Made in the Mirror: Part One
By Jennifer Richardson
"Your sister is searching for you."
Lee Burrows frowned, thinking that he had misheard what the woman
had said.
"I'm sorry, you must have made a mistake, I think you've come to
the wrong house." He replied glancing left and right down the
road. The last thing he needed was one of his stuck up neighbours
seeing him talking to the scruffy dressed old woman.
"No mistakes, this is the house and I tell you that your twin
sister is seeking you."
"Look, if it's money you want..."
"I want nothing from you, other than you believe that which I
tell you." She said, her mouth widening to reveal nicotine
stained teeth, where there were teeth.
"Right, okay, fair enough, my sister, my twin sister is looking
for me. I believe you, okay?"
She gave him another gap-toothed smile, if you could call it a
smile then turned and left the driveway. He watched her leave the
gate, without closing it behind her, and was soon out of sight
behind next doors hedge. Lee walked to the gate and closed it
before walking back into the newly bought house. He had a certain
smug satisfaction at closing the door of his Englishman's castle
and wandered into the lounge.
"What was all that about?" His wife asked.
He glanced over to her where she sat at the computer, working on
another of her historical romances. Lee could still barely
believe that she was his wife, the hugely successful Melinda
Haughton, now Haughton-Burrows. The countries most renowned
writer of romantic fiction.
Tall slender and lithe, stunningly beautiful, golden hairdo, and
with a figure that he'd still crawl over broken glass to get to.
"Some old gypsy woman said my twin sister was looking for me."
Lee found himself laughing at the absurdity of it all. All
anybody had to do was to look in the cuttings file of the local
newspaper to find that he, Lee Burrows was the only son and heir
of Matthew and Charlotte Burrows, hugely wealthy owners of
Burrows International. Until they'd sold it for a song and gone
on a cruise to celebrate. Such a shame that the yacht they had
been onboard off Madeira had gone down with all hands.
That had been two years ago and Lee had inherited the lot. With
little interest in business or a career to start with it hadn't
taken him long to decide to devote his time to the high life and
the golf course. Melinda had been the first in only a long line
of newspaper headlines, the society wedding of the year. Neither
needed ever work again and Melinda only continued writing because
she felt like it. Accountants and Share dealers managed
everything else for them.
"Well, as long as she didn't curse you you'll be fine darling."
"She did, she left the gate open!"
"Ooooh!" You're in real trouble then!" Melinda laughed. Closing
the computer down. "As long as she believed that you believed
what she told you."
"How do you mean?"
"Don't you know darling? Disbelieving the words of a wise woman
is as bad as actually being cursed!" She said it in a raspy
crackling voice and wriggled her fingers at him.
"Yes, right, I see." He wasn't actually sure. "Can you imagine
the field day the newspapers would have with it? Mystery woman
claiming to be the long lost twin sister of Lee Burrows, the
Burrows heir, married to renowned romance writer Melinda
Haughton-Burrows. Claims half the family inheritance in a tale of
intrigue and mystery befitting o story penned by Mrs Haughton-
Burrows herself." Lee laughed again.
"Keep going darling, you might have a story in you yet!" Melinda
giggled.
"Lisa Burrows, twenty six, up until now having been a girl of
mystery has told her story exclusively to 'The Globe."
Gorgeous Lisa claims to have been kidnapped by aliens from her
pram and has only just been released from twenty five years of
interstellar captivity." Lee flopped onto a high wing-backed
leather armchair.
"Gorgeous is she? Why gorgeous?" Melinda giggled crossing to
straddle his waist and raising her skirt to her waist.
"Stands to reason doesn't it?" Lee replied, his hands stoking his
wife's perfect breasts through the sheer white blouse. "I'm
wonderfully handsome so my twin sister must therefore be equally
as gorgeous."
Her fingers freed him from his tight jeans and guided him to meet
her heavenly altar.
"I see, so she'll be gorgeous will she? As gorgeous as me?"
Melinda panted as they began moving together.
"Oh yes! Same build, stunningly beautiful but with raven black
hair and sparkling emerald eyes to contrast with your golden
blonde tresses and baby blue orbs." Lee gasped, there movements
so perfectly matched, so excruciatingly wonderful that they knew
each other infinitely well, urges, needs and longings.
"If she's so beautiful darling, I might have to have her myself!"
Melinda sobbed as her climax neared and then scorched through her
drawing Lee's from him with her suggestion.
Of course she knew that Lee had a little bit of a thing about
seeing her with another girl, just as she'd told him she fancied
the idea, as long as he invited another young man to play games
with him.
Their lovemaking moved from the armchair to the stairs and
finally up to the huge four-poster bed in their hugely ornate
bedroom. They'd decorated it in the style of one of the Lord's of
the Manor, straight from one of Melinda's books. Oversized dark
wood furniture with a more modern take in that the huge wardrobe
was mirrored and the dressing table was the style of a
professional salon's.
Wall lights lit the room softly and reflected in the mirror above
the huge gothic style bedstead. The bedstead had been a must have
for both of them in that they both loved exploring their darkly
erotic sides and ropes often played a part in their games.
They eventually cuddled close together and spoke in soft
whispers, neither of them wishing to spoil the moment. Until
Melinda gave a little giggle and asked what kind of girl Lee's
twin sister would be.
"The complete opposite of me, soft and demure, willing to please.
Calm and a little shy, seductively sophisticated, not brash and
loud like me."
"She sounds nicer then you are!" Melinda giggled again.
"Oh she is, she's sexy to the point of being irresistible. No man
or woman can avoid wanting her, yet she's keeping herself for
that someone special. The person she can willingly gave herself
to, completely and utterly to the exclusion of all others." Lee
said quietly, half dreaming and half, wondering.
"She sounds a little bit submissive if you ask me." Melinda's
hands slipped down to gently stroke him.
"She is to beautiful creatures like you, and the one she gives
herself to will have her forever and a day." Aroused again and
aware that his description was turning Melinda on just as her
touch was upon him.
"She'd be yours to play with, to tease and explore. To give you
utter devotion asking only in return that you share yourself with
her and her alone."
"I think I'd like to meet her darling, perhaps even write her
into a book. I'll just have to make do with you for now though
won't I?"
She rolled on top of him and pinned his wrists to the bed with
her right hand, reaching for the first rope to bind his wrists
tight above his head to the bedstead. Then the second before she
began teasing him with gentle touches and kisses. "I'd gag you
darling but I want to hear more about the luscious Lisa!"
Melinda's eyes sparkled, as she looked into the mirror above the
bedstead watching them move together, arousal and need growing.
An idle thought sparking in her head as she watched her
reflection, the mirrors for the ceiling, she'd seen the perfect
one and once it was fitted whoever was on the bottom would be
able to see what was happening too. She made a mental note to
take Lee to see it tomorrow, then turned her mind back to the
present.
"Tell me about her again Lee, tell me all about her!" A
shuddering moan rippled through Melinda, Lee lay back allowing
her complete control, watching as she played with her own tits
and nipples.
"She'd make the perfect lover for you Melinda, so perfectly
sensual that you'd never let her out of your sight!"
Hours later they slept, Melinda lying on her back, full length,
on top of the still roped Lee. The last thing her sleepy eyes saw
was just how perfect the mirror would look above the bed.
Lee woke to find himself alone in the bed, he could hear the
sound of the power shower and imagined his wife standing beneath
the cascading hot water. The thoughts stirred him to life and he
made to move from the bed. Only to find that his wrists were
still roped to the bedstead. He grinned to himself and
congratulated himself once again on managing to make her his
wife.
They'd met at the launch of her best-selling novel; at least, it
had been her third novel and had sold most copies of all three.
That novel had of course been eclipsed by the fourth and the
fifth; the one his wife was currently working on was projected to
outsell even that. Two of the countries largest television
broadcasters were currently in a bidding war for the development
rights to the first book and the lawyers had said to sit tight an
let them fight it out. Obviously, if the first, "The DeMonforts
of Ingleby," was a success then there was the distinct
possibility that the others would follow.
"The Bishop's Palace", then perhaps, "Diary of Victoria
Malmesbury". Lee had read them all, loving the spice that
Melanie's words conjured up, certainly his wives imagination knew
no bounds. Rather, she knew all about binding and being bound. So
much so that she often called her interest in such things as
"physical research." Lee didn't care what she called it, they
both loved it, and he played the role of Lord of the Manor
seducing the staff just as equally as Melanie played the upper
class Lady of the House seduced the groundsmen and chauffeur. He
smiled at the reaction of his friends if they knew what kind of
outfits hung neatly in the wardrobes.
Melanie had found a theatrical outfitter in London who was more
than willing to design and create the costumes. Many of the
characters from Melanie's books came to life in the bedroom;
indeed they often lived out their lives throughout the house, in
their rightful stations of course. As far as the outfitter was
aware Melanie wanted the clothes and costumes so her writing
could be as historically accurate as possible. Lee idly wondered
what the poor old fellow's reaction would be if he knew the
truth.
He stretched as best he could on the bed and saw Melanie walk
into the room, still damp from the shower but comfortably naked.
She sat on the side of the bed and stroked his erection with a
sly smile on her lips.
"I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you up darling."
She smiled again and reached across him so that her jutting
breasts rubbed across his face. His lips locked onto a nipple and
he suckled while she worked the ropes free. She shuddered and
drew in a deep breath, fingers straying down to his groin. Once
the ropes were loosened he tried to gather her in his arms but
she wriggled free and teased him.
"Later darling, first you'll have to treat me to a little
surprise." She stretched on her tiptoes, displaying herself to
him lewdly.
"Well if you come back to bed I'll surprise you right here and
now!" He laughed wolfishly.
"I told you, you'll have to surprise me, so if you'd kindly get
showered and dressed, I'll take you to it."
He got off the bed grumbling to himself and once dressed he went
down stairs to find Melinda making coffee in the kitchen. Dressed
in tight jeans and a baggy white shirt tied at her waist she
looked a picture of demure sexiness. Her nipples brushed against
the blouse when she turned to him and he knew she was bra less
beneath.
"Ready darling?"
"Very!"
"I meant are you ready to go?" Melinda handed him a mug of coffee
and giggled at the bulge growing in the front of his pants.
"Pleased to see me?"
"I always am Melinda, you know that!"
"Well you just be a good little chauffeur and drive me up to
Cargill and I'll show you what you can surprise me with!"
Melinda gave Lee a peck on the cheek and breezed passed him
barefooted. He finished his coffee and followed the sound of her
bare feet on the polished wooden floor of the hallway. He found
her sliding her legs into knee high leather riding boots with
such a highly glossed polish on them that anyone would think
she'd spent hours working on them. Of course Melinda hadn't, one
of the young girls down at the stables would have done it for
her.
The stable girls certainly seemed to venerate her as some kind of
Goddess and when it came down to it they wouldn't have been far
off the truth. She certainly looked the part as she invariably
refused to wear a riding hat, the tightest of jodhpurs and crisp
white blouse. Her hair flowing in the wind and the hugely muscled
stallion moving beneath her like liquid flowing over hard baked
ground.
There was little doubt that this was the heroine from Melanie's
fourth novel, "The Hunt Mistress," where the heroine had risen to
her position from being treated worse than the horses and the
hounds by a sadistic landowner. The heroine, one Margaret Tyler
had eventually risen to prominence through a series of dalliances
with the great and the good. Lee could see where Melanie had got
that particular trait from every time he met Celia Frobisher,
wife of the captain of the golf club and sometime bed partner of
most of the committee men, and woman if Melanie was to be
believed.
As for horses and riding the damned things Lee wasn't going
anywhere near them. This was frowned upon, behind his back, by
those who saw themselves as his equals or betters. Obviously they
weren't going to do it to his face, he might have stopped
sponsoring the various hunt functions. As for the huge black
horse? Lee couldn't stand the great black demon, it eyed him as
if he was nothing more than an ant and openly showed his disdain
of his owner's husband.
Shadow by name, shadow by nature Lee often thought, there was
definitely something of the night about the great brute. Melanie
hadn't helped matters by informing Lee that she often had huge
multiple orgasms when riding her mount. Of course that might just
have been a hint that Lee should try harder. Which of course he
had and much to Melanie's pleasure.
The drive to Cargill took twenty minutes or so, if Lee had stuck
to the speed limit it would have taken nearer forty but the Lotus
wasn't built for trundling, it was built for all out speed.
Cargill itself is a small market town, grey buildings centred
round the central market place. The shops were mainly gift shops
and antique shops, day to day shopping for groceries tended to
have drifted to a large out of town shopping centre that Melanie
saw as hell on earth and Lee wouldn't have gone near enough to
see. Besides, the kind of things the couple were likely to be
interested in were easier to find in London and that was only an
hour or so away.
Lee parked the car in the small car park to the rear of the
quaint old stone church and cursed when he saw that a parking
ticket machine had suddenly appeared in the corner of the car
park.
"Is nowhere sacred any more?" He moaned as he fumbled in the
glove compartment for change.
"Depends which alter you're worshipping at darling!" Melanie
giggled, thrusting her hips forward so her inner thighs connected
with his face.
"While you're down there Lee!" She laughed, grinding her hips and
rubbing the tight jeans all over him.
"If I'm going to do that I'd much rather you were wearing a habit
Mother Superior." Lee gave a muffled laugh.
"And you just remember that, the superior bit anyway, you can
forget the Mother. Come on it's along that lane." She squeezed
out from under him and waited until Lee had stuck the ticket in
the window of the car then locked it. She led him down a narrow
lane, the buildings on either side looking as though they were
leaning in toward each other.
"Here we are." Melanie pointed to a converted barn on the other
side of a side street, crossed the road and went in through a
side door before Lee had even moved.
"She must be keen," Lee muttered to himself wondering how much
the surprise was going to cost him.
Stepping in through the door he found himself in a brightly lit
barn with the original rafters high overhead. He saw Melanie
engaged in an animated conversation with a sharp suited young
man. Lee's mind wandered for a moment then settled back into the
present and he walked over to where they stood.
"That's right Mrs Haughton-Burrows, it was originally owned by
the third Duke of Morristown. It stayed with the family for most
of the time up until the war when a doodlebug home hit the
family. The manor house was virtually gutted but the mirror
collection was safely stored at one of the estate farms." the
young man said.
"Mirror? What mirror?" Lee asked.
The young man turned to his left and reached toward a large sheet
of white cloth that hung from the wall.
"No! It's alright, it's a surprise for my husband." Melanie said
quickly, stopping the young man from removing the sheet from what
appeared to Lee to be a large bulky item.
"I see, well, there is a rather lot of history tied up in the
mirror Mrs Haughton-Burrows. It is reputed to have been the one
used by the Duke when he carried out his, ahem, experiments."
"Experiments?" Lee asked, raising an eyebrow. Not sure that he
wanted to be associated with anything of a dubious nature.
"The Duke was one of the foremost occultists of his time darling.
You've heard of the 'Golden Dawn?'" Melanie said.
Lee nodded; she'd based part of "The Bishop's Palace," around a
remnant of the society. As far as he could tell they had been an
earlier more academic version of the "Hellfire Club."
"Well, the Duke believed that mirrors held magical properties
which could be used to give him special powers. The bigger the
mirror the more the power was magnified. He had most of the walls
in his house covered in them. His descendants must have found the
idea distasteful as they stored them all away." The young man
explained.
"Aleister Crowley, the 'Great Beast,' hunted them down and tried
to buy them but his reputation preceded him and the family
refused to sell them. So, to the best of anyone's knowledge they
lay hidden at the estate farm until the farm was to be converted
into a hotel. The remaining family members didn't want them
either so the mirrors were finally sold off." Melanie said, her
baby blue eyes sparkling with excitement.
As was ever the case Lee knew he was going to give in. It had
been the same when she'd first set eyes on Shadow. He and a group
of associates were considering buying the horse as a yearling, to
put him under training for the flat season. Once Melanie had seen
the great evil eyed beast it had been love at first sight and Lee
had ended up doing the deal behind his associates back. He hadn't
been popular but that had never bothered Lee before and as long
as Melanie was happy so was he.
As it was in that case, so it was in this, he had his chequebook
in his hand before he knew it and was asking the young man his
price.
"For the mirror I mean!" He added hurriedly, seeing the smirk on
Melanie's face.
Lee handed the cheque over having filled it in and signed it,
leaving the barn 18,000 worse off but comfortable in the
knowledge that his investments would probably make that in a few
hours. Melanie left with an old book clutched to her chest that
the young man had kindly thrown in with the price. A volume of
the long dead Duke's diaries.
"You are going up to town tomorrow aren't you? She asked as they
sat over lunch at a country pub.
"Am I? I didn't think I was."
"The mirrors being delivered and fitted tomorrow, it'll ruin the
surprise if you see it before it's installed."
"I suppose I'm going up to town then, what am I doing there?"
"You could call into a certain shop if you like!" She gave him a
dirty grin. "I've a dress that needs to be picked up."
Lee found himself swelling in his jeans.
"A lovely gypsy number to help you get over your nasty meeting."
Lee had actually forgotten about the incident and hadn't been
particularly worried by it in the first place. Other than the way
Melanie had reacted when he invented what his twin sister would
have looked like and how her character might have turned out he
would have forgotten about the whole thing completely.
"Anything planned for this afternoon?" He asked, changing the
subject without thought.
"I really should get on with the next chapter, I've had Maurice
asking me where it is. Plus one of the television companies wants
to do a mini series instead of the made for television film they
first suggested so I'll have to phone Saunders," Melanie
explained, "Maurice is coming round about five o'clock."
"In which case I might just go up to the golf club, that agent of
yours gives me the creeps!" Lee made a show of shuddering.
"Lee he's an ancient old queen, be nice, he just fancies you but
it's not as if he's going to chase you round the bedroom!"
"Don't even think about it! I'd rather spend an afternoon
listening to Saunders rabbit on about compound interest all
afternoon!" Lee laughed and signalled for the bill.
"I'll drop you off at home and head straight up to the club if
you don't mind." He said, once they were in the car.
"Okay, don't drive home, get one of the club staff to bring you
back if you've had a couple."
"If I've had a couple of the club staff or a couple of drinks?"
Melanie laughed.
"Drinks darling, drinks, though how about I try to talk that
waitress into coming home with me? Jenny, I think she's called."
"Why not bring your sister home Lee, she was so much fun last
night!"
"You really got off in that didn't you? I think you were far more
interested in I invented about Lisa than you ever are when you
get me to talk dirty to you!"
"You brought her to life, I've never heard you being so
descriptive about something before." Melanie explained.
"Maybe I should try writing a book then, make it a family
concern." lee suggested with a smile.
"Not with Lisa in it darling, she's mine and she's going to make
me have an awful lot of rewriting to do."
"You're going to put her in the new book?" Lee asked, a little
surprised even though a lot of what they got up to privately made
it into her tales, all be it that they got moved back in time.
"Sure I am, I haven't had a character like her to play with for
ages. I can see her as the devoted companion of Marcia, no one
knows where she came from but Lisa will be so loved by everyone
that nobody ever asks about her background. Of course nobody will
know that Marcia and Lisa are at it like rabbits."
"Your readers are going to go crazy!" Lee blurted. "They'll never
accept that sort of thing going on!"
"They accepted that the Bishop spent much of his time chasing
choirboys." Melanie argued.
"Yes, but that actually happens, nowadays I mean. If you buy one
of the Sunday rags there's always at least one story about some
dodgy clergyman."
"Who's to say that lady companions like Lisa didn't provide a
more intimate kind of company to young ladies of higher station?"
"Mel! You're making her sound like a real person!"
"She will be, by the time I've finished she'll be leaping out of
the page and kissing my readers full on the lips!"
Lee thought about this and decided that what Melanie had said was
probably true. When he had read "The Diary of Victoria
Malmesbury", he'd spent the next few weeks thinking that he
should actually know the central character. He didn't of course
but Victoria had seemed very real for a time. As had the Bishop
but that was something that Lee wasn't too willing to consider at
that particular moment, until inspiration hit him like a bolt of
lightning.
"Hang on a minute! You nicked Maurice for the Bishop didn't you!"
Melanie turned in the passenger seat with a very smug look on her
face. "You've only just worked that out? You must be the last one
I know who's read the book to solve it. Why do you think Maurice
was like the Cheshire cat for months afterwards? His phone never
stopped ringing with offers of dates!"
Not for the first time Lee wondered why Melanie didn't spend any
time in the libel courts, presumably because the injured party
would have to establish and prove beyond all reasonable doubt
that they were nothing like the character they felt had
similarities to themselves. Not easy when you used a firm of
lawyers with Saunders reputation.
He arrived on the raked gravel car park of the golf club
reminding himself not to spin the car's wheels on the gravel. Not
that he didn't want to, the lure was always almost unbearable. He
didn't do it as he couldn't bare to hear whichever committee man
it would be to call out loud in their loud pompous bray for a
"boy to rake the drive." The one time that he had done it they'd
sent out one of the waiters to do it and it had been pouring with
rain. Perhaps the worst bit of the whole afternoon was that no
one took him to task over his display of driving. Merely welcomed
him into the lounge bar like a prodigal son. Not for the first
time did he wonder why he bothered going to the club at all.
Truth to tell he was happiest on his own with Melanie. They both
knew they would never spend the fortunes they'd amassed
themselves. But with neither Melanie being the maternal type and
Lee being even further from paternal they'd just have to spend
their horde on what they wanted. Most of it on each other and a
lot of it totally pointless, except of course on the exotic
things that filled the wardrobes and the out of this world
furnishings in the bedroom.
A thought entered his head when he walked into the bar, if they'd
modelled the bedroom on the Lord of the Manor's, why not do the
rest of the house the same way? Stopping short of having fresh
straw strewn on the floors every morning. Mrs Lewis the every
other morning cleaner would never find that acceptable. He
decided to suggest it to Melanie when he got back from London. It
would do no good trying to tell her later in the evening as he
could already see the well-heeled lounge bar members queuing up
to ply him with drinks
He smiled inwardly when the thought came to him that he was
looking at possibly the worst dozen or so golf players in the
whole club. Even the most amateur player in the club would have
fancied their chances. No wonder they never entered the club
competitions, apparently it "wouldn't be seen as right for them
to win their own competitions." Like there was as much chance of
that as there was of him leaping onto Shadow's back and entering
the Grand National. The odd thing was that Shadow would probably
win it. That was the kind of mindset the animal had, reared to
race on the flat it now leapt fences, walls and hedges that would
have given more educated horses heart failure.
As for the club competitions and himself, he entered them all. He
was confident that if he wanted to he'd win them with his hands
tied behind his back. The reason he didn't win was the prize
money and the prestige that went with the winning, he needed
neither whilst they might well be very much welcomed by the
members who struggled to pay the membership fees that seemed to
soar every year.
Melinda sat curled up in the armchair engrossed in the Duke's
diaries. He'd kept detailed records of experiment after
experiment. From attempting to see the future to travelling
through the mirrors as if they were portals. He'd been very
unsuccessful with most but kept returning time and time again to
a statement that began to burn in bright letters in the middle of
her mind.
"That they who talk of things that can not be, shall in the
mirrors be powered by three. Upon reflection and powers bestowed
the image held on the soul bestowed. Of image mirrored in the
glass so shall they be upon this earth."
Melanie took the words apart time and time again without decoding
them at all. Perhaps it wasn't a riddle; perhaps it was just the
Duke being imaginative with language. To the back of the book
were some detailed drawings of the mirrors. Hugely framed round
massive expanses of glass. Beneath one or two were scribbled
notes, presumably copies of the Dukes on handwriting. Neat and
full of flourishes they only added to the puzzle. Still, t was a
nice book to have.
"The longer before the mirror, the longer and stronger the
effect."
"For greater completion and consolidation numbers of glasses
should be employed."
"For the state of bliss to be increased in time so must the
mirrors eye witness the bliss."
"Perhaps he drank too much or did drugs?" Melinda mused,
interrupted in her thoughts by the ringing of the old fashioned
phone on the coffee table. It was Saunders and there followed a
lengthy listing of facts and figures that both Saunders and
Melanie would eventually lead her to say, "You do what you think
best Saunders, you have our complete trust."
Other than the fact that Lee's auditors would be pouring over the
same facts and figures almost as soon as they arrived on Saunders
desk. Her own copies of contracts and investment statements would
wing there way to the small office Lee kept open in the city. Her
husband's deals were perused in the same place by the same little
old man who'd been doing them for years. Melanie had been amazed
when she had found out where Lee had discovered him.
"He's just come out of prison having served fifteen years for
fraud and embezzlement."
"And you trust him to be honest! Are you crazy?"
"Maybe, but then I know he's a crook and he knows that I know
he's a crook. Therefore he knows I will be suspicious of
everything he does. Thus, my dear sexy wife, he will be open and
honest for fear that I set the Police on him. What little he does
fiddle will keep him happy but it will still be enough to bang
him up again so he'll probably end up earning us more to keep us
sweet."
"Probably?"
"There's nothing definite in business, that's why I don't have
one."
"You are crazy!"
"Sure, that's why you married me!"
"Well, partly, largely because I fell head over heels for you.
That and the fact that Mum and Dad said it was a bad idea!"
"I've always been so fond of your parents!" Lee had laughed
sarcastically and led her up to the hotel bedroom where they'd
made love all night.
Melanie considered ringing the golf club and asking Lee to come
home as her memories were beginning to get her all hot and
bothered.
"No Melanie, Uncle Maurice is due and it would do no good for his
heart to have Lee wandering round the place." She picked up the
Dukes book again and watched a single piece of paper fall to the
carpet. She frowned worried that a page might have worked loose
from the binding and bent to pick it up.
Melanie found that it had the Dukes neat script running across
it, not printed this time, this looked like it was the original
handwriting. Her heart began to pound; the note added a touch of
authenticity to the old book that boosted its value considerably.
Not that she had any intention of selling it, money was of little
concern. She read the note and then read it again.
"Look upon the glass with love and from it shall you receive your
desires. Speak to the glass with love and so shall it reflect
your wishes. Should your desire be with you for one moment before
the looking glass, then for that time and that time alone shall
it be with you away from the glass."
At least this made a little more sense than the notes she'd read
earlier. At least she thought they did. She tried a brief
translation.
"Treat the mirror with kindness and it will reward you. Speak to
the mirror with respect and it will give you your wish. For as
long as what you desire is in front of the mirror, it will be
with you for the same amount of time away from it."
It made much more sense, or sort of did, then came a thought that
might just solve one of the earlier riddles. The larger the
mirror was, the more power it held, the more mirrors there were,
so, there should be more power. Surely that meant that if what
you wanted were in two mirrors then it would be with you for
twice as long away from the mirror? Three mirrors, thrice the
length of time and so on. That was why the Duke had filled his
house with mirrors.
Melanie turned back to the book absorbed and engrossed to the
exclusion of everything else, the secrets slowly began to reveal
themselves to her until she was rudely interrupted by Maurice,
banging on the front window.
Snapped from her study Melanie went to the door hearing Maurice
complaining that he had been knocking n the door and banging on
the window for half an hour. She checked her watch; Maurice was
always promptly on time. She found that it was almost half past
five. So where had she been for the best part of half an hour.
Whilst Melanie was doing her best to keep her mind on
entertaining Maurice, Lee was trying to listen to whatever
uninteresting gossip Celia Frobisher was trying to tell him.
"So, Roger and his bloody secretary will be getting married at
Saint Martin's in August."
"You must be thrilled for them." He said, distracted by his first
sighting of the waitress he had thought was called Jenny.
"Pardon Lee?"
"Sorry Celia, I suddenly thought I was supposed to be telling you
something about Shadow, Melanie's horse."
"No you weren't you naughty boy! You were looking at Jenny!"
Celia leaned into towards him, giving a full display of her
cleavage. Quite how she dared be so obvious in public Lee didn't
know. Perhaps with money you no longer need worry what anybody
thought of you. It must have had some basis on the truth, as he
was reasonably sure that neither he nor Melanie cared what people
thought of them.
"She really is delectable isn't she?"
"Sorry, who?"
Celia laughed in the back of her throat; to Lee it sounded more
like the hungry growl of a she wolf greeting her mate.
"Jenny," a hand strayed onto Lee's thigh, "seeing one of the
junior caddies apparently though she has been known to have a
drink with the single male members!" The low chuckle came out
from Celia's mouth so laced with sex that Lee was almost
overwhelmed.
"Erm, yes, I see."
"You've rather got the hots for her Lee haven't you? Well, if you
find she's off limits you know where to call?"
She sidled off in her too short skirt leaving Lee thinking he was
more likely to let Maurice have his wicked way with him than go
anywhere near Celia. He saw her speak to Jenny and then point
over to where he was sitting at the bar. Jenny looked over and
gave the kind of tight smile that showed she was less than
pleased with what had been said to her. Duty being duty and jobs
being difficult to come by in the area Jenny made her resigned
way over to the bar.
"Mr Burrows? Mrs Frobisher told me you wanted to ask me
something."
Lee realised that she was far prettier than he had given her
credit for. When the smile actually met her eyes she was quite a
stunner.
"Yes, sorry, I was miles away for a moment. I'm after a favour,"
he saw the haunted look in the girls eyes, girl? She was about
the same age as he was. How many times did she have to put up
with drunken idiots leering at her?
"I've had a bit too much to drink to drive home, I was hoping
your boyfriend might have driven my car back, with me in it." He
added, realising as he said it that he sounded remarkably stupid.
As stupid as the brain dead members around him he feared.
"I'm sorry Mr Burrow's, Mike finished his shift at seven. I'll be
getting a lift back with Marie."
Answering his question and letting him know she wasn't likely to
be looking to go home with Lee at the same time. Not that he
meant home in quite the way she might have been thinking he
meant.
"Fair enough, I'll just have to ask one of these idiots."
Her eyes suddenly came to life.
"I've never heard them called that before!" She said in an almost
whisper.
"It's no more and no less than what they are. Bit of money and
they think they rule the roost."
Jenny cocked her head to one side an eyebrow arched in question.
"Me? Sure, me and Melinda are absolutely loaded," he could hear
the drink talking a little bit, "but if either of us ever behave
like they do in here or treat the staff the way they do you have
my permission to kick me backside as hard as you possibly can."
The giggle came again, louder this time, loud enough for Celia to
look up and give him a small tight defeated smile.
"I promise, a smart kick in the pants if you ever act like a
complete arse."
"Thanks, can I get you a drink or does asking earn me the kick?"
"Can't, I'm on duty until eleven."
"Is it only half past eight? God time drags by when you're
surrounded by rhino skinned pensioners."
"If you don't like them, why do you come here?"
"The golf, nearest club to home and the best course. Stupid
really, I could probably buy the damn place, ban the lot of them
and turn it over to the staff if my accountant would let me."
There was a short pause while Jenny regarded him.
"God, you're serious aren't you?"
"'Fraid so, gone down in your estimations have I? He asked with a
smile.
"No, you went up when you didn't ask me if you could feel my tits
inside the first minute."
"Damn! There goes my best chat up line!" Lee laughed and was glad
she joined in. "You're boyfriend, Mike? Does he play?"
"Don't you remember? You absolutely thrashed him three years ago,
before you found out that it wasn't the done thing to beat the
caddies at their own game." There wasn't any edge in her voice
that he could sense and Lee thought he could remember the filthy
look he'd got from the boy the following year when Lee had
intentionally lost in the first round to a complete novice. Mike
had been caddying for him that day and had known Mike had thrown
the game.
"Oh, yes, he was more than a little bit mad with me."
"Well he still plays, when the club pro lets him borrow one of
the sets of club from the school."
"Didn't he have his own set? I thought I remembered him a locker
in the caddies room?"
"You know about the caddies room?"
"Well, yes, I hide in there when I'm trying to avoid having to
play a round with this lot." Lee blushed.
"Really? Do the caddies know?"
"I don't really know, I guess they'd be annoyed if they did."
"Probably, it's the only place they can go where they don't get
dirty looks from the members. Mike sold his clubs so he could go
back to college part time."
There wasn't a hint of her searching for sympathy in her voice.
"What's he studying?" Lee asked as he dug into his trouser
pockets and pulled out his key ring. He eased a locker key round
until it came off the ring.
"Computing, he wants to build websites for businesses."
"What about his golf, he wanted to play on the amateur circuit
didn't he?"
"He still wants to but doesn't get enough time to practice."
Lee held out the locker key and dropped it into Jenny's palm.
"Give that to Mike and tell him to use my clubs whenever he
likes. He can forget about the green fees too, I'll have a word
with the Secretary and tell him that Mike can use my booking
times whenever I'm not playing."
"Why? I mean, he'll be thrilled but why are you doing this?"
Lee saw the suspicion growing in her eyes and smiled in return.
"Because you've reminded me what it's like to be a human being. A
mental kick in the backside if you like. If Mike has any problems
tell him to give me a call."
Lee got off the stool a little unsteadily.
"You really can't drive Mr Burrow's!" A genuine sounding concern
in Jenny's voice.
"I'm not going to, promise, I'm going to walk, it'll do me good."
"You won't make it, you'll end up in a ditch or something. Give
me the car keys, I'll drive you."
He looked into her sparkling green eyes and the long auburn
fringe she seemed to try to hide behind when at work.
"I thought you didn't finish until eleven?" Lee asked, thinking
she'd get into trouble. Jenny gave him a soft smile.
"Well, if I have any problems I can always give you a ring can't
I?"
"It is a Lotus you know!" Lee said when she opened the passenger
side door for him.
"I know, that's what those letters say on the back. Scared I
can't handle it?"
He waited until she got into the driver's seat before he replied.
"No, I'm just worried you'll get pulled for speeding."
"Then I'll give the officer a sexy smile and sweet talk him out
of fining me. If he does fine me then you can pay the fine,
okay?"
Lee was on the receiving end of a dazzling smile that would have
talked him into, or out of, just about anything. Jenny floored
the accelerator pedal, her skirt riding up to reveal an expanse
of thigh and the clip of a black suspender belt. She caught him
looking, giggled and eased the skirt back down.
"I'll tell Mrs Haughton-Burrows!"
"Melanie, she's Melanie and I'm Lee, we're going to have to try
to be people every now and again. It might keep our feet on the
ground a bit more."
"You're drunk!"
"True, but not as drunk as I should be." Lee reached into the
glove box and found one of his business cards and handed it to
her when she eased the car onto the drive outside the house.
"Wow! That's some house Lee!"
"We kind of like it, come in and say hello to Melanie and we'll
get you a taxi sorted out."
"Don't trust me with the Lotus then?" She asked with a laugh when
she got out of the car.
"It isn't that, the cars well known, if you drive into town in it
every copper in the county will be after you. Saves a lot of
hassle." Lee opened the front door and ushered Jenny in, leading
her into the lounge where Melanie was still absorbed in the
antique book.
"Don't you ever get sick of books?" Lee laughed when Melanie
looked up.
"Jenny, allow me to present Mrs Melanie Haughton Burrows, Melanie
to her friends. Melanie, this is my chauffeur for the evening,
Jenny."
"Just how drunk have they got you this time Lee? Hi Jenny, thanks
for bringing him home." Melanie got up laughing and crossed the
room to shake Jenny's hand. Lee collapsed onto the sofa giggling
to himself for no apparent reason.
"I love your books Mrs Haughton-Burrows, you're writing another
one now aren't you?" Jenny asked with a shy smile.
"Melanie, the formal bit is too much of a mouthful. I'm about
half way through the new one, my agent wants it out for
Christmas." Melanie looked over her shoulder when Lee started
snoring softly.
"Have you got time for a drink or have you got to get back to the
club?"
"I really should get back to the club Mrs, Melanie, I sneaked out
to bring Mister, Lee home."
"Right, I'll ring for a taxi, I take you myself but I've had a
couple of glasses of wine. It helps me work my way through
writer's block. A least that's my excuse." Melanie reached across
to the phone and picked up the receiver.
"Were you stuck with something?" Jenny asked shyly.
Melanie stopped dialling and a smile grew on her face.
"Sort of, I got one of the characters into a position and
couldn't think of a way out of it for her. Want to see?"
"Could I! I mean, if you wouldn't mind."
Melanie replaced the receiver and went over to the drinks
cabinet, poured two glasses of wine then returned to the sofa,
gesturing for Jenny to sit beside her.
"Fancy an early finish?" Melanie picked up the phone and dialled
without waiting for Jenny to reply.
After a pause Melanie spoke.
"Hi, put me through to the members bar please." She gave Jenny a
smile that said something like watch and learn. There was a
silent pause for a moment.
"Yes, I'd like to speak to Celia Frobisher please." Melanie
seemed to listen for a moment before continuing, "Yes she is
there, tell her that Melanie Haughton-Burrow's is calling, about
Dominic." She turned to Jenny and put her hand over the
mouthpiece.
"Dominic is the young man who's been painting a portrait for her,
her husband would be horrified if he knew how much 'preparation'
Celia requires before she's ready to pose." She quickly broke off
and went back to the phone.
"Celia! It's Melanie, hiding from someone were we!" She put on a
pretend conspiratorial laugh and raised her eyes to the ceiling.
"Anyway, the reason I'm calling is that Jenny has had to drive
Lee home. I'd bring her back myself but I've had a couple of
little drinks myself and the taxis seem to be fully booked.
Settle things with whichever bar manager is in will you? I'd hate
for Jenny to get in trouble because of Lee."
Again there was a pause while she listened to Celia at the other
end of the line.
"Thanks Celia, you're a real friend, I'll see you on Sunday at
the stables shall I? You can tell me all about Dominic's brush
action!" Melanie dissolved into giggles and put down the phone.
"Right, that's the golf club sorted, now where were we?"
"Well, I do still need a taxi home Melanie." Jenny said,
overwhelmed a little.
"Stop over if you like, I get little chance to chat to real
people, Lee will run you home in the morning if you like."
"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to put you out."
"It's us that have put you out Jenny, do you want to ring home
and tell them where you are?"
"I should ring my Mum I suppose."
"Well, there's the phone, you help yourself and I'll dig out my
notes."
Melanie crossed to the computer and picked up a notepad, a pen
and the antique book from the coffee table while Jenny spoke to
her Mother. It seemed she was having a little bit of a problem
convincing her Mother that she was telling the truth.
"But Mum! I'm telling the truth! Honest! Look, hang on a second."
Jenny turned to Melanie who looked up from the notepad.
"I'm sorry Melanie, would you speak to her?"
Melanie took the phone with a smile.
"Hi, Jenny's Mum? It is really me I'm afraid." She paused for
long moment.
"It's entirely our fault, really, Jenny was good enough to drive
my husband home from the club and I thought that it was the least
that we could do to make it up to her. She insisted on ringing
you to let you know where she was." Again Melanie paused.
"No, she didn't tell me, she told me she'd read my books but not
that you were a fan too." Melanie smiled slyly at Jenny, her eyes
opened wide in surprise.
"Well, just a moment," Melanie turned to Jenny, "Jenny, have a
look in that drinks cabinet will you? There should be a trilogy
set."
Jenny crossed to the cabinet and opened the door. She found
herself looking first at a pile of promotional photographs that
showed Melanie laying back on a huge four posted bed wearing an
almost see through white night dress. Jenny found herself
swallowing a gulp before she found the boxed set of Melanie's
first three books. Picking them up she carried them over to the
coffee table.
"And you first name is?" Melanie said, picking up her pen before
signing, "To Christine, it really was me on the phone! Melanie
Haughton-Burrow's."
She handed the phone back to Jenny with a smile before going to
the cabinet herself. She heard Jenny chatting excitedly to her
Mum. Melanie poured two glasses of brandy, smiled to herself and
picked out one of the pictures before closing the cabinet door.
She carried the glasses back to the sofa and picked up her pen.
She wrote something that Jenny couldn't quite see on the photo
before handing it over.
Jenny sucked in a gulp of air.
"Wait 'til you see what Melanie has just given me Mum! A photo,
yes, she's signed it, 'to Jenny a real friend, love from Melanie
and Lee!"
Melanie wondered how old Jenny actually was, not much younger
than either herself or Lee, mid twenties or so she guessed but
with a touch of girlish innocence that Melanie found captivating.
Once Jenny had hung up Melanie began chatting about the new book
and the problems she was having with it.
"You see, Lisa is Marcia's companion, they're very close. Closer
than any of my female characters have been before actually. Lee
thinks that my readers, especially readers like you and your Mum,
will think I've gone too far with Lisa and Marcia's
relationship."
"You mean they're, lovers." Jenny asked all interest.
"Exactly, I mean, it's not as if there haven't been pretty
graphic love scenes in the other books but Lee thinks this will
cause trouble."
"I don't see why Melanie," Jenny was still struggling to get to
terms with calling her by her first name, "I bet he wouldn't be
bothered if Marcia was sharing her bed with a male character."
Melanie was a little taken aback but managed not to show it.
Perhaps she had misjudged Jenny and she was actually far
worldlier than she at first appeared.
"Right! I knew I wasn't going too far! Thanks, now, what do you
think of this?"
She showed Jenny the notepad on which she had written a list of
words.
"This is how I see Lisa, sensitive, shy, sensuous, beautiful,
bright and trusting."
"Sounds like a nice girl!" Jenny giggled and sipped her brandy.
"That's what I thought, here," she handed the pad and pen to
Jenny, "write down another five words that you think would best
describe you."
"Me?
"You, you can fill in Lisa's character for me, how about that?
You mustn't tell until the books out, but we'll put you into
Lisa's character."
"Me! In one of your books!" Her arms were suddenly round
Melanie's neck, her breasts squashing against Melanie's.
Melanie's hands reached to Jenny's waist and held her close for a
moment longer than a simple hug should have lasted. Jenny eased
back a little her hands settling lightly on Melanie's shoulders.
Melanie looked into Jenny's eyes and felt her nipples hardening
against Jenny's. She had a sudden insight and realised that Jenny
was feeling exactly the same thing. Melanie gave a soft smile and
kissed Jenny on the cheek.
"Careful Jenny, we're building Lisa's character around you, not
hers in you!"
Jenny picked up the pen and note pad and placed it on her lap
between them. Melanie watched as she wrote:
Loyal, loving, sweet, seductive, intelligent, responsive and
submissive.
"That's me." Jenny said it so simply that Melanie wanted to draw
her close and hold her. Had Lee not rolled over from his sprawled
position on one of the armchairs she probably would have done.
He sat up and beamed a bashful smile at the two on the sofa.
"Some host I am!"
"Oh, we managed darling, though if you're getting up Jenny and I
could do with another drink!" Melanie giggled and held a finger
to Jenny's lips to stop her protesting.
"You're our guest and Lee insists, if you're hungry just pack him
off to the kitchen and get him to rustle up something to eat.
It's about time he did some proper work!"
"No I'm fine, really, thanks." Jenny seemed suddenly a little
lost.
Sensing this Melanie turned to Lee while he was pouring the
drinks.
"You know you thought I was going too far with Marcia and Lisa?"
"I know, I know, you know best, it's your book after all!" Lee
mockingly protested.
"Well, you're out voted, Jenny and I agree so we'll hear no more
objections."
"Fair enough, if I'd known you were one of Melanie's readers I'd
have brought Mel up to the club to meet you. You should have told
me, I wouldn't have bitten your head off you know." Lee said,
putting the refilled glasses on the coffee table and sitting back
in the armchair.
"I know that now, you always seemed a little distant." Jenny
replied tucking her legs up under her on the sofa.
"Not a little distant, more of a little too drunk if you ask me!"
Melanie laughed.
"I really am outnumbered here aren't I? I wished I stayed
asleep!"
"At least we were doing something constructive when you were
snoring..."
"I don't snore!"
Melanie ignored him and continued, "Can you remember when I said
I was going to put your twin sisters characteristics into the new
book?"
"She hasn't gone mad Jenny, we were talking about what my twin
sister would be like if I had one, anyway, I think I had Lisa
down as being beautiful, sensuous, sensitive, loyal, seductively
sweet and responsive."
Jenny had been looking down at the list as Lee had described how
he saw Lisa as being. She was surprised to see that his list
wasn't far from matching the one she had added to Melanie's.
"And?" Melanie prompted.
"She's..." Lee closed his eyes and concentrated, "intelligent,
bright, loving, trusting and a little shy. And the other one."
"I think you got them all, remind me, what was the other one
again?" Melanie smiled over her brandy glass. "Come on, the same
one as you are sometimes.
"Melanie!"
"Oh come on Lee! It's Lisa we're talking about, Jenny's got it on
the list anyway." Melanie pointed at the notepad.
"Oh alright, she's submissive as well." He muttered.
"Must run in the family then, your twin sister and you both being
submissive I mean!" Jenny giggled, Melanie smiled broadly with an
eyebrow raised at Lee. Lee just went bright red.
"On that note I think I'll leave you two girls to it. I've an
early start in the morning."
"I'd forgotten you're going to London aren't you. Right, I'll
drop Jenny off tomorrow morning. What time do you have to be
home?"
"It doesn't matter really, now that Mum knows where I am. I don't
start work until lunchtime so there's no rush." Jenny said,
smiling and watching Lee give Melanie a long kiss.
Lee lay in the big bed for a while unable to sleep despite the
need. His mind rang with images of seeing Melanie in bed with
Jenny or his imaginary twin sister Lisa. He eventually fell
asleep with this in his mind and the dreams took over where his
consciousness had left off.
Down in the lounge Jenny asked what the old book was.
"It's a diary written by the third Duke of Morristown." Melanie
said then listened in surprise when Jenny gave a detailed account
of his life.
"Well you certainly know your stuff, have you read this before?"
Melanie asked, indicating the book.
"No, Mum used to be a proof reader, that's where I got my
interest in books from. She used to get piles of rough drafts and
manuscripts and they were all over the house. I read anything and
everything, one of them was a history of the Morristown Dukes,
and most of it concentrated on the third. Clement wasn't it?"
"That's right, you don't remember if the manuscript had a title
or who wrote it do you?"
"Sorry, there were so many, I can remember some of the contents
but titles are mostly a blur."
"Nevermind, I'd hoped I might be able to crack the key, what it
was that made Clement think the mirrors would give him
supernatural powers. Or occult ones. You know he saw himself as a
bit of a wizard or a warlock?"
"It was something to do with the frame of the mirrors. Not a code
or anything. Can I have a look?"
Jenny picked up the book and flicked through the pages for a
while. Melanie watched entranced as Jenny ran a finger under a
couple of lines on one particular page, the tip of her tongue
touching her top lip.
"Let those that work the glasses 'ware the challenge for here is
the greatest secret of all. As one wished charm is read and made
so shall it remain within the power of the glasses for all time."
Jenny read aloud.
"Can you make anything out from that? I can't seem to get inside
his head. Come to that, can you get inside my head from reading
my books?" Melanie asked.
Jenny giggled for a moment before replying.
"Sort of but not quite, I mean, having seen how you and Lee
bounce off each other, where everything is light-hearted and
you're comfortable around each other. It's like some of the
darker scenes in the books are a reaction against that. There's a
fair bit of you in a lot of the characters but Lee doesn't seem
to figure too much. Maybe you put the darker bits of yourself
into the books because you don't want to deal with them in the
real world."
Melanie sat stunned for a long minute before laughing loudly.
"Jenny! Please, don't become a book reviewer, you haven't got the
touch. You see, a reviewer will invent the reasons they want to
read into characters and story lines. Not the truthful bits and
pieces. You're wrong about the dark bits and Lee though. I don't
deal with them, you're quite right there, but I ignore them
instead, Lee deals with them for me. There is actually quite a
bit of Lee in the last book and in this one but it's quite nicely
hidden. Now after that bit of psychology, can you do the same
with our friend the Duke?"
"Isn't he warning the person who tries to use the mirrors of that
finding the secret is the challenge? Not the actual using of
them?" Jenny suggested.
"So once you have the secret they way you go about using them
becomes obvious." Melanie considered this for a moment and
scribbled some notes on the pad.
"Okay then, how about the second bit being, that once a wish or
charm is made then it remains within the glass. So the key lies
within the glass for all time and to undo it..."
"You have to make a wish!" Jenny finished the sentence, and then
added, "Isn't that a bit too simple?"
"Probably, anything else?"
"The bit about the wish and the charm, does that suggest that if
your wish or whatever gets granted or happens. Is it saying that
the mirror keeps it that way itself..."
"Or only if the user is with the mirror, no, hang on, it's here
somewhere." Melanie was surprised at how closely they were
thinking, almost as if they were linked. Maybe it was because
they were both trying to work out the same problem.
"Here, it's rough but it comes from that note there." Melanie
pointed to the book then her notes.
"Seems about right to me, that if the wish is within the mirror
it will remain for the same length of time away from the mirror.
So if you wished for a ten pound note and it was in the mirror
for ten minutes you'd have ten minutes to get to the shops with
it before it disappeared!" The giggle coming from Jenny's lips
suggested a much deeper level of happiness, Melinda wondered if
it was the drink or something else.
"Right, so if, for instance, you were lying in bed asleep for
three months, if you were taken away from the mirror you'd still
sleep for three months."
"Presuming you wished you could sleep for three months,
otherwise, every time you were in front of the mirror you'd end
up doing whatever you had been doing as soon as you were away
from the mirror." Jenny said, then drained the brandy glass and
giggled again.
"What's so funny?"
"Well, think about it. You could wish that you were making love
to a movie star, and then they'd be with you for however long
they were reflected in the mirror, after you'd let them away from
it! You could keep them with you forever if you had mirrors all
over the house like the Duke did!" Jenny giggled again and
slumped back on the sofa yawning widely.
Melanie had come to much the same conclusion herself, and she was
wondering if she should put the old book on the shelf and forget
about it. Except that the puzzle of the whole thing still
intrigued her. What would happen if the thing actually worked?
Especially as she was having the huge mirror mounted above their
bed. There wasn't much more she could wish for that didn't
already go on in it, on it and across it.
"I think we'd better get you up to bed, your Mum will be hugely
annoyed if you arrive home hung-over and exhausted."
Jenny was half asleep already and barely heard her. Melanie had
to guide her up to one of the spare rooms and lowered her onto
the bed. She continued helping Jenny to undress but decided
against it and bent to kiss her cheek goodnight. Jenny turned her
head at the last moment and their lips met. The brief touch
stretched to eternity until Jenny's lips parted slightly and
moved only the barest amount. It was enough to make Melinda
respond in the same way and the kiss evolved from being a
goodnight kiss to a sensual exploration.
A footfall in the passage outside the bedroom door signalled the
end of the kiss. Melanie placed a finger against Jenny's lips,
which parted and drew the finger into her mouth, sucking on it
until Melanie could feel the sensation in the depths of her
growing arousal. She eased away so reluctantly until she reached
her own room where Lee had returned from the bathroom. They met
in the middle of the room and Lee was surprised to find himself
being backed up to the bed while Melanie quickly undressed.
The back of his legs reached the bed and he had to sit down, a
smile growing on his face when he easily lifted Melanie up to
straddle his face. Both were oblivious of the naked figure in the
doorway, watching and sharing their passion as her own fingers
danced across and within her body.
Come the morning, Lee left the girls sitting having breakfast at
the breakfast bar in the kitchen. Truth to tell he was a little
glad to escape, seeing the two of them together was doing things
to his imagination that was not good news at that time of the
morning.
Melanie had been so hungry for him during the night, it had come
as a very pleasant surprise and he certainly wasn't complaining
but he did find himself wondering what the pair of them might
have been talking about or up to that had sparked Melanie into
action. He'd also been surprised that when he'd kissed her
goodbye that morning he'd found himself turning to kiss Jenny on
the cheek. When she'd turned and her lips had met his it had been
like an electric shock. He'd glanced at Melanie but she just had
an amused smile on her face.
He put these thoughts behind him and slipped into the Lotus,
deciding to take it instead of the sleek BMW as the bigger car
ate up fuel in the city. Once he was on the motorway he opened
the Lotus up and it ate up the miles until he approached the
first sign that warned of speed cameras. Easing down from over a
hundred to seventy just in time for the car in front of him to be
flashed as the driver hit the brakes too late. Lee smiled to
himself and counted down the rest of the miles to the junction he
needed then pulled off the motorway to pick up the trunk road to
Orpington where he parked the car at a friends office and caught
a train into London itself.
Once on the train he planned his day, first and foremost an
unannounced visit to his fraudulent accountant. Then a trip to
the west end to pick up the gypsy outfit Melanie had ordered.
Leaving him most of the afternoon to check out the furniture
suppliers. He was quite looking forward to that bit, thinking of
the surprised look on Melanie's face when he told her what he had
been thinking about.
Back at the house there was a surprised look on Melanie's face
already. She'd been getting dressed in her bedroom when Jenny had
walked straight in, the first Melanie had known about her being
present was when fingers other than her own drew up the long rear
zip of the jersey dress she was half dressed in.
She'd thought about it later and decided that turning round on
the spot hadn't been the best idea at the time as it had put the
two of them nipple to nipple and soon after lip to lip. Melanie
found her hands slipping round Jenny's neck and then down over
her shoulders to wrap round her waist. Jenny slipped her hands
down onto Melanie's hips and hitched up the hem of the dress
until she could fondle her buttocks through the sheet white
panties.
The kiss continued, unhurried, sensuous and soothing. Melanie's
mind lit up with images of herself and Jenny on the bed that was
only a foot or two away. She tried to push them away but they
merely reassert