Intimacy

SIXTEEN

It might have been expected that Eleanor would call off the engagement with Hayden after she had consummated her relationship with Caroline, but far from it. As much as she thought about that day at all, she rationalised it as something she was getting out of her system. A bit like a virus. Of course, the problem for Eleanor was whether this episode had given her sufficient immunity against the agent and whether other strains or mutations would be waiting for her on the horizon, which would prove impossible to resist?

Foregoing her scientific principles, Eleanor chose the path of least resistance, ignoring the problem in the hope that it would go away. Which, after a manner, and for a time, it did, as Eleanor became wrapped up in her new job and in the continuing work that they were putting in on the house.

Of course, she still saw Caroline from time to time, but Eleanor stuck to her guns there, ensuring as best she could that she was never alone with her and being careful to dress as conservatively as she could, while still retaining her appeal for Hayden. Two rooms she assiduously avoided while in the presence of the older sister were the master bedrooms at each house. They both held distinctly painful memories for her, which she was keen to erase from her mental storage unit.

For Christmas, Eleanor was successful in getting Hayden to agree (after some persuasion) to spending the holiday in Devon - with her family, and (most importantly) without Caroline. She told Hayden she had checked with her mother and they just didn't have the room, with her grannie also staying over from her place in nearby Tewkesbury for the festival.

Before they left Lancashire on the day before Christmas Eve, they had accepted an invitation to a New Year's Eve party at an old school friend of Eleanor's called Bianca, who lived in Stroud. Given it was less than ten miles away from her parents' place, they would be able to get a lift there from her father and they would take their luck with a taxi home the following morning. Bianca lived with her parents in the old rectory, which was a rambling Georgian building situated near the centre of the town in its own modest parkland. Eleanor hadn't seen so much of her since she went to Lancaster, but they kept in touch by messaging and the occasional Zoom. Bianca had a brother called Ryan, who Eleanor thought would get on well with Hayden, since they were both in the construction field - Ryan being a quantity surveyor.

The theme of the party was the roaring twenties, so Eleanor went online and found something she thought would suit the occasion and also her tall frame: a pink knee-length flapper dress - adorned with sequins - with a long tasselled fringe. The dress had sleeves so short that it was almost, if not quite, sleeveless. At no great cost, she accessorised this with a 'pearl' necklace arranged in six tight rows and fastened on one side with a brooch, a matching bracelet, hoop earrings, and a roaring twenties style narrow chrome headband, featuring a jutting floral motif below which dangled three strings of pearls. To complete the look, Eleanor had found on the Internet a pair of burgundy and gold vintage T-strap flapper sandals with a moderate heel. She would do her hair in a classic flapper bob and liberally apply scarlet lipstick.

Hayden was more than happy just to wear his tuxedo with his tried and tested Marks and Spenser black bow tie, until Eleanor made him invest in the black and white satin bow tie that had recently been immortalised in the latest remake of

The Great Gatsby

. Once he had tried it on before they headed south, he could hardly be separated from the thing, so much had he fallen in love with its retro look. Eleanor laughed when she witnessed the transformation of Hayden from someone who couldn't believe that anyone would pay that kind of money for something you're only going to wear once or twice to someone who might one day have to have the item surgically removed.

By the time Eleanor's father dropped them off just after ten o'clock, the party was in full swing, with groups of people spilling out onto the terraces that were accessed from the reception rooms by French windows. Bianca had been incredibly lucky with the weather, which was extremely mild for the time of year and virtually windless. Furthermore, there had been no rain for two or three days, so conditions underfoot were reasonable along the paths and walkways for those seeking a bit of privacy or a place to have a quiet smoke.

As Eleanor had predicted, Hayden was soon deep in conversation with Ryan. They had found a spot, not in the kitchen, but in the den (where Eleanor and Bianca had played as children) - a place which was about as well insulated from the noise of the music, inside the house, as it was possible to be. When she had last checked in on him - which must have been at around 11pm or so - they were sharing a bottle of Jack Daniel's. Ryan had brought an ice bucket along too, to make sure they had a steady supply of ice cubes.

SEVENTEEN

After catching up with Bianca, who had a new boyfriend who she wouldn't let out of her sight and vice-versa, Eleanor, who was nursing a white wine spritzer - partly because she didn't feel like drinking excessively, and partly because she was a little concerned about Hayden, who normally didn't drink at all - wandered into the room where the DJ was spinning the discs to have a look around. As might be expected, it was pretty loud and also, apart from when one was caught in a spotlight, pretty dark, but once her eyes got used to the environment, she was able to make out a good number of couples, girls in groups (a staple of every party, it seemed) and a few hopeful men milling about on the edges, one of whom would from time to time venture a little further onto the dance floor to demonstrate his moves.

As she was on her way out of the room to refresh her drink and see who was milling about in the kitchen, Eleanor found her way blocked by a petite black woman in a gold one-shoulder short sheath dress, with an asymmetric hemline that was higher on the left hip (the same side on which the dress covered the shoulder). The dress was covered with multiple rows of metallic fringe cord. A gold choker was set off by sparkly gold eyeshadow and a sequined gold headband with a black ostrich feather, while a long black beaded necklace plummeted down to navel level. The woman favoured a classic Clara Bow bob, which may have been a wig, but which Eleanor suspected was natural. The overall effect of the look and, as she received a whiff of her expensive perfume, of the smell of this woman on Eleanor was difficult to put into words. And out of all the women at the party, it was

Eleanor

who that woman had hunted down.

'Shall we dance?' the woman mouthed over the noise of the music.

Eleanor nodded vigorously in reply (a little too vigorously, she immediately realised) and followed the shorter woman onto the dance floor. She didn't recognise the music, but that hardly mattered as they glided over the dancefloor. As they danced, Eleanor noticed for the first time that the woman was wearing four-inch platinum heels, which proved no sort of impediment to her. She was clearly a very proficient dancer.

After they had danced to a couple of numbers, Eleanor suggested they refreshed their drinks. It was only after they had left the large reception room where the disco had been set up that Eleanor finally introduced herself and enquired after her dance partner's name. She was called Zari and was visiting from the United States, where she lived in New York City. When she said that she was a second cousin of Bianca on her mother's side, she received something of a quizzical look from Eleanor and burst out laughing.

'I'm sorry,' she said, smiling a smile that lit up the entire room, never mind just her face. 'I just can't resist seeing the looks that people give me when I tell them that. I was adopted as a baby girl. To other people, it's a bit of an issue sometimes, but to me they're just mum and dad.'

After they had chatted for a few minutes in the room where the main bar had been set up, people began moving towards the door, as the countdown to midnight began. Touching Zari on the arm, Eleanor told her that she must run, but that she hoped she might bump into her later. Zari smiled her most radiant smile in response - almost reducing Eleanor to a quivering wreck on the spot - and moved off first, followed by one pair of female eyes at least, as well as by several sets of male ones.

It was with some difficultly that Eleanor was able to extricate Hayden from the den, but after some persuasion and not a little cajoling, she emerged into the hallway with an inebriated engineer on one arm and an equally inebriated quantity surveyor on the other. By a happy chance, Bianca pitched up just as Eleanor was attempting to shepherd her cargo into the ballroom (as Bianca called it), which meant that Eleanor's load was lightened by half.

After the New Year had been ushered in with a rendition of Auld Lang's Syne, Eleanor manhandled Hayden over to the corner where a sprig of mistletoe had been hung.

'Happy New Year, darling!' she said meaningfully, leaning across to plant a smacker on his lips.

It was as she moved to support her fiancé, whose legs had suddenly buckled and who seemed in danger of falling, that Eleanor saw Zari across the room, standing on her own. As Eleanor's eyes met hers, she raised her glass of champagne, the contents of which she had hardly touched, in the air - toasting what? Eleanor wondered. Her heart thumping furiously, Eleanor restored Hayden to his place in the den (Ryan would be joining him presently) and then used the downstairs cloakroom, taking the opportunity to freshen up her make-up. After sitting on the easy chair that had been a fixture in that room for as long as she could remember for a good five minutes, Eleanor gathered herself together for what the first day of the New Year had to offer her.

She felt as nervous as she used to feel when standing on the starting blocks before a swimming event. Would Zari still be around? Would she be on her own? Did she feel the same way about Eleanor as Eleanor felt about her? Was she staying here with her cousin? Would she be willing to take a girl she hardly knew back to her room and make love to her?

Eleanor re-entered the ballroom and looked over to the place where she had last seen Zari standing. That place was now empty - totally devoid of any human presence. Eleanor felt devastated and, still standing near the doorway, scanned the room for any sign of the dusky beauty. She was nowhere to be seen. At least, Eleanor reassured herself, she hadn't paired off with anyone on the dance floor. She was about to leave the room and head - finally - for the kitchen, when she chanced to look over to the corner where the mistletoe had been hung. There she stood, in all her radiant beauty.

Scarcely able to prevent herself from breaking into a trot, Eleanor hastened over to the spot and took Zari's hands in hers. Zari drew the tall girl closer to her, so that they were both under the plant with the white berries. Then she kissed her: truly and deeply. Taken out of herself, Eleanor found herself helpless to return the kiss, overwhelmed by the exotic taste of the older woman's mouth. She was afraid she might swoon, like one of those heroines in a bodice-ripper novel. She had literally been swept off her feet.

Aware that prying eyes might discover them if they prolonged their stay under the mistletoe, Zari motioned for Eleanor to follow her to her room on the second floor. Before they ascended the stairs, Eleanor popped her head into the den and, as expected, saw that both Hayden and Ryan had fallen into a deep sleep. The room where Zari was staying was situated under one of the gables of the house, meaning Eleanor had to duck in order to get herself into the higher, central part of the room.

Suddenly the room was plunged into near darkness as Zari turned off the ceiling lights. As Eleanor's eyes became accustomed to the conditions, she saw that such illumination as existed was provided by candles - around half a dozen of them - whose fragrance was slowly permeating the room. By the soft light of the candles, she noticed that the bedcover had been strewn with rose petals.

'Wow!' said Eleanor simply.

'I took the opportunity to pop up here while you were busy downstairs,' the black beauty replied.

'Wow!' Eleanor repeated, in awe not just at the girl's quick work, but also at her ability to read other people - in this case, herself!

As if led by some unseen but very powerful force, Eleanor took Zari's hand, sat her on the edge of the bed and, lifting each perfect foot in turn, unbuckled the ankle strap and removed the elegant platinum heel. As the flimsy tassels rode further up her thighs, Eleanor wondered if Zari's panties would be gold too, like the rest of her outfit.

It would be a while before she found out, as Zari indicated that she would now perform the same service for Eleanor that she had just performed for her. Having taken her position in the little valley created by Zari in the bedclothes (somehow it seemed important to her at the time), Eleanor looked down at the exotic beauty as she made short work of the narrow buckles.

They were both wearing so much in the way of jewellery that this had to come off before they could proceed to the next stage of their tryst. It had, at any rate, served its purpose well, contributing to the heightened eroticism that would soon find its outlet in passionate lovemaking.

Zari removed Eleanor's headband first (noting how heavy it was and how happy Eleanor must be to be relieved of it). Next she unclipped the earrings, before easing off the pearl bracelet and finally the pearl necklace. Leaning into the Caucasian woman, who she could tell was as primed and ready for action as any woman she had ever made love to, Zari kissed her full on the mouth, much as she had done in the ballroom, not half an hour before. This time, the other woman reciprocated with an almost feverish passion, driving her tongue deep into her mouth and bringing her hands to her face.

Zari appreciated the role Eleanor was playing but was keen to give her the kind of pleasure her boyfriend was clearly unable to give her. Seeking out the zipper at the back of Eleanor's dress, she brought it down to the small of her back and tugged the dress down so it was resting - temporarily - in her lap. She was a little surprised to see that Eleanor was wearing a bra, until she thought about how itchy her own costume was, and realising she had probably worn it for greater comfort. She unclasped it and let it fall into her lap, knowing that very soon there would be no more items resting there - indeed, no more lap to speak of.

Zari considered pushing Eleanor onto her back, pulling down her dress, peeling off her panties and taking possession of her, but decided that a more patient approach would reap greater dividends. Allowing the younger woman, for the time being, at any rate, to remain seated on the bed, she let her fingernails (painted in gold too - Eleanor wondered how she hadn't noticed that before) trail over Eleanor's breasts, which were smaller than average for a woman of her height, Zari thought. Her own, indeed, might actually be bigger. On her petite frame, they would certainly look a lot bigger. She was looking forward to the white woman sampling her chocolate-coloured breasts, and asked herself (not for the first time) if this was her first time with a black woman.

Eleanor emitted a long, plaintive moan as Zari's fingernails worked their way across her mounds, carefully avoiding her nipples, which were swelling prodigiously before the African American's eyes.

'My god!' thought Zari. 'What fun I am going to have tonight!'

Feeling as if she had all the time in the world, the black goddess used one hand only now to circle one of Eleanor's bulbous columns, approaching it in rapidly decreasing circles. Just before she made contact with it, she stopped short and, removing her finger from the breast, inserted it lasciviously in her mouth.

'Fuck!' breathed Eleanor, close to being driven crazy by the delaying tactics of this woman.

EIGHTEEN

Zari said nothing but delayed things still more by running her finger around her mouth in an obscene way. Her eyes, which were fixed on Eleanor's, glinted, as the light that came from the candles mingled with the light that shone from her impish soul. Now, finally, Zari decided, was the time to make the next move. This girl was wound so tight that every step could be stretched out without her losing any ounce of her desire. Indeed, the only constraint on the speed at which Zari took the lovemaking lay with Zari herself. So long as she could endure the slow pace, she could prolong the pleasure felt by the English woman. And the more pleasure she gave her, the more she would experience in return.

So, finally, the nail of the little finger of Zari's right hand grazed the tip of Eleanor's left nipple. Eleanor muttered something incomprehensible and continued chuntering as the black woman gave the fingernail license to wander across the bumpy top of Eleanor's nipple, then up and down its sides.

'What next?' Zari thought. 'Do I move the finger to the other breast? Or do I continue to work on this one? Or do I use the other fingers of my right hand? Or do I pinch her nipple between finger and thumb? Or do I breathe on it? Or consume it in my mouth?'

Zari decided a mixed model approach was in order, coming up very close to Eleanor's chest and breathing on the left breast as her hand left it and landed on the right mound. Once again, Eleanor moaned - this time more loudly - inwardly cursing the black woman for teasing her so mercilessly. Zari repeated the same formula on the right breast, tracing patterns on it with her tiniest fingernail until she sensed that Eleanor could take no more. Then, as before, she let her nail seek out the peak of Eleanor's distended nipple, where it created havoc for two minutes - maybe longer - before slipping off to take care of the smooth sides.

Eleanor was now almost frantic with desire (mouthing obscenities towards the black woman, which the latter found terrifically erotic). Zara had had white women in this position before and she knew it wouldn't be long before Eleanor was calling her 'black bitch' and worse. She knew she had really worked her magic on a white woman when they used the N word. This was her first time with an Englishwoman and she didn't know if the taboo around the word existed so strongly in this country. If it didn't, then why would it be something they bothered to say? She would find out in time, she felt sure. In the meantime, all she had to do was to continue to press the right buttons.

Withdrawing her finger, Zari moved her face up to Eleanor's right nipple, so that the younger woman was certain that she was about to feel her magical tongue. For at least a minute, she felt nothing, just the pounding of her heart against her chest. So badly did Eleanor want to tell this woman to stop teasing her, to get a move on, to lick her breasts, to take her fucking panties down and lick her pussy till she came. But she knew it wouldn't do her any good. Like it or not, she had to wait.

Now that Zari had Eleanor where she wanted her, her metabolism seemed to slow down even more. Zari was enjoying the sex with this magnificent British specimen of womanhood more than she could remember enjoying sex for a long time. This was good news for Zari, but decidedly bad news for Eleanor, who found herself in a perpetual state of frustration, punctuated by short - all too short - bouts of acute sexual satisfaction.