A Beautiful Forever (19 page)

He lies on his side and looks at me. Concern etched into his
facial features as he searches my face with his eyes. My heart skips as his
fingers brush my face when he reaches over to me, pulling one of the buds from
my ear and spilling Thom Yorke’s crooning voice into the quiet of the room.

“Are you going to tell me what’s up?” 

I stop the music and slide myself up, so I am sitting on the
bed against the wall. He watches me intently, waiting for my response.

“I just walked in and saw you flirting with the new girl,
and I hated it.”

He raised his eyebrows and then cracked a smile, “You think
I was flirting with her?”

“Uh, yeah – you were all smiling and laughing while she was
touching you. Then you jumped up all guilty the second you saw me.”

He started chuckling; I'm having a jealous hissy fit, and
he's chuckling at me!

“Have you even considered that I was jumping up because I
was relieved that you were home? You were gone for over an hour to get milk – I
was worried. Jolene was going on and on in my ear, and I was trying to be
polite and listen but all I could think about was you. I jumped up because I
was glad you were back and that nothing bad had happened, plus - I was glad you
were back so Jolene would see I have a girlfriend and stop throwing herself at
me.”

“So I’m your girlfriend now am I?” I ask, feeling ridiculous
at how my heart just did cartwheels through my chest when he said it.

He climbs up the bed and kneels in front of me. “Paige – we
live together; you are way more than just my girlfriend, alright? You should
know by now that I hate girls being all over me. I find it incredibly
uncomfortable.”

“Yeah right, you hate pretty girls flirting with you and
touching you?”

“Paige - I was pretty overweight when I was a kid, right up
until my late teens. Girls like Jolene out there - they didn’t give me the time
of day. When I got into sports, lost a bunch of weight and started to bulk up
with muscle, suddenly these girls were looking at me like I was this new guy
they’d never met before, and they made their interest obvious – just like
Jolene was. I admit - I went with it more than a few times, because I am a guy
not a saint, but it was all hollow. Those girls, they didn’t like me, or we
would have been dating when I was overweight. They only liked what I looked
like and what being with me did for them. I’m not stupid. I know how I look,
and I know that I attract a lot of women, but I don’t want them. The only woman
I care about touching me, or flirting with me – is you, don’t ever doubt that.”

“You were chubby?” I ask disbelievingly, trying not to smile.

“Why are you laughing? I’m pouring my heart out here!” he
laughs back.

“I’m sorry! It’s just that the image of you as a chubby kid
is so adorable!”

He pulls me toward him and rolls on top of me, biting on my
neck so it tickles like hell. I’m laughing so hard that I start slapping at his
back and yelling, “Stop! Stop!”

Slowing his mouth to a gentle kiss, he pulls away and looks
down into my face as he holds himself over me.

“Can I tell you something?” I ask, touching his face.

“Anything,” he replies.

“I haven’t had a boyfriend for eight years.”

His eyebrows shoot up, “Eight years?”

Nodding, I say, “I didn’t think I could care about anyone
again.”

A smile spreads over his mouth as he leans closer to me,
lowering his voice to a low deep gravel that hums through my body when he
speaks. “So… you care about me huh?”

“Very much,” I whisper as his mouth meets mine, my body
responding immediately by wrapping my arms and legs around him, writhing
against him.

Breaking away for a moment, he looks down at me, eyes
sparkling. “So, um, that was some trick you showed me this morning,” he growls,
pressing his erection against me, nipping me on my neck and driving me wild.

“Do you want me to show you again?” I whisper, gasping as he
pushes himself against me once more.

“Hell yeah,” he grins, eyes twinkling as he rolls on to his
back, still holding me against him. I make a big show of sliding down his body,
undoing his pants slowly before releasing his erection, gliding my hand up and
down his smooth shaft before lowering my mouth.

“No yelling,” I tease, before taking him in my mouth and
slowly start drawing him in.

“You seem much happier these past couple of weeks,” Andrea
comments during the afternoon lull in the salon. “You and Elliot must be
getting along well then?”

“Are we ever,” I reply, attempting to keep the ear to ear
grin to myself as I put the kettle on to make us both a tea, I can’t help but
gush a little about how great things have been since we moved into the room in
the flat together.

“Oh, I want an Elliot too,” she sighs, accepting the mug as
I hand it to her. “Are you doing anything special this weekend?” she asks.
“It’s not long until he has to go home is it?”

Suddenly, my mood plummets as I’m reminded that we only have
a week left. “He’s um, going home in a week actually. So, I’ve planned a great
weekend at a B and B in Lyme Regis, I booked it all online, it looks pretty
amazing,” I tell her as brightly as I can. 

“Oh, I’m sorry honey. I didn’t realise he’s leaving that soon!”
she sympathises, sipping her tea and watching me with interest.

“It’s fine Andrea, we both knew this was coming. We’ve been
trying to have fun while we can, instead of worrying about what will happen
when he goes.”

“I’ll bet you’ve been having fun!” she laughs winking at me
suggestively.

I feel the heat rise in my cheeks as I return her laughter
while images of Elliot in bed flick through my mind, warming my core. Suddenly,
I’m feeling edgy and want this day to be over so I can go back to the flat with
him and lock us both in our bedroom all night.

Tomorrow morning we’re leaving for Lyme Regis and from the
look of the images of the bed and breakfast online, we’re going to be staying
in pure luxury. Our last weekend together is going to be amazing, I won’t
accept anything less.

***

After leaving the flat early Saturday morning, I drive
Paige’s newly acquired car to the bed and breakfast that she picked out for us
to spend a night at. It’s taken us nearly three hours to get here and after
listening to the Jebediah disc for the second time through, Paige switches to
the radio and tunes it into her phone, so we spend the rest of the trip
listening to 90’s alternative rock, she’s got a great voice as she sings along,
knowing the lyrics to every song. I’m actually surprised at how many songs I
also remember the lyrics to – like Radiohead’s
Creep
and Powderfinger’s
Passenger
.

“Almost there,” I say as I turn onto the road that leads up
to where we’re staying.

“I can’t wait!” Paige grins, wriggling happily in her seat.
“My arse is so numb, I can’t wait to stretch my legs.”

“Well we could have stopped you know,” I point out.

“I know, but I want to spend all of our time here. It's
beautiful isn’t it?” she gushes, as I pull the car into a parking space outside
the bed and breakfast.

“Wow,” I say as I look up at the grand building, rendered a
sandy colour set in the most idyllic coastal setting. We climb out of the car
and stretch as we look around at the story book styled English gardens and the
view that continues uninterrupted, over rolling hills all the way to the sea.

Taking a deep breath, I fill my lungs. I don’t think I have
ever had such clean air in my chest in my entire life.

“This is amazing!” Paige calls over to me, smiling as she
spins in a slow circle, taking in her surroundings.

I open the boot and take out our suitcase, waiting for her
to join me so I can wrap my arm around her waist and walk inside together.

There’s a small woman with brown curly hair, waiting for us
when we enter, she introduces herself as Beattie and shows us upstairs to our
room. Walking ahead, she chats away about what time breakfast is served and
where they get all of their produce from. I stop listening when she opens the
door to our room, and I’m faced with this giant iron bed, covered in white
pillows and a pale green quilt. I want nothing more than to flop down on top of
it. Sleeping on two single beds pushed together hasn’t been the most
comfortable experience of my adult life so paying as much as we are for this weekend
seems totally worth it for the bed alone.

I can’t help but smile as I see the way Elliot is looking at
the bed. I half expect him to lift off the floor and float towards it on a
cloud of desire. I admit that I can’t wait to lay on it either, it looks like
heaven.

“I’ll just leave you both to get settled then,” Beattie says
as she lays some pamphlets on a little table by the door and closes it softly
behind her.

Elliot looks at me and grins, then drops our bag and somehow
manages to go from standing next to me to lying on the bed before I’ve had the
chance to blink twice.

“Oh my god! This is amazing!” he moans. “I have missed
having a decent mattress sooooo much!”

“I’ve never had a great mattress, but I agree. This bed is
divine,” I say as I climb on the bed and lie next to him.

Resting my head on his chest, we lay together quietly. I run
my fingers gently up and down his side while he plays with my hair, it feels so
nice that my own hand slowly stills, and I drift off to sleep.

“Thanks so much for organising this weekend, Paige,” I say
after a while, “Paige?” I say again when she doesn’t respond. When I lift my
head so I can look at her face, she stirs a little, shifting even closer to me
in her sleep.

I'm filled with so much emotion for her right now, I want to
tell her that I love her this weekend, but I don’t want her to think that I’m
only doing it because I’m about to go and there’s no real consequence to me
saying it. I want her to know that I want to be with her. I want her to know
that if she doesn’t want to return to Australia then I want to come back to her
as soon as I can get a new working Visa.

There’s so much we need to say, but it’s hard finding the
right time to say it. We both agreed not to talk about what’s going to happen
when I leave, but my leaving is just around the corner. We have to face it
sometime.

After a while, I close my eyes, feeling tired after the
drive and drift off with her in my arms, fully aware that this is one less time
I’ll get to do it in, I don’t know how long.

It’s almost dark when I wake up, still wrapped around
Elliot. I love having my head on his chest, listening to the deep rhythmic
breathing as he sleeps. I tilt my head up and kiss his jawline; he never shaves
on the weekends and after a full day, he almost has half a beard.

“Hey, baby,” I coo at him to rouse him awake.

His eyes flutter open, and he looks down at me smiling.
“Hey, what time is it?” he croaks, taking a deep breath as he stretches his
body out to wake himself fully.

“Almost 5:30,” I tell him softly. “You want to go and get
some dinner?”

Springing to life, he rolls on top of me, sending excited
butterflies dancing through my body as he kisses me passionately. “I’d rather
stay here and feed off you,” he murmurs, slowly undoing the buttons on my shirt
as he trails kisses down my chest until he reaches the apex of my cleavage,
flicking his tongue against my skin as his hand cups my breast, squeezing it as
I gasp, arching myself beneath him. Pulling the lace of my bra to the side, he
kneads my flesh and swirls his tongue over my already erect nipple. I start to
pull at his shirt as he works me into a frenzy while he worships my breasts,
crying out in loss when he moves his mouth back up to my neck and buttons up my
shirt one handed.

“But I think we’ll need food,” he murmurs against my skin. “I’m
planning on keeping you up
all
night.”

Shivers run through me as I think about what’s in store
later. As I watch him stand I lay there immobile, a quivering mess after being
worked up moments before. Holding out his hand, he pulls me up off the bed,
kissing me once more before tugging me towards the door and grabbing our things
to go in search of somewhere to eat.

He holds the door of the car open for me, his eyes dark and
seductive as he watches my movement. A groan escapes his mouth as I slide my
hand down his body as I enter the car – I may or may not have let my hand trail
over what felt like a very firm rod in his pants. I give him a slight squeeze –
just to be sure - as I grin wickedly at him.

“Cheeky,” he chuckles as he adjusts himself slightly and
closes the door, walking calmly over to the driver’s side to slide behind the
wheel. “Do you know what you want to eat?” he asks, reversing us out of our
parking space and pulling onto the road.

“Well, I did, but you put a stop to that,” I pout, earning
myself a beautiful grin in response.

“We’ll just see what we find then huh?”

“Can’t we skip dinner and just go back? Finish what you
started?”

“What I started? Paige, you started this whole thing the
moment you laid those gorgeous amber eyes on me in the plane. I haven't stopped
wanting you for a moment since.”

“Amber eyes huh? I’ve never thought of them like that. You
were pretty hot on the plane yourself, you know,” I admit.

“Yeah? Well, you were pretty indifferent for a girl who
thought I was ‘hot’.”

“Indifference and disinterest are two very different things
Elliot,” I tell him plainly.

“Care to elaborate on that,” he asks, flicking me a glance
as he concentrates on the road. I feel like saying ‘not really', but I find
myself actually answering his question instead.

“I’d been on my own for a long-time Elliot, and I’d given up
on men at that point. I didn’t think I could ever have something like this –
someone like you… so, I guess I wasn’t really letting myself look at you like
that.”