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‘Are you...?’ Did he feel as good as she did? Did he want this moment to last before the day began to edge it out? Flora couldn’t think of a way of saying that in any language.
He chuckled, flexing his limbs again. ‘I am. Are you?’
‘Yes. I am too.’
All she needed was to lie here with him, holding his hand. But the sound of paws scrabbling at the kitchen door broke the silence.
‘That’s Dougal. He won’t stop until I let him out...’ Flora reluctantly tried to disentangle herself from Aksel’s embrace, but he held on to her.
‘I’ll go. If you’d like to stay here, then I’ll make you some breakfast.’
That would be nice, but even the time it took to make a couple of pieces of toast would be too long an absence. Flora let go of his hand and sat up. Even that was too much distance and she bent to kiss him again.
‘I’ll go. Are you hungry?’
He shook his head. ‘Coffee or juice would be nice.’
She could let Dougal out, give him some food and water, and make coffee in two minutes flat if she hurried. ‘Will you still be naked when I get back?’
Aksel grinned. ‘You can count on it.’
* * *
She took the road into the estate as fast as the freezing morning would allow, and dropped Aksel off at the therapy centre at ten to nine, leaving him to take Dougal inside. If anyone noticed, then giving a next-door neighbour a lift into work couldn’t excite any comment. She made it up to her office at one minute to nine, tearing off her coat and sitting down at her desk. Her first session of the morning wasn’t until half past nine, and she could at least look as if she was at work, even though her mind was elsewhere.
Her whole body felt different, as if it was still bathed in Aksel’s smile. Science told her that it was probably the effect of feel-good neuro-transmitters and hormones, but rational thought had its limitations. Aksel seemed to have no limitations at all.
When she closed her eyes, she could still feel him. He’d brushed off her suggestion that surely there wasn’t anything more he might explore, and had taken her on a sensory journey that had proved her wrong. Aksel made foreplay into an exquisite art, and he obviously enjoyed it just as much as she did.
‘Flora, we’ve a new patient....’ Her eyes snapped open again to see Charles Ross-Wylde staring at her from the doorway. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Oh. Yes, I’m fine. Just concentrating.’ Flora wondered if it looked as if she’d just spent two hours having stupendous sex. In the three years she’d been here, she’d never seen Charles show any interest in anything other than work, and he might not understand.
‘Yes. Of course. As long as you’re not feeling unwell.’
‘No!’ She could have sounded a little less emphatic about that as Charles was beginning to look puzzled. Best get down to business. ‘You’ve a new patient for me to see...?’
* * *
The day wasn’t without its victories. Andy Wallace had mentioned that Aksel had popped in, bringing Mette with him, and that they’d talked about ice carving and the long road that led across the Andes. The friendship seemed to have given Andy the final push to take his first step unaided.
Flora had tried to conceal her blushes when Andy had talked about Aksel, but he was in the habit of watching everyone closely. When they’d finished their session together, Andy had asked her to give Aksel his best when she saw him, smiling quietly when Flora had said she would.
Dougal seemed a little calmer when she picked him up from the centre, and didn’t make his usual frenetic dash around the cottage. He lay down in front of the fire, growling quietly.
‘What’s the matter, Dougal?’ Flora bent down to stroke him, and he gave her his usual response, his tail thumping against the hearth. She walked into the kitchen, wondering if he’d follow, and he bounded past her, pawing at the cupboard where she kept his food. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem to have affected his appetite.
She knew that Aksel would come. He’d be late, staying at the clinic until Mette was ready to go to bed, but he’d come. She heard the sound of the battered SUV outside, and smiled. He usually walked back from the castle, but tonight he was in a hurry.
The doorbell rang and she opened the door. Aksel was leaning against the opening of the porch, grinning.
‘Are you coming in?’
‘Are you going to ask me in?’ There didn’t seem to be any doubt in his mind that she would.
‘Since you’re holding a bottle of wine, then yes.’
He stepped inside, and Flora took the bottle from his hand, putting it down on the hall table. Without giving him the chance to take off his coat, she kissed him.
