Cobalt (11 page)

     ‘You’re incorrigible.’ She stated, narrowing her eyes further. ‘But don’t get used to being right. You only get to be on the high ground once a decade.’

      ‘On that point then, I concede the high ground.’ Rick’s smile grew mischievous as he stood slowly, easing Madeline to her feet as he did so. Gathering her up into his arms, and began to move from the bathroom.

     ‘Where are you taking me, and what do you think you are going to do when you get there?’ Madeline questioned, wrapping her arms about his neck and burying her head into his throat.

    ‘There is only one place to go from the high ground. Down and dirty. Use your imagination’ he whispered as he carried her from the bathroom and laid her gently on the bed.

     Madeline raised her self up towards him. ‘The bed.’ she stated. ‘I should have known.’

     ‘I’m too old for the floor,’ He replied, running his index finger down her cheek and across her bottom lip. Madeline suppressed a giggle at his response before moving to place a kiss on his mouth. Rick intercepted the move, and tenderly lay her back on the mattress. ‘Don’t move,’ he said, removing his own shirt and belt. ‘I’ll do everything.’ Slowly he began to undress her. Starting with her shoes, he gently slid the boots and knee-high stockings from her feet. Next he eased her out of her black trousers. Raising her from the bed he pulled the clingy silver top over her head. Once he had her in only her black underwear, Rick sat back and looked at the woman lying, unprotected on his bed.

Madeline’s hands clenched, involuntarily, as she studied his face. For some reason, unknown to her, she suddenly needed his approval. For the first time in her life someone else’s opinion, of her, mattered. Rick caught the expression of uncertainty that flashed across her face. He smiled. Madeline visibly relaxed as the passion shone in Rick’s dark brown eyes. Until that moment he had only touched her when he had to, as he undressed her, but now he began to stimulate her body with caresses. Moving over every inch of her body he removed her underwear and evoked responses Madeline had only dreamt about. She wondered how many women he had sweetly tortured in this way. She wondered why she had never let him do this to her before. Suddenly his lips met hers, and she thought she would explode – her breath caught, and her muscles pulsated uncontrollably. Tightening his grip around her waist Rick pulled Madeline towards him, as he rolled to lie beneath her. She withdrew from his kiss, for a moment, but only to question him, ‘Who knew you had this in you?’

     ‘I did, you’ve just never let me show you.’

     ‘Show me.’ she whispered as she kissed him once more. Rick ran his fingers up and down her back, and Madeline shivered with pleasure. She had never felt the need to be held and caressed, as she did now. All her liaisons had been a convenience, an emotionally detached act of necessity, not pleasure, but tonight Rick had awoken something in her, something she had kept hidden for nearly a decade, and she was just beginning to realise it was something she had missed. She kissed him tenderly, her hands holding around his neck, and the base of his head. He shifted his hands and placed them on her shoulders. He pushed her gently from him, and stood.

            Turning to kneel, facing him Madeline watched in silence as he un-buttoned and removed his trousers and black briefs. She noticed, for the first conscious time how the sight of him affected her psychologically and physically. She swallowed slowly, allowing herself to really study his entire body. Her gaze moved from his feet up his tanned calves, noting the indent where his socks had been around his mid-calf section. She smiled as her appraisal of him moved over his knees to his muscled thighs. She could see the light reflecting off the curly blonde hair that covered them. A crease in the muscle ran down the edge of them, testament to Rick’s weekly workout session on the weight machine. His chest and abdomen were also covered in a light layer of dark hair, in all the right places – his pectoral muscles, the cease that ran down the centre of his abdomen and a small area just around his navel were all highlighted. The contours of his muscles were visible under it. Dark hair that was starting to take on a silver hue as it got closer to the top of his chest. It was the silver part that she liked the best. He has the perfect chest, she decided. She continued her appraisal of him. There was not an ounce of unnecessary fat on his entire body. The difference between men and women Madeline thought as she mentally assessed her own body and the excess fat she thought she carried in a number of places- fat that only she saw when she looked at herself in the mirror. She reached out and ran a

finger down the muscle that ran the length of Rick’s upper arm, his bicep. She really loved that muscle, the strength of it was visible under his business shirts and suit coats when he lifted files or pushed their office door open. His arm quivered slightly under her touch. 

            Rick knelt down in front of her, and Madeline’s hands immediately reached for his chest. Resting briefly, she moved her hands and clasped them about his neck. Rick wrapped his arms about her, and pulled her onto his lap. She rested her head on his shoulder, her face against his throat. She could smell his aftershave, and recognised it as the one she had given him last Christmas. She kissed his throat.

            Still holding her tight against him, Rick moved to lie her on the bed, and keeping his weight balanced on his arms he covered her body with his. He kissed her gently, and then with one hand shifted her arms from about his neck. He kissed her mouth again and then moved his way down her body. Kissing down the column of her throat, and across her right shoulder. He halted his travel as his mouth came in contact with her right breast, his tongue moving to tease and stimulate the nipple. Madeline’s breath caught in her throat. He raised his head, looked at her, and smiled. She took his face in her hands. He turned his head and kissed the palm of her hand. He then took both of her hands in his, and threading his fingers through hers, he shifted holding her arms down beside her head. He moved his body to completely cover hers, once more. She wrapped her legs about his waist. She clenched her hands, her fingernails digging into the back of his, as he entered her. They synchronized their movements then. Every touch, every motion designed to complement each other. As they reached climax after climax they took turns on the top and the bottom. Neither was passive, neither was dominant. For the first time Rick and Madeline shared the control, and each benefited. For the first time in her life Madeline was not responsible for everything, and Rick was an active, powerful member of their partnership.

CHAPTER 15

Rick and Madeline didn’t know exactly how long they had stayed in each other’s arms –Madeline lying with her head on his chest, Rick with one hand entangled in her hair, the other drawing lazy circles on her back - talking, but judging by the sunlight that filtered through the small window, and into the bedroom, they guessed about five hours. The phone on their communications unit disturbed the peace. Madeline went to rise, to answer the phone, but Rick, stopped her, telling her he’d do it as, after all, like she'd said in the alley, it was his fault that Teslovich had got away. Madeline smiled slightly, knowing he was teasing her. Rick winked as he left the room, and went into the lounge. The next few minutes were spent in silence, as Madeline waited for the news. She heard the call end and saw Rick turn to face her, as she stood in the open doorway, wrapped in the sheet.

       ‘Good news, we're going to Venice.’ he said, ‘Oh do you know how to get to the heliport in this town?’ Rick laughed as she shrugged. ‘Oh good,’ he commented, yanking the sheet out of her hands, and away from her. ‘We have to be there in twenty minutes.’ Dressing quickly, they gathered the equipment together and headed down to the street, with the intention of hailing another taxi.

            After waiting a few minutes, Madeline decided to take matters into her own hands. Rick watched as his beautiful partner casually stopped a passer-by and asked for directions. ‘Mi scusi, Signor, ma dove L' aeroporto per gli ellicotteri?’ she asked him.

            Rick watched with admiration as Madeline followed the conversation and listened attentively to the older gentleman's directions. Catching only a few phrases, here and there, Rick wondered how Madeline didn't flinch when the older man brushed her breast as he reached to indicate directions. Not knowing what she meant, when she asked ‘E' lontano da qui?’ Rick felt a pang of jealousy at this stranger's touch.

Madeline thanked the man, and turned to face Rick. She called to him, first in Italian, forgetting for a moment that her partner was ignorant to any foreign language, other than Russian. ‘Abbiamo buona fortuna!’

     ‘What?’ Rick raised his eyebrows and Madeline laughed.

     ‘I said, we're in luck! The heliport is five minutes from here, on foot. Straight down that way.’ She pointed down a side road, to the left. ‘We have ten minutes, lets go’ she said, but Rick was already on the move.

                 *                    *                     *                     *                   *

Teslovich sat in a nearly deserted café in one of the side streets of Venice, nursing a bottle of Johnny Walker brand scotch. He glanced around the room, taking in the bored expressions of the people. Through the smoke he could see the waitress cleaning tables with a damp tea towel. Of course its damp, he thought, everything in this godforsaken city is damp. The plaza is flooded, it rains all the time, the people are arrogant and rude. Only this morning he’d been thrown out of three shops by Venetians who didn’t realise his importance, Venetians who were tired of tourists using their shops as a place to escape the weather.  Why of all places did Kellerin pick this place? He thought. There is nothing nice, nothing romantic about this sess-pit of sewerage and mould. It rains eleven months out of the year and you have to put used toilet paper into a garbage bin next to the bowl, what sort of backward living is that? And the world thinks Russia is oppressed and poor. At least there are flushing toilets and a fully working sewerage system in Russia, even in the poorest, most remote parts of the country. Everything in Venice is wet and overcrowded, two things Teslovich hated.

            Feeling slightly better, as the liquor began to warm its way through him, Teslovich picked up his phone, and dialed Kellerin.

            Kellerin answered after five rings, and after the usual passwords were spoken and he was sure that the caller was indeed Teslovich he focused his full attention on his partner.

            ‘Comrade,’ Teslovich began, ‘I can see why you want Madelyne all to yourself. She is quite exquisite.’

     ‘You’ve seen Madeline and the Deputy Director?’

     ‘You needn’t worry, Comrade. Just as you predicted they followed me to the Florence location, but I outsmarted them. As I said I would.’ Teslovich swallowed another gulp of scotch as Kellerin questioned him further.

     ‘Then where are you, now?’

     ‘I have taken a slight detour to your operation in Venice to recruit more men.  Remind me to thank you for choosing Venice, I hate it.’

     ‘Michlov, focus. Madeline found you. Is she still following you?’

     ‘She could not possibly anticipate my every move. I believe I have left her in Florence. It will be at least three days before she can pick up my trail again. Besides, I plan to join you in Washington in thirty-six hours. I will meet you at the White House rendezvous point. You needn’t worry about me, Comrade, I have plenty of time.’

     ‘I will expect you then, but be careful. I will have my sources inform me of Madeline and Glazer’s position, but again I stress she found you once. Be careful.’

     ‘I will see you in thirty-six hours, Comrade. Wait for me. I want to see you take the White House.’

     ‘I will try to wait for you Michlov, but I can not promise anything. I will expect you in time for the siege but with traffic, weather conditions, and holiday airline strikes, well I will continue without you should you be delayed.’

     ‘I will be there, Comrade. You can count on me.’

     ‘I know I can count on you, Michlov, but ending the US/Russia work treaty is priority, and to do this it is imperative that I see President Watson. With or without you I have to make him see just how detrimental the treaty is to the political and economical health of Russia…’

            Teslovich glanced around the café again as he remotely listened to Kellerin preach. He had heard this speech a hundred times, and while he believed in the cause, he also believed that Kellerin tended to over-exaggerate and dramatize the situation.