The Beach House

by JT Harding

  He bent down and retrieved the book, read the words slowly. Mark read everything slowly. He glanced at Jenni, back to the book and read the signature again.

  “What the fuck is this?”

  This is going to be bad, Jenni thought.

  “I told you about the couple in the Bradley place. Turns out he’s a writer.”

  Mark studied the book, turning it over gingerly as though he held something rotten.

  “I can see that. What’s this crap he’s written here?”

  Jenni couldn’t pretend the words were meant for someone else. “A joke, Mark,” she said. “Only a joke. He thought he was being funny.”

  “Funny? With my wife?” Mark returned to the table, placed the book flat and started eating again. Jenni watched him, waiting, wondering if she might get away this time.

  Mark cut meat and chewed, his eyes on the book the whole time. He reached across and opened the cover again, scanned the words, then he lifted the book and threw it hard across the table. It hit Jenni on the cheek, heavy and sharp cornered and she cried out. Mark rose and followed, grabbed her arm and dragged her off the chair so she sprawled on the kitchen floor. He stood over her, hands loose beside him, fingers held straight and stiff along his thighs.

  “Pick it up.”

  Jenni retrieved the book, climbed to her feet.

  “Out back. Now.” Mark gripped her wrist, his fingers hard, dragged her out the back door into the small yard that had no fence but gave directly onto the sheep-grazed grass that ran up to the spine of the island.

  “Burn it!” Mark’s voice was cold.

  Jenni shook her head, holding the book tight against herself. Mark’s fist lashed out and struck her ear. Jenni dropped to her knees, head ringing.

  “I said fucking burn it!”

  “No!” Jenni screamed at him, getting to her feet again.

  “What?”

  “No, I won’t burn it. This is mine. No-one’s ever signed a book for me before.”

  Mark reached out and Jenni turned away. He punched her hard, low down on the back, twisted her round and grabbed the book. Jenni fought, trying to keep hold but Mark’s left hand slapped her face and her fingers came loose. Mark stepped away, his hands tearing pages loose. Jenni cried out and lunged for him again and he hit her casually back handed and continued on. An old oil drum stood on a patch of scorched grass where they burned rubbish. Mark fumbled in his overalls and pulled out a disposable lighter, flicked a flame from it and held it to the pages he had torn out. The paper caught rapidly, flaring up, and he dropped them in the incinerator, tore more free and added them. He turned to Jenni, holding the book open, showing her the front page Joe had signed, ripped it slowly away from the spine, his movement deliberate. Mark held Joe’s words over the flames until they caught. He tossed the remains of the book into the drum. Then he turned and started toward Jenni.

  Chapter 9

  Jenni did not return to the beach house until Friday, waiting for the worst of the bruising to fade. Kim and Joe were clearing lunch from the bleached table on the porch when Jenni came up in her mismatched top and bikini briefs. Kim slipped her arm around Jenni’s waist and kissed her on the mouth.

  “Joe’s nearly ready. We missed you. Where were you?”

  “Stuff.” Jenni shrugged

  “You’re okay to stay today?”

  Jenni nodded. “Mark’s out with his buds tonight. Bowling, again.”

  Something in Jenni’s voice made Kim turn to her. “What’s wrong, honey?”

  Jenni shook her head. “Nothing’s wrong.” But even as she spoke her voice caught and broke. Kim reached out and drew her into a hug.

  “Tell me, Jen, tell me what’s wrong.”

  Jenni shook her head. “I can’t. Nothing. Nothing’s wrong.”

  “There is. Tell me. Is it Mark?”

  Jenni sobbed, her head nodding into Kim’s shoulder. “He burned Joe’s book, Kim. He found what Joe had written and he burned the book. He can’t stand seeing me happy, Kim, he can’t stand it.”

  “I’ll get Joe sign another one.”

  “I haven’t got another one.”

  “We have,” Kim said. “And if there’s anything we can do to help you only need to ask.”

  Jenni gasped a sob and shook her head. “Nothing. Shit happens, that’s all.”

  “Shit shouldn’t happen.”

  “It does to me. Not you and Joe, no, I can believe that, but to the likes of me shit happens all the time. All the fucking time.”

  Kim pulled back and looked at the face of the most beautiful women she had ever known, saw the shadows under her eyes, then the dark stain on her cheek.

  “He hit you!”

  Jenni shook her head, not negation, just a postponement of the truth.

  “That bastard hit you!” Kim repeated.

  “You don’t understand.” Jenni made an effort to pull herself together, straightening up, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes. “This is my life. This is what I understand, Kim. Not everyone can be like you and Joe. This is real life, and in real life husbands knock their wives about.”

  “Not the real life I know,” Kim said. “You can leave him.”

  Jenni gasped a laugh. “Yeah. On this island? Where would I go that would be any better?”

  “You could-” Kim cut herself off. She had almost said You can come and stay with us, but that would sound weird, too much, too soon. Maybe too much ever. So instead she said, “You can stay then, if he’s out with the guys. Can’t you?”

  Jenni nodded. “I guess.”

  “No,” Kim said. “You can stay. We’d both love you to stay. Ami would love it. I think she has a new hero figure.”

  “She’s so sweet,” Jenni said.

  “So you will stay?”

  “I guess, if I’m invited,” Jenni said, and Kim grinned. Something different was happening today, she sensed it, anticipation vibrating through her body like a drawn bowstring.

  Joe came out in speedos, tighter and more revealing than the shorts he had worn the last time, and Kim saw Jenni’s gaze drop to his trunks. The curve of Joe’s cock was obvious, tucked to one side, a thick ridge pushing against the dark orange lycra. Jenni lifted her eyes and caught Kim watching her and her cheeks flushed.

  Oblivious, Joe brushed past Jenni. “Come on, lazybones.” He lengthened his stride into a slow jog. Jenni glanced again at Kim before turning to run after him. Kim watched her go, enjoying the way Jenni’s ass moved in the tight bikini briefs. She leaned against the porch railing and continued to gaze after them, not concerned when Jenni caught up with Joe and punched him on the side and he reached back and grabbed her around the waist. This thing was going to happen. Kim knew Joe well enough to trust him. She was not going to lose Joe to this woman, however beautiful she was. She knew this deep in her heart, even though they had never before entertained the fantasy they were now playing out.

  The couple reached the breaker line and splashed around, kicking water at each other before striding out through the waves, lifting their arms as each breaker rolled in, splashing foam and spray around their lean bodies. The water had reached their waists when Kim saw Jenni stop abruptly and dart violently sideways. Joe turned to her, trying to grab her arm but as she fell backward Jenni knocked his hand aside and leapt away from him. Joe tried to close the gap but Jenni was shouting something, her voice loud enough for Kim to catch the edge of her words even back on the porch, caught her words but not the meaning. Joe stopped and Kim saw him come toward shore, wading as fast as possible. He came back twenty feet, turned and moved across the waves before turning back toward Jenni. She was floating on her back, arms out, hair spread around, tugged and tangled by the waves. Joe grabbed Jenni under her arms and pulled her back to the shore.

  Kim ran down the beach, her feet flying over the sand toward them. She reached the shore as Joe was dragging Jenni from the water. She lay back in his arms, face contorted with pain, her left leg held up as though she was tryin
g to push it away from her.

  “What happened. What’s wrong?” Kim helped Joe with Jenni, not sure what to do and Joe shook his head and put his arms under Jenni and lifted her easily, walked up the beach with her.

  “Jellyfish,” he said. “Big one. Stung her on the leg.”

  “Vinegar,” Jenni said between gritted teeth. “It’s not a bad one, but fuck it hurts!”

  “Go ahead,” Joe said to Kim. “Find some vinegar. Anything else?” he asked Jenni but she was not listening.

  Kim ran to the house, grateful Ami had gone to sleep after lunch. She found a pint bottle of vinegar, took it out to the porch while Joe carried Jenni the rest of the way. He sat her on the step and knelt beside her leg. The perfect skin was mottled and red all along the front of her thigh, above and below the knee. When Kim leaned close she saw minute stingers hooked into Jenni’s skin. Joe took the bottle of vinegar from Kim and tipped it up, letting a little splash against Jenni’s leg. She winced and gritted her teeth, but when Joe stopped Jenni said, “No, more. And I’ll need some help to shave my leg.”

  The incongruity of what Jenni said made Kim giggle nervously. “They’re pretty smooth already, babe. Shouldn’t we worry about these stingers first?”

  Jenni shook her head, the pain seeming to recede a little as the vinegar discouraged the nematocysts from releasing their toxin. “More vinegar, Joe. The shaving will remove the stingers without release any more poison. I need one of you to help me do it.” She looked at them and they both nodded, and at that moment she didn’t care if they both helped. Her leg was a flame of agony.

  Joe splashed more vinegar on her leg and Jenni waved her hand. “Enough. Keep some for later. Help me inside.”

  Joe took most of her weight and she hopped beside him into the kitchen, through to the small downstairs shower room. Jenni sat on the white plastic seat in the shower and held her leg out. The pain seemed to be easing a little, and she laughed harshly. “This isn’t how I was thinking we might share the shower, but needs must.”

  Kim knelt beside Joe, holding a can of shaving cream and a safety razor.

  “Lots of foam,” Jenni gasped, and Kim let the nozzle spray white foam all over the affected area. Joe ran the razor over Jenni’s leg. Kim took the shower head and turned it on but Jenni shook her head. “Not yet. Fresh water will make it worse. Let Joe remove the stingers first.”

  Kim dropped the shower head and sat on her heels, her hand touching Jenni’s hip in a gesture of sympathy.

  “Again?” Joe asked. He had removed all the foam, and when Jenni nodded he sprayed again and repeated the operation.

  “Okay, more vinegar,” Jenni said. The color had returned to her face, and already Kim could see the irritation reducing. Joe poured the remaining vinegar across her smooth skin and Jenni sighed deeply. She looked to Kim and nodded. “You can wash it off now. If you’ve got some soap and shampoo that’ll help neutralize the venom. I was going to ask if you had any baby oil, but of course you have.”

  “I’ll get it,” Joe said, moving away.

  Kim turned the spray on and poured shampoo on Jenni’s leg, working it in with her fingers, trying not to press too hard. Jenni leaned over and added her own hand.

  “How do you feel now?” Kim asked, looking up at Jenni’s face.

  “Lucky. If that had been a man-of-war I’d be on my way to the emergency room. It was only a moon-jelly, thank God. Have you got anything I can take for the pain?”

  “Some Tylenol?”

  Jenni nodded. “Sounds good. Two.”

  Kim went to find them as Joe returned and started applying the clear baby oil to Jenni’s leg. When Kim returned Jenni had stopped trembling. Kim could see that the slick oil under Joe’s hand against Jenni’s smooth skin was starting to turn him on. She felt it too and tried to push the arousal to one side. Now was not the time.

  “I think I can walk now, but I’m going to need to lie down for a couple of hours.” Jenni pulled a face. “I’m sorry guys, this is not what I was hoping for this afternoon.”

  Kim gave her a hug as Joe helped Jenni to her feet. “It’s you that matters, babe. Use our room upstairs, it’ll be quieter for you.”

  Jenni used Joe as a crutch to climb the stairs. Kim followed, amused to see how his cock had filled and now pushed against his speedos. Under other circumstances the sight would be turning her on as well, but at the moment she was content to observe only.

  Upstairs Jenni dropped to the bed and sighed. Kim handed her a glass of water and two tablets. Jenni swallowed them, looked down at herself and pulled a face, grabbed Joe’s arm so she could stand.

  “I’m getting your bed all wet. Kim, help me out of these things. Joe, you’d better find something else to do.”

  Joe looked at her, his face a comical mask, and Jenni gave a little smile.

  When they were alone Jenni hopped around and said over her shoulder, “Unclip me, Kim.”

  Kim pulled the catch on the bikini top and Jenni let it drop from her breasts to the floor.

  “I don’t know how we can do this without scraping my leg.” Jenni hopped back around, her breasts bouncing enticingly as she moved.

  Kim went to her knees in front of Jenni and slipped her fingers into the waistband of the bikini bottoms.

  “I’ll try and pull these down. See if you can sit when your butt’s clear and I’ll do what I can to keep them away from your leg.”

  “I’m so glad you and Joe were here.”

  Kim smiled. “Anything for you, babe.”

  “Even this? Isn’t this a bit too much like changing Ami?”

  Kim looked up along Jenni’s perfect body, at the large breasts hanging self-supported, swaying slightly as she breathed.

  “I don’t think so,” Kim said, and Jenni’s cheeks flushed.

  Kim started working the bikini bottoms down over Jenni’s hips. This was meant to be a job, but anticipation thrummed in her chest as the other woman’s pubic hair appeared. Darker than her own honey blonde bush would be if she allowed it to grow, Jenni’s pubic hair was fine and curled, completely untrimmed but not a thick mat, enchanting Kim. As the bikini came down it caught for a moment where it was pressed into the slit between Jenni’s legs and Kim tugged harder, her eyes lingering as it pulled free. She was rewarded with an even better view as Jenni sat back on the bed and lifted her right leg to withdraw from one side of the briefs. The movement opened her thighs. Kim saw a perfect pink slit cradled by plump labia. Kim concentrated, stretching material hard as she worked it slowly over Jenni’s leg, trying not to touch skin. She was reminded of a game she used to play with her Dad with a wire and a ring, trying over and over to ease it around the curves without a bell sounding.

  Finally the bikini bottoms came clear and Jenni flopped back against the bed.

  Kim leaned over her. “Do you want the covers?”

  Jenni shook her head. “I’ll just lie like this, I think.” Her eyes were starting to glaze over. “Those Tylenol are kicking in now. I’m floating.”

  Kim backed off. “I’ll shut the door. I wouldn’t want Joe to accidentally get an eyeful.”

  “Joe can look if he wants,” Jenni murmured, but she was starting to drift now.

  “I’ll come see how you are in a couple of hours.”

  “You’re a sweetheart.”

  Kim paused at the door, looking back at the unbelievable perfection of Jenni lying across the sheet. The undersides of her heavy breasts were pale, but not as white as her hips where the bikini bottoms had been, and Kim guessed Jenni sometimes went topless. Sighing, she closed the door softly.

  Joe was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee.

  “There’s fresh made if you want some.”

  Kim poured herself a mug and added cream.

  “How is she?” Joe asked.

  “Okay, I think.”

  He looked across the table at her. “How about you?”

  “I’m fine too, Joe.”

  She knew Joe was on edg
e, hyped up by the sudden emergency, but also she imagined because he was turned on. Kim wondered if she should take him to the small second bedroom, but somehow that didn’t feel right. The house seemed too confining. She knew Joe needed to let off steam some other way.

  “What about you?” Kim asked. “How are you?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. That gave me a hell of a scare.”

  “She’s fine, Joe.” Kim reached across for his hand. “Why don’t you get out? You said you wanted to hire one of those kayaks. Go do something manly, work it out of your system.”

  “I don’t want to leave you here on your own.”

  “I won’t be on my own. Jenni’s upstairs. Besides, I think this has worn me out too. I want to curl up and sleep for an hour. So go, work those gorgeous muscles and come back for dinner.”

  “Are you sure, babe?”

  Kim nodded. “We’ll eat around seven. That should give you enough time to work off whatever’s ailing you.”

  Kim knew exactly what was ailing Joe, but she thought it better for that idea to remain unspoken, for the moment.

  Chapter 10

  Kim jerked awake from a wild dream and looked around, only slowly coming up from the hot place she had been. Her book had fallen closed beside the lounger and her body was vibrating with the sudden jolt of waking.

  She sat up and washed her hands across her face, glanced up at the sun. Time to go in anyway.

  She picked up her book and discarded t-shirt and walked up on the porch, not bothering to pull her top back on, holding the cotton against her breasts although it was no cover at all. Her breasts were ultra-sensitive again after sleeping, and she wondered idly if it was because the sun had been on them or if there was some other reason. Her nipples had dried up now Ami was asleep. They seemed to respond to her daughter’s mere presence. Kim smiled at the thought of Ami and a wash of pure love coursed through her.