One Night (15 page)

Joel felt sick when he finished telling her, sick to his stomach and full of unwept tears.

Eve could see the sorrow on his face. She put her arms around him. “You did all you could. If you hadn’t been there it would have been worse.”

“Maybe,” he said. “I don’t know.”

She kissed him, softly, on the mouth. “I know,” she said. “Tell me what happened next.”

He told her how he’d left the boy on his parent’s bed while he went back into the panic room to check on them.

“The mother was dead, I didn’t even have to get close to her to tell that. Parker was badly hurt, still unconscious but breathing and warm. I’m not a doctor but it seemed like he’d be okay. I dragged him out of there, didn’t want the first thing he was when he came round to be his wife. I left him on the bed with the kid. Told the boy he needed to look after his dad until the police came. Then I went back to the room. I hadn’t even thought about it until I went back for Parker but I saw it when I was pulling him out of there. The bag.”

He’d grabbed it on instinct and run with it. He didn’t know how long it had been since his alarm had gone off but when he got downstairs he could hear a heavy vehicle pulling up on the gravel drive. Its lights had streamed through the windows of the hallway so he’d turned and run in the opposite direction, out through the rear of the house and across the huge back garden.

“I’m amazed I made it,” he told Eve. “I don’t know if the boy told them about me or not, maybe he didn’t. Maybe I owe him. Or maybe they were just so busy sorting out the mess upstairs they didn’t even think to listen to him.”

“And then you made it here.”

“Yes, I stole a car and drove for a while. Left it in a town with some money in the glove box to cover the petrol and got a room above a pub for the night. This morning I got the train here.”

“Why here? Why Southend?”

“It was the first train that came along. And it felt like somewhere big enough to get lost in for a while. Until I figured out what I was doing.”

“And have you?”

“Not yet. I need to keep moving until I do. Especially now they know I’m here.”

“Where will you go?”

“North probably. Scotland maybe, I don’t know.”

“You’re still going in the morning aren’t you?” she said. She saw straight away from his face that he was and it hurt.

“Yes. But for now I’m yours. Come on.”

He stood and held out his hand. She smiled and went with him. They walked out of the cafe together, her hand in his.

She turned to him. “You know when we were laughing back there I realised I haven’t had fun here since I came as a kid. I come every year to say goodbye to Dad again but it’s not a happy time.”

“What was your favourite ride?” he said.

“Space Chaser. It was amazing, Joel, back then anyway. Fast and cool and scary. Mum would have hated it.” She laughed. “It’s gone now. Long gone. Over the years this place has changed a lot. I guess a little bit more of Dad has died every year. The only ride I remember that’s still here is the Carousel.”

“Show me,” he said.

She knew where it was straight away, led him easily through the park to it, past the Time Machine and the Vortex and the Sky Drop. The Carousel was just as beautiful as she remembered it being as a child, colourful and magical, like something from another age.

“Dad loved it,” she said. “Loved the craftsmanship that had gone into the horses. I think it was the first ride we ever went on here, when we started coming and I was only little. It wasn’t our favourite but we still went on it every time.” She stood there looking at it and he could hear the emotion in her voice.

“I’ve never been on one,” he said.

“Never?”

“Never ever. There wasn’t much of this kind of thing in my childhood,”

“That’s sad.”

“I suppose so,” he said. “But it does mean my first Carousel ride can be with someone really special.”

“It does?”

“Yes. In fact I can’t think of anyone I’d rather share something like that with.” 

She smiled. “What do you mean?”

“Wait,” he said. He dropped the bag and she watched as he walked up to the Carousel. He pulled the same small set of tools from his pocket that he’d used to get into the cafe and she knew what he was going to do.

She ran to him, reaching him as he unlocked the door to the ride operator’s booth
. “It’s too dangerous,” she said.

“Why? Even if they do see it they’d have no reason to think it was anything to do with me. I wouldn’t be that stupid.”

She laughed.

“One quick ride and we’ll be out of here,” he said.

She raised her eyebrows. “Promises, promises.”

He laughed. “You do that a lot, you know?”

“What, say inappropriate things?”

“That too. I meant make me laugh.”

“Good,” she said and smiled.

He stepped into the booth and looked at the controls for a moment and then flicked a switch. The lights of the Carousel came on. Long lines of bulbs running from the top down the central pillar. Individual ones above each of the horses, shining down on them and making them shimmer
and shine in a way that meant whenever Eve moved her head they appeared to move too. She looked at the glowing curlicues around the canopy, surrounding the beautifully painted pictures of dancing horses, and felt like a child again, awed by its simple beauty.

She could smell the candy floss dad would buy her with a quiet “Don’t tell Mum”, could feel the warmth and security of his big hand wrapped around hers. She realised she was crying and quickly wiped her eyes, not wanting Joel to see, afraid she would spoil the moment.

He turned then and smiled at her, pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. “It’s okay,” he said and it was, she felt safe in his arms, as safe as she had in her father’s.

Joel held for a minute and then took her hand and moved it to a lever on the control panel. His hand rested over hers and together they slowly moved the lever and the Carousel began to turn. As it did the music started too, the cheery sound of the organ filling the night air.

He was grinning now, like an excited kid. 

He took her hand and they ran to the
ride together.

“Which one?” he said.

Eve grinned too at that, feeling like a kid again. “That one,” she said, pointing at the biggest brightest horse. Joel jumped up onto the revolving platform and helped her up to it. He led her to the horse and then lifted her onto it then climbed up behind her, sliding in close, wrapping his arms around her waist. They sat together, the horse slowly rising and falling, the cheerful music playing, both of them lost in the moment. Eve looked out at the rest of Adventure Island going past, the view ever changing. The lights from the Carousel washed everything in a warm magical glow, a light that brought the park to life again. She thought of her father and how he had made her feel then she thought of the man behind her, his hard body pressed against her back. She wasn’t going to lose him too.

Behind her Joel felt more at peace than he had for
weeks. He realised then, with his arms around Eve and her hair against his face, the scent of her filling his nostrils and intoxicating him, that he loved her. That he didn’t ever want to be without her.

“Never ever,” he said quietly.    

“What did you say?” said Eve.

“I’ve changed my mind,” he said. “I’m not leaving you. Never ever.”

They rode together on the Carousel for five minutes, his arms around her, her hands on top of his. He thought while they went round and round, tried to make sense of everything, tried to
conjure up a way that he could get through this with Eve still at his side.

“Let me take you home,” she s
aid, cutting into his thoughts.

“No Eve, it’s not safe. I don’t want to bring this danger into your life any more than I have already. If they find out where you live I don't know what they might do.”

She knew he was right so she shut the fantasy out of her head, the one where she led him into her bedroom and slowly undressed him. The sensation of having him this close to her was driving her wild, his strong arms, his breath on her, his taut body pressed against her back. He moved her long hair to one side and kissed the skin of her neck sending shivers of pleasure down her spine.

“I want you,” she said. “I want you to make love to me.”

“I want it too.”

She smiled, knowing he couldn’t see it but unable to help herself. “One more minute here though, I want to be able to remember this forever.” They rode for a while longer, the night turning around them, and then climbed off together. Joel stopped the ride and turned off the lights. He locked the booth again and picked up his bag.

“Thank you for bringing me here, for sharing it with me,” he said. “It’s felt like a safe haven tonight.”

“You’re the first person I’ve shared it with, all the history of it and everything. So thank you. Thank you for being the person I felt I could do that with.”

He didn’t know what to say so he said nothing. Every minute with her made him want her more, he could feel the blood pumping around his body, making his skin tingle at the thought of her touch. The thoughts he’d had on the Carousel were still tumbling around in his head though, he couldn’t stop them. He needed to act on them, he realised, in order to have some peace. It was the bag, the damn bag that was the problem. A burden on his brain as well as his back, all that money weighing him down, making it impossible to think straight.

He said it, knowing it would kill the moment but unable not to, “I’m going to leave the bag somewhere. Hide it.”

“Jesus, Joel. Why?”

“Do you know how heavy this damn thing is?” he said and she laughed.

“You seem to have done okay so far.”

“It does slow me down though. And makes me easier to spot.”

“True. Does this mean you’re going to give me a bit more competition if we run again?”

He laughed and then was quiet for a
heartbeat. “Eve,” he said, “If something happens to me the money is yours. As long as you can get it safely.”

“Nothing is going to happen to you.”

It was Eve who suggested the place to hide the bag. The Wild West show that her dad had loved so much was gone, a victim of changing tastes, but the park did have a kid’s train that drove through a mock western town. The buildings in the town were basically cheap sheds with impressive facades stuck on them and they made a great place to store something. A place no-one would have any reason to visit until the summer season.

Despite being empty the sheds were padlocked, Joel had the lock off
one in seconds. He placed the bag inside and closed and secured the door. It felt strange not to have it anymore after all those hours of carrying it.

Eve felt nervous now, like she had when she’d first gone somewhere quiet with a boy knowing she was going to let him kiss her. She was about to say something, she didn’t know what really, just something to fill the silence, when Joel turned from the shed door and took her in his arms.

She lifted her face to his and their mouths met. It felt so good, so right, that her heart started beating faster. Their last kiss had been quick, this one held the promise that it was only the start of something.

His hands were on her waist, resting on the curve of her hips, squeezing her flesh as he pulled her close. She felt again the tautness of his body, even through his clothes she could sense the energy of him, the power in each one of his muscles. She moved her hands down to his buttocks, cupping the solid flesh. Their tongues met, dancing together in the new space they had created by their kiss, half him, half her. The stubble on his face scratched hers, tiny pinpricks of pain on her sensitive flesh; it contrasted with and heightened the pleasure of the kiss. His cock was growing, she could sense it, the unspent desire building in it, swelling it so it pushed against her
stomach.

He broke off, breathing heavily, “I’ve never wanted anything more than this,” he said.

Eve couldn’t speak. Her mind was empty of words, it was there now simply to control her body and experience the pleasure he was giving her.

He took her hand and led her back to the cafe. She watched as he pulled out that little kit of his and unlocked the door. The movements of his hands were so skilled, so precise, the strength and control in them obvious. She wanted those fingers on her. In her.

He pushed open the door and held it for her, she walked in and he followed close behind her. So close she could feel the heat of him. She turned and they kissed again, longer this time. She remembered a line from some old Kevin Costner movie she’d caught late at night on TV. “Long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days.” This felt like one of those. If only they had three days.

He walked her backwards, his strong arms holding her, their feet stepping in unison, until they reached one of the tables. His hands moved to her thighs and he lifted her onto it their mouths still locked together. She spread her legs for him, let him move his body in close. She could feel his erection straining against his jeans, pushing against her, teasing her clitoris. The fabric of her underwear slid across it as he pushed against her and she gasped, the small sound lost in their united mouths. She felt like she had longed for this moment with him for years. Had it really only been a few hours?

He broke off the kiss and stepped back from her. His hands rested on her thighs, he stroked them up to the waistband of her jeans, fingers struggling with the buttons that held them shut.

She could see the frustration on his face and it made her smile. “Stop,” she said and laughed when his face fell.

“Don’t worry,” she said and pushed his hands aside, undoing the buttons herself then, parting the fabric to reveal the black lace beneath.

“Lift yourself,” he said and she did, raising her buttocks off the table so he could pull the tight jeans down over her legs.

“We make a good team,” he said and then knelt on the floor in front of her, pulling her underwear down, exposing her.

She was about to say something back, something witty or clever, when she felt his mouth on her and
she lost the ability to speak.

Her hands went to his head, fingers weaving themselves through his short hair as he kissed her, gently at first and then with more force. She felt his tongue there, sliding into the heat of her, exploring her. The tip of his nose pressed against her clitoris teasing it gently as he made love to her with his mouth. She could feel the pleasure building inside her, spreading through her body, warming her, carrying her on a wonderful cloud of erotic sensation.

She pushed his head away from her a second before it became too much. He understood, smiled. Eve watched as he stood before her and stripped; he did it quickly, efficiently, with no sense of vanity or display. She enjoyed the show, his body revealing itself to her. His bruises stood out against his white skin, dark spots that blended into the night behind him. He was hard, his cock standing up eagerly from the nest of hair between his long muscular legs. She pulled her top off, undid her bra to free her breasts, wanting to feel his skin against hers. He looked at her admiringly and she liked having his eyes on her, shining with lust.

As he walked to her he slipped a condom onto his hardness and she enjoyed the sight of his fingers wrapped around it, stroking it, readying it for her.

She pulled him close, his sparse hair against her chest, scratching her erect nipples. She took hold of him, guiding him into her. He kissed her, his tongue entering her mouth as his cock parted her hungry lips and slid into the heart of her.

They made love like that, their bodies tight together, rocking back and forth. There was no world but him, no sound but his breath, no feeling but his hardness inside of her and his tight body pressed against hers.

When she came it felt like an explosion of joy. A volcano that erupted from the centre of her, hot pleasure flooding through every part of her body. She felt him tense, his whole being tightening and then relaxing as he came too, pulsing inside her in time with the waves of her own orgasm.

Afterwards they sat together on the floor. His back was leaning on the wall, her head on his chest listening to his heart as he stroked her hair. She looked up at him, at his strong masculine face. She found herself tracing the scar on his cheek. Her finger lazily running over it.

“Will you tell me about it?” she said. “One day.”

“I’ll tell you now,” he said.