Sensing her growing excitement, Haldane had moved his hands to grip her buttocks, rhythmically moulding them until she was delirious with ecstasy. She bucked wildly; unable to get enough of him yet hardly able to bear what she had, it was exquisite agony.
Mimicking her own response, Haldane gradually reduced the intensity of his caresses, easing Hillary gently into a state of satiated bliss. For over an hour she lay limply in his arms, allowing him to stroke her body gently but unable to reciprocate in any way other than to give a soft murmur of appreciation from time to time. Eventually she glanced at her watch and reluctantly eased herself into a sitting position.
‘I should be getting back, Haldane,’ she said, groping around for her knickers. ‘I didn’t actually say I would be out late and my sister tends to worry about me.’
Far from looking put out or disappointed, Haldane smiled and helped her on with her shirt. ‘That’s nice – to have a family who cares; you should be happy.’
‘Oh I am, it’s just that . . .’ Hillary glanced down at her hands, embarrassed despite their previous intimacy, then she looked up at his gentle face. ‘I hate to leave you like this.’
‘Like what?’ Haldane gave a little laugh. ‘I will walk you back to the Hall and then tomorrow we will go out on my boat.’
‘Really?’ Hillary’s heart leaped. Thank goodness she wasn’t just a one-night stand as far as he was concerned. She was far from being a prude but she hated one-off sexual encounters as they always left her feeling a little sad and empty. This way, even if things between them didn’t progress past the following day, she would at least feel as though they’d given it their best shot.
As they walked hand in hand back up the coast road to Harwood Hall, Hillary was glad she had taken a jacket along with her. At that time of night the air was distinctly chilly but it gave her a good excuse to snuggle against Haldane for warmth. When they were within a few hundred yards of the Hall itself Haldane stopped.
‘Will you be all right from here?’ he asked.
Hillary glanced over her shoulder at the enormous white stone building then smiled up at him. ‘Of course I will. Does it bother you that someone might see us together?’
He shook his golden head. ‘Not really, but I’d rather not bump into your lovely sister if I can avoid it.’
Looking as surprised as she felt, Hillary said, ‘I didn’t realise you knew Alicia.
‘I don’t, but that is not her fault, she has been putting in the most extreme effort.’ He threw his head back and laughed loudly. ‘She keeps coming into the chandlery for one reason or another and I think I know why.’
Hillary frowned. ‘She could have a perfectly legitimate reason.’
‘Yes, she could, but I think otherwise. Perhaps I am too sensitive.’
She almost laughed at that remark, bearing in mind his size and musculature, then instantly remembered his tenderness with her and realised she was being unfair. ‘You’re almost certainly right, Haldane. I know Alicia only too well and so far she’s made no secret of her determination to have some extramarital fun this summer.’
To her discomfort Haldane now looked interested but any fears she may have had about her sister becoming a rival were wiped out as he enfolded her in his arms, bent his head and kissed her for a long time.
Reluctantly he let her go. ‘Meet me at the quay tomorrow morning, as early as you can manage but not later than midday or we’ll miss the high tide.’
Hillary nodded happily. She had almost forgotten about going out on his boat. ‘I’ll be there.’
He kissed her briefly one last time before turning on his heel. She stared after him until his large frame became no more than a tiny speck in the distance, then made her way around the building. As she let herself into the hallway she found everything as silent as the grave apart from the occasional loud snore coming from Gus and Chloe’s room. She checked her watch, almost three o’clock, no wonder!
After pausing only to use the bathroom, she stripped off her clothes and stood before the mirror, trying to see herself as Haldane had seen her. Gently she cupped her breasts, playing thoughtfully with the still swollen nipples, amazed that fresh tremors of desire automatically disturbed her recently satisfied body. With regret she wished she was back at the boathouse.
She moved to the bed, lay down and spread her legs, one hand reaching down to stroke the sensitive bud that throbbed with agonising intensity. As she massaged herself she tried to concentrate her mind on Haldane, imagining that her fingers were his, yet she was surprised to find Darius’s image intruding on her fantasy. For some inexplicable reason she felt her desire increase with a vengeance and thrust her fingers desperately inside herself. Without withdrawing her hand she got to her knees on the bed, rocking her pelvis backwards and forwards as she plundered her own body, rubbing and probing until she thought she would go mad from her desperate need for release.
As her knees dug into the mattress a flicker of memory crossed her mind – her nostrils filling with the scent of pine, she imagined she was being overpowered but loving it. Masculinity was very near and she never felt more feminine. Suddenly, she remembered it all – meeting Darius, being tied to the tree trunk, his hands on her breasts and her welcoming his cock in her mouth.
‘Oh, God,’ she moaned aloud, arching her back, stretching herself wider, jamming herself full with her own fingers until her body conceded defeat and exploded like a volcano in an orgasm of such ferocity that her thrashing body forced the heavy wooden bed away from the wall.
Gradually the waves subsided. Removing her fingers gently she wiped them on the sheet. Across the room her reflection was of a wild woman, flushed with exertion. Her whole body was throbbing and tingling and still desperate for more. If only Haldane had been there, or Darius. But she was alone.
Regretfully she slipped her naked, slightly stiffening body between the cool sheets. Gingerly she put her hand between her legs, the whole area was still tingling and a little sore. Imagining it was a man’s hand that rested protectively upon her sex she drifted off into a deep dreamless sleep.
In another part of the house, Darius was pouring glasses of champagne. The woman seated next to him smiled her thanks and sipped slowly.
‘I see what you mean about her,’ she said.
The woman inclined her head towards the TV monitor linked to Hillary’s room. Having just watched the young woman pleasure herself with such wild abandon, she felt an equal mixture of envy and arousal. Tentatively she stroked her own nipples through the thin gossamer of her gown.
Darius watched her, admiration on his face. ‘I thought you were the past master at self-gratification.’
The woman smiled. ‘Mistress, Darius. I am the past mistress. You are the master.’ She turned her head and looked deep into his eyes, her expression speaking volumes. Deliberately, she parted the front of her gown, exposing her full, heavy breasts to his appreciative gaze. She reached out and brought his head down, until his lips brushed against her nipples, moaning softly as his mouth started upon a familiar journey.
Hillary came to slowly the next morning and lay for several minutes just staring blissfully out of the window, her mind devoid of all thought. Then suddenly she remembered her date with Haldane and glanced at her watch in panic. With relief she saw it was only eight-thirty, plenty of time to shower and make herself beautiful for him. A little later, as she stood thoughtfully in front of her wardrobe, she realised she had no idea what people wore to go sailing. In fact, she wasn’t even sure if Haldane’s boat was a sailing boat, or if it had an engine and all mod-cons like the one they had made love in the night before.
After some consideration she decided to wear her newest plain white bikini under a pair of navy cotton shorts and a white T-shirt. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror, pleased that she looked suitably nautical. After slipping her feet into a pair of matching navy and white canvas sneakers and stuffing her bag with a few essential items, she made her way to the kitchen which was
surprisingly busy for that time of the morning. Gus and Clive were both seated at the table drinking black coffee, whilst Alicia and Chloe bustled around them in matching pink and white gingham aprons, both looking uncannily, not to mention uncharacteristically, like Doris Day. Hillary failed to stifle a smile.
Chloe looked up, her face flushed from the heat of the grill. ‘Oh it’s you. Well don’t just stand there grinning, tell me how you know when sausages are cooked.’ She held out a pair of kitchen tongs, obviously expecting Hillary to simply take over.
Hillary sighed inwardly, it was typical of Chloe to try pass on the chores as soon as someone else more appropriate put in an appearance, although this time, Hillary decided, she could jolly well stew in her own bacon fat. ‘I’m sorry, I’d love to join you for breakfast but I’ve arranged to meet someone and if I don’t get a move on we’ll miss the tide.’
She looked anything but contrite and Alicia didn’t miss the overt reference to sailing. She stopped slicing mushrooms and stared hard at her. ‘Who are you meeting exactly?’ Alicia asked.
Hillary blushed, knowing that she’d deliberately goaded Alicia into asking the question, yet also aware that her sister was interested in Haldane herself. She didn’t know if it was simply her imagination working overtime but everyone seemed to be staring hard at her, poised for her answer. She felt trapped, like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car. Just then, to her intense relief, Odile and Theo came into the room, momentarily stealing everyone’s attention. Within seconds she managed to make her excuses and flee.
She walked quickly without stopping, or pausing to glance behind her, until she reached the main road, then and only then she slackened her pace a little. She felt as though she had been awake for hours, although it was barely a quarter to ten by the time she reached the quay. She glanced around. Haldane waved to her from the chandlery and gestured that he would be only a few minutes. Smiling and nodding she found a clean spot on the harbour wall and sat down to wait for him. As usual children were armed with string and bacon to fish for crabs, while fishing boats came in and out of the quay at regular intervals to unload their haul.
She studied a number of empty boats which were moored together to her right, wondering if one of them belonged to Haldane. She hoped not as they all looked pretty unseaworthy, even to her inexperienced eye.
‘Don’t worry. None of those belongs to me.’
She started in surprise. Haldane had come to stand in front of her without her realising it.
He put out a hand, hauled her to her feet and led her around the quay to another group of boats. He stopped alongside a particularly nice-looking cabin cruiser and pretended to pipe her aboard. Smiling broadly, she reached out with her left foot until it came into contact with the top step, then, with a slightly unsteady wobble, she climbed down to the deck. She glanced around, surprised at what she saw – instead of the rough fishing boat that she’d expected him to own, the cruiser was sleek and ultra modern. Sliding perspex doors protected the outside helm, which looked more like the cockpit of an aeroplane, and a similar door led to the lower deck, in addition, the perimeter of the upper deck was bounded by squashy white leather seating – all in all it was the last word in luxury. Gradually she realised she was feeling a little wobbly on her feet and sat down gingerly; despite her best intentions to prove herself a hardy sailor she was already feeling a little queasy from the gentle swell of the ebbing tide.
Haldane noticed her unsteadiness and her worried expression. ‘Try not to think about being aboard a boat. Just concentrate on the fresh air and the scenery.’
At that moment all Hillary could think about was the overwhelming stench of fish which had not bothered her at all when she had been standing on dry land.
Haldane unlocked the door to the saloon. ‘Perhaps you would prefer to go below and make us something to drink while I get us on our way?’
Hillary nodded gratefully and immediately felt much better on the lower deck which seemed more like a house than a boat. Just like the rest of the cabin cruiser, the accommodation was very comfortable and modern with a lounge, a dining area, a well-equipped galley and a separate cabin which offered more luxury than her bedroom at the Hall. Just when she thought she couldn’t be more impressed by her surroundings she opened what she assumed to be a wardrobe door only to find it concealed a fully equipped en-suite bathroom. Now she felt well and truly at home, and not at all seasick.
When she returned to the upper deck, a mug of steaming coffee in each hand, she was surprised to find that they were already well out to sea. With a slight feeling of trepidation she looked around her. ‘I can’t see any land, Haldane.’
He smiled down at her, accepting his mug of coffee gratefully and taking a huge gulp despite the fact that it was boiling hot. ‘You will soon. I am taking us to a secluded little cove, there we can swim and sunbathe to our heart’s content. No one will disturb us.’
Hillary felt brazen. ‘If there’s no one around to bother us I don’t think we should waste our time sunbathing.’ She slipped a hand down the front of his shorts and grasped his thick cock. Immediately it began to stiffen.
Now Haldane was looking unsteady. Without saying a word he released his grip on the wheel, placed his coffee mug on top of a white plastic toolbox, then turned around and kissed her hard, his tongue snaking around her open mouth. With a grin of satisfaction he released her. ‘I have a favourite English word that describes you exactly.’ He smiled down at her as her mind whirled through all the possibilities but she gave up.
‘What word, Haldane?’
He paused then ran his hands down her body, outlining the swell of her breasts and the curve of her hips. ‘Luscious. You are luscious, Hillary, luscious, luscious, luscious.’
Each time he said the word he kissed a part of her: her eyelids, her earlobes, her neck, until finally he bent his knees and ran his tongue slowly and lasciviously down her throat to her cleavage. She felt her nipples stiffening in response; arching her back she cradled his head against the soft pillow of her breasts feeling the first stirring of a familiar fire being kindled deep within her.
Although eventually he had to replace one hand on the wheel, they stayed locked together, like two pieces of a jigsaw, until land appeared on the horizon.
6
Hillary watched in fascination as Haldane moored the cruiser to a buoy and then dropped anchor just for good measure. She was surprised by the location as they were still quite a way from the beach.
He noticed her confused expression and laughed. ‘From here we swim.’ Then a thought struck him. ‘You can swim, can’t you?’
Hillary laughed and nodded. ‘Yes, of course.’
‘We can use a dinghy to get to shore if you prefer.’
He pointed towards a clear polythene pack which contained a deflated dinghy and a pair of oars but Hillary was already stripping off her shorts and T-shirt. Then she kicked off her shoes and stepped up onto the edge of the boat. Haldane watched her appreciatively, a sudden rush of lust almost overtaking him as she stretched and flexed her lithe athlete’s body, her deep suntan providing the perfect background for the tiny white G-string bikini she had chosen to wear. He reached out to her but her eyes were already staring into the distance at the deserted cove of golden sand spread out tantalisingly under the bright-blue summer sky. The backdrop of dunes shimmered in the heat haze.
‘I’ll race you,’ she said, laughing, and diving into the deep green water without a backward glance.
For a brief moment she regretted her action because the shock of hitting the cold water took her breath away and she almost panicked. Fixing her eyes determinedly on the shore she struck out in a fast crawl. After she had swum over halfway she dared to look behind her. The cruiser still bobbed gently on the tide but Haldane was nowhere to be seen. She flipped over onto her back so that she could catch her breath and also look around but every time she thought she could see Haldane’s golden head rise above the waves it turned out to be
a clump of seaweed, or a piece of driftwood. Her heart was pounding and not simply from the effort of her swim, she was becoming genuinely concerned.
In a split second she reached a decision. She flipped back onto her stomach and began swimming as fast as she could. As soon as she reached the shore she would find a telephone and call someone for help, get out a lifeboat or something to search for him. In all honesty she didn’t know what one was supposed to do in these situations. Just then she felt something brush against her left leg, then the right. She kicked furiously, assuming that her legs were becoming tangled in a clump of seaweed – thank goodness she had almost reached the beach. Suddenly something grabbed her by the ankle, Hillary was horrified; were there sharks in these waters?
Her heart was hammering in her chest and felt fit to burst. She sensed that whatever had touched her was swimming directly below her thrashing body, just the sort of encouragement sharks liked best, she seemed to recall. Despite her determination to survive she just couldn’t swim any faster, or smoother. Suddenly, without warning, there was a huge surge of water directly in front of her and she stopped swimming, alarmed. This was it now, certain death. When she saw what had caused her panic she screamed aloud, but with anger not fright.
‘Haldane, you, you – stupid bastard!’ She trod water frantically, desperate to lash out at him and make him pay for scaring her half to death.
Looking far from remorseful, or hurt at her outburst, he trod water in front of her. ‘I don’t know what came over me, I just couldn’t resist.’ He tried hard to smother a grin. ‘I’m sorry, Hillary.’ He held out his arms to her and, despite her fury, she swam into them straight away.
‘I could have drowned, Haldane.’
‘No way. I was there to save you, remember?’
‘You were the cause, you, you . . .’
‘Stupid bastard?’
‘I’m sorry I called you that. You’re not stupid.’
The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea Page 9
