The Fire Witness

111

Elin’s heart is skipping as she sits back down next to Daniel in the settee. She feels the warmth of his skin next to her leg. He’s found an old wine cork between the pillows and is peering at it nearsightedly.

“We took a course in wine and decided to start collecting. Nothing special, but some wines are very nice. I got them as Christmas presents… from Bordeaux. Two bottles of Château Haut-Brion, 1970. We were going to drink them when we retired, Elisabet and I. People make tons of plans like this. We even saved some marijuana. It was a joke. We often joked that we’d finally act like kids when we were old, kids who play loud music and sleep in.”

“I should head back to Stockholm,” Elin says.

“Yes, you should.”

They swing for a while and the ropes of the hammock creak against the hooks in the trees.

“You have a nice house,” Elin says softly.

She places her hand on his. He turns it over and their fingers intertwine. They sit in silence as they continue to swing. The hammock keeps creaking.

Her glossy hair falls into her face, and she sweeps it away and meets his gaze.

“Daniel,” she says.

“Yes,” he replies in a whisper.

Elin looks at him. She thinks she’s never needed the tenderness of another human being as much as now. Something about his gaze and his wrinkled forehead touches her deeply. She kisses his mouth softly, smiles, and kisses him again. She takes his face between her hands and kisses him deeply.

“Dear Lord,” he says.

Elin kisses him again and skims her lips over his beard stubble. She opens her blouse and pulls his hand to her breast. He touches her gently and caresses her nipple.

She kisses him again and slips her hand into his shirt. His stomach trembles at her touch.

Waves of desire go through her body and she feels weak. She wants either to lie in the grass with him or sit astride his hips.

She closes her eyes and pulls him to her. He says something that she doesn’t hear. Her blood pulses inside her. She feels his warm hands on her body but then he stops and pulls away.

“Elin, I can’t…”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean…” She tries to breathe more calmly.

“I just need some time,” he says. There are tears in his eyes. “It’s too much for me now, but I don’t want to scare you off.”

“You’re not scaring me off,” she says and tries to smile.

Elin gets up and adjusts her clothes as she leaves the garden. She gets into her car.

Her cheeks are flushed and her legs are still trembling as she drives away from Sundsvall. Five minutes later, she has to turn off onto a forest road. Her panties are soaking and her heart hasn’t stopped racing. Her blood throbs through every vein. She looks at her face in the rearview mirror. Her eyes are heavy and glistening and her lips are swollen.

She can’t remember the last time she felt such sexual power stream through her body. Daniel seems unimpressed by her beauty. Instead, it feels as if he can look right into her heart.

She tries to breathe slowly and waits, but finally she looks around the small forest road. She shifts her dress and lifts her ass so she can pull her panties down over her hips. She touches herself quickly with both hands. Her orgasm comes violently, in quick bursts.

She’s panting and sweating with two fingers inside herself. She looks out the windshield at the magical rays of sunlight streaming through the branches of the Scotch pines.