The Goodmans

by Clare Ashton

  Over the stone bridge they wandered, beyond the swirling river and island trees, along the pale ochre cliffs which had built the city walls of Ludbury. Up the hill and through the ancient beech trees, Abby’s feet swishing through the golden carpet of leaves, onto the moorland which glistened with dew in the morning light.

  All the while Jude held her hand and stayed close. Abby couldn’t remember such a beautiful day and her heart sat heavy at the prospect of ruining it.

  “I’ve been thinking,” Jude said, smiling down at her, “of moving back to Ludbury.”

  “Really?” Abby was filled with joyful hope, until she remembered.

  “I’ve been living here at weekends since you bought the cottage, and I wondered if this was where I belonged.” She looked to Abby, perhaps for encouragement. “Do you,” she seemed almost shy, “do you think that a good idea?”

  Abby could have cried. “I’d love it.” She couldn’t look Jude in the eye, too painfully aware she was about to endanger this happy event.

  “I was wondering.” Again Jude was hesitant. “Would you like to see me more often?”

  “Always,” Abby murmured. She hoped the tears wouldn’t brim. “I treasure every moment with you. Truly I do. When I thought you were going to marry Bill… I…” Abby’s throat choked and she had to stop.

  Jude squeezed her hand, a reassurance Abby knew, and they ambled on. The stone circle crowned the first peak of moorland ahead. Abby had another reprieve as they laboured up the slope. They broke out at the top, their cheeks pink and clouds of breath billowing around them. They stood at the summit, the ancient druid ring and golden moors of Wales on one side, the soulful Ludbury on the other.

  Jude held both Abby’s hands and faced her. “I love it here, more the older I get. I’ve been wondering why that is and what I want out of life.” Jude looked away a moment, perhaps gathering her thoughts, perhaps afraid how Abby might take her words. “It hasn’t changed so much, it’s more that I’ve realised what’s important to me.”

  This was unbearable. Abby was about to have everything she wanted. Her friend home for good. To see her every day. Just when Abby had to ruin it all and admit her passion.

  “I’ve never asked,” Jude said suddenly. “But do you want to leave Ludbury?”

  Abby took a second or two to answer, surprised by the change in tack.

  “No,” she said honestly. “Everything I love is here, from Celia to Maggie and Mum’s resting place. This is home for me. It holds me deep, deep down. And you,” Abby said, lowering her gaze, “There’s always you.” She was breathing so hard she couldn’t speak.

  “I’d hoped you’d say that,” Jude said. “If you ever want to leave, say the word and I’ll follow.”

  Abby could tell Jude was trying to catch her eye.

  “But what if we weren’t friends anymore,” Abby stuttered. “What if you moved here and we fell out.”

  “Why would we?”

  “But would that affect your decision?”

  Jude pulled her closer and the warmth of her body made Abby dizzy.

  “I can’t think of a single reason we wouldn’t be friends,” Jude said gently. “You’re the first person I think of when I wake, and the last I dream of. You’re the one I message “I love you” before I turn in. It’s been that way for years and I never want it to change.”

  Abby couldn’t lift her face. “It’s the same for me. It always has been.”

  It was as if her chest were about to implode with grief. She couldn’t wait any longer. “Jude, I need to tell you something.”

  “And I need to tell you so many things.”

  Jude’s soft fingers cupped her cheeks and tilted up her chin. Abby closed her eyes, the tears forming freely and pooling hot beneath her eyelids.

  “Please look at me,” Jude whispered.

  Abby shook her head.

  “Please look at me, beautiful Abby.”

  Abby’s heart cantered in her chest. She couldn’t bear to see the effect of her confessions. She reluctantly opened her eyes and found not a friend, but a woman who regarded her with deep longing.

  Jude’s lips parted and she pulled Abby achingly close.

  “What are you doing?” Abby murmured, her head swirling with anguish and confusion.

  “Falling for the one I already love most of all.”

  And she kissed her with a touch as delicate as the flowers she’d brought.

  Chapter 29.

  Abby stared at Jude, captivated by the deep regard in her friend’s eyes and disbelieving even though the tender kiss still tingled on her lips.

  “How long?” Abby whispered. “When did you start to feel this way?”

  “Not long. But with every passing day this feels more right.”

  Abby’s spirits sank. “Are you on the rebound?”

  “No.” Jude smiled indulgently. “I love you and I need you and I definitely want you.”

  If Abby was in any doubt, the look of hunger as Jude pulled her closer dispelled it.

  “But,” Abby’s mind went blank, overcome with the narcotic effect of Jude’s intimate embrace. “I’ve loved you so long. Do you know that?”

  “I didn’t until recently. But I do now.”

  Jude dipped her head and Abby closed her eyes, unable to resist the sweet kiss. Her body was ready for it this time, and she slipped her lips around Jude’s with longing. She threw her arms around Jude’s shoulders, clasping her hair in great handfuls as her whole body cried out for this union, and their kiss deepened with Abby’s desperate lips hot over Jude’s mouth.

  When they parted, they were both breathing hard.

  “I can’t resist you,” Abby said, dazed. “You’re everything I’ve longed for. So I need you to think for me. Is this a good idea?”

  “I have. Over and over. It’s what you’ve wanted and everything I long for now.”

  “What about Maggie?”

  A sharp determination stole across Jude’s face. “She will get used to it.” Jude said it with such conviction Abby feared for Maggie. “I want this,” Jude said and any misgivings Abby may have had evaporated as she pulled her close again.

  Jude kissed her harder and Abby welcomed the firmer touch. She pulled at Jude’s locks and pressed her body tight. Jude released her hand, and for a moment Abby wondered if she was moving too fast, but Jude’s fingers urgently stroked higher to her breast.

  A moan stole from Abby’s lips. She was melting, every kiss and caress turning her insides velvet and when Jude firmed her touch around her nipple she openly groaned.

  “Let me take you home,” Jude murmured.

  Abby quickened. She knew what Jude meant. “We can take things slow,” she said. But when she leaned away, Jude’s dark eyes showed no reservation.

  They walked home, burning in the chilled air, stealing a kiss every few paces and stoking the flames once more. As soon as they stepped through the door, Jude tore Abby’s coat from her shoulders.

  Abby took Jude’s hands. “We can go slowly, you know. I’ve waited this long, I can be patient.”

  “I don’t want to wait,” Jude said. “I’ve been thinking about you every second.”

  Heat burst onto Abby’s cheeks. “Me too,” she admitted.

  Jude trailed her finger along Abby’s shoulder where it lay bare from the loose T shirt and gently along her collarbone, then teased down her chest where the material draped over her bosom.

  “You’re so sexy in this,” Jude said.

  Abby smiled. “I wasn’t trying to be.”

  “But you always are.” And Jude’s voice was desperate with longing. “Please come upstairs.”

  Abby felt clumsy as they took the steps, tingling with anticipation and the hormonal rush. “The bed’s a mess,” she said embarrassed.

  “I don’t care,” Jude replied as she slipped her hands beneath Abby’s shirt. “Lift your arms,” she begged.

  Abby couldn’t believe this was happening. Her friend had been unobtainable and
disinterested for so long, it seemed incredible. But the craving in Jude’s eyes was real. Abby stretched high and the shirt was gently lifted from her body and shaking fingers unhooked her bra. The sensation heightened all over her body as Jude slipped away the straps, then her jeans then underwear leaving Abby naked.

  Abby couldn’t help stare as Jude undressed. Her body, which Abby had admired so often but never let herself linger on, was revealed in all its beauty. What was once forbidden now stood achingly close, heaving with the same passion that filled her own.

  Abby tentatively reached out, disbelieving that she was about to touch her, and it was almost a shock when her fingertips encountered the smooth curve of Jude’s breast. Abby closed her eyes, basking in the delicate pleasure of Jude cupped in her palm. She slowly and deliberately stroked her thumb across Jude’s tender nipple, and her whole hand, arm and body became charged with the sensation.

  Abby opened her eyes. “You are gorgeous,” she said, her voice shaking.

  Jude’s pupils were wide, her breath rasping through open lips. “Lie down,” she pleaded.

  Abby gulped and complied, wanting Jude to set the pace but also completely surrendered to her. She lay naked on the white sheets, her whole being exposed and thrilled with expectation as Jude lay beside her, hair flowing around her shoulders and eyes fixed on Abby’s.

  “You’re the one who’s beautiful,” Jude whispered and she dipped down to her neck.

  Jude’s breath tickled the nook of her neck, then her succulent lips teased Abby’s sensitive skin. Abby closed her eyes to enjoy the sensation and moaned as she felt Jude’s body pass above hers and kneel between her legs.

  “You have the most wonderful breasts,” Jude murmured, and Abby smiled as fingers cupped their shape. “I love the line of your cleavage.” Jude trailed down her chest so that arousal shot through to Abby’s core, then she tensed tighter as the trail was replaced by hungry kisses.

  “I had no idea your skin would taste so good.”

  Abby wanted to joke she owed that to baking but she couldn’t speak. She was enthralled to the sensation of Jude touching her, bathing her with hair, kissing every heightened inch of her body.

  Jude lifted her head away and Abby imagined her admiring her bosom with the same hungry eyes that had stolen across her body as they’d undressed. Keen hands engulfed her breasts, and Abby groaned as the caress became firm.

  “Oh God, I love that,” Abby gasped, and she panted in time to Jude squeezing her harder and flicking her thumb across her nipples.

  She could have laid like that for days, paralysed in rapture by the rhythmic tantalisation of her breasts, her body glowing hotter with every stroke. But Jude had other ideas and Abby almost complained when she took a hand away.

  A finger snaked down her belly, slipping from side to side. There was no doubt about its destination and Abby thrust her hips up, desperate for Jude’s touch to reach her centre. She could feel herself aching and wet between her legs, and warm anticipation surged through her body.

  Jude stroked her finger down the triangle between Abby’s hips agonisingly slowly, then almost as it made its target, she circled wide, round and round so that Abby thrust up with frustrated ecstasy.

  “Oh, you look good,” Jude breathed.

  The way Jude had said it was shocking. Her voice was overcome with desire, the words choking in her throat, and the idea Jude would find her beautiful there was beyond erotic.

  Abby grasped the bed sheets as her body shuddered at the thought of Jude’s finger making its mark, as if she were already coming.

  “Please touch me,” she begged.

  She felt Jude move and Abby held her breath, waiting for the delicious contact, then her mind exploded as her friend’s lips closed around her centre.

  “Oh God.”

  She wasn’t expecting that. Not in a decade had she expected that.

  “You don’t have to….” And the words were strangled in her throat by wave after wave of glorious sensations elicited by Jude’s tongue.

  Delicate at first, Jude soon became greedy, kissing, licking, savouring. She devoured Abby’s clitoris and every nerve in Abby’s body seemed to fire. Down her legs, up her back, to the tips of her fingers.

  Abby opened her eyes and stole a look down, but it was too much. The sight of her naked friend, the warmth of Jude’s soft locks trailing over her thighs and lips around her centre were too much. She began to cry out as the vision took her over the edge and again when Jude held her in her mouth.

  Abby wasn’t sure if she’d momentarily passed out. Her eyelids were heavy as she roused and she blinked with surprise at daylight. Jude stared down at her, eyes wide in shock and arousal.

  “Hi,” Abby whispered.

  “Hi.” Jude panted her reply. “Was that OK?”

  Abby grinned. Jude was absolutely dying with aroused anticipation. She could read it in her face. She could see it in her trembling arms.

  “So much more than OK. Lie down,” Abby said, and Jude obediently rolled beside her.

  Abby could see Jude was overwhelmed by the experience.

  “I love seeing you come,” Jude said and she gulped, as if even the memory triggered tides of pleasure within her.

  Even if she hadn’t admitted it, Jude’s flushed cheeks and slick thighs would have betrayed her. Abby could see Jude was well beyond light seduction. Her whole body shook, aching for relentless attention and Abby didn’t make her wait.

  She slid between her thighs and slipped a hand under her body, holding her tight. Abby gently thrust her hips and watched Jude close her eyes and roll back her head. Abby caressed her shoulders, trailed her fingers down Jude’s beautiful breasts and squeezed her side in a satisfying handful as she rocked harder. Then sensing Jude needing more, she ran her fingers lower and gradually, a little at time, slipped her fingers inside.

  Abby groaned at the sensation of Jude warm and tender around her fingers. Jude threw her arms around her shoulders and they thrust together, enthralled by the intimacy. And as Abby felt the urgency of Jude’s thrusts tighten, she slipped her thumb over Jude’s clitoris.

  “Oh fuck,” Jude gasped.

  She was close. Abby could feel her swell and she circled slow and firm in tune to the rise of Jude’s climax.

  “I’m going to come.”

  It was Abby’s turn to gasp, unspeakably aroused by her friend’s admission. They were words she’d thought she’d never witness and their eroticism was powerful.

  Jude’s body gripped inside and she arched her back, starting to climb the bed. Abby held her tight, uncontrollably devouring her chest, all the while keeping to the entrancing rhythm.

  Jude started to speak once more, but the words merged into a single loud moan as her orgasm took her. Jude shuddered in great waves as she came and Abby groaned with incoherent euphoria.

  Chapter 30.

  Abby dreamed she drifted on fluffy clouds, her face buried in softness she’d never imagined. Her palms rested on divine cushions and she swayed on her heavenly bed with a soothing rhythm. The clouds drifted back and forth, in and out.

  Her head swirled with soporific joy and she voiced her appreciation with a long “Mmmmmmmmmm.”

  “Hey, sleepyhead,” someone murmured.

  “Mmm?”

  She opened her eyes, blinking several times, and came face to boob with Jude’s glorious bosom. For a moment, so used to hiding her inclination, she twitched away.

  “Sorry. Oh God. Sorry.” Then a rush of images caught up in her brain. “Oh,” she said. She peered up and found Jude regarding her with affection and not a small amount of amusement. Abby lifted her face, or at least slid it away.

  “Oh no.”

  She’d dribbled, clearly, while she’d slept in Jude’s cleavage. Of all the places.

  “Really sorry,” she mumbled and she tried, as surreptitiously as one might in this situation, to wipe drool from her cheek and Jude’s breast. She was jiggled on Jude’s bosom as her friend snigger
ed.

  “Don’t worry,” Jude said. “I noticed a while ago, but didn’t want to wake you. Are you always this sleepy after sex?”

  “Isn’t everyone? And isn’t that the best part? Falling asleep in a blissful daze, naked with the one you love.”

  “You’re right.” Jude’s face was warmed with deep affection. “So there’s no need to look confused. Although,” and she stroked her fingers across Abby’s frown, “I love it when you do. You twitch your nose when something’s not right. It’s a dead giveaway.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “It’s lovely,” Jude said, and she leant down and kissed Abby’s forehead.

  The touch instantly dispelled every tension, from the frown that had rippled across Abby’s forehead to the knots in her neck. The sensation flowed down her spine and flooded her legs until the sweetness of Jude’s kiss seemed to diffuse through her whole body. It was heavenly, being in this embrace and loved by her friend.

  Abby’s heart suddenly felt heavy remembering her anxiety about confessing to Jude. She’d been so swept away in passion it still hadn’t registered that here she lay, with the person she’d loved for more than a decade and who she’d feared she might disgust.

  “I thought I was going to lose you,” Abby whispered. “When you arrived this morning I was going to admit I loved you.”

  Jude lowered herself down the bed so she looked Abby in the eye. “You will never lose me,” she said gently. “Although for a while I didn’t know what to do.”

  “After the party when Bill…?”

  “Yes,” Jude nodded. “But I do now. Oh I do now.” And a smile, a rather a lascivious one, lifted her face.

  Abby giggled. “I love that you’re a screamer.”

  Jude blushed. Actually blushed. “Up until now I didn’t know I was.”

  “And kissing a woman?” Abby put on a poker face and raised an eyebrow. “You still feel nothing?”

  “I just needed the right woman and to kiss her in the right place.” Jude stroked her finger all the way down Abby’s cleavage and didn’t stop until she made her point.