L'amore: The Luminara Series (75 page)

I looked out into the empty paddock for hours and silently sobbed because I thought he was never coming back. When he trotted back, instead of telling Mum, I ran towards him. Once he reined the horse to a halt and got off, he crouched down and opened his arms and I threw myself in them and latched on so tightly while Grandpa whispered in my ear that he would always take care of me and never let me be hurt ever again.

Grandpa cried when I was responsive and voluntarily cuddled him for the first time. He barely let me go after that day; I was always by his side. Our relationship then gradually progressed. Every day we built more trust and he taught me new things. He knew we never had any choices in our previous life, so he always asked what I’d like to take from Granny’s store cupboard to feed the horses; he would let me choose. The first time I suggested the yummy butternut squash soup Granny made, he smiled and explained what the horses were allowed to have and why. Normally, we would take carrots, sweet potatoes, or turnips.

Granny had tried getting me to eat apples as part of our new diet. I hated them. She used to buy green Granny Smith apples but they were awfully sour and I always thought they were better used in cooking than eating raw. I tried telling her, but she thought I was being fussy. I soon discovered the horses loved them, so I would sneak them out of my packed lunch on my AAT days and give mine to Angel on the sly.

Mum’s one-on-one therapy sessions were normally at lunchtime, so Grandpa used to take us walks with a packed lunch, weather permitting.

Sitting at a bench on a sunny June day in 1997, the summer after we escaped, I noticed a red apple in my purple
Spice Girls
lunch box. Granny thought I’d appreciate having something modern that was fashionable at the time. I had the T-shirts, sweatshirts, posters and pencil case.

The red apple was big and juicy; Grandpa told me it was a Red Mackintosh. I held it in my hands and turned it around, admiring its pretty colour.

“Go ahead, try it. I bet you like this one better than those green ones Granny gives you,” he said. Cameron scoffed his and I desperately wanted to try it as he seemed to enjoy it.

My teeth sank into it and juice trickled down my chin. He was right, I loved it. It was delicious. I ate it so quickly I don’t think I stopped for a breath. Afterwards I was very silent. I stared at my empty lunch box, then over at Angel in the paddock and I looked down at my hands. I felt guilty for eating my apple because I always liked to give her an extra treat, Grandpa watched me inquisitively.

The next day, Cameron opened his lunch box, fisted in the air shouting, “Yes!” pleased with whatever he got. I opened my lunch box, excited to see if I had another red apple. I smiled when I saw the red apple but wrinkled my nose when I saw a tuna mayo sub wrapped in cellophane. This was another food I was encouraged to try. I sighed because I thought I’d be left hungry. I wanted to give Angel my apple, but I didn’t like the smell of my sub and I wouldn’t be allowed the treat until I ate my lunch.

The treat was always a surprise. Grandpa kept it in his backpack, sometimes he even brought extra that Granny didn’t know about because he liked to spoil us, but the condition was that we ate lunch first. That was never an issue for Cameron; he would have eaten his hand given a chance. I was a little fussier. I think this is why I liked to give Angel an extra treat. I cared for her the same way Grandpa cared for us. Or I thought it was the same at the time.

Pouring some freshly squeezed lemonade for us, Grandpa sat back and looked in his Tupperwear tub. He asked why I wasn’t eating. I dropped my head and told him I wasn’t sure about the tuna. Cameron was already half way through his by this point, like a typical ravenous thirteen year old boy, making grunting noises and wiping his mouth across his T-shirt.

Grandpa gave me his cheese wrap, and he ate my tuna sub and said it was our secret. He then said if I ate my red apple, I would get my treat. I wanted the treat but I also wanted to give Angel my apple so I chewed the inside of my cheek and worried about it.

“Lex, if you don’t eat that apple I’m going to eat it,” Cameron teased.

“No way, you’ve had yours,” I retaliated. I didn’t know what to do because Grandpa was already rummaging in his backpack and I knew Cameron would be getting his treat.

It was clotted cream fudge.
Yummy
. Grandpa laid the box on the wooden table; I stared at it, thinking how much I liked fudge the last time he had given it to us. It was soft and creamy and tasted like heaven. Grandpa wouldn’t tease us, so I wondered why he was laying it out in front of me. Cameron then moaned and told me to hurry up and eat my apple so we could open the fudge.

I did.

I took massive bites of the juicy apple, practically swallowing it whole. Satisfied, Grandpa allowed us to rip the confectionary box open and devour the fudge while he smiled and poured tea from his flask. Once the fudge was finished, I shifted restlessly on the bench. All I could think about was poor Angel missing out on her apple for two days running.

Cameron grabbed his ball and started kicking it around the field; I sat quietly with a full stomach but worried about Angel. I knew what it was like to feel hungry. What if Mr. Murdock forgot to feed her and she felt hungry? The thought made me restless.

“Alexis, I have something for you, an extra treat,” Grandpa said, clearing up the bench. When my big chocolate eyes flicked up, he held another red apple in front of me. “This one is for Angel, let’s go and give it to her.” I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck and told him thank you about a million times. “Hey, come on now, kid, it’s only an apple and from now on, you and Angel will have your own at lunchtime. Alexis you are a very special little girl, so thoughtful and considerate, and your Granny and I couldn’t be prouder. I knew you were feeling guilty about the apple. I love you, kid, in fact you are the apple of my eye.” He sobbed because I was so appreciative and held him so tightly. It’s a memory I will always cherish.

I smiled all afternoon that day and couldn’t wait to tell Mum all about it. Of course a plain old green apple would still be sufficient for Angel, but I wanted her to have the same as me. It tasted better and she was my friend, after all, and Grandpa knew that. From that day forward Grandpa has called me Apple …
his Apple
.

Lucca is adamant I’m not getting up on a horse today. He’s fearful I’ll harm the baby or injure myself. I comply only because I’m happy enough just to spend time with Angel and have no desire to be running off with her when I have Lucca right here. I even brought a few red apples for her from Granny’s fruit bowl.

“If we have a daughter, I’d love her to take lessons and ride,” I say, following the contour of Angel’s glossy muscles with my palms.

He kisses my head and runs his fingers down my braid.

“I’d like that too. Maybe we need to upsize and invest in stables.”

Rolling my eyes, I shake my head, but I’m thinking he might actually be serious.

Lloyd and Devon are not too far behind and waiting patiently in the SUV at the end of the road. Lucca is leaning against a gate inside the indoor stables, watching me bend over to brush Angel’s legs.

“I know you’re looking at my ass,” I say, looking over my shoulder and catching his sexy dimple, his lips curling up at one end.

“Hmmm, your ass is pretty amazing in those cock-teasing, denim shorts. What do you expect when you bend over wearing hot fucking shit like that?”

Smiling, I ignore him until I feel him pull me back into his denim-clad erection, pressing against said denim shorts, causing me to drop the paddle brush. He turns me around and picks me up in a swift move so I’m straddling his waist. Angel neighs, nodding her head but doesn’t flinch her body.

Gripping my ass and slipping his tongue into my mouth with fervent desire, he strides backwards, carrying me to the very back of the stables where there is a dark empty stall. He shoves my back up against the timber wall and assaults my mouth then pops the buttons on my chequered shirt to free my red lace bra.

“Jesus, I have not seen this one before,” he rasps.

I thrust my hips forward to meet his hard cock, hoping the friction from the denim presses onto my throbbing sweet spot and gives me some relief.

“Looks as if you are getting that ride after all,” he groans into my mouth then places me on my feet. He unbuttons my shorts and slides them down over my boots and off my legs in one fluid motion, leaving me breathless in only riding boots, red bra, and a matching thong, my long braid hanging over my shoulder.

“Lexi, Christ … you are every man’s fucking fantasy standing there like that. You are my fantasy, and I want to fuck you senseless right here, right now.”

I grab his shirt to pull him back towards me. “Take me,” I beg.

Fast.

Hard.

Now.

He pauses for a moment, admiring me, his lustful eyes burning my body.

“You have no idea how sexy you look right now. God, you are beautiful.” He slides his belt off, unbuttons his jeans, then lowers them with his boxers, freeing his impeccable cock. I grab his T-shirt, pulling him to my chest, and he picks me back up to straddle his waist.

I squeeze tightly around him with one arm around his neck and the other on his ass. He holds me firmly against the wall then uses one hand to move the tiny red lace material from my wet folds. He slams into me, riding me zealously until my eyes water and I bite down on his shoulder, crying his name in pleasure.

Fast.

Hard.

Furious.

He grips my braid and pushes me further up the wall as he comes deep inside me, wildly shouting my name and spilling his release until I come hard and desperate around him.

After showering and changing back at the house, we go to the Boat Hotel for some late lunch. I’m surprised to find Aunt Eva, my mum’s younger sister by two years and her husband, Uncle Jim. My eighteen-year-old twin cousins, Hayley and Hayden, are also waiting for us in the private dining area.

“Oh my goodness,” I scream excitedly and greet them.

It’s been so long since I’ve last seen them. Mum must have planned this surprise. Lucca is introduced and we spend forty minutes hugging and catching up before actually sitting down to look at the menu. Mum and Aunt Eva look alike, but Aunt Eva’s hair is auburn—wavy, and stylishly short.

Hayden is Cameron’s younger image; he looks very much like him, and he too has the boy band persona. I suspect he’s going to have females flocking around him everywhere he goes if he doesn’t have a girlfriend already.

Hayden’s twin Hayley is gorgeous. She’s slim but curvy, has massive blue eyes, and her light brown, highlighted hair is piled on top of her head in a messy bun, similar to how I like to wear mine. She wears a slinky, green maxi dress which hugs her curvy figure. Her eyes blaze when she admires how handsome and attractive Lucca is, and of course, he has charmed both her and Aunt Eva.

Bloody flirt.

Lunch has been lovely and it has been nice catching up with the family and hearing all about Hayley’s escapades at Dundee University. She’s such a free spirit, and I admire her confidence and footloose qualities. She’s very intelligent and studying to be an optometrist.

Hayden’s apprenticeship is going well. Lucca has offered him permanent work with the contractors for Osurac Industries, which blows him away. Hayden’s so much more laid-back than Hayley, to the point he’s horizontal. It’s endearing to witness them mature into young adults. They are both so grown up now.

They are coming back to the cottage with us to stay the evening. The boys are away in the fields clay pigeon shooting with Doris. Mum, Aunt Eva, Granny, Hayley, and I go to the Hilton Coylumbridge in Aviemore for facials and some wine and drinks in the bar—mine being a decaf coffee—with Lloyd and Devon.

They choose to sit at a table next to us. Aunt Eva is aware that Michael Parks is in the UK. Mum called and told her, but they’ve kept that information from Hayley and Hayden for now. I suppose they don’t need their minds warped with this. Although they are adults now and should be made aware, they will find out soon enough when they discover the room that’s being used by the security team. It’s only a matter of time before they ask about our Men in Black.