Stand by Me by Sheila O'Flanagan Read Free Book Online Page B

He grinned at her. ‘A good Catholic girl.’
     
    ‘Brendan!’ She sounded insulted and he laughed.
     
    ‘I like it,’ he assured her. ‘I like the fact that you’ve obviously been brought up well.’
     
    ‘Too bloody well,’ she said irritably.
     
    ‘Ah, not really.’ He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.
     
    She pulled him tightly towards her so that she could feel every part of him through the light jacket and the pink dress. She knew she was still a little dizzy from the drink, but she was even dizzier with desire. She wanted to melt into him completely, be part of him. She didn’t want to ever let him go.
     
    ‘I love you,’ she whispered again as they came up for air.
     
    His eyes were gazing directly into hers and she wondered if it was her own desire that she could see mirrored in them. She knew that she was trembling, knew that she wanted him more than anything else in the world.
     
    From the corner of her eye she could see a group of large chestnut trees, their bare branches outlined against the dark sky. She tugged at his hand and led him towards the trees. He followed her until they were among the trees and hidden from both the housing estate and the main road. She could hear the hum of cars in the distance, but much, much louder than any other noise was the sound of her own breathing.
     
    ‘Domino . . .’
     
    ‘Ssh.’ She kissed him.
     
    He kissed her back, and she felt herself leaning against the biggest of the chestnut trees. She pulled him closer and slid her hand beneath his cotton shirt. His body was warm despite the coldness of the night. She pushed her fingers through the knot of hair on his chest and then traced them to the top of his jeans.
     
    ‘Domino ...’ He was speaking with an effort. ‘You must know how much I want to . . . but this isn’t how I planned it.’
     
    ‘Why does everything have to be planned?’ she asked, sliding her fingers inside his jeans.
     
    And then she felt his hand on her thigh, easing the fabric of her skimpy pink dress higher.
     
    Her breath was coming in short gasps. The thought careered through her mind that maybe he was right and maybe there would be a better time. But she didn’t want to wait. She wanted him here and now. She didn’t care if they were in a field. She didn’t care that the rain had started to drizzle down on top of them. And she certainly didn’t care that Evelyn would be on her knees and praying for her eternal soul if she knew what her daughter was doing.
     

Chapter 3
     
    Her pink dress was ruined, her shoes were filthy and she’d lost the chunky white necklace.
     
    She didn’t really care about the necklace, and the shoes could be cleaned, but as she looked at the dress in her bedroom (Brendan had dropped her off in the taxi they’d finally managed to hail having walked almost two miles towards the city first), she didn’t think that she’d ever be able to wear it again. It was stained, wet from the rain, and the hem had also been ripped by a piece of bark from the chestnut tree. She was horrified by the tear but still elated about having made love to Brendan, even though her elation was tempered by a frisson of worry that, having had sex with her, he might not want to see her again. (The magazines that warned you against saying ‘I love you’ also warned about men who were ‘only after one thing’. None of the ones she’d read had ever mentioned that it might be the woman who’d decide that she wanted to have sex with the man. That she might be the one to forgo the luxury sheets for outdoor passion.)
     
    But she didn’t need to worry. Because what Brendan had said afterwards as they’d made their way through the by then muddy field was that it had been wonderful and that she was wonderful. She was the loveliest, most fantastic girl in the world and he adored her.
     
    She couldn’t believe that he’d actually said ‘adore’. She hoped he meant it. Having him make love to her and