The Hornbeam Tree Read online

  ‘I’ve been thinking about this all day,’ he told her roughly.

  ‘Me too,’ she gasped, loving the feel of his cock against her buttocks, so big and ready, and his hands moving under her T-shirt on to her skin. She raised her arms and he tore the top off. His fingers closed on her nipples, squeezing and pulling so hard that the urgency in her spilled over, making her reach for the zip in his jeans, so she could feel him too. Within seconds their clothes were on the floor, and he was bending her over the bed, opening her legs wide.

  ‘Tell me this is what you want,’ he growled.

  ‘Yes, oh yes,’ she gasped as he began moving into her. ‘Oh God, yes.’

  He held her hips as he rocked back and forth in short rapid strokes, then suddenly he plunged all the way into her.

  ‘Oh my God!’ she cried. ‘Nick, please …’

  He did it again, and again, thrusting and pounding, moving his hands all over the front of her, from her mouth, to her breasts, to between her legs. She sobbed and gasped, pushing her buttocks higher, to take him in even deeper.

  She’d wanted this too much, was too ready, and so was he, because within minutes they were caught up in the mounting force of the other’s climax. The sensations were so intense there was no holding back. They had to let go, there was no other way.

  ‘Oh Jesus Christ,’ he gasped, banging into her again and again. He was coming and coming and couldn’t stop. The hunger of her orgasm was devouring him, twisting and pulling, taking him into a madness of fulfilment that was going on and on.

  ‘Oh yes,’ she almost screamed, as she finally went over the edge with him. She pushed her face into the pillow and sobbed and gasped at the power of so much sensation. His chest was pressed to her back, his thighs clamped against hers. She could feel him all over, inside and out.

  At last he came to a shuddering, breathless halt, every muscle in his body on fire. He held her close and kissed her hair, then turned her lips so he could kiss them too. ‘Not quite the welcome I was expecting,’ he murmured. ‘But God, I hoped.’

  She laughed softly, and turning beneath him, put her arms around him and searched for his mouth. He kissed her hard, squeezing her in even tighter to his body, as though somehow he could make them one.

  In the end, he raised himself up on his elbows and gazed down at her face. ‘You were different tonight,’ he told her.

  She smiled and brushed her lips against his. ‘I was broken-hearted before,’ she reminded him.

  His eyes searched hers, speaking in a way that words wouldn’t allow, until finally he lowered his head and kissed her again, moulding her tongue and her lips with his own, letting all the tenderness in his heart flow into the embrace. It was a long time before his mouth moved from hers, and began moving slowly down to her neck and on to her breasts. He covered them with kisses, licked and gently bit them, before sucking first one, then the other big, rosy nipple into his mouth.

  Her eyes fluttered closed as he continued to kiss and tease, using his lips and his fingers, his tongue and the hard tips of his nails, until each nipple stood out so large and swollen, so tender and moist, that even the feel of his breath was like an intense caress. His fingers moved downwards, trailing a tantalizing path over her navel and hip bones, to the join in her legs where they slid into the moistness.

  ‘Don’t stop,’ she murmured, arching her back towards him, ‘please don’t stop.’

  His fingers moved back and forth, gently, but insistently, then harder and faster. His mouth was tight on her nipple, and became even tighter as she opened her legs wide. Then his tongue was where his fingers had been, and her head rolled from side to side as the exquisite sensations rushed through her like a river of fire.

  Moving his mouth back up to hers he prepared to enter her again. ‘Are you ready?’ he asked.

  Her vision was blurred by sensation as she nodded.

  He sank into her slowly, filling her and feeling her. ‘Is this good?’ he asked, gently riding her.

  ‘Oh yes,’ she whispered. ‘Oh yes, oh yes.’

  ‘Harder?’

  She nodded, and her eyes closed as he increased the pressure.

  ‘Tell me when you want more,’ he murmured.

  ‘I want more,’ she told him. ‘I want you all the way in me. I want you to fuck me … Oh God,’ she cried as he jerked in so hard it jarred her all over.

  ‘Like this?’ he growled, and did it again.

  ‘Yes. Yes.’

  He rammed her again and again, pumping her with all his might, and feeling her body go weak beneath his. ‘I can’t take any more,’ she gasped.

  ‘Yes you can. You want it. I’m in you, fucking you. This is what you want.’

  ‘I’m going to come,’ she moaned.

  ‘I’m right with you. Just hold on. Oh yes, oh yes!’ he cried as her fingers found his balls.

  ‘Nick. I’m there, I’m there,’ she choked.

  He was pounding her harder than ever, muscles straining, sweat pouring, until finally his climax broke too, and as everything rushed into her he clung tightly to her, feeling every last pulse of an orgasm so sublime and so encompassing that it surpassed even the last.

  For a long time they lay in each other’s arms, waiting for their heartbeats to calm and the aftershocks inside to finally fade. The very smell of him was still intoxicating her, and she inhaled deeply as though drinking him in. His hand was on her face, his thumb close to her mouth, so she drew it between her lips and kissed it. Their legs were entwined, he was still inside her, but gradually the power was leaving him. She turned to look at him, and found his eyes on her, but as he started to speak she put her fingers on his lips, then leaned in to kiss him.

  Finally he rolled on to his back to lie with one arm over his eyes, and his legs wide apart. She looked down at him, and touched her palm to the flat, hard plain of his abdomen. His thighs were long and powerfully muscled, his feet were slender and almost as female as a woman’s. She pressed her mouth to the damp hair on his chest, then slid quietly from the bed and went into the bathroom to fetch a second glass for the wine. As she looked in the mirror she saw the reflection of a woman who was sated and flushed, still dazed by the power of a relentless climax and tanned all over. She thought of Elliot and wondered if this was how it had been with Andraya. She waited for the guilt, but it didn’t come, and turning round she went to stand in the doorway, so he could see her naked.

  ‘Shall we go down for dinner before they stop serving?’ she said.

  Raising his arm, he turned his head to look at her. ‘I guess they don’t do room service,’ he said, letting his eyes move all over her.

  ‘No.’

  ‘You’re beautiful,’ he told her softly.

  Walking back to the bed, she took his hand and pressed it to her lower belly. ‘Will I have had enough of you by morning?’ she asked.

  ‘There’s only one way to find out,’ he murmured, and pulled her back into his arms.

  *

  Katie was fast asleep. The first rays of dawn were barely over the horizon, the house was dark and still, and not even Trotty deigned to open an eye as Molly came quietly into the bedroom. Seeing her mother’s slight frame beneath the covers Molly stood looking at her for a moment, as though unsure whether to wake her, then lifting the covers she snuggled herself in like a spoon.

  Katie’s eyes remained closed as she put an arm around her daughter and kissed the back of her tousled dark head.

  ‘Mum?’ Molly whispered after a while.

  ‘Mm?’

  ‘I’ve never met that man in the picture.’

  Katie squeezed her. ‘I didn’t think so,’ she said. ‘I just went off the deep end.’

  The digital clock flicked on to five twenty. A thrush started to sing in the apple tree outside; a distant cockerel crowed.

  ‘Sorry,’ they said together, and smiled into the darkness.

  Now wasn’t the time, Katie decided, to pursue anything else. This was a special moment, just the t
wo of them together, so why let anything spoil it?

  Chapter Nine

  ‘SO THE MONEY’S now on its way to Tom,’ Katie was saying to Laurie as they strolled up the lane towards the woods. ‘Which means we might hear from him in the next day or two.’

  ‘We should, if all goes to plan,’ Laurie confirmed, stifling a yawn.

  ‘It’ll make a big difference to Michelle if we do,’ Katie remarked, ‘because she’s finding this a lot harder than she’s admitting. She’s used to being in the thick of it, or at least able to do something to help when he gets himself in a fix. Anyway, there’s nothing to be done until we hear from him, so I guess we should … Is that mine?’ she said as a mobile started to ring.

  ‘I think so,’ Laurie answered, swallowing her disappointment that it wasn’t hers, for she was hoping Nick would call, if only to say hi.

  ‘It’s the doctor’s surgery,’ Katie said, clicking on. ‘It won’t take a second.’

  As she took the call, Laurie’s mind returned instantly to Nick, and all they’d done last night. Even to think of it was flaring responses through her that were almost as erotically charged as the reality. Her body still ached from so much lovemaking. They’d hardly been able to tear themselves away from each other, had been so inflamed by passion that they’d barely made any time to talk or even eat.

  ‘Just confirming my hospital appointment next week,’ Katie said, ringing off. ‘So where were we? Ah, yes, I was about to tell you what happened at the school yesterday.’

  As she began to explain about Molly, Laurie tried desperately to stay focused, but now she was worrying about Elliot and how the hell she was going to face him when the time came. Speaking to him on the phone this morning had been bad enough, for her conscience had returned with such a vengeance when she’d heard his voice that she’d barely been able to register what he was saying. Then Nick had come out of the bathroom and started to remove the robe she’d covered herself with, leaving her with no choice but to cut the call short. So what was Elliot thinking now, she kept asking herself. Had he guessed what was happening? Was he tormenting himself with images of her and Nick, the way she had with images of him and Andraya?

  Forcing herself to concentrate, she watched Katie lean over a five-bar gate to stroke the muzzle of a sleek, golden horse.

  ‘So if you’d called last night,’ Katie was saying, ‘I’d have told you a programme was completely out of the question, but on reflection I probably did overreact when I saw that picture, and I’m angry with myself now for thinking the worst of Molly, when I should have known it was just kids messing around.’

  ‘Are you going to punish her anyway?’ Laurie asked, thankful that she’d managed to absorb enough to know what Katie was talking about.

  ‘I don’t know. I’d rather trust her to not do anything like it again, but I’d be fooling myself if I thought she was never going to succumb to peer pressure, particularly when she’s been so lonely since we came here. She’s happy to have friends again, and when you take into consideration what she’s going to be facing soon, I don’t want to start making her miserable now.’ She sighed and watched Trotty skimming across the field after a rabbit she was never going to catch. ‘Now,’ she said, turning back with a twinkle in her eye, ‘I’m starting to form the impression that you didn’t get much sleep last night.’

  Laurie quickly covered her mouth again, and grimaced an apology. ‘I didn’t,’ she confirmed, feeling the burn of Nick’s hands as though they were still on her. ‘Sorry, it’s annoying when people keep yawning.’

  Katie smiled.

  After a moment Laurie smiled too, but resisted the urge to discuss her dilemma, for easy as Katie was to talk to, she had enough of her own issues to deal with. ‘So what would you like to do about the programme?’ she asked. ‘You know how keen I am, but as I told you before, it’s your decision.’

  Turning to track the stately progress of a fully plumed pheasant as it plodded dumbly towards Trotty’s lair, Katie said, ‘I think I’d like to carry on as we agreed yesterday. As you said, it doesn’t commit me to anything, and we’re here now, so why don’t we go ahead with whatever you had planned for today and see how it goes?’ She cast her a droll look. ‘If you can remember what you had planned, that is.’

  Laurie laughed and blushed. ‘Michelle’s right,’ she said, ‘nothing ever gets past you.’

  ‘Nothing,’ Katie confirmed.

  Still laughing, and having to remind herself once again that they weren’t here to discuss her, Laurie said, ‘OK, why don’t we kick off with something nice and easy like what you’d most like to achieve in the time you have left.’

  Katie’s eyebrows rose. ‘Nice and easy,’ she repeated dryly, and leaning her elbows against the gate, she murmured the question softly to herself, then added with a laugh, ‘You mean apart from an end to global warming, overthrowing the current US regime, and getting laid?’

  ‘You missed out world peace.’

  ‘No, that’s covered under number two. Actually getting rid of those power-crazed maniacs who’ve set up shop in the White House would probably sort out most world issues, but I don’t think this is the kind of answer you had in mind.’

  Laurie shook her head.

  ‘OK, so let me see. Well, I suppose after making sure Molly’s OK and taken care of, which is obviously what Michelle’s here for, probably what I’d most like to achieve is the kind of inner peace that makes it all right to go.’

  Laurie felt mildly surprised. ‘You give the appearance of already being there,’ she told her.

  Katie gave a scoff of laughter. ‘Not even close,’ she assured her. ‘If you could see me lying in my bed at night like a petrified virgin, listening to the incessant babble in my head as I go over and over everything my spiritual counsellor advises, madly trying to channel my thoughts into the now so that I can overcome my resistance and accept what’s happening, which I’m told is the path to inner calm … Believe me, it’s chaos in here, but I try and sometimes it actually works, for a minute or two, until the demons start parachuting in again, and my fears light up like beacons to guide them straight to the hot spots.’

  Laurie watched her as she seemed to drift for a while.

  ‘Actually, if you want to know the truth,’ she went on, ‘I’m absolutely terrified. Not of dying particularly, or of what comes next, though I can’t say I’m thrilled about the one-way part of the deal. No, what I’m most afraid of is leaving Molly. I know that without her I’d be empty, so my fear is that’s how she’ll feel without me. She’s still so young and it frightens me to think of her in the world without me, even though I know Michelle will love and take care of her.’

  Laurie was thinking of all the other mothers who were facing the same nightmare, as well as the millions who weren’t, for no-one could be immune to the agony of having to say a premature goodbye to a child.

  ‘I still haven’t told her,’ Katie said, her eyes following the pheasant as it flapped and clucked over a hedgerow and disappeared from view. ‘I keep waiting for the right moment, but I guess I’m going to have to accept that for something like this, there is no right moment.’ After a while she turned to look back down the lane, and spotting Michelle coming to join them, gave her a wave.

  ‘They say,’ she continued, ‘that knowing you’re going to die gives you an appreciation of life and the people around you that you didn’t have before, and it’s true, in so many ways. One of them, for me, is how I’ve finally allowed myself to see Michelle for who she really is. I used to tell myself she was selfish and conceited, unreliable, inconsiderate and far, far too pleased with herself, when actually I was just jealous of how beautiful she is, and the way everyone adores or admires her. She’s reached a place inside herself where she doesn’t sit in judgement of others, the way most of us do, she doesn’t even shove scene-stealers like me out of the limelight so everyone can get a good look at her, because she doesn’t need to. She’s happy with who she is, and feels no need to pro
ve herself to people who aren’t really listening anyway. Whereas I’ve always been one of those loud, opinionated types who underneath it all are horribly threatened by people like her.’ She shook her head in dismay. ‘All these years I’ve been coveting her spot on the stage, while forgetting to look at my own, which means I’ve missed out on so much. I was only seeing the false picture, where I’d painted her accomplishments in such dazzling and magnificent colours that next to them mine could only wither and fade.’ She gave a protracted sigh of exasperation, as though amazed she hadn’t seen all this before, when it seemed so clear to her now.

  ‘You look very intense,’ Michelle commented, as she joined them. ‘I hope she’s not boring you.’

  ‘Actually, I was going to leave that to you,’ Katie retorted, turning to stroke the horse as it nudged her.

  Michelle laughed, then frowned curiously. ‘Katie? Why have you got a duster on your back?’

  ‘Because I had a notion to clean up the neighbourhood,’ Katie responded glibly. ‘What duster?’

  Michelle peeled it from the belt of her sweater and passed it over. ‘This one,’ she said.

  ‘Now why don’t prattish things like that happen to you?’ Katie wanted to know, tucking the duster in her pocket and enjoying watching Laurie laugh.

  ‘It’s only one per family,’ Michelle responded. ‘So, where were you up to?’

  ‘I was just about to drown in a swamp of self-pity,’ Katie informed her. ‘You see, I have to feel sorry for myself,’ she explained to Laurie, ‘because no-one else around here does.’

  ‘You’d get a lot more sympathy from me if you’d eat,’ Michelle told her.

  ‘Actually, I’ve taken my megace today, and while you were immersed in all the P2 stuff this morning I trotted off to get myself a new prescription. So how good does that make you feel?’

  ‘Almost as good as the smile I got from Molly before she went off to school.’

  Katie’s eyes immediately showed her pleasure. ‘You see, behind the snarling, snapping trainee dragon is a winning little creature just dying to get out. It’s all those hormones that are doing it, rampaging around in jackboots one minute, in fluffy socks the next, so carry on taking the hornbeam is what I say, it’ll keep you nice and chilled out.’