by Nikki Ashton
Things with Betty had been fraught all day. They barely spoke, and when they did it was either one word answers or a full blown shouting match. Martha had tried to explain her feelings to her daughter, how she wanted a different life for her, but Betty was adamant that her mother was the ‘biggest, most hateful, witch’ that she had ever met. Martha had almost slapped her, but managed to stop herself because there was no point in making things any worse than they already were.
“Betty, I won’t tell you again, lunch is ready.” Martha stormed back into the kitchen and continued to eat her food.
Betty finally slammed down on her seat, picked up her spoon and sullenly started to eat.
“This soup is cold,” she said.
“I’m not surprised,” Martha said. “It’s been on the table for twenty minutes. Put it in the microwave.”
Betty tutted, scraped back her chair and stamped off in the direction of the microwave.
Martha was about to say something but was stopped by a knock at the back door. She looked at Betty who just shrugged.
“Don’t look at me, I’m waiting for my soup to heat up.”
“Fine,” Martha sighed. She stood up and went over to the door.
On the doorstep, clutching a bunch of tulips, stood Noah. His hair was brushed and he was wearing trousers and a checked shirt, rather than his usual skinny jeans and t-shirt.
“Noah!” Betty cried, running to the door and pushing past Martha. “Are those for me?”
Noah cleared his throat. “Actually, they’re for your mum,” he said, holding them forward in a shaky hand. “Martha, can we talk please?”
Martha shook her head. “Thank you for the thought, Noah, but I’m sorry Betty needs to concentrate on her college work, so she’s grounded until after her exams. She needs a good future, and going to university will help to provide that for her.”
“Mum, just listen to him. He’s bought you flowers for god’s sake.” Betty stood next to Noah and linked arms with him.
“Please, Martha,” Noah said. “I love Betty and I want what’s best for her as much as you do, but I don’t know why you won’t let us see each other.”
“I appreciate your efforts, and the flowers, but do you understand how angry I am about this? I get that you’re young, and I’m not so naïve to think that Betty will never have sex, but to actually find you both like that was a huge shock.”
“I understand, and it was extremely disrespectful of us to do it in your bed, and I’m, no we, are really sorry.” Noah looked at Betty and narrowed his eyes, silently asking her to apologise.
“Yes we are, Mum. It was my idea, not Noah’s, he didn’t want to, but my bed is a single and…”
Martha held up her hand. “Thanks, but too much information.”
“Please don’t keep us apart Martha,” Noah grabbed hold of Betty’s hand. “I do love her and want what’s best for her, I promise. I can even help with her studying, I did the same books for English A-level.”
Martha sighed and realised that standing her ground would only push them together.
“How long has it been going on?” she asked out of curiosity.
Betty blushed and lowered her head. “Since Luke’s party,” she whispered.
Martha felt ashamed that she hadn’t spotted that her daughter had been in a relationship for almost two months. But hey, she was a teenager; they were gifted extra special powers of deception on their thirteenth birthday.
“Okay, why don’t you come in Noah?”
Betty grinned at Noah and pulled him into the kitchen.
“Sit here,” she said pushing him into a chair.
Martha took her own seat and was surprised when Betty took her hand and squeezed it.
“Thank you Mum.”
“You don’t know what I’m going to say yet.”
Noah, still clutching the flowers, gave her a small smile. He was obviously nervous as the tulips were shaking so much in his hand that they were in danger of losing all their petals.
“Betty, take the flowers and put them in water. They’re lovely by the way.”
“Thank you,” Noah said as he handed them to Betty.
“Right,” Martha said laying her hands out on the table. “I think it took a lot for you to come and see me Noah, so this is what I’ll agree to. During the week you can see each other, but Betty has to be home by eight-thirty so that she can get a couple of hours study done. If you wish to help her study, then you can, but,” Martha said pointing a finger at them, “none of it will be done upstairs, is that clear?”
Betty and Noah nodded their heads.
“On a Saturday Betty is free to do what she wants, but on a Sunday she must do at least four hours studying. Okay?”
“I promise that I will, Mum.”
”You’d better because if you slip at any point, then I will ground you. I know it sounds hard, but that’s the way it has to be, I’m sorry.” Martha could see by their faces that they knew that she was throwing them a bone. “Betty, get Noah some soup, would you like some, its home made?”
“Yes please,” he replied as he blew out a long breath. “And thank you for seeing our point of view, Martha.”
“I like you Noah, but I just want what’s best for Betty, so please don’t let me down.”
“I won’t, but one thing.”
“Don’t push it,” Martha laughed.
“No it’s nothing like that. Would you please ring Uncle Luke, he’s been acting as though he’s got a boil on his bum all day.”
“Oh God, yes Mum. You haven’t told me about you and Luke yet,” Betty cried as she placed a bowl of soup in front of Noah.
“That’s my business; you just concentrate on eating your lunch.” Suddenly realising that she’d missed talking to Luke, Martha got up from her seat. “I’ll go and ring him now, enjoy your lunch and once you’ve finished as it’s Saturday you can go and have some fun.”
“Yes Mum, we will and thank you again.”
As she left the kitchen Martha glanced over her shoulder, she couldn’t help but smile as Noah quickly pecked a kiss on Betty’s cheek before tucking back into his food.
Pulling her feet up onto the sofa, Martha dialled Luke’s number, he answered almost immediately.
“Hey,” he said breathlessly. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, Noah’s here and we’ve just had a chat and set some ground rules.”
“The little fucker, I told him to stay away for now.” Luke sounded angry.
“It’s okay,” Martha replied. “He was very grown up about it and brought me flowers.”
Luke laughed. “Well, the little charmer.”
“Must take after you,” Martha said with a sigh. Just hearing his voice made her feel better.
“Maybe, but I think I can do better than a bunch of flowers. How about I come over later and show you how charming I can be?” Luke’s voice was low and provocative causing goose bumps to break out all over Martha’s body.
“One of the rules I’ve set is that Betty can do whatever she likes on a Saturday, so…”
“So that means that I can come over and play?”
Martha giggled. “Yes it does, so as soon as they’ve gone, I’ll ring you.”
Luke laughed. “I’ll be waiting,” he replied. “And babe, I’ve gone over twenty four hours without you, so you’d better be ready.”
Martha felt a heat wash over her, concentrating in her groin. “God, I’ll be ready,” she said breathily, “don’t you worry about that.”
Chapter 23
“I’m not crying, don’t be stupid,” Luke said. He leaned forward to eject the DVD from Martha’s laptop.
“Luke, you shouldn’t be ashamed to shed a little tear at The Notebook, it’s a modern day classic.” Martha ran her hand down his back, drinking in the firmness of his muscles.
Noah had taken Betty shopping and then to the cinema, so as soon as Martha called him Luke made it down to the cottage in a time that could well have won him
a gold medal at the Olympics. With just one foot through the door, he and Martha had wasted no time in ripping each other’s clothes off, and bolting upstairs to her bedroom. After some hot and frenzied sex, Martha had suggested that they watch a film in bed.
“Yeah well, it was okay but it was no Anchorman. So, what now?” he asked putting the laptop on the floor. “It’s only just gone four, so I think we’ve got at least another five hours to fill, so any ideas?” Without waiting for an answer, Luke turned and pulled Martha to him “Oh yes, I know what we can do.”
With both hands he gently cupped Martha’s breasts, and slowly started circling her nipples. Martha gave a whimper as fireworks started to go off inside her body.
“Is that nice?”
“Mmm,” she moaned.
“What about this?”
Luke began to drop kisses along the swell of her breasts and down her ribcage, each kiss sending Martha into deeper pleasure. He slowly moved his mouth down her body, his lips tracing a path to her stomach, while his fingers stroked gentle circles at the top of her inner thigh. As Luke moved back up to kiss along Martha’s neck he ran his fingers up her hips, the whisper of his touch making her shiver with desire. She arched her back, the sheets bunching in her clenched hand as she begged for more. Luke smiled up at her, and licked a soft circle around her belly button before moving slowly over the soft skin of her belly, lower and lower, making her tense and draw in an excited breath through her teeth. Then, knowing instinctively what she was expecting, he teasingly nibbled at the top of her thigh. She groaned at the feel of his teeth, digging softly but firmly into her flesh.
“Oh my god,” she breathed. “Luke, please.”
He looked at her again and smiled.
“No,” he said. “Not yet,” and moved lower still, kissing and licking slowly all the way down her inner thigh, his stubble grazing her skin which was beginning to prickle with beads of perspiration. Slowly he worked his way down Martha’s leg, all the way down to her toes, his heat against her, making her writhe and push her body up to him. She groaned, her teeth clamping together, her hands in his hair. She burned with desire and begged, without words, for him to give her more.
On all fours, Luke crawled up the bed until his and Martha’s faces were inches apart. “I need you now, baby,” he whispered, the intensity of his gaze almost pinning her to the bed. “I can’t wait.”
“Then don’t.”
He moved between her legs and gently guided himself into her, groaning with desire. With their hands linked above Martha’s head they slowly moved in time together. As Martha arched her back, Luke let go of her hands and gripped her hips and held her tightly as she clutched his shoulders. Luke lowered his mouth and kissed her fluttering eyelids, her cheeks and then along her jaw, and as Martha threw her head back he kissed down her neck. Their bodies as one, slowly and gently moving together. Luke watched Martha as their pleasure built, and as they laced their fingers again he stooped to give her a long lingering kiss, his desire intensified. She moaned his name. Luke pressed his cheek against hers, his stubble scratching a sensuous sting to her skin.
“I think I love you,” he whispered into her ear.
“God, I think I love you too,” Martha panted out breathlessly.
Finally, the waves of pleasure broke and crashed against both of them. They cried out, gasping, clinging to each other as their bodies shuddered through their release. Luke rolled away from her and they lay together, sweat glistening on their skin, and contented smiles on both their faces.
“I thought you could only cook toast and barbeque?” Martha said, pinching some cheese from a pile that Luke had grated.
She was sitting on top of one of the kitchen cupboards, swinging her legs while she watched Luke whisk eggs for a cheese and mushroom omelette.
“Yeah, well that plus omelette is the sum total of my cooking skills,” he said, “and stop nicking the cheese.” He smacked Martha’s hand that had just reached out to pinch some more.
“But, I’m hungry,” Martha said, pulling a face. She leaned across and kissed Luke’s bare shoulder.
“Okay,” he said, passing her a bowl of grapes. “Here, eat these instead. Although, I’m not surprised you’re hungry.” Luke lifted an eyebrow. “Four hours of sex and fun, seriously babe that’s pretty good going even for me, Mr Sex God of Rock.”
Martha giggled. “I wished I’ve never called you that now,” she said picking a grape from the bowl and popping it into her mouth.
“I quite like it to be honest,” Luke said, flashing her a cheeky smile. “I think it suits me.”
Neither of them had mentioned the L word that had been uttered during their throes of passion. Martha was desperate to ask Luke if he meant it, when he said he thought he loved her, because if he didn’t he needed to tell her. That way she could prepare herself for heartache when he ended it. She wished she hadn’t said it back, and pretended that she hadn’t heard him, but she couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth because she knew them to be true.
Luke was desperate too, but for Martha not to mention it. It wasn’t that it wasn’t true; he did think he loved her, but now he felt stupid as it was too soon. Plus, Martha had said it back, which meant that if he did fuck this up it would hurt her even more. But, who was he kidding, this had never been just about sex, it had always been something deeper from that first time they kissed on the plane going out to Italy. He was in deep and it scared him.
Pushing her worries aside, Martha continued to watch as Luke prepared the food. He certainly had been a sex god that afternoon. But who wouldn’t want to spend four hours of orgasmic bliss with Luciano Mahoney? Just looking at him made her want to drag him back upstairs. He was dressed in just his jeans with the top button undone, nothing else, a day’s worth of stubble, tattoos on display, muscles taught and hair messy, and sexy as hell while making her an omelette. Feeling her nipples spring to attention, Martha reached out with her legs and hooked them around Luke’s waist.
“Lukey,” she purred. “I think I need you again.”
Luke shook his head and smiled. “Fuck babe, you’re gonna kill me.”
“Yeah,” Martha grinned, “but what a way to go.” She pulled Luke to her until he was between her legs, pushed up against the cupboard.
Luke placed his hands on the cupboard, either side of her hips, and leaned in to kiss her. Martha ran her hands up the back of his neck and moved her mouth to his ear where she kissed and nipped his earlobe before moving her lips to the sensitive spot behind his ear.
“You are one naughty girl,” Luke whispered breathlessly. He took the hem of her vest top, and as Martha put her arms in the air, he pulled it off and threw it to the floor.
“I want you so much,” Martha moaned huskily, as Luke took her hard nipple into his mouth.
“Mother!” Betty’s voice broke into their moment of passion like a lightning bolt. ”What the hell are you doing?”
Luke lifted his head quickly, catching Martha on the chin.
“Oow,” she cried, trying to grab her chin and cover her breasts at the same time.
“Sorry,” Luke wailed feebly, rubbing the back of his head. “Are you okay?”
“Never mind that!” Betty said, hands on hips and her mother’s death stare burning in her eyes. “What’s going on?”
“Well the thing is Betty…” Luke said sheepishly, still rubbing the back of his head.
“Ah did you hurt your head?” Martha sighed and ran a hand down the side of Luke’s cheek.
Luke turned his head to nuzzle against Martha’s palm. “I’m fine, as long as you’re okay.”
“Erm, excuse me,” Betty said, wagging her finger at them. ”Back in the room people. You do know that seeing you two going at it on the kitchen cupboard is the sort of thing that could scar me for life.”
“Well we weren’t exactly going at it,” Martha replied with a shrug.
“Someone interrupted us before we could get there,” Luke said qu
ietly. He and Martha started giggling like a couple of teenagers.
“How is this funny?” Betty demanded. “And why are you not mortified? Should I give you the same lecture that you gave me only twenty four hours ago?”
“I know and I’m sorry. It’s very irresponsible of us, but we thought you’d be out for hours yet,” Martha said trying not to laugh. She turned Luke around and pulled his back to her chest, draping her arms around his neck, holding him close - a shield against her nakedness.
“Betty did you find…” Noah chose this moment to walk into the room. He stood in the doorway for a second while he registered the scene that confronted him. ”Oh shit,” he said.
“Noah, get out, my mother and your uncle are half naked and having sex on a kitchen cupboard.” Betty turned him around and started shoving him back out of the door.
“You’ve not heard the last of this,” she said, turning to Luke and Martha who had just about managed to stem their giggles. Betty pointed her finger at them both. “We’ll discuss this again.”
Martha winced as the back door slammed shut.
“I think you’re in trouble with your daughter,” Luke said kissing Martha.
“I know, let’s hope she doesn’t ground me or ban you from the house.” Martha smiled and cupped Luke’s face in her hands, gazing into his deep emerald eyes.
“God no,” he said smiling back. “Maybe I’ll just buy her some flowers and hope for the best.”
When Betty got into Noah’s car after storming from the cottage, he hadn’t known what to say at first, but then he noticed a small smile playing at her lips and they both burst out laughing.
“I suppose it means your uncle Luke won’t be so grumpy now,” Betty said wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.
“Which is a good thing.”
Betty nodded. “Yes, it is. Although I think the picture of them is like burned on my retinas forever. Old people should not be allowed to have sex.”
