - and noticed that her shirt was unbuttoned almost to her sternum. 

She nodded, sighed, stood and – as the glow of embers was making sufficient light for her to perceive objects – with a thin smile curving her lips upwards, she searched in her large clutch bag, nodding to herself with satisfaction when she realized her host  had been discreet enough to avoid opening it. She found what she had been looking for and, bare-footed, she walked stealthily towards the staircase James had climbed a while before.

Despite his restlessness, James had fallen into a deep sleep, so deep in fact that he didn’t even hear the Stranger tip-toeing on the landing and swiftly approaching the door of his room. Why had he left it ajar ? Be it as it was, the silent and ghost-like shape stopped in front of it and listened silently for a moment, then almost glided into his room without so much as a rustling noise. A slightly disdainful smile softened her face as she reached the foot of his large, neat-looking designer’s bed. She knowingly appraised its features and, once again,  nodded to herself. 

Now, she knew how to proceed. And he would dearly pay for making her feel like a school-girl… She took the soft silken white ropes she had retrieved from her bag and started silently knotting one end of each of the four ropes around the feet of his bed. His even breathing and his still body told her he was lost to this world but, then, she wasn’t totally surprised. He was lying on his back, slightly turned onto his left side, his hands so conveniently resting close to his shoulders.

She had previously noticed he was left-handed as he presented her with the cup of cocoa. She decided therefore to start tying his left wrist first, not too tight but enough so he couldn’t slip his hand out of the loop. He must have been feeling something because his breathing quickened for a moment and he moved a little in his bed, though he didn’t wake up. She proceeded swiftly with his right wrist and, with a satisfied smirk, started downturning the brown-beige quilt, uncovering his upper body.

She nodded again, as she saw that he didn’t wear any pajama jacket and enjoyed the sight of his muscular, softly-tanned body, although the hint of a paunch could be seen. But she felt it added to his charme; she hated skinny men ! A shiver shook his long body and she swiftly uncovered the lower part of his silhouette before he could awake. Her practised slender fingers knotted the remaining two ropes around his ankles.

Satisfied with herself, she looked hard at the area of his belly that the light-brown cotton boxers didn’t hide and approached close to his feet almost to the point of touching them with her lips. With a naughty grin, she started tickling his soles and he woke up with a start, not realizing at once what had happened.