The Eden Inheritance (47 page)

‘Jorge – you are wicked! She's such a stickler for her rules and regulations. If she knew the truth she'd have a stroke!'

‘She won't know, will she, so long as you are discreet.'

He smlied at her, his teeth very white beneath the dark sweep of his moustache, and her heart turned over.

‘Where are we going?'

‘It doesn't matter, does it? All that matters to me, anyway, is that I am with my princess.'

‘Daddy would be furious, too, if he knew. He forbade me to see you again after you took me to St Vincent. But you weren't around anyway. Why did you go off like that?'

Jorge shrugged.

‘I had business to attend to in Florida.'

‘What sort of business?'

‘Oh, this and that. We don't want to waste precious time talking about something so boring, do we?'

His face had darkened slightly, the suggestion of a scowl, and Lilli felt a moment's dismay. She must not spoil this afternoon by behaving like a spoilt child. But a few moments later his hand snaked over from the gearstick to cover hers and excitement burst in her like a Roman candle, showering her with sparks of brightness which left her aglow even when the first incandescence had died.

They left the convent behind and drove to a rise overlooking the city. They talked, Lilli chattering, Jorge listening mostly with an amused smile, sitting in the hot dry grass that bordered the road. He held her hand and Lilli was afraid to move in case she broke the spell even when her fingers began to turn numb with pins and needles.

There was a wild orchid growing nearby; Jorge reached out and picked it, twining it in her hair, and she thought that this –
this
– was perfect happiness, the heaven the nuns talked about come down to earth.

‘My little Lilli,' he said. He kissed her gently, sucking at her lips as if he were drawing the sweetness from them like nectar from a flower.

She longed for him to hold her close, longed to wind her arms around his neck where the hair grew thick and dark, press her body to his, but she dared not. Instead she sat quite still, savouring the moment, remembering it with all her senses so as to be able to take it out and examine it later when the dormitory lights were out and the other girls asleep.

When it was time for them to go back she felt a moment's panic, conscious that time was slipping away from her.

‘You will come and see me again, won't you?' she asked.

‘Of course. But not too often. The nuns might become suspicious.'

‘Yes. Yes, they might – they're so stuffy!' But she was feeling sorry for them, poor deprived souls whose vows prevented them from ever experiencing what she had'begun to experience.

He left her in the courtyard just as the bell began to toll for Vespers. She watched his scarlet Porsche disappear in a cloud of white dust and ran back inside for the evening service. And as she knelt in the soft candlelight in the Lady Chapel she offered twin prayers. One was of thanks giving – ‘Never forget to thank Our Lady for Her blessings,' the nuns always said. The other was a heartfelt plea.

‘Let Jorge come again soon. And let him love me as I love him.'

Jorge came twice more to take her out before she went home for Christmas and each time it was the same. He whispered endearments, he kissed her, but never attempted to progress beyond this.

It was because he respected her, Lilli told herself, torn between wanting more and being half afraid of what would happen in the event.

She was also worried about her father's reaction when he saw her and Jorge together, but to her intense disappointment Jorge was not on Madrepora that Christmas and she spent the entire holiday fretting miserably.

‘Where were you, Jorge?' she asked when next he came to the school to take her our.

‘In Florida.'

‘Florida
again
? I thought you'd be on Madrepora.'

‘What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?' he asked sourly.

He did not come again for more than six weeks and Lilli was in torment. Perhaps, she thought, it was because he still thought of her as a child that he treated her this way. Perhaps he, too, wanted more, but was unwilling to force her, as he thought, into something she might not be ready for. Well, next time he kissed her – if he ever kissed her again! – she would have to try to put that right.

When the occasion arose her throat grew dry from nervousness. They were parked up in the hills overlooking Caracas, the lights far beneath them like twinkling stars in the soft darkness which had fallen with tropical swiftness. His arm was around her shoulders, her head lying against his broad chest. As she felt his lips in her hair a small shudder ran through her and grabbing hold of her courage she took his hand and, trembling slightly, moved it to her breast. From the moment it lay there it felt so good she forgot to be afraid, feeling his fingers moving gently but firmly against the soft flesh. Then, quickly, decisively, he removed it.

‘No, Lilli,' he said.

A terrible feeling of rejection swamped her. She wanted to cry with shame and disappointment.

‘No, princess,' he said again. ‘This is not the time or the place. I don't want to start something I can't finish.'

‘But …' You
can
finish, she wanted to say, but she dared not.

‘I told you, I can wait for you. Our first time must be perfect. I love you too much for it to be otherwise.'

Her heart swelled with joy. And for the time being Lilli was content again.

As the summer wore on, however, she began to worry. Would Jorge be on Madrepora for the vacation or would he be in Florida again? She summoned up the courage to ask him.

‘I shall be there,' he said simply.

‘Then … we shall be able to see one another?'

‘We shall have to be careful. Your father would not approve. But we'll find a way. Just keep quiet and leave it to me.' He smiled, that very white smile she loved so much.

All through that vacation Jorge was on Madrepora and for the first time in her life Lilli neglected her favourite haunts, neglected Josie, neglected everything to spend every waking moment in the secluded cove where she knew Jorge could find her whenever he had time to spend with her. He had become the breath of life to her; it was as if her world had shrunk to hold nothing but him and when they were not together she was only half alive. She thought of nothing but him, cared for nothing and no one but him. She developed a craftiness and a deceitfulness she had not known she was capable of to prevent her father from discovering how she spent her days, and pretended it was no worse than slipping off to meet Josie behind his back.

Sometimes it was perfect. They swam together in the clear sea, lying side by side on the hot sand to dry afterwards, their limbs barely touching, and Lilli marvelled at the beauty of Jorge's body, still taut and lithe, awakening a hunger in her unlike anything she had ever known before. He took her to Johnny Shovelnose's bar on the south side of the island which had always been forbidden to her and which was frequented by locals, buying her drinks she had never tasted before, like planter's punch and gin slings, and whispering endearments to her. And one day he suggested she should come back to his house.

The moment he said it Lilli knew what he meant. Her heart began to pound.

‘You mean … now?'

‘In a few minutes, yes. Don't you want to?'

‘Oh yes … yes …' It was what she had been waiting for for so long; now the moment had come she felt the beginnings of panic.

‘Don't look so scared, little one. There's nothing to be afraid of. You don't think I'll hurt you, do you?'

‘No no … of course not.'

‘Then I will go there and wait for you. Leave it a little while so we are not seen together and then follow me.' He took her hand, kissing her fingers so that her fear turned to trembling anticipation. ‘After today, Lilli, you will be mine and I will be yours forever.'

She sat on the beach after he had gone, knees drawn up to her chin, looking at the familiar vista and thinking suddenly that it would be the last time she would see it through the eyes of a child.

After a few minutes she stood up, arranging her wrap around her shoulders to cover her still-wet swimsuit, letting her hands linger for a moment on her hips, exploring the softly curving lines between stomach and thighs and hoping desperately that she would please Jorge. Then she turned slowly, walkingback beneath the palm trees towards the gingerbread house. The sun, filtering through the fronds, made her skin glow, but it was nothing compared to the warm moistness that was there between her thighs where the fires of desire had already begun to burn.

She climbed the steps, eager yet moving like someone in a dream.

‘Is that you, princess?' Jorge called when he heard her push the door open.

‘Yes.'

‘Up here.'

She climbed the old colonial-style staircase, her bare feet making no sound. Jorge appeared in the doorway of his bedroom. He had changed into a black silk dressing gown which reached to just below his knees, exposing his thick brown calves.

‘Wait, princess, I shall carry you in, just like in all the best movies.'

He swept her off her feet and she wound her arms around his neck, feeling with heightened sensitivity his thick hair and the smooth satiny silk of his robe.

He had pulled aside the mosquito-netting drapes which surrounded the bed and turned back the covers to reveal black silk sheets. Now he set Lilli down, kissing her forehead, damp with a perspiration that came partly from nervousness and partly from the heat of the day, and gently eased the wrap from her shoulders. He paused to kiss her again, this time on the tip of her nose, before finding the hook of her bikini bra and easing it undone. As it fell away he cupped her breasts with both hands and ran a line of kisses down her throat to her nipples, rising in the circles made by his fingers and thumbs. Lilli's whole body was coming alive with shivers of delight but she stood motionless. After a little while he released her breasts, moving his hands slowly and sensuously down over her midriff and hips until he reached her bikini pants, sliding his thumbs inside and easing them down, lifting each foot in turn until she was free of them then tossing them aside. Then his lips were on her pubic mound, seeking the tender warm places as he parted her soft hair with his mouth, kissing first, then licking and sucking until every nerve deep within her abdomen screamed out in sharp delight.

Only when he was satisfied that she was absolutely ready for him did he straighten, shredding his robe with careless grace, and she caught her breath at the first sight of his naked body, gloriously aroused.

He lifted her again, carrying her to the bed and laying her down gently on the silken sheets. She moaned and writhed a little, wanting him now with a fierceness that made all the other wanting, pale into insignificance, on the point of orgasm simply from his kisses, the sight of him and the erotic feel of the sheets beneath her fevered body.

He came to her gently but firmly. She felt a moment's sharp pain, felt the hot rush between her legs where before there had been only moist yearning, and moaned deep in her throat. Then he was moving in her deeply but slowly and she gave herself up to the wave upon wave of urgent sensuality, not believing it could get. better, still better, scarcely able to bear the sensations that were turning her world upside down, yet wanting it to go on forever … and ever …

The climax came suddenly, catching her in the maelstrom of sharp dizzying delight, then beginning to drop her gently as a giant roller lifts and discards a body-surfer. She wanted to cry out: No, no, it can't be over! It can't stop – please, please! But although Jorge still moved within her, although his rasping breath told her he was approaching a climax of his own, and inexperienced as she was, she knew instinctively that the glory was slipping away. So desperately did she try to hold on to it that she scarcely noticed Jorge's grasp or his fingers biting into her arms as he reached his own orgasm. Only in retrospect did she realise it was over for him too as he rolled away from her, breathing heavily, and lay beside her, one arm still lying possessively across her body.

For long moments neither spoke. Then Jorge sliifted slightly so that his hand once more cupped her breast and turned his face into her neck.

‘And now, my little princess, you are mine. Wasn't it worth waiting for?'

‘Yes.' She couldn't think of anything else to say; she was drained, exhausted, but happy.

After a while, he reached for her again. She felt his body stirring against her thigh and let the delight begin once more, gender, less urgent, yet equally exhilarating.

And then, suddenly, an alien sound caught her attention, breaking the spell, bringing her sharply back to pulsing, fearful reality. A door banging in the house downstairs, a voice, loud and angry, calling out.

Otto's voice!

‘It's Daddy!' Lilli gasped, horrified.

Jorge was on his feet in an instant, moving with the grace of a big cat, reaching for his trousers which were draped over the back of a cane chair.

‘Stay here. I'll see what he wants.'

He thrust his feet into lizard-skin sneakers and left the room. Lilli sat up, reaching for her bikini and pulling it on in trembling haste. She was suddenly overcome with terror that her father might come bursting into the room and find her naked in Jorge's bed. But at the same time she was angry, suddenly, with the need for subterfuge.

I am going to go downstairs and tell him! Lilli thought with a burst of impetuosity. We are in love – we have nothing to be ashamed of. He'll have to know sooner or later – it might as well be now! She flounced out of the bedroom.

The two men were in the living room at the foot of the stairs. As she descended them she heard her father's voice.

‘Where is Lilli?'

‘How should I know?'

‘Cammy saw you on the beach together – and it's not the first time. I won't have it, do you understand?'