At the Woodchopper's Ball Bk. 01 Ch. 07

Enide was of average build — not a slight girl, yet she felt light and delicate in my arms. I loved the way I loomed over her. I looked down at her body and the way her legs were sprawled across the bench seat. The thought of what they might feel wrapped around my body sent a shudder through my senses.

We stopped kissing and with our eyes closed, pressed our foreheads against each other. I couldn't know what Enide was thinking at that moment, but I tried to memorise every sensation where our bodies touched.

I opened my mouth to say something — I can't imagine what it might have been — but Enide cut me off by pressing her mouth against mine. I pushed my tongue into her mouth longingly, tasting the cherry flavour of her saliva. It felt as if we'd entered a cocoon — I don't know whether we kissed for two minutes or twenty. Neither of us was willing to stop.

Gradually, I became aware of stirrings below the waist. Enide didn't help matters in the slightest when she pulled herself upright and slid onto my lap, then wriggled into a comfortable position. A glimmer of awareness reestablished its hold over me and I drew back from her mouth. Enide looked at me dreamily through half-hooded eyes. I had to strain to stop myself from ravishing her.

"If we keep at this," I said, slurring my words like a drunk, "I'll not be able to answer for the consequences."

"What makes you think I care?" Enide purred provocatively.

"Eni... have you any idea what you're doing to me?" I bemoaned with a sigh. I let my hand slide up along her thigh, up her waist and over her stomach until it rested dangerously close to her chest. "I don't want our first time to be in the middle of town, in my mother's car," I explained and we both laughed at how unseemly what we were doing sounded when said out loud.

She smiled and caressed my face with her fingers. I put my hand over hers, pressing her palm against my face, wanting to keep it there for as long as I could. If it is possible to be both overstimulated and intensely calm, then that was how I felt. All my thoughts were focused solely on Enide — her every utterance, every gesture, every reaction.

"Tomorrow," I said after a few moments, "there'll only be me in the house — after Mother and Mita have gone. Can you come over then?"

Enide nodded, grinning enticingly. Did she know how easily she could rile me, or was it mere instinct, an innate ability to stoke a man's fire at will?

I pulled Enide close — not caring about the way I handled her — and we started kissing again. She soon pulled away though, shivering with excitement, smiling self-consciously but mostly unabashed. I clasped her around her waist with both arms. My hands rested against her hip. I couldn't resist pressing my fingers into her yielding flesh.

"My gawd, Eni... you have to get off my lap," I told her. I was on the verge of panting like a dog. "Any minute now, I'm going to rip your clothes to shreds."

"Why Fayard!" she exclaimed with fake outrage. "You belong in a pound."

"A pound? A pound of what?" I asked, hoping to quip my way out of my current plight.

Enide giggled and let me heave her from my lap, but not without emitting a pouty sigh, like a little girl who had just been denied a second helping of ice cream. I lowered the window and ran my hand across the edge of the roof, wetting my fingertips with cool rainwater, then dabbed them across my neck and throat. It helped — I felt calmer, less feverish.

"Oh, look at this," Enide whimpered softly as she slid closer. She leaned against me, resting her head on my shoulder. "A little canoodling and my big, strutting army man had to water his neck," she taunted playfully.

I cut my eyes at Enide scoldingly and put my arms around her shoulder, drawing her closer against myself. She mewled a soft, needy sound.

"I bet you could tease a man to death... without even trying," I mused. "So stop trying!"

"Would you like me to drive while you gather yourself?" Enide asked with a mischievous glint.

"What? You, drive, this old thing?" I inquired. "It's not like your slick convertible."

"It's hardly any bigger," Enide protested. "Besides, I learned to drive in it."

"Huh? Not your own car?"

"You mean my mother's car? I didn't have the convertible then," Enide clarified as I nodded. "I started out with Mother but we sort of fell out during the first few lessons," Enide said as she straightened out the front of her dress. "Aunt Faidra took over to keep the peace."

I laughed, imagining Enide and Aunt Broni bickering as they drove around town or Aunt Broni trying to impart the finer points of the Highway Code. My mother was certainly the better bet when it came to this sort of thing.

I had a sudden spark of inspiration — a way to get back a little at Enide. I took the car keys out of my pocket and dangled them in front of her. Enide leaned away from my shoulder, eyeing me suspiciously but took the keys from me.

"You are right," I whimpered plaintively, hamming it up. I brought the back of my hand to my forehead and added, "I'm too feverish to drive."

Enide was less than convinced by my display, but she played along like a good sport and shifted herself behind the steering wheel. She gave me another side glance, her eyes silently asking 'What are you up to?', before turning the ignition.

I closed the window as Enide manoeuvred the car out of the parking bay. At the first junction, while we waited for the lights, she gave me another quizzical look. I said nothing, smiling back innocently. The rain had stopped, though there were occasional puddles of standing water on the sides of the road. We went down a short slope before Enide took the car through a roundabout and exited onto the road leading toward her neighbourhood.

I knew traffic would be sparse at this time of night and the road was well-lit. I scooted across, to sit closer to Enide and flashed a devious grin as the realisation dawned on her.

"Fayard... you're being irresponsible," Enide protested. "I'm driving."

By now I was nuzzling her neck and landing hot kisses along her jawline. I pushed up her dress, caressing her thigh, not too high, just past her knee, just enough to see my hand disappear under the hem of her skirt.

"I was led to believe," Enide said, trying to nudge my face away with her shoulder, "that young men from our august military training institutions were upright and noble — given to admiring their beloved chastely from afar... that sort of thing,"

"Don't believe a word of it — it's all lies, embellishments and whatnot," I breathed into her ear. I ran my hand a little further up her thigh. "Like all the carnal frolics you girls are supposed to be up to at school."

"Oh, but that's all true," Enide stated boldly.

"Great herds!" I thought to myself. I might be able to make Enide squirm, but she could tighten up my screw with only a few words. Enide smiled and wet her lips with the tip of her tongue. I could tell she was gauging my reaction even as she kept looking ahead through the windscreen. Salacious images of Enide in her school uniform flashed through my mind, followed by every other girl I knew, even my sister.

"Here we are," Enide said after another turn which brought us to her street. She pulled the car onto the semi-circular driveway in front of her house, coasting past the front door. Apart from the faint glow from the fanlight window above the entrance, all the front windows of the house were dark.

Enide stopped the car, switched off the ignition and pivoted to face me. For a few moments, we simply stared at one another. Only the sporadic clink of metal cooling off underneath the bonnet pierced the silence.

All at once we were kissing again, our hands roaming all over each other. I don't know how it started or who leaned in toward the other first. Enide drew back breathlessly and I swelled with a foolish sense of triumph. Somewhere in the recesses of my brain, a voice rebuked me for wanting to win at kissing. I reached over, wishing only to grasp Enide's hands, wanting to hold on to her. I marvelled at how easily they fit in mine as if they were made to be held by me.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked, trying to play it cool.

"Yes," Enide responded, her voice calm and measured.

I brought up her hands and kissed her fingers, forgoing her lips. I didn't know if I'd be able to stop if we started again. It was too quiet around us, too tempting to think no one could see or hear us.

Enide grabbed her handbag and swung the car door open. I damned myself for not getting out first and holding it open for her. After she stepped out, I slipped into her place behind the wheel. She turned back to look at me, her gaze probing, as if weighing a decision. Then, she leaned over and with gentle fingers, brushed aside stray strands from my forehead. Not for the first time that evening, time seemed to stand still.

"Goodnight Eni," I whispered.

She'd already taken a step toward the house but turned her head back without losing her stride. "Goodnight Rody," she replied softly.

I stepped outside the car and watched as Enide climbed the wet steps to unlock the door. A warm, yellow light spilled out from the interior, bathing her in a soft glow. The rest of the house was shrouded in darkness, making her seem like a beautiful apparition. Enide gave a small wave before closing the door behind her, but the spell she had cast lingered in the dark.

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