Unstitched (18 page)

I sighed. ‘I remember that night so well. It was an amazing ball. It was also the night Rachel and Brendt got together, not that it seems like such a good thing now, considering their current situation.’ I peered at the picture again. ‘So you were at that ball as well?’

‘I knew where you would be, all I had to do was turn up and see if you were who I thought you were.’

‘Did I talk to you?’

He smiled and nodded. ‘I spotted you from across the room. You were dancing with who I now know to be Brendt. And as he held you in his arms, I was consumed by the first ever pang of jealousy I’ve felt this lifetime.’

I grinned. ‘You were jealous?’

‘Let’s just say, there were some serious primitive emotions raging through my body.’

I giggled.

‘I knew then you were who I’d been searching for. Against all my good judgement, because I was completely underprepared, I came over and tapped Brendt on the shoulder so I could cut in on his dance. I took your hand in mine. Touching you felt better than I could’ve believed. But when you looked up at me with your most beautiful brown eyes, smiling, I had to blink back tears.’

I nodded as memories flooded back. ‘I remember you. You looked stunning and I was so flustered to be dancing with you. But then I looked into your eyes and could see such pain and sadness in them.’

He lowered his head. ‘It’s tough being apart from the one you love.’

‘Yes, it is.’

He smoothed his finger down my cheek and pressed his lips to mine. ‘I love you so much, Anthea.’

‘I love you too.’

‘Nothing was going to keep me away from you after that night. Nothing.’

I pushed to my feet and wrapped my arms around him. ‘Thank you. For everything you’ve done to get here.’

‘I did it for both of us.’

I nodded. ‘I know. I see now, after these incredible lengths, that you were suffering too.’

He cupped my face with his big gentle hands. ‘We’re together now. Telling you the truth was the last hurdle.’

‘Have I passed?’

He grinned and kissed me again. ‘You’ve done so well. Better than I predicted, considering I told you earlier than I would’ve liked.’

I stepped away from him and looked up into his loving eyes. My heart was beating hard. ‘You’ve sacrificed so much — living away from your family and friends. You said how difficult it is coping with the cultural differences of our times.’ My voice was trembling.

‘What’s the matter?’ he asked quickly.

‘I’m scared it’s going to be too difficult for you. That you’re not going to be able to stay.’ My bottom lip trembled.

‘Anthy, don’t,’ he said shaking his head. ‘I’ll never leave you. Nothing is worse, or harder, than not having you in my life. Nothing. Do you understand me?’

I nodded quickly. ‘Promise me.’

He pulled me into his arms again, his chest heaving. ‘I promise. I promise.’

I pushed my face into his chest, drew my arms tighter around him. ‘God I love you, Lucas.’

‘I know, baby. I love you too. I’ve done so much to get here. I’m not going to turn away now. Not ever.’

Lucas

Tears tumbled down Anthea’s cheeks. She wiped at them with the back of her hand as she fetched garlic from the fridge.

‘Are those onions giving you a hard time?’ I teased as I chopped tomatoes for the salad we were having with dinner. Rachel was on her way back from Cairns and Anthea wanted to do something nice for her return. Catch was: she couldn’t cook. So that’s where I came into it.

‘You’re so funny,’ she said sarcastically, her lips scowling in that gorgeous way that made my heart quiver. At the bench, Anthea crushed garlic with the back of her knife and chopped it finely, just as I had instructed. ‘So what do I do now?’

I scraped pieces of chopped tomato from the chopping board into the large salad bowl and wiped my hands on a tea towel. Enough was enough, that tight skirt Anthea was wearing, which hugged her arse so her two perfect cheeks teased me all afternoon, was undoing me. The twenty-first century was going crazy on my libido. I ached to run my hands over that arse, amongst other parts of her body. My cock swelled at the thought.

I stepped so I stood behind her and pressed against her body, my cock right between those perfectly rounded cheeks. Pleasure pierced the head of my dick and splintered to my limbs. I had to bite on my bottom lip to stifle a groan. I found her earlobe with my lips, her thighs with my hands. Slowly, my fingers crept up her thighs and I yanked her skirt up to her waist, revealing her firm arse barely covered by her pale pink, lace knickers. She was utterly gorgeous. I rolled my pelvis against her again and smoothed my hands over her flat stomach, muscles jerking under my fingers as I slipped down the front of her underwear and dipped a finger into her slick, silky centre.

A groan and a gushed exhale hissed from between my teeth against her ear. She relaxed against me and her head lolled forward as I circled over her swollen clit.

‘That’s not how you make pasta,’ she breathed.

‘No, it’s not,’ I whispered against her ear, then pulled her knickers down to her ankles and they pooled on the floor at her feet. I gripped her waist, spun her and heaved her onto the bench.

‘Open your legs,’ I said, unbuttoning my jeans and sliding down the zip. Anthea’s lips curled as she pushed her thighs apart, deliciously wide. In perfect view for me. My veins were zinging, my cock so tight against my briefs. I freed my erection, underwear and jeans still high on my thighs. But I couldn’t wait. Not with Anthea. She melted my composure, ignited my carnal desire. I stood between her thighs, cock poised at her entrance. I could smell her wanting.

‘The girls will be home soon,’ she said feebly, breathless.

I pushed deep and her tight walls gripped me. I closed my eyes, breathed in. ‘Well, let’s hope we’re finished in time then.’

***

Anthea

Legs still draped around Lucas’s taut waist, my body was vibrating, almost singing, as he leant down, chest heaving and kissed me.

‘I love you,’ he said, eyes penetrating.

I pressed his hand against my cheek. ‘I love you too.’

‘Can we make pasta like this all the time?’ he asked with a cheeky smirk.

I breathed out a wistful gush of air and closed my eyes. ‘Oh, yeah.’

There was noise in the foyer, a soft mumble of voices, footsteps. My heart jolted, my eyes flew open wider as I looked up at Lucas. ‘They’re home.’

Lucas grinned and helped me off the bench. I found my knickers and threaded my legs into them, pulled them up and then my skirt down frantically. Lucas did the same with his jeans. I could hear the girls clearly now, their footsteps loud against the tiles. I madly tucked my blouse back in, while Lucas fumbled with his jeans button.

‘Rachel,’ I said, a little too high-pitched, as she rounded the corner into the kitchen. I darted to her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. ‘It’s so good to see you.’ My words were too fast.

Rachel smiled then narrowed her eyes. ‘It’s good to be home. Is everything okay? You look flustered.’

I pressed my hands to my cheeks and giggled. ‘Cooking does that to me.’

Lucas stepped out from behind, perfectly calm, but his cheeks were noticeably flushed. He kissed Rachel’s cheek. ‘Hi, Rachel. How are you?’

She shrugged. ‘I’ve been better.’

He smiled sympathetically.

Roslyn strolled into the kitchen and took a stool. ‘So, guys, what ya been up to?’

‘Chopping some onions, crushing some garlic,’ I said.

She looked from me to Lucas, one eyebrow arched, and nodded. My face was burning, so I turned away and pulled a frying pan out of the kitchen cupboard. ‘Um, Rach, if you want to go and shower or whatever, this will still be another half-hour or so.’

‘Yeah. I might do that.’

Hoping that the colour in my cheeks had returned to normal, I spun back to face the girls again. ‘I’ll get a bottle of red breathing for us.’

Rachel rubbed her hands together and smiled. ‘That sounds good.’

When Rachel left, Roslyn leant over the bench, picked at a piece of tomato and popped it into her mouth. ‘I’ve asked Matt to come over tonight, if that’s alright?’

‘The more the merrier. We have plenty,’ I said, then lowered my voice to a whisper and leant closer to Roslyn across the bench. ‘How is Rachel, really?’

Hushing her voice as well. ‘She’s okay.’

‘Has she heard from Brendt?’

She shook her head. ‘Not at all. I think she said she might give him a call tonight, to talk it through properly.’

‘Fair enough.’

Roslyn nodded, pushed her stool back and stood. ‘I’m gonna ring Matt. See how far away he is.’

‘Sure.’

When Roslyn had left the room, I turned to Lucas. Blustery laughs exploded from our lips. He cuddled me to his chest and whispered in my ear, ‘That was too close.’

‘I know. Can you imagine if they actually caught us?’ I cringed at the thought. ‘I would’ve died from embarrassment.’

He winked. ‘It would’ve been worth it.’

***

On my way to bed, I stopped by Rachel’s room. I tapped my knuckles lightly against her door. ‘Hey, Rach, can I come in?’

She mumbled a reply and I opened the door. She was on her bed, cross-legged, half-a-dozen tissues scattered around. Her eyes were red and puffy. It broke my heart to see her like this. I strained a sympathetic smile, sat on the bed next to her and wrapped my arm around her shoulders. ‘I’m so sorry about all of this.’

Rachel shrugged.

‘Did you just call Brendt?’

She nodded.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’

Rachel stretched her pale, thin legs in front of her and wriggled her toes, attention fixed on her feet. ‘It’s definitely over,’ she said sucking air deep into her lungs.

‘Brendt confirmed that?’

Again she nodded. ‘He said his heart belongs to someone else.’

‘Has he been seeing someone else?’

She shook her head quickly. ‘No. Brendt wouldn’t do that. He doesn’t know who she is…yet. He just knows she’s out there.’

My stomach twisted with knotted nerves.

Rachel laughed manically. ‘I think he’s been listening to you too much.’

My throat tightened, my heart heavy in my chest. ‘I’m so sorry.’

‘Plenty more fish in the sea and all that,’ she said, still unable to look at me, concentrating on her toes.

‘I guess. Look, if you need to talk to someone, or a shoulder to cry on, I’m always here for you.’

She smiled. ‘I know.’

‘I’ll leave you to it. I’ll see you tomorrow for breakfast.’

‘Sure.’

I went to the door before turning back to face her. ‘Goodnight, Rachel.’

‘Night.’

I marched down to my room. Lucas was lying on the bed, his eyes closed, singing softly to himself. He looked up at me as I burst through the door and exploded into tears. I collapsed onto the bed beside him and shoved my head into the pillow.

‘Anthea, what’s the matter? What happened?’

I felt ridiculous, like a three-year-old, but I couldn’t lull the tears; they kept falling and falling. It was as though the last month — the breakup, the time-travel revelation — had crept up on me and blanketed me with dark, solemn clouds.

Lucas rubbed his hand up and down my back. ‘Anthea. Please tell me what’s going on.’

I sat up and slung my arms around him. He pulled me close and held me in his strong arms. ‘I think Rachel blames me for Brendt breaking up with her.’

He wiped the tears from under my eyes with his thumbs. ‘Are you sure?’

I nodded, then shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Maybe. I just feel so guilty.’

He narrowed his eyes. ‘Guilty about what?’

‘Brendt said the reason they broke up is because he’s in love with someone else. Someone he doesn’t know yet. Now who does that sound like?’

He smiled. ‘That sounds like a billion other people who are looking for that someone they want to spend the rest of their life with.’

I ruffled a hand through my hair. ‘Yeah. But Rachel actually said she thinks he’s been listening to me too much. Why would she say that if she didn’t think it was true?’

‘Rachel is hurting right now. She’s probably looking for someone to lump some of that on to. Soon enough, it’ll straighten out in her head, and she’ll see what happened has absolutely nothing to do with you.’

‘In the meantime, I still feel like shit.’

He kissed my cheek. ‘That will hopefully pass too.’

Lucas lay down on the bed and pulled me against his chest. His hands were gentle as he stroked my hair. But my stomach was writhing and clenching and deep down I knew why. I couldn’t avoid it forever, especially when it raised its emotional, horrid head like it did tonight.

I sat up and looked down at Lucas. ‘There’s something I need to tell you.’

His eyes widened. ‘What is it?’

‘I’ve been trying to refute it, but there’s a real reason why I feel so guilty about all this — a little incident that happened a while back with Brendt.’

‘What little incident?’

I lowered my eyes to the bed. ‘Before you and I started seeing each other, Brendt and I had a bit of a moment.’

‘Define
moment
?’

I sighed and my shoulders slumped. ‘Um, I think we nearly, sort of, kissed.’

He pursed his lips and nodded. ‘But you didn’t?’

I shook my head quickly. ‘But we would have if Rachel hadn’t interrupted the moment.’

‘But you didn’t.’

‘No. But I’m the most awful of people. Who do I think I am to nearly betray Rachel like that?’

He shook his head. ‘You didn’t betray her, Anthy. It’s tough living with what you’ve had to live with, constant searching and never finding. You’ve done amazingly well to deal with it as you have, and I would never, ever, even remotely think that you’re an awful person. Never.’

I stared into his gentle, honest eyes and smiled. ‘Saint Lucas.’

‘
Saint
Lucas?’

‘The voice of an angel, the body of a god and the patience of a saint. A much needed quality when you have to put up with me.’

He laughed. ‘But how much I love to put up with you.’

I placed my palm on his hard chest, loving the heat of his body, the toned stock of muscle beneath my hand. ‘You know, I wished so hard for you to come to me, to find me, and you did. You found me and all I care about now is you being in my life.’