Moments later, the display came on and filled with Calhoun's ruggedly handsome visage. He was comfortably dressed in an ancient-looking athletic suit and grinning from ear to ear. In the background, someone who was a dead ringer for one of Avalon's most celebrated actresses reclined on a plush sofa.
She was mostly dressed. "Weel, m'boy," the powerful Carescrian exclaimed. "What's this aboot usin' the Vereker Square apartment, noo? Sounds like an important tryst to me."
Brim grinned. "It is that, Cal," he said simply.
Calhoun narrowed his eyes for a moment. " 'Tis a guid thing, too, young Brim," he said. "You've waited much too lang findin' yourself someone to take your mind from your work. Quite a few o' us hae been afraid you'd eventually go to pieces."
"I think this lady will take my mind off the war for a few metacycles," Brim said, feeling his cheeks burn.
"Guid!" Calhoun said energetically. "I shall na' keep you, then, but you maun know that I'm pleased for you—an' a wee relieved, too." He looked off to his left. "Barnat," he ordered, "the apartment on Vereker Square. Is it ready?"
"I have already informed the lock of Captain Brim's identity card," his voice said calmly.
Calhoun looked back into the display, " 'Tis done, young Brim," he said. "The apartment's yours anytime you need it—subject, of course, to prior availability. Just ring up Barnat." He grinned again.
"Noo go recharge yourself. Universe knows you need it." He then threw the perfect parody of an Imperial salute—and the display went abruptly dark.
"Sorry I took so long," Brim said, returning to Cartier and their table. "I hope you haven't changed your mind."
She smiled shyly. "Not on your life, Wilf Brim," she said. "Who knows how long I might have to search for someone who's willin' to help me."
"Don't bother—I'm your man," he promised, helping her from her chair. They picked up their Fleet Cloaks in the lobby, then walked arm-in-arm to the curb where a cab was waiting. They started to board when Cartier shook her head and suggested they walk. " 'Tis only a short way to Vereker Square," she whispered, putting her nose gently against his. " 'An' part of a very beautiful night ha' already passed much too speedily. If we walk, perhaps we can stretch our pleasure..."
In spite of the walk, long pauses they made in the shadows fanned their desire to a point that was almost unbearable. By the time they reached the apartment, they were both quite ready for making love.
No sooner were they inside the door than Cartier slipped out of her Fleet Cloak and stepped to the middle of the floor. There, she turned and faced him with lowered eyes and a little smile. "Now, Mr. Wilf Brim," she said in her gentle voice, "I should be very honored if you would take off my clothes. A lang time, noo, I've been wonderin' if you'll like what you see, an' I'm anxious for m' answer..."
Afterward, their first coupling happened almost too quickly—two people desperate to thrust away the horror of war if only for a few short moments. At first Brim struggled to pace himself to the slower tempo of her sex, but by the time they stumbled into bed, Cartier had been almost as frantic as he.
They made love fiercely—almost violently—before they both exploded in a blinding, thrusting frenzy of passion. Afterward, she lay rigid in his arms, literally soaking the bedclothes and wracked by tremors that shook her whole body. A long time passed before she subsided in quiet sobbing.
"Are you... all right?" he asked when he was able to force his own breathing under control.
"Y-yes," she whispered, her face wet against his chest. But almost immediately, her body was again wracked by violent tremors. After what seemed like a long time, he felt them ease. "Eve?" he whispered.
"Sweet mother of Voot," she whispered after a long time, tightening her leg over his waist as if she were holding on to a life jacket. "I g-guess I wanted you a lot mair than I realized."
Brim felt damp hair against his cheek and savored the erotic scents of her body—he could never remember her wearing any kind of artificial perfume. He had needed her pretty badly himself!
After a long, comfortable silence, she turned her head toward him and opened her eyes a little.
"Do Princesses make as much noise as I did?" she asked softly.
"I don't remember," Brim whispered tactfully. "I tend to be awfully noisy myself when it's that good."
"Mmm," she murmured, burrowing her nose into his chest. "It was guid for you, too, then?"
"Yeah, It was very guid," he whispered. In a few moments, Cartier's breathing came long and regular, and little by little he felt her body relax. Carefully reaching toward the nightstand, he waved the room into darkness, then drew the bedclothes over them both...
Twice during the night, they awoke with most compelling needs that they compulsively satisfied—though each time they came together their exertions took on considerably more character.
Brim found his shy Carescrian lover to be astonishingly inventive, and wound up with great admiration for her former lovers. "Some 'simple country maiden' you are," he whispered, attempting to catch his breath after one of her more astonishing efforts. "Where in the Universe did you learn to do that?"
" 'Tis none of your business." She laughed, rolling her hips slowly while she straddled his waist.
She was absolutely gorgeous—in the very prime of her life. He wondered why it was that middle-aged men chased young girls when there were real women like this who could even carry on a witty conversation! Small, pale-nippled breasts hung full-bellied and ripe against an almost painfully slim chest, and her slight belly met the thick, black thatch of her crotch in a glorious swelling of smooth, soft flesh. As he'd slowly disrobed her, he'd been literally dazzled by the sight of her long, slim legs and gently pouting buttocks.
Then afterward... What she didn't know about making love wasn't worth consideration; there seemed to be nothing she didn't enjoy...
When morning came, they found they had slept till well past dawn—a rarity for squadron officers during this war, at least.
"I feel so rested, I can na' believe it," she said, stretching luxuriously on the stained bed sheets.
"Especially wi' the wee sleep I've managed."
Brim laughed dreamily. "Should I perhaps apologize for your loss of sleep?" he asked.
Following a great yawn, she hunched her shoulders with obvious pleasure and grinned from ear to ear. "Na' when you've made me feel so wonderful," she said.
"Most happy to assist in any way," Brim said in his most flowery voice. "Besides, my most seductive Carescrian beauty," he added, "you have made me feel pretty wonderful yourself."
"Your 'Carescrian beauty' " Cartier mused, peering at the ceiling for a moment. "That's what you just said, isn't it?"
"You are a beautiful woman, Eve," he replied earnestly. "Perhaps the most beautiful woman I have ever met."
"I thank you for that, Wilf Brim," she said soberly, "You have indeed made me feel beautiful tonight. But you also called me Carescrian." she said. "Does that perhaps make me different to you?"
Brim thought about that for a moment. "Funny," he said presently. "I wonder if it does. I have seldom felt so close to anybody as I do right now. But then, it might also be a reaction to the kind of intense passion you seem to be able to arouse in me. I don't think I have ever been so worked up in my life—and that is no exaggeration."