CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
(July 2004)
Heather was glad to see that the hen night was even better attended than the buck's night. There were, by her count, twenty-five of them setting off from that same large, city centre pub. And although Claire, in her role as maid of honour, gave them a pep talk before the crawl there was no need to split into smaller groups. Mobs of young women were, it seemed, welcomed everywhere.
There was no shagger's hat to be awarded either. That much said, enough of them were up for it; at least two of the hens scored before they reached the second bar.
How wonderfully naughty of them!
In Heather's opinion she was now an expert on big Aussie nights out. During the early part of Ingrid's she amused herself by spotting similarities and differences. There were lots and lots of similarities . . . and one glaring difference: the men had generally had to try but the women didn't need to try at all.
She grinned as she made the comparison. Everybody in town knew they were on a hen night, just as everybody in town last week had known they were on a buck's night. The knowledge expressed itself in two diverse ways. Last week most of Albany's females avoided the bucks. She'd heard "You're only after one thing" being said many times. Tonight, in contrast, most of Albany's males were throwing themselves at them, obviously hoping the hens were only after one thing. They could have all scored as many times as they liked.
Hmmm, she thought as she shook her head, rejecting her latest would-be suitor, maybe later.
To her knowledge their mob consisted of eighteen straight girls and seven women who'd been known to have sex with women. Most of them were in some sort of relationship, be it straight or not. But what happened on the hen night stayed on the hen night, of course. By the time they reached their fifth bar she was sure most everyone had an illicit quickie, and some more than just one.
There were paragons of virtue, however. Ingrid had behaved herself impeccably so far. So too had Claire, who was taking her maid of honour position seriously. So had Rachael, who didn't know very many of the others and was probably biding her time. And, most incredibly of all, so had the father of the bride, who was getting distinctly horny but not in the mood for a donger.
Hence the string of rejections.
Okay, so she had her eye on one of the straight girls, hoping she was at least a little curious. Her name was Nat (short for the much lovelier Natalia) and Heather couldn't remember meeting her before. And face it, she would have remembered. Nat was drop-dead gorgeous. Her hair was chin length and dark brown, her skin was a flawless olive. And, like everyone else, she was showing a lot of bare flesh, all of it intriguing.
Mmmm, yum, yum!
'I haven't seen you sneaking off yet,' she said, joining the girl at the bar.
Nat smiled at her. 'Don't worry, I'm not a prude. I just haven't had the right sort of approach yet.' Then, still smiling, 'I haven't seen you sneaking off either, come to think about it. Has Claire put an invisible ball and chain round your ankles?'
Heather was pleased to discover Nat knew who she was and what she liked. 'We save the ball and chain for bedroom games,' she said. 'It's shut in its drawer at the moment. And it's staying there until we get chucked out of the nightclub. Between now and then we're free spirits.'
'I have a similar arrangement with Megan.'
'Megan?'
'She's my regular girlfriend. She's working tonight, at the hospital. I'm meeting her in the nightclub later. Between now and then I'm a free spirit too.'
That pleased Heather even more. Gorgeous, presumably experienced and free for the evening? Bring it on!
'Can I ask you something?' she said, edging ever closer.
'Sure, go ahead.'
'What's the right sort of approach?'
'You've already made it. Buy me a drink and I'm all yours.'
*****
They had sex in a dark alley somewhere between bar numbers five and six; standing up, kissing and fingering as if their lives depended on it. It was hot and satisfying but at the same time frustrating; they both wanted more . . . much, much more.
By the time they arrived at the sixth bar the hen party had given them up and moved on. Heather let Nat buy her a pint and, as they drank, they agreed to skip bar number seven and catch up at number eight, the last stop before the nightclub. But their best laid plans went awry. Walking there they came across a small park and the temptation was too much. Heather dragged Nat in. Not that she took a lot of dragging.
'Sixty-nine,' she said as soon as they were out of sight of the street, 'me on top.'
That was cool by Heather. They stripped and she lay on her back on the grass. And then Nat's fanny was in her face. She licked up at it, savouring the taste. It was good, so very, very good; much better than tasting her off her own fingers.
Nat, meanwhile, had located Heather's clit. Her kisses and nibbles were exquisite.
Nibbled by moonlight, Heather thought happily. How utterly romantic.
*****
The police officer almost caught them. Well, he did catch them, just not actually in the act. They had swapped positions and were chasing their umpteenth mutual orgasm when Heather spotted a torch heading their way. Somehow they got their clothes back on before he got close and personal.
'What's all this then?' he demanded, playing a beam of light over them.
'We're watching the stars,' said Heather, pointing to the heavens from a (she hoped!) innocent sitting position on the grass. 'All the constellations are different down here.'
'A likely story,' he said. 'Are you English?'
'Yes she is,' said Nat. 'I was showing her the Southern Cross.'
The officer clearly didn't believe them but didn't stand in their way when they got to their feet and said it was time to go.'
'Bet he has a wank thinking about us,' Nat said as soon as they were out of earshot.
'I don't blame him,' said Heather, 'I'm going to be jilling later, thinking about us. Unless we can find somewhere else to finish each other off.'
Nat checked the time. 'Hogan's ghost, it's quarter to one. Megan will be on my case.'
'Does Megan often give you time off as a free spirit?'
'This is a first. Another fifteen minutes and it might well be my last.'
*****
There wasn't much of a queue outside the nightclub, probably because half the city was already on its dance floor. Pretending she just happened to have arrived at the same time as Nat, Heather watched her approach a tall, stern-looking blonde who was waiting near the entrance.
Wow, she thought, I bet she can handle herself. What a pity she's not in her nurse's uniform.
As she watched Nat said something and the blonde broke into a smile then hugged her. Relieved on Nat's behalf, Heather headed for the bar.
Ingrid was there, sipping orange juice and talking to the twins.
'Fancy a proper drink?' Heather enquired, knowing what the answer would be.
'No thank you. Ask me again after Junior's arrived.'
'Where's Claire?'
Ingrid pointed to the crowd of dancers. It took Heather a moment to find her. Then she gasped as she saw who she was dancing with.
'I thought the guys had agreed to stay out of town tonight.'
'They have,' said Ingrid. 'But Jez is unattached. He must think the agreement doesn't apply to him.'
'No,' said Leigh, 'he thinks it's the perfect time to catch Claire when Brett's not around.'
'Are you jealous?' Lauren asked Heather.
'She's a free woman,' Heather said magnanimously, 'I'm not jealous.'
'Just as well,' said Leigh, 'he's been fucking her on and off for years.'
The twins went elsewhere, in search of a bedmate. Heather made a hole in her latest drink then frowned.
'Where's Rache?'
'She's at that table over there.'
Heather had to laugh. The club was full of hundreds of young women in various states of undress. It had attention-grabbing sights everywhere. And who had Rachael gone for? She'd only gone for Oz's version of herself . . . only not nearly so good-looking.