The One Man to Heal Her

by Meredith Webber

  ‘Do we want sensible?’ he grouched, and now she saw the tiredness in his face.

  ‘Today we do,’ she said. ‘Well, for this morning at least! We’re both too tired for much else.’

  ‘It’s age, isn’t it?’ he grumbled, but Alex knew he’d agreed. ‘But no cabs,’ he added. ‘I’ll drive you home. It’s only another half-hour there and back.’

  They left the surf club hand in hand, and she rested her fingers on his thigh as he drove her home.

  ‘Just drop me off, no need to get out,’ she said, as he opened his door.

  ‘No?’ he said, climbing out of the car and reminding her of the problems she’d had during the week.

  ‘Is that why you insisted on driving me home?’ she asked, as they walked together to the front door, but Will didn’t answer, turning her instead and attempting to walk her, none too gently, back towards his vehicle.

  But Alex glanced over her shoulder and saw the tiny pink and grey bundle outside the door.

  ‘Buddy!’ she cried, breaking away from Will and racing forward.

  The galah was definitely dead, but as Alex lifted the bird’s stiff body she heard the raucous cry from inside.

  ‘It’s not Buddy,’ she said, thrusting the bird at Will so she could open the door. ‘It’s just a stuffed bird. A piece of taxidermy.’

  She opened the door and the grey and pink bullet sped towards her, landing on her shoulder and scolding her loudly for being out all night.

  Tears of relief she couldn’t hold back were running down her cheeks, and Buddy, sensing her distress, brushed his head against them, quieter now, but still scolding his ‘pretty girl’.

  ‘That settles it,’ Will said, passing her in the hall and heading for the kitchen. ‘I’m staying while you sleep, then you can pack a bag and come to my place—stay in Mum’s flat. I’ll put the bird into a bag and take it into the police station this afternoon.’

  With Buddy still on her shoulder, Alex sank down into a lounge chair.

  ‘Who could hate me so much?’ she whispered, when Will returned.

  Will had no answer except to ease her out of the chair and take her in his arms, holding her close until the tears were spent, then guiding her feet upstairs to the big bedroom with its view out to the river she loved.

  Later, when they’d both caught up on some sleep, they’d have to talk—to go back to the time they’d first met and try to work out who she might have upset so much that the anger still burned.

  ‘I upset everyone I knew,’ she murmured, as if she was following his thoughts, but when he began to ease the tunic she’d been wearing off over her head she didn’t protest, simply helped him, then pulled off her leggings herself.

  ‘Let’s just go to bed,’ she said, and Will knew it wasn’t an invitation to do any more than be together—to share the bed—and hopefully sleep, although now his mind was churning with ways and means to track down whoever was tormenting Alex.

  Preferably before the attacks escalated to violence against Alex herself…

  * * *

  Alex turned in her sleep, or half turned as she met a warm body. Memories of the long night, breakfast at the beach then returning home.

  Will…

  He must have stirred for now his arm came around her, drawing her close, so she was spooned against his body, and, secure in his arms—secure in a way she hadn’t felt for so long—she slept again.

  Until, slowly, an awareness grew—awareness of his body, of his body’s reaction to hers—and still half-asleep she moved so the arm that held her close shifted and his hand rested on her breast, caressed it gently—awakening her body as his was awakening.

  ‘You’re still asleep,’ Will murmured, his lips warm against her shoulder. ‘Bad time to make decisions.’

  But his hand had left her breast and was trailing across her stomach. Her nerves were alert to every touch while her body ached for more.

  Ached for more?

  When had her body ever ached for anything, let alone more?

  She must have stiffened for his hand stilled, lay flat on her stomach, warm and kind of heavy.

  And the breasts he’d touched felt heavy too—sensitised and…

  His lips pressed against her shoulder, against the base of her neck—surely that couldn’t be an erogenous zone—but now they’d slid to kiss the sensitive hollow below her ear, firing such erotic responses she felt breathless.

  Certain she’d end up pulling away, disappointing him, she turned and traced her fingers across his face, kissed his lips then drew back to look at him.

  Or could it work?

  Sleepy brown eyes, unshaven chin, lips that asked to be kissed.

  She kissed them again and sighed.

  Looked into those now serious brown eyes.

  ‘This is where things usually break down in my relationships,’ she whispered, touching his face again, tracing the laugh lines near his eyes. ‘I have tried before, but I go all stiff and cold and somehow the few men I’ve known found that off-putting.’

  ‘But you’ve never tried with Superman!’ he teased, and she smiled and let him draw her close, let him wrap his arms around her and hold her against his warm body.

  ‘If this is all you want, Alex, that’s okay. Just lie there, let me hold you, let’s just be together in a nice warm bed while the rest of the world goes by.’

  She snuggled closer, confused now, the ache for more still there. Will’s hands caressed her back, her neck, fingers kneading her scalp, and she moved her hands against his back, feeling the muscles over the bone, then higher, feeling the shape of his head, the tension in his neck…

  ‘It isn’t really okay, is it,’ she said, as she, in turn, kneaded, but his neck muscles, not his scalp.

  He drew back so this time he could look at her, and the hint of laughter was back in his eyes.

  ‘We’ll work it out,’ he promised. ‘I can understand physical intimacy being hard for you, but it’s not a walk in the park for me either, and this instant attraction thing—well, that’s just plain scary.’

  ‘Superman scared?’

  ‘Very,’ he said, serious again, although when he kissed her it didn’t feel like a scared kiss.

  Maybe a little tentative, but only until she kissed him back, opened her mouth to his tongue, and pressed close to his body again.

  How long they kissed for she had no idea, but when Will eased away, sat up in bed and announced that was enough for one day, she felt devastated.

  Or her body felt devastated…

  * * *

  He had to go!

  He had to go right now, or things would escalate and he’d lose this woman altogether, and although he couldn’t really understand it, he knew he couldn’t let that happen.

  Will was trying to untangle himself not only from Alex but from the sheets yet still retain enough covering to hide his burgeoning erection.

  Her hand touched his hip.

  ‘Stay?’

  Nothing more than a sibilant whisper but it tightened his groin even more.

  Now Alex was sitting up, sitting behind him, her arms around his chest, her fingers brushing against his nipples in such a way he almost groaned with agony.

  ‘Help me?’

  The words were pressed against his shoulder and, given his condition, there was no way he should have agreed.

  But somehow they were lying down again, well, Alex lying down, he resting his head on his elbow, lying on his side so his reaction would be less obvious.

  He looked into the beseeching blue eyes and knew he was lost.

  ‘Are you sure?’ he asked.

  She nodded then reached up to trace his lips with a fingertip.

  ‘Just show me how, Superman, show me how it could be,’ she whispered.

  Will took a long, deep breath. A cold shower would have been better but hardly appropriate at this time.

  ‘So, first we kiss,’ he said, determined not to rush her, wanting desperately to show her how enjoyable
consensual sex could be. ‘But while we kiss we can explore each other—that’s what hands are for. Are you okay with that?’

  She nodded again but this time he detected the hint of a smile on her so-delectable lips.

  So, lying side by side, they kissed, and while his hands stroked and teased her back and breasts and belly, hers, more tentative, sent fire flashing through his body.

  He slipped his mouth away from hers, kissing her ear, nibbling at the lobe, kissed his way down her neck while she pressed kisses against his head.

  She stiffened when his mouth closed very gently around a nipple, but before he could pull away she’d relaxed and her hands were holding his head to her breasts.

  Urgent sensations speared from Alex’s breast to her sensitive core, and her body shuddered with something she supposed must be desire. Will’s attentions to her breast immediately stopped and she had to hold his head to show she wanted more.

  Well, she thought she wanted more…

  And now it all became a little confusing, sensations she’d never known swamping her body and anaesthetising her brain.

  Will’s teeth were teasing at her nipples, first one then the other, while his hand was sliding down her body, finger tickling at her navel, hand sliding lower, fingers gently brushing against the lips, touching and retreating, each retreat a tease that notched her tension higher.

  She was mindless now, beyond thought, giving in to the sensual eroticism of Will’s touch, so when his fingers slid into her she shuddered, but it was a shudder of a different kind. And now those clever fingers were touching her inside and out, moving slowly then swiftly, then slowing again—teasing. She knew he was teasing because the tension building inside her was close to an eruption of some kind, but not, she knew, even in her dazed state, a frightening eruption.

  So when it came, the explosive release, she thrashed on the bed, shuddering again, pins and needles racing from her toes up to her scalp, her body so light only Will’s arms anchored her to earth.

  She snuggled against him, spent but confused, aware this was a two-way thing and now it would—or should—be her turn to pleasure Will.

  But Will seemed unfazed, his hand, still now, between her legs, his other arm holding her close.

  As sense returned, with it came sensation and she knew she wanted more—possibly needed more.

  So it was up to her.

  She slid back enough to run her hands across his chest, and kissed him as her thumbs brushed his nipples. Kept kissing him, feeling his response, not only in the kiss but in the tightening of his body.

  ‘Be very sure,’ he whispered against her lips, and as she swallowed the breath of the words she felt for him, guiding him into her wetness, letting him fill her as tremors from her orgasm still lingered.

  Moving with him now, feeling his body heavy on hers, feeling his desire rising in the urgency of his movements, her own building again until an even stronger release matched his, her cry echoing in his groan.

  They lay, still joined, entwined, replete for now, the sun on the river throwing shadows on the ceiling, then Will slid to one side and leaned again on his elbow, looking down at her.

  ‘Okay?’ he asked huskily.

  ‘Very okay,’ she replied, then smiled at him. ‘Maybe you really are Superman.’

  He was about to protest but she stilled him with a finger to his lips.

  ‘I need to talk,’ she said, ‘to tell you—to explain.’

  He nodded, but wrapped his arm around her so she was close as she poured out all the pain and hurt of her old relationships—all two of them.

  ‘I’m not an idiot, Will, I knew I needed help. I went to psychologists, counsellors, even, one time in Glasgow, to a sex clinic. I learnt how to give myself an orgasm, but it seemed an empty and not particularly pleasurable exercise so when that didn’t help I decided to forget about both sex and intimate relationships. Plenty of people live without both, why couldn’t I?’

  Will had to smile. ‘Perhaps because you’re a beautiful, vibrant, sensual woman, and deep down you knew it wasn’t enough?’

  She gave a light laugh that had more than a touch of cynicism in it, and he knew immediately that the shadows of her past still hung darkly over her life.

  Life!

  What was he doing, lolling around in bed with her, when right now the priority had to be keeping her safe?

  ‘I could stay here like this for ever,’ the woman he was worrying about murmured, eyes slumberous again, body stretching lazily.

  Temptingly!

  His response was to tighten his arms around her, but only for a moment.

  ‘Tempting though it is, my love,’ he answered, ‘there’s stuff to do. Shall we save water and shower together?’

  Alex’s mind spun—he’d called her his love—stuff to do, like dead birds—and showering together, being naked together. Hadn’t they skipped a big part of the getting-to-know-you thing?

  Uncertainty gripped her, the ‘my love’ endearment forgotten as all the early awkwardness of an intimate relationship hit home. It had been so long since she’d been this close to anyone, and never really successfully.

  Part of the prudery her fiancé had accused her of, she knew, but now?

  With Will?

  ‘I’ll start the shower,’ he said, as if sensing her confusion, ‘and then I’m going to come back and take you by the hand and lead you in there, where I’m going to soap you all over and sluice it off you and not do one thing you would not like me doing, okay?’

  But before he could put his words into actions she turned towards him and put her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder.

  ‘I might not be very good at all this.’

  She blurted out the words, wanting them said, willing him to understand, but feeling incredibly foolish and naïve.

  His arms locked around her.

  ‘You are a beautiful, sexy, glorious woman who has been treated very badly in the past, not only by that rat Spencer but, I suspect, also by other men in your life. But your body’s response to mine was unbelievable so do not, ever, doubt your sexuality.’

  He kissed her lips, a long, seductive kiss that had the nerves she’d never felt before responding once again.

  ‘We don’t have to shower together,’ he said, when he finally moved his lips from hers. ‘In fact, I’ll shower very quickly and go pick up dinner because we need to eat, while you can have the shower all to yourself and think about the times we will share it, okay?’

  His eyes were wary, as if he feared he’d upset her in some way, so this time she kissed him, whispering as she drew back, ‘So much more than okay,’ although all kinds of doubts still lingered in her head.

  She showered quickly herself, phoned the hospital—patient doing well—then made a salad to go with whatever he brought back from the co-op, keeping busy to keep her mind off what had happened, although that was impossible because her body had such vivid recollections of it that just remembering made her want to be back in Will’s arms again.

  Was this lust?

  She had no idea, although she now knew, in her body as well as in her head, that sex was meant to be enjoyed, and, even more importantly, that she had the ability to enjoy it.

  * * *

  Had it happened too quickly?

  The question nagged at Will as he drove to the co-op, but the pleasure that still lingered in his body told him the answer was a definite no.

  Alex’s response to his foreplay had been so volcanic it had electrified his own desire, and even thinking about it now made him hard.

  But he guessed she’d never experienced a shared orgasm before and the intensity of it had shaken her, and had probably brought back all the restrictive teachings of her church school and prudish parents.

  He muttered curses to himself as he thought of what she’d been through then the reality of what was happening to her now hit him like a cold shower.

  The thought of her in danger—physical or emotional danger—was
like an arrow pricking at his heart, arousing the strong protective feelings he hadn’t felt since Charlotte’s birth.

  He’d take her home, he’d keep her safe—

  Imprison her? a snide voice in his head whispered.

  No, that wasn’t love.

  Now, where the hell had love come into it?

  Wasn’t he the man who’d sworn off love?

  He pulled into the co-op car park, pleased that thoughts of food could push the other confusing issues to the back of his head.

  * * *

  They ate on the deck, Buddy, who’d been imprisoned in his cage while they’d slept, taking great delight in hopping between them.

  ‘Who knew you had a galah?’

  Will’s question brought Alex out of her pleasant daze and she frowned at him.

  ‘Why?’

  He answered her frown with a smile that made her nerves twitch—again!

  ‘Because whoever left the bird outside knew,’ he said, serious now, the words squelching twitching nerves very effectively.

  She tried to think—think back.

  ‘Friends from school?’ Will prompted, but Alex shook her head.

  ‘Some, maybe,’ she said. ‘Caitlin Kerr was my best friend, so I’d have told her when I got him, and if you think about it, she could have told anyone. So could Mum and Dad. But only Caitlin ever stayed over. Her family went to the same church as mine, so my parents liked her.’

  Had her voice quavered that Will reached out and took her hand?

  ‘I know you don’t want it to be this Caitlin—that would be too much of a betrayal—but can you think of any reason why all that happened would have hurt her?’

  ‘No, and no, and no! Caitlin was the only person from the school who ever got in touch with me. She was at the trial one day—not inside but waiting outside the court—and she pressed a letter into my hand then rushed away. She said she believed me and how sorry she was, but she couldn’t risk her parents’ anger by seeing me again.’

  ‘She believed you?’

  Alex found a rueful smile, although memories of that time still caused deep pain.

  ‘At least someone did—apart from Dave and Isobel, of course.’