Harkett's Haven (7 page)

Rachel had no idea how long she had slept but she was awoken by a gentle touch on her cheek. The cold fingers that touched her were feather soft and for a moment
she wondered if she was still dreaming.

‘Rachel.
Beautiful Rachel,’ a soft whisper.

Opening her eyes slowly, she smiled when she saw Eric wet and windblown kneeling beside her. His hair was swept back and he looked cold and tired. He stroked her hair gently, his expression sombre watching her intently.

‘How did it go?’ she whispered.

‘We got the boy comfortable and managed to get him to hospital.....not the easiest to do in this weather. Helicopter couldn’t fly in this so we had to wait for the ambulance. The boy’ll be OK.’

She stretched her hand out and touched his jaw and he pressed his face into her outstretched hand, closing his eyes.

‘Esme’s fast asleep upstairs. She was very tired and ....upset.... about her mum.’

He grimaced, the pain he felt running
visibly across his face.

‘Did she tell you what happened?

‘She was desperate to tell me that it wasn’t your fault.’

He closed his eyes as if the pain of his words required him to
shut out the rest of the world.

‘I left Sarah and...
she took her life’

‘God Eric
.....’

She gazed at his strong, handsome face and felt something of the pain that
Esme and Eric must have experienced these last few years.

‘We were very unhappy
....Sarah had been battling alcohol for years.’

Rachel let him talk without interruption. He seemed to want to talk and unburden himself. 

‘Sarah’s drinking started slowly, gradually and then secretly. I should have seen the signs earlier....I’m a bloody doctor.’ He spoke softly, his fingers still stroking her/spstrokin hair.

‘I worked
long hours then and it was the small things that Esme told me that first got me wondering. Missed meals, days off school for no reason and then her memory lapses and the lies.....’

Rachel put her hand over his as he touched her, wanting to comfort him.

‘It was when she hit Esme that I decided that we had to leave. I rented a place in the country and told Sarah that we wouldn’t be back until she got herself cleaned up.’

‘Eric, you don’t have to say any more.’

She bent over to kiss him, a gently soft touch but he pulled her to him and kissed her passionately, needfully.

He slipped his hand inside her shirt and cupped her full breast. He moaned softly. Rachel felt on one level that this was wrong but also that giving herself to him was offering him some level of comfort.

She let him touch her, his fingers pressing her nipple through her lace bra. Pulling her shirt aside, he kissed her though the fabric.

‘Eric,
Esme’s upstairs. We don’t have the privacy here.’

‘Is there anywhere we can go?’ His voice betrayed his urgency of desire.

‘The bathroom has a lock.’

He stood and grabbed a couple of rugs from the back of the sofa, threw them over his shoulder and scooped Rachel off the sofa and into his arms.

‘God Eric, we shouldn’t be doing this.’

‘Yes we should.’ He was serious almost fevered.

Pushing open the bathroom door with a light tap of his foot, he threw down the rugs and placed Rachel gently on them. He turned and locked the door. Rachel propped herself up on her elbows watching him questioningly, wondering what he was going to do next. The bathroom was spacious for a cottage this size, converted from the old wash house that used to be in the small single storied extension they were now in. There was a large roll top bath, separate shower, basin and toilet. The lighting was soft – Rachel had deliberately avoided the harsh spot lights and had opted for soft tone wall lights which she found more soothing when taking a long hot bath.

He l
ay out on the floor next to her, his eyes savouring the contours of her body as she lay beside him. His movements were slow and deliberate. He traced a finger down her neck and over the upper slope of her breasts and then to the buttons on her shirt which he deftly undid with one hand.

Pulling her into him he kissed her passionately, deeply, his fingers searching for the clasp on her bra and releasing her full breasts.

He kissed her neck and trailed his tongue down her cleavage until he found her nipple. He sucked her almost painfully.

Rachel arched her back and moaned.

He licked from one nipple to the other, pushing his face into her soft, yielding breasts.

Rachel held his head gently, teasing his hair as he sucked at her, her need for him becoming overwhelming.

Stopping what he was doing heh hwas doi undid the button on her trousers and pulled them off her legs in one swift movement. Again he stopped to savour her revealed body and swiftly removed his shirt, unbuttoning his trousers and pulling them quickly from his body.

A shiver of delight coursed throu
gh Rachel as he revealed his erection straining through his underwear. He was long and thick and Rachel knew that he would cause her a brief moment of pain when her entered her but that knowledge only intensified her desire for him.

She reached out to touch him through his underwear and he pulled away from her.

He knelt beside her and slipped a hand inside her panties, cupping her sex and then slipping a finger along her sex..

‘You’re so wet Rachel,’ h
e whispered.

His fingers pushed gently at her and then into her and she involuntarily arched her back, pushing against his hand.

One finger and then two pushed deeply into her and he gently circled her clitoris.

‘Please Eric,
’ she gasped, trying to reach for him.

‘No.
Stay still.’ His voice was sharp and commanding and took Rachel by surprise.

He moved between her legs and pulled her pants from her, exposing her sex to him. He pushed her legs further apart and then cupped his hands under her buttocks
supporting her and licked at her. His tongue ran up and down her lips, to her clitoris and back, then pushed quickly into her.

‘Oh God Eric.
Please...’ Rachel felt her climax building and wanted to have him deep inside her.

She threw her head back and moaned as his tongue continued its maddening tease and thrust.

At last he released his cock and positioned himself at her entrance. She watched him between her legs, feeling the warmth of the engorged head of his penis at her entrance. His focus was entirely on his task and slowly, so slowly, he pushed himself into her, watching himself disappear into her.

‘You’
re so tight.’ He whispered.

He closed his eyes and savoured the moment as he was fully in her.

She knew she would feel pain but he had prepared her well and the pain was fleeting and welcome.

Slowly he moved his full length in and out of
her. His movements quickened as he started to build to his own climax. She watched the length of him move in her, slick and engorged. Her whole body had become his and she had transformed into a sexual goddess, her being suffused with power. The man between her legs made her body super-sensate.

Her climax came in a rolling crescendo like nothing she had experienced before and she had to bite down on her hand to stop herself from screaming.

Eric gasped, emptying himself into her and collapsing on her, holding her close as their orgasm’s subsided.

He kissed her, not wanting to move out of her.

‘Thh ie="+0">ere’s something about you Rachel. You’re all I can think about.’

She bit gently into his shoulder smiling. She loved the feeling of his strong, musc
led body on her, loving the dichotomy of the power that her body held over him with her submission to his power and strength.

He moved off her but bent his head again to kiss her breasts, pulling her into him again.

Rachel kissed him tenderly.

‘Thank you
Eric.’ She said simply. His lovemaking has been the tonic she had needed to rid her of the hangover that Tom had left her with.

Tom’s lovemaking had been forceful, always intense and his control
total. She had sometimes felt lost, sometimes scared, as he held her. Eric was gentle and focussed on her pleasure. She trusted him more in the couple of days that she had known him that she ever had Tom in the eighteen months she had known him.

‘I need to know more about you Rachel....’

He held her breast gently and kissed her again.

‘Come past for tea sometime soon and I’ll maybe fill you in.’ She smiled at him and went to grab her bra and short from the pile of clothes scattered around them.

‘I’ve cancelled my appointments tomorrow and I’ll be past to see you once Esme’s off to school.’

Pulling her top on over her head she shook her head.

‘Believe it or not I’ve got a full work schedule too. I can’t just take days off....as much as I would like to..,’ she winked at him playfully.

‘Take me with you. Show me what you do..... I have no idea what a marine biologist does. I want to know. I want to know everything about you Rachel.’

‘Some other time maybe Eric,’ she said dismissively and smiled. She stood up and went to open the bathroom door.

‘No.
Tomorrow. One day will make little difference Rachel. I’ll see you tomorrow.’

He had pulled on his shirt too and his tone was decisive. Standing up beside her now he towered over her and bent to kiss her again. Hi
s black eyes danced and she knew that there was little point in arguing. His lips were inviting and he pressed her body close to him. She could feel his growing hardness pressing into her stomach.

She broke away from his embrace, shook her head
and whispered ‘Esme. Come and see your little girl.’

Slowly she opened the bathroom door and peeked out but there was no sign of
Esme.

She took Eric’s hand and led him to the ladder and climbed silently. She
pushed the roof hatch open gently and signalled for Eric to follow her.

‘Watch your head when you get up here,’ she whispered to him
.

She could see immediately that
Esme was still asleep so she made her way to the bed and sat gently on it.

Esme
was beautiful, her sleep peaceful and deep, even with the cacophony of wind and rain that still pelted at the roof and skylights.

Her long
, dark hair fanned across the pillow, her skin china white and flawless.

Eric sat gently beside Rachel on the bed and stroked
Esme’s hair gently bending to kiss her softly. Esme stirred and her eyes flickered open.

‘Dad,’ she sighed, her
delight at his presence obvious in her sleepy face.

She stretched out and a brief moment of confusion swept over her face as she looked around her
, wondering where she was.

She saw Rachel and smiled wider, remembering now where she was.

‘Well, sleeping beauty, I think it’s time I got you home,’ Eric’s voice was soft and low, the love for his daughter obvious in every word he spoke.

‘OK Dad but I want to come back and see Rachel again.’
Her eyes searched her father’s face for dissent.

‘You can come back here any time
Esme. Just promise you’ll ask your Dad first. Hey, how are you feeling now?’