The Catalyst (15 page)

‘Now, what shall we have for dessert? How about rice pudding? With jam? Yes, with jam. I’m sure I’ve got those somewhere in the cupboard.’

He grinned boyishly, almost daring her to remark on his lack of culinary expertise.

‘Wonderful! I don’t think I’ve had that since I was a kid.’

‘Ah ... last week then.’

Amused as much by his straight face as his ludicrous flattery, she laughed and felt the last lingering echo of tension leave her. She was now determined to enjoy every minute of this unexpected adventure and by the time the meal was finished it seemed entirely natural for Jimmy to lock the back door, saying in foolish reassurance it was in case a mad axe man tried to break in.

Then taking her gently by the hand he led her through to the other room to work. This room was still known as the ‘parlour’ from the days when the farmer and his wife had lived here and even though the furnishings were well worn, the neat, bright cushions decorated with appliquéd patterns gave the room an air of comfort.

In contrast to the electric light in the kitchen this room was lit only by candlelight and the fire. It was warm and the fuzzy, welcoming light from the candles softened the hard lines of the heavy wooden furniture that stood half-hidden in the shadows.

‘What a lovely room!’ she said, knowing he had taken pains to make it appealing. Seeing his gratified expression, she guessed that praise in this area was unknown territory for Jimmy.

She put her wine glass down on the mantelpiece, noting with satisfaction she had not yet drunk one complete glass of wine but still felt totally at ease about being here. Feeling Jimmy’s efforts deserved to be met halfway she turned her back on him and, reaching for the hem of her cropped grey jumper, she pulled it off over her head.

Despite her apparent casualness Jimmy could still sense something, not exactly hesitation, not even nervousness, something more indefinable;  perhaps an unspoken request for kindness He had wondered if he would have to persuade Sunny to take her clothes off for him and unexpectedly he felt a lump come into his throat at her display of trust. Again she was making him feel emotions he had never experienced before and so had no template for dealing with them.

He swallowed uncomfortably and set about organising his paper and charcoals, busying himself so as not to appear to be gawping at her, trying to help her feel that drawing naked women was a commonplace occurrence to him. The truth was very different.

It was a strange fact that life studies had held little fascination for him even as a student. Surprisingly for such a connoisseur of the female body, the female nude had so far never induced him to paint it, his tastes for a woman’s body always running to the purely physical. His love, his passion, had always been for the outdoors, the wilder elements of land, sea and sky and although he had had many mistresses with beautiful bodies he had never felt the need to capture them on canvas.

Sunny had changed all that and now he could not explain why he felt such an urgent need to paint her. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to adjust the paper fixed to his drawing board. Keeping her back to him she wriggled her hips a little to peel off her narrow-fitting jeans to reveal brief black knickers. She paused then, momentarily, as if debating with herself about going further.

He held his breath as he watched her, knowing she was feeling her way into nudity in front of him. Despite his best efforts to appear cool, he could not help but stare at her as she gradually undressed, noticing the gentle swing of her breasts as she bent forward to put her clothes on a chair. He was surprised at their fullness on such a slight frame and became slightly alarmed in case he was unable to draw her, unable to concentrate, to control himself. Hesitantly she started to turn towards him.

‘No!’ He almost shouted the word. ‘Sorry ... no, just stay facing that way … please ...’

He was annoyed with himself, aware that his words had been too abrupt as she obligingly turned away from him again. Her head drooped forward a little as she looked down at her feet awaiting further instructions and he was reminded of the fragile droop of a snowdrop.

He wanted to rush over and kiss the strangely childlike nape of her neck and tell her he was sorry for shouting. Instead he cleared his throat and tried to make amends without wanting it to appear necessary.

‘I just want to draw you from the back ... I want to capture the … dancer … in you.’

He wondered if his explanation sounded too pretentious somehow. Then she looked over her shoulder at him and smiled, a little timidly he felt, and immediately he felt guilty. Why was he putting her through this? Why had he hesitated to explain he wanted to capture that air of vulnerability he detected from her back?

Well, there was no going back now. If he did it would make everything look too obvious, as though he had simply invited her here for sex, and whilst that might well be almost true he didn’t want this woman to think like that about him.

With an abrupt burst of impatience at the increasing confusion of his emotions, he set to work and soon found himself oblivious of everything except the planes and curves, the play of light and shadow on the softly lit body in front of him. Stealing a quick look at him, Sunny could see he was totally absorbed in his work, his face serious, almost stern, in its concentration.

Here, at last, was an unexpected peacefulness of spirit diffusing from him and it allowed her to relax into her pose. Her confidence grew and she began to find it easier to make the subtle movements he asked of her. He made sketches, asking her to raise her arms, first one and then the other, to turn her head, to tilt it, to shift her weight from one hip to the other, to look down, to lift her chin.

Then he would stride over to push her hair gently to one side to see the curve of her cheek bone, the sweep of her eyelashes, making adjustment after adjustment until he was finally content with the pose; all the time rapidly drawing sketch after sketch and discarding them onto the floor, constantly striving to pare down the image to the few simple lines he wanted.

Only once did he put down his charcoal and leap up to throw some more logs on the fire, aware the room might be getting too cool for her. Only once did he allow her to drop her outstretched arm to rest it when she felt she could not hold the pose any longer. Finally she heard the scrape of charcoal on paper cease followed by a sigh. There was contentment in the sound but before she could turn round to look at him he was suddenly close behind her, slipping his arms under hers and cradling her breasts as he pulled her tightly back against him.

She looked down at the charcoal-blackened hands and the marks they were leaving on her skin and laughed. He peered over her shoulder at the mess his hands were making, looking sideways at her with a roguish smile as if anticipating her annoyance. So here it was then, at last, the true reason for her visit.

Turning in his arms she looked up at him, becoming suddenly aware of the vulnerability of her nakedness. All of a sudden, and despite the fact she had a fairly legitimate reason for having no clothes on, she felt like a dreamer who finds themselves inappropriately nude in their dreams. Her face was easily readable to Jimmy but before she had time to react and push him away, he had clamped his mouth down very hard on hers and she felt an instant blaze of passion leap deep down inside her.

She responded, opening her mouth more, allowing him to explore her with his tongue, tasting him with her own. She was aware she had done nothing like this for a very long time but it didn’t seem to matter, she would just follow where Jimmy led although he too must be naked.

That thought had apparently also occurred to Jimmy and they both now fumbled feverishly with the belt of his jeans as he shook off his sandals. Finally, he yanked his scarlet T-shirt over his head and stood breathless and triumphantly smiling in front of her, daring her to dislike what she saw. Of course she instantly loved what she saw. There was nothing wrong with Jimmy’s body despite his age and he knew it as he stood grinning at her, a sober Silenus, cradling his erection in one hand.

The effect could have felt threatening but it wasn’t. Instead there was only a feeling of fun, of illicit naughtiness. For Jimmy there was always a measure of uncertainty with his art, but with seduction he was on surer ground and he had come to realise the woman in front of him was really two people in one.

Now he decided to appeal to what he hoped was her wanton side. She was obviously no inexperienced virgin and he urgently wanted to please her as well as himself. Sunny giggled, half embarrassed now as he took hold of her hand and guided it, pressing her fingers closed around his penis, watching her face all the time.

His hardness excited her and suddenly having an urgent need to feel the heat of it against her, she pushed herself against him. The movement made him laugh with surprise. Definitely no ice maiden then, he thought as he looked down at her.

But where he had expected to renew his rush of animal lust an inconvenient surge of protectiveness arose instead, confounding him. It was hardly an appropriate feeling at such a time and he sought to bury it under carnality by stooping to kiss her mouth again and the genie of desire finally escaped from its bottle.

A little gasp escaped her as he held her much too tightly against himself, one hand grasping a buttock, the other cupping a breast, brushing its hardened nipple with his thumb. His excitement became almost uncontainable and he tried to divert himself by trying to remember the names of the local rugby team.

He was desperate not to disgrace himself but he knew there was no way this was going to be a long, slow lovemaking. Playing for time he concerned himself with wondering if she was feeling the cold, she had posed so patiently in this badly heated room. Glad of any momentary diversion to get his imagination, and everything else, under control he led her to the fireside and gently pulled her down onto the rug.

Then, stirring the fire into life and throwing another log onto it, he settled down beside her, caressing her body, trying to remember all the stuff he’d read with furtive prurience in the women’s magazines Jenny had brought home. He so badly wanted their first time together to be memorable for her, for both of them. Now that his vanity had entered the equation he wanted to impress her with his prowess as a lover but the responsiveness of her body to his touch overwhelmed him and all he could think of was possessing her.

The fact that she was equally as keen as he was surprised him and it wasn’t long before he had covered her body with his own, trying to be gentle but eager to feel the heat of her enclose him. Beneath him Sunny gasped and arched her back, no longer aware of anything but this feeling of being utterly subject to another person, of the feeling of hot skin on hot skin.

There was now absolutely no chance of Jimmy controlling the situation and it wasn’t long before he felt himself explode inside her.

‘Oh God! Sunny … Sunny … ’ he sobbed as the intensity of his orgasm sent his insides into spasm, unaware that he gasped her name over and over, knowing nothing but the frenzy of his climax.

Down in Porthcarn Edward Hervey sat all night at his window overlooking the harbour, drinking glass after glass of wine until he slowly lapsed into unconsciousness and slid from his chair to lie in a pool of spilled wine.

Chapter 14

It was almost as if Fate, suddenly realizing her neglect, turned the full intensity of her cold gaze on the players on her stage once more. There appeared to be the danger of some of them becoming happy. Perhaps this was what offended her sense of routine disorder. It was not their time to be happy, she had not given permission. It was time for a little more tinkering in their lives.

Jasper had soon come to the realisation he could not start his new life at the farm without first going to London to sort out both his business interests and his new status with Amanda. He was aware of a definite sinking feeling when he thought of her. He suspected dealing with relocating his business and explaining to Thierry how the business would operate from now on would be easy compared to dealing with Amanda.

A trip to London meant he would have to return to his flat and that meant a return to living with her, for several days at least. He wondered how that would affect him ... and her. Good God, she would expect him to sleep with her! Obvious really, he was supposed to be her partner, her lover, and they had been apart for a while now. He groaned inwardly at the thought.

He had somehow conveniently forgotten all about that aspect of his life with her, had in fact forgotten about most of the aspects of his life with her. He had even neglected to answer the text messages she had left on his phone lately. It was a good job she was lazy or she might have come looking for him. He must tell her he was leaving her at the first available opportunity he thought now. He could guess how she would react and wondered uneasily how much it would cost him.

Like many men he had made the mistake of thinking that beauty of face and form represented beauty of personality but it had only taken a few bouts of her petulant histrionics to cure him of this misconception. Now he could not for the life of him think why he had borne with her for so long and knew he was doing the right thing in leaving.

The more he thought about the issues involved the more reluctant he found he was becoming to going back to his flat whilst she was there. He knew the honourable thing to do was to tell her to her face he was ending the relationship, he owed her that much. Then, with sudden relief, he realised he didn’t have to stay with her at the flat to do that, he could stay at a hotel. Once he had decided on this course, he began to feel quite a lot better about the trip.

His other problem had been Jenny. He had been anxious about leaving her by herself at the farm as she seemed to be slowly sinking into some sort of melancholy. He knew she would return to Jimmy if he wasn’t here, simply because she wouldn’t know what else to do. Callous bugger though he was, Jasper could see that Jimmy had represented some form of stability for her for a long time now.

No, he decided, I can’t leave her here, she must come to London with me. It seemed to him like the ideal solution. Surely a trip to the city would bring her out of her increasing tendency to lapse into long periods of distraction. He would use London to distract her from her distraction. The more he planned the more convinced he became that the trip could be good for both of them.

Their hard work on the farm meant it could now be left without any harm coming to it, so now was the perfect time to stop and take stock, to start putting some sort of financial future in place and although he tried to stop himself thinking it, he meant for both of them. Jenny however had given no thought to such a permanent arrangement.

He had been disappointed to find Jenny had been unable to match his enthusiasm for the trip but he had stoically countered every excuse she had thought up until she had run out of ideas. This time it seemed he was unwilling to let her have her way and stay on her own at the farm. Instead he had insisted with desperate joviality that she just had to see the sights of London, that she would feel refreshed and energised by the vibrancy of the city.

It was a joviality that masked an implacable will and Jenny had felt her heart plummet at Jasper’s obvious enthusiasm for the trip. She couldn’t possibly admit to him what her real objections were, that she knew she would feel too far away, would be too far away from Jimmy. How would she manage without being able to sneak away and secretly watch him?

Even now, she hadn’t been able to find an excuse to get away and spy on Jimmy for a few days and she was getting anxious. Like a rat in a maze her mind had darted about trying to find a convincing excuse to stay at the farm instead of going to London.

Sitting opposite Jasper at the kitchen table she looked at his smiling face and was not deluded. There was a streak of pure steel about him these days and she felt her frustration turn to a tiny flare of full-scale hatred in that moment. Surely he hadn’t guessed her secret habit?

The hatred faded as suddenly as it had appeared. How could she hate Jasper? He was her saviour, the other half of her tattered soul. It was with a feeling of defeat she wearily agreed to go with him to London.

Jasper sang as he turned his car out of the farm lane next morning with Jenny sitting beside him. He was hoping she would come round, hoping she could find some sense of adventure in their journey so, resolutely ignoring her sullen mood, he turned his mind to planning the next step of his new life. The next thing to go would have to be his car.

Although he loved this large and expensive symbol of his success he knew it was on borrowed time. It was now a liability in these narrow lanes and would have to be replaced with something more low key. His mind ranged enjoyably over all the possible vehicles for the job as, humming under his breath, he drove on, determinedly oblivious of Jenny’s reproachful silence beside him. After all, he knew what he was doing was for her own good, wasn’t it?

Matty Tregoning had been taking advantage of these soft autumn mornings to try to augment his slender income before the onset of the October storms kept his small boat out of action. It would soon be time for him to relocate and moor his boat in the big harbour at Tregorran for the winter. This would enable him to still take her out on whatever calm days the winter sea allowed.

Most of the crabbing boats relocated to Tregorran if they could find a berth before the tiny harbour of Porthcarn was sealed off from the random fury of the winter sea for its own protection. Every October a mobile crane lifted and slotted huge baulks, squared-off tree trunks, across the narrow entry to the harbour to prevent the sandy basin inside the walls from being scoured down to bare rock by the storms.

Seawater still belched through the narrow gaps between the large wooden beams but its impetus was weakened and the few boats still left at anchor were protected from being smashed to matchwood by the worst of the weather. The protection would stay until the following March when the baulks were lifted out again.

It had not long been light when Matty stopped his boat over his most productive fishing ground off Pendew Point, just below Jimmy Fisher’s crumbling farmhouse, to haul in his lobster pots and try a bit of hand-lining. He was just reminding himself he would need to renew his fishing permit at New Year when he became aware of movement on the cliff top and straightening up he was startled to see Sunny Smith leaving Fisher’s farm. Even worse, a naked Jimmy Fisher was following her.

So that’s how it is, is it, he thought frowning. For Pete’s sake, what is his problem? The fucker never seems to have any clothes on when I see him! An’ he don’t seem to mind who sees him neither, he thought with asperity. It was obvious to Matty that their attention was so fixed on one another they were totally oblivious to the fact that someone might see them, even though Jimmy at least must have known there would always be boats out on the sea.

He could see Jimmy was laughing now, playfully holding onto Sunny’s arm and obviously trying to stop her from getting into her car. Sunny too was laughing and though apparently struggling to leave it was clear to Matty that she was reluctant to go.

He was unaware that his face froze as Jimmy swept Sunny up in tight embrace and kissed her lingeringly. Even from this distance Matty could almost feel the embrace himself and his experience of women told him how Sunny’s body must feel against Jimmy’s. He tried not to be aroused by his inadvertent voyeurism, concentrating instead on his feeling of betrayal.

For there was no doubt he was experiencing a pang of disappointment at the behaviour of his ‘goddess’ who was apparently not so wise after all. Jimmy fucking Fisher, for God’s sake! He felt he could have accepted anyone but Jimmy Fisher pawing her.

It was too much for him to bear and he gave way to the deep-flowing dictates of the chapel DNA of his village, indulging in a censoriousness more suited to the moral values of the older members of the congregation. It annoyed him that Sunny and Jimmy were much too absorbed in each other to realise he watched them. He wanted them to see him, wanted them to know he knew about them and their sordid liaison because of course it was sordid, wasn’t it? Things always were where Jimmy Fisher was concerned.

He wondered where Jenny Lawrence was, the poor, abused woman. How had the bastard managed to get rid of her so he could go around shagging other women in his own home? He felt he should make enquiries. What if Fisher had done away with her? He wouldn’t put it past him.

When Sunny finally managed to drive away, Matty decided he would definitely keep a close eye on her, and on Jimmy. Sunny needed to be protected from people like Fisher and who knows what he had done with Jenny? Matty determined he was just the bloke for the job of finding out.

Day had started well before dawn for Sunny and Jimmy, in fact it would be more true to say that night hadn’t really happened at all for them. Each of them was too aware of another, exciting presence in Jimmy’s bed to be able to sleep much. They had dozed lightly, exhausted by sex, until one or the other, once more aroused by the novelty of a new body lying entwined with their own, started the process of making love again.

It had been nearly dawn when Sunny had finally woken up to find herself looking straight into Jimmy’s deep amber eyes smiling into hers. She scrunched herself up, smiling back at him, aware of a novel feeling of satiated bliss. How come I didn’t notice before what an amazing colour his eyes are? They are so warm, she thought, and so they were ... for her. She was not to know they could also turn dark and infinitely threatening.

This morning, despite feeling physically exhausted, she felt more emotionally alive than she had for a very long time. She felt released, like the Sleeping Princess in the fairytale, only it had taken somewhat more than a chaste kiss to awaken her. She blushed now at the memory of their, often frenzied, lovemaking. Jimmy, who had been watching her face silently, saw the colour rise in her cheeks.

‘You’re blushing!’ He laughed, delighted and ready to tease.

‘No, I’m not ... I’m just hot.’ She hid the lie behind a smile and tried to sit up to avoid his intense scrutiny.

‘You're telling me!’ He laughed, pleased by her unintentional double entendre. ‘Oh no you don’t missy,’ he said, grabbing her round the waist as she made to get out of bed and dragging her back down beside him, ‘I know exactly what you were thinking.’

She raised her eyebrows at him in query, trying to put him off by appearing serious.

‘You were remembering last night.’ He snuggled his face into her neck to kiss it and she laughed, an uninhibited and most unladylike laugh, at being caught out, surprised by how well he knew her already. She would never know how many women had honed such apparent perspicacity.

For a moment they both lay quiet, remembering the excesses of the night before as Jimmy lightly rubbed his lips back and forth on her skin, savouring its velvety softness against them. Now, Sunny just wanted to be held close in silence and he had not the strength to do anything else.

‘I must go to work, Jimmy,’ she said eventually as the day got gradually lighter, wishing she didn’t have to go.

‘Oh no … ’ he groaned, rolling onto his back and flinging his arm out over the bedside with extravagant petulance. ‘Why must you? I want you to spend the day here … with me.’ His mouth took on the sulky schoolboy look and she laughed at such cuteness.

‘I’m sorry, Jimmy, but I wouldn’t feel right letting Edward down.’ It was true, she may hate the thought of work today but Edward had been a true and kind friend to her and she owed him.

Stuff Edward fucking Hervey, Jimmy had almost snarled in a moment of true self before recollecting who he was with. To tell the truth he was a little in awe of Sunny and in spite of her wantonness in bed had even begun to think of her as someone rather more genteel than he was used to.

She would have been surprised at his view of her had she known. Why he should have got that impression he could not fathom unless it was something to do with the gentleness of her nature. It was an idea he could not shake off and he could not help treating her with unaccustomed tenderness.

He had to admit to himself though he did rather like playing this new role, it gave him an unexpected feeling of nobility. He also had to admit to himself that if this was love, and he was now almost certain it was, it made him feel fucking marvellous.

Even so, he still didn’t want to have to share her with Edward sodding Hervey, and especially not today of all days. He would be able to make her change her mind, he was sure of it. Today she would not be going in to work, today she would have to phone in sick. It came as a serious surprise to him to find he could not persuade her to do that and that she was not as malleable as he had thought.