“Looks like your friend is out cold.”
Rebecca looked up at him. “Arthur.” His only response was his light snore. He looked worn and thin. Why hadn’t she rang him when Maddie held out that phone to her, why hadn’t she vaulted the gate and pounded his door instead of leaving a letter, why had she been weak, why had she run straight away?
She had always been weak, running away, burying her head, always thinking people thought the worst of her.
She tapped his thigh. He didn’t stir. Knowing she was okay, and a few whiskeys might have been enough to relax him. She smiled. He looked so sweet asleep. His hair was a little longer, as if he’d forgotten to get a haircut, it had always been so neat before.
“Perhaps I could get him in a taxi. Arthur.” She said his name a little louder, and shook him. He grunted.
The noise did something to her.
“You can put him in my room.” Stella was laughing as she spoke.
“Ha-ha.”
“I mean it, put him in my room.”
“What is up your arse about this? You’re not daft, so don’t pretend you don’t understand. I told you there was a man that I loved, and couldn’t be with. He is obviously that man. And yet you seem to think that he’s yours to take. Back the fuck off him. If he’s kipping anywhere, it’s with me.”
“What are you going to do with him? He’s too good for little Miss Virgin Tits.” One of the others laughed. “Do you know why we take the piss out of you? Or that we go on about you and Pete. We know you’ve not fucked him, you jump five feet in the air when anyone goes near you, you blush when we talk about sex…”
“Did it ever occur to you, you vain conceited malicious cockwomble that perhaps something might have happened to me, or that there would be a reason? But that would mean you’d have to consider someone above yourself, which I know for you would be a challenge. What with the deluge of cocks to fuck, and dealing with the clap you’ve going on.” Rebecca stood. “The only thing you think about, is how cool you are, how people see you, what you look like, you want to know what people think of you Stella? They think you’re a second-class hole to fuck, and have the personality of a wart. Okay hon?”
“You think because I like men that I’m some slut, how dare you…”
“You don’t get it, if you want to enjoy sex, by all means you do you, I’m not bothered, what bothers me, is that you’re cruel and shallow and vain. That you know, you see how important this man is to me, but you feel the need to interfere, to prove a point, and to keep me in my place. But you’re not that beautiful. It’s that thing when you see someone attractive, and then they become uglier the more you know them. That, that’s the thing about you.”
No one spoke.
Rebecca turned back to Arthur, her heart pounding, and hands shaking.
“Arthur? Come on, bedtime.” She shook him harder, her tone commanding.
She virtually pulled him up, to which he stumbled and grunted. She pulled him along the hallway, and shoved into the bathroom. “There’s the loo.” She shut the door, furious.
He put his hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter. He pissed, washed up, found some mouthwash for his whiskey mouth, and waited.
Rebecca went back into the kitchen, while everyone was making moves to go, there was no sign of Stella, and for a moment, she felt bad.
She grabbed two bottles of water, some paracetamol, and a bucket. She dumped them in the bedroom, making sure everything was tidy. She heard the toilet flush, and hoped he hadn’t pissed on the floor, fuck it, she’d move out as soon as she could, Stella could clean up any piss, or vomit for that matter. There wasn’t much chance of her staying now.
She took a deep breath and went out into the hall. The bathroom door was open, and he stood on one hip, completely awake and smiling.
Oh, fuck.
Her eyes went wide, and he grinned. Her eyes went to the living room, but it was quiet. He followed her into the bedroom. She stood nervously not speaking while he looked about.
The silence became too much.
“You can take the bed.” She whispered and began to unfold the chair in the corner to a fold out single bed.
“Rebecca.”
“Actually, I’ll go get changed.” She grabbed a pyjama set and fled to the bathroom.
She wasn’t sure what was going on, but he must have been faking and heard every word. She groaned as she took her makeup off, using Stella’s nice and expensive makeup remover. Fuck her.
She scrubbed her teeth a little harder than she ought. She peeled her clothes off, and jerked the pyjamas on, she went back in the bedroom, with a mind to tell him off.
She couldn’t when she saw him, he was sitting propped up in her bed under the sheet. He was shirtless. His shirt, trousers, shoes, and socks were neatly folding on her chair. That meant he was only in his underwear.
He had a photo in his hands, one of the two on her bedside. One was a picture of Alice taken when she was in her twenties, looking beautiful and glamorous. The second, the one he held, was of the three of them. Rebecca was beaming, while they were each eating an ice cream in the garden.
“I never saw this photo.”
“It’s my favourite.”
“It was the first time we kissed that day.” He looked up at her then, he seemed lighter than he had done, but still tired. His eye flickered at her pyjamas. It was a camisole and very short shorts, loose but the cotton was soft and thin, a bit too thin. He could see everything.
He put the picture down. His brow furrowed. “I think there are some things we need to talk about, lots of things actually. Right now, if I’m honest, I want to sleep. I haven’t slept properly since you left.” She pulled her lips into her mouth and chewed them, but she nodded.
“Nothing is going to happen.” He pulled back the light duvet. She turned on the little lamp and turned off the big light. He could see how she trembled. When she slipped into the bed, he tried not to look at her.
The bed was a queen, and he wasn’t a small man. He sighed deeply and looked at her. He stroked her hair, smoothing it back.
“I’ve missed you so much.”
“You heard everything.”
“Yes. I knew that if I said, let’s go, or can we go to bed, you’d get grief for it. They are not your friends.”
“No, they serve a purpose.”
He didn’t ask what purpose. “Can I ask you something?” she nodded. “I’d like to sleep the way we did before.” She smiled. “Nothing will happen, I do not want this to be our first time.” He put his arm round her and she snuggled closer. “But I will warn you that I am happy to see you, particularly in those pyjamas. Do you know they’re see through?”
She looked mortified, and sat up peering down at her chest. “Shit.”
“I don’t mind.” He was looked at the same place that she was. She laughed and pushed his shoulder, embarrassed at how her obviously attraction was showing through the cami.
“You know, I'm okay. I mean you don’t have to be overly careful, or worried. You’re not going to upset me. I’ve been ready a long time. I never thought I’d see you again. I don’t really know how you feel.”
She snuggled into his embrace, feeling utterly at home and incredibly excited. She felt his hardness against her.
“Well, I think you could take that as a clue.” He put his hands in her hair and held her close. His skin was warm, and she felt every part of him. Her whole body wanted him, everything screamed want. She tried not to squirm against him.
“I love you as I’ve always done, I want what we nearly had.” He kissed her, gently, he hadn’t intended to, but he couldn’t help it. She responded, holding him tighter. He could feel her nipples press into him, he felt down her back and squeezed her bottom they shifted so they were on their sides.
“You don’t want to do this?” her voice was so quiet.
“Not now, I want to spend hours making love to you, not just the few minutes I think you’d get now at one o’clo
ck in the morning.” She laughed. But he kissed her again, and it felt so good. Her kiss was more confident, she was more forward than she’d ever been.
The feel of her was bliss. Her leg draped over his hip and his erection pressed in on her, she moaned as she undulated up and down on him.
He let go a little, but unwilling to make love to her so soon, he held back. His hand went up her cami, teasing up and down her back. He felt round her body and felt her perfect breasts. Her hips moved quicker with his erection pressed between them. She made little noises into his mouth, until she suddenly bucked and came against him. He could feel the wetness through her little shorts.
She pulled back, flushed, beautiful, her eyes so large. “I’m sorry.”
He smiled, there was a little wonder in his face. “Sorry? That was…I want you so much.” He kissed her again, she could feel how urgently he wanted her, his body was all hardness and strength, yet he held back from her, and she wanted him to let go.
She reached down between them, holding his eye she tentatively pushed down his underwear, and grasped him. Her cheeks burned, he was hot to her touch and hard. He sucked in a breath.
“You don’t need to do this.” He groaned.
“I want to, I want better memories of this. I want you. I want you to have the pleasure I just did.”
He sucked his breath through his teeth as she stroked him. He gripped her waist tightly. He kissed her as his hips began to move into her hand, she matched the pace he set. Her heart pounded. She felt his body tense, she leant back and pulled her cami up, quickening her pace. His eyes closed and head stretched back. He could have guided her, dictated to her and taken control, but he wanted her to make her own steps to him, it was her choice to move forward.
“Rebecca, that feels so good, I’m…” He looked pained almost, his shoulders stilled, she gripped him harder as he opened his eyes and watched himself come onto the soft skin of her stomach.
He was breathing hard, and her eyes were wide, astonished. She looked down onto her stomach, unsure what to do.
He reached over to the bedside table, picked up the little cube of tissues, and wiped her stomach.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes. Was that all right?” She sounded surprised. It was as though her memory had been eradicated, and he had given her something better, infinitely better.
“It was, you have no idea how long it’s been, how much I have wanted you for so long.” He spoke into her mouth, his body hummed, and though sated he desperately wanted more.
She turned off the light, kissed him, and snuggled into him, holding him as she had done all those months ago. She felt his whole body give. He was asleep in minutes, and she followed in the lull of his gentle breath.
Twelve. A broad road
Arthur was warm. More than normal, he realised he was also not alone. His eyes snapped open, and the light was bright. Creamy skin and blond hair filled his vision. It was not a dream.
He had found her, it was real.
“Hey.”
“What time is it?” he mumbled as he snuggled back into her arms.
“Ten.”
“Wow.”
“How do you feel?”
“I can’t move.”
She wriggled. “Um, well, I’ve been awake for an hour, and I kind of need a piss.” She was laughing as he grumpily let her go.
In the sun that streamed through the curtains, he could see through the cami and shorts even more. She put on a short cotton robe and went out. He sighed and rubbed his face.
There were things he had to do today.
She came back with coffee. He sipped his drink.
“Do you have plans today?”
“Nope, I'm all yours, I mean, if you don’t have plans.” She looked adorably awkward, she was thinking about last night.
“Well, there is something I need to see to this morning, but if you’d like, we could spend the afternoon together, and see what happens.”
“Yep, and I need to get started on looking for somewhere else to live after what I said last night.”
“Well, how about, I go and deal with some stuff, then I come back and pick you up, about one?”
“Sounds good. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, it’s technically your birthday today.”
“True.”
“I’d like to give you a gift.”
“I think you can count as my gift. Us finding each other is the best thing that has happened to me.”
He put down his cup, pulled her down to him, and kissed her. Their hands were everywhere, she held him tight. It would be so easy to make love to her right then, and she fit to him perfectly. He could imagine what it would be like to be inside her. He sighed and let her go.
“Right. I need to go.” He didn’t move. She pulled down the duvet, and couldn’t help but look. He watched her take his body in, and the hard on he was sporting under his boxer briefs.
If she was honest, she was a little afraid of it, not of him, but of it. Last night she was brave, but now?
“Okay?” she swallowed when he spoke, her face flushing. “Hey, we do this at your pace. You want to do things like last night? I’m okay with that. When you’re ready, and comfortable, we go further. You set the pace. This is just the start. But just so you know, this is it, I will not lose you again, we will do whatever you need and want, I don’t care, as long as it’s us. I’ll not lose you again.” She nodded, and kissed him.
He managed to get up and went to the loo. He washed his face. He still couldn’t believe it was real. After everything that had happened, she still cared for him, and she had been so loving, there was sensual passion in her, and she didn’t even know it. He came out of the bathroom, in only his underwear, to see Stella speaking with Rebecca in her doorway.
“Excuse me.” He sidled past, feeling her eyes on him. He winked at Rebecca. He began dressing, ignoring Stella.
Their conversation quietened, and she left. He raised his brows as he buttoned his shirt.
“Nothing.” He held her with his look. Her heart skipped at it. “I have to leave. Legally, I have two months, because she asked me to leave. But I don’t want to stay, I need to go as soon as. I know what you’re going to say, you’ll help me, but you don’t need to.”
“One. I want to help you, because you are my girlfriend. You are, right?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
“Secondly, I want some input to where you live. I mean, will you stay in Downly, it’s so far. But I guess your job is here.” He frowned. “Hey, I have a car, doesn’t take that long to drive over, you live where you need to.” His house was on the other side of Chadford, it would be a pain in the arse for both of them.
“Actually, I can get the train over here for work, the medical practice is right by the train station. And I can always look for a job closer to you. I’m not going to let small things that don’t really matter come between us anymore. None of it matters. You matter. If I’d have trusted you more, if I was more secure in myself, what happened wouldn’t have, we were both hesitant, afraid, we have been all along. Not anymore, I don’t want to be apart anymore.”
He grinned, a soft warm happy one. He looked younger than last night, less tired, less weighted with worry. He picked her up in his arms and squeezed.
“Can’t. Breathe.” He eased off and she drew a dramatic breath in.
“I really have to go birthday girl. Today I'm going to really treat you, haven’t decided how yet, but treat you I will.”
He kissed her and left after he called a taxi.
She showered and made breakfast. Stella was sat in the living room.
“Do you think he’ll come back?”
“Oh give it a rest.”
“What’s turned you into a bitch all of a sudden?” Stella wasn’t angry, she just looked at Rebecca, and for the first time looked interested, and when Rebecca replied, it was reflective, there was no anger in her words.
“I’m not some pat
hetic weirdo you get to take the piss out of. You served a purpose for me, and that’s done with.”
“I don’t get what he sees in you.”
“I’ve been here for nearly eight months. I know everything about you. You know nothing about me. You never wanted to. You know nothing about the kind of person I am.”
“Fine, but him? Him?” she emphasized the last word.
“The idea that he would chose me over you, that’s what you don’t get isn’t it? He’s the man that he is because he’s worked hard for it, and he’s sacrificed. He’s honest and good. He cares about others. You don’t. You care about which bands are coolest, or that you’ve shagged a couple of d-listers. No one cares about that, it doesn’t matter. Particularly not to him. You try to make me feel less than, like most people in my life. But he makes me feel beautiful, that I’m worth everything that we’ve been through. You could never give him that.” Rebecca shrugged, showing more confidence than she felt. She washed her cereal bowl up and tried not to panic.
She text Arthur, asking what she should wear. It was a long wait before he text her back.
Arthur left Rebecca’s and his warm contentment slid off him. The early summer morning was warm, already gaining that stickiness. He climbed in the cab and text Victoria. He kept the text neutral, asking to meet in an hour at hers.
She was keen. It made him more annoyed. Once home he showered, threw on a light short sleeved shirt and casual trousers. He decided to take Rebecca for a nice lunch and some shopping. There was a nice row of boutiques that he’d overheard her talking to Alice about once. They were nestled in with the trendy restaurants and bars near where he used to have his office.
He drove over to Victoria’s, keenly aware of the time, it was already after eleven, and he wanted this over with as soon as possible.
She opened the door to her pretty brick townhouse, and he barged past her without a hello or fuck you.
She followed him into the kitchen at the back. He stood looking into her small pretty patio garden, the wide sliding doors open. She was having brunch, all her things and the Saturday paper were laid out. Things they used to do together, in another life. He took a deep breath and turned. She shrank at the fierce hardness in his face.
Getting a Life (New City Series Book 1) Page 17