Instigations

by Kiki Archer

  Her lips started to turn at the corners. “No, don’t flatter yourself with your long list of conquests.”

  “Is that a smile?”

  “No.”

  He laid his head in her lap and made a tiny little yapping sound. “Puppy dog sorry.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “What would your students think if they could see you now?”

  “Way-hey probably!” He sat back up and looked at her with sincerity. “I’m so sorry Lucy. I should have talked to you and explained how I was feeling. Please forgive me.”

  She smiled. “I forgave you the moment you walked through the door with that steaming bag of food and those crappy flowers from the neighbour’s garden. I might act daft sometimes but I know what you are going through and I want to go through it with you.”

  He held her close and whispered in her ear, “I love you Lucy Lovett.”

  She spanked his muscular thigh. “Well go and get some plates and turn Celine back on.” Her grin was wide. “Let’s see who can hit that high note for the longest.”

  Ben smiled to himself, what a perfect woman.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Kat and Freya walked hand in hand up the steep winding path out of the picturesque Cotswold village, sucking in the crisp winter air and laughing with shock and horror at how they had managed to make it through the Christmas meal. Sue had continued to get steadily drunk, increasingly loud and her politically incorrect comments became progressively outrageous. She had put the world to rights in one sitting. Slamming the migrants that were coming into the country and taking all of the jobs, reminiscing about the time when men were not afraid to be men. Criticising the way society had gone downhill now that women were putting careers ahead of family life. Her pièce de résistance was when she announced that it was in fact the toffs and the thieving Tory government that were to blame for the whole global economic meltdown. Gloria had quickly folded the blue tea towel that she had been using to wipe the children’s table; it read Proud Conservative and was a free gift that arrived after their membership to the party had been renewed for the twelfth consecutive year. Luckily, most of the extended family had already left the table and moved into a room of choice.

  The lounge was where Grandpa Ed, Audrey, Uncle Steve, Uncle Bart and Pam were all sat open mouthed competing for the title of loudest snorer. Aunty June and her grown up children were all in the conservatory deliberately avoiding the cleanup, and Kelly was nosily dealing with the latest battery drama involving Bobby and Ava’s new electronic toys. Jeremy had received an ear bashing from his eldest daughter for failing to stock up on all of the different types of battery, but at ten different sorts, Jeremy had thought he had it covered. How wrong he had been.

  Kat and Freya had offered to help with the washing up, but had been ushered out of the cluttered kitchen and into the soft winter sun, with the explicit instructions to, ‘get out of the mad house and enjoy the village.’ Gloria was about to put the suggestion to the rest of the guests but Freya asked her for a ten minute head start. The last thing she needed was her mother tagging along and finding fault in the beautiful scenery, or the idyllic houses.

  Freya looked at the picture perfect postcard landscape and enjoyed the feeling of the cool crisp air filling her lungs. She squeezed Kat’s hand. “I’m so sorry about my mum.”

  Kat smiled. “Oh she fitted in perfectly! Did you see Uncle Bart swigging from that two litre bottle of White Lightening Cider that he had stashed under the table?”

  “Actually I did.”

  “And did you notice the way Kelly’s Steve managed to get through the whole meal without saying a word?”

  Freya chuckled. “No, I think I was too busy listening to Kelly!”

  Kat pointed at a robin redbreast hopping along a naked branch. She loved this time of year, especially now she had her soul mate to share it with. “Did I tell you about that time at Brownies? That time with Kelly?”

  “No! I never even knew you went to Brownies. Mum wouldn’t let me go. She said things like Brownies and Scouts were run by paedophiles. I was only eight!”

  Kat could picture the way Sue would have said it and was more and more understanding of Freya’s struggle. She watched the robin fly away and returned her focus to the story. “When you start Brownies, you have to go to the front of the Brownie circle and recite the Brownie Guide Law.”

  Freya frowned. “Okay.” It was difficult to imagine Kat as anything other than the smart, sophisticated, grown woman that she had become.

  “Well, when we were all making a circle ready to start the ceremony I chose to stand next to Brown Owl, who is the leader and runs the ceremony, and Kelly, who had already been at Brownies for two years, took my hand and escorted me to the far edge of the large circle opposite Brown Owl instead.”

  “Why?”

  “Well exactly! She told me to stand there so that when my name was called everyone would watch me as I crossed the circle.”

  “Oh bless!”

  “Obviously I was really embarrassed and had only wanted to shuffle to the side and mumble my words.” Kat smiled in remembrance. “So basically yes, she has always liked the attention!”

  “At least your family have got some life about them!”

  Kat slowed her walk and pulled Freya close. “Well you and your parents are part of that family now.”

  “Oh no, don’t tell my mother that! She will be moving in before you know it.”

  Kat swept a piece of long chestnut brown hair back behind Freya’s cold ear. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world and I love everything about you ... even your mother.”

  “Don’t tell her that either!” she joked.

  “I mean it. You make me so happy.”

  Freya looked deep into those piercing blue eyes. “And you make me so aware. So aware of the person I want to become - the person that you deserve.”

  Kat softly kissed her lips. “You already are that person.”

  Freya returned the kiss with passion and felt the familiar surge of desire engulfing her body. “Why do I want you so much?” she moaned.

  Kat glanced up at the entrance to the hedged thicket. It was the area where villagers would come with their wheelbarrows full of hedge trimming’s and garden pruning’s to dump on the natural compost. If you followed the path deep enough, you came to a dense wooded area where people occasionally walked their dogs. Kat used to play there as a child and had once found some old rusty bikes with two metre high baby sycamore trees that had actually grown through the spokes of the wheels. Her favourite time to come and seek solace in the secret hideout was in April, when the area was carpeted with beautiful fragrant bluebells. She took Freya’s hand and pulled her towards the thicket’s entrance.

  “What are you doing?”

  “I want you too.” She did a final reccy up and down the country road. “Follow me.”

  Freya’s pace quickened to a run and she giggled with the naughtiness of it all. They had not passed a single person on their walk and her desire to feel Kat’s hands on her body far outweighed her worry of being spotted. Kat pulled her deeper and deeper into the wooded area and Freya realised that no one was around. She stumbled over a large fallen tree branch and laughed at her sudden wobbliness. “Look at me, I can’t get here quick enough!”

  “Good, because we’re here,” gasped Kat, pushing her against the thick trunk of an old oak tree.

  Freya enjoyed the roughness of Kat’s embrace and the impatience of the searching fingers that reached under her thick Christmas jumper and immediately squeezed her hard nipples. She moaned at the force at which the other hand pushed straight down the back of her trousers and deep inside. She gasped at the intrusion.

  “Too hard?”

  Freya pulled Kat’s head back to her neck. “No, give me more.”

  Kat bit Freya’s neck again and added another finger.

  “Oh, yes.” Freya moaned as she was stretched further, “Yes, Kat!”

  Kat continued
to squeeze the rock hard nipple as she thrust her wet fingers in and out. She knew she would have to move her hand round to the front in order to use her thumb to stimulate Freya properly, but she wanted to get her as close to orgasm as possible.

  “I think I’m coming!”

  Kat’s response was muffled; she had moved her teasing bites to the base of Freya’s hairline. “But I’m not even touching you.”

  Freya gasped, “You’re pulling on the back of my trousers and the front seam is rubbing against me.” She moaned in heated arousal, “Oh yeah, keep fucking me, keep going ... fuuuuuck!”

  Kat felt Freya clamp around her fingers, easing momentarily before clamping once again. This pattern continued at least ten times before the muscles slowly relaxed and allowed Kat to slide her fingers out. She smiled, herself also slightly out of breath. “That was quick!”

  Freya panted, “My orgasm wasn’t! You make it last for so long!” She smiled, slightly embarrassed. “How did it feel?”

  “Powerful.”

  She nodded. “It was! Sorry about the swearing, but you are just so fucking good!” She switched places with Kat and pushed her back against the tree. “Now come here.” Kat had changed from her long red dress into more appropriate walking gear and Freya had no trouble popping open the buttons on her old rambling jeans. She sank to her knees and pulled the jeans down past Kat’s bottom.

  Kat felt the cold bark pressing against her bare behind and smiled in anticipation. Freya was already great in bed and she very rarely had to guide her fingers or alter her pace. She closed her eyes and felt her stomach lurch as Freya’s lips fixed around her. She was expecting to feel her tongue gently licking and stroking, but instead she felt Freya’s mouth moving in fast circles. The sensation was intense and took Kat by complete surprise. Freya’s actions were indirectly stimulating her and it felt amazing. She looked down at Freya’s head making the circular route and moaned in satisfaction. The whole area was moving and she could feel the tension building.

  Freya continued her pattern making sure her tongue did not touch Kat directly. She could hear the groans of pleasure and feel her wet arousal. She was almost ready for the grand finale.

  Kat thought she was about to come. The tension was unbelievable and she was holding her breath, then suddenly it happened. Freya sucked her with such a force that she was almost drawn forwards. The orgasm was immediate and wild and she cried out loudly.

  Freya plunged two fingers deep inside and felt the power of her orgasm.

  Kat finally gasped, “No one has done it like that before!” She literally felt weak at the knees.

  “Good,” smiled Freya, lifting to her feet with her fingers still in place, forcing Kat back against the tree with a rough embrace. She started to gently rub her thumb in small circles. “I have something else for you too,” she grinned.

  ****

  The cool air hit Sue Elton like a brick wall. “Are we going far?” she asked, wondering why on earth Gloria and Jeremy thought an afternoon Christmas walk would be good for the digestion. The other members of the extended family clearly knew better, choosing to stay and snooze in the warmth of the house.

  Gloria rubbed her suede mittens together. “No, I just thought we could show you the church and the duck pond.”

  “Sounds wonderful,” said Sue with a forced smile. Who did these people think they were with their posh dinners and Christmas rituals? She would take her two up two down and Christmas TV dinner over this any day.

  “So, how does this compare to your usual Christmas festivities?” quizzed Jeremy, trussed up in his beloved wax jacket, wrapping a solid arm around Sue’s thin shoulder.

  Sue looked up at him and fluttered her eyelashes. “Simply marvellous, I would take this over our standard Christmas any day!”

  “I don’t believe that! I bet you Brummie lot know how to have a good shin dig!”

  She playfully tapped his chest and smiled through gritted teeth. “We don’t live anywhere near Birmingham! We actually have a South Staffordshire postcode don’t we Patrick.”

  Patrick was enjoying the fresh air. Lunch had been wonderful, but it was weighing rather heavily on his stomach. “Yes Sue we do, but both of our families are from The Black Country.” He rolled his eyes at her. “I’m sure people can tell from our accents.”

  “I’m frum Burminum,” laughed Jeremy. “That’s what they say isn’t it? And, am ya alrooight me babby?”

  “Jeremy!” Gloria immediately scolded him.

  Sue lifted her nose into the air. “Var, var good, thank one for asking one.”

  “Sue!” Patrick immediately scolded her.

  “He started it!” said Sue, folding her arms and cursing her husband for spoiling the flirtatious, if slightly too close to the bone, banter.

  Jeremy removed his arm and coughed, unsure of who was in the wrong. It was only a bit of friendly teasing and Sue had looked like she needed livening up. “So Patrick, tell us what it was like when Freya told you she was a lesbian.”

  Patrick spluttered. Sue had banned the word lesbian from his vocabulary. “Ahem, excuse me. Right, erm, Freya told us she liked girls quite recently actually.”

  “Oh right.”

  “Yes, and I think we are finally getting used to it aren’t we Sue?”

  Sue had started to puff, Jeremy and Gloria were obviously keen walkers and she was struggling to keep up. “Can we stop for a minute?”

  “Of course,” said Gloria, frowning at her husband for marching off so briskly. She indicated to the side of the road that had been empty enough for them to walk along. “Let’s have a seat in the bus shelter.”

  Sue looked to her left and noticed an old wooden shelter nestled a good five metres back from the open road. It certainly didn’t look like any of the modern vandalised plastic monstrosities from round by them; and she had not seen an original red telephone box for years. “This will do. Thank you.” She had started to sober up. Her head was pounding and she was unsure of how much longer she would be able to keep up the pleasantries. She took a seat and looked across at Gloria, who was incidentally looking magnificent in a pair of pink Hunter wellies and a sky blue Barbour wax jacket. She was still fuming at Freya for not telling them a change of clothing would be required. It seemed like the whole family had relaxed into afternoon wear once the meal had finally finished. She thought for a second about how to phrase it. “I have to admit that I still think it’s odd.”

  Gloria frowned. “The fact Kat used to teach her?”

  “No, I will come onto that in a minute...”

  Patrick glanced up at Jeremy who had chosen to stand against the wooden pillar and shared an apologetic smile.

  “...No, I think being a lesbian is rather odd. I mean, let’s all be honest with one another while the girls are not around. It’s not normal is it?”

  Gloria tried to be tactful. “It depends on what you class as normal. I think that being gay is just a genetic difference. Similar to being left handed.”

  “My point exactly! Lefties were always the weird ones at school!”

  Jeremy had to turn away to smother his laugh. Sue had clearly not noticed which hand he had used to carve the three bird roast.

  “...and coming onto the matter of the student and teacher issue. I am appalled that both the university and the school are going to allow it all to happen all over again!”

  “Sorry, I’m not following you.” Gloria would always try and be diplomatic, but there was a line and that line involved her daughters.

  “Well, putting Freya back at Coldfield for her first teaching placement ... and with Kat as her mentor!”

  Jeremy clapped his hands and exhaled a large foggy breath. “Shall we carry on to the church?” It was his mission in life to avoid all possible conflict, even if it had meant a quick trip out to the only local garage that was open on Christmas Day to find the correct batteries for his demanding daughter. Or likewise a sharp exit from the bus stop and a potential ruffling of female feathers.
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  “Give us a minute,” said Gloria and Sue in unison. Gloria continued, “It’s only a four week January placement to see if the trainees do indeed want to spend the next three years working to become a qualified teacher. And I’m aware, from what Kat has told me, that it’s common practice to place any local students in their old schools to make the experience less daunting.” Gloria felt she had made her point, but decided to continue. “Freya is only nineteen and she will be expected, amongst other things, to teach an introduction to an A-Level lesson. Imagine if one of those A-Level students took a year out after their GCSE’s, they could in fact be older than she is!”

  “The whole thing is preposterous then!”

  Gloria coughed lightly. “Well not really. Kat said that the numbers on her course shrank dramatically after the first school placement, with people quickly realising teaching was not for them. And I have to admit, even Kat had a few jitters.”

  “Actually Gloria, my main point is that it is unethical to have the two of them who are in a - well you know - in a...” she mouthed the word, “...lesbian relationship, to have them working so closely together, and dare I say it ... around children.”

  Gloria leaned further forward on the soft wooden bench. “I am not quite sure I understand.” She understood perfectly, but the Eltons were their guests, and one day Sue might become Kat’s mother-in-law. “There are many, many, married couples teaching in the same schools across the country and there are also many, many, partnered couples teaching in the same schools across the country and yes, a proportion of those will be same sex couples.”

  Sue was unsure whether she could detect a sharp note in Gloria’s tone. “I just think it’s unprofessional.”

  “Well they will hardly be having their wicked way with one another in the classroom Sue!” The sharp tone was definitely there.

  Sue looked aghast. “Of course they won’t! They’re not even married yet!”

  “Civil partnered, and I don’t think that matters!”

  “That’s what I meant, and of course it matters!”