“Don’t do that,” he said with a grin.
“Sorry, but I’ve been waiting ages, what kept you?”
“Ages? I said I’d be here at noon and it’s five to.”
“I tried to get you to hurry, if you hadn’t overtaken that silly tractor just past Stowe, you would have been much later.”
“Do you always watch me?”
Amber smiled knowingly. “Not always, just when it suits me.”
“Are you ready…” he started to say, but she was already almost at the car, suitcase in hand.
“What about your mother?”
“She knows. I said goodbye ten minutes ago.”
Matthew shrugged and watched her.
She was wearing a very short mini dress and high heels. Her hair was very long and with make up, she looked much older than sixteen. He swallowed, trying not to look at those golden legs and her very firm breasts.
“Stop staring at my boobs, Matthew, you’ll get us both into trouble,” she said without looking his way.
“Cut that out, you minx,” he said, crossly.
She laughed delightfully and got in the car after throwing her case in the back.
Matthew sighed, shaking his head. This was getting more and more complicated. He’d woken up with a concrete erection this morning, but it was of Amber he had been dreaming. He started the car and pulled away from the kerb.
“Really? Ooh, you terrible man,” she suddenly said, giggling.
“Amber, please give me some privacy. It’s very rude to continually peek,” he said, crossly.
“Sorry, I just seem to pick up when people think of me.”
“Oh?”
“You seem to do it quite a lot, don’t you?” she asked, placing one hand on his arm.
He looked at her.
“Amber, stop it, please! I’ve a job to do, and you aren’t making it any easier.”
“Sorry.”
He drove in silence for a while.
“How was school?”
She smiled. “Okay. They’re so lame, aren’t they?”
“Who?”
“People. You know, teachers, girls, parents. Everyone really. They’ve such small lives. They’re like mice in a maze, rushing about not really knowing where they’re going.”
“And you do?”
She smiled again. “Oh yes, I know exactly where I’m going. I’m just not quite sure which way I’m going to take to get there.”
“Life’s like that, it keeps throwing up challenges and one never knows quite how to deal with them.”
She looked at him, thinking that he looked so handsome.
“Why was your wife such an idiot?” she asked.
“What?” he asked, surprised.
“I mean, you loved her, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I did. Why?”
“And she must have loved you, at the beginning at any rate?”
“She told me she did. Look, Amber, where are you going with this?”
“She left you for a boring accountant, she must have been bonkers.”
Matthew smiled. “I suppose she felt safer with an accountant who was there for her than the soldier who wasn’t.”
“You’re a soldier, she understood that, didn’t she?”
“I think she thought I’d leave or get a home posting. I don’t think she knew how committed I was.”
“Was or am?”
He looked at her. “Both.”
She smiled. “I understand.”
“That’s good, Amber. I’m pleased.”
“I just want you to know that I want you to do it.”
“Do what?”
“Be the first man to fuck me.”
The car came to a shuddering halt in the middle of the road. The lorry to the rear sounded its horn and so Matthew started off again, his mind reeling. Amber simply smiled.
“You see, I’ve decided that boys my age haven’t a clue and with all their fumblings I’ll probably end up pregnant. So I’d rather learn how to do it properly with someone I’m fond of and trust. That’ll be you.”
“Me?”
“Aren’t you surprised?”
“Yes, well no. Yes, or rather the way you say things are hardly easy for me to deal with. You are so direct, it’ll get you into trouble, you know?”
“You’re the only person I can talk to like this. Don’t you want me then?”
Matthew was confused. If he said yes then he risked everything, if he said no, she could take offence and he’d lose her forever.
Lose her forever?
He glanced at the girl next to him.
She was smiling and he understood she was teasing him.
“I thought you were serious for a moment, minx!”
The smile left her and he saw the seriousness in her eyes.
“I’m not teasing. You see, I know how you feel about me, despite trying to be so good and honourable and everything. If it’s any consolation, I feel the same way about you.”
She turned and stared through the windscreen.
“I knew I loved you about a year ago, just after I took my games mistress for a lover because I thought you’d gone away. She thought she seduced me, but I think it was the other way around. I knew you wouldn’t even think about me then, so I had to find out things about myself.”
She turned back. “Have I shocked you?”
“Go on,” he heard himself say.
“Oh, it was fun, the sex. But I could never be a real lesbian. Women are fun, but something was missing. What’s the point in being designed for something but never using it for that purpose?”
Despite his shock and surprise, Matthew smiled.
“You see, I decided that if anyone was going to fuck me, it could only be you. It doesn’t count with a woman. It was fun, but all I did was keep a very frustrated woman happy for a while. She’s probably found another girl by now.”
“Did you love her?”
“Love? No, she was nice, but we had nothing in common. I told her that when I ended the relationship.”
Matthew smiled again. Amber was completely devoid of guile. She said things as she saw them, regardless of their impact.
“That’s not true, Matthew, and you know it. I say things that need to be said and always in a way designed not to hurt too much.”
“You hurt her?”
“A little, I think she had unreasonable expectations. It had to be said, didn’t it?”
“You’re a strumpet. If I was your father, I’d spank you!”
“Well, you’re not, but I may let you anyway,” she said, sliding her hand into his crotch.
The car swerved as Matthew struggled to control the car and his emotions at the same time.
“Enough, Amber! This is neither the time nor the place for this. I’m old enough to be your father, so forget it.”
She took her hand away. He risked a quick glance at her. She was staring at the passing countryside with a cherubic smile on her face.
“Shit, Amber, what do you want from me?”
She turned towards him. “I want you to be honest with yourself and to me. I promise I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to do. I’m sorry I got angry with you last year. No one told me where you were, you see.”
He stared grimly at the road ahead. He tried to make sense of his reeling emotions.
“Take your time, I’ve got time to wait, you silly man.”
She leaned forward and turned on the radio. She had to tune into a radio station to get the modern music. The track was Heartbreak Hotel sung by Elvis. She sat back and closed her eyes, aware that she had completely disarmed her companion.
Matthew was torn. He found Amber the most delightful girl, sexually attractive and desirable. Yet her age kept coming to the forefront of his mind. Looking at her, he saw a sexually mature young woman, young, certainly, but also fresh and virginal. Her admission about having a lesbian affair with her games mistress confused him further. On one hand he was shocked, and yet on the other hand it added a new and exotic dimension to her, making her even more desirable.
It was with some relief, therefore, when he finally pulled up outside the Hall.