‘Where did you get it?’ He fastened the clasp for her.
‘It’s a present from Indiri. Isn’t it lovely?’
‘Did you ask her where it came from?’
‘Oh. Do you think I should’ve done?’
Coburn grinned. ‘Probably not. If her husband came across it in a safe on board one of the ships, he’d have put it in his pocket. Pirates are pirates. They don’t just go after zinc ingots and boxes of mobile phones. I wouldn’t worry about how she got hold of it.’
‘I’m not going to.’ She waited for him to take it off again.
He wished she hadn’t. She was standing close enough for him to feel her breath and smell the freshness of her, but as usual, she was making no attempt to move away.
To stop himself from wondering why she wasn’t and whether her eyes could possibly have more flecks in them than they had done yesterday, he focused his attention entirely on the bracelet.
It didn’t work. No sooner had his fingers touched her skin than he wanted to grab her by the wrist and pull her into his arms.
‘Thank you.’ She placed the bracelet on the dressing-table. ‘Indiri said she gave it to me so I’d remember her. All I have to do now is work out how I’m supposed to remember you.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘Meaning that if I’m going to disappear and you’re going off to Maryland, we might never see each other again.’ She waited again as though she was expecting him to say something, but turned her head away in exasperation when he didn’t.
‘For God’s sake,’ she said. ‘What do I have to do? Don’t you want to make love to me?’
So unnecessary was her question that he couldn’t answer it.
She didn’t need him to. Taking a step forward she stood on tiptoe and fastened her mouth on his, pressing her breasts hard against his chest to show him how foolish he’d been and how long she’d been waiting for this moment.
His misreading of the signals had been a huge mistake. By failing to understand the reason for her moodiness, and by misinterpreting the change in her attitude towards him, he’d given her the wrong impression. Worse still, in doing so he’d wasted all the nights she’d spent together with him at the village.
To make up for them she was in a hurry, as eager as he was and unwilling to wait for what she wanted.
Still continuing to kiss him, she released her towel and let it drop, refusing to let go of him until he gathered her up in his arms and carried her over to lay her on the bed.
She watched him strip, wide-eyed in anticipation, trying to catch her breath, but quickly making room for him when he went to kneel beside her.
To begin with he did nothing except kiss her on the shoulder, allowing her to relax before he brushed his fingertips lightly across her nipples.
She stiffened, pushing out her breasts to encourage him when he took his hands away and trying to kiss him on the mouth when he bent over to touch her again.
This time he was more enterprising, lingering until her nipples became more swollen and she was ready to reach out for him.
Trembling slightly she grasped him in both hands, no longer content to offer him her breasts, but inviting him to touch her between her legs by drawing up her knees.
Intoxicated by the warmth and silky smoothness of her skin he was slow to do what she was asking him to do.
To make him, she took one of his hands and forced it between her thighs. She held it there, opening her legs the minute he started to explore her, gradually surrendering herself to each of his caresses until she was unable to bear it and became overtaken by her own desire.
She pulled him towards her then twisted on to her back and guided him urgently inside her.
For a second or two she was too tense to accept him properly, waiting for him to take the initiative before she allowed herself to be penetrated to the point where, for Coburn, the experience began to assume the quality of a dream.
Lost in the world she was creating for him and unable to think of anything but the pleasure she was giving him and the need to possess her, by now he was no more capable of slowing things down than she was.
So eager was she that her contractions began almost before he knew it. Whispering to him, she started out on her climb, clinging to him and holding back her shudders until she suddenly arched her back to share in a climax of such intensity that, for an instant, Coburn could believe he’d been too late to prevent her from opening the fridge and that, as a consequence, none of this could possibly be real.
Not until the next morning did he come to realize she’d been trying to make a memory he’d be unable to forget. But by then the chance to tell her he understood had gone, and too much else was happening for him to explain how well she had succeeded.
CHAPTER 10
Hari was having difficulty with the suitcase. While he’d been manhandling it over the doorsill one of its plastic wheels had collapsed, and now the other one had stopped rotating it was beginning to cut a groove in the lounge carpet.
‘Hey, let me give you a hand.’ Coburn went to help.
‘It is not necessary.’ The Frenchman dragged the suitcase the last few feet into the kitchen and stood it up in front of the fridge. His face was beaded in sweat and he looked as though he would expire at any minute. ‘I should have asked Lin for his assistance,’ he said. ‘If one day I am persuaded to do such a thing again, I shall find another way.’
‘Is Lin going to wait for us downstairs?’
‘He says the smell from the suitcase makes him feel unwell, so to flush out the air from inside his car he stays to run the air conditioning.’
Coburn could appreciate why. The stench was dreadful, already starting to fill the whole apartment, and so overpowering that Heather was hurrying around opening every window she could find.
‘I am sorry for the unpleasantness.’ Hari lit a cigarette. ‘At this time of year, bodies do not last so long out of doors, and for all of yesterday this one was left lying in the sun. If you think we should remove it from the case, we can try, but I must warn you that to make the body fit, certain adjustments to it have been made.’
‘Like what?’ Coburn wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
‘To hinder its identification by means of fingerprints or dental records, before I leave the village I arrange for the teeth to be smashed and for the tips of each finger to be burned a little.’ He glanced at Heather. ‘For ease of transport I regret to say that it was also necessary to package the legs on top of the arms.’
‘It’s all right.’ She was unconcerned. ‘I’ve seen plenty of butchered bodies.’
Hari smiled at her. ‘But not inside a suitcase.’
‘No.’ She put a hand over her nose. ‘How long is this going to take?’
‘You don’t have to stay.’ Coburn went to fetch her carryall. ‘I can handle things by myself. Wait with Hari in the car.’
Hari passed him a small box. ‘You will need this timer you ask me to purchase for you,’ he said. ‘Since it was made in China and cost less than twenty dollars, it would be prudent for you to check its operation before you use it.’
‘I will. Anything else?’
‘Only that you could perhaps consider putting your watch on the wrist of the body. It is a small idea, but one that might be helpful.’
‘OK.’ Coburn was anxious to get on with it. He gave the carryall to Heather and squeezed her hand. ‘I’ll see you down at the car.’
‘You’ll be careful, won’t you?’ She took her hand away from her face and attempted a smile.
‘Sure. Go on, both of you. The quicker you’re out of here the sooner I can get to work.’ He watched her leave the room, knowing that with too much left unsaid between them he’d need her to himself for a while before he boarded his flight, but beginning to wonder if he’d have the opportunity to do so.