STORY EXCERPT

Gazing thoughtfully after her, Adam grinned at her haste. His mind was not on the recent naked cavorting that the leading actress indulged in during the film, but the uncertain tentative glances, Eve surreptitiously sent his way, and the soft, rosy hue that swept up her cheeks during such scenes.

Upstairs, Eve softly closed the door of her bedroom and beset by an unforeseen trembling leaned back against the wood. After the shock of Adam’s veiled threats of stripping her naked, she had not thought to enjoy the evening, but surprisingly she had. The meal had been excellent, and she had enjoyed every mouthful, and that, along with Adam’s gentle, undemanding company, had lulled her into a new sense of security and contentment. But the film…

“Well,” Eve breathed as she moved away from the door. The film, while far from pornographic, had been disconcerting. The hero ravishing a willing albeit hesitant heroine had been a little too near the mark as far as her relationship with Adam was concerned. And she was disturbed by the sensations that had overwhelmed her during the screening. Scooting under the covers, Eve determinedly closed her eyes and her mind against the erotic thoughts that still insidiously besieged her waking moments.

“Weak-minded fool,” she muttered even as she slipped into a deep, relaxing slumber.

* * * *

Morning came, and with it, Eve felt a certain amusement at her innocent reaction to what was in fact just a slightly risqué film. However, she was uncomfortably aware of her uncommon haste in leaving Adam’s presence afterward. The film, the firelight, and Adam’s nearness had created an intimacy she found hard to dismiss. Oh God, she just hoped he wasn’t aware of the reason for her haste. Shaking off the slight residue of excitement as a mental anomaly, and a sudden surge of melancholy for what might have been, she decided there and then that under no circumstances must she allow Adam to think that he was filling her thoughts or affecting her in any way.

* * * *

Looking up when Eve entered the room and studiously avoided his gaze, Adam hid a grin as he noted her cheeks were blushed with a slight rosy hue. Was this progress in that she was remembering the slight sexual tension that beleaguered the room last night? Or was it just wishful thinking on his part? However, as Eve continued to ignore him, his heart sank a little, but he sighed as he reminded himself that it was going to take time and patience.

“An inordinate amount of patience,” he muttered softly.

“Eve’s head shot up. “What?”

“I said do you fancy pancakes?”

“Oh, um, yes, they sound good.”

Moments later placing the pancakes in front of her, Adam pursed his lips as she still chose to ignore him.

“Eve”—he took his seat next to her and picked up his knife and fork—“tomorrow, you get the breakfast okay?”

“Me?”

“Yes. I’m a busy man. I need to be out early, not getting the breakfast, putting on the wash, and doing a hundred and one other chores around the house while you lie in bed until God knows what time.

“Look,” he sighed, “I know life is difficult at the moment, that everything is strange, and I know it takes time getting used to things, but we had a deal, you and me. You needed a home and security, and I needed a wife to help me around the place. I’m living up to my end of the bargain, but—sadly—you’re not.”

Eve’s eyes filled with tears, and she threw her cutlery onto her plate her appetite fast diminishing. Making to rise and rush from the room, she was stopped by Adam’s hand on her arm.

“No, Eve. You’re not going to do this.”

“What?”

“This thing you do of closing down, becoming emotional, and running away. It’s time you joined the land of the living. I had great hopes at the start, but it’s been three weeks now, and you’re still hiding away. But not anymore. Now you keep to your end of the bargain starting today. I’m needed in surgery this morning, and then I’ve calls to make, but I want this place spick and span and a meal on the table when I return at six.” He put out a gentle hand and raised her chin. “Understand?”

Pushing his hand away, Eve nodded, still avoiding his gaze. “Fine.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Moments later, Eve felt the hard surface of the table under her back. Adam was exploring her body with his mouth, his eyes, and his hands, and she wanted more. Her thoughts a fine muddle of what she should be doing and what she really desperately wanted to do, she just closed her eyes and thought of nothing. She just felt, and it was glorious.

Falling to his knees, Adam opened Eve’s legs and with his tongue began an erotic trail up her body with his mouth and fingers. Gently licking her ankles, then the back of her knees and the tender flesh of her inner thighs wrought unbearable exquisite spasms of desire to build up in her pelvis. Feeling Adam’s hot breath against the soft folds of her pussy was intense, and she experienced the rush of moist heat between her legs, and her heart beat erratically. Her head in a spin, she ached for his mouth to be on her, wanted to feel the exploration of his tongue and wanted to feel him sucking on her clit.

And then it happened.

First came the light probing of Adam’s fingers, then the heat of his breath, and then—she ground her teeth until they hurt—came the powerful probing of Adam’s tongue.

The beginnings of a climax were building. Effervescent sensations pulsed Eve’s clitoris, singed into her pelvis, and whooshed up into her womb. Tremors of delight racked her small frame, and she cried out, her voice loud in the silence of the attic. Her thighs quivered in reaction, and even while Adam was sucking on her clit she was pulling at his hair. She had allowed those oh-so-insidious thoughts back in. The thoughts that screamed—this is wrong.

“No, no, please, Adam, stop. I can’t. I can’t…”

Her broken words petered out as an orgasm took hold, blurring her surroundings and spinning her wildly out of control.

* * * *

Even while her heart beat was still erratic and the vibrations were still zinging along her nerve ends, Eve was vilifying herself for her foolishness in allowing Adam to have his way with her. The fact that he hadn’t gained any release from the experience she conveniently refused to consider. She felt completely and utterly exposed.

In an atmosphere of tense regret, Eve hurriedly dressed all the time watched by a silent Adam. As ready as she’d ever be, Eve finally turned slightly ruffled in appearance and red in the cheek to face her husband.

“I think…” She drew a slightly unsteady breath and self-consciously cleared her throat. “I think,” she began again, “that we should forget this ever happened. I didn’t want it and I’m sure it was something of an impulse on your part. And we both know that it should never have happened.”

“You enjoyed it, as did I,” Adam said, interrupting her babbling. “So don’t even try to deny it.”

“Yes, well…” She gave a slight nod. “Maybe, but as I said, it shouldn’t have happened.”

“Why?”

“Why? Well, because of Stephen, of course. I’m still in love with him, and he was supposed to be the one to make me feel—like that. Y-you may be my husband, but I’m not ready for this—with you, not yet and, maybe, not ever.”

His face set, Adam spun on his heel and left her standing there.

Wanting to cry and knowing that she had hurt him, Eve blinked back the tears and with a last look around closed the door on the attic, its treasures, and those magic moments when she had reached the dizzying heights of satisfaction.