The late afternoon sun streamed through the willows at the far end of the garden, branches tossing in the mid-Summer breeze. A lawn, the grass a little too overgrown, stretched from the willows to a patio where stood a disused brick barbeque unit. Here and there a few rogue weeds had broken through small cracks in the stonework. Potted plants and hanging baskets surrounded the patio.
Bethan Richards looked at the sight of the lawn and sighed. Sipping a Sauvignon blanc with one hand she continued to water the plants with the hose and contemplated whether to go find the sprinkler and start on the grass.
She decided not to. It wasn't so much that it needed watering as cutting. There was a mower in the shed but she remained a little cautious about using it. It wasn't that she was traditionally minded about the division of labour in a household, it was just that even small scale mechanical matters were something she would prefer to avoid. She just wasn't practically minded.
Not for the first time she started to regret Matt taking the job at the down town tax firm. They finally had money after years of struggling to make ends meet as students, but the hours were shocking, even by the standards of a junior lawyer.
Beth and Matt had married in the Spring of last year, having met and dated since the first year of University. Now 24 years old, Beth worked as a primary school teacher at a suburban school close by. She loved kids but having their own seemed out of the question at the moment with the hours Matt was working. He was just so tired in the evenings. This was a man who ran a marathon competitively two years ago. But his boss seemed intent on killing him.
She broke off her musings when she saw the face of Mr Taylor, their neighbour, peering over the meter and a half high fencing that separated their gardens.
She had been noticing his stares for a while but he seemed harmless. Now a widower, Derek Taylor was a retired policeman who liked to keep himself busy by entering his garden into various regional competitions. Although the years and a penchant for beer had given him something of a paunch he remained fit and active for a man of his age.
Standing there topless, his chest was covered in thick grey and white hair, although he had long since lost most from his head. His skin was tanned from years spent working in his garden.
He placed his arms against the top of the fence and leaned his chin on his arms and took in the sight of his young neighbour: dressed in white shorts and a pale blue top, a mane of dark brown hair to the middle of her back, long legs on a small frame, and breasts just the right side of large.
He felt like an old pervert but it was difficult not to pay attention. An executive class, top of the range, premium model girl next door if ever there was one. She looked over at him and called his name. Her smile lighting up her oval face, big green eyes sparkling. "Hey Mr Taylor".
"It's just Derek", he replied in his deep, gravel like tone. "Just Derek," but in truth he had already told her a dozen times since they had moved in six months ago and she still seemed to insist on the semi-formal approach. "You know I could take a look at the garden of yours. It'd be crying shame to see it overgrown."
"Thanks Mr Tay...Derek, but I really want Matt to take a look at it."
"I know, but it seems to me that your young man is a bit too busy these days. It would be no trouble."
"Well thank you for the offer, really. I will speak to him when he gets back."
"A woman like you ought to have your man home every night. Be a sight for sore eyes for any hard working man". Beth was an intelligent woman but she had a weakness for any romantic sentiments and blushed a little at his flattery.
They chatted for a long time as the sun climbed behind the willows to the West of the garden and bathed everything in a soft orange glow. She had few friends in the area and with Matt away or working late so often the evenings had become rather lonely.
Derek himself had enough of a social life as he could wish, having lived most of his career as a police officer in this area he knew many of the local people, but chatting to a beautiful young woman was never boring. He had barely met her husband except when the young couple moved in. He had seemed a decent enough guy but he clearly didn't know what he was letting go to waste back at home.
Although Beth would of course never make any mention of the matter to anyone their sex life had taken a turn for the worse a few months after starting at the law firm. Even when he did have the energy to try, nothing had really been happening and she guessed this was just the stress of the job, but a tiny part of her did blame herself.
With the paranoid thinking that young women sometimes engage in but which seems bizarre to their elders, she wondered if she had gained weight since leaving college. A decent diet and regular areobics classes ensured that she had gained not a pound in reality, but in her head she still worried about her attractiveness.
And in front of her was a warm blooded human being. A man old enough to be her father; possibly even her grandfather, but a man nonetheless and one giving her quite a bit of attention. It was probably the wine affecting her, she thought, but the topless figure of her self assured neighbour, with his leathery bronzed skin covered by downy white hair, well it did cut a certain sight.
She entertained the idle fantasy of what were he to make a move now and surprised herself that it made her heart beat a little faster. Eventually the conversation wound down and she excused herself to make dinner; even if her husband would probably be home too late to enjoy it.
For Derek however, his own fantasy he had been engaged in was not quite so idle. She was just so damn sexy that it was impossible not to acknowledge it. The older one got, the more attractive youth seemed to become. Her skin was so smooth and ageless and her figure so perfect. Hormones long suppressed coursed through his body and he felt an aching in his loins that wouldn't go away.
Hours later Beth lay on her marital bed, dressed in a pink nightie, her dark hair fanned out behind her, she waited for Matt's car to pull into the drive. Her thoughts pleasantly hazy from the alcohol, she let ideas drift in and out of her mind. What if her neighbour had come over the fence for her in a frenzy of lust? How would she have been able to resist being so much slighter than him? Beth detested real sexual violence as much as the next woman, but she was also intelligent enough to be able to set that apart against her weakness for a bodice ripping fantasy.
Feeling a warm growing below her stomach she let one hand drift down under the nightie. Running her fingers against her lips she felt the wetness there. Producing a combination of sexual thrill and guilt, fantasies of illicit coupling surged through her mind.
Pushing back her hood with the fingers of one hand Beth began rubbing herself faster and faster with the other. Her breathing became shallow and fast, almost panting in excitement. "Oh God, oh God," she moaned, feeling that she hadn't her ever been as turned on as this through masturbating.
Moaning with pleasure she stroked herself to a long drawn out orgasm. Afterwards she sighed a little, both satisfied and a little guilty still, and drifted off to contented dreams.
She woke in the night to footsteps on the stairs. Her heart suddenly racing in fear and she only relaxed when she heard a familiar, "hey babe," from the bedroom doorway.
"God Matt what time is it?" she called sleepily, raising herself up on one arm to peer at her young husband coming through the doorway to the bedroom.
"You don't want to know. Look, I'm sorry Beth. There's just this big thing with a client's acquisition going through and all the associates and half the partners are sleeping up there right now."
His handsome face looked drawn and a little pale. "Christ Matt, they're going to kill you at this rate".
Taking off his suit he rolled into bed and Beth immediately snuggled into his toned torso. "I think they're trying sometimes. But I reckon I can make partner in nine years and we will be millionaires soon after."
"I know. But I just wonder if its worth it sometimes. I miss you honey."
"And I miss you. Look I am sorry about these long hours. How about I make it up to you? Tomorrow is Friday. I will get off early. Why don't we go out somewhere uptown; maybe that new Italian place on Broad Street. My treat. How does that sound?"
"It sounds great, but you know I would be just as happy staying here with a takeaway and a cheap bottle of wine. And then afterwards...," she reached down and playfully squeezed his cock through his boxers, "like old times."
"Well nothing is too good for my baby. If that's what she wants then that is what she shall have."
"You'd better get some sleep honey. You look shattered."
He kissed her on the cheek. "Night baby, I will be gone before you wake up. So until our date tomorrow night." He kissed her again.
"I can't wait" she sighed, then murmuring sleepily, "oh by the way Mr Taylor said he would see to the garden if you are finding you don't have time at the moment."
