The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (79 page)

  
‘Lovely thank you;
Stuart’s very good company.’

  
‘
Oh, I see.’

  
‘
Roy
?’

  
‘
Yes?’

  
‘I love you, you idiot!’

  
‘
Oh, Sam, I love you too. Do you fancy having lunch with me again
tomorrow?’

  
‘Only if strawberries are
on the menu.’ She smiled to herself.

  
‘
I’ll make sure they are. Same time then?’

  
‘Yes. Then I’d like us to
take flowers to Nick’s grave. I think I can handle a visit now.’

  
‘Okay, love. We’ll do that.
I
feel
ready too
.’

  
‘Goodnight,
Roy
.’

  
‘
Goodnight, darling.’

  
She replaced the receiver
and lay back against the pillows. At least she knew for certain where he was
tonight and could go to sleep with peace of mind.

***

CHAPTER
TWENTY FIVE

‘Where are we going?’ Jess asked as Jon turned the Jeep in the
opposite direction to home.

  
‘Somewhere we can have a
bit peace,’ he replied. They travelled in silence down a few miles of country
lanes, before Jon turned into the gateway of a rundown farm. He killed the engine,
switched the lights off, and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
  

  
Her stomach looping and
heart pounding, Jess reached over and touched his cheek. ‘What is it, Jon?’

  
He turned, his eyes
burning into hers. ‘I’ve been longing to touch you all night, but there were
too many people around who knew us.’

  
‘We’re alone now.’
 

  
He released her seatbelt,
pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She responded, running her fingers
through his hair. Tugging his denim shirt from the waistband of his jeans she
undid the buttons and nuzzled her face into his dark, curly chest hairs. That
musky cologne – how she loved the smell of him.

  
‘Shall we get in the back
of the car?’ she suggested. ‘I can’t get close enough to you here.’

  
‘We’d be better with
somewhere we can lie down,’ he replied. ‘With your ankle and lack of space, it
might be a struggle. There’s a barn in that field.’ he said. ‘Come on, I’ll
carry you.’

  
He leapt from the car and
ran round to her side. She flung her arms around his neck as he lifted her out.
The gate was ajar and he squeezed them through. The old barn was over to the
left and the narrow path leading to it was lit by silvery moonlight.

  
‘What if there are cows
in the barn?’ she said. Cows weren’t her favourite farm animal since a herd had
chased her and dad when she was small.
 

  
‘It’s usually empty,’ he
replied.

  
‘Ah - so you’ve been here
before?’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘And who was the lucky lady?’

  
‘No one
you
know,’ he replied. ‘And it was years
ago.’

  
‘You can put me down
now,’ she said, struggling out of his arms as they drew level with the ancient
stone building. ‘I can manage to walk, the ground’s quite flat.’

  
Jon swung open the barn
door and they peered inside. It was empty except for a few bales of hay and
some rusting farm machinery.
   

  
‘This’ll do fine.’ Jon
led her in and pushed the door closed with his foot. ‘It’s dry and quite warm
and there’s no one to disturb us.’
  

  
Jess sniffed the air.
‘Doesn’t smell of cows,’ she said, feeling relief. ‘In fact, it smells quite
nice.’

  
Jon spread a bale of the
sweet-smelling hay on the floor at the back of the barn. He wiped his hands on
his jeans and turned to her. ‘Your bed awaits,’ he said, looking anxious.
 

  
Jess smiled and reached up
to pluck pieces of straw from his hair. ‘You look like Worzel Gummidge,’ she
said, looking into his eyes.

  
He grabbed her and
crushed her to him, then dropped to his knees, took off his shirt, spread it on
the hay and lowered her onto it. She pulled him down and he lay beside her,
kissing and caressing her.
      

  
‘I love the scent of you,
Jon,’ she said as his hands slid under her sweater. ‘Front fastening,’ she
whispered as he unhooked her bra and pulled her sweater over her head.
    

  
‘
Your
scent drives
me
wild,’ he said, tracing her nipples. ‘You’re so beautiful.’

  
He rolled on top and she
loved the feel of his naked chest against hers. When his hand wandered up her
skirt she pushed it away. No matter how tempting, they couldn’t, it wasn’t right.
They’d be breaking the law. ‘No, Jon, this is as far as we go. We can kiss and
touch as much as we want, but nothing below waists.’

  
He sighed and kissed her
again, tongue searching her mouth, pushing against hers. She responded,
frantically kissing him back. Then he was squeezing and kissing her breasts and
her nipples stiffened against his tongue. She moaned, feeling a familiar
tugging in her tummy and dampness between her legs. She wanted him so badly and
it was all she could do to keep her hands from straying to his crotch where his
erection twitched impatiently against her.
 

  
Jess felt like she was
floating. Her senses were heightened. The sweet scent of the hay, Jon’s musky
cologne, the taste of his kisses, the scrabbling that she was certain must be
field mice, the moon shining through the grimy, cracked windows, throwing
mysterious light on their semi-nakedness.

  
‘I’ve dreamt about this
so often,’ he was whispering as she ran her hands over his slim, muscular body,
stopping at the waistband of his jeans. ‘I need you, Jess.’

  
Then his hand, soft and
warm, was up her skirt again, stroking her thighs and his fingers were
caressing insistently through the soft lace of her knickers. She groaned as he
pushed her legs apart,
she
needed
him
, too, but….

  
He knelt up, fingers
inside her now, driving her wild, each touch electric and she moaned with
pleasure. Her skirt and knickers were off and tossed to one side. His lips
moved down her body, raining kisses, teasing. His tongue explored her and she
writhed in ecstasy. She was powerless to stop him and reached out to unzip and
push his jeans off.
    

  
‘Jess,’ he groaned as she
held and caressed him and arched her back to draw him in. ‘Jess, I love
you.’
  

  
‘I love you, too,’ she
said as he slid into her. His long, slow strokes were confident, loving and
sensual and she moved with him, enjoying sensations she’d never felt before. As
their breathing deepened he slipped his hands under her bottom, pulling her
ever closer; his thrusting becoming more urgent. She saw his face, his gentle
green eyes full of love, looking deep into hers. Her shuddering orgasm sent Jon
to an explosive climax. He collapsed on top and buried his face in her neck,
whispering her name again and again. She ran her fingers through his curls and
burst into tears.

  
‘Jon, that was amazing,’
she said. ‘It was so - so loving.’

  
‘I know.’ He stroked her
hair from her face, ‘But why are you crying.’
  

  
‘Because it was
wonderful,’ she sniffed. ‘How can it be wrong?’

  
‘Oh, Jess,’ he said,
wiping her tears with the back of his hand. ‘I love you so much.’ He kissed her
again and held her close until her tears subsided.

***

As he held Jess tightly, Jon reflected on the last hour. How could
a love like theirs possibly be wrong?
Nothing
had ever felt more right to him in his life. He’d always loved her and she was
his
now. He wanted to love her and
protect her for eternity. There had to be a way to be together. It saddened him
to think they could never have a normal relationship, holding hands in public,
getting engaged, married, having kids. But for him, to be with Jess and
experience love like they’d just shared would be enough.
 

  
He felt tears welling and
they tumbled down his cheeks. He wiped them away with his hand. No matter what
the future, holding her tonight, kissing her, touching her, the scent and taste
of her, would remain with him forever. She stirred in his arms and looked up at
him.
 

  
‘You okay,’ he asked,
caressing her cheek.

  
She nodded, smiling.

  
‘Me too.’ He bent to kiss
her again.
 

***

‘How was your night out with Stu?’ Jane asked.

  
‘Very nice,’ Sammy
replied.
  

  
Jane grinned knowingly.
‘Stu always had a soft spot for you, but
you
only had eyes for
Roy
.’

  
‘I did. I’m having lunch
with him again today. I might be a bit late back.’

  
‘Is that right?’ Jane
raised an amused eyebrow.

  
‘Jason told me he, Jon
and Jess enjoyed themselves last night,’ Sammy changed the subject. ‘They’re
planning to do some jamming when Jess can play her bass again.’

  
‘That sounds positive. I
haven’t seen Jon and Jess today. They were late home last night. When I got up,
Jess was still in bed and Jon was leaving for work.’

  
‘They must have gone on
somewhere,’ Sammy said. ‘Jason was home when I got back and it was only around
eleven, if that.’

  
Jane frowned. ‘Where
would they have gone? The pubs would be closed and if they’d gone to a club,
surely they would have taken Jason? Jess can’t dance at the moment anyway, so
clubbing seems unlikely.’

  
Sammy shrugged. ‘Maybe
they met up with friends on the way home.’

  
‘Maybe,’ Jane nodded
thoughtfully.

  
‘What is it?’ Sammy saw a
look of concern cross her friend’s face.

  
‘Nothing, I’m being
stupid again. My imagination’s working overtime.’

  
‘Do you still feel there’s
something going on?’
  

  
‘It horrifies me that I
think that way, but yes, I do. I popped into Jess’s room last night, before
they went out. Jon was kneeling in front of her and they were both flushed. She
said she’d banged her arm on the headboard and he was rubbing it better, but
I’ll swear they’d been kissing.’

  
‘You should tell Ed your
suspicions before it gets out of hand.’

  
‘I can’t, Sam, he’d go
absolutely mental.’

  
‘Well
I
bloody would, before something
happens.’

  
‘What if it already has?’
Jane bit her lip. ‘Last night I was awake when they came home. It was after
twelve-thirty and you said they left yours before eleven. So they’d been on
their own for well over an hour. They might have parked up somewhere.’

  
‘Talk to Ed, Jane, you
have to. They’ve been brought up as brother and sister. It’s incestuous.’

  
‘It’s not though, is it?’
Jane said. ‘They’re not related. What if they’re in love? I’ve seen the way he
looks at her. Even when she was with Nick he looked at her in a certain way and
she’s
always
been very close to him.
I knew something like this would happen one day. We should have been honest
with Jon when he was old enough to understand. If I say something and I’m
wrong, it will spoil that closeness they share and they’ll be afraid to show
their feelings.’

  
‘Well, you know
my
opinion on the matter, but if you’re
not ready to discuss it with Ed until you’ve made further observations, just
make sure they’re not alone together.’

  
Jane nodded. ‘I’ll make
sure Katie gets in their way as much as I can.’

  
‘That shouldn’t be too
difficult,’ Sammy said. ‘Do you want to go home when I get back from seeing
Roy
? Spend a bit of time with Jess.’

  
‘Yeah. Maybe I’ll take
her shopping.’

  
‘You do that.’ Sammy put
on her jacket and picked up her handbag. ‘I’m off. I’ll see you later.’

***

Roy
made a mental note of things he
needed to do as he drove into
Manchester
. He’d taken the references and
deposit to the estate agents earlier and Sarah told him he could collect the
keys to the flat on Monday morning. Guitar strings from Flanagan and Grey’s and
a quiet word with Livvy was next.

  
Sean greeted him with a
broad grin. ‘Hi there, Super-Stud, long time no see.’

  
‘Leave it out, Sean,’
Roy
said good-naturedly. ‘Is Livvy in
today?’

  
‘She’s in the staffroom
making a brew for us overworked and underpaid slaves. Isn’t that right, Jon?’

  
Jon nodded, but had a
look on his face that told
Roy
he hadn’t heard a word Sean had said.
 

  
‘Wake up, Jon lad.’ Sean
winked at
Roy
. ‘I think the boy’s in love.’

  
‘Is he now?’
Roy
joined in the banter. ‘Who’s the
lucky lady, then? Thought you’d dumped Helen?’