by Maya Hess
‘I didn’t think that you wanted me,’ I admitted breathlessly. I could feel my juices welcoming his finger as he carefully slipped inside me. It wasn’t an appropriate time to speak, but it was relevant to his desire for me. ‘I thought you and Steph…’ I trailed off. Saying another woman’s name didn’t seem right either.
‘Steph and me?’ Connor withdrew his fingers and I knew that our game was temporarily on hold. My sex pulsed from his sudden departure. He began to laugh. ‘She’s my cousin.’
I don’t know how long I waited before replying. It seemed like hours but was probably only a few seconds. ‘Oh.’ I wasn’t laughing. ‘And?’ I was trying to avoid ridicule. Again. So I acted like I already knew. ‘Cousins have relationships, too.’
‘Not these two cousins.’ He stroked hair away from my forehead and planted his hands lightly on my shoulders. ‘Steph has been trying to get us together since she knew you were on the island and realised you were the woman that I had written to her about over the years.’ His eyes were transparent. I knew he was telling the truth. ‘Steph’s a great believer in fate and when I told her not to mess with it, she told me that she was a part of it so how couldn’t she interfere. She’s – how can I put it? – exuberant, forceful. She did at least keep reasonably quiet and not reveal my feelings to you.’
‘Wouldn’t it have been easier if she had?’ My head was spinning.
‘You didn’t return to the island because of me. If it wasn’t for Creg-ny-Varn, then you wouldn’t be here. I wanted you to genuinely want me.’
‘I felt the same.’
‘Then it would have been stalemate without Steph. She convinced me not to give up. She insisted that you had never stopped wanting me.’
‘How did she know?’ Even as I was saying it, I realised that it was all in my diary.
‘I never read a page, before you ask. Steph, being Steph, has read it from cover to cover and alluded to your feelings constantly. Don’t be angry with her. In fact, you should be flattered. You’ve inspired her to kick out and go after her dreams. She’s going to drama school.’
I laughed. ‘She’ll do well then.’
‘It was her idea that we go to the party together as king and queen, after I’d told her about our childhood games. She orchestrated the limousine, too.’
‘And showing me the whisky? Was that her idea?’
‘All mine, actually. And it’s convinced me that fate did have a hand in this. What was I to do with a hundred and fifty crates of Ailey’s Single Malt?’ He leant over me and kissed me again. ‘Something brought you back here. I don’t care what, as long as my angel stays this time.’
I sighed. ‘I’m going to be drinking whisky forever.’
‘Until we’re ancient,’ he replied, before working tiny kisses down my stomach, across the gentle rise of my pubic bone and into the cleft of my eager pussy. And that’s where he stayed for a long time, deftly bringing me close to orgasm, knowing that when he pushed himself inside me, sliding into my body as we lay beside the fire, I would climax within the first dozen and most intimate strokes that would ever happen between us. Then he could work me up again, kneading me from the inside out – in fact, working my mind with tiny teasers and the promise of everything to come – until I clenched around him again as he jetted high inside me.
And that’s where we were again, having had breakfast, talked, drifted through the drowsiness that follows first-time sex; that place where you’re so tired but can’t bear to sleep in case you forget.
Connor was at my breasts again, suckling noisily with his hands trapped beneath my buttocks on the sofa. Even with limited finger movement, he managed to find the tight little hole of my bottom and, using lubrication already present, slipped the tip of one finger inside me. I stiffened, unsure of the new feeling it gave me, although it was still a familiar shot of pleasure. My squirming seemed to tempt his finger deeper and with every millimetre he gained I was awarded another thrill from this secret place.
‘Oh, Connor,’ I whispered, driven to tugging at his hair and dragging my nails down the skin on his back. ‘It’s like my life has been simmering, waiting on hold until I could come back to you.’
My admission caused him to grip me tighter and press his solid cock against me. I fumbled with his clothing and freed his erection, wasting no time in turning him over and applying my mouth to the very tip. I sucked and nipped at the thin crepe skin and Connor twitched and moaned and held my head, wanting me to plunge him deep down my throat. But I held off for as long as I could, teasing every last unbearable sensation from him and lapping up the beads of salty liquid that escaped involuntarily.
‘Slow down or I’ll come,’ he said breathlessly. I could hardly believe that it was Connor’s deep, rich voice saying such a thing to me. Grinning with my mouth full was tricky but in my head I was beaming. I eased off on the tip-to-base rhythm and ran my tongue around the sensitive ridge at the head, familiarising myself with his foreign geography. But Connor couldn’t wait. He got his arms around my body and moved me onto my back, gently easing me onto the floor so that I was lying on the soft blanket with the fire bathing my left side in warmth.
Then, as easily as if we had been lovers for years, Connor slipped inside me, slowly savouring the feel of new territory as I had just done with him. His chest vibrated gently with a low rumble of approval and I knew that, even after only a few strokes, he was on the brink of orgasm.
‘Not yet,’ I whispered, pulling him down upon me so that his tense arms and shoulders relaxed. I gripped his tight buttocks and wrapped my ankles around his thighs, giving me good leverage so that I could work while he drifted back from the inevitable release. A minute or two later and I was on the edge myself, grinding my sex against his groin, burying his cock so deep that I was convinced he was in my womb, and then I stopped, savouring the delicious feelings gripping my body.
‘Are you ready? I can’t wait any long…er.’ Connor took control and hauled himself back onto his hands, his face, crumpled with desire, only a foot above mine. He thrust a few more times, virtually escaping my sex each time he drew back, but then driving home with such force that I was unable to prevent the explosion of my orgasm. As the shockwaves subsided, Connor came with half a dozen terrifyingly powerful shudders, which sent me fluttering into a second climax.
I lay in his arms, watching the flames rise and fall in the stove and listening to the comforting sound of his breathing. I realised that everything I ever wanted was on this island.
* * *
Steph and I had ridden together in the taxi. She insisted that Connor should not disrupt his working day – he had a container arriving for an overseas shipment of whisky – and besides, she promised to return very soon. They kissed each other tentatively on the cheek, as cousins would.
‘I expect to be bringing a new hat with me,’ she said with a grin as the taxi dropped us at the sea port. The ferry loomed in the harbour, the Legs of Mann proudly displayed on her red funnel. I held my hair back as the wind lashed round the corner of the terminal building.
‘And why would that be?’ I grinned as my cheeks smarted from the cold.
‘For the wedding, stupid. He’s not going to risk losing you again.’
We went inside for coffee and warmth. Our friendship had been short and plagued with misunderstandings, but it was wearing into something solid and worthy of prolonging through the years. I wrapped my hands around my hot mug.
‘I have something for you.’ Steph rummaged in her pack and withdrew a packet tied up with brown paper and string. She slid it across the laminated table.
I didn’t open it right then but tucked it inside my jacket, next to my heart, next to Connor and the take-away warmth he had bestowed on me. ‘And I have a gift for you.’ I took out a bottle of my whisky and showed her the special label.
‘That’s a wonderful thing to have. I’ll think of you every time I take a dram. I’ve learnt a lot from Connor over the last week. My father needs to be m
ore commercial if the business is to survive. Connor’s father retired gracefully but mine refuses to hand over to a woman.’ Steph grinned, pointing at herself, and I couldn’t tell if it was because she was upset at being sidelined or pleased that she wouldn’t have the responsibility.
‘Connor tells me you’re going to London.’
‘To seek my fortune. I want to go to theatre school.’
‘You’ll make it,’ I said, reaching out for her gloved hand. And I knew she would. Steph was driven, her unique brand of energy inspiring and fuelling the lives of those she touched.
‘What about you? Are you going to move back to Creg-ny-Varn?’
‘Oh yes,’ I replied without hesitation. ‘I can’t leave again. My heart, my memories, my future – it’s all there, waiting for me.’ Damn that tear that caught in the corner of my eye. ‘And if you don’t come and visit us, I’m going to…’
‘What, write bad things about me in your diary?’ Steph laughed out loud, making the old couple at the next table turn their heads our way. ‘I’d like it if you did.’ She squeezed my hand.
‘My diary-writing days are over. It’s got me into too much trouble.’ More to the point, I knew I wouldn’t have time or even the need to spend hours each day transcribing my secret thoughts. With a big estate to manage and a man in my life, I was going to be busy. And then there was Dominic to keep in check and Connor would need to be introduced to Liz and Lewis…A flickering smile grew on my lips as I recalled the dirty secrets Connor had already revealed to me about his latent desires. He’d made me promise that I would wear the naughty underwear that night and take to him with my riding crop. He didn’t want Kinrade to be the only recipient of my kinky admonishment.
‘It seems to me that your diary has got you into the perfect situation. And you shouldn’t be too hard on me. It was fate that made me take it. I had a part to play in bringing you two together.’
It was too late to be angry at Steph and I had already figured out that she was the type of person that you simply couldn’t get mad at. From the moment she first approached me on the inbound ferry, she had worked her cheeky charm on me and unwittingly shaped the rest of my life. How could I do anything but forgive her?
The departure of Steph’s ferry to Heysham was announced and all remaining foot passengers were required to embark.
‘Will you go straight to London?’ I held her hand as we walked to the ticket collector, both of us lugging her large pack.
‘I’ll return to the Highlands first. Let Dad know gently that I’ll be leaving.’ She sighed wistfully.
‘I’ll invite you to my première,’ she said, laughing, and handed over her ticket.
We kissed and hugged, our cheeks pressed close for a second, each sharing the other’s scent, the other’s dreams.
‘Bye, Steph,’ I called out as she disappeared down the walkway. ‘And thanks.’
She didn’t turn but instead raised a gloved hand in a cheery salute and then she was gone, as the deep blast of the ferry horn resounded through the building.
* * *
I didn’t have much to move, and it wasn’t even worth sending for my belongings in Spain. Of course my mother was upset but when she realised that there would be a wedding in the summer and that she was invited, the thrill of resurrecting old ghosts was too much to turn down. She was desperate to see Creg-ny-Varn after all these years.
‘I’m so happy for you, Ailey,’ she confessed. ‘And Connor was always such a lovely boy.’
‘He’s a lovely man, Mum,’ I corrected. ‘Every mother’s dream.’
And then she had babbled about Marco and the farm and the village and the dreadful party of German tourists that she’d had to endure for an entire week while they explored the mountains in the winter. I’d hung up feeling that she wasn’t quite in the right place, hoping that perhaps she would return one day, too. I realised this about myself, that living so far away from the island could never be sustained. I had merely been ripening in the sun.
* * *
‘That’s nearly every room sorted out,’ I said, spinning round in the vast space of our drawing room. ‘No more dust sheets and hiding away the antiques. This place needs to be lived in and loved and filled with –’
‘Kids?’ Connor interrupted. He gripped me around the waist and sank his mouth into my neck.
‘I was thinking more of our friends and dogs and…well, there’s no harm in trying. That’s the fun bit. But I’m selfish. I want you all to myself for a while yet. There’s so much I want to do to you in so many places…’
Connor’s mouth devoured my words and my naughty thoughts spun in a muddle. He lay me down on the tapestry sofa and unfastened my jeans. With his mouth still attached to me, I couldn’t protest that we might be interrupted, that Ethan had promised sprays of winter foliage and holly and ivy for our festive decorations. I couldn’t even let him know that I had just seen Ethan walk past the window with his wheelbarrow and our eyes had met, briefly, as Connor grappled one-handed with his belt before pushing his erection straight inside me without thought of anything else.
Ethan had hesitated, gathering enough from the hazy image through the glass to realise that he would need a punishment later when he confessed to spying on his new mistress.
There was a sharp rap on the door before it clicked open followed by a rush of cold air winding through from the hallway.
‘I hope I’m not interrupting.’ If Ethan had come in a moment earlier, he would have caught Connor sliding from between my legs, spent, quickly satisfied and eager to finish the domestic arrangements that I had begun.
‘Not at all, Ethan,’ I said, raising my eyebrows and playfully lashing my hand across his buttocks when Connor’s back was turned. Connor was going to have to get used to me keeping my staff in order. Indeed, I was rather hoping he could help. ‘Did you get some Christmas greenery?’
‘Loads of it. I’ve left it in the scullery.’ His words were slow and thoughtful. ‘Are you moving in too?’
Connor turned, realising that he was being spoken to. ‘Yes, I am. My cottage will be cleared by the end of the week.’ He walked up to me and wrapped an arm around my waist in a kind of masculine semaphore that told Ethan I belonged to Connor.
Ethan addressed me. ‘The cottage, Miss Callister. Is there a chance that I could rent it from the estate? As much as I enjoy the elements, the gardener’s hut doesn’t have a bathroom and now this house is occupied…’
Ethan Kinrade was asking me for a roof over his head. I grinned the biggest smile since I had arrived on the island. The large man stood before me, having effectively made himself two inches tall by asking that question.
‘You may not be able to afford the rent,’ I replied, offering him a large pout. ‘A gardener’s wages won’t go very far.’
‘I could perform extra duties, Miss.’ His deep voice didn’t suit the grovelling but I was enjoying it.
‘That was what I was hoping you would say, Ethan.’
Connor laughed and pinched my bottom. ‘You’re incorrigible,’ he said to me. ‘But right. There are many things you can do to earn your keep. Just make sure you’re never idle and the cottage is yours. Right, Ailey?’
‘Right,’ I agreed and Ethan had to watch while Connor landed a deep, searching kiss on me and squeezed my ass for a good few minutes. Next time, I promised myself, we would go all the way with Ethan watching and then tie him up for a good spanking because he had spied on us. Despite my recent climax with Connor, I was ready for it all over again, and Ethan certainly was, judging by the bulge in his work trousers.
‘That’s very kind of you both,’ he said and I actually thought he was going to bow. ‘I won’t let you down and I’m happy to do anything you wish.’
Connor and I glanced at each other and he sent me a knowing wink. He had previously let slip some of his secret fantasies, which were similar to some of Lewis and Liz’s naughty preferences. Connor, it turned out, had a desire to be watched.
&n
bsp; ‘So you’ve never done anything like that before?’ It was later that evening and we were sitting on the floor of the beach cottage, huddled by the fire and pulling spiced meat off chicken legs. I’d gone to fetch the last of my belongings and we’d decided to make an evening of it, taking a basket stuffed full of food and wine. I knew I would miss the remote simplicity of the place and although we both agreed to make full use of the cottage in summer for fishing trips and beach barbecues, I couldn’t just walk away without one last goodbye. Connor poured more red wine and grinned at my question, his teeth twinkling almost as brightly as the numerous tea lights we had lit around the room.
‘I’ve been waiting for you to teach me. That is, if you’re not too busy punishing Ethan.’ Connor lay back on his elbow and the glint in his pale eyes told me that he was teasing me.
‘I’m Lady of the Manor now. I have certain duties to perform and if that involves –’
He smothered my talk with a kiss and I could taste the wine on his lips and the desire on his tongue. Thousands of ideas flashed through my mind and I could hardly believe that Connor was saying such things to me.
I pushed gently against his chest. ‘Come here,’ I said hopefully, standing up and skipping to the window like a frisky kitten. ‘Please be there,’ I whispered and blew dust off the binoculars. I focused on the little cliff top cottage but, although the lights were on, Liz and Lewis were nowhere to be seen. ‘Pass me the torch.’ Bewildered, Connor watched as I flashed the light out of the window and intermittently took a look through the binoculars.
‘Bird watching?’ he asked.
‘Kind of. Ah, wait. Look!’ I handed the binoculars to Connor and guided his view to the cottage. When he let out an excited hoot and had to adjust the growing bulge in his jeans, I knew that he had spotted Liz undressing provocatively. It was fortunate that I’d told them we would be down at the beach cottage when Lewis had telephoned earlier.