The Truest of Words

by Georgina Guthrie

  “I missed you so much,” he whispered, kissing me frantically.

  I was in one of those chick flicks, a cheesy song playing while the lovers reconnected after a separation, a slow-motion camera catching every detail of the reunion. Oblivious to the people around us, we stood kissing for the longest time. It wasn’t until Daniel’s hands slipped to my hips, pulling me against him, that I remembered we were in the middle of a crowd of people. I stepped away and looked around self-consciously.

  Daniel smiled and bobbed his head. “Let’s go. The car is this way.”

  I retrieved my backpack, and he took my suitcase, scanning my legs as we walked.

  “Nice skirt. What there is of it.”

  “I thought you’d like it.”

  “My feelings are a good deal stronger than that, believe me.”

  His sexy accent had crept back. He squeezed my hand and swung my arm back and forth in a breezy, carefree way.

  “How is everyone?” I asked.

  “Great. Excited to see you. Prepare to be ambushed as soon as we arrive.”

  We stopped behind a car, and he popped the trunk.

  “The only one I want to ambush me is you, sailor.”

  Daniel heaved my suitcase inside and slammed the trunk closed. Then he winked. “Oh, I’ll ambush you—soundly and repeatedly.”

  “I can’t wait.” I stood on my toes, burrowing my nose against his neck and tickling his scruff. “What’s with the facial hair?”

  “You told me not to shave.”

  “I meant for a few days. This has to be a good week and half’s growth.”

  “I didn’t mean to let it get this long, but Penny’s been nagging me about it. I’m leaving it for now, just to freak her out.”

  I laughed as I climbed into the car and buckled in.

  “So, this worked out really well,” Daniel said, backing out of his spot. “I dropped Patty and my great-aunt Gwendolyn off on my way here. They’re in town having a bimble.”

  “A bimble?”

  “A little look around. Exploring. Bimbling.”

  “Bimbling. Good word. I like it.”

  “It’s yours to do with as you wish.”

  Daniel made a quick turn out of the parking lot. I gestured to the GPS. “Do you need me to put the address in for you?”

  “I know where I’m going.” He patted my hand. “Relax.”

  I took his advice, gazing out the window at the passing scenery. I occasionally shifted my position and caught Daniel gawking at my legs and gripping the steering wheel tightly. I smiled, trying not to let my imagination get carried away. I had visions of Daniel spiriting me away to our room when we arrived at the estate, but it sounded as if Penny and Julie would pounce as soon as we pulled in.

  “Hey, Daniel, did everything go okay for Jeremy in France? I haven’t heard from Julie in a couple of days.”

  “He and Julie got in late last night so we haven’t talked at length, but from what I gather, I’d say his only regret is that he didn’t do this years ago.”

  “I’m happy for him.”

  “Me too.”

  Daniel threaded his fingers through mine and turned his attention back to the road, frowning and squinting at the signposts as we closed in on a roundabout. I tensed as we turned onto one of those narrow roads that didn’t seem capable of carrying two-lane traffic. All of a sudden, he drove onto a grassy verge that vaguely passed for a shoulder at the side of the road.

  He climbed out, walked to the front of the car, and surveyed the surrounding fields. What the hell was going on? When he ran his hand through his hair and scratched at the nape of his neck, I realized exactly what was going on—we were lost. I climbed out and joined him.

  “How bad is it?”

  “How bad is what?” he asked, his eyes flashing mysteriously.

  “How lost are we?”

  He slipped his hand around my waist. “We’re not lost.”

  “Daniel, we’re in the middle of nowhere, and you look baffled. I knew you should have used the GPS.”

  “We’re not lost.” He strode back to the car. “I know exactly where we are,” he called over his shoulder.

  Jesus. Typical man. When he reached the passenger door, he leaned on the side of the car, casting a rakish smile in my direction.

  “Daniel, what are you up to?”

  He dragged his eyes up my legs before opening the back door.

  “You’d better get in, or I’ll be bending you over that stile quicker than you can say ‘Farmer Brown.’”

  Blindsided by what he seemed to be suggesting, I wavered for a moment, but then clambered into the car. He followed me, slamming the door soundly behind him.

  “Get over here,” he said, dragging me sideways onto his lap, his fingers skimming my bare thighs and coming to rest just under the hem of my skirt. “This really was an excellent choice of wardrobe.”

  My answering smile was lost in the soft parting of lips and the meeting of tongues.

  “Are you sure about this? What if someone sees us?”

  “I don’t give a good farmer’s fuck if someone sees us,” he said, searching my neck with his lips and quickly finding the spot that always made me shiver.

  “We really shouldn’t do this,” I breathed, but even as I spoke I was lifting my skirt and wiggling my hips, helping him pull off my panties. I moved to straddle him.

  “I know,” he said, his agreement accompanied by the popping of a button and the sound of his zipper peeling open.

  He pushed his jeans and boxers down his thighs and steadied me over his lap. My hands were in his hair, my forehead resting against his while he gripped my hips, guiding me. I closed my eyes, focusing on the sensation of our bodies reconnecting.

  “Don’t move,” he whispered, his ear pressed to my heart. “You feel perfect. Fuck, I missed being inside you.”

  I whimpered, wanting to wiggle against him, but at the same time, overcome with feeling and wanting to savor the stillness. But let’s face facts. We were in a car. It was not the time for lingering lovemaking. His hands slipped up my legs, one coming to rest between my thighs. I dragged my T-shirt up and over my breasts and pulled my bra out of the way, gasping as his tongue moved across my skin.

  Ten days seemed like an eternity to have gone without his touch. My body responded eagerly to his caresses, my hips rocking in the same steady rhythm as his teasing tongue. With my hands tangled in his hair, I held him tightly against my breast.

  “That feels—God, so good…”

  His lips curved into a cocky smile, and his eyes flickered up to meet mine. I was losing focus, already teetering on the edge, my eyes closing with the struggle to tip the balance in my favor.

  He thrust into me hard, fingers still moving with practiced precision.

  Yep. That did it.

  I threw my head back, almost crying with relief as my orgasm tore through me. Daniel swore, his own movements becoming more and more purposeful. As I floated back to earth, his hands circled my waist, and he spiraled away, the tension draining from his features. Sated, he buried his face in my neck.

  “Do you have any idea how much I love you?” he said.

  “Abstinence makes the heart grow fonder?”

  “It definitely doesn’t make the sex go longer.”

  “Daniel, we’re in the back seat of a car. A quickie was a good idea, don’t you think?”

  “I guess you’re right. I’ll make it up to you later.”

  “I’m game for that.”

  He sat back, his eyes wandering down my body. “I’m glad you wore this skirt. This couldn’t have worked better if I’d planned it.”

  “Wait, are you saying you’ve done something completely spontaneous?”

  “If I’d planned this, the Kleenex would be beside us instead of up front.”

  “Uh-oh.” I grimaced, shifting my hips. I reached for my panties, and that’s when I saw them—two large brown eyes peering in the back window.

  “Jesus, Dan
iel!” I pointed.

  He followed my gaze. “Huh, fancy that.”

  “That cow watched us have sex.”

  “It would appear so.”

  “What do we do?”

  “Clean up. Quickly. I just hope we can make it into the front seat unscathed.”

  “Unscathed? What do you mean?” I asked, fixing my bra and tugging my T-shirt down.

  “If she has been watching the whole time, we could be in trouble.” He chuckled devilishly. “Nothing scarier than a horny Holstein.”

  Daniel’s prediction that we’d be ambushed upon arrival was spot-on. As soon as we drove into the estate’s parking lot, people arrived at the front of the property from all sides. Julie flew out the front door, nearly knocking me on my ass with her hug, while Jeremy trailed behind her. Penny hugged me next, jabbering about Daniel and dead squirrels.

  As usual, I had no clue what she was talking about.

  Gwen reached for my hand. “Aubrey, it’s so nice to have you here.”

  “How was your journey?” David asked. “No problems?”

  “None at all. Daniel was waiting for me when I arrived.”

  “We wondered if perhaps the train had been delayed,” he said.

  I smiled at Daniel. “We took a wrong turn on the way back and got waylaid by some cows crossing the road.”

  “Oh no,” Penny said. “I bloody hate that. You couldn’t turn around, I bet. Road was too narrow?”

  “Exactly,” Daniel said, picking up the thread of my fib. “All we could do was wait.”

  “You must be tired, Aubrey,” David said. He placed his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take Aubrey inside and show her around? Then she can freshen up. I’m sure you two have lots to catch up on.”

  I caught David’s stealthy wink in his son’s direction.

  “I would like to change,” I said. “Traveling always makes me feel a bit grubby.”

  The sopping wet panties weren’t helping.

  Amid promises to Julie and Penny that I’d be out soon, I followed Daniel inside. He took me on a quick tour of the main floor of the eighteenth-century estate. I half expected Mr. Darcy to stride imperiously out of the library, hat and gloves in hand as he sought a servant to summon his horse. At last, Daniel led me upstairs.

  “This is our room.” He opened a door at the end of the hall. “The bathroom’s in here.”

  While he washed his hands, I admired the claw-foot tub.

  “I’ll have to have a bubble bath at some point, but I’ll settle for a quick shower right now. I wasn’t lying when I said I was feeling grubby.”

  “Unlike when you said we were late because of a herd of cows crossing the road? Should I be concerned about your sudden ability to make up fantastic stories off the top of your head?”

  “You have to admit, the story was almost true.”

  “One cow wandered over from the field. How does that equate to getting waylaid by some cows?”

  “Come on, if you remove the ‘way’ from ‘waylaid’ and replace ‘some cows’ with your name, I was totally waylaid by some cows.”

  He threw his head back in laughter. “I missed you, poppet.”

  “I missed you too, sailor. Especially your laugh.”

  “I missed you making me laugh.”

  “Best get ready. I’m back and reporting for duty.”

  “I’ve been getting ready since the minute you left,” he said, patting my butt before heading back to the main room.

  I showered quickly. When I emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy white bathrobe, Daniel was lying in bed, bare-chested.

  He held out his hand. “I know you’re expected downstairs, but do you think you could spare a few minutes?”

  I dropped my robe and slid under the covers, pressing my body against his. He closed his eyes and sighed.

  “This feels better. Having sex in the back seat of a car doesn’t lend itself well to the post-nookie cuddle,” he said.

  “Back-seat sex is also reckless. That’s not like you.”

  “Being here this week reminds me how much I’ve changed. Before my life became a shambles, I was so much more easygoing. I miss feeling that way.” He brushed my hair over my shoulder.

  “And having sex in the back seat on a country road is the epitome of ‘easygoing Daniel’?”

  “I don’t know. Sometimes I feel as if something’s out of joint, and if I stretch myself far enough, everything will snap back into place.”

  “Maybe you’re just a pervert,” I suggested.

  “You might be on to something,” he said, kissing my forehead and then my lips. “You know, if you’re not downstairs soon, Penny’s going to phone up here looking for you.”

  “She can wait.” I sighed, sneaking my hand under the blanket and tracing a line down his abdomen.

  “I thought we were having a cuddle,” he murmured, lifting his hips as my hand traveled lower.

  “Actually, I’m bimbling.” I ran my hand up and down his thigh.

  “Bimbling?” He laughed.

  “Uh-huh. It means to look around and explore, right? You said the word was mine to do with as I wish. So, this is how I’d like to use it. I’m bimbling. With my hand.”

  “Excellent application of new vocabulary,” he said, his voice catching as I found exactly what I’d been looking for.

  Chapter 28

  Ominous

  My dreams will, sure, prove ominous to the day.

  (Troilus and Cressida, Act V, Scene iii)

  FORTY-FIVE MINUTES LATER, another of Daniel’s predictions came true when the phone rang. He reluctantly rolled on his side to take the call. I stretched out, relaxed and ready for an afternoon nap.

  “Is Penny freaking out?” I asked, once he’d hung up.

  “No, just barking orders.”

  I sat up as he leaned over to retrieve his boxers.

  “Your company is requested outside at the marquee tent,” he said. “Julie and Penny are waiting for you. Gretel, the seamstress, is waiting for me downstairs.”

  “Gretel? Huh. She sounds Swedish. Six feet tall, blond, and buxom.”

  I flopped back on the bed with a sigh. Daniel moved to lie beside me again.

  “You’re adorable when you’re jealous.”

  “Me? Jealous? Absurd.”

  “Gretel is German, approximately sixty-five years old, and about as wide around as she is tall.”

  “Ooh, just your type.”

  He ruffled my hair and pushed himself off the bed. “I’d better grab a shower.”

  “Absolutely. Gotta smell good for your hot date. Maybe if you’re lucky, she’ll check your inseam. Repeatedly.”

  “Get dressed and haul your cheeky ass outside, crazy legs,” Daniel called back to me.

  I stretched my hands above my head, closing my eyes with a contented sigh. As my hand slipped under the pillow, I encountered something silky.

  I pulled my black satin nightie free. He’d brought it with him from home! What had he told me in that email?—he was sleeping with it wrapped around his left arm because its closeness to his heart kept him safe in his dreams.

  Turning the garment over in my hands, I noticed a large tear in the seam. I smiled. What the hell had he been doing with it? My smile dissolved as I remembered the nights I’d come to bed late, finding Daniel with the sheets wrapped around his hands, wrestling with some unknown entity in his sleep.

  Perhaps the nightie hadn’t been so helpful after all.

  The grounds were abuzz with activity. Julie and Penny were waiting at the entrance to a marquee tent, assessing the activity within.

  “There you are,” Julie said as I squeezed between them.

  Penny tore her eyes away from two ladies decorating an arbor behind the head table. “Thank goodness you’re here. Let’s go for a walk. I’m desperate for distraction.”

  Julie took her by the arm. “Come on. Show us around.”

  Penny led us into the estate’s gardens. After
circling the fish pond and skirting the flower beds, she guided us to a hedged laneway, at the end of which was a fenced-in meadow full of deer.

  “Oh my gosh,” Julie breathed. “How cool is this? They’re beautiful.”

  “You’d expect them to get spooked with us being so close,” I said. The deer surveyed us, their heads bobbing inquisitively.

  “Look at you,” Penny said. “A close encounter with deer and cows on the same day.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Wait, you knew I was lying? How did you—? You went along with the story and everything!”

  “What was I supposed to say? ‘Gwen, darling, they’re actually late because they had a quick bonk on the way here.’”

  Julie giggled into her hand, and I crossed my arms defensively. “How the hell did you know?”

  “Between the color of your face when you were telling that ridiculous story and Daniel’s shit-eating grin, it was no secret to me, lovey.”

  “Did you go to a motel or something?” Julie asked.

  “Not quite that civilized, I’m afraid.”

  “An obliging field?” Penny guessed.

  “Not quite that uncivilized.” I laughed.

  “Bloody Nora, you shagged in the car!” Penny gripped my arm as she cackled.

  “You dirty bird,” Julie said in wide-eyed wonder.

  My face reddened. Penny gave me a sideways glance.

  “Sounds like Daniel’s feeling better.”

  “What? When wasn’t he feeling okay?”

  She tucked her hand into the crook of my elbow, directing us along a path beside the field.

  “He’s been a bit of a misery all week, to be honest.”

  “He didn’t sound miserable in his emails. I thought he was having fun.”

  “He probably didn’t want to worry you.”

  “Penny, don’t say that. I was so concerned about him being here, after everything that happened last year.”

  She patted my hand. “Don’t get me wrong; he didn’t go off the deep end. He didn’t have any anxiety attacks or anything. Not that I know of, anyway,” she added.

  “Frig, I hope not,” I groaned. “He seemed so relaxed today. Now I don’t know what to think.”