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  “No, and I don’t wish to!” she replied, curtly, with a dismissive wave of her hand, and a deeper reddening of her cheeks.

  There followed a brief, awkward silence, which Lee sought to fill by beginning to tell her the latest developments in relation to his humanitarian project with Brodie. Although Nadine attempted to display an interest in this aspect of Lee’s life, it soon became apparent to him, from the slightly glazed look in her eyes, and her well-intended but inappropriate interjections, that she had little real interest in or understanding of this topic. So, after a short time, he desisted, and an awkward silence again descended upon the pair.

  Eventually, Lee spoke again.

  “Why don’t we go for a walk, Nadine? I believe there are some really beautiful, secluded walking tracks through the bush around here.”

  With a slight roll of her eyes, Nadine sighed, and reached out to dip one finger in the wine dregs in her glass. She then ran the finger-tip slowly around the nipple of her left breast, which was protruding from the folds of her loose robe, at the same time saying, as coquettishly as she could manage, “Wouldn’t you rather stay here and taste more of me?”

  “Not on a full stomach, Nadine!” protested Lee, patting his belly theatrically.

  Nadine looked down at her own naked abdomen and was immediately conscious of just how much she had eaten. She had a horrifying mental image of her waist expanding by several centimetres if she were to continue her indulgence for the remainder of the weekend.

  “Oh, OK,” she replied, reluctantly. “I suppose I’ll have to put some clothes on first,” she added, rising to head for the bedroom.

  “While you’re dressing, I’ll just go outside and ring Dr. Hunter. There’s something I need to ask him about our project.”

  As Nadine entered the bedroom, Lee stepped out onto the deck of their unit, pulling his mobile phone from his trousers’ pocket. After listening carefully to be certain that Nadine had indeed remained in the bedroom, he quickly dialled Simone’s mobile phone number. When she answered, he thought he detected a note of anxiety in her voice.

  “Hello, Simone. You sound a bit stressed. Is the atmosphere at Harold and Emily’s a bit tense this afternoon?”

  “No, everything’s fine, Lee,” she replied. “Thanks for asking. How’s the seminar going?”

  “Oh, it’s OK. The usual stuff, but some new techniques being explored.”

  “That’s good, but I really must go now, Lee. Harold’s waiting to introduce me to someone. I’ll tell you all about it when you get home.”

  The sound of the connection being broken told him she had closed her phone, so he did the same, returning his to his pocket, with a slightly puzzled expression crossing his face. He then slumped into a chair on the deck to await Nadine’s reappearance for their proposed walk.

  After a period that was shorter than he would have liked, Nadine emerged onto the deck, dressed in her new, sky-blue denim mini-skirt and jacket, with knee-length, high-heeled boots.

  “That’s hardly suitable walking gear, Nadine,” he admonished, looking her pointedly up and down.

  “Too bad! I didn’t expect us to be going hiking!” she responded, acerbically. “If we’re going, let’s go!”

  Without further comment, she marched off the deck, trailed by Lee.

  CHAPTER 10

  Simone had never felt more alone and vulnerable than she did as she walked the short distance down the street from her home towards the Braithwaites’ garden gate that afternoon. Here we are again, she thought, Lee off doing his own thing, and I doing mine. Not for the first time since her lovemaking with Lee had dwindled away to nothing, the thought crossed her mind that he might be finding his sexual satisfaction elsewhere, just as she had done with Teale. She wondered whether it had not come to the point where they would both be better off living apart than continuing their present façade of separate/togetherness. At the same time, with the problems evident in Sasha’s life at the moment, and the potential difficulties to arise from Delia’s coming to terms with her sexuality, she felt that the time was not right for a major change in the whole dynamic of the family relationships.

  She pushed those troubling thoughts to the back of her mind as she passed through the open wrought-iron gates to the Braithwaites’ large, beautifully manicured garden. Walking along the paved path leading from the gates to the open courtyard that formed the centerpiece of the garden, she saw various people, some well-known neighbours, and others less familiar, standing in groups, or seated at tables under the shade of large umbrellas, talking, laughing and drinking. As her eyes swept over these groups, they paused when they fell upon a particularly striking young woman who was the centre of attention of one group made up predominantly of males. She had long black hair, cascading down almost to her waist, and a figure that would have been the envy of many a model. Amongst the group of male admirers gathered around this lovely creature was Brodie, who seemed deeply engrossed in whatever it was that she was saying.

  When she had almost reached this group, Simone felt a light touch on her elbow, and she turned to find Harold Braithwaite, who greeted her with a cheery, “Hello, Simone. I’m so glad to see you. You’re looking as lovely as ever. What a pity Lee couldn’t make it.”

  Then, taking her gently by the arm, he led her a little aside, before speaking further.

  “As you know, Simone, Emily and I are going overseas soon, for several weeks, as part of my sabbatical. My young nephew will be keeping an eye on the place for us while we’re away, making sure the gardener stays on top of it, and even staying overnight from time to time. So, don’t be surprised if you see him popping in and out, or if you see lights on at night occasionally. But, between you and me, I’m a bit worried about him at the moment. Do you see that long-legged beauty over there, with all the young bees buzzing around her?” he asked, nodding towards the young woman who had earlier caught Simone’s eye.

  “Yes,” responded Simone, “I noticed her and her admirers straight away.”

  “Well,” continued Harold, in a conspiratorial tone, “she was his steady girlfriend until just recently, when she returned from an overseas trip. I understand that, since then, they have mutually agreed to call it off, but to remain friends, as they sometimes work together. Hence her presence here today. But, I’m wondering whether he may be hurting more than he’s letting on over it, as some of my judicial colleagues have told me his work has not been quite up to his usual standard, lately. He’s a barrister, you know. I was hoping that you and Lee might take him under your wings a little, and maybe invite him to dinner, or something, to meet your girls. It might do him some good to meet some nice, new young people, without any connection to his work, like those two.”

  “That comes as a bit of a surprise to me, Harold, after Sasha’s behaviour at her party the other night – particularly since you and Emily copped the brunt of it.”

  “Nonsense, Simone! I’ve seen them grow up, and I’ve always thought they were fine young people. Besides, Sasha showed character and maturity by coming over to apologize, personally, to me and Emily during the week. It took a bit of guts to do that. But I didn’t let her off scot free. I gave her quite a lecture about the evils of excessive drinking, and how I’ve seen young lives ruined by it, particularly young girls who have put themselves in positions where they’ve been vulnerable to rape and sexual assault by too much of it. She sat there and took it all on the chin, and even smiled when she said that you and Lee had cracked down on her, so that she has less money to spend on partying.”

  Simone listened, with increasing disbelief, but pride, to Harold’s glowing account of Sasha’s contrition, of which she had been totally unaware. She was still fully digesting this when Harold took her by the elbow again, and steered her in the direction of another group of guests, at the same time saying, “Ah! There’s Teale now. Come and I’ll introduce you.”

  Simone blanched at Harold’s utterance of that name, and stopped in her tracks to stare in the direc
tion he was leading her. To her horror, she saw that it was, indeed, her mystery computer lover, Teale, towards whom her host was steering her, in obvious ignorance of the secret bond of lust that already existed between them. Her mind raced to devise a means of carrying off this unexpected confrontation without giving away the secret that she and her lover shared. She feared that either she, or he, or both, would be unable to hide the discomfort which they would inevitably feel at being so unexpectedly thrown together in these circumstances, and that Harold would be immediately aware of some unexplained connection between them.

  Just at that moment, to Simone’s immense relief, fate, in the shape of George Twidale, stepped in to give her some breathing space to collect herself and prepare for the encounter to follow.

  He suddenly thrust himself into the path that Harold was steering with Simone and, in his usual obnoxious fashion, drew himself up to within a few centimetres of Simone, and spoke loudly into her face.

  “How’s Sasha?” he asked, in a grossly condescending tone, and with an overly sympathetic smile.

  Before Simone could respond to this barbed question, Harold, fully grasping its malicious intent, spoke dismissively to him.

  “Excuse us, George. I’m about to introduce Simone to my nephew.”

  So saying, he pushed his way past George, leaving him standing, open mouthed, and seething. Not only did this intrusion give Simone some desperately needed breathing space to prepare herself for the introduction to Teale, it also provided an apparently legitimate basis for any discomfort that she might be unable to mask at that moment.

  Teale, sensing the approach of someone in the periphery of his vision, turned his head in that direction to see who it was. Instant recognition of Simone, accompanied by his uncle, hit him like a bolt out of the blue. With a sharp intake of breath, he stared at her, taking in, at a glance, the tantalizing sensualness of her figure, silhouetted as it was by the light of the sun behind her, with the breeze blowing the delicate chiffon material of her frock gently against and between her legs. When his eyes met hers, they locked together, each suddenly oblivious, for an instant, of all others around them.

  When only a few paces separated them, the familiar sound of her mobile phone, emanating from her shoulder bag, snapped Simone out of her trance-like state. Reaching into her bag for it, and glancing quickly at its incoming call display, she said to Harold, “You go ahead, Harold. I’ll just answer this call. It’s from Lee.”

  Harold took the few extra paces that brought him up beside Teale who, with a supreme effort of will, dragged his eyes away from Simone and focussed on his uncle. After taking Teale by the elbow, Harold looked back towards Simone. “Ah, Teale, my boy. I’m about to introduce you to our good friend and neighbour, Simone Boothby. She’ll be with us in a second. She’s just speaking to her husband, Lee, who’s away at a seminar. He’s a top notch orthodontist.”

  This announcement caused Teale to experience a sharp flutter of ‘butterflies’ in his stomach, as he again looked, with suppressed excitement, at Simone.

  “No, everything’s fine, Lee,” Simone said into her phone, in a quiet voice. “Thanks for asking. How’s the seminar going?” Then after a pause, she concluded, “That’s good, but I really must go now, Lee. Harold’s waiting to introduce me to someone. I’ll tell you all about it when you get home.”

  Closing her phone, and switching it off, she returned it to her bag before joining Harold and Teale.

  Harold then performed the ritual of formally introducing her to Teale, and when the two shook hands, as if meeting for the first time, each felt a tingle of excitement pass through their body at the renewal of a touch that had brought them both such wild, sensual pleasure in the past. It took all of their combined will-power to release each other’s hand, and to refrain from throwing themselves into each other’s arms.

  The appearance of a waiter bearing a tray of drinks, which he offered to the group, provided a brief respite for the secret lovers, as each accepted a drink and took a few sips to catch their breath. Both then drifted through the process of meeting and making small talk with other guests, for a time, without really comprehending or retaining the details conveyed during this mundane procedure.

  After what seemed a decent interval, when the opportunity presented itself, Teale quietly ushered Simone away from the milling guests, with a mumbled offer to show her the rest of his uncle’s vast and magnificent garden. With heart beating increasingly rapidly, she accompanied him along a path that led around to the back of the main residence, and then on to a small, low-set guest cottage. This neat building was screened from the main residence, fairly effectively, by a thick hedge of ornamental lilli-pilli shrubs, growing to a height of about two metres.

  Tentatively, Teale tried the door to this cottage, only to find it securely locked. After casting his eyes, somewhat furtively about, for unwanted observers, and finding none, he quickly escorted Simone to the rear of the cottage. This they found to be even more secluded than the front, there being an area of almost pristine native bush between the cottage’s rear and the boundary of the property on that side.

  Although the rear door, like that at the front, was locked, there was a small rear verandah to the left of the door, with a set of roll-up canvas blinds to afford protection from the sun when it shone from that side. These blinds were in the down position.

  Taking Simone’s now trembling hand in his, Teale led her onto this small verandah. He turned quickly, then, and took her into his arms, where the two kissed wildly, giving full vent to the pent-up passion which, until now, both had been battling to contain. That passion erupted from them as if from an active volcano, burying them both in what seemed like a sea of hot, all-consuming lava. Both now abandoned all restraint, pushing their feverish bodies hard against each other and hungrily devouring each other’s burning lips and probing tongues, as they blindly sought a place and a means of satisfying their overwhelming need for sexual gratification.

  Simone’s hat and bag were cast aside with total disregard for their fate, as Teale struggled, without taking his mouth away from Simone’s, to undo his belt and lower his trousers and jocks to reveal his now fully erect member. With Simone’s assistance, he raised the skirt of her frock, and removed her silken panties from one leg, leaving them flapping around her other ankle. Her nimble fingers quickly unfastened the top three buttons of his shirt, and she ran her fingernails lightly across his chest, causing him to shudder with delight.

  With fumbling fingers, Teale slid the spaghetti strap of Simone’s frock off one shoulder, causing the front of her chiffon garment, on that side, to drop, revealing her flesh-coloured half bra, from which he quickly extracted her shapely breast. The sight of her milk-white breast, with its pink nipple standing proudly erect, drove Teale to an even greater state of sexual excitement. Taking that nipple into his mouth, he ran his tongue rapidly around and around it, evoking a low groan of pleasure from deep in Simone’s throat.

  By this time, Simone had her back up against the external wall of the cottage. With her arms around Teale’s neck, she lifted her legs and straddled his, which he bent slightly, at the knees, to better take the weight of her. She then slid her back gently down the wall, to lower herself onto him, as he slipped his hands under her buttocks for additional support. She then wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, and pressed her back more firmly against the wall, allowing Teale to straighten his knees, and enter her more completely. In that position, he proceeded to thrust himself into, and withdraw himself from her, over and over, while rocking her pelvis back and forth with his hands, in synchronicity with his thrusts. In this manner, they both quickly came to climax, a stifled yelp of pleasure escaping Simone’s throat, to accompany Teale’s muffled cry of fulfillment.

  No sooner had they shared that wonderful moment of sexual release than a muted sound emanating from the other side of the canvas blinds intruded upon Simone’s consciousness. Looking over Teale’s shoulder, she fancied she saw a slight m
ovement of one blind, accompanied by a momentary flash of light in the small gap between the two blinds.

  “Teale!” she whispered in his ear, with a note of extreme urgency in her voice. “Did you hear that noise? I think someone might have been watching us through the gap in the blinds.”

  Quickly, then, they disengaged from each other, and began to hastily re-arrange their clothing. As soon as he had re-ordered himself sufficiently, Teale dashed out from the verandah, leaving Simone still tidying herself. He returned a minute or two later.

  “Did you see anyone?” asked Simone, anxiously.

  “No. I think, maybe, I saw a bit of movement in the bushes out there, but I can’t be sure if it was anyone. What did you see?”

  “I just thought I saw a flash of light or colour through the gap in the blinds, after I heard some kind of noise. Did you hear anything?”

  “No, not besides you and me! I was too much in the moment to hear anything else.”

  While Simone began to touch up her lipstick, and run a comb through her hair, she said to Teale, “You go ahead, back to the others. I’ll follow in a few seconds.”

  “No! I’m not leaving you here alone in case there is someone lurking about.”

  After a few more moments, and after Teale had made a further quick, unproductive inspection around the cottage for any potential witnesses to their tryst, the two made their way slowly and quietly back to the front of the cottage, and thence in the direction of the front garden from which they had departed only a short time before. As they walked, Simone caught a glimpse of the figure of another man, whom she thought to be Brodie, walking some distance ahead of them in the same direction. With her mind racing, before they rejoined the other guests at the front of the main residence, she spoke again to Teale.

  “I don’t feel I can stay her any longer, now, Teale. I’m afraid I may fall to pieces. I can’t just act cool, as if nothing has happened. I think I’ll fake a sudden migraine, and make my excuses to Harold and Emily.”