by Lyon, Raquel
“There’s a documentary on about plant life, in half an hour. I thought we could watch it together,” Pappa called.
“Love to, Paps, but I have to go out, and I don’t expect I’ll be back in time.”
“I didn’t catch that.”
“I have to go out,” I shouted, louder this time, as I discarded the peel and took a bite.
“Work again?” he asked, when I stuck my head around the doorway.
“Hopefully.”
“Maybe catch the repeat, then.”
“Sure, no problem,” I said, stuffing the last of the fruit down my throat, as I left.
Chapter Fourteen
I stopped on the doorstep of number twenty-one, smoothed my unruly fringe from my eyes, and cupped my hand over my mouth to check my breath. I hoped Cora liked eau de banana. At least, I’d had a sandwich, and not my usual pizza, for lunch. Banana was preferable to stale garlic.
Taking a deep breath, I knocked.
The door opened, and Nessie glowered through the crack. “Oh, it’s you. Tired of mornings, are we? Didn’t want to pop in again at sunrise and assault my mother again?”
Assault her? “Excuse me?”
“She told me.”
What the fuck had Cora said? “Told you what?”
“About your dawn visit. The urgent business that couldn’t wait. The business that was so important you seem to have forgotten about it. What’s that fucking urgent about gardening? Please enlighten me, because I haven’t the first clue.”
“Oh, that. Your mother didn’t tell you?”
“She said I wouldn’t be interested, but believe me, I am. So, come on, spill.”
Kendrick’s talent for lying would have been handy at that moment, unfortunately, I wasn’t as gifted. “I’m sure if Cora wanted you to know she would have told you.”
“Look. I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but something is, and I don’t like it. Things have changed around here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mum’s not Mum. She wanders around like she’s not even here. The house is a mess, I have to make my own meals, and she isn’t interrogating my every move. It’s not normal.” She angled her head and narrowed her eyes. “Are you fucking her?”
My eyebrows shot up at her candour, and I almost choked on my own spit. “No!” Not yet. “I can’t believe you asked that. Look. Can I come in or not? I need to talk to her.”
Nessie chewed over my request, before shouting, “Mum. You have a visitor.” She left the door ajar and disappeared from view.
My grin spread wide at Cora’s appearance.
“Johnny? I-I wasn’t expecting you.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and noticeably swallowed.
“Nice surprise?”
“Um, have you come about the garden? I said there was no rush.”
“I know. Can we talk inside? As nice as your doorstep is, it’s been a long day, and I wouldn’t mind sitting down.”
“Yes. Yes, of course.”
The door opened wider, and I followed Cora into the living room. Nessie was already curled up on the sofa: headphones over her ears, magazine in hand. Cora sat down rigidly on the opposite seating and clenched her hands together. I joined her, leaving a respectable gap between us.
“Are you all right?” I asked, flicking my eyes over to Nessie. Those headphones had better be on full volume.
Ignoring my question, she nodded at the sketchbook in my lap. “Was there something you wanted to show me?”
“Huh? Oh. Yeah. It’s just some ideas I had, but they can wait. I want to talk about what happened the other day.”
“Please, Johnny. Now is not the time.” Her eyes held a warning.
Nessie’s presence was annoying and unpredicted. I hadn’t banked on her being at home, let alone in the same room. In my desire to see Cora, I hadn’t thought things through. I needed to get her alone. It was time I made my move. I’d waited too long, and damn it, I had to know where I stood.
Nessie was positioned with her back to the kitchen area, so, banking on Cora being the perfect hostess, I said, “I wouldn’t say no to a drink.”
“A drink?”
“Yeah. You know. The liquid stuff that comes in a glass.”
“I know what a drink is, Johnny.”
“Then you won’t mind getting me one. Anything will do.”
Cora sighed, stood, and wandered off in the direction of the kitchen. I waited all of four seconds, and followed her. Nessie’s gaze followed me.
In the kitchen, Cora was securing the top on a half-used bottle of gin.
“Fancied the hard stuff, huh?” I noted.
She pulled a bottle of tonic from the refrigerator. “It was already open, and you said anything,” she said, twisting off the cap and holding the glasses as she poured. Her hand trembled so much she missed the second one and splashed liquid on her fingers. “Shit,” she said, licking off the droplets.
I let out a small laugh. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you curse,” I said, stepping closer to prise her hand from her lips and pull it to mine.
Our eyes locked as I took her fingers into my mouth and ran my tongue down the creases. Her eyelids fluttered gently, and her chest rose and fell rapidly. Fuck it. It was time. I couldn’t hold out any longer. Hooking my arm around her waist, I closed the space between us, released my mouth from her hand, and sealed it to her lips before she had the chance to stop me. She stiffened but didn’t object, so I let go of her hand and reached up to her neck to caress her jaw, holding her to me as I pressed my tongue into the line of her lips. Christ, I had to get in there. I had her. I knew it. I could make her mine, if she would just …
Cora relaxed. Her arms reached up my back, and her lips parted. A split second was all it took for my tongue to find hers. She responded, tentatively at first, then eagerly. All my pent-up frustration spilled out, and I left no part of Cora’s mouth undiscovered. She softened into me. Her pliable body squeezed tightly against mine. The touch of her fingers on my shoulder blades, and her breasts pressed against my chest, made my blood run hot and head straight to my groin, causing the hard line of my dick to push urgently into her stomach, alerting her to just how much I wanted her.
All too soon, she pulled back and gasped. “I can’t breathe.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve wanted to kiss you for so long. I got carried away.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what?”
“I-I want … No. I shouldn’t have let you …” Her words were resisting, but her eyes begged for more.
“Let me what? This?” I lay soft kisses on her cheek, her jaw, her chin, her lips.
“Johnny, please …”
Before she could finish her sentence, Nessie strode into the kitchen, face full of anger, and planted her hands on her hips. “I fucking knew it!”
Jeez, could I never get a break?
Cora stepped back, startled, stumbled on a chair leg, and braced herself against the kitchen table. “Vanessa. It isn’t … We weren’t …”
“Yes, you were,” Nessie said. “I saw you.”
I grinned. “Jealousy’s a killer.”
“As if. It’s disgusting. Sick.” Nessie threw her hands in the air. “Are you having a midlife crisis, Mum? No. Don’t answer. I can’t deal with this shit. It’s wrong on so many levels. I’m going to Jess’s.”
Silence hung in the kitchen until the front door slammed shut. I stepped over to Cora and took her by the shoulders. “I guess that means we’re alone.”
Cora’s eyes slowly met mine. “Johnny, what are we doing?”
I bent my head to her neck. “Getting it on,” I said, dropping kisses on her neck. If I had to kiss her a thousand times to get her to admit defeat, I would. No way was I giving up now. Not now I’d nibbled the frosting. Now, I had to have the whole delicious cake.
“But Vanessa …”
“Forget her. This isn’t about her; it’s about you … and me.” My hand move
d slowly down her neck to the top button of her blouse, and popped it open.
“But …”
I continued down the line of buttons, slowly releasing each one. Black lace. Perfect. My favourite. “No. No buts, no more excuses, no more waiting.” I parted the material and drank in the sight of her breasts, cupping one in each hand and running my thumbs over their supple swells. “This is gonna happen.”
Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the tabletop harder and arched her back to me. “Why me?” She gasped. “Why me, when there’re thousands of girls out there: younger, prettier girls? Oh God, that feels good.”
“I don’t want them. I want you. You’re a smart, sexy woman, and I think about you every moment of every day.” I teased down the lace and bent my head, eager to see her pert nipple and taste its sweetness.
She didn’t let me get that far. “Stop, Johnny. Please stop.”
Was she serious? “Why?”
She pushed her hands up between us and pulled the front of her blouse together. “Just stop.”
Chapter Fifteen
I collected the drinks and followed Cora to the living room, setting the bottles and one glass on the coffee table and nudging the other against her shoulder. “Here. Get that down you.” She accepted her drink, and I watched her gulp a couple of mouthfuls, wondering what was going on in her head. Did she need a few moments to get herself together after Nessie’s interruption, or was she having second thoughts? I knew I was pushing it, but as much as I’d been trying to convince myself to take it slowly, I couldn’t. The attraction was there. I knew it. I could feel it. All the signs pointed to it being something real. If she needed time, she could have some.
Sitting on the rug below her, I opened my sketchbook. “What do you think?” I said, holding it out.
After a moment of study, she finally spoke. “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to the structure at the side of the pool.
“The pergola we discussed. If you flip the page, I’ve done a more detailed close-up.”
She turned to the next sheet. “I don’t remember it being much of a discussion.”
“Suggestion then. Don’t you like it? Because I can always change it, if you want.”
Still studying the picture, she asked, “Can you really do that?”
“What? Change it?”
“Build it.”
“I wouldn’t have put it there if I couldn’t.”
“It seems like a lot of work.” Cora drained her glass without looking at it, and before she could set it down, I refilled it.
“Nothing’s too much trouble for you.”
A small smile played across her lips. “The space would be useful, but I can’t see how it’s going to fit.”
I leaned back on the plush pile, resting on my elbows. “Don’t worry about that. As soon as I get rid of that old maple tree, there’ll be plenty of room.”
“Really? You want to get rid of the maple tree? Don’t you like it?”
“I’m sure it was great, in its day, but not now. I can always plant a new one somewhere, if it was a favourite of yours.”
Finally, she looked down at me. “Is that what you do, get rid of things that are past their prime and replace them with younger models?”
“Ah, I see where you’re going with this. Our age difference really is a big thing for you, isn’t it?”
Cora glanced at her glass, and noticing it was empty again, she placed it on the carpet at her feet, and sighed.
Despite asking the question, I didn’t want to hear the answer, so I changed the subject. “What do you think of the steel waterfall?”
“Huh? Oh.” She turned the sketchpad, considering it from different angles. “Is that what that is?”
“If it’s not your style, I could always raise the side border and run a rocky waterfall into the swimming pool.”
“My home is not a cheap beachside hotel.” Her eyes held a glint of distaste.
“I know. That’s why I went for the steel. It’s modern and beautiful, just like the house’s owner.”
Cora’s attention shifted from the sketch to me. “If that hadn’t sounded so cheesy, I might be flattered. It’s been a long time since anyone has called me beautiful.”
My eyes roved from her red painted toenails up the smooth line of her legs, briefly halted at the enticing shadow cast by the hem of her skirt stretched over her thighs, and stopped at her unusually coloured eyes. Every inch of her was stunning. “Get used to it, because you’re going to be hearing it a lot more.”
Cora held my gaze, as if daring me to come to my senses, and without looking, she placed the sketchbook on the sofa and pushed off the cushion to kneel next to me. Her hands found the rug at either side of my hips, and her head lowered until our faces were almost touching. “Look at me, Johnny.”
“Oh, believe me, I’m looking.” I broke her stare, for a second, to scan down her cleavage, before meeting her eyes again.
“No. I mean really look at me. Closely. I have lines around my eyes. They’re not going to disappear, and they’re getting bigger every day.”
She had to be kidding. You’d need a magnifying glass to see her flaws. “You’re beautiful.”
“And stretch marks, I have those too.” She lifted one hand to smooth the side of her breast. “Here.” Her hand dropped slowly and stroked across her lower abdomen. “And here.”
She must have known what effect it was having. It was as if she were giving me my own personal lap dance. I found her touching herself to be highly erotic, and I longed to reach out and follow her lead. “I don’t care.”
“They’re not beautiful, Johnny.”
“Show me.”
I hadn’t expected her to comply, so I was surprised when she sat back on her heels, lifted the hem of her blouse, and pulled down the waistband of her skirt to expose a tantalizing sliver of stomach. “See. I’m ugly.”
I ran my fingers over the faint indents. “I’ve seen twenty year-old girls with bigger ones than that.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“It’s true. I wouldn’t have noticed them if you hadn’t pointed them out.”
The blouse dropped, along with her eyes. “You’re just being complimentary to get me into bed.”
“No way did you just say that. Is that what you really think?”
“Well aren’t you? Isn’t sleeping with an older woman not on your mental list of things to do before you’re thirty?”
“I don’t have a list, but if I did, getting you to like me would be at the top.”
“I already like you.”
“You have a funny way of showing it.”
“I let you kiss me, didn’t I?”
“Would you let me do it again?”
“Maybe.”
“Now?”
The corners of her mouth crept up. “Maybe.”
I sat up and bottom shunted over to her. “I don’t do too good with maybes.” Leaning on one arm to get as close to her as I could, without us actually touching, I said, “A yes or no will do. Preferably a yes.”
Cora’s eyes dropped to my mouth and she licked her lips, before nodding slowly. I caressed her cheek with my free hand and angled my head in, stopping short as she bent to meet me, and pulling back. “Are you going to push me away again? Because there’s only so much rejection a guy can take.”
She let out a small sigh. “I want you to kiss me, Johnny.”
Chapter Sixteen
I wanted to kiss her too, badly, but the devil inside me had other ideas. If this was the moment I’d waited for, I wanted to hold on to the anticipation just a little while longer, so I stood up and walked to the corner of the room.
“Where are you going?” Cora asked.
I turned the knob on her ancient stereo stack. “You realise this thing is almost an antique. You should think about updating it to something sleeker, maybe even computerised.” Music filled the room. “There’re some great integrated sound systems on the market nowadays.”
>
“It was John’s. He liked the retro feel. He also liked this track. Could you change it, please? Try number four.”
I pushed button four, and a slow song filtered through the speakers. I held out my hands. “Dance?”
With a puzzled expression, she rose to her feet, smoothed down her skirt, and approached me. “You continue to surprise me, Johnny.”
My hands crept around her waist. “I aim to please.”
She hooked her arms around my neck and laid her head on my shoulder. As we swayed to the music, her fingers played with the curls lying on my nape, and her warm breath heated my neck.
I’d hoped making her wait would get her all hot and panting for me, but she relaxed into my hold and seemed quite content, not flustered at all. On the flip side, I was more than flustered; I was uncomfortable. A few minutes of close contact had me so hard it hurt, and my jeans were in danger of cutting off my blood supply from the waist down. My body’s reaction crushed the devil inside, and all thoughts of stalling vanished. I eased away from her and looked deep into her eyes. She reciprocated, making me all warm and fuzzy. An alien feeling, but one I’d be happy to get used to.
No longer able to hold back, I dipped my head and brushed my lips against hers. It amazed me how she yielded to the kiss, slowly increasing the pressure, using her tongue to tease me to distraction. It was only our second kiss, but her mouth was becoming so familiar, it was tempting to devour it all. I didn’t want to push her too soon, so I resisted, keeping the pace languid and sensual. Small moans softly purred in her throat, and an intense heat built between us. My hands moved from her waist; one dropping to gently grip her ass, and the other sliding under the cotton fabric of her blouse to follow the dent of her spine up to her bra strap. I itched to snap open the clasp and reach around to her full breasts, but I kept my reserve, hoping she’d allow things to go further this time.
She broke away, and I looked down at her, heart pounding, waiting.
