After the police had left, I snuggled against Dunc on the couch, silent for a long while as he stroked my back to calm me. When I sensed I could talk without my voice trembling too much, I said, "Such a full day, and it's far from over – only five thirty. Will you stay with me tonight? Comfort me. Keep me safe."
He pulled me closer. "I was hoping you'd ask, Gigi."
"Ummm! There's the tingling again. I really do love you."
Dunc lifted my head from the crook of his neck, and our mouths merged.
A long and passionate while later, when our lips parted, I said, "I should take this suit off; otherwise, it'll be wrinkled and messed."
"Yes, and me, as well. I should head home to –"
"Head home?" I tensed again "Why? I thought you were going to stay the night."
"Oh, I am, but I need to change and to get fresh clothes for tomorrow." He stroked my back, calming me again. "Toothbrush, razor – stuff. My travel kit."
"Ummm. Can I go with you? With Garth so unpredictable, I no longer feel safe here."
"Yes, certainly."
I untangled from him and sat. "Where do you live?"
"Three and a half blocks along, across from Jonathan Rogers Park."
"Oh, that's on my morning run route." I tilted my head. "But it's all services and industrial lowrise along there."
"Ah, but there are still two houses left in that block, disguised by trees and shrubbery."
"Yeah, there are some fine old ones on 7th after the park on my way back, but they're not hidden."
"They need to be relatively visible because they're in the heritage register. Mine's equally worthy of being listed, but fortunately, the previous owners resisted."
"Fortunately? Why so?"
"The regulations would make it far more difficult to develop."
"To develop?"
"That's my long-term plan. I own the next two buildings, and I'm hoping to eventually buy the one on the corner. Meanwhile, I have a charming Edwardian house to call home."
"Ooh! That sounds so wonderful." I grabbed his hand. "Come upstairs and help me change, then take me to see it."
"Be ramrod stiff if I help you." He looked down and chuckled. "Buddy's already well up from our cuddling and kissing."
I pressed our hands on the bulge. "Then, we'll have to pause and enjoy softening him."
Half an hour or so later, as we walked beside the park, Dunc pointed across the street and said, "You can see it emerging now beyond Milano Coffee."
"Oh, I've seen that one. Guess I never did anything with the image."
"Likely because it's tough to see much of it, except from directly in front. Also, the view across the park distracts." He led me further along, then stopped. "Here, between the trees, is the best look at it, and from those windows, I've a spectacular view of downtown and the north shore mountains. Come, let me show you."
He led me across the street, through the door in the hedgerow, along the path and up the steps to the veranda. Then, while he unlocked and opened the door, I raised my arms as if in surrender and chuckled. "I'm still all yours, Dunc. Carry me across the threshold."
"Oh, fuck!"
"We just did."
"That's no reason not to again." After he had reached in and poked at the alarm keypad, he swept me up into his arms and carried me inside, pushing the door closed behind us. Then with me still cradled, he rushed up the stairs, two steps at a time. He did the same up the next flight to the third floor, where he carried me across a huge, open space before he stopped and kissed me.
I was stunned speechless, in awe of his bulging muscles during the carry, and I melted into the kiss, my heart racing, my pussy purring again. When our lips parted, he turned so I could see an enormous bed in front of a window that filled the end of the room. "Look at my view, Gigi."
"Oh, my God! And I thought the one from my balcony was spectacular. Here, you can look at it from your bed."
"Yes, we can."
"Ummm! I'd love that."
As I lifted my head to kiss him again, I realised. "You're not even panting. Not at all winded after carrying me up all those steps."
"Similar to my morning routine. Twenty reps up and down, working my arms with a pair of thirty K dumbbells." He shrugged. "You're lighter than them – and you're certainly no dumb belle."
As he lowered my feet to the floor, I ran my hand up and down his shirt front, feeling his abs. "No wonder you're so solid."
"A lot of it is from climbing."
"Climbing?"
"In the mountains."
I tensed and winced. "Oh!"
"You seem bothered by this, Gigi."
I nodded. "Yeah. My parents and grandfather were swept into a crevasse by a collapsing serac. Watched them go. Couldn't do anything."
"Oh, good God! How horrible." He pulled me close and rubbed my back. "I'll stop climbing."
"What? Why?"
"To not remind you. To not worry you."
"No need to stop." I shook my head. "None at all."
"You sure?"
"Maybe you could take me with you sometime. I loved the freedom up there, but I've not found the courage – not been back since."
"When was that?"
"Sixteen years ago." I grimaced at the memory. "We searched for two days. Nothing, so we built a cairn. That's the picture on my living room wall – Mount Tantalus in the background. My memorial."
"You were only twelve then. How did you survive?"
"Grandma raised me. Instilled in me a love of cooking. Put me through VCC and Dubrulle."
"The one who sends the postcards?"
"Yeah. Sweet lady. Seventy-six now, sixteen years a widow and still going strong."
He unwrapped the hug, took off his suit coat and laid it across the arm of a chair. Then while he unbuttoned his shirt, I unbuckled his trousers and unzipped them, giggling. "This is becoming a habit, Dunc."
"One I wish to continue forever."
Yeah, me too. But too soon to commit. I sighed. "But we've just met. You know almost nothing about me."
"That's the exciting part, Gigi – discovering you. Bit by bit by bit. Every layer of you that I unpeel makes you even more enticing." He stepped out of his trousers as I pulled them down. "And think – all those years believing I was asexual. Seems it was just that I never met anyone to flip my demi switch. Until you. If I don't hang onto you, Gigi, what chance is there for me to meet another? Is there even another?"
"True. But it was your sapio switch that did it."
"Sapio? What's that?"
"Something I discovered online this afternoon as I tried to make sense of your near-instant infatuation and popping boners like a pubescent schoolboy."
Dunc blushed. "That was awful, wasn't it?"
I shrugged and smiled. "I enjoyed it – except for your embarrassment. But to the point, my understanding is that a demi requires a deep emotional bonding before the sex switch is triggered, and you had insufficient time for that. But –"
"Exactly! And this puzzles me."
"But, as I understand sapiosexuality, the attraction is to intelligence – the higher, the stronger – and this adds layers and can lead a demisexual to an accelerated bonding."
"Oh, wow! Yeah, yeah, yeah. That explains the weirdness of this. Instantly attracted to your Mensa and Three Nines memberships, then further by your accomplishments before we even met. When I first saw you, I was already hooked, and Buddy agreed. Then today, seeing you cleaning your office, your vibrancy in the meetings, your superb way of handling Logan and Melvin – deeper and deeper. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now makes sense."
"So, you still want to continue forever?"
"Now even more – now that I understand." He grabbed the hem of my hoodie and lifted it over my head. "And we can continue this conversation on the bed."
<><><>
Points to consider in this chapter:
Would Gigi watching the tragic deaths of her parents and grandfather have caused PTSD and her continuing emotional detachment?
Does Dunc's analysis of his rapid attraction to Gigi now make sense? Does it also explain his frequent inconvenient arousals?
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