The Touch Ch. 31

We were standing on what once must have been an attractive bow shaped terrace in front of large French windows, probably leading in to the old dining room of the house but now shuttered and in need of a good clean. The original paving slabs were mostly all broken or cracked with weeds everywhere and there were two quite narrow staircases at each end of the terrace leading down to the main garden area which was sunken to about fifteen feet below the level of the house.

The garden was like a finger jutting out between the two neighbouring properties and was bordered all around with unruly laurel hedges inside a six foot Victorian red brick wall. I just stood and stared totally amazed and then glanced at Philippa who was standing beside me her hands thrust deep into her pockets, scuffing her toes on the broken flags like a guilty child. The plot was about three acres of neglect; with expanses of hip high wild grass broken by clumps of equally untamed bushes, a couple of very large and attractive oak trees, choked with ivy, and what appeared to a maze of head high brick walls boxing off the bottom half acre. There were several pieces of statuary peering out over the wild foliage. I had been shocked when I saw the gardens at Craven Manor but this was bordering on desolation.

"Oh bloody hell, Philippa.... What the fuck do you expect me to do with this?" I exclaimed. She didn't answer; just shrugged her shoulders petulantly, her expression sad rather than offended by my outburst. "Oh, come on..." I said cheerfully, taking her hand and tugging her towards the nearer staircase, let's have a closer look... it may not be as bad up close."

"Be careful!" she warned as we stepped out into grass at the bottom of the steps, "There are little short walls everywhere, I always bugger over them every time I come down here, and there are couple of quite deep ornamental fish pools in the centre somewhere."

It really was just as bad up close as from a distance, the whole garden was criss-crossed with weed choked gravel paths between flower beds bordered by twelve inch brick walls, and I guessed that some early nineteenth century ancestor of Philippa's had tried to re-create an Italian formal garden.

"How long has it been like this?"

"About forty years, since just after the war, when my grandmother died my grandfather lost interest, and Daddy only lived for the stables .... It's why most of the house is closed up as well.... It was not as bad when I was a child, my friends and I used to play hide and seek in and out of the little gardens, when I was home from school for the holidays."

We continued to roam, hand in hand until we had reached the bottom half acre and I was totally amazed, the area was divided into four walled Victorian 'ladies' gardens, what used to be call 'secret gardens', each with bowers and alcoves and small pieces of statuary but each different and distinctive. In terms of classical early Victorian gardening this was a real find. I knew there and then that I wanted to do this project...even if Maggie did not want to take it on, somehow I would find some hours in my own time to try to breathe life into it again, not particularly for Philippa but for the garden itself.

"Oh God, Philippa, this is fabulous," I enthused, "This could all be so beautiful if the work was put into it! I cannot believe that your garden has been here all this time and nobody knew about it..... if it was restored properly you could open it to the public, it is a classic masterpiece, as gardens go this could be historically important."

"Really?" My enthusiasm seemed to have restored some of her normal vitality. "So how long will it take you and how much will it cost?" Philippa was back to her normal brusque, confident self; the international and Olympic sportswoman, tough and feisty.

"I really don't know," I answered truthfully, "but it will take a long time and it will be expensive. I need to come back with a camera, take some photos and have a really good poke around."

We had wandered into one of the walled gardens. There were pretty, if dirty, mosaic panels set into the walls and statues of Roman gods and goddesses, some fallen to lay forgotten on the ground, glimpses of stone buttocks and tits visible through the grass and weeds. It reminded me of the visit we had made to Pompeii during a family holiday in Italy, Mum, Emma and myself.

We leaned against the wall and Philippa slipped her arm through mine and pulled me against her, "You will do this for me, won't you..." she pleaded, her voice had taken on that husky quality, like the purr of a tiger that I remembered from our evening of energetic and fantastic fucking a few weeks earlier.

"I will need to talk it over with Maggie," I told her, "a job this size will need us both to agree that we can handle it if we take it on. It will take a lot of man-hours and that can be expensive," I warned. I guessed that she had a fair income from the stables and probably private resources but a project like this could be a real money drain.

"But you will do it if I agree the cost?"

I thought for a minute, it was Maggie who had originally suggested that we looked at this job, so she would probably come on side, and I really did want to do it, the prospect was professionally stimulating. We would find the resources from somewhere and this could turn out to be another prestige project for our portfolio.

I hadn't really thought about it before but there were probably dozens of other houses like Craven Manor and Shelby House in the county with historically important gardens which had been allowed to become desolate or had been ploughed up during the war for vegetable farming and never re-instated. If Philippa did not know, I would need to do some research at the library to try and find the history of Shelby House and who designed the original gardens.

"Yes, alright, you win," I laughed, "if the costs don't give you a heart attack, I'll do it for you...I'd love to!" She was leaning very close against me and I could feel her warm breath on my cheek.

Suddenly her arms were around my neck and she dragged me in front of her, her hard athletic body slamming full length against mine trapping me against the wall her crotch grinding against me and our thighs pressed tightly together. I could feel my body responding and an erection starting to grow between us. She was only a little shorter than me and her lips were on a level with mine, they were painted with the same pale pink lipstick that was the only make-up I had ever seen her wearing, and I could pick out the tiny freckles that prettily decorated her cheeks and nose, her bobbed auburn hair was brushing against my face erotically.

"Well...are you going to kiss me?" she chuckled. "Winning always makes me randy.... You weren't so hesitant before...."

I pressed my lips against hers, totally unable to resist even at eight o'clock in the morning. My tongue pushed urgently into her mouth and sought hers, probing and mingling in a frenzy of sudden lust. I grasped her buttocks tightly and pulled her hard against my erection which was bulging in the front of my work trousers and she responded by rolling her hips crushing her crotch hard against me.

I slid my hands up her body and cupped her small firm breasts; I could feel the hardness of her nipples through the loose fabric of her shirt and her soft sports bra. She let out a low moan and then her mouth was pressed hard against mine crushing our lips in a kiss that went on and on until both of us were breathless and clutching at each others bodies frantically with undisguised rampant lust, an almost primeval need to sate our carnal desires.

"Oh fuck, Jamie.... You've... done... it... again..." she panted, her breath was warm against my throat and I could feel the tip of her tongue flicking out to touch and leave a moist hot spot between each word. "You've made me soooooo horny!"

Suddenly her hands were at my waist, tugging at my belt buckle and then she was hooking her thumbs in the waistband and pushed down until trousers and shorts fell to expose my prick, hard and throbbing between us and she was thrusting her own breeches and panties away.

"Fuck me....I want you to fuck me!" She panted, she was gasping hoarsely with lust and I felt her hand grasp my prick, pushing down against it's natural upwards resistance until the tip was level with her pussy and I could feel the glans sliding through the warm juices that were filling her slit already. We were both so deep into our craving for each other that there was going to be no room for waiting or fore-play. She guided my quivering shaft to the entrance of her vagina, I was panting as hard as she was, my prick was ready and throbbing and as soon as it touched those tight lips I instinctively thrust home hard, entering her with a single plunging stoke which jerked her up onto her toes with a loud gasp. Philippa was a seriously noisy lay who liked to moan and scream and I nervously hoped that she would not attract attention from the stables.

"Aaaaaaah! Oh fuck that's good!" she moaned her voice gravelly with lust.

Our loins were jerking together as we clung to each other, her arms back around my neck and mine around her waist. Our legs were trapped by our lowered trousers but I braced my shoulders back against the wall and lifted her bodily from the floor and then lowered her slowly to achieve maximum penetration and pleasure as we rocked each other slowly to an early climax. Our spontaneous shag was going to be over as quickly as it had started, I could feel the tingling in my balls that heralded ejaculation and could feel her body starting to quiver; I got there first by a short head, I could hold back no longer and with a loud groan thrust and jerked as my throbbing prick erupted, spewing hot streams of jiz into her, causing her to cling tighter against me.

"Oh God, that feels awesome," she moaned softly against my ear and then tightening her arms around my neck thrust herself down hard onto my prick, gyrating her hips and humping furiously until her whole body was bucking in a furious spasm as she reached her own orgasm with a loud scream. Our legs started to give way together and it was only with a serious effort that I managed to hold both of us erect clinging together against the wall.

We untangled ourselves and adjusted our clothing, both still panting from exertion and then leaned back against the wall arms around each other's waists. Our impromptu fuck had lasted no more than a few minutes but had left both of us breathless and laughing with the joy of mutually enjoyed passion.

"Christ Jamie.... Is this sort of thing going to happen every time we meet?" she laughed.

I squeezed her buttocks playfully, "I certainly hope so .... Why do you think I agreed to do your garden?"

I brushed the small residue of brick dust from the back of her shirt and breeches and we started to walk back up the garden, still laughing, and my arm around her waist. Our quickie shag had been totally unexpected... I think for both of us... Philippa was certainly hot and if I was going to be working for her I would seriously have to watch myself and not let things get out of hand or it could get to be all shagging and no work for both of us.

Philippa and I would never get into any sort of a relationship, I liked her and we were mutually attracted on a physical level, but it was our bodies that loved each other, not our minds or hearts.

"What would the chances be of getting most of the garden presentable by this time next year?" she asked, we were back on a business footing again.

"If we can put in the time and we have a fairly mild winter again, I guess we could make good progress...." I answered a bit non-commitally, "Why the sudden interest in getting the garden in order after forty years of total neglect?" That came out sounding more critical than I had intended.

"Ouch!" she said, and I expected her to flair and admonish me, I had often seen one of the stable hands get the sharp edge of her tongue over some chance remark. Instead she stopped and turned towards me. "If I tell you, it must be just between us for now...alright?" We carried on walking again.

"Sure... but if you don't want to, that's fine.... I shouldn't have probed into your business."

"I have been thinking about expanding the stables in the same way that you and Maggie have expanded De Veres, turn it into a full fledged equestrian centre. Add a shop, more hacks and a more room for boarding stalls, there is money in caring for other people's horses." She paused and then continued, "I have the option of leasing the adjoining ten acre meadow and the local pony club has indicated that they would be keen on promoting us to host gymkhanas and events."

"Wow, that sounds really great... but what about the garden...where does that fit in?"

"I had a business development consultant come in from the bank to assess the viability and he suggested that the house could be refurbished and turned into a small, exclusive and expensive hotel, just eight rooms and a restaurant, but the idea would never fly with the gardens the way they are now..... so you see I really do need your help.... I think I have enough finance arranged to cover the project ...providing you don't bleed me dry!" She chuckled at the last comment and reached out to squeeze my hand briefly, we were in sight of the stable complex, there were suddenly several people in the yard now and we needed to be a bit discreet about our body language.

"Keep it to yourself now... I don't mind you shagging the hired help but no pillow-talk when you are screwing Janice, OK!" she grinned mischievously.

"Right then, I had better get in to the office... I'll have a think about the garden and see if Maggie and I can come up with a ball park estimate for you... shall I just come over or give you a call when it's ready?"

She gave a deep throated sexy chuckle, "Probably best to telephone first, I need to get my head around what happens every time we get together recently, I just hope we don't meet in the street any where....we might frighten the locals!"

We both laughed and I gave her a chaste hug and vaulted over the fence into the car park and crunched over the gravel to my car, I didn't want to run into either Emma or Janice I didn't feel the slightest bit guilty but I didn't want any questions either.

I glanced at my watch as I got into the car and lit a cigarette, it was still only eight forty-five and I had already landed a big new landscaping contract and had my first shag of the day. The count had gone up to four shags this week. How much better could life get?

Maggie had the garden centre open for business when I arrived and was standing in the arboretum with the duty staff giving them their instructions for the day. Colin, Kitty and Steve all had the day off and so I had my choice of the company vehicles for the day as I was the only one who was going to be working off-site.

I loaded up the trailer with a dozen large sacks of pine bark compost and a couple of bins of sterilised shingle for Craven Manor, hooked it up to the Land-Rover and then followed Maggie up to the office. I did not believe that I would get time to start planting but I intended to prepare the ground ready for the rhododendron bushes to go in.

I poured us both a mug of coffee and then sat on the corner of her desk and stared out of the window trying to appear casually vacant. I could see Dennis's white Ford transit van parked in Maggie's drive and the distant figure of Dennis in white overalls and deduced that he was making a start on painting the poolside changing rooms.

"OK, what's going on?" she asked smiling, "What have you been up to.... I know there is something... so spill the beans."

"Er... um... I had dinner with Caroline Brookes last night..." I got it out very quickly and then tried to look nonchalant about it.

"Aha!" She crowed smiling broadly, "I knew that Miss Thunder-Thighs would pounce on you eventually....it was only a matter of time before she got into your trousers.... "

"No... it wasn't like that," I protested laughing, I knew that she was teasing me, "We just had dinner that was all.... Well almost all."

"What is 'almost all'... no don't tell me...." she held up her hand, "If you spent the night shagging her, I don't want to hear..." She was laughing but there was a more serious edge to her voice.

"No listen! She had pranged her car on the way down and was a bit shaken up.....and she wanted to say thank you for the work on the garden and so she offered to buy me dinner."

Gradually I told her the whole story, well not exactly the whole story just the edited highlights, I kept in the discussion that Caroline and I had about the garden, I kept in the arrangement to go up to London to see her roof garden, and I kept in the part about her getting a bit rat-arsed and having to drive her home. I left out the part about the other driver in the accident probably being 'Ben the Bastard', and I left out having to undress Caroline and put her to bed, and my staying most of the night in her bed.

"OK, I believe you," she chuckled after I had finished my story, "Just think yourself lucky that Emma isn't here and hope that she doesn't find out." My sister had a totally irrational dislike of Caroline even though she had only seen her once and I don't believe that they had ever actually met face to face.

"There is more yet..." I added and then told her about my visit to Philippa Shelby and about the proposed project to revive the gardens, not ALL about the visit of course, and suggested that perhaps she and I and maybe even Colin should go out as a team to really explore the site, take snaps and samples and come up with some ideas and estimates that I could take back to Philippa.

"I agree," she enthused, "I think we should take it on, I was over there for a drinks party some while ago and took a sneak look at the grounds then. I also seem to remember stories that the original garden was designed and laid out by somebody quite important in the early 19th. Century, so there may be some prestige to the job."

I was a little bit surprised that she had agreed to take Shelby House on so quickly, but was really pleased.

"I had better telephone Caroline and see if she is out of bed yet before I go over... and then I am going to make a start on the driveway shrubbery at Craven Manor."

"Bloody hell, but you are a glutton for punishment!" Maggie teased, "Miss Thunder-Thighs, Philippa Shelby and Scary Georgia all in one morning.... Just you be careful, your mother has invited me for supper tonight and I don't expect to have to explain to her why you are falling asleep at the dinner table."

Her teasing did not worry me at all; Maggie was like Gwen, whatever passed between us stayed between us and our private jokes were NEVER shared with anybody else. I often speculated that we were perhaps a strange family, we were all desperately protective of one another, of our own privacy and each other's privacy.

I went over to my desk and telephoned Caroline. She sounded groggy with sleep and really hung over but told me to come over anyway.

I parked the Land Rover and trailer in her drive and pinged the front door bell, after several repeated pushes there was no response and so I used my key to open the gate to the rear garden and went around to the back of the house. The French doors were open, but she was not in the lounge and so I sat down on the steps of the decking veranda and lit a cigarette and was sitting in much the same place as I had been the previous evening when Caroline came out and stood behind me.

I swivelled round to look at her as she stepped outside. She was dressed in a very fashionable pale pink jogger suit, expensive pink and white designer trainers, and her hair and make-up were done to perfection. I don't believe that I had ever seen Caroline poorly dressed or without her face fully made up at any time of the day or night, even when she was lying in bed totally wasted. She looked cute and sexy if a little bit tired.