It was blissful.
She stroked her fingers slowly across Amy’s smooth skin and crested the round of her bare breast with her palm, brushing her curves with her thumb as she thought about last night and stifled a giddy laugh.
Then her mind wandered back further to her conversation with Cassian and Alice.
Had they made love? She wondered.
Would they have gone that far?
Her phone was on the side table. She hadn’t heard it go off, but she didn’t want to reach out for it to check and risk disturbing Amy.
Perhaps they hadn’t woken up yet? Or perhaps they were doing it again?
She laughed at the thought and turned gently to look up at the still and sleeping girl beneath her.
Could this really work?
Their marital status had gone from Married to It’s Complicated in a matter of weeks, and now it was positively WTF. She was starting to think she might need to create a schedule for their relationship to avoid conflicts and she was half way through wondering if there was an app for that when Amy started to stir.
‘Mmm,’ she moaned happily as she opened her eyes, reaching her hand out to stroke her girlfriend’s long blonde hair.
‘I’m sorry,’ said Emilia. ‘I think I dribbled on your boobs.’
Amy laughed as she rubbed her eyes with her other hand. ‘What time is it?’
‘Early. We’ve got to leave in a bit to go get Cass.’
‘As much as I love your husband, I could so go for another two to three hours in bed.’
Amy looked bleary-eyed out the window at the blue skies and the gently swaying palm trees, then she looked down at Emilia and frowned. ‘Have you heard from them?’
‘I don’t know, I didn’t want to wake you,’ she nodded to where her phone lay, face down on the little side table.
Amy reached across and picked it up, shielding her eyes so as not to see the screen as she handed it down.
Emilia took it and saw one unread message from Cassian. It was from late last night.
Night, night, beautiful. I hope you all had an amazing night. I love you, you are the best xxx
Emilia shrugged. ‘It just says goodnight,’ she laughed. ‘He’s keeping me in suspense, clearly.’
‘Do you want to know?’
Mark knocked on the open door as Emilia began to answer, dressed in nothing but a pinafore and holding a tray of coffee, cranberry juice, croissants and what looked like a freshly cut baguette with a clove of butter on the side.
‘Oh my goodness,’ said Amy, sitting up excited as Emilia rolled aside. ‘This looks amazing.’
Emilia slid up the bed until she was upright against the headboard, shoulder to shoulder with Amy. She smiled widely at both the naked man-waiter in the pinafore and the continental breakfast-in-bed that had been laid out before them.
‘Thank you,’ she said as she reached out for a croissant, taking a delicate bite as the sweet pastry crumbled against her lips.
‘How did you girls sleep?’
Emilia nodded enthusiastically and then mimed fainting.
‘You did yourself proud,’ laughed Amy. ‘We both passed out.’
Mark nodded slowly, satisfied and grinning with pride.
‘Last night was amazing,’ said Emilia quietly, having swallowed her bite. ‘Thank you.’
‘Anytime,’ said Amy, raising her eyebrows suggestively and looking between them.
‘As much as I’d love a repeat performance this morning,’ said Mark. ‘We do need to leave in forty five minutes to go and get Cass.’
Amy rolled her eyes disappointedly and grinned.
‘Wait, forty five minutes from now?’ she said, her expression changing in a flash.
Mark nodded, nabbing the end piece of the baguette.
Amy wriggled out of the bed and hopped down onto the tiled floor in her bare feet.
‘Why didn’t you wake me earlier?’ she said, skittering towards the en-suite. ‘I’m never going to be ready in time.’
Emilia laughed as Amy shut the door and then a moment later she opened it again, peering out in alarm.
‘Em, can you choose me something to wear?’
She laughed harder, her mouth full of croissant, nodding as she tried to stop herself spraying pastry over Mark, who was shaking his head.
‘You don’t need as much time to get ready?’ he asked.
Emilia shook her head, swallowing her mouthful and taking a breath.
‘Yes but this is too much fun to watch,’ she laughed, her little frame bouncing up and down. ‘But no, seriously, we’re going to be late.’
She burst out laughing again as Amy came running out once more to grab her towel in a wild panic, and then disappeared back into the en-suite, slamming the door.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Mark, finishing up the last piece of croissant. ‘I’ll get us there on time.’
*
Alice woke up from a deep and gentle slumber, feeling more fully rested and recharged than she’d felt in years. She allowed herself a moment of blissful happiness, recalling how incredible everything had felt last night, before opening the trapdoor holding back the existential dread that was festering deep inside of her as a result of her recent employment predicament, her homelessness and the fact that after years of joking about it she had finally fucked her sister’s husband.
One problem at a time.
She’d been fired.
Sort of.
That was the easiest way to explain it to Emilia in any case, and there was no way she was going to start explaining everything in more detail to her beloved sister right now. The poor girl was riddled with anxiety and the last thing she needed to know was exactly what had happened yesterday.
That would involve explaining exactly what she did for a living.
And that was not a conversation she was prepared to have right now.
Perhaps ever.
She heard Cassian’s footsteps coming up the stairs.
Her natural instinct for dignity kicked in and she covered herself up, tucking the duvet up to her chin.
Then she laughed at herself, and the absurdity of the whole situation. Here she was, naked in her sisters bed, having had the best sex of her life last night with her sisters husband.
‘Oh fuck,’ she said, sighing under her breath as she waited for him to walk through the door. She felt like a schoolgirl again.
He would be leaving soon. Flying down to the south of France to join his wife and their swinger friends for just under a week of fun in the sun.
She wanted to be going with them, but that wasn’t right or fair. Not now.
She had to get her life in order first. That was her priority.
The best sex of her life, though. It really had been, without a doubt. She’d never had an orgasm like it.
Rolling, multiple and toe curling.
She’d cried out so loud she was afraid the neighbours would call the police.
She’d felt utterly and completely satisfied, and desperate for more.
Cassian was something else.
He pushed open the door slowly, peering inside and found her smiling at him from behind her duvet shield.
‘Hey,’ she said, quietly.
‘Morning.’
‘Are you off?’
‘Soon.’
She smiled at him and took a deep breath. He walked over and she tucked her knees up so he could sit down on the bed in front of her.
He looked at her and smiled and she tingled as his eyes made their way slowly over her face, looking at her eyes, her mouth, her nose. She felt giddy and she couldn’t help but smile. It was as though he’d wanted to gaze on her for so long but couldn’t, but now things had changed, he was taking his time, savouring her, drinking her in.
He looked down, smiling and then glanced back sideways.
‘What you said last night,’ he spoke slowly. ‘When you asked me if I loved her? If I’d said no, would you-‘
‘Have walked out? Ye
s.’ Cassian smiled as she continued. ‘If you didn’t truly love her? If there was some niggling doubt in your mind, that somehow the grass might be greener with me and that you could jump ship and switch to the older sister mid-game? I’d have walked away, and never looked back,’ she smiled, and then leaned forward, taking his hand in hers. ‘Attraction isn’t cheating, Cass. Lust isn’t cheating. Sex isn’t cheating. Dishonesty is cheating. No one is being dishonest.’ She breathed in and huffed, then leaned back against the headboard. ‘Marriage and monogamy are imagined orders, they’re .’
‘That sounds like a quote.’
‘Go ahead and fucking quote me then,’ she laughed.
‘Is this wrong?’
‘Have we lied? No. I’ve never pretended to you or Em that I don’t fancy you or that I don’t want to fuck you. It’s only wrong because our culture has decided it’s wrong. There’s nothing objectively wrong with sex for pleasure with whoever we want. It’s the cultural order that we’ve created that tells us it’s taboo. That forbids us to sleep with our neighbours wife, or… our sisters husband.’
‘You’ve been thinking about this?’
She shrugged and looked down into her lap. ‘For years,’ she laughed. ‘It might be deemed wrong by others, but it felt right to me.’
‘Me too,’ he smiled and squeezed her fingers.
‘I think Em gets it too. At least I bloody hope she does.’
Cassian laughed, but he felt strange. He couldn’t shake the creeping feeling of guilt. As though this had been a test that he’d failed.
Emilia wasn’t like that though, she was honest, she didn’t play games or trick him. She was amazing. Innocent in her own way, and pure.
Somehow that made him feel worse.
‘I think she gets it more than we do,’ he said, smiling. ‘Well, more than I do at least.’
‘Do you need to go?’
He nodded.
‘Shame, I was hoping for round three.’
‘Rain check?’
‘Deal.’
‘You got everything you need?’
Alice shrugged. ‘Oh, wait. Em said I could guess the code to your safe?’ she frowned, confused.
Cassian grinned as he stood up, nodding. ‘Did she now?’
‘Any clues?’
‘It won’t take you long to figure out.’
Alice stared blankly at him and then after second or two of thought, she smiled and nodded.
‘I think I know.’
She slipped her bare legs out the side of the bed and pushed the covers aside, smiling at Cassian as she stood up naked in front of him, and then leaned in for a hug.
He hesitated, frozen in surprise and then wrapped his arms around her bare torso, pulling her in tight.
‘Thank you,’ she whispered in his ear, making the hairs on his neck stand on end. ‘Sure you don’t want to stay for round three? You could fuck my ass?’
Cassian closed his eyes, almost dizzy with sudden arousal. He took a deep breath and exhaled through pursed lips.
‘If I don’t leave now, I’ll miss my plane.’
Alice laughed. ‘Go,’ she said, pushing him away and turning him around. ‘Be with her, be with them. Give her my love.’
Cassian walked to the door and turned back, looking her up and down and shaking his head.
‘Stay safe, Alice. Call us if you need anything.’
‘I will.’
She winked as he shut the door, listening as he went down the stairs; the front door closing, the key in the lock, the car starting and reversing out onto the road. She huffed and turned to look at herself in the free standing mirror, admiring the shape of her body, the imperfections, the curves, the bumps.
After a while she turned and pulled open the cupboard door and knelt down to look more closely at the little safe. It had a red light next to a little keypad. She reached toward it and pressed the first button, then she tapped the next five numbers in quick succession.
The light went green.
‘Em, you little bitch.’
It was set to her date of birth.
‘I fucking love you,’ she laughed as she looked at the small pile of cash inside.
*
The airport was heaving with passengers and tourists as the trio made their way into the arrivals area. The drive had been as smooth and as fast as on the way out, but this time Emilia had felt a little more relaxed and safe. She’d sat up front with Mark whilst Amy had snoozed in the back and had found the experience surprisingly exciting and more than a little arousing.
By the time they’d arrived at the airport she’d decided she would be buying Cassian a racing car experience day for his birthday and booking a hotel for later that night.
She looked up at the arrivals board, searching for the flight number and the airport listing. Amy pointed up as she saw it flicker past.
‘There,’ she said. ‘AF1691. Landed ten minutes ago. He should be off the plane soon.’
Emilia smiled and did her best not to jump up and down on the spot. She’d missed him dearly, even it had only been for a couple of days. She wanted to hear his voice again and see his face. To kiss him and to hold him.
‘I’ll go get some coffees,’ said Mark.
‘Oh, could I have a decaf?’ she said quickly, touching his arm and smiling.
‘Me too,’ said Amy as Mark nodded and peeled off toward a busy cafe situated on the concourse. A tannoy sounded through the hangar like space and a man spoke quickly in French and then again in accented English.
‘Please do not leave baggage unattended-‘.
Amy tuned out the noise and turned to Emilia, reaching for her hand and squeezing it.
‘You okay?’ she said.
She took her eyes away from the exit tunnel and nodded.
‘Isn’t it better that you don’t know?’
Emilia shrugged. ’I don’t think it matters. I’ll always love them both, who I am to tell them what they cant and can’t do with their bodies?’
Amy shook her head, smiling in awe at her girlfriend. ‘I think you and the Dalai Lama would get along very well.’
Emilia laughed, but the truth was, she was conflicted. Last night everything had made sense but this morning she had been struggling to rationalise it. In her excitement and anticipation of spending the night with Mark and Amy, she had felt guilty about Cassian’s absence, and in her eagerness to please him, and her almost compulsive need to make her sister happy, she had not just agreed but actually seeded the idea of something that she was no longer sure she was comfortable with, and she had no one to blame but herself.
She hadn’t wanted to disappoint Amy or Mark, and she didn’t want to let Cassian down either. She had been so busy trying to make sure that everyone else was happy, that she hadn’t realised that she was actually being selfish.
When she’d woken up this morning there was a part of her that had hoped to see a message from Cassian saying that he and Alice had slept apart and that he was looking forward to seeing her today.
Every now and again she would regain the rationality and composure she’d had last night. That strange and unconventional part of her that was not only okay with what might have happened between them, but was positively encouraging it. It felt like the elusive feather that Amy had described some weeks back, that sense of enlightenment, of purity and emotional maturity, understanding and compassion.
She took a deep breath.
No matter what had happened, she would forgive him.
No. Forgive was the wrong word.
There was nothing to forgive. She had consented.
But she would move past it. She hoped. She would have to, it wouldn’t be fair on Mark and Amy to join them on their holiday and then ruin it with drama and upset.
She took a deep breath and turned back to the board. As she scanned it for Cassian’s flight her phone buzzed in the back pocket of her shorts. She reached around and pulled it out, expecting to see a message from Cassian letting her know h
e was waiting for his luggage or off the plane, but instead it was Alice.
She froze.
Cassian was a gentleman. He wouldn’t kiss and tell. But Alice was as blunt as a sledgehammer.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
She had to read it, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
She swiped.
Amy, still staring up the board, glanced sideways at the flurry of movement and saw a frown cross Emilia’s face as she began to read.
Shitting fuck Em. Your husband just got promoted from The Greek to The Greek GOD. His cock is like a magic fucking wand. I’ve never come that hard in my life. TWICE. You get this every NIGHT? We are doing this again. P.S. I love you so much, you are the best sister in the whole world and I will never stop loving you. P.P.S. You remember saying this was okay right? RIGHT? If not, this whole text is bullshit and I’m just talking bollocks. I stayed at Mum’s and we watched the Antiques Roadshow. It was shit xXx
She stared, open mouthed at the words before her, and then she started to laugh.
Amy glanced back again at the sound and looked at her, confused and frowning.
‘What is it? Is it Cass?’
‘It’s Alice,’ said Emilia, shaking her head and giggling harder.
‘What did she say?’
She was laughing so hard now that tears were running down her face. She handed the phone to Amy who scanned it and then stifled a laugh too.
‘Oh my goodness, your sister is nuts.’
A flight of passengers were beginning to exit the arrival gates but it was too early to be Cassian’s, and Emilia was now almost bent over and it was beginning to draw attention. Amy took her arm and guided her away to a row of nearby seats, sitting her down next to an elderly French lady reading a newspaper called L’Humanite.
‘Are you okay?’ Amy said, kneeling down in front of her.
Emilia’s eyes were streaming with tears, but Amy could tell they were happy not sad.
‘Yes,’ she said, nodding emphatically. ‘Is there something wrong with me?’
Amy shook her head slowly.
‘I’m just really happy for them. But that’s fucking weird right?’
The elderly lady looked sideways at them for a moment and then turned back to her paper.
Come With Us Page 6
