The Necklace - The Dusky Club, June 1962 - Linda S Rice (books to read fiction txt) 📗

the walls. “Does your Auntie play the piano?” she asked.

“Of course! She’s my dad’s sister. They’re all musical, you know. Let’s take these things into the kitchen,” he added. “And look in the hampers to see what we have. Then we can decide what to take up the hill for our picnic.”

He set the picnic hamper down on the kitchen table by a window, followed by the bag with bread. He then went back out to the car to retrieve the other basket and the remaining bag with the cheeses. When he returned, Susan was unpacking the first hamper, which was the one from the hotel.

“Wow! They sure packed a lot of stuff. It’s going to be hard to decide what to take on our picnic, but I’m just about starving to death now.”

“Let me show you around first, just so you know where the loo is and all, then we’ll pack up some of this stuff and head up the hill for our picnic.”

He led her out of the kitchen and pointed across the way, off the lounge, to a bathroom. Next to it was a door that opened into a bedroom with a large four-poster bed. “That was my Mum and Dad’s room when they came to stay here, but when Mum died, my Dad didn’t come here much anymore, so when my brother, Chad, and I came to visit, that was our room.”

Just then, Buttons ran into the room and jumped up on the bed. She turned in a couple of circles before laying down and putting her head down on her paws.

“Scat!” James yelled at her, trying to chase her off the bed. “You don’t belong on the bed!”

Buttons just lifted her head for a minute and stared at him, but she didn’t budge.

“She’s okay there,” said Susan. “In fact, my cat sleeps on my bed with me every night.”

“Well, she won’t be sleeping there tonight...” he started to say.

Susan looked at him quizzically, and he immediately changed the subject.

But then his comment about the cat not sleeping on the bed tonight hit her. James most likely expected to be occupying the bed with her tonight. She started to say something, but he was out the door before she could utter a word.

“Up here,” he said, pointing her up a set of stairs next to the bathroom. They started up the stairs.

At the top were two other bedrooms. “My Dad built these after Auntie Annabelle’s husband died. She had a son and his wife move back in with her, who stayed downstairs for a few months before getting their own place. Auntie’s bedroom is up here. She uses the other bedroom for her sewing. She takes in sewing jobs from time to time.”

They went back downstairs and into the kitchen, where they sorted through the hampers and bags, putting the excess food away in the refrigerator in the corner of the kitchen. “Plenty more for later, that’s for sure,” said James.

He grabbed a blanket and tucked it under his arm. Susan searched through the cabinets and drawers and found a couple of wine glasses and a corkscrew to open the wine. She grabbed the bottle of Chardonnay, the glasses, and the corkscrew. She re-packed one of the hampers with some of the food, and they headed out the door, up the hill to a spot under a big, tall, leafy tree. They could see the cottage down below. James set down the hamper and spread out the blanket.

“Time for our banquet.” He motioned Susan to sit down beside him. She lowered herself down and reached for the hamper.

“But first the wine,” she said.

Expertly, she used the corkscrew to open the bottle and poured them each a generous portion.

“To our picnic,” she said, raising her glass.

He bumped his glass against hers. “Yes, My lady, to our picnic.” They smiled into each other’s eyes.

They sipped, then dug into the hamper and ate ravenously as if they hadn’t eaten in days.

Chapter Seven

The Pond

They were both sleepy after drinking the glass of wine and eating much of the baguette, brie, shaved ham, and grapes. They both lay back against the tree trunk, empty wine glasses in hand. Their eyes started to close when James said, “Would you like to see the pond?”

Susan’s eyes fluttered open, and she said sleepily, “Sure,” and sat up.

James stood up, took her hand, and pulled her up. “It’s down the path this way. Chad and I used to swim in it during the summers we stayed here.”

He led her by the hand down a narrow path bordered by ferns to a small pond surrounded by large boulders. There were overgrown trees on each side. A small waterfall cascaded into the pond between two of the boulders, making the scene idyllic.

“I haven’t been here in ages,” he said, gazing around.

“Is the water very cold?” she asked.

“Shouldn’t be this time of year. Go ahead and stick your toe in.”

She slipped off her sandals, set them down on the pebbles by the shore of the pond, and tentatively put one foot into the water. It was chilly, but not uncomfortably cold. On a warm day like this one, it wouldn’t even be too cold to swim in.

The pebbles beneath the water were smooth and somewhat slimy with algae. She stepped in with her other foot, but as she did so, she started to lose her balance and was just about to fall fully into the water when James grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

As she spun around, the front of her body thudded against his chest, and within a second, he had wrapped his arms tightly around her and crushed his mouth down on hers.

Her response to his kiss was immediate, all her pent up emotions from the previous night exploding into uncontrollable desire. She returned his kiss with a passion she didn’t even know she had, reaching both arms up to twine around his neck. Her hands moved up to the back of his head, and she ran her fingers frantically through his hair, scraping her fingernails on his scalp. He groaned as their kiss deepened, and he shot his tongue into her mouth, teasing and probing.

He cupped one of her breasts in his hand, and she responded by thrusting her hips into his and rubbing against him. Moving his hands down to her bottom, he pulled her even closer. She could feel his pulsing arousal against her stomach and the beginning moisture between her legs. A throbbing need began deep in her belly, then slowly moved down to her most private parts, leaving her almost breathless with desire.

Her hormones were in a drunken stupor, while her aged and mature mind fled into the depths of the pond. There was no stopping the intense passion that flowed between them.

Their kiss became an erotic play of lips and tongues. Their hearts were beating wildly against each other. He covered her neck with kisses and small nips, then took her earlobe between his teeth and tugged gently before swirling his tongue inside, making her nearly swoon.

She reached between them down to the front of his trousers and boldly squeezed the pulsating bulge that was begging for release. He sucked in his breath in response before reaching a hand behind her head, grasping a handful of her hair and pulling her face towards his for another kiss.

James was the first to draw back and look down at her. His lips parted; his eyes were smoldering and dark with flickering amber highlights sparking within. They were both breathing heavily. Her lips felt swollen from his kisses. His eyes pinned onto hers. She knew the next move was up to her. He’d said so when they left for the picnic this morning.

But did she even have a choice? She knew there was no point in fighting against this; she wanted him to possess her, and it was far too late for either of them to call a halt to the inevitable. All rational thoughts fled from her head as he squeezed her bottom, pulling her back into him where she could feel his throbbing manhood. She imagined how it would feel inside her, and the last of any rational thoughts flew from her brain.

“Take me back to the cottage and make love to me,” she whispered huskily.

There was no need for him to respond. Bending down, she retrieved her sandals. He took her hand, and they raced back up the path, bypassing the blanket and the remnants of their picnic, then down the hill to the cottage. When they got inside, they wordlessly headed back to the bedroom, where James kicked the door shut behind them.

There wasn’t any slow, seductive removal of clothes. Both quickly and eagerly stripped down to nakedness, James on one side of the bed and Susan on the other. The only thing Susan still wore was her necklace. The ballerina shoes hung down between her bare breasts. Buttons jumped down off the bed then up onto the window sill, turning her head away. James and Susan met in the middle of the bed, both on their knees, and embraced with a need so powerful that it made them dizzy.

They kissed again, this time more slowly and sensuously, running their hands over each other’s skin, feeling, touching, exploring. He cupped both of her full breasts in his hands and rubbed his thumbs across her nipples. They instantly hardened. When she reached down and grasped his erect shaft in one hand and gently tugged on it, he groaned, moving one of his hands down between her thighs, feeling her wet heat and expertly fingering the most sensitive part of her. She gasped, parting her thighs to give him better access.

“Oh, my God!” Susan suddenly thought. “Am I a virgin or not? How can he even possibly think I am after I told him to make love to me, stripped down naked without a second thought, and now I’m doing this? What can he be thinking of me?”

She would have laughed in different circumstances, but this wasn’t the moment. Her mind was in a whirl, and she was throbbing for want of him inside her as he continued to stroke the nub of her desire, making her slicker and wetter. She begged him to stop, thinking she might explode right then and there.

Slowly, he removed his hand from between her thighs and laid her back on the pillows, his body held slightly above hers. His lips claimed hers again.

As he kissed her, instinct took over, and she spread her legs beneath him. He lowered one of his hands down between them and stroked her again. She scraped her fingernails down his back in eager anticipation and slightly lifted her hips. She was ready. He grasped his manhood and prepared to enter her, then suddenly stopped, looking full into her face.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked softly.

“I’ve never wanted anything more,” she whispered as she raised her hips higher to receive him.

To the surprise of them both, he met a barrier partway in and pulled back, amazement on his face.

“Are you really then...are you...have you never done this before?”

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. “No, I don’t believe I have.”

“I don’t want to hurt you. I’ve never encountered...that is to say...I’ve never experienced...”

Her only response was to frantically thrust her hips up to meet him again as she grasped his bottom and pulled him down into her in one swift movement. He moaned in pleasure as he broke through her barrier, and her tight sheath enveloped him. Pausing for a moment, he looked down at