by Beth Abbott
He surprised her by pausing to lift her glasses up to sit them on top of her head.
She smiled, nervously.
Her eyes darted back and forth between his beautiful lips, and those fascinating eyes. The split one seemed to have darkened so it was almost totally black.
She watched as his face came towards hers, turning her head to the right angle just as his lips brushed hers.
She was so mesmerised by him, that she allowed her lips to shape to his, moving with him and against him.
It started so softly that she thought she was dreaming, but little by little he increased the pressure, until she found herself responding by wrapping her arms around him and holding onto the back of his head, her fingers threaded into his silky hair.
She might have no experience, but she knew when she was being kissed by an expert.
Ok, probably it would be best not to think about how he got this good, she thought, as the kiss took on another dimension.
Ellen knew something special was happening when her body suddenly started responding to the kiss.
She felt a pulling deep in her stomach, and her sex involuntarily clenched. Oh, my God!
His arms were around her now, but his hands were on her back, just above the arch of her backside.
She wanted them somewhere else. On her breasts, maybe? She wasn’t sure. She just knew she wanted him to help her ease the ache she felt, well, everywhere.
Luke pulled away, gasping like he’d run a mile. His eyes were dilated, and she could see the regret in his face.
“We have to stop.” He breathed.
“Why?” She whispered the first word that came into her mind.
Luke chuckled as he cupped her cheek.
“Because we’re in a car, parked on a main road where anybody passing by can see us.” Luke pointed out. “And because you’re getting me so worked up I’m gonna have zipper burn on my cock if we go on much longer.”
Ellen jumped back, startled by his words, and immediately looked down at his crotch. There was unmistakable evidence that he’d meant his words literally.
“Oh, my goodness!” She giggled. “I don’t think I’ve ever done that to anybody before.”
Luke smirked. “You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that.”
They smiled at each other for a few seconds longer, while Luke ran his thumb over her lower lip.
“I could get very fond of this mouth.” He whispered.
“I could let you.” Ellen replied quietly, knowing their time together was coming to an end.
As she got out of the car, Luke watched her as she walked to her front door, and quickly unlocked it. Only when she was inside with the door closed securely behind her did she hear the car engine rev and finally move off.
Ellen knew that getting any more involved with Luke was probably a bad thing. Whatever he was up here looking for had something to do with her past, she just knew it.
But right now, with the taste of him on her lips, his scent still lingering on her clothes, and with that lovely tingly feeling still echoing down below, she wasn’t sure she could bring herself to care.
God, she thought, if one kiss could bring parts of her to life so wondrously when they had lain dormant for twenty-eight years, she could see why Suzy went on and on about actual sex.
Ellen stripped naked, and hopped in the shower, in some ways sad to wash his scent off her body.
Her first kiss!
She was so glad it had been Luke, and not some random boy she’d hooked up with in high school or university.
This was something she’d remember for the rest of her life.
She wondered what Fran would say when Luke came in next week just to see her. Maybe she’d get Fran to change his name.
How about Mr Tall, Dark and Luscious? Ellen giggled. Yeah, that about summed him up.
Chapter 18 - Luke
As Luke pulled away from Ellen’s flat, he was surprised to find that he was grinning from ear to ear.
He still wasn’t sure what shocked him more – that Ellen had all but confessed to being a virgin, or the fact that he secretly liked the idea.
Ok, whilst normally he would have preferred a woman with experience, he couldn’t help remembering how hot that kiss had been.
He’d leaned in for a gentle peck, but when she didn’t pull away, he’d let it get deeper and deeper, until he was the one in danger of losing his shit.
If he hadn’t pulled away when he did, he’d probably have come in his boxers. Shit! How embarrassing would that have been?
He’d have looked like the inexperienced virgin he so was not.
No, he thought. That look of wide eyed wonder in Ellen’s eyes when he pulled away couldn’t have been faked.
His phone buzzing interrupted his pleasant thoughts.
Flipping the button on the steering wheel to connect the phone to the Bluetooth speakers, he tilted his head to the microphone above the centre mirror.
“Yep?” No point in wasting words on JT.
“Yo, man!” JT laughed. “You don’t sound so chipper. The girl blew you off, did she?”
“No!” Luke spat out. “She did not blow me off, asshole!”
“Well, she sure as hell didn’t blow you. Matt said you only left his place about twenty minutes ago!” JT laughed again. “She’s not in the car with you now, is she?”
“No, thank you very much, she’s not in the car with me now, or your ass would be getting a pounding as soon as I hit London.” Luke growled.
“What’s the matter?” JT pressed on. “Not up for a blow job on the back seat was she?”
“Fuck me!” Luke sighed. “That whole ‘Officer and a “GENTLEMAN’ shit totally passed you by, didn’t it?”
“Oh, I got it all right.” JT laughed. “I just save it for when I give a shit!”
“Yeah, well cut the crap man. Ellen’s a really nice woman. She’s like Suzy’s alter ego.” Luke smiled to himself remembering Ellen’s embarrassment at Suzy’s uncontrollable mouth.
JT snorted. “That means she’s boring as hell, y’know.”
“Screw you, she’s not boring. She’s smart, funny, speaks God knows how many languages, apparently. She’s really cool.” Luke realised that was exactly how he’d remember her. She was cool.
“Does that mean when you screw her she can tell you to go faster in all different languages? Man that’s hot.” JT chuckled.
“Asshole…!” Luke was ready to explode.
“Man, I’m just messing with your head.” JT laughed loudly. “I just spoke to Matt and he said you seemed to have a soft spot for the little mouse, so I figured I’d give you some shit.”
Luke’s temper cooled as he listened to his best friend laugh at his expense.
“Luke, if she’s as great as Matt says, and you wanna hook up with her, I’m happy for you. Anyway, one of us sad fuckers ought to be getting some regularly. It’s unlikely to be me, and we all know Danny likes variety, so you may as well get some. Good luck to you.”
Luke wasn’t about to explain that there had been nothing sexual… yet. In fact, he wasn’t going to give up any details at all. JT would only give him even more shit, and Luke sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him that Ellen was a virgin. The ribbing would never end.
“Yeah, thanks, I think.” Luke acknowledged what, for JT, had been kind words of encouragement.
For the next half an hour, they discussed business, and by the time JT ended the call, Luke’s head was firmly back in the game. His week was going to be very busy, with a possible trip to Berlin on Tuesday.
This was how he normally liked it, but all he could think about was that he hoped he didn’t get snowed in over there. He was going to be back by Friday, whatever happened.
By the time his head hit the pillow, he was exhausted.
But as he pulled the quilt up over his shoulders, the memory of that sweet little woman and the most amazing kiss came to mind, and he couldn’t help but smile.
; Dammit, he couldn’t wait for Friday!
Chapter 19 - Luke
As Luke headed north on the M1 towards the Midlands, he was tempted to floor the accelerator pedal!
His trip to Berlin had run over by a day, so instead of getting back on Thursday night, his flight had arrived at Heathrow at five o’clock on Friday afternoon, leaving him absolutely furious. Furious with the client! Furious with the airline clerk who’d refused to bump someone from their morning flight so he could get back sooner! He’d even offered to pay a cash compensation himself. But apparently, that was a no-no!
Thankfully, JT had met him at the airport, so he could hand off some case files and schematics, and his friend had driven like a bat out of hell to get Luke back to his flat.
Ignoring JT’s teasing completely, Luke had grabbed the bare essentials, swapping the dirty clothes in his bag for some clean ones, and bolting out of the door as quickly as he could.
Discovering his idiot neighbour had come very close to blocking his car in, Luke had to take a breath before reversing out, and even so, came perilously close to taking the paint off the offside wing.
“Useless assholes.” He breathed as he finally made it onto the road.
By the time he hit the M1 and left London behind it was gone eight o’clock, and with the heavy traffic of the Friday night exodus from London, there were precious few opportunities to put his foot down.
Only out of respect for his clean driving license did he refrain from going over the ton once the traffic started to thin out a bit.
It would be just his luck to get pinged by one of the traffic cameras dotted around.
When he finally pulled into the High Street and saw Gianni’s restaurant, he felt the tension start to ease from his shoulders.
He’d cursed his stupidity the whole way up the motorway, for not getting Ellen’s number last weekend. If he’d had it, he could at least have let her know he was running late.
He’d even considered phoning Matt to see if he had her number, but then thought better of it in case he woke Charlie. Luke doubted his friend would be happy if he did.
As he pushed through the door to the restaurant, he had to step aside to let some diners leave, and the delay gave him time to search the interior for Ellen.
It didn’t take long to find her, standing at a table close to the back of the restaurant, talking to an elderly couple as she served them. She looked beautiful. There was something different about her tonight, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
As he stepped inside, he almost walked straight into Suzy, standing with her arms folded across her more than ample chest.
“You are in deep shit, asshole!” She growled, looking pointedly at her watch.
“Is she mad?” Luke winced, his eyes searching her out to see any evidence that she was pissed at him.
“Not with her, dickhead! With me!” Suzy growled, surprisingly ferocious for someone barely over five feet tall.
“What have I done to you?” Luke protested.
“That girl came into work at ten o’clock this morning, because we were catering a wedding party today.” Suzy glanced at her friend, to make sure she was still out of ear-shot. “Then, because she didn’t have time to get home and have a break, she stayed to set up for tonight.”
Luke nodded, knowing that Suzy was taking the long-way to get to the point.
“We’ve been open again since five o’clock, and she hasn’t so much as stopped for two minutes. And do you know why?” And here was the pause for dramatic effect….
“No, why?” Luke dutifully responded.
“Because some stupid asshole …” Suzy lowered her voice so none of the diners could hear her. “… told her that he’d be here for nine o’clock, and she’s been saving all her breaks so she could take them when he arrived. And it’s now almost eleven, and that girl’s almost out on her feet, and probably half-starved!”
Luke had the decency to feel guilty as Suzy ranted.
“Shit, Suze, it wasn’t intentional!” He pleaded. “I only got back to Heathrow late this afternoon, and this was the quickest I could get here. I didn’t even have her number to get in touch with her.”
“Yeah, well…” Suzy started to calm down. “She doesn’t give her phone number out as a rule. I’m the only one who has it.”
Luke was just about to ask whether Suzy would consider giving it to him, when Suzy’s eyes moved to look just over his shoulder. Turning to look, he saw the object of his fascination moving towards him, and he couldn’t help but smile.
“Hi, you.” She grinned, none of the anger that Suzy had shown visible in her tone. “Did you have a good trip up?”
“Shit, hon, I’m so sorry I’m late. My Berlin trip ran over to today, and…well I got here as fast as I could. Honestly.” Luke looked Ellen straight in the eye, and hell, yeah, she did look tired.
“It’s Ok. I’m just glad you’re here safe and sound. I was worried about you in that piece of shit car you drive.” She smirked at him.
“Yeah, right!” He smiled, taking her hand. “So, can you take your break now?”
Ellen turned her head to find her boss standing just a few feet away.
“G, is it Ok if I take my break now?” She asked sweetly.
G glanced at her, and then at the giant of a man standing next to her. “Sure, Ellen, you’ve really earned it today. Why don’t you grab some food and take it upstairs with your friend? All the tables are set up, and it’ll be nice and quiet. Take an hour.”
Ellen was obviously so happy with the offer, she gave G a big hug, and turned towards Luke.
“Hungry?” She grinned.
God, was he ever. He nodded, just as his stomach rumbled loudly, the smell of the food having finally reached his nostrils.
“Come on then.” She giggled, taking him by the hand and leading him toward the kitchen.
Five minutes later, Luke was carrying a large tray loaded up with a number of different dishes which Roy, the chef, had insisted he try.
Ellen led him to some stairs at the back, where she moved the ‘staff only’ sign to one side so he could pass.
Once upstairs, Ellen cleared one of the tables, and they set the plates down so they could select food from the various dishes.
As she turned to hand Luke an empty plate, she found him staring at her.
She ran her free hand over her hair self-consciously.
“Do I have some dirt on my face?” she asked nervously.
“No.” Luke smiled at her. “You look lovely.”
Ellen looked dumb-struck.
“I was just thinking how much I’d missed you this week. Isn’t that weird? We only just met.”
“Totally weird.” Ellen whispered, looking at the floor before finally raising her head.
“I missed you too. A lot!” She finally admitted.
When Luke took the plate from her and placed it on the table, she obviously knew what was coming, and didn’t hesitate.
Within seconds, they were in each other’s arms, holding tighter than they’d been able to in the confines of the car.
Luke’s lips locked with hers, and for long minutes, nothing else existed, just each other and this fusion of lips and bodies, tongues gently gliding against each other.
As before, it was Luke who stepped back, but he didn’t let go of her. He looked down into her eyes, and smiled.
Then he realized. Her eyes! He could see them. No glasses!
“Where are your glasses tonight?” He asked.
“Oh! Charlie grabbed them when I was playing with him this week. Before I had the chance to grab them back, he yanked them hard and snapped the arm straight off.” Ellen blushed, not seeming mad with Charlie at all.
“So, are you wearing contacts?” Luke asked.
“Hmm-hmm.” Ellen agreed. “I had some there, so it seemed to make sense.”
“Well, I have to say, they suit you. You can see all of your face now, and it’s a lovely face. It’s a shame
to hide it behind those big frames.” He leered at her then. “Besides, it’s much easier to kiss you without the glasses in the way.”
“Well, now you come to mention it, I can see your point.” She giggled. “It’s not something I ever had to consider before.”
“Then you must have been raised in a convent then, because I can’t believe you were walking around anywhere near your average red blooded males, and nobody tried to kiss you.” Luke insisted.
“Maybe I was giving them all the brush off, waiting for my Prince Charming?” She teased.
“Nah, that can’t be it. You let me kiss you.” He grinned. “And I’m more like a frog than a Prince!”
“Is that so?” She reached up at kissed him softly on the cheek, whispering in his ear. “Well, Kermit was always my favourite Muppet!”
“I don’t know whether to be insulted or thrilled!” He chuckled deeply.
“Be thrilled as you come and eat with me.” She held out her hand as she sat at the table. “I’ve only got another forty minutes, then I’m back at work for another few hours.”
They ate and chatted like they’d known each other for ever.
Luke told her a little about his friends, sticking to the funny stories, rather than the war stories. Ellen shared some of the stories about the holidays she’d been on with her father, which had led directly to her developing a love for languages.
The hour was up all too quickly.
“Do you think your boss would mind if I stayed until you finish?” Luke asked as they made their way back downstairs.
“If you want dessert, we can find you a free table for a while, or you can sit by the bar if you just want a drink.” She nodded towards where the barman was pouring drinks. “You should expect to be grilled by Fran, wherever you sit. She’ll probably ask you what your intentions are.”
Luke smiled. He didn’t mind fending off someone who obviously cared for Ellen, even if she wasn’t actually family.
“How about I start with dessert at a table, and then move to the bar later?” Luke suggested.
“Sounds good.” Ellen confirmed, steering him to an empty table for two.