‘He said he was married to Evie.’
‘I suppose they did some daft binding ritual or other. She was pregnant by him, though, and eight months after all the business with Tribulation Smith, she gave birth to a daughter.’
‘And was she all right? Was her life – all right?’
‘I don’t really know. I suppose the village rallied round. They look after their own, in Saxonhurst.’
‘I see. She looked exactly like Evie.’
‘That whole clan does – the women, anyway. Have you met her grandmother?’
‘Yes.’
‘Exquisitely beautiful woman. She did all the ritual stuff before Evie.’
‘So she’s doomed, by her blood, to be this village – sex toy.’
‘Ah, you’re going to start all that salvation stuff again, aren’t you? Hasn’t your dream taught you anything?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘You can’t save Evie. She doesn’t want to be saved. She has a Calderwood of her own, and you’re their pawn.’
‘I don’t understand you. What Calderwood of her own? Who?’
Julia rubbed tired eyes with her fingertips.
‘Listen, darling. Bad things happen to vicars who get involved with Evie and her forebears. Take it from me. You don’t want to follow in their footsteps.’
‘What bad things?’
‘J.E. Lydford. He went mad. Ask Evie’s grandmother all about it. She knows.’
Adam could only stare.
‘That Victorian missionary. It was him who was killed at Palmers Barn. Another Evangeline was right there at the scene.’
‘I had a dream about him too,’ muttered Adam. ‘Earlier. He was teaching her about the Bible …’
‘Just like you and Evie, eh?’
‘So, look, what you seem to be saying is that if I continue to pursue Evie, I will die. Is that what you’re saying?’
‘I’m afraid it is. And I really shouldn’t be saying it. But I want to warn you, even if it makes me seem insane and simply sends you running far away from me. At least I’ll know I tried.’
‘Why shouldn’t you be saying it?’
Julia sucked at her bottom lip as if unsure whether to say anything more.
‘Let’s say I might be in for some unpleasant dreams of my own. My ancestors won’t be happy with me.’
‘They haunt you?’
‘Yes. They do. They’re very good at it too. They certainly worked their magic on my parents. And my husband.’
‘What?’
‘The really clever thing is they used me as their vessel. When I was a child. They made me drive my own parents mad with fear. Isn’t that cunning of them?’
‘Julia …’
‘You don’t believe me.’
‘Have you ever had proper grief counselling?’
She laughed, a high-pitched shriek that did nothing to reassure Adam’s doubts about her sanity.
‘Oh dear.’ She dabbed her eyes. ‘Grief counselling. That’s a good one. You’re so sweet. So innocent. Despite my best efforts to corrupt you.’
‘Ghosts, though. There’s no such thing.’
‘Oh yes there is. It’s why I daren’t go to sleep while I’m here.’
‘Nightmares.’
‘Will you stay with me? They might not come if you’re here.’
‘I can’t control your dreams.’
‘You can keep the ghosts away. They won’t want you to believe in them. If you believe in them, they lose.’
‘I don’t begin to understand this, Julia. But you’re really afraid, aren’t you?’
‘I’ve upset them enough already. Losing the house – marrying who I did … And now I’m telling you, when I shouldn’t be. I don’t know what they might do.’
Adam considered this for a moment.
‘Perhaps if you came back to the vicarage with me.’
And tomorrow I’ll make you a doctor’s appointment.
‘No, I have to stay here. I have to do that much for them. Now that the pornographers are gone, I stand a chance.’
‘But they haven’t gone for good. They’ll be back.’
‘They’ll have to get the police to evict me. I’m not moving.’
‘Julia, this won’t work …’
‘I don’t care.’ Her agitation was physical now, her hands trembling.
Adam took one of them in his, wanting very much to drive the demons out of her. He felt a tenderness for her that threw him, since it wasn’t part of his plan. This woman was the spanner in his works, but a rather nice spanner all the same. If it wasn’t for his all-consuming passion for Evie …
‘All right,’ he said. ‘I’ll stay with you. Look, it’s half-past four. If we’re going to get any sleep at all …’
‘The birds have already started. The sun will be up in an hour or so. Come up.’
The bed was a huge wrought iron number with fur-lined manacles attached to the headboard.
‘Not mine,’ said Julia shortly. ‘I suppose they film in here.’
He noted also the mirror on the ceiling and the intense faux-Victorian décor.
‘It’s a right tart’s boudoir,’ she said, putting his politer thoughts into words.
She turned to him, smiling through her fatigue.
‘Are you going to get undressed?’
She untied her robe and let it drop to the floor, revealing instant nudity.
Adam, taken by surprise, coughed and tried to look away.
‘Oh, don’t,’ she said. ‘You’ve seen it before. Look, see these nipples? They’re hard. That’s because you’re here.’
‘Julia – get into bed.’
He took off his jacket and draped it over a chair.
‘If I’d known you were coming I’d have given myself a trim.’ She ran her fingers over the fuzz at her pubic triangle.
While Adam unbuttoned his shirt, she dared to move closer, reaching out for him. He took her wrist in one hand and held it firmly, keeping her at arm’s length.
‘I have not come here to fornicate with you,’ he said with purpose.
‘I know. But now you’re here …’ She put one hand beneath her right breast and squeezed it, lifting it to better show off the rosy little nipple.
‘Get into bed.’ He tried to push her away, but as soon as she was free she leant on the bed post and dipped a finger, infinitely casually, between her thighs.
‘Have you ever wanted to taste?’ she asked, licking it. ‘Mmm. Try it.’
She stepped up to him again, proffering the finger.
He took her by the elbow, smacked her bottom and pushed her on the bed.
‘I won’t tell you again,’ he growled.
Julia, thrilled, slipped under the sheets and pulled them up to her chin.
‘Oh my goodness, slap and tickle!’ she exclaimed. ‘You are kinky. I thought you might be. Just wait till you see what they’ve got in the store room. You’ll love it. Whips and paddles galore. The things you could do to me …’
‘I shall leave,’ he said, swallowing. ‘I shall walk through that door and go straight home, if you don’t shut your eyes and go to sleep now.’
She lay down and screwed her eyes shut.
‘Gosh, you’re so masterful. At the most inconvenient times.’
‘Good night, Julia.’
Down to his underpants, he laid himself down at the extreme edge of the bed.
‘Good night, Adam. Sweet dreams.’
The dreams were not sweet, nor were they disturbing, for none came. Adam was enveloped in a pure blankness that carried him pleasurably through to the moment he was awoken by …
Was that a hand on his cock?
His eyes flew open, to find Julia smiling lazily into his face, her warm, naked body pressed up against his, her hand, yes, on his cock. His erect cock.
‘What are you doing?’ he gasped, the words not coming out quite right in his haste.
‘What’s the story, morning glory?’ she drawled. ‘Thoug
ht you might like a hand with it.’
‘You’re a – a sex pest,’ he accused, but the touch of her fingers sent a message of fatal weakness all the way up his nervous system to his brain.
She took them off and rolled over, presenting her back to him.
‘Oh dear. Wouldn’t like to be a sex pest. Certainly not.’
She pushed her bottom against his groin. Somehow his hand landed on her hip and held it there while his cock pushed against the yielding flesh.
‘Mmm, that’s nice,’ she said. ‘Now put your other hand on my breasts.’ She did it for him, and he was once more powerless to resist. How did she do it?
He felt it imperative that he put his lips on her neck and kiss it, long and lasciviously, pushing the tip of his tongue into the skin, testing it for flexibility. She seemed to enjoy this, and he enjoyed the passage of her moans through her throat, feeling them vibrate beneath his lips.
‘Careful, you’ll give me a love bite,’ she warned, but she continued to encourage him in all his works, rubbing herself joyfully against him.
Slowly and inexorably the hand he’d placed on her hip began to creep round in front, heading for the heated core between her legs. He needed to feel that warmth and wetness on his fingers, he needed to know how plump and full her clit was for him. And he needed to know, ultimately, how ready she was to accept him inside her.
His body knew what it wanted. His body had the upper hand over him this morning.
‘Oh yes, touch me right there,’ said Julia, grinding against his fingers. People gave the impression that the clitoris was hard to locate, but they were wrong, badly wrong. It bloomed under his touch, an obtrusive, fat thing, slippery with juices. If he rubbed it a bit harder, Julia seemed to melt against him.
If sex was sin, why did it bring such pleasure for both parties? Why did women have a clitoris, such a superfluous little thing if one considered the purpose of copulation to be procreation? Adam thought about this as he continued to stimulate Julia until she panted. Why would you give someone the means to masturbate, if you considered masturbation to be wrong?
He took his fingers away, much to Julia’s chagrin.
‘Don’t stop.’
‘No, I just want you to lie on your back. I want to see what I’m doing.’
She obliged him, spreading her thighs so he could make closer inspection.
What he saw between them was both the same as that oft-scanned biology textbook and different. The patterns were familiar, but the glistening, vivid colour and the intoxicating scent were not. He needed to breathe the scent in, to receive its full impact. He bent his face towards the spread folds and inhaled. It was like a drug, a perfumed steam that entered his senses and bewitched them.
Now that he could see her clit, peeking from the centre of the complex of whorls and swirls, he saw the best thing to do with it. Much better than touching, surely. He bent his head closer and put out his tongue.
‘Oh God, you’re a marvel.’
His instincts had been correct. He licked on, following every little pathway around that central focus, lapping and tickling while Julia grabbed his hair in great handfuls. How would he describe the taste? He pondered this, while his tongue investigated. It was a delicate flavour, almost overwhelmed by the strength of its scent. And the feel of those soft undulations beneath his questing tongue certainly added to the piquancy.
While he thought about this, he decided to push his fingers inside Julia, the way he had done the last time. She had enjoyed it then and she seemed to enjoy it now, for she was easily accessible. His fingers slipped in without encountering resistance. She felt tight and hot and gloriously wet.
His cock throbbed. He wanted to put it where his fingers were. He wanted that very badly indeed.
‘Oh Adam,’ gasped Julia, pushing her cunt into his face. ‘Oh yes. Fuck me. Please fuck me.’
How could any man be expected to resist such a plea?
He gave her clit one last salutary lick, then he rose up on his knees, looking down at Julia’s ravenous face.
‘You’re going to, aren’t you?’ she asked.
He nodded.
‘Right, you’ll need one of these.’
She reached for the bedside drawer and scrabbled blindly inside it, never taking her eyes off Adam, until she retrieved a box of condoms.
‘I bet you’ve never put one of these on before,’ she said, removing a foil package and tearing at it with her teeth.
He shook his head. He remembered some of the boys at school filling them with water and throwing them down the stairwell in the science block. Detentions had resulted.
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ she said, sitting up, brandishing the circle of latex. ‘Gosh, good thing I bought the large size, isn’t it? That’s quite a boner you’ve got going on there. Making up for lost time, eh?’
Adam frowned at her, feeling himself the butt of her sly humour.
‘Do you want it or not?’ he asked gruffly.
‘Oh. You are a fast learner. Talking the talk now.’ She popped the ring over the tip of his cock then skinned it on with a certain degree of difficulty. ‘Sorry,’ she said, grimacing. ‘I haven’t done much of this.’
‘Haven’t you?’ Her touch felt exquisite, even with the sheath of rubber separating her fingers from his cock.
‘Not since – you know. There hasn’t been anyone else.’
Adam almost wanted to ask questions. Almost. But his overriding desire to sink his cock inside Julia’s tight and willing cunt soon made its presence felt and the questions fled his mind.
‘Do you know what to do?’ Julia whispered, lying back down.
‘I … In principle. I think so.’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll help you.’
He took his cock in his hand and bent over, guiding it towards the place his fingers had prepared. Julia lay with her legs bent and her bottom slightly raised, making his target easier to penetrate.
He let the tip nestle in the shallow basin, preparing for a move forward that he could only assume would hurt Julia. He seemed too thick, too wide, for that tiny little entrance. He knew there was yield inside, but was there that much?
‘You’re big, but you’ll fit,’ she said reassuringly. ‘You won’t hurt me. I can’t wait to feel you inside me. I think you’re going to fill me up so beautifully.’
He had to stop and hold himself still, her words arrowing with deadly accuracy down his hard shaft to his straining balls. Just the thought of it was almost enough to bring him to orgasm. He was so close to that moment, that sweet, mad moment when he would be inside her flesh.
Julia’s flesh.
Suddenly, the image of Evie, brown-skinned and wanton and laughing, flashed into his head. It should be her flesh, on their wedding night. This was wrong. It was not meant to happen this way.
But it was too late now. It was going to happen this way. He couldn’t turn back.
He braced himself over Julia on one arm, the other hand still holding his cock at the root and made that first tentative nudge forward.
How easily she widened and gave way, as if welcoming him in. It couldn’t be this simple, could it?
He edged in slowly, wanting to feel every tingle, every iota of friction, every second of warm, velvety cling as he glided up the passage. It was so good, better than he even imagined it could be. So good that he worried he would not be able to hold himself back for long.
‘How does it feel?’ asked Julia, her voice far away and contented. ‘Your first time?’
‘Heaven,’ he whispered. ‘Oh, heaven. Please. Don’t move. I must keep still for a moment.’
She chuckled and ruffled his hair.
‘You sweet thing. I understand. You feel divine, you know. You’re a perfect size and length. I could keep you in here for ever.’
‘Oh.’ He shut his eyes and tried to control the blood that pumped so wildly through him. He was connected, physically, to another individual, a woman.
He was no long
er a virgin. He was her lover. Her sinful, fornicating lover.
And he didn’t care.
Once he was sure he had a grip on himself, he drew back and then thrust forward. How many times could he repeat that motion without climaxing? This was the question of the moment.
He kept up a languid pace, keen not to disappoint Julia, though she seemed anything but disappointed. She had put her fingers on her clit and was stroking it. The sight of her, abandoned to her pleasure, did nothing to hold back his threatened orgasm.
He couldn’t help himself. He began to speed up. His brain was beginning to blur, his self-control flying beyond reach. Julia put her other hand on one of her breasts and pinched a nipple. He bent down and kissed it, and she moaned, loudly and ecstatically. Was she finished?
‘Adam,’ she said, stretching out the final “m” for miles. He felt a spasm, a convulsion around his cock. Yes, that had to be it. She had come.
Now he didn’t have to wait … But if he came, then it would be over, and he didn’t want it to be over … But his cock would have its way and it plunged him into the darkness, followed by the starburst sky of orgasm. Lights flashed behind his eyes and the force of it was like being flung from some precipice. He poured himself out, all his lusts, all his repressions, all his fears, into Julia. She took them all.
He collapsed on top of her.
‘My little virgin,’ she crooned, stroking him. ‘All grown up now.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered. ‘Sorry, sorry, sorry.’
‘God, why? You’ve nothing to be sorry for. Come on, love. Look at me. Lay yourself down and catch a breath.’
He pulled out and climbed off her, flopping down on the bed on his back.
‘Come on, what’s this nonsense? Sorry? What for?’
‘I’ve … I shouldn’t have.’
‘Yes,’ she said, irritation in her voice. ‘You should have. You’ve given me the most wonderful time. You’re a terrific lover, a natural. You should be sorry you didn’t fuck me before. Very sorry.’
‘I’ve opened Pandora’s box,’ he said to himself.
‘My name isn’t Pandora. It’s Julia. Stop being so daft.’ She kissed his forehead.
‘How will I be able to stop, now I’ve started?’ he asked, feeling a sense of panic. He was going to become one of those sex addicts. He could see it in his future.
Saxonhurst Secrets Page 18