Page 99 of An Unholy Affair
The next morning, the sun was still an hour and a half away from rising when Jack’s alarm went off. He lay in the darkness, aware of just how different everything inside him felt. His heart wasn’t just lighter than it had ever been before. It was bouncing around with excitement like a kid on their birthday. Stretching, he noticed the changes in his body. It had been three days since the funeral—and his last drink—and for the first time in as long as he could remember, everything felt clean and clear.
Swinging himself out of bed, he quietly padded to the bathroom, not wanting to wake his mother. Maybe hehadbeen drinking a bit too much recently. A few weeks ago, he would have dismissed any suggestion he had a problem, but Eveline had given him pause for thought. So he’d decided to stop completely for a bit and prove to himself—as well as everyone else—that he could. So far, any niggling thought about wanting alcohol had been hidden under thoughts of wanting Eveline.
Outside, the sky was still dark above him, low clouds hiding the first reaches of the sun as it crept towards the horizon. With no traffic or early morning dog walkers on the roads, his footsteps felt louder than normal. He sped up.
With the late nights of his job, Jack usually didn’t wake until ten, but he didn’t want to wait until late morning before he saw Eveline again. The previous evening had truly been ‘beyond’, and still felt shockingly unreal. Seeing her as soon as possible would confirm it hadn’t been a fever dream.
Passing the side of the rectory towards the back door, he heard the birds already squabbling at the feeders and the happy oinks of pigs being fed. Continuing into the garden to the far end, Eveline’s hair was shining like a beacon in the grey half-light.
One of the pigs noticed him and snorted loudly.
Eveline raised her head. ‘Jack!’ She looked so happy to see him.
His smile felt like it might split his own face in two.
‘What are you doing here?’ Her hand smoothed her hair, as if conscious she hadn’t prepared herself for his arrival.
The gesture tugged at his heart, and he closed the distance between them. ‘I wanted to see you.’ He cradled her head and brushed a kiss across her lips.
‘Ohhhh,’ she replied, turning the word into a breathy sigh.
Jack kissed her again, his lips pressing firmer. She opened to him, her tongue darting out to meet his, and a pulse of heat shot down to his cock. Memories from the previous evening slammed into him with visceral intensity. Having sex with Eveline hadn’t taken the edge off his desire. It had only sharpened it to a point where everything else in life seemed utterly superfluous.
She seemed to think the same, pressing herself into him, pulling on his hair almost to the point of pain, her kiss greedy and demanding.
A sudden squeal from the pigs broke them apart.
She laughed nervously, touching her reddened cheeks and glancing around the empty garden.
‘I think we’re safe,’ he said. ‘The sun hasn’t risen yet.’
Her eyes darted down to his crotch.
‘But yes,’ he continued. ‘Thathasrisen.’
The colour in her face heightened, and she giggled. ‘Is your cock about to crow?’
A laugh burst out of him, and he tugged her into his arms, gazing down at her. ‘Eveline Shaw, you’re a minx.’
She looked delighted at his words and pressed her hips into his. ‘I think it wants to doodle-do.’
Jack laughed again, happiness bubbling out of him. ‘Eveline, whenever I think of you, that’s all it wants to do.’
An oink and a thud drew her attention, and she frowned. ‘Not again.’
She pulled away from him to the pigpen. Pinky and Perky were using their force to shoulder one of the fence posts. It was already bent from the vertical and looked like it wouldn’t take much more to bring it down completely.
Eveline let out a growl of frustration. ‘You little monsters. The sooner you’re in my freezer, the better.’
‘When’s that happening?’
‘Not for a couple of weeks. I had to book them in months in advance and I didn’t know they were going to get quite this big.’
Jack moved the top of the fence post. ‘It doesn’t feel that sturdy.’
She nodded. ‘It’s been loosened over the last couple of years. I’ve been meaning to install an electric fence that I got cheap off one of the local smallholders, but haven’t found the time.’
‘Can I help?’
