‘You know, I’ve had a lot of lovers,’ continued Noella, not troubling to drop her voice at all. ‘And I mean a lot, but I’ve never met anyone like Edmund, and I’d sure as hell hate to lose him.’
‘Why should you lose him?’ asked Harriet as the two men walked over to look at the Pilchard Inn, where fishermen had once gone to have their fish weighed.
Noella looked thoughtfully at her. ‘I’m not sure. There was a time, not that long ago, when I felt quite secure. After all, I’m his third wife, Edmund’s money isn’t limitless, and sexually we’re very well matched but recently I’ve begun to get the impression that he’s tiring of me.’
‘Perhaps he’s just tired,’ suggested Harriet. ‘Lewis says Edmund works very hard without seeming to work at all. The holiday might be exactly what he needs.’
‘I think it might,’ agreed Noella. ‘The trouble is, I’m not sure that his needs and mine are quite the same.’
‘Meaning what?’
‘Come on, Harriet,’ exclaimed Noella, ‘let’s not kid each other. My husband’s very taken with you and he isn’t bothering to hide it from either of us.’
‘I’m on my honeymoon,’ laughed Harriet.
‘Yeah, well stranger things have happened. I remember that as soon as I was married to my first husband, I started fancying every male in sight. Some kind of reaction against being tied down I guess.’
‘I don’t feel tied down,’ protested Harriet.
‘Maybe not, but you fancy Edmund.’
‘And if I do,’ said Harriet evenly, ‘will that be the first time you’ve ever met another woman who fancied him?’
‘Of course not.’
‘Then why are you worried?’
‘Because there’s something that makes me think you might be two of a kind. I don’t care a fig about his affairs, I’ve had plenty of my own, but I don’t fancy being another ex-Mrs Mitchell.’
‘What about Lewis?’ asked Harriet. ‘Can you put your hand on your heart and say that you don’t fancy my husband too?’
Noella shook her head. ‘It’s not the same, sweetie. Every woman who meets Lewis fancies him, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to fancy them. Lewis would never be interested in me, I’m not his type, but I know that Edmund fancies you.’
‘Is this a warning of some kind?’ asked Harriet, lowering her voice as the men started to walk back towards them.
‘Hell no, I’ve never tried to warn anyone off
Edmund, that would only add to the attraction. I’m just telling you I know what’s happening.’
‘Nothing’s happening,’ retorted Harriet.
‘Not yet, but it will,’ said Noella, and then she smiled brightly at her husband. ‘Come on, Edmund. I want to take a look at one of these famous views Lewis has been telling us about. How can we get up these cliffs and take a look for ourselves?’
‘There’s a cliff path by the harbour,’ said Harriet, taking hold of Lewis’s hand again. ‘If you’ve got the energy you can go up the steps there and then round the back of some cottages where the path opens out a bit. There are one or two seats and the most incredible views imaginable.’
‘I’ve got the energy,’ said Noella firmly.
Harriet and Lewis decided to stay and look at the small fishing boats in the harbour while the other two set off up the cliff path. Once they were alone Lewis pulled Harriet against him, kissing her gently on the mouth and letting his tongue slide round her teeth and along her gums until she started to squirm.
‘Happy?’ he asked when he released her.
‘Very happy.’
‘What was Noella talking to you about?’
‘Nothing much; she seems to think that Edmund’s tiring of her, but I’m sure she’s being paranoid.’
‘I’m sure she’s not. Noella’s far too sensible to worry unless she’s got something to worry about.
Besides, ten years is the longest Edmund’s ever remained married to one woman. He’s always searching for the perfect companion, a soul mate as well as a sexual partner. Probably my good luck has made him restless.’
‘You don’t really want me to sleep with him, do you?’ whispered Harriet.
‘I want you to do whatever you want to do,’ repeated Lewis, giving her another kiss before glancing up at the sky. ‘It’s clouding over a bit. I think we ought to get back to Penruan, especially if you girls are hoping to swim after lunch.’
‘Aren’t we having lunch here?’
Lewis shook his head. ‘I want to make love to you before we eat. That might prove a little difficult in the middle of Polperro.’
‘I’ll go up and fetch the other two,’ said Harriet quickly, already anticipating the delights that lay ahead of her. She hurried up the stone steps and then looked around. The whole area was deserted, all the seats were empty and Noella and Edmund seemed to have vanished.
Harriet walked towards the edge of the cliff top and then, just round the curve of the bend, she saw Noella and Edmund on the grass between the rocks. Noella was crouched down looking out to sea and Edmund was sitting right behind her, his body touching hers, with his arms tightly round her waist and his legs spread out in front of him. At first Harriet thought they were simply looking out to sea, but then she saw Noella’s body rise and fall slightly, and a flash of pink skin at the
top of her legs showed that her jeans must be round her ankles. With her heart beating loudly in her ears Harriet continued to watch as Noella moved more and more rapidly, and Edmund’s hands assisted her as she slid up and down on his erection.
Harriet knew that she shouldn’t continue to watch, but she couldn’t make herself move. She was terrified that someone else would come up the steps and realise what was happening, and at the same time filled with admiration at what they were doing. As Noella approached her climax and uttered a moan of excitement a seagull, alarmed by the noise, flew off a nearby rock and across the sea, but Harriet remained where she was and when Noella’s head was thrown back and Edmund’s hands had to tighten to keep her in place, Harriet could almost feel the warmth of the other woman’s orgasm sweeping over her and she felt herself growing damp between her thighs.
She waited for Edmund to finish, but once Noella’s body had slumped into a position of satisfied relaxation, he lifted her off him and as she pulled up her jeans, he stood up and his hand moved to fasten his flies. It seemed that he was content to wait until later for his own satisfaction.
Quickly Harriet turned to go, but she was too late because at the same moment, Edmund turned and caught her standing there, her cheeks flushed and her lips slightly parted with the excitement of what she’d seen. ‘Come to look at the view?’ he asked sardonically.
‘I’ve only just got here,’ said Harriet quickly. ‘Lewis says that we’d better be getting back. He doesn’t want to eat here, he’d rather go back to Penunan.’
‘Why?’ asked Noella, facing Harriet with a triumphant smile on her face.
‘I think he wants a rest before lunch.’
‘You mean a lie down rather than a rest I take it?’ suggested Edmund.
‘At least we’re on our honeymoon,’ responded Harriet.
‘You mean sex before lunch is reserved for honeymooners?’
Harriet was flustered. ‘No, of course not. I just meant – oh, forget it. Are you coming or not?’
‘It appears not. I can’t say the same for Noella, however. Don’t look so cross,’ he added with a smile. ‘We’ll be with you in a minute or two.’
They took the pony and trap back up the hill to the end of the village, and then walked the last hundred yards to the car park. Noella chatted all the time, saying how beautiful the village was and how amazed she’d been by the view, but Harriet was quiet and during the drive back Lewis asked her if she was all right.
‘I’m fine,’ she said, trying to erase the image of Noella moving up and down on Edmund’s lap while the waves crashed onto the rocks below them.
‘Not tired? I wondered if the jet lag was catching up with you.’
‘No,’ she said quickly, ‘I’m not tired.’
He put out a hand and squeezed her knee. ‘That’s good.’
Back at Penruan, Noella disappeared to have a rest, Edmund went into the lounge to make some telephone calls. Lewis started to go up the stairs towards their bedroom but Harriet stopped him.
‘Let’s do it somewhere else,’ she said huskily.
‘Sure, where did you have in mind?’
‘Outside somewhere, in the grounds?’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think we can. I saw Oliver wandering around when we got back.’
‘There must be somewhere,’ said Harriet, still unable to get the picture of Edmund and Noella out of her mind.
‘I know. How about the conservatory? It should be warm enough with the sun on it, and the furniture there looks comfortable. There’s always the risk that someone might see through the french windows, but—’
‘I don’t care about the risk,’ said Harriet. ‘Please, Lewis, let’s try the conservatory.’
‘Anything to keep my wife happy!’ he agreed cheerfully.
The conservatory was large and warm, the glass roof making it exceptionally light as well. A thickly padded two-seater wicker sofa seemed the most comfortable place and Lewis was just about to take off his clothes when Harriet stopped him. ‘Keep them on,’ she murmured. ‘I want you inside me now. I don’t want to wait any longer.’
Lewis looked thoughtfully at her. ‘What were Edmund and Noella up to on the cliff top?’
‘Nothing, well, they were looking at the view but nothing else, why?’
‘Because you haven’t seemed the same since you went to fetch them. I’d rather undress, Harriet. I like to feel your skin against mine.’
Harriet hesitated, but then quickly started to take off her sundress, peeling off the T-shirt beneath with almost indecent haste so that Lewis could see that she hadn’t bothered with any underwear that morning.
As soon as he was naked he went to lie Harriet down on the sofa but this time she was determined to have things her own way. ‘Sit on the edge,’ she said, almost frantic for them to get on with it. ‘Then I can sit on top of you.’
He obeyed, but instead of sitting on his lap facing him, as she usually did, Harriet stood with her back to him, put her legs on each side of his and then eased herself onto his rock-hard erection, feeling the satisfying width of him as it filled her aching emptiness.
Lewis ran his hands up over her ribs until they cupped the undersides of her breasts, feeling the softly swelling flesh in his palms. He kissed the side of her neck and his fingers began to tease her rigid nipples.
‘No, grip my waist, please,’ she urged him.
‘I’m enjoying this,’ protested Lewis, still half-amused by her apparent inability to wait.
‘I want you to hold my waist,’ she said fiercely, and for the first time Lewis began to have a suspicion about what was happening. Even so he
complied, but inside he felt a moment’s disquiet.
As his hands gripped each side of her body Harriet started to rise and fall in small movements, as similar to Noella’s as she could manage. ‘Help me!’ she gasped, and taking up her rhythm Lewis began to raise and lower her until the smouldering heat, that had lingered between her thighs ever since the moment she’d seen Noella and Edmund on the clifftop, started to flare outwards and her belly tightened with an impending climax.
‘Slow down,’ whispered Lewis. ‘If you’re not careful it will all be over too soon.’
‘I want it to be over,’ cried Harriet. ‘I need to come now,’ and she tried to increase the pace.
Lewis could tell by her breathing and the soft receptive moistness of her internal walls gripping his erection that she was almost ready to climax, but he could also tell that this had nothing to do with him. She’d been aroused and wanting sex from the moment she’d returned to him at Polperro harbour.
Now his hands were less than gentle around her waist and he moved her so rapidly that even she was taken by surprise. The tendrils of arousal turned into stabbing spears that lanced through her entire body and then every muscle in her started to go rigid as her climax approached.
Lewis was determined not to be left behind and he let all thoughts of a long drawn-out session of lovemaking fade away as he too was caught up in her frantic urgency. As the walls of her vagina
began to tighten around him in the first spasms of her orgasm, he felt the highly sensitive tip of his penis tingle even more intensely. Harriet reached behind her and drew her fingernails lightly over his hipbone; he gasped and then his orgasm rushed upwards at the same time as Harriet’s body finally went into an almost painfully intense series of muscular contractions that left her shattered and totally replete.
Outside the french windows, Oliver Kesby watched in silence, his manhood pressing painfully against the constrictions of his shorts. He resolved there and then that this time he was definitely going to get involved with his new tenants.
‘That was incredible,’ breathed Harriet, falling back against Lewis.
Lewis didn’t reply, and neither did he pull her closer and cuddle her as he normally did after lovemaking. Instead he put her none too gently to one side and started to pick up his clothes. ‘The next time Edmund and Noella turn you on, I suggest you use them to satisfy you as well,’ he said shortly. ‘I like to know I have your full attention at times like this.’
Harriet looked at him in dismay. ‘Didn’t you enjoy it?’
‘It was good sex if that’s what you mean. Unfortunately I had something more intimate in mind.’
‘You’re the one who wants me to be turned on by Edmund!’ shouted Harriet as he walked out of
the conservatory. ‘What’s the matter, don’t you like your own storyline?’
As he made his way upstairs, Lewis was asking himself the same thing.
By mid-afternoon even Noella agreed that it was warm enough to use the outdoor pool, and, armed with sunscreen, a floppy scarlet straw hat and a knee-length cotton cover-up, she set out across the lawns. Harriet, who simply took a T-shirt to slip over her bikini, wondered why it was that the Americans made every pleasure, from enjoying the sun to eating clotted cream, seem like a sin.
Edmund had a pair of hand-made Italian slacks on over his swimming trunks but his chest was bare and Harriet couldn’t help comparing his body with that of Lewis. Where Lewis’s chest was covered in a profusion of dark hair, Edmund’s lightly tanned skin only had small amounts of curly brown hair around his nipples that travelled down in a thin line that disected his stomach and thickened slightly before it disappeared beneath the waistband of his slacks. He was of slighter
build than Lewis, but not as slender as Harriet had expected and his tight chest muscles suggested that he kept himself very fit.