Sicilian Dreams (13 page)

‘Phew, it’s boiling already’ she exclaimed. ‘We walked right down to the main road and jogged back. That’s got to be a four kilometer round trip.’ She went over and sank down onto a lounger with a blissful groan of pleasure.

‘Around 4am actually.’ said Cassie, putting her empty coffee cup onto the table. She looked at their two expectant faces and said, ‘I’m not going to get out of this am I?’

‘Damn right you’re not’ said Kat. ‘Out with it girl right now, we’re all ears.’

Cassie drew in a deep breath and began to tell them about last night’s moonlit escapades with Marco. She gave them a modified version of the events and what had happened once they had left the nightclub and returned to the estate.

‘So you did it?’ said Kat. ‘You didn’t just dance together in the moonlight and suck face?’

‘Kat, sometimes you are so gross,’ laughed Liz. ‘Did you or didn’t you make love in the grand salon of Marco’s house?’

‘Well, yes’ said Cassie, dragging out the words. ‘And it was amazing’ she said, laughing and blushing at the same time.

‘Oh, look at you,’ said Kat, ‘blushing like a schoolgirl after bonking Mr Adonis last night. Is that a knot of shame I see in your hair? She added.

‘Oh, stop it Kat,’ said Cassie, desperately trying to untangle her hair with her hands. ‘You know my hair always looks like this in the morning.’

‘Yes, but you haven’t had a smile like that on your face for some time I bet. You look like the cat that has got the cream.’

‘Did you use, you know, protection?’ said Liz.

‘Yes, of course’ said Cassie, omitting to tell them about the first time she and Marco had made love at the lake and had not used anything in the excitement of the moment.

‘So, a rating out of ten please’ said Liz. ‘You’ve said it was amazing, how amazing?’

‘Oh you guys are really putting me on the spot’ said Cassie, wrapping her long hair over her face and trying to hide from their gaze.

‘Come on Cass, give us the skinny’ said Kat. ‘Is he hung like a horse?’

‘Stop it,’ squealed Cassie, laughing under her thick hair. ‘Yes, he is’ she added and they all squealed. ‘ten out of ten.' They all squealed again.

‘Good morning ladies’ Marco shouted to them, as he trotted past on Diavolo on the path through the olives groves beyond the swimming pool. Pausing to add, ‘you sound as if you are celebrating something exciting. Have you won the lotteria?’

‘Speak of the Devil,’ said Kat, sotto voce to Liz and Cassie.

‘Yes, you could say that’ she shouted back at him. ‘Well, one of us has in any case.’ she added and they all burst out laughing again.

‘Ciao Cassandra’ said Marco, ‘I trust you slept well?’ He grinned wickedly over at her, looking too refreshed and handsome for someone that had been awake until the wee small hours of the morning.

‘Ciao Marco’ she replied, coming out from under her tresses, still pink in the cheeks.

‘Very well, thank you. Where are you going riding?’

‘Into the National Park. Diavolo needs the exercise other wise he too frisky. The same as me.’ he added, winking at the three women and motioning Diavolo forward with his knees. He paused again, turning around in his saddle. ‘Oh, I nearly forgot Cassandra; I have made a booking for lunch in Cefalu today at 2pm. I will pick you up here at the villa at around 1:30pm. Buona mattina ladies.’ He saluted them and turned away, Diavolo moving off at once.

‘Well’ said Kat, ‘he certainly is an Alpha male. Cassandra, be ready at 1:30pm or I will have to spank you.’ she tried to mimic Marco’s accented English.

‘Stop it Kat,’ laughed Cassie again. ‘First I’d heard of lunch today though,’ she conceded.

‘Well, if you don’t want to go I will,’ said Liz. ‘I’ll bet it is somewhere really special and the food will be amazing, you lucky thing.’

‘Hey, our lunch time is going to be very special,’ said Kat, ‘we met Marta in the garden at the main house and she had agreed to give us a lesson in making ravioli and burnt sage butter at noon. Yum I can’t wait.’

‘That sounds like fun’ said Cassie, ‘I’m sorry I’m going to miss out on that.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said Liz, ‘I can show you how to after I learn from the expert today.’

‘So, back to the story Cassie.’ said Kat. ‘Are you in love, or in lust, or a bit in between?’

‘I don’t know’ Cassie admitted. ‘A bit of both I guess.’

‘Probably best if it is lust’ added Liz, ‘he is way to good looking and could be trouble.’ She said this kindly but Cassie heard the note of truth in her words. She thought about the way Francesca had possessively taken over Marco the night before, as if she owned him. There was nothing sisterly about the way she kissed him and clung to him thought Cassie annoyed all over again just thinking about it.

‘Yes, it’s just a holiday romance’ she added firmly, not trusting her own words. What was she feeling about Marco? She had known him such a short time but already she felt a strong bond with him that she had never felt before with anyone. She had to admit to herself, she was smitten and desperately fighting the feelings that threatened to overwhelm her. I am just going to enjoy myself, and not take this whole thing too seriously. It will finally make me get over my feelings about Rick, although in truth, she hadn’t thought about Rick once since she had met Marco.

‘Who wants another coffee?’ said Kat. Liz and Cassie accepted and as Kat went off to make it, Liz pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and began to read through her messages.

‘Oh how cute’ she said, ‘this one is from Doug and he’s sent a pic of the twins all tucked up in their p.j.’s next to him on the couch.’ She enlarged the photo with her fingers and passed the phone over so Cassie could take a look.

‘They are adorable,’ cooed Cassie. ‘Absolutely identical and the splitting image of their gorgeous mummy.’

‘Thanks’ said Liz. ‘But they are Daddy’s little girls and they know it. They have him completely wrapped around their little fingers. She laughed and read out the message. ‘To mummy, we hope you are having a great time and we miss you heaps. Lucy cooking is ok but not as good as yours ever, luv blah, blah and daddy. Good thing Daddy typed in the bit about Lucy’s cooking not being as good as mine’ she smiled. ‘XXXXXXXOOOOOOOOO. I guess they helped him type that bit.’

Kat returned carrying the coffees and a couple of wedges of pan forte on a plate.

‘Oh no, no treats before breakfast,’ said Liz, grabbing at her hips and shaking her head back and forth.

‘These are tiny little pieces I cut off,’ said Kat, ‘not even big enough to contain any calories.’ she added. ‘Marta gave us the pan forte. She said she made it yesterday. I don’t think that woman has enough people to cook for.’

‘And we are very grateful for that fact because it means she lavishes all her motherly care and love of cooking on to her guests’ said Liz, taking a slice. ‘Even better that we are the only guests on the estate this week.’

‘Yum’ said Cassie, taking a bite. ‘I am really hungry this morning. Dinner seems like along time ago now.’

‘Yes, sex is known to burn calories and build appetites,’ teased Kat. ‘Have another slice, it’s full of nuts, and is good for your libido, not that it sounds like you need any help in that department.’

‘Kat, stop it’ said Cassie, laughing. ‘You are incorrigible.’

‘Libido building or not’ said Liz, ‘I’m going to have fresh fruit for my real breakfast. Want to help me cut it up?’ she asked Kat and Liz.

‘Sure, fruit sounds great, those golden peaches are so sweet,’ said Cassie.

They took their breakfast back out onto the terrace, finishing the fruit and then deciding it was time for sunbathing.

‘It’s all so stressful,’ said Kat, appearing in the new hot pink bikini, a matching sparkly headband holding back her thick black curls from her face. She had on a pair of large, white sunglasses today and carried her tome of a book with her to a lounger, stretching out with a sigh of pleasure.

‘Deeply stressful’ murmured Cassie, from her lounger. She had opted for her tiny silver string bikini today, and only the bottoms. Tanning in something this small ensured hardly any tan line. She lay on her front, a magazine open on the ground beside the lounger.

Liz came outside to join them, wearing a red version of the black swimsuit she had worn yesterday.

‘You two look miserable’ she commented, and ‘does that string you call a bikini actually have a front to it?’ she asked Cassie.

‘Yes, a tiny triangle to preserve my modesty’ quipped Cassie.

‘And preserve your most sun sensitive areas’ said Kat. ‘I hope you have put sun block on your butt because it is going to be hard to sit down for lunch if it’s burnt to a crisp.’

‘Thanks for that piece of wisdom but I’ve already liberally applied factor 30 to my derriere.’

They lay out on the loungers, chatting and reading, taking dips into the refreshingly cool pool whenever they felt the need.

‘This salt water chlorinator is fantastic isn’t it?’ said Kat. ‘You can’t smell any of that nasty chlorine and your eyes don’t go red when you put your head under the water.’

‘Heck, it’s 11:30 already’ said Liz, taking a look at her iPhone. ‘We have to get going soon Kat. I told Marta we would be at the main house by noon.’

‘Okay, I’m just getting out. I need to have a shower and wash this tangle on my head called hair before we go.’ She climbed out of the pool and grabbed her towel, patting herself off before padding inside. Liz followed her, and in the quietness that followed, Cassie felt herself snoozing off again. Oh this is heaven, she thought drowsily.

Twenty minutes later Liz and Kat popped their heads out the door to say goodbye she heard the mini driving off. She drifted off again.

She slowly resurfaced, becoming aware that a part of her anatomy was giving off pain signals. Shit, she realized, pushing herself up from her face down position and peering over her shoulder at her now puce bottom. How long have I been asleep she wondered, climbing carefully off the lounger and wincing with the pain that produced. She examined her rear view in the bathroom mirror and could see that her back and shoulders weren’t too bad, but her butt, being newly exposed, had taken the brunt of the sun that morning. Turning the shower on to the coolest setting she walked back into the bedroom and glanced at the bedside clock. 1:05pm it winked back at her. Double crap she thought, stripping off her bikini bottom and running to the shower. She quickly washed her hair and realized that she would not have time to blow dry it before Marco arrived. She wrapped it in a towel and began to moisturize herself all over taking particular care with the very delicate skin on her butt. Ow, she winced, I wonder if I can go Rambo today. The very idea of wearing any underwear seemed abhorrent to her at the moment and she grabbed a low cut maxi tube dress in khaki, throwing it over her head and adding a platted rope belt which hung down over her slender hips. She added several chunky gold bracelets. Finally she hurriedly applied some tinted moisturizer to her face, and a bit of bronzing powder on her cheekbones and décolletage. Finishing with a dab of pink lip-gloss, she finished towel drying her hair and ran a comb through its thick length, noticing with exasperation that it was already beginning to dry in long, unruly curls. She put on some cream colored espadrilles and grabbed her soft leather sack handbag from the suitcase. She had decided to pack this one because it was her new favorite and was perfect for a day excursion such as this, besides it completed her Boho look to perfection. She heard the full throttle and loud noise of an engine coming close and looked out her window to see Marco pulling up at the courtyard astride a huge motorbike. Oh heck, thought Cassie, I have to ride into town on that. The hair is really going to go to hell. She grabbed another scrunch from her make up bag and pulled her hair into a loose knot with it.

She pulled the front door closed and walked over to Marco.

‘Hi Marco, you’re a busy man. You were on Diavolo this morning, and you are a Hells Angel this afternoon. What brand is this monster?’ she asked as she pushed up her large shades and smiled at him. Marco grinned at her. ‘It’s a Ducati street fighter. You look sensational Cassandra, but I don’t know how you are going to sit pillion with that dress on.’ His eyes travelled lingeringly over her body, noticing how the figure hugging fabric hugged her curves. ‘You will have to hitch it up around your thighs,’ he said happily. ‘Here, put on this helmet, it is a medium, it should fit you.’ Marco’s headgear was a replica of an American Word War two helmet. The chinstrap was hanging loose and he wore aviator sunglasses. He had on tight faded blue jeans, a faded tee shirt, and Dockers. Quite the package thought Cassie admiringly. The helmet he passed her was a smaller version of his and she tried it on. He reached over to fasten the chinstrap on her and dropped a light kiss on her lips. ‘I missed you’ he said, his green eyes sparkling at her.

‘What? It’s only been a few hours,’ she said, laughing.

‘It seems like days,’ he said. ‘Lift up your dress and climb on,’ he instructed, laughing at the innuendo. Cassie started to pull up the front of her dress and then remembered her predicament. She pulled up the skirt as high as she could without exposing herself and raised her leg carefully so she could hop on. Marco had turned around to watch her and his puzzlement at her peculiar actions suddenly gave way to hilarity.