the slightly slanting eyes and the high cheekbones, she might be taken for five years younger. Maybe more.
He turned, inhaling. The perfume he usually bought her, the way it smelt hours later, mingling with the smell of her sweat and of other people’s cigarettes. A second, foreign perfume was mixed in with the smell of Shalimar; something a man would wear. He could follow the thought, conjure up images of who she’d been sitting with, dancing with. He took her by the arm and pulled her towards him.
– Christ, she murmured as he started to kiss her. – You’re hot for it.
Closer and closer it came, the smell of the strange, the thing he didn’t know about, that turned her into something other than the person he knew. Her tongue tasted of wine, but vodka too, or gin. It was not often she could be persuaded to drink spirits, and when he lifted her skirt and took hold of her naked buttocks, she groaned and began to pull at his boxer shorts.
He lifted her up on to the rim of the basin, pulled off the translucent string.
– Axel, she scolded him. – Not here, the kids might wake up.
But that was exactly what she wanted, for him to take her right there and then, sitting on the cold porcelain basin, only half undressed, protesting against the damage to her dress when he pulled the shoulder straps down and fastened his mouth to one of her breasts, raised her lower body and pushed himself inside her.
When she came, she swallowed back the sounds. It ended up a long-drawn-out rattle, unlike anything he’d ever heard from her before. He didn’t come. When it was over for her, he carried her out of the bathroom.
– Wait, she groaned. – At least let me pee.
He got into bed. Through the open door he heard her flush the toilet, wash her hands, open the cupboard, almost certainly to remove her contact lenses. Then she came padding into him, naked, and closed the door behind her.
– Can’t a poor girl get even a few hours’ sleep? she complained.
He pulled her down and turned her round. – Oh Axel, she moaned, the way he was used to hearing her. He bent her body at the hips and entered her from behind, lying there without moving, like an insect.
– Tell me where you’ve been, he whispered as he began to move slowly inside her.
– What is it with you, Axel? she groaned.
– Tell me what you did tonight.
– Lotta and Maren. We ate at Theatrecaféen. Then we went on to Smuget.
– Did you meet anyone?
She twisted her body.
– A whole crowd, she sighed.
– Did you dance?
– Of course.
– With lots of men?
– One especially. A policeman.
He withdrew, then entered her again, quicker and harder.
– He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Must have been ten years younger than me. Yes, like that, harder. Oh fuck, yes.
She didn’t usually swear; it moved his excitement up another notch. He couldn’t face asking any more questions about the policeman, whether they went on anywhere else afterwards, but he could see them in his mind’s eye as she put her arm around his neck and pressed up close against him. He surrendered, pushing her down into the mattress, forcing himself up tight against her buttocks. As he came, a face appeared far away inside the darkness. It came closer, veiled in green, looking in at him through an open car door.
11
Saturday 29 September
A XEL WOKE AT six o’clock. He wasn’t on duty this weekend and could lie in as long as he liked. But he felt himself well rested and swung his feet on to the floor. A few minutes later he was running through the copse, towards the farm lane. It was still only dawn light, the outlines of things flowing into each other. But he could tell that it was going to be a clear autumn day.
By 7.30, he had laid the breakfast table and was sitting fresh from the shower in his boxer shorts and T-shirt, with coffee, orange juice and the Aftenposten . He read it back to front, quickly through the sport, lingering over the financial pages. The price of
He turned, inhaling. The perfume he usually bought her, the way it smelt hours later, mingling with the smell of her sweat and of other people’s cigarettes. A second, foreign perfume was mixed in with the smell of Shalimar; something a man would wear. He could follow the thought, conjure up images of who she’d been sitting with, dancing with. He took her by the arm and pulled her towards him.
– Christ, she murmured as he started to kiss her. – You’re hot for it.
Closer and closer it came, the smell of the strange, the thing he didn’t know about, that turned her into something other than the person he knew. Her tongue tasted of wine, but vodka too, or gin. It was not often she could be persuaded to drink spirits, and when he lifted her skirt and took hold of her naked buttocks, she groaned and began to pull at his boxer shorts.
He lifted her up on to the rim of the basin, pulled off the translucent string.
– Axel, she scolded him. – Not here, the kids might wake up.
But that was exactly what she wanted, for him to take her right there and then, sitting on the cold porcelain basin, only half undressed, protesting against the damage to her dress when he pulled the shoulder straps down and fastened his mouth to one of her breasts, raised her lower body and pushed himself inside her.
When she came, she swallowed back the sounds. It ended up a long-drawn-out rattle, unlike anything he’d ever heard from her before. He didn’t come. When it was over for her, he carried her out of the bathroom.
– Wait, she groaned. – At least let me pee.
He got into bed. Through the open door he heard her flush the toilet, wash her hands, open the cupboard, almost certainly to remove her contact lenses. Then she came padding into him, naked, and closed the door behind her.
– Can’t a poor girl get even a few hours’ sleep? she complained.
He pulled her down and turned her round. – Oh Axel, she moaned, the way he was used to hearing her. He bent her body at the hips and entered her from behind, lying there without moving, like an insect.
– Tell me where you’ve been, he whispered as he began to move slowly inside her.
– What is it with you, Axel? she groaned.
– Tell me what you did tonight.
– Lotta and Maren. We ate at Theatrecaféen. Then we went on to Smuget.
– Did you meet anyone?
She twisted her body.
– A whole crowd, she sighed.
– Did you dance?
– Of course.
– With lots of men?
– One especially. A policeman.
He withdrew, then entered her again, quicker and harder.
– He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Must have been ten years younger than me. Yes, like that, harder. Oh fuck, yes.
She didn’t usually swear; it moved his excitement up another notch. He couldn’t face asking any more questions about the policeman, whether they went on anywhere else afterwards, but he could see them in his mind’s eye as she put her arm around his neck and pressed up close against him. He surrendered, pushing her down into the mattress, forcing himself up tight against her buttocks. As he came, a face appeared far away inside the darkness. It came closer, veiled in green, looking in at him through an open car door.
11
Saturday 29 September
A XEL WOKE AT six o’clock. He wasn’t on duty this weekend and could lie in as long as he liked. But he felt himself well rested and swung his feet on to the floor. A few minutes later he was running through the copse, towards the farm lane. It was still only dawn light, the outlines of things flowing into each other. But he could tell that it was going to be a clear autumn day.
By 7.30, he had laid the breakfast table and was sitting fresh from the shower in his boxer shorts and T-shirt, with coffee, orange juice and the Aftenposten . He read it back to front, quickly through the sport, lingering over the financial pages. The price of
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