Love and Time Know No Bounds

It was nuts, but I did as Margot suggested. I put the leaves under my pillow before turning the light out. What if I didn't dream of anyone? That wouldn't worry me to be honest. I was kind of expecting to spend my life alone anyway.

I snuggled down and closed my eyes. Yeah. I'd dream of cats.

I stirred in my sleep, rising slowly to consciousness, until I registered Margot sitting on the edge of my bed. She said nothing as I tried to focus my eyes on her in the dark. Instead, she just looked down at me. The moon must have come from behind a cloud as the light intensified. Just a little. Enough for me to see she was naked. I saw the outline of her tits rising with each breath and an arousal in my belly took hold of me.

I could smell her. That same natural sweet smell, like the wildflowers of the meadow. Subtle, yet pervasive.

"Who did you dream of?" Margot asked.

Another flash of moonlight and I saw her holding the leaves from under my pillow. I thought hard to recover a fast-fading dream.

"You." My voice was a whisper, surprised at myself.

She lifted the cover and without thinking, I moved to make room. A moment later Margot was in my bed putting her lips to mine as she pressed her warm body against me. I came alive, kissing her back, letting my hands caress her shoulders and holding her tightly to me.

She felt so warm and soft and she smelt so sweet. I could feel her heart beating and I sensed every breath she took.

Her leg pushed between mine and I instinctively rocked my hips to press my pussy onto her thigh. My heart pounded with an excitement that took hold of me, making me forget everything I thought I was.

"Oh my god." I gasped as she lifted her head from me.

"I've never ..."

"Kissed a girl?" She finished for me.

I could see her eyes sparkling in the half-light and the slight upturn of her lips. A soft, beautiful, feminine face just inches from mine.

"No. Not like that." I replied.

"Did you like it?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to do some more?"

My belly churned and tumbled and I felt my wetness escaping. A heat and pressure expanded in my groin until it burned like a fire erasing everything I thought I knew about myself.

"Yes." I whispered in a voice that betrayed the tremble in my body.

I quivered as Margot slid lower and put her mouth to my breast. Soft, gentle kisses. Her tongue ran circles around my nipple before her lips closed over it and sucked.

"Uh. Fuck."

I felt warm and prickly. Goosebumps came out all over me. I wanted to cum right there and then.

I spread my legs wide, wanting only to have her pressed against my sex. To have her flesh ease the ache that grew and grew.

I gripped her hair, twisting it between my fingers and pushed her head lower. Margot threw away the covers and kissed my belly, the tops of my legs, then I felt her breath on my wet pussy.

"Oh god."

I became dizzy with desire as her tongue explored my vulva, purposefully missing the seat of my fire until I was writhing with desperation.

"Please."

I jolted as she drew her tongue up my slit. Then I was parted and penetrated.

"Jesus, fuck."

It was like nothing I'd ever experienced and it took only a few minutes to have my bean jumping before exploding, spreading its joy throughout my body.

"Fuuck."

When it was my turn I was hungry. I devoured that sweet, delicious pussy as if my life depended on it. It was the most wonderful thing I'd ever done. Her juice was like honey to me. It coated my lips and my tongue lapped it up to coat my tastebuds. I wanted only to savour her flavour and bring her to a moment of joy as she had me.

Margot came with a shudder and a murmur. Quieter than me but with just as much force. I felt her energy and sensed its strength through fingertips that dug into my shoulders as she pushed me away when she could take no more.

We cuddled and kissed, tasting ourselves on each other's lips. Hands caressed flesh and teased excited nipples while our hips rocked against thighs, rubbing on wet flesh until we came again. This time it was in perfect unison while our tongues danced a ballet and soft moans emanated from deep in the throat.

I drifted into a relaxed sleep, content in the knowledge that I'd just had sex that I'd liked. Sex that left me wanting more rather than empty and disappointed. I went to sleep with the realisation that I finally knew myself. And that Margot was the one who would break my solitary existence.

I sat up with a start. Bright sunlight was blazing into the room, tearing through the thin cotton curtains as though they weren't there. Also not there was Margot.

Everything from the night before came rushing back to me in an overload of thoughts and images that threatened to overpower me. Then I felt the joy. That unbelievable satisfaction she'd brought to me how no one else ever had.

"Margot?"

I called her name as I leapt from the bed, rushing to the spare room. I stared at the remade bed for a moment before running down the stairs two at a time.

"Margot?"

I went into the kitchen expecting to find her making coffee.

"Margot."

My cottage was empty aside from me. My heart sank.

"What the fuck?"

I wanted to call her immediately. To share my excited revelation at having sex with her. I wanted to tell her how wonderful she was and how much I loved her.

I cursed that she was the only person in the entire world that didn't have a mobile phone.

SIX

Margot seemed to have vanished from my life. It was angry that she had shown me such joy and dumped me as surely as the guy who had taken my virginity. Him, I hadn't cared so much about. But Margot had left a hole in my heart. I was devastated as one day turned into two. Then three.

The following week I had to work. At least I told myself I had to. I spent the days preparing curriculum material for my student's return in September. It occupied my mind and kept away the sadness. The evenings, however, I couldn't fill. No amount of Netflix could keep my head focusing on thoughts of failure.

I found myself analysing my sex life. A handful of unsatisfactory liaisons with men and an experiment with a woman who'd vanished from my life. Was I really that poor in bed?

It was a week I had no self-esteem. Even my Rabbit held no attraction for me.

My head filled with Margot at every opportunity. Images and hopes forced their way through every gap in my thoughts. At night I sniffed the pillow trying to hold on to the fading smell of her scent. Then I lay awake for hours reliving that moment, trying to recapture it to get off so I could sleep. Each attempt ended in failure and when I did finally sleep, I was troubled by a frustration I couldn't end.

I cursed that I had found the only girl in the world who didn't own a smartphone. I didn't even know where Margot lived. In the village? No. She said she visited. So where from? The main town? Or somewhere else? Did it matter? I couldn't exactly walk the streets hoping to just bump into her.

At night I lay in bed struggling to sleep with a racing mind. Or I found myself overdone with sadness and cried myself to sleep.

It was a whole week later that I woke from a troubled sleep with a start. For a moment I lay still, frozen by a feeling I wasn't alone. My heart pounded in my ears and I could feel the rush of adrenaline in my bloodstream.

Slowly I looked around the darkened room, studying every shadow to identify its source. My heartbeat eased back. In the old days, before we understood how our minds worked, people would be gripped with night terrors. Waking in the night like this came with irrational fears of demons and evil spirits. I knew better.

But what if I didn't? What if there was a ghost? Margot's words came back to me, reminding me that if anything, my ghost had only been kind. She had stopped me from falling from the ladder that first evening. I took a deep breath and let the subconscious doubts in my certainty that everything could be explained surface.

"If you're here, I'm not frightened of you." I said out loud.

I sat up slowly, fighting the urge to turn in the light.

"Why don't you show yourself?"

The room remained as still and silent as it had been.

"Who are you?"

I turned the lamp on and the light washed away the sensations with a flood of sensibility. There was only me in the room.

"Idiot." I cursed myself.

"There's no such thing as ghosts."

I took a few breaths to settle my nerves and clambered from the bed. I needed a pee before I could sleep again. I laughed at the tremble in my knees and forced myself to walk purposefully to the toilet. But I was a little quick to tug the light pull as soon as the door opened.

As I turned to sit I caught a glimpse of hair out of the corner of my eye. A girl's head moving.

"Fuck."

I almost fell into the shower cubical as I jumped out of my skin.

"For fuck sake."

It was the mirror over the sink. I'd seen myself. I let out a gasp of relief and settled. I sat and let my bladder empty before going back to bed.

The next morning I poured over textbooks making notes on the construct of sentences and the impact of sociolinguistics.

The doorbell rang and I went to open it expecting a Bible basher or another clown trying to sell me a bloody heat pump. Lord knows they had targeted the village recently because so many of us were reliant on bottled gas or oil for our heating.

To my shock, Margot stood there. For a moment I forgot to breathe as she just seemed to stare at me. Then she was on me, pushing me back into the tiny hallway, smooching her mouth on mine.

I melted into her arms and let my excitement at seeing her again dissipate with our caress. I was an animal, desperate to fill my senses to overload with her smell, taste, sound and feel. I wanted to commit it to memory in case she vanished again. Then we broke and with a deep breath, I snapped my anger at her.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

I wanted to hit her as much as I wanted to kiss her again.

"I wasn't sure what you'd say." She said nervously.

"What? What does that mean?

You come into my life, fuck me like ... like ... then vanish?

I wanted you so much when I woke up. I wanted to share how I felt and you weren't there. Do you have any idea how that left me feeling?"

"I thought I might have ... taken advantage. That you might be angry with me."

For a moment I just stared at her, seeing how her eyes portrayed her feelings. I saw a fear and my anger dissipated like smoke. I pulled her close and kissed her again, reassuringly.

"What the fuck are you talking about? It was wonderful." I said as the softness returned to my voice.

"Are you sure? You've only liked men before."

"Yeah. Well, I wouldn't necessarily use the word like when it comes to men. They proved to be pretty shit. Perhaps I just needed to be shown there was something else. Something better."

She smiled warmly."

"So I'm still welcome."

I lifted a foot and kicked the door shut behind her before we collected an audience. So many older people lived in the village. Two girls making out in full view would give some of the less accepting a heart attack.

"Of course, you're bloody welcome.

I missed you so much.

Where have you been?

I thought I'd done something wrong. That I ... I wasn't good enough."

My lower lip fluttered as I still feared she would tell me I wasn't.

"Sorry.

I just needed some space."

She stepped away and allowed me to breathe properly.

"Space?

Why?

I thought you were the one who liked girls. Isn't it me that should be confused and unsure?"

"Are you?"

I sighed.

"A little." I admitted.

"That's why I needed you. To reassure me."

"Sorry." She said again.

"Perhaps I was giving you space."

I felt a renewed anger at that.

"I didn't want fucking space. I wanted you."

Margot turned and walked into my living room. I followed, unsure what else to say. I went with the mundane.

"You er ... want a coffee or something?"

"Coffee would be nice. Thank you."

I filled the kettle and switched it on while I hunted out a jar of instant and some mugs.

"Christ, Margot.

What happened... What we did. It was amazing. But you left me for a whole week thinking I wasn't good enough. I hated you for that."

I shuddered as the words left my mouth.

"You were better than good enough Erin. But I worried I was corrupting you."

"Corrupt away. I don't care. I just want you to be with me."

"You don't mind being called a dyke? Or queer?"

I pulled a face at her.

"Who uses words like that today? Those times went with ... well, the same time your clothes went out of fashion I reckon."

She looked down at her clothing. Some kind of orange paisley patterned dress that ended well above the knee and had flared cuffs. There was a matching scarf tied around her head. To be truthful, I'd never seen an outfit like it.

"What's wrong with my clothes?"

"Nothing. They're just ... unusual."

She grinned.

"I look better out of them." She smirked.

I poured the hot water, stirring the coffee.

"Drink this first. Then I might ask you to prove it.

Milk and sugar?"

"Just a little milk please."

I added a dash and handed her the mug.

"Just promise me you won't disappear again. Or buy a bloody phone."

"I won't. Promise."

I took her free hand, playing with her fingers for a moment before leading her to the sofa. We sat and cuddled, planting delicate kisses on one another.

"I missed you so much."

My words came from the heart, infused with such need as I'd never felt.

Margot became ever more animated, touching and squeezing me. A hunger that gripped her and could only be satisfied by my heating flesh.

I gasped as she slipped to the floor between my feet, pushing my knees wide. Soft palms caressed my thighs, moving steadily higher towards quickly dampening panties.

"Uhh."

I stared down at her sweet face. I saw her focus on my groin. The hunger in her eyes. I trembled as my shorts were unclasped and began their travel down my legs.

"Are you sure you want this? She asked with a softness.

"I'm sure. I said."

This was heart-pounding. It wasn't the spur-of-the-moment thing in a darkened room. It was in my living room in full daylight. I could see my seduction by another girl with clarity. And it was incredible.

"You're so beautiful, Erin."

Her hands caressed my thighs, her fingers toying at the edge of dampening panties.

"Uhhh."

"Such smooth legs."

I watched her hands as if hypnotised. She brushed over the thin material sending shudders up my spine. My stomach did somersaults.

Margot looked up and smiled, pausing only long enough to pull her top away and remove her bra. I stared. Soft, milky white mounds with delightful pink tips that hardened under my gaze.

"Fuck."

Her fingers probed under the hem, just lightly stroking the edges of my slit.

"You're so wet."

I willed her to take my panties off and as if reading my mind, she slipped them away. I spread my legs, my hunger encompassing my whole being.

"Uhh. God."

It was heaven. Joy beyond comprehension when her mouth smooched my pussy and her tongue glided between my delicate folds to gather my fluids. I gripped her hair, pushing her face tighter to me.

"Please. Eat that pussy." I whispered.

Margot obliged. Her lips, her tongue, her fingers. A unified assault that brought pleasure which threatened to overload my senses.

"Uhhh."

I was so close to cuming when I launched myself from the sofa and pressed her to the rug, tearing at those jeans as she pulled my tee shirt away. Within moments we were naked, writhing on the floor, pressing our flesh together as if we would become one. Our sweat, our nectar became a lubricant. It oiled our movements, legs and arms gliding against one another in a tangle of ecstasy.

I explored her body. A powerful need to touch her everywhere. To be intimate and have her kiss me all over. I felt vulnerable and excited all at once and my hips and thighs spasmed. I fucked myself on her fingers while rubbing her bean until she cried out with delight. I followed right behind.

"Jesus. Fuck."

We lay in each other's arms after with the afternoon sun streaming through the patio doors warming our flesh. I felt elated just as I had that first time. I wanted time to stand still while we cuddled and caressed one another on my sofa for an eternity.

"I love you." I muttered fearing she would be horrified and reject me. That it might only be about the sex for her.

Instead, she lifted her head and looked into my eyes. I could see a tremble on her lips. Fear in her eyes, and tears.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

She clasped me tightly, smoothing my hair and nuzzling into my neck as if never wanting to let me go. An emotion I could identify with.

"Where did you find this?"

Margot was holding the teddy I'd recovered.

"It was in the old suitcase I found in the loft. It was in there with a load of old magazines and the sketchbook I showed you."

She stroked the toy and held it with a childlike innocence.

"I think it was once loved." She said softly.

I was just staring at her body. She was so beautiful naked. A perfect feminine shape sleek and smooth. I wondered how I could have missed my liking for girls. Or was it just this girl? Most certainly Margot was the one I wanted. But the desire had to have been there all along. It explained why my previous explorations of sex had been such a disappointment.

"I'm sure it was. A young girl grew up here. I'm certain of it. Then at some point, probably when she became an adult, part of her life was packed away and forgotten. Left behind when she moved on."

"It's what we do, isn't it? When we reach a certain age. We can't quite let go of the things that were important to us as children. But we also want to hide that part away because we are embarrassed by it as young adults."

I nodded.

"True.

When I was eighteen I cleared my room of anything that made me look childish. I was terrified that I'd take someone back there and they'd laugh at me because I had dolls or children's books."

"When you thought you'd take boys back there?"

I laughed.

"Yeah. Before I discovered they weren't what I wanted at all. Took me a few years to work it out properly though. And you."

She put the teddy down carefully and came back to hold me.

"So you're comfortable with this choice?"

"Jesus, Margot. How many times do I have to tell you? Yes."

"Good.

Because ... I love you."

I stared into her eyes. It was there. She meant it. And so did I when I answered her.

"I love you too."

That was it. We had both said it now.

We kissed again, falling back onto the sofa in each other's arms, neither of us wanting the moment to end. I'd never felt so comfortable being naked with someone. I wanted her to look upon me. To touch me. I wanted us to be like this forever.

SEVEN

Of course, Margot did leave me again. Not before we had taken one another to the blissful heights of erotic pleasure several more times. None of it felt like the intrusion my two previous sexual experiences had been. It was natural. As if she were part of me. We kissed and held one another, rolling on and off, slowly, vigorously bringing each other to the point where we let go and allowed ourselves to be seen and enjoyed in that moment of total vulnerability.

When finally I had to say goodbye I kissed her passionately on my doorstep not caring who might see us. I made her promise to return the following day, hardy being able to bear being parted from her.

I went to bed that night exhausted. A blissful, physical and emotional tiredness that should have seen me fall into a deep sleep. Instead, I found myself staring into the shadows of the room with that deep sense of a presence. As if someone was sitting, just watching me.