~
Tap tap. Tap tap.
Freya woke with a start.
Tap tap tap.
Disorientated by the darkness she was unable to make out where the noise was coming from.
‘Freya.’
She definitely heard that time.
She rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. The curtains fluttered. She pulled them back and looked down at Aaron sitting on the branch of the tree outside the open window.
‘Can I come in?’ Aaron grinned.
‘Oh my God, Aaron, what’s wrong with using the door?’ She held back the curtain as he grabbed the window ledge and clambered in.
‘Mamma will hear the creak on the landing.’
And she won’t hear the bedsprings? Freya thought, but Aaron’s arms were around her and his lips on hers before she could say anything. He backed her away from the open window and into the room. She ran her hands across his hot bare skin and realised he was naked apart from shorts.
‘So, you’ve done this often?’ She raised her eyebrows.
‘This?’ he said pulling her vest top off over her head and dropping it on the floor.
‘I mean creeping into someone’s room in the middle of the night.’
‘No, first time. Although I’ve climbed that tree hundreds of times over the years.’
‘You climbed it in bare feet?’ She glanced down, imagining him shimmying up the tree in nothing more than a pair of shorts. She breathed deeply, her heart pounding. He lifted her chin until they were looking at each other. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. She didn’t care that his mum was asleep in the next room, or that this could complicate their friendship...
Aaron pulled a condom from his pocket. She tugged at his shorts as eagerly as he did at hers, leaving them in a pile at their feet. He sat on the edge of the bed and drew her to him. She straddled his lap, grimacing as the bed squeaked.
Aaron’s hands made her bare skin tingle. He leaned close to her ear and whispered. ‘Just try to keep the noise down...’
He kept eye contact as he slowly slid his hands up her sides and across her breasts. She already had a hard job keeping quiet as she ran her fingers through Aaron’s dark curly hair and kissed him more passionately than she had that night at the beach. As he pulled her down on to the bed with him, she briefly thought how much she hoped that his mum wasn’t a light sleeper.
Chapter Eighteen
Freya felt Aaron’s heart thumping against her chest as they lay on top of the sheets, their arms and legs still tangled together. Sweat beaded their skin. The fan above sent only a light trickle of air over them.
‘Do you have to go?’ Freya’s fingers trailed across his firm chest as the moonlight slid through the curtains, catching the contours.
‘I don’t want to, but...’ He sighed. ‘Mamma’s crazy old-fashioned. Even though I’m thirty-one; she’d frown upon this. She thinks I should be settled down and married by now... It’s not worth the headache.’ He ran his fingers along her sides, smoothing upwards as he kissed her. ‘I’ll see you in the morning.’
He got out of bed and pulled on his shorts. He smiled and blew her a kiss before clambering out of the window. Freya sighed. He’d left her wanting more. She was surprised his mum had never cottoned on and chopped down the trees closest to the house. She wasn’t convinced that he’d never crept into a girlfriend’s room before. Maybe she wasn’t bothered as long as it wasn’t paraded in front of her; on the outside it looked like they were maintaining decency. Girlfriend. Her heart beat faster at the thought. Is that what she was now? They’d become friends quickly and she liked the way they flirted, it felt natural and uncomplicated... Had coming here and sleeping together messed that up? And was she even ready to let someone into her life again? She forced the worry from her head. Right now, she felt at ease and happy; sex with Aaron was the last thing she regretted. She let herself slip into an easy sleep, the smell of his spiced aftershave and warmth imprinted next to her. She pulled the sheet up and hugged the pillow to her.
~
Aaron’s mum was quiet over breakfast but Freya didn’t know her well enough to understand if this was normal or if she knew that something had gone on between Freya and her son the night before. Her lips were pursed tight and the lines across her forehead had deepened from yesterday. She tutted to herself too as she bustled about, joining them briefly at the table before getting up again to pour coffee or check on something in the oven. It was only ten in the morning, but the mouth-watering smell promised something even better to eat for lunch.
As delicious as breakfast was, Freya was relieved when they’d all finished eating and could clear their plates away.
‘Thank you, Mamma,’ Aaron said, kissing the side of her head.
She huffed but Freya noticed her lean into her son a little more. It was obvious she liked having him home; it must be difficult with him spending most of his time working away and only being able to come home occasionally. But then again that was the reality with her parents, except they lived on the other side of the world.
His mum swept away, picking up a couple of plates on her way to the sink.
‘Back here for lunch at one,’ she called over her shoulder
