by Megan Keith
“Oh. That makes sense.”
We hold hands as we make our way through the house and out the back door. Birds chirp and butterflies flutter as we pass cement garden ornaments, park benches, and little garden nooks with hidden seating areas. We eventually stop at the gazebo beside the lake. It’s a warm and sunny afternoon and we talk for hours as the sun goes down behind us and the water fountain sprays upward in the centre of the lake in front of us.
When it begins to get dark we decide to head back to the house. On our way, Bianca stumbles and in my attempt to save her, I trip over a garden edge and we both fall into the soft grass.
“Ow, shit!” she cries on the way down.
“Are you alright?” I ask when I land half on top of her. Her body begins to shake uncontrollably and I squint at her, trying to decide if she’s silently laughing or crying. “Bianca?”
“I’m fine.” Then a loud giggle escapes her mouth and I roll off her with relief, joining her in laughter. We both lose it, we are out of control as we lie on our backs in fits of laughter that have us scraping for breath. When we finally calm down my hand finds hers between us and I hold it. I turn my head to find Bianca gazing at me. We lie like that for a while, taking each other in, the grass underneath us like a soft mattress. The only sounds to be heard are that of our breathing and the crickets coming to life around us.
Eventually Bianca closes the gap between us, pressing her lips softly against mine, before I roll my body on its side to kiss her more intently. My tongue does a gentle sweep of her mouth and she quietly moans in response, her fingers finding and tangling in my hair. She pulls my face closer and I cup her jaw with one hand, slowly pressing kisses over her lips, down the length of her throat, then back up to capture her mouth once again. The sound of our breathing becomes heavier with every movement.
I trail my fingers from her face to her neck, then gently down the length of her body, past the side of her breast, her hip and further, below the hem of her dress. With lips still joined, I reposition myself over her, pressing the length of my body against hers. My hand slowly glides against the skin of her thigh and she trembles beneath my touch. She stops kissing me and we stare at one another as my fingers climb to her centre. She barely blinks when I slip a finger inside the edge of her knickers and tease her, the intense connection between us unable to be broken. I slip one finger inside and she lifts her head to reconnect with my lips. My breath shudders against her mouth when she tugs on my bottom lip with her teeth.
I pump my fingers leisurely in and out of her and our kisses increase in speed and strength and then there is a loud noise that interrupts us both. I pause and Bianca giggles against my lips.
“Was that you or me?” I ask, pulling back from her.
“I’m fairly certain that was you. I would never be so unladylike!”
“Of course not.” I laugh, then bend down to kiss her again, resuming my hand movement. She cries out softly, her body yielding to the pleasure and her hips lifting as I slowly stroke her.
And once again we’re interrupted by my growling stomach. This time louder than the last.
Bianca sighs. “I think you need to eat,” she says, her body slumping against the ground in defeat. When I don’t move she shoves my shoulder. “Besides, I kinda need to pee.”
“How romantic.” I growl against her neck and reluctantly pull my hand from between her legs, the moment abruptly over. I stand and hold my hand out for her to take, pulling her up from the ground. She gives me a gentle kiss and I give her a promise, “We’ll continue this later.”
We head inside where Bianca disappears to the bathroom and I go to the kitchen where I begin preparing the cheese, fruit and biscuits that I organised with the owners when I booked. When Bianca returns I order her outside while I arrange the food on a platter and open a bottle of white wine, taking them out to the alfresco dining area. We sit and nibble, drinking our wine and gazing at each other and the solar garden lights that are coming to life around us as the sky darkens.
“This is heaven,” Bianca sighs happily, when the food is all gone.
“And we haven’t even explored the pool or spa yet.”
“There’s a spa? How did I miss that? Let’s go!” She jumps up excitedly and starts heading in the wrong direction.
“Oi, this way.” I stand and motion with my head towards the indoor pool area, while I collect the remains of our platter and the bottle of wine. “Grab the glasses.”
Bianca
While Seth figures out the controls on the spa I dip my toes in the pool. Expecting a rush of cool, I’m surprised to find the water is quite warm and inviting. I pull off my short summer dress and toss it to the ground. I didn’t bring any bathers so I dive into the water in just my underwear.
I swim from one end of the pool to the other then climb out, because it’s the spa that I really want. Besides, the underwire in my bra is digging into my right boob, making me uncomfortable. I guess it’s not meant for swimming in. I try to adjust it but when I see Seth’s heated eyes trained on my body I change my mind and pull the bra off instead. I pretend like it’s just an everyday occurrence as I wander to the side of the spa wearing a pair of soaked cotton knickers, that are now see through, and absolutely nothing else. I don’t stop until I’m submerged in the hot water of the spa.
“What are you waiting for?” I ask a gobsmacked Seth and then laugh at his expression. Meanwhile he adjusts his erection that I’m unable to ignore through his light blue board shorts. “Strip down and come on in,” I try for a seductive voice and I think I pull it off.
Within seconds Seth is yanking his t-shirt over his head and sitting down opposite me in the water. “Coming here was a really good idea.” He smiles at me sexily and I know exactly where his thoughts are going, particularly when his eyes can hardly stay off my boobs. I do nothing to hide them, in fact, I relax and enjoy the attention.
“Agreed.” I’m still amazed at today’s events. When I woke up this morning I never could have imagined all of this. “So how much driving do we have ahead of us tomorrow?” I ask.
“About seven or eight hours.”
“That much? I can do some of it if you like. I mean, if you can trust me to drive your car.”
“Of course I trust you with my car. I trust you completely, with everything.” The open expression on his face and the warmth in his chocolate eyes makes me one hundred percent believe him, too.
“Shit! I just realised I don’t have a dress to wear for the wedding! In the rush to leave I didn’t even think about it. I was meant to go shopping.”
“We can go shopping.”
“I hope you know of some good dress shops, we’ll be pushed for time.”
“Um, no, but I’m sure Mum or Tahlia will be able to help.”
“It’s strange, but I don’t even feel nervous about meeting them.”
“No?”
“Normally that kind of thing would freak me out but I feel so comfortable with you, I can’t imagine not feeling that with your family.”
“Comfortable, huh?” He stares at my chest. “I don’t feel very comfortable right now. All I can do is think about those boobs of yours that are bobbing in the water.”
“My breasts make you uncomfortable?” I smirk.
“No.” He gives me a wry grin. “My raging hard on does.”
“Well, we can do something about that now, can’t we? After all, it is later.”
“It is.” He finds my foot in the water and slides his hand up my leg as he steps towards me, slowly. The gentle glide of his fingers as my leg guides him to my centre has my face heating, but it’s the heat in his eyes that has my insides pulsating with desire. He reaches the edge of my knickers on my hip and slips his finger in. “These need to go,” he says and begins to tug them down. I lift my hips to help, mesmerised by his eyes as I do. He tosses them by my head on the ledge where they land with a soggy thud. Then I’m bare and Seth’s fingers are playing with me, entering me, gradually and d
eliciously, the heat from the water only deepening my pleasure as our wet bodies press together and our lips touch. “Are we doing this here or-”
“Here.” I pant. “Don’t you dare stop.” He increases his pace, his thumb pressing on my clit and I tug on his shorts. “These need to go, too.”
Seth’s mouth is on mine as he struggles to remove his shorts and jocks. As awkward as it is, I don’t let his lips go. I suck on his tongue and caress it with my own. I’m overcome with want for this man and when he finally enters me my whole body wraps around him, clinging to him with determined desperation. He’s mine. I want Seth to be all mine. I never want this to end. This uncontrollable urge to be with him like this will never get old.
Seth groans as he pumps into me. He kisses me passionately, pressing my back against the spa edge before flipping our positions and impaling me on his lap. He fills me more fully this way. It makes me feel complete and in control to be straddling him like this. Riding him. When I feel the urge to fall into climactic oblivion I slow down, dragging it out. I do this over and over until I can’t hold off any longer. It seems Seth is with me on that by the strain on his face.
“Can’t hold on,” he confirms my thoughts, then punctuates them with a grunt. He holds me still while coming inside of me. He buries his head in the side of my neck, his hot, fast breath sending goose bumps over my shoulder. I squeeze my eyes shut in pure bliss, feeling content even though I didn’t finish. Seth goes to lift me and I protest.
“We shouldn’t, um, make a mess in here.” I don’t need to explain that any further. He stands with my legs still wrapped around him and climbs onto the ledge of the spa so that I’m out of the water before he frees me. “You know, you’re pretty strong for a Nerd Boy.”
“Watch it!” he warns then he shocks me with a slap to the butt. He tosses me a towel. “Get upstairs and get cleaned up. I have some unfinished business to attend to.” His eyes are dark and full of promise. His voice husky with desire. “I’ll meet you in bed,” he growls and my heart stutters.
“Fuck,” I murmur, as I wrap the towel around me. The overwhelming desire has me trembling with anticipation.
On weak legs, I have the quickest shower in history and meet him on the bed as requested, where he does exactly what he said he would – finish his business.
I love being his business, particularly when it involves his head between my legs.
I’m a limp, wet, weightless and panting mess when I come down from my high and quickly fall asleep.
***
The next morning we laze in bed until my phone rings. It’s Mum. Again. I hit ignore and roll back over to find Seth watching me with concern.
“Mum,” I explain.
“You’re gonna have to speak to her eventually.” He runs his fingers through my hair, soothingly.
“I know. I will. Just not when I’m in this beautiful place with you.” I lean forward and press a soft kiss to his full lips.
“Good point.” Then he rolls me on my back and proves just how good a point it is. We take our time exploring each other, softly, quietly and gently and it’s beautiful.
***
We have one more stroll around the property before we leave, only to stop at a little café down the road for brunch. Two hours or so down the road from there, Mum calls again and this time I answer.
“Hi.”
“Oh, thank god! Bianca, I’m so glad you answered. Are you okay? I’ve been so worried.”
“I’m okay.”
“I’m sorry darling, I really am. About everything. It’s just that … you didn’t know her. And when I heard that she’d died I wasn’t sure how to tell you. And Dean had just left you. It’s no excuse, I know, I should have-”
“For your information Dean didn’t leave me, Mum,” I interrupt her, wanting to set that record straight. “I kicked him out because he was a useless idiot who didn’t give a shit about me. You can’t use a bad break-up as an excuse because there wasn’t one. The only thing I felt when he moved out was relief.”
“Oh. I didn’t know.”
“No, you didn’t, because you always assume and never ask. Besides, that was over months ago!” My cheeks are burning in anger as I speak and Seth’s hand comes to my bare knee giving it a squeeze that instantly calms me. My eyes meet his and he offers me a soft and encouraging smile. “You should have told me about Nan.” My voice sounds weak now, broken but no longer filled with anger. “You shouldn’t assume that I wouldn’t care.”
“No, I shouldn’t have. I’m so, so sorry, Bianca.” She sniffles into the phone and it’s only then that I realise she’s crying. Mum never cries.
“What happened between you and Nan anyway? Why weren’t you speaking all those years?”
“It was just the usual mother-in-law stuff. From the day I started dating your father, she didn’t like me. She was always criticising me and the way I did things.” That I can relate to, I’m tempted to butt in with. “I think it only escalated after we married and I didn’t take on his surname. She was especially insulting when it came to how I behaved as a mother. And after your Dad died it just didn’t seem necessary to keep up the pretences. It’s not so much that we had a falling out as such, we just both stopped trying.” Mum takes a shaky breath and her voice trembles as she cries some more. “I should have done more. It’s not fair that you didn’t know her.”
“No, it’s not.” I stare absently out the window as we pass field after field. I squeeze my eyes shut tight for a moment before adding, “But I don’t blame you.”
“You don’t?”
“I guess I did at first. I was in shock. And I’m sad that I didn’t know her, but I can accept it now.” More silence and then I hear Mum blow her nose. “I got a letter from her lawyer. Mum … she left me her house.” Mum’s only response is a loud gasp. “Can you believe it? She left me all of her belongings, her money …” I purposely leave out the rent Nan had been paying all this time. I’ll save that information for a later date, I’m still trying to process that one myself.
“Oh Bianca, honey. Did you want me to come over? Look through the paperwork or sort out the house or anything.”
“All taken care of. I met with the lawyer. The house is for sale.”
“My god, this is so much to take in. What about her things?”
“I’ve already gone through the house, taken what I wanted and I’ve told the lawyer to handle the rest.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help you.”
I’m not. It was something I needed to do on my own. Deciding on a change of subject, I ask, “Do you remember a trip to Cordeaux Lake?”
“Cordeaux? Um, is that the one with the huge dam?”
“Yeah.”
“I do. Your Dad and I took you. Estelle was with us. We were spending a few days at Wollongong, just the four of us, we visited the dam while we were there. You were quite little, maybe four years old.”
“I found a photograph of Dad, Nan and me from that time. She had lots of photo albums of Dad when he was young. I took them all.”
“I’d love to see them.”
“You can come over when I get back from Melbourne.”
“Melbourne?”
“Yeah, I’m on my way to Melbourne with Seth for a few days.” Seth tugs my hand from my lap and entwines our fingers. I can’t help the smile that curves my lips.
“Ooh, that sounds exciting! Will you be visiting his family?”
“Yeah, staying with them actually.” She bursts out crying again. “Mum?”
“Sorry darling, I’m just … I’m so happy for you. You’re meeting his parents already and he’s such a lovely boy. I have a good feeling about you two.” Me too. “And I’m so relieved that you’re speaking to me again. I really can’t apologise enough.”
“It’s alright, Mum. I’ll call you when I get back, okay?”
“Okay Bianca. You have a wonderful time.”
“Thanks Mum. Bye.”
“Bye darling.”
I blow out a big, relieved breath and Seth quickly catches my eye before looking back at the road in front of him.
“Feel better?”
“Mhmm.”
He pulls my hand to his mouth for a kiss and I feel so much more than better. I feel on top of the world. For once, I’ve had a good and honest conversation with my mum but, most importantly, I’m seated next to the most amazing man. Life couldn’t get much better.
***
“Are we there yet?”
“You know how annoying that is?” Seth asks with an exaggerated and frustrated sigh.
“What? It’s fun annoying you.” I giggle. I’d only asked him that question about twenty times since we stopped on the side of the road about an hour ago, so that Seth could take over driving again. It was fun having my turn but I didn’t want to drive through an unfamiliar city, preferring to take in the sights instead. “So, are we nearly there?” We’d left the city a while ago and were well and truly buried in suburbia now.
“Yes, we’re nearly there,” Seth replies abruptly, the corners of his mouth fighting a smile. He’s not nearly as annoyed at me as he’s trying to make out.
“You said we were nearly there half an hour ago when I told you I needed a toilet stop.”
“Yes and now we’re even more nearly there.”
“And I’m even more closer to wetting myself.” I shift uncomfortably in my seat. The nerves I’m suddenly feeling aren’t helping my full bladder any.
“Sorry.” Seth gives me an apologetic look. “We should be there by now, I wasn’t counting on so much traffic.”
“Uh, it’s the city on a Friday night…”
“Yeah, I know, sorry.” He reaches over and rubs my thigh. “We’re literally only a couple of streets away, I promise.”
“Good.”
A few minutes later we’re finally pulling into a driveway. Seth turns off the headlights and cuts the engine before I get much of a chance to view the house. It’s dark out so I can barely see a thing.