Jackie Barnes Ch. 01

She sat upright and again stared at me, as if looking at me in a different light. "Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Jackie, I've never been forward in such matters. I was thinking more of helping you with your work. I'm sorry if I've offended you with my question. Please forgive me."

"I'm not offended but your suggestion rocked me. I've never thought along those lines. I won't reject the idea out of hand but I certainly need to give it some thought, to sleep on it."

She reached into the briefcase sitting on the floor next to her chair and pulled out a thick manuscript. She separated about one half of the sheets and passed them to me. "This is my latest book, with the final corrections. Please work through them and edit the copy on your computer. I should finish the rest today, then we can put it to bed, as it were.

Ask Mrs Johnson for a snack if you feel peckish, and I would like you to have dinner with me every evening at 6 o'clock, casual dress is fine. After dinner, your time will be your own. Take a walk round the village if you like, or watch TV. Just get yourself settled in. Oh yes, let me have your mobile number, just in case.

Taking the thick sheaf of paper, I returned to my room and fired up the computer. I was pleased to notice that it had a very fast broadband connection. I searched the hard drive and was again pleased to see that it was well organised so finding files was easy. I located the current novel files then looked at the corrected paper copy. There were some proofreaders' marks but I was not familiar with them, however a quick search found an excellent article which I printed out and, referring to the article, I soon found myself interpreting the few marks in the script and correcting the computer copy. As this was the final reading, there were very few mistakes, mainly a character to be changed here and there or a extra space to be deleted.

I was making good progress through the text and decided to visit the kitchen where I asked Mrs Johnson for a sandwich and coffee. I sat in the kitchen for my lunch and chatted with Mrs Johnson as she worked at preparing dinner. She and her husband had been with Ms Barnes for about seven years and they were both happy in her service. Jessica, my predecessor, had left suddenly because her mother had had a heart attack and needed full time care.

I returned to my work and had just finished the corrections when it was time for dinner. The meal was delicious and the atmosphere was relaxed and easy. Jackie and I chatted away through the meal, each of us learning more of the other. I reported that I had finished the corrections she had given me and was handed the rest of the script to work on tomorrow.

When we had finished the meal, I excused myself and decided to take a stroll around the area, getting used to the local geography. It was one of those villages absorbed by the expanding city but still retaining much of its original charm. As dusk fell, I found a pub and enjoyed a glass of wine while watching the locals come and go. A young man tried to pick me up but retreated without any unpleasantness when I declined his advances.

In no great hurry, I ambled back home and watched some TV before undressing for bed. Sleep was slow to come and I found myself reflecting on the day's events. Dinah Washington's song, 'What a difference a day makes' kept going through my mind as I reflected on my change of luck, my new job, new employer, new everything. I sent an unspoken message of thanks to Lady Luck's deputy then, with a deep, contented sigh I turned over and drifted into oblivion.

I awoke next morning at about 7:30, stretched languorously, threw off the duvet and repaired to the bathroom where I completed my morning toilet. Dressing in a smart trouser suit, I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. Mrs Johnson was already on duty and asked me what I would like for breakfast. I settled for a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice.

Jackie came in still in her night clothes with a robe over her shoulders. Mrs Johnson set a cup of coffee before her as she sat opposite me. "Do you think you could finish the manuscript today?"

"I'll start on it right away," I told her.

"Jessica kept my calendar on your computer, would you check if I have any appointments today, please."

"I'll do that, Jackie."

I took the manuscript and a cup of coffee to my room, fired up the computer and located the calendar program. Jackie had two phone calls to make and she had an appointment in Newcastle at 3:00 PM. I made a note of these commitments, returned to the kitchen where Jackie was drinking more coffee. I gave her the slip of paper on which I had written her tasks.

"Ah, yes. That appointment. I had forgotten it. I want you to be with me for that one. We can take the metro into town and have some lunch before the meeting. It will give you some insight into my routine. Join me in the study at noon please, Sandy."

I returned to my room and worked on the manuscript all morning and thought there was only two or three more hour's work on it left. I popped the dictaphone into my handbag, just in case I needed it, and joined Jackie just before noon.

We went to the garage and she passed me a set of car keys with the words, "We'll go in your car today. You are fully insured on my policies. It's yours to use as you wish while you are with me." The car was a one year old Mini Countryman. This job just got better and better. On that short drive to the metro station, we did not say much, nor on the train into town, but I was conscious of Jackie discretely checking me out. Of course I didn't mention it, wondering if she was considering the suggestion I had made the previous evening and I must admit that the thought gave me a slight tingling in my body.

When we got to town, we had a leisurely lunch in the magnificent Royal Station Hotel where Jackie was greeted by name by the staff. After lunch we took a taxi to a small office complex. This meeting, my employer informed me, was to finalise the arrangements for a week of book signing at a chain of book stores in five cities in Ireland in two weeks time. She would want me to go there for a couple of days in advance of her arrival, just to make sure everything was in order and I would stay with her when she arrived.

The meeting was cordial but businesslike. I was making notes of any salient points and was handed a folder containing the itinerary, the plane tickets, hotel accommodation. Everything we needed was included so, after the meeting was concluded, we took a taxi back to the station and made our way home.

When we got back home, I worked on the manuscript until almost 6 o'clock, not quite getting it finished, but it was time to join Jackie for dinner. The weather outside had changed very much for the worse: heavy rain sluicing down from dark clouds and blowing a near gale. It had also turned quite chilly. That scrapped any tentative plans I had for another walk of discovery in the village. I don't like watching TV very much with nothing but reality shows and soaps filling the schedules. I prefer not to live vicariously in fictitious traumas and passions.

So, when Jackie suggested an evening in front of a big fire with a couple of bottles of wine and a 'getting to know you' natter, I readily agreed. The library was a cosy room, there was already a log fire spitting and crackling in the big old stone hearth so I got us some wine and glasses from the kitchen and we sank down into either end of the soft sofa, feet tucked up beneath us. We got talking about our past lives: she told me of her marriage which was dissolved five years ago. No great traumatic ending but any love had dried up so they decided to go their separate ways. He had remarried to another divorcee but they remained friends.

I had several amusing reminiscences about my days at college, recounting some of the scandals involving my fellow students but how I had managed to get through the three years without any major dirt sticking to me. I told Jackie that I studied hard and, to make ends meet, I took a short course in massage, bought myself a portable massage table and built up a list of clients whom I visited on a regular basis.

"Were your clients men or women?" Jackie enquired.

"Oh, both."

"Did you have any problem with the men getting fresh?"

"Sometimes a new male client might want to touch me as I worked but I always made it clear that I was a professional masseuse, not a hooker. Having said that," I lowered my voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "sometimes they would almost beg me to give them a 'relief massage' and if I liked them I would. And hike up my prices enormously.

"There was one old man, lots of problems with aching bones and such, had me visit him every other week. Poor old sod hadn't had a woman for fifteen years, since his wife died and was very generous when I gave him a 'special' as he would call it. I even allowed him to touch my bum and boobs. He was stinking rich and had no family so he was happy to pay for the pleasure I gave him. I always kissed his forehead as I left him. He was a really nice man but he died after I had been going to him for just over a year. I was amazed when I received a letter from his solicitor and found that he had left me a few thousand in his will. Not a lot, but it cleared my student debts."

"I don't suppose you had any of those problems with your female clients, did you?"

"Jackie, you would be amazed at how many horny middle aged women out there. Frustrated by a 'wham, bang, thank you ma'am' husband or one too tired from overwork to do anything but fall asleep as soon as they got to bed. They would often confide in me as I worked on their bodies and I used to be able to judge them to a nicety. I knew which buttons to press and sometimes - well, quite often - I used my hands to give them what they craved. For the most part they were very generous, too. They would never consider themselves to be lesbians.

"Did I feel like a hooker? Well, the first couple of times, it bothered me a little but I was grateful for the extra money and, truth be told, I quite enjoyed it myself although I was careful to remain detached emotionally, but sometimes I would go back home after such a client and almost rape my current partner. Just after the girls, though. With the men I was clinically aloof."

After my 'confessions' I gulped down the rest of my wine and got us both a refill. We both sat there silently sipping at the wine and I thought that maybe Jackie had something on her mind, although what it was surprised me.

"Sandy," she asked, "do you like pot?"

"Well, I used to share the odd joint in college but not since then."

"Do you fancy sharing a couple with me this evening? I like a smoke but I like to share it."

"Yes, okay, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

She got up, went to a bureau in the corner and came back with half a dozen ready-rolled joints and a cigarette lighter. She sat down much closer to me than before and lit up, dragging on it deeply and inhaling the smoke slowly. She held it in for an age then slowly blew it out. She took another big drag and passed it over to me. Back and forth we passed the joint until it was finished. It had been a long time for me so it affected me quite quickly.

While we were smoking, Jackie said, "I just fancy turning the lights down and getting more than slightly pickled and stoned in front of the fire tonight."

"That sounds like a nice way to get relaxed," I responded.

The main light was on a dimmer switch which she turned right down so the only real source of illumination was the glowing log fire with little flames flickering around the unconsumed wood. It was a very cosy, almost intimate, atmosphere. She sat down in front of the sofa on the sheepskin hearthrug and invited me to join her. We kept our wine close by and shared another joint. We talked of this and that, giggling together at amusing tales we each related. We drank our wine and smoked our pot until we were both totally relaxed then came the question which didn't really surprise me. Even though I was very much attracted to this woman, the suggestion had to come from her. "Will you give me a massage, Sandy?"

This was what I had been building up to all evening, I had deliberately given her the opening but even so I could see that she was nervous. Maybe she had needed the relaxing pot and wine to give her the courage. Whatever, I was happy to play along but I knew I must tread softly. I moved my face close to hers, giving her every opportunity to back away. When she didn't I asked, very quietly, "Are you sure, Jackie? You know wine and pot lowers your inhibitions."

Gazing into my eyes, she whispered back, "Yes, Sandy. Maybe they need to be lowered. Be gentle with me."

For some reason known only to the gods of marihuana, her request cracked us both up and we had to surrender to fits of the giggles. I tried two or three times to move in to kiss her lips but each time we both got the giggles again. Eventually I put my hand to her face, closed the gap and gave her a sweet, non-demanding kiss. I held it for a few long seconds before moving back again and noticed Jackie was panting a little. It was she who initiated the next kiss, just as sweet and tender as mine but hers was getting just a little more animated as we held the kiss so I put my hand under her hair at the back and pulled her gently closer.

After an age, I sat back on my haunches and slowly started to unbutton her shirt. "I can't give you a decent massage through all these clothes," I told her so she allowed me to open it up and pull it from her skirt. I slipped it off her shoulders, in that movement giving her a little hug and kiss. She had to wriggle a little as I removed her skirt then her shoes and stockings. Her satin slip followed and she sat there glowing in the light of the fire dressed only in bra and panties. I grabbed a cushion from the sofa and told her to lay on her tummy as I put the cushion under her head.

"Wait there just for a minute." I told her then ran to my bedroom, quickly stripped to my own underwear, grabbed my bottle of hand lotion and ran back down to her. She hadn't moved an inch but opened an eye when I returned to kneel at her head, then closed it again as if surrendering herself to me. I dribbled a goodly measure of lotion into my palms, rubbed it round to take away the chill then spread it on her shoulders. She flinched at my first touch then relaxed again as I smoothed it onto her skin.

I stroked her shoulders gently to get her used to my touch, gradually increasing the pressure as my fingers located the tension lumps in the muscles and stroked them away. I used more lotion and spread it over her upper back and teased away the tensions. Jackie was relaxing nicely as I worked first on one side then the other.

Soon I had her almost purring so I moved and knelt on her left side, feeling the warmth of the fire on my own skin. I picked up her hand and massaged her fingers and thumb individually then pressed my thumbs into the fleshy part of her hand and continued up her lower arm and on to her biceps, smoothing into her shoulder. Keeping one hand resting gently between her shoulder blades, I moved to her right side and worked up that arm.

Sensing that she was now relaxed enough, I unclipped her bra and moved it to either side. I felt her tense just a little but she still had the psychological guard in that I did not try to remove it completely. I worked into her middle and lower back, easing my way under her panties and onto her buttocks. I let the natural movements of my hands push the panties down a little, exposing the upper reaches of her backside cleavage and, sensing no objection, I pulled her panties further down until I had the generous swell of her bum exposed. This, I knew, would feel a little more sexual to her as I kneaded the muscles and pushed the flesh out, partially opening the gap between her buttocks, This was a crucial moment as she would feel more exposed to my sight. She moved slightly but just sighed and again relaxed.

Keeping one hand right above the open crack of her bum, I moved to kneel at her feet. I lifted her left foot and, with a fresh appliance of lotion, I massaged the fleshy pad of each toe in turn then used my thumbs to splay the balls of her foot, stretching the underlying muscles. Using my knuckles, I worked into the sole and instep, making her toes curl and causing a low moan to issue from her mouth.

I smoothed over her ankles and got my fingers around her calf muscles, pushing them up towards her heart. Lowering her foot, I started on her thighs, digging my fingers in as I slowly worked towards the top. As my hands got nearer her crotch she opened her legs slightly as if encouraging me to go to her sex but I declined and pushed on to her buttocks, pulling the material of her panties up between her legs, knowing the added pressure on her vagina would bring its own rewards. My hands were smoothing both sides of her thigh, getting close to her sex and I allowed then to make one very brief contact with the bulge of her stretched panties. She moaned again and lifted her bum slightly but again I ignored the subconscious invitation and left her upper leg to start the whole process over again at her right foot.

By the time my fingers were probing the inside of her thigh she was squirming so I rewarded her with a few brief 'accidental' touches on her intimate parts before I gently patted her bum and told her to turn over and lay on her back. As she turned, I moved to kneel at her head again and when she was settled, I bent down and kissed her lips, holding the kiss until I felt her mouth responding to mine. Satisfied that she was happy with what we were doing, I slipped her bra down her arms, exposing the large breasts to my eyes. She automatically moved her arms to cover herself but I gently moved them with little resistance from her until they were down by her sides.

I dribbled lotion over her breasts and saw her shiver as the cold liquid made contact. This was deliberate, I wanted her to be super sensitive as I began the more overtly erotic part of the massage. Taking her left breast in both hands, I massaged and manipulated the soft flesh, brushing over her nipple which was responding, popping erect and growing hard beneath my hands. I repeated this on her right breast then worked on both breasts simultaneously, pinching and pulling at the nipples, digging my fingers into the flesh and kneading quite hard. By this time her hips were flexing and I knew she was sexually charged.

Bending forward again, I kissed her mouth, this time much more passionately and she responded in the same manner, but I did not linger too long. Bending even further down, I took a nipple into my mouth and suckled on it for a while before using my teeth to nibble the hard nub. In this position I knew my own panties were close to her face and I was aroused enough for my juices to have soaked the material and produce the pheromones which were a powerful aphrodisiac.

My own bosom, still enclosed in my bra, was also hanging above her face and I thrilled as she reached up to hold it, at first tentatively then becoming bold enough to squeeze. Still bending over her, I trickled some lotion over her abdomen and spread it around, starting under her breast and running my palms in great circles round her tummy until they probed at the indentation of her navel which I penetrated and tickled with a finger, making her squirm again. Reaching even further down I massaged her lower abdomen, slipping my fingers beneath her panties and rubbing into the bush of hair down there but never quite reaching the promised land. My own crotch was right above her face and by now she was playing with both my breasts.

I lifted and stood for just long enough to remove my bra and panties before kneeling and bending over her again as my hands pushed her panties off her hips. She lifted her bum to allow me to push them down to her knees. I knew she could now see my own sex naked and moist directly above her face. Her hands were busy with my breasts as she played with my nipples and I allowed this for several minutes as I ran my hands over her abdomen down to the top of her thighs and back again. Her legs were now spread wide and I saw the puffy lips of her vagina peeking through the curls, damp and matted with her own secretions.