‘Good,’ said Belinda, ‘I’m glad about that. I didn’t like the idea of them suddenly being left on their own.’
When they reached the house, Michiko bade them both retire to their beds and get some sorely-needed sleep, while she went down to the servants’ quarters to break the news.
Functioning with the same sense of mutual understanding that they had experienced earlier, Belinda and Jonathan both made their way to Belinda’s red room. Deep in a thoughtful but companionable silence, they got ready for bed, then snuggled up together underneath the covers. They were both naked but Belinda felt no urge to make love, and neither, it soon became obvious, did Jonathan. The peculiar events of a peculiar night had taken their toll.
Although she hadn’t expected to be able to sleep, Belinda soon found her thoughts losing focus. She felt loose and drowsy, and Jonathan’s presence at her side was warm and calming.
The descent into refreshing sleep was more welcome than it had ever been, and she embraced rest with a relief that was almost blissful – seeing André’s smiling face as she succumbed.
The next day, in the afternoon, Belinda and Jonathan left Sedgewick Priory. Not for ever, because they had promised to visit its new châtelaine in the future, but it was good to be heading back to a normal life.
A normal life where life’s appliances worked as normal.
The Mini started first time, and Belinda, who had chosen to drive, felt convinced it had never run so smoothly.
The mobile phone also functioned perfectly, even though they had never actually got round to charging it. Jonathan rang Paula’s mobile number and got through on the first try. He spoke to a nurse and discovered that their friend was in hospital in the nearest big town.
Paula had been found unconscious in a hotel room, it seemed, but she had come round now, and apart from remembering nothing whatsoever about the last couple of days, she was completely unharmed and resting comfortably. It also turned out that she had been most concerned at missing her meeting with her friends, and that her car had been stolen. Belinda smiled as she listened to Jonathan instructing the nurse to tell Paula not to worry, and that it was probably just a joy-rider and the car would soon be found, most likely in a lay-by on some quiet country road.
Jonathan’s sense of direction and his ability to read maps had been reinstated too. Without the slightest problem, they located the hospital where Paula was sequestered, but as it would be too late to visit by the time they got there, they made their way to the hotel instead. As luck would have it there was a room vacant for the night.
‘You know, these last few days,’ Jonathan said, as Belinda walked naked into the room after her shower. ‘It was all so weird, so different, like a dream somehow.’ He was lying on his back on the bed, wearing only his jockey shorts, staring up at the ceiling as if its tiled surface held an explanation of some kind. ‘I keep wondering if any of it really happened.’
Belinda looked at him sharply and closely, and found her body reawakened by the view.
Jonathan’s limbs were strong, his torso lean, and his groin full of bulging erotic promise. She experienced a jolt of yearning at the sight of his cock so snugly contained in his close-fitting briefs; and his face too, cast in lines of thought, had a sweet allure. Her familiar boyfriend wasn’t a patrician, mysterious André, or a massive, golden Oren, or even a Michiko, so female and exotic; but he was truly hers, he was always willing, and he loved her. In repose, he was an innocent male temptation.
‘Oh, it happened all right,’ she said in answer to his musings. Turning away, she stood before the mirror and studied her own shape.
Her breasts, her waist and her hips she found pleasing. It had never before occurred to her that she was beautiful, but now, with a clear new perspective, she saw she was. Or at least, she had certain possibilities. She ran a slow, searching hand over the curve of her belly until it reached the fragrant grove at her rousing crotch.
‘Lindi?’ Jonathan’s voice held a new note, and as she turned, still touching her vulva, she discovered him watching her.
Smiling, she withdrew her fingers and looked down to see them glistening. Without conscious thought, she raised them to her lips and tasted desire.
‘Oh, Lindi,’ said Jonathan again, his lust undeniable as he moved up from the pillow and held out his arms.
Belinda went to him, lying down at his side then rolling towards him. His skin felt warm yet somehow invigorating where their bodies touched.
‘You’re cold, sweetheart,’ he muttered, pressing himself lovingly against her breasts and against her belly. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll soon warm you up.’ He slid his hands around her and stroked the swell of her bottom, while between her legs he rubbed her genitals with his thigh.
Belinda moaned, grinding herself against him, humping the taut muscle and feeling a familiar pleasure bloom. Reaching around behind herself, she took Jonathan’s hand and drew his fingers to her anus.
‘Oh yes! Oh yes yes yes!’ she shouted out joyfully, while she rode him – and he industriously stroked. Within seconds she was coming against his skin.
‘Oh Lindi, you are really something special,’ he crooned to her as she fell back against the pillows, slack and sated for the moment. ‘I didn’t think you’d be interested just yet, what with … I dunno … André and all –’
‘But of course I am,’ she said, smiling and opening her eyes, reaching up to touch his face and make him look at her.
Jonathan complied, his own eyes filled with affection, then suddenly, with abject puzzlement.
‘Oh dear God,’ he whispered, his voice almost nothing, his body trembling furiously against hers. His cock was still hard, but the strange shaking wasn’t sex.
‘What is it?’
‘I –’ he began, ‘It –’ He faltered again, then sat up, climbed across her, and slipped off the bed. Taking her hand, he drew her with him towards the mirror. Then, making her face it, he stood behind her and said ‘Look!’
‘What at?’ she demanded, although deep inside her the answer was rapidly dawning.
Reaching around her, Jonathan brushed her fringe from her brow, then slid his hand under her chin to move her a little closer to the glass.
Belinda blinked. And blinked again.
‘Oh, I see …’ she murmured, studying the change she had half-expected with fear and wonder.
Her eyes, which had once been hazel, were now bright blue.
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This book is a work of fiction.
In real life, make sure you practise safe, sane and consensual sex.
This edition published in 2007 by
Black Lace
Thames Wharf Studios
Rainville Road
London W6 9HA
Originally published 1996
Copyright © Portia Da Costa 1996
The right of Portia Da Costa to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
www.blacklace-books.co.uk
ISBN 978 0 352 33075 8
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Gothic Blue Page 28