In The Night Garden Pt 01

Eva looked up into the night sky and sighed. Another Saturday night at the Golden Lion pub as had come to be somewhat of a routine for her and her circle of friends. Although she was generally quite happy with the way her life was going at the moment; great job, lovely boyfriend and a group of the best friends a girl could ask for, something in her craved something new, something exciting. Unfortunately as her friends were seemingly comfortable with this routine they'd made for themselves these thoughts were locked safely away inside her own head for fear of upsetting the dynamic of the group.

"I'd better have a few drinks to get myself in the mood," she said to herself as she looked at her reflection in her bedroom mirror.

Eva was exceptionally beautiful; 22 years old with bright blue eyes that shone like sapphires out from her pale milky complexion under long black lashes. She had cheekbones to die for, full pouting lips, and long mahogany hair that flowed down her back reaching the base of her spine. She'd always noticed people looking at her; women and girls envious of her natural beauty, and men simultaneously staring in awe as she walked by but she usually thought nothing of it. She had always thought of herself as somewhat of a "Plain Jane," standing at only 5 foot 1 she naively believed that she was too small and average looking to be noticed by anyone and that men preferred tall slender blondes. Although she was slim and toned due to 5 weekly visits to the gym, she was slightly curvier than some of her other female friends which made her feel slightly self conscious.

As Eva and her boyfriend, Freddie arrived at the Golden Lion they were met with the same friendly greetings from all the young regulars as well as looks that only Freddie knew the real reasons for, making him draw Eva closer to him to assert his "ownership" of her. Of course she thought this was ridiculous and that no one was even staring. Sometimes she even thought that he was only with her to use her as an accessory, to take out with him and show off, then discard when he'd found something more entertaining to do.

Soon after, more and more of their friends arrived as well as the usual crowd. Eva never usually drank too much as she didn't like the way she felt when drunk, she liked to have a clear head and be in control. However on this particular night she was getting annoyed at being ignored practically all night, so she thought, "I might as well have a couple seeing as everyone else is, who knows it might get me in the mood."

About an hour or so later, Eva felt flushed and lightheaded. Freddie was always the centre of attention among their friends and was known as the life and soul of the party, whereas Eva was introverted and shy without the aid of alcohol to boost her confidence around people. Looking at Freddie she knew why he was so well liked. At the age of 25 he was tall, handsome, with deep chocolate coloured eyes that shone warmly when he smiled. His hair was of the same colour and flowed down his back, and his arms were covered in vibrant tattoos of coy carp and cherry blossoms. That was the main reason she fell for him if she was honest, he was rough around the edges. It certainly wasn't his wit and intellect that drew her to him because although he was beautiful to look at, at times it seemed as though he didn't have two brain cells to rub together. He had heaps of charisma, but lacked charm.

"Here we go again," she thought to herself, rolling her eyes at Freddie's jokes that everyone else seemed to find hilarious but she could never work out why. "I'm getting another drink," she shouted over the table to him as she swiftly got up out of her seat and strolled over to the bar. She glanced over at the current spectacle that was the group at her table, whilst rolling her eyes she turned to face the other way to be met by a familiar face.

"Hello you!" It was Tom, one of the young regulars who she often partook in small talk with when left alone at the bar.

"Oh...Hi," she stuttered as he held out his arms and wrapped her in a hug that lasted slightly longer than she felt comfortable with. She immediately became aware that the dress she was wearing revealed a little cleavage which she caught Tom ever so quickly glance at as she pulled away. Tom was one of Freddie's friends, they were the same age and went to school together, although they had grown apart so they didn't hang out much these days. He was another fun loving, life and soul type of guy, who always had girls around him lapping up his every word. With dark mid length hair that swept across his forehead revealing dark green eyes that seemed to be able to see deep into your soul and see what you were thinking, Eva was always wary of what she said around him in case somehow he could read her thoughts while looking intensely into her eyes. He had more of a clean cut look as opposed to Freddie as he was clean shaven, showing his chiselled jawline and full lips, and behind those a set of dazzling white teeth.

"You here by yourself?" She asked, her feeble attempt to make small talk, even though she'd seen him arrive with a group of his friends earlier. She'd never admit that he intrigued her and that she found herself watching him at times then having to snap out of it before anyone noticed. He was like a tractor beam, he commanded everyone's full attention, not to mention he was gorgeous.

"Nah, I'm here with the usual lot," he chimed sarcastically rolling his eyes. He quickly looked around to see that Freddie was not next to Eva. He then noticed him sat at the crowded table across the pub laughing and joking, not even bothered that his beautiful girlfriend wasn't by his side. He wondered what the hell was wrong with him, but pleased that for the moment he had her to himself.

"Don't tell me a beautiful girl like you is being made to buy her own drink?" He said with a wink, and sidled up closer to her so that she could feel his hips on hers.

"Oh, no it's fine," she giggled nervously. "I just wanted to get away from the table to be honest, it's a bit rowdy over there."

"Well if you were mine I'd never let you out of my sight in a place like this. Freddie's taking a big risk there if you ask me." His eyes never left hers and she started to feel slightly panicked. She fumbled through her bag to find her purse to give herself an excuse to look away from his demanding stare, eye contact was something she had never felt comfortable with. She laughed nervously and cleared her throat, not knowing how to respond to the compliment.

"Well, I'm a big girl I can take care of myself," she sighed musically, getting out her purse when Tom suddenly placed his hand over hers and gave the barmaid a wink to indicate that this was his round. She looked down at his hand that was still on hers and with some difficultly pulled her own from under it. "Thanks but it's okay I can pay for my own," to which Tom placed his hand on her waist and pulled her closer, putting his lips up to her ear.

"If I can't buy the sexiest girl in the pub a drink then I'll consider my night ruined, so I'm afraid you have no choice. I'm sure you can pay me back somehow," he whispered softly. A mischievous smirk spread across his face as he gently stroked her waist with the back of his hand, and with the other gave the barmaid the money for their drinks.

"Oh," she thought worriedly, "what do I do?" She quickly looked over to Freddie who was oblivious to what was going on over at the bar, unaware that his girlfriend was being inappropriately spoken to by another man, a man he knew nonetheless, a man who had a reputation for pursuing girls, and this girl was by far the best looking girl in the place. Did he even care? "Uhmm, okay. Thank you," she smiled weakly feeling slightly flushed. "I'll buy your next one?" She looked up at him, his eyes were still intensely locked on hers. A smile spread across his face, his hand still on her waist as if in his own secret way he was renouncing Freddie's ownership of Eva and claiming her for his own.

"We'll see. So I was thinking of going outside for a smoke. Wanna come?" He asked as he guided her toward the back door of the pub. She didn't know what to say, part of her wanted to go outside with him, she didn't know why but every time she spoke to him she couldn't help but want to be around him. He had that effect on almost everyone. Plus she kind of felt like a cigarette, she wasn't a smoker but always enjoyed one when she was a little tipsy.

"Yeah, okay, I'll just go tell Freddie first in case he wonders where I am," she said nervously, looking over to their table where she could see Freddie and his friends knocking back pitchers of beer talking loudly amongst themselves.

"I wouldn't worry if I were you," Tom laughed. "He seems alright to me." He then gave her waist a squeeze and led her out to the garden.

The garden was quiet, as if once closed the door had shut all sound from inside the pub in. It was also pitch black, the landlord had obviously forgotten to turn the outdoor lights on. Eva felt a little dizzy once she stepped out into the night air, Tom stood in front of her. Not quite realising how tipsy she was, she stumbled down the step and let out a squeal. She fell into Tom's arms and felt her heart drop, her heartbeat quickened it's pace.

"Woah, good job I was here to catch you eh?" He chuckled. He still had hold of her, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, her small hands rounded into fists on his chest to balance herself. She released herself and took a few steps back, and felt glad for the darkness so he couldn't tell that she was blushing furiously. She found a table to lean on that was a safe enough distance away from Tom so from an outsider's perspective it would seem like two friends innocently stepping outside for a cigarette. "What are you saying?" She thought, internally scolding herself for thinking something so ridiculous, "of course this is innocent!" She shook all those thoughts out of her head and looked over to where Tom was standing, and even though it was pitch black she knew his eyes were firmly locked on her.

She heard a click and a small flame appeared, she could see Tom's face in the small orange glow of his lighter as he lit his cigarette. She was right, his eyes were fixed on hers as they had been practically the entire night. He held out his cigarette and she reached out for it. Before she realised what was happening he quickly gripped her wrist and pulled her closer to him. She gasped, giggled timidly, then took the cigarette from his hand and stepped back from him once again. She took a long toke and inhaled, it seemed to calm her down for a moment. At that moment a dim outdoor light flickered on, almost casting a weak spotlight over the two of them. She walked back over to the wooden picnic bench across the overgrown garden, put her feet on the bench and sat on the table, straightening her dress to make sure it was at a suitable length as she sat down. Tom walked over and sat up on the table next to her.

"So are you gonna tell me what's bothering you gorgeous?" He asked, "and why you were so willing to come out here alone with me." He moved closer to her so that their legs were tightly pressed together. She felt a little awkward and moved her leg away from him.

"It's nothing, and I was under the impression that we came out here for a cigarette," she said sarcastically, quietly proud of herself for not allowing her nerves to get the better of her. Besides he was just being friendly, a little flirty perhaps, but that was just in his nature. He let out an amused chuckle, placed his hand behind her and leaned in closer.

"Who knew you had a sense of humour!" He laughed and playfully poked her waist. "Still, it's really dark out here, we're completely alone with no danger of anyone coming out, everyone goes to smoke in the other garden. I could be a dangerous man and have my way with you out here and no one would hear you scream," he said in a mocking sinister tone, and gave her 'that' wink, a wink that Eva imagined made other girls weak at the knees for him. Anyone else would probably let him have his way with them in the shabby pub garden across the damp rotting wooden table.

As her mother would say, "He could charm the birds out of the trees and straight into a pie for tomorrow's dinner." She smiled to herself at the thought, but was immediately brought back to the present by Tom's hand snaking along her back. She glanced over her shoulder at his wandering hand, and then into his eyes, which were searching hers intently. She blushed and looked down at her feet, swinging them as they couldn't quite reach the ground, anything to distract herself from his intense eye contact. He lowered his head to try and meet her gaze.

"You really have no idea how sexy you are do you?" He breathed, "as well as being fucking adorable," and with a grin looked down at her swinging feet.

She was speechless. Her eyes darted away from him and back towards her feet. Her mind was frantically searching for a suitable response.

"What am I meant to say to that?" She screamed internally to herself, "Oh God what's happening right now?"

"I bet I could do a far better job in the bedroom department than Freddie too," he whispered. "I know what girls like, I've never failed to make a girl come you know?" His hand was slowly sliding up Eva's bare leg, she was so nervous she couldn't speak. "Why don't you let me show you?" He lowered his eyes to meet hers once again, and slowly moved towards her.

"Tom!" She finally managed to exclaim, slightly embarrassed. "You can't say things like that!" She batted his hand away, making a rather pointless attempt to pull her tight dress over her knees.

"Why not?" He raised his voice slightly, "don't tell me you honestly love him? He's a fucking moron Eva you can do better! Were you even at the same table as him tonight? He's barely even spoken to you. If you were my girlfriend I'd want the whole fucking world to know!" He motioned towards the pub door where Freddie was blissfully unaware of what was going on, his voice grew agitated.

"I-I don't know, it's none of your business," Eva snapped angrily, "I'm going inside. I don't have to explain myself or my boyfriend to you." She got up off of the table and turned toward the door. Tom swiftly followed her, grabbed her by the hand and turned her around to face him. Before she could speak he pulled her closely to him and pressed his lips against hers. His kiss was hard and demanding, refusing to let her go. She was frozen to the spot, unsure of what to do. She'd never been in a situation like this before, Freddie was usually around to prevent this kind of thing, now she was completely defenceless.

Once she finally managed to push him off she backed away from him. She'd seen in several movies where this happened and then the feisty young female protagonist would give the arrogant brute a slap across the face. She couldn't do that though, surely that was slightly too dramatic. She couldn't deny to herself that a small part of her had enjoyed the kiss. Her heart was racing and she was starting to tremble.

"I've been wanting to do that for so long," he sniggered and moved slowly towards her, and as he moved in to kiss her again she squirmed out of his reach.

"Stop it someone will see!" She cried, "Freddie's right in there!" She was afraid that someone had heard but also hoped that someone would come outside so she could make her excuses and escape. At that moment, the one low burning orange light started to flicker then shut off completely. They were once again in complete darkness.

"Come over here," he said softly, slowly approaching her. "No ones gonna come out." She was breathing heavily, desperately searching for somewhere to escape without running back inside and looking suspicious or drawing attention to herself, but in the darkness she couldn't see anything apart from a dark outline of a man getting larger and larger as it came toward her.

"There's no need to be shy, I don't bite...unless you like that." She could hear the smirk in his voice, she was obviously nervous and he knew it. She tried to compose herself and prove that she was in control of the situation.

"Wh-what do you mean?" She breathed timidly, her hands reaching out behind her in an attempt to stop herself from falling. "I'm fine. It's just so dark I can't see a thing," and with one last step back she found herself backed against a wall. Her breathing became heavier and her knees started to shake. She could sense him standing in front of her, then felt his hand slide behind her and his fingers softly entangle themselves in her hair, stroking it almost lovingly.

"Then that means no one can see us," he whispered. "I've wanted you for so long," his hands now caressing her hips.

"W-What?" Eva croaked, her mouth became dry and she could feel tears filling her eyes, "what are you doing?" Her voice grew hoarse as his hand slid down her hip and started stroking her thigh which sent a white hot shock down her spine. "I'm in way over my head, this is getting out of hand," she panicked to herself, too scared to move in fear of what he might do next. Not to mention where he might put his hands.

"You know exactly what I want to do," he purred, his lips nuzzling her jawline, his hand still stroking her thigh, slowly gliding further up, pushing her skirt up with it. "You want this as much as I do. I want you, you want me, what's stopping us now?" She didn't know how to respond, her entire body felt like it had gone up in flames.

"I-I-I have to go inside! Freddie will be wondering where I am, please let me go," her hands pressed against his chest pushing him away. He grabbed her wrists and placed them above her head. She was trapped. Surely he wasn't going to-? No. He wouldn't do that, sure enough he was a master flirt but she'd never dream that he'd force a woman against her will. Then again how much did she really know about him? His lips softly brushed hers and she knew then that he could feel the heat radiating from her body. The tip of his tongue slid along her bottom lip and he bit down on it hard which made Eva cry out.

"Ssshh," he whispered, putting his finger up to her lips. "No one can hear you out here, and stop worrying Freddie's not wondering where you are, he doesn't even know you're gone." It then sunk in that he was right, Freddie was too busy doing shots and joking with his mates to even care where she had gone. A few tears escaped and streamed down her face.

"Please, not like this, I don't want this," she whispered, the words barely escaping her throat. Tom pulled her closer and kissed her hard once again, his tongue exploring her mouth. He freed her wrists and cupped her breasts, moulding them roughly in his hands. He then moved down towards her inner thigh, dangerously close to her red mound mound that was screaming out to be touched.

"Really? Well I don't think that's true? Maybe we should see just how much you don't want it." He was toying with her, teasing her knowing that her body was telling him an entirely different story.

"Fuck!" She thought to herself, she could feel something stirring inside her, and although it was unwelcome she couldn't control it. "Stop it please, I just want to go back inside," she softly cried as his hands drifted under her dress, pulling up the skirt as he grabbed her ass, caressing and kneeding her soft cheeks, planting kisses and tiny bites along her neck and collarbone. In one swift movement he pulled her away from the wall and guided her back into a small alcove in the corner of the garden that somehow felt even darker, now she was well and truly trapped, it was too dark for her to see how to get out.

"You want this, I know it." He said passionately. He placed his hands on her face and roughly smeared her tears away with his thumbs. "Don't try and tell me you don't because we both know that's a fucking lie." He kissed her again, this time softly as if he were trying not to hurt her. His hands moved down her body, exploring under her dress which had now been pulled up around her waist. She felt as though she was going to explode she was so confused, yet terrified, yet painfully turned on. She tried to push him away and pull her dress down which seemed to spur him on more. His leg slithered between hers and he slammed both her wrists against the wall above her head with one hand. Standing a full foot taller than her as well as being much stronger it was impossible to fight him off, he was like a man possessed.