In Her Own Time

by Annie Reynolds

  “Yeah, we came here a couple of times after work. We’d come here to celebrate the closing of a big proposal and end up get rotten drunk. The saké goes down a little too easy.”

  “Sounds like you two would’ve been trouble.”

  “Yeah, we had our moments.”

  “Will you tell me some stories of him?”

  “Yeah of course.” Thinking back to the nights out David and I use to have made me chuckle. “So the first time we went out together after dinner we both actually fell asleep at the bar. We’d had a massive week and after a belly full of food, in hindsight, we should probably have just gone straight home instead of trying to push on for a big night. I think we brought out a competitive streak in each other, so neither of us could admit defeat. The bouncer carried us both out about 2 am when the snoring became too loud. ”

  “I’ve never heard you snore.”

  “It wasn’t me who was snoring. Another time, we ah,” The story I was about to tell her had us nearly arrested for public nudity and I’m sure Beth wouldn’t want to visualize her brother in that particular story. “…we helped do the dishes here one night, stayed until closing, then popped out to the kitchen to give Mr. Wan a hand. Got us a free ride home that night, so it wasn’t so bad.”

  “So should I be worried about how tonight is going to go?”

  “No, sweetheart, we are going to have dinner, go dancing and then I’m taking you home to take full advantage of that sexy mouth of yours before I need to leave for the airport in the morning. You have nothing to worry about.” I watch the blush creep across her cheeks again while her eyes sparkle as they wander the room.

  The waiter returns to the table with our plates, and the aroma that greets us has my mouth watering.

  “Oh my god, this looks so good. This is about three hours extra in the gym this week.”

  “You work out?” I ask her as I take my first bite.

  “No. But if I did it would be three hours extra than the fictitious amount that I already go.”

  “With a body like yours, I would believe it if you told me you had a VIP membership.”

  “Is that supposed to be an attempt at flirting Nash?”

  “No, I was just saying… never mind, I just realised how cheesy it would have sounded. Sorry.”

  We swap between the plates, Beth’s threat of withholding a dish defeated due to her curiosity of what the other meals tasted like.

  “I’m not sure how much I will be able to move once we finish dinner and that doesn’t even consider dessert, maybe dancing was a bad idea.”

  “I have been psyching myself up all afternoon for dancing, so there is no way we are not going, and dessert we can have when we get home.” Home, calling Beth’s place home didn’t stir the same reaction as it should have, I’d called places home before but never before had it given me a sense of peace. London was home, my childhood house had been home. But Beth’s place, it felt like home, when we’d been snuggled on the couch when we’d done our lunch dishes and hung the dishcloth over the handle on the oven door. It had felt like home because she was there.

  I had ordered a car to collect us after dinner was finished, the driver is sitting outside the restaurant when we finally leave.

  “Where to folks?” The driver, a round-cheeked jovial man with an American accent, was holding the door open for as we get ready to climb in with a friendly smile on his face. Beth gives him the address, before closing the door he tips his hat to her before making his own way around to the driver’s seat.

  We pull up outside an older building, and it is not at all what I had expected, I was expecting a dark club with a line of people barely dressed wrapping around the block and a velvet rope. What I was not expecting was to see a brightly lit building with double doors coming off the footpath and no line at all; only a single person was standing outside in black pants, a white singlet smoking a cigarette.

  “Where are we?”

  “Dance class, Nash. We’re going dancing. You said it has been a while, so I figured this could be fun.”

  “What kind of dance classes exactly?”

  “Salsa.” And there it was again, that captivating and radiant smile of Beth’s.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Beth

  “Welcome Ladies and Gents, I see we have some new students joining us. My name is Veronica. But please, call me Ronnie. Shall we get started?” I admired Ronnie, she had a real zest for life that I loved about her, and in truth, was a little envious of.

  The group agrees in unison. Ronnie walks the group through the first couple of basic steps, and surprisingly, Nash does not have the two left feet he claimed to have. For someone of his build and size, he moves quite impressively smooth.

  “Sweetheart, this is not your first time here is it?” From the arch of his brow, I expect that his question was rhetorical, and it causes me to giggle quietly.

  “I may have taken a few classes before. But I think you are a bit of a dark horse yourself, Mr. Gibson, you don’t seem to be as inexperienced as you led me to believe.”

  “I never said I had no experience, I just said it had been a while. In fact, it has been well over fifteen years since I’ve taken a dance class.” Nash did a couple of hip movements, pulled me into him and dipped me. “My Mum would be completely head over heels for you right now if she could see us.” I can feel his warm breath against my cheeks, I think he is about to kiss me when he pulls us both back upright.

  It appears the rest of the class had been watching us, as there is an eruption of applause. Nash takes a bow while I’m too stunned to do anything but blush.

  “Let’s take a break guys, we will rehydrate and then pick up again in fifteen.” Ronnie gives us all a moment to catch our breath; there are some refreshments on a table at the far end of the dance floor to be taken advantage of.

  “Hey, Beth.” Turning, I see the greeting has come from Samuel, he’d been my regular partner before new students started to join, needing the attention of his expertise.

  “Oh hi, Samuel. I didn’t realise you were going to be here tonight.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nash tense. “Nash, this is Samuel, he is Ronnie’s son. He used to be my dance partner before he dumped me.”

  “I did not dump you, Beth, you just got too good for me.” I see his eyes roam over Nash and I couldn’t fault him for that, Nash looked like sex on legs tonight. “Looks to me like you’ve had a better offer anyway.”

  “Nice to meet you, Samuel.” Nash extends his hand and Samuel clasps it with a weak gesture of a handshake.

  Ronnie claps her hands together to get everyone’s attention, “People let’s get ready to move again.”

  I feel the warmth of Nash’s hand resting on the small of my back as he guides me back to the near center of the room.

  “You ready for this, sweetheart?” He purrs into my ear, and without waiting for an answer he kisses my temple before he pushes me out into a spin and pulls me back into him. He shuffles his feet a couple of steps before spinning me again. To say the way that Nash moves is impressive would be an understatement. From the stilled audience watching us again, I could see that I’m not the only one impressed, Nash is being carefully watched by the other women and some of the men in our class.

  “Do you think they would notice if we cut out of class early, Beth?”

  “I am not sure they would notice if I did, but you definitely have some fans.”

  Nash does not even look up, he keeps his eyes fixed on mine, “I need to take you home right now, you have been testing my patience all night with the way you move your body and I’m only a mere male, Beth.”

  If the flaming desire in his eyes was anything to go by I could see he was not kidding about his intentions.

  “Ronnie, Beth and I need to leave, thank you so much for allowing me to join your class. It was a pleasure.” Nash still has not averted his gaze; instead, he takes my hand and kisses my knuckles before leading me from the studio.

  He’s on th
e phone as soon as we step outside calling for the car to come and collect us.

  Nash backs me up against the wall, caging me in with his arms. The scent of his aftershave is mixed with the sweat we had just worked up, and the combination is intoxicating.

  “Have you slept with Samuel?” His tone is not accusing but it does hold an edge to it. Possessive jealousy if I had to pinpoint.

  “What?” I’m finding it hard to concentrate on anything but his lips and what I need to do to have them on mine. Lifting my eyes to his, his are filled with carnal desire.

  “Bethany, have you had sex with Samuel?” He practically growls now. And I find it hard to contain my laughter.

  “No,m Nash, I’m not exactly his type.”

  “Are you kidding me, you’re fucking gorgeous, how can you not be his type?”

  “You’re more his type than I am, Joe is his type. In fact, Samuel and Joe live together. They are practically married.” It takes a moment for the truth to sink in for Nash.

  “He’s gay?”

  I can no longer hold back the laughter, and it erupts from my lips. “Yes, they are very much in love, you big jealous idiot.” Nash howls with laughter, joining me in on how ludicrous his outburst had been.

  When the car pulls to the curb I don’t wait for the driver to open my door, I push it open myself and climb the stairs.

  I hear Nash’s footsteps behind me, so I know he is following, and my heart starts to race. I am only one step in the door before Nash spins me to face him, my bag drops to the ground in the hallways and my hands collide with his hard chest. Without a word Nash’s mouth crashes on to mine, the kiss is hot and demanding. He walks me backward into the living room until the back of my legs bump into the sofa.

  Only when we are breathing hard does he break the kiss, the air from my lungs stolen by our kiss. “God, I have been desperate to do that since before we left the class.”

  The confusion must have been easily read on my face because it prompts Nash to continue. “I couldn’t trust myself to kiss you before we got home. Sweetheart, I have not been able to think of anything but the things I wanted to do with those red lips of yours since you walked out here earlier.” He cups my face with his palms. The look in his eyes causes my breath to catch, the intensity radiates from him. “Shower first, sweetheart. Then, I’m going to fuck that mouth and tight wet pussy of yours.”

  Not for the first time in my life it occurs to me that I might just not survive this man.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Nash

  Beth and I had made love until the early hours, so I tiptoe around getting ready to meet the taxi I have ordered to take me to the airport.

  I grab my camera from its bag, wanting to capture the vision of her asleep and looking so at peace and serene. Getting ready to leave her without being able to kiss her again or say goodbye feels like I am preparing for surgery to have an arm amputated.

  Beth stirs a little as if sensing my hesitation to leave.

  “Hey, sweetheart, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “Hey, you didn’t. Have you had coffee?” She yawns and rubs the sleep from her eyes. “I could make you some.”

  “I’ll get some after I check in, go back to sleep.” Bending down I plant a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll call you later when I land.”

  “Hmm.” I’m not sure whether she understood what I was saying to her but it was time for me to go. I land one more kiss, this one to her lips. Savoring the sensation when mine made contact with hers. If this was going to be the last time I was kissing her, I was remembering every detail of it. The softness, the way I felt and the way she lay naked in bed, her hair mussed from the way we’d spent the last few hours.

  “Goodbye, Beth.”

  “Goodbye, Nash.”

  The ride to the airport was mostly quiet, it is not until we take the last turn toward the overseas departure terminal that we see more cars and people milling around.

  Only when I’ve passed through security and on the way to my gate does the reality sinks in that by the end of the day I will be landing in London, going home to an empty apartment and an empty bed. I will be thousands of kilometers away from Beth, and the time difference between London and Willow Point is going to be tricky to manage, but right now I was more determined than ever to make it work. Somehow it had too.

  I’m seated in the business lounge when a woman approaches me, dressed in a pinstriped suit and her blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun at her nape.

  “Good morning.” She greets me with a smile that is warm and genuine.

  “Good morning.”

  “Mind if I sit here?” She gestures to the vacant seat next to me.

  “Not at all, please.”

  “It’s my first time flying overseas on my own, so I am little anxious. “Business or pleasure?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Your trip. Is it for business or pleasure?”

  “Flying home for work.”

  “Forgive me for being rude but you have an Australian accent.”

  “Yes, born and raised in Australia, I work and now live in London.”

  “I’m Vanessa.” She extends her hand to me, when I take it I note it is soft and warm.

  “Nash. Nice to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you too. I’m flying for work too, I work for a cosmetic company.” She pauses, and I wonder if she is waiting for me to ask her a question. “It’s my first trip since I returned to work after maternity leave. As if it isn’t bad enough leaving my husband, James, I also have a toddler at home that I am leaving for the first time as well.”

  “Do you and James have a son or daughter, Vanessa?”

  “We have a little boy, Lachie.” She clasps her hands over her heart as she answers. “Do you have a family, Nash?”

  “I have a sister, and my parents live here in Australia still.”

  “No wife or children?”

  “No, not yet.”

  “Girlfriend?” She dismissively waves away her question, “Sorry, I get a little too chatty when I’m nervous. Ignore me.” But I find, I want to answer her anyway.

  “Working on it.” I give her a wink as I recall Beth asleep in the bed this morning.

  “Oh good, I am glad.”

  “You are?” It strikes me as a little strange for someone I had only just met being glad over my marital status.

  “Yes, not just anyone would tolerate a conversation with a babbling crazy person and actually be interested. It takes a special kind of person in my opinion. And a person like that deserves someone special.”

  “That is kind of you to say, Vanessa, thank you.” I was taken slightly aback by her compliment; more often people are too ready to criticize a life that involved a lot of traveling, endless nights in hotel rooms and offensive time differences.

  “I was thinking of getting a latte, would you like one?”

  I have already had 3 coffees in the hour and a half that I had been waiting, so I had definitely reached my limit. “Thank you, but no. You go ahead though.”

  The moment of solitude gave me a chance to check my emails before I needed to board the flight. There was one from Walter, requesting a breakfast meeting when I landed, so any hope I had of catching a few hours of sleep before needing to go to the office went out the window, the only alternative now was to hire a room on the stopover and try to catch up there.

  Sending an email to Gemma, I requested she had a room booked for when I arrive.

  A voice comes over the speaker to announce my flight is preparing for boarding. I quickly scan the lounge for Vanessa, failing to see her I head to the departure gate on my own.

  During the flight, I spend some time going through the photos I have transferred on to my laptop. Flicking through I stop at the photo I had taken of Beth that morning. In the photo she does not resemble the fierce, determined and sexy woman that she is when she’s awake, instead, she is captivating and sensual, my finger hovers over the arrow button not ready to move to
the next image.

  I allow my thoughts to drift back over the last few days I’d spent with her, I’d felt more than the usual moving through the motions, I’d had a purpose to share something with someone else.

  Landing at the stopover, all I want to do is check in for a couple of hours of sleep, have a shower and to call Beth. Just thinking about the last shower I had taken with Beth was getting me hard, as soon as we had gotten under the spray of the warm water she had dropped to her knees and wrapped her damn sexy red lips around my dick, sucking it deep inside her mouth.

  With my luggage being transferred through to the next flight by the airline I take my overnight bag and laptop and head to the hotel adjoining the terminal.

  Shrugging out of suit jacket, I punch Beth’s number into my phone, checking my watch I quickly calculate the time back at Willow Point.

  “Hello?” Her husky voice greets me, awakening a restlessness I hadn’t had before calling her.

  “Hello, sweetheart. Have I caught you at a bad time?”

  “Oh hi, Nash, no, I have a few minutes. Are you already in London?”

  “No, I have a stopover. Just checked into a room for a shower and a little shut-eye. How are you?”

  “I’m good, buzzing off the five cups of coffee I have had today.” She chuckles a little, it’s a musical flutter reaching my ears. “Joe says hi by the way. I think you made quite the impression on him.”

  “Well, that was my aim, to make a gay man fall in love with me.” Kicking off my shoes I attempt to remove my socks with my toes, quite unsuccessfully. “Beth?”

  “Yeah, Nash?”

  “Thank you for the weekend, it was the best weekend I have had in a very long time.”

  “I did too.”

  “You don’t need to sound so surprised, sweetheart.”

  “Well, Mr. Gibson you are full of surprises.”

  “Would it be fair to say I’m well on the way of redeeming myself?”

  “Don’t go jumping the gun, are you not in another country right now? So I am not sure what further redemption you think you will be able to achieve.”