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  CHANGES

  By

  A.B Turner

  (Part Two of the 'Within' series)

  COPYRIGHT

  This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents, and places are products of the author’s imagination and as such, are not to be misconstrued as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events are entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/ use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. Text copyright © 2016 A.B. Turner All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without the prior written consent from the publisher, except in the instance of quotes for reviews. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded, or distributed via the Internet without the publisher’s permission and is a violation of the International copyright law, which subjects the violator to severe fines and imprisonment. This book is licensed for personal enjoyment. Ebook copies may not be resold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  DEDICATION

  My love and thanks to those who can be known to the world and to those who can only ever be known to me, without all of you, there would be no story.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  For the constant support of my family, who during the time of writing this book, managed to cope with the extremes of human emotion and still, find just the right words of support and maintain seemingly boundless patience.

  And love to those dear friends, who have supported me throughout this whole experience, especially Kerry, Riley, Ali and Sarah 'Tex' Kingsley.

  Finally, a special mention to Shellie, thank you for everything xx

  Chapter 1

  I was awoken by the slam of a car door outside in the street, I stirred slightly, rubbed my eyes, when it quickly became apparent they had absolutely motivation to open, I rolled over and pulled the soft blankets up to my chin. Almost immediately, I saw the unmistakable form of another person in the bed next to me, for some inexplicable reason, I held my breath as I leant over gently to see who was there, as my memory of the night before was, to say the least, hazy. In the half-light, I saw his face, framed by dark, almost black hair, his dark eyelashes fluttered slightly, without really thinking, I touched his face, running my finger along his cheek, resting in the slight dimple in his chin. He stirred slightly, but sighed heavily, obviously deciding he was either unready or unwilling to wake just yet, his eyes remained firmly closed. When I was sure he was still asleep, I took the opportunity to study his face more closely, hoping there would be some small reminder of how we ended up in bed together . I started to try and piece together the night before, I had been out, one of the girls at work was getting engaged and had thrown an open house party to celebrate, at first, I was reluctant, but after a quick chat with Kat, I had decided to go, as it had seemed logical when she said,

  “You never know who might be there, and it’s bound to be a bit of a laugh, if nothing else and it will do you good to get out, now Lainie’s away.”

  Without moving, I continued to remember, when I had arrived, the party was already in full swing, people everywhere both crammed into the tiny house and spilling out across both the front and back gardens. I made my way to the kitchen, while I was trying to decide what to drink, a man appeared next to me, he made a joke about the contents of the punchbowl, before scooping a large spoonful into a glass and giving it to me. At this recollection, I looked back at my sleeping companion, it was undeniably the same man, I removed my hand and slid back to my side of the bed, once settled, I forced my mind to try and replay what followed, we had laughed, danced , it all seemed just friendly, until the party was drawing to a close. He had offered to walk me home, on the tenuous basis of the late hour and he wanted me to be ' safe', even though I had explained I only lived a few minutes away, whether it was the effects of the punch, or just the fact we had shared a good evening, I readily agreed, there was something about his eyes I had found completely captivating. As I lay on my pillow, my lethargic brain scanned my memory for any tiny fragment of information, as this process was still continuing, I closed my eyes in an effort to help with the focus. Suddenly, I felt him move next to me, I opened my eyes, meeting the gaze of the most extraordinary violet eyes ,

  “Morning,” he said quietly, he smiled and kissed me, his tongue opening my eager mouth to meet mine, at first, it felt gentle almost casual, but quickly became more forceful. He adjusted position, I felt his hand slip under my waist and pull me towards him, I could feel the soft dark hair on his chest against my naked breasts, the rippling sensation caused my nipples to become erect almost instantly. He pulled back slightly, despite my obvious urgency to continue exploring his mouth and glanced down, without hesitation, he slipped down slightly until his mouth was just above one breast, he was so close I could feel the warmth of his breath, all other thoughts dissolved to be replaced with my single desire to feel his tongue to caress my pulsing nipple. When he didn’t move, I reached behind his head, my fingers threading their way through his black curls and pushed him gently towards me, he smiled slightly, his hand held one breast gently and, while still looking at me, his tongue slid around the fullness of flesh of the other, my whole body quivered with burning anticipation until, just when I thought I could stand it no longer, his generous lips landed. As he fed hungrily, I felt him move slightly, I could feel his strong thigh between my legs, reaching down, I pulled closer until there was no space between us, and began grinding slowly against his body, the sheer intensity of feeling was like a burning tide raging through me, I pushed harder and harder, now totally out of control, my mouth frantically licking and biting his broad shoulders. We writhed all over each other like snakes, hands and mouths exploring every inch of skin, as I was on the point of giving into the inevitable wave of pleasure, he pulled me on top of him, as he thrust upwards, in a breathless heartbeat, he was inside me, I sat up, so I could feel every part of him forcing its way into my now-dripping body. His large hands were now clamped on my undulating breasts as he pushed harder and harder, his once violet eyes were now the darkest purple, I fell back down on him, as my face hit his chest, I could feel his heart thumping wildly, with one last thrust, I felt him explode inside me. We stayed locked into each other for several minutes, both gasping for air, before I reluctantly moved on to the cool sheet next to him. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand,

  “What a good way to start the day,” he said quietly, before looking across at me, “Would you agree?”

  Still unable to speak, I nodded and sighed, completely satisfied and unwilling to move just yet. As we lay there, I realised I still had no recollection of this man’s name, but, for that moment, it didn’t seem to matter. After a few minutes, he reached down to the floor and picked up a watch, as soon as his mind registered the time, he groaned and turned to face me,

  “I have to go, dammit.”

  His expression was one of hoping I understood,

  “That’s a shame,” I replied, distractedly fingering the thin gold chain, which circled his neck, before coming to rest on hi
s chest.

  “It’s more than a shame,” he replied, his hand reached behind my head, took hold of my hair and pulled me towards him. Our mouths met, our tongues, eager to get re-acquainted, explored every hidden part of the other, when we finally parted, I sat back,

  “Are you sure you have to leave?” I asked.

  He nodded before disentangling himself from the sheets and standing up, I slumped back and looked at him. He stretched upwards, before searching the floor for his discarded clothes,

  “Is there anything you would like to eat before you go?” I asked.

  He looked down at me and smiled, his violet eyes sparkling,

  “Why yes... there is.”

  He walked to the end of the bed, he leant forward and started gently kissing one naked thigh, while his hand eased the other away, leaving me open to him. He glanced up before his tongue slipped across me, before entering my body, the intense feeling of his mouth desperately trying to consume all of me, was too much and I gave in almost immediately to the rising heat, completely unable to resist. I felt his strong hands gripping my thighs, forcing them further apart as his tongue plunged deeper inside me, as if searching for the most hidden parts of my body. The intense driving force of his mouth gave me no choice, I could contain it no longer, moaning and heaving, until I finally felt myself shudder as the inevitable tide poured from me. As I struggled to breathe, I realised I had his head almost in a vice-like grip against me, I released him and he rocked back on his heels, while wiping my cum from his chin.

  " Perfect for breakfast,"he said quietly and then stood back up, there was no hint of triumph in his eyes, as he added, he had wanted to make sure there had been complete pleasure on both sides, when he received my breathless assurance, he smiled broadly before repeating his need to leave. Wrapping myself in a stray sheet, I followed him to the front door, we paused and kissed again, only this time, it was a kiss of parting friends and nothing more,

  “I’ve left my number by the bed, in case, you would like to meet again,” he grinned, “As it would seem we have quite a bit in common.”

  “I have to agree,” I smiled back.

  He opened the door, after one last look back , he walked purposefully down the path and away down the road. When I was sure he had gone, I raced back to the bedroom, almost tripping over the sheet, I frantically searched the bedside table, at first, I found nothing, but as I was about to give up, my eyes fell on a business card on the floor. I grabbed it quickly and read aloud,

  “Jason Fisher....”

  Suddenly the last piece of my memory of the previous night fell into place, we were dancing, he held me so close to him, it was like our bodies melted into one, when he had whispered,

  “ Spend the night with me."

  I had just nodded, no hesitation, just eager agreement.

  I sat down on the unmade bed, tracing his name on the card, was this what I had meant all those months ago, when I had talked about being ‘free’? A night of sex with a virtual stranger? After all, hadn’t I done exactly the same thing for years? Wasn’t the whole point to find something meaningful? Suddenly, all the fleeting pleasure of the night evaporated, only to be replaced with anger, not at Jason, but myself, after all, despite all my declarations of finding a new way of life, here I was, revisiting the same old behaviour of the past, the past I had gone to so much trouble to leave behind. After one last look at the card, I tossed it into the waste basket and went for the shower, as if washing might somehow remove all trace of the night before.

  Once refreshed, I grabbed a coat and headed out the door, while in the shower, I had decided a good, long walk might give me a chance to think about what had happened and, more importantly, how to avoid making the same mistake again. The day was grey and lifeless, when my daughter had been young, she had described this kind of weather as God not being bothered enough to colour everything in, although and obviously child-like metaphor, it had always struck me as surprisingly apt. I set off with the intention of striding purposefully along, but all too quickly, I found myself ambling , lost in my own thoughts, it struck me how often in life it is, the one person you always have no problem breaking a promise with, is yourself. How easy it was to put all your fine words of finding some new purpose on the back burner? As I was about to fall into an all too familiar pattern of self-pity, my mobile rang, sounding distant, as I had crammed it into the deep pockets of my coat, a quick glance at the screen told me it was Kat, I smiled, if there was one person I could rely on to snap me out of this potential gloom it was my dearest friend,

  “Hiya, how are you?” I asked, forcing a degree of cheerfulness into my voice, but there was no hiding place from her.

  “OK then, what have you done?” she asked bluntly, as I told her about the night before, I heard her sigh heavily, when I had finished, I waited for her verdict, although I had a fair idea of what was to come.

  “Well,I suppose it could be worse,” she began, “At least this guy gave you his number which makes a change.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” I answered thoughtfully.

  “Which means you could always call him, if you wanted,” she continued, “ I’m guessing he wasn’t a total loser.”

  I laughed and assured her we had really enjoyed the party, so we must have had something in common other than sex.

  “Anyway, enough about me, how are the wedding plans going?” I asked, realising I'd talked about nothing but myself so far.

  “Let’s just say, I’m not sure the D-Day landings took as much planning as this wedding! Between my mother and Matt’s, we are soon going to need Stephen Spielberg to direct the whole epic!”

  “Let’s meet for lunch, then you can tell me all about it,” I suggested, she readily agreed and after arranging to meet up later, we said our goodbyes. I walked back home far happier than I had left, I may not have learnt much from experience, but I did know the one surefire way to stop feeling sorry for yourself was to think about someone else. After all, I reasoned, what I’d actually done wasn't so terrible, I had spent the night with a guy, we were both consenting adults, it had been fun, but it was time to move on – especially as it was highly unlikely he was agonising about the rights and wrongs of the whole experience. By the time I reached home, I was only thinking about seeing Kat.

  Chapter 2

  When I arrived at the wine bar, it was already busy, so as I edged my way through the crowd of office workers, looking for Kat, I found myself trying to duck and weave past countless arms carrying trays of drinks and the rowdy groups of young men sharing bawdy jokes with each other. As I was on the point of giving up hope of finding her, I suddenly found myself in a small open space, I glanced around and saw Kat, deep in conversation with a young man, I recognised him immediately, it was Karl, he was a barman, she had once described him to me as an enjoyable brief encounter . For some reason, I made no movement towards them , I just watched them whisper to each other, his hand was on her shoulder and Kat was gazing up at him and smiling. As I watched, I started to feel slightly uncomfortable, I found myself wondering whether there was still something between them, but I quickly dismissed this idea, after all, she was marrying Matt, who was a really lovely man, so obviously, I was reading far too much into this, with this thought firmly in place, I resumed my journey to the table. When Kat saw me, there was no trace of guilt or embarrassment in her expression, which made me feel even worse about suspecting her of cheating on Matt,

  “Hello Carrie, ‘bout time you got here,” she beamed, looking back at Karl, she ordered a bottle of wine, before turning her attention back to me.

  As we talked, any thoughts I had harboured quickly evaporated, she spoke lovingly about Matt,

  “I still can’t believe I’m actually going to be someone’s wife!” she laughed, “Every morning, when we wake up together, I feel so amazingly lucky.”

  “So about these wedding plans?” I asked.

  Kat groaned again, as she told me about the seemingly endless list of chore
s she had to complete, ranging from ordering flowers to attempting to organise a seating plan for the reception,

  “It seems Matt’s family are almost as dysfunctional as mine, there are so many aunts, uncles and cousins who can’t be sat anywhere near each other, we could well end up, with rows of single desks!”

  “What about the dress?” I asked.

  A broad smile of satisfaction spread across her face,

  “ Naturally I am going to look incredible,” she suddenly glanced down at the plate of food in front of her, “As long as this is the last meal I eat before the day.”

  I laughed and reminded her there were still a couple of months to go before the wedding, she shook her head,

  “I’m serious, Carrie, I am not wobbling down the aisle!”

  “Well, if this is our last meal, we may as well have dessert as well,” I replied, reaching for the menu, “As I refuse to be the fat bridesmaid, by the way, what’s my dress like?”

  Kat rolled her eyes,

  “You’re going to love it, it’s huge, bright yellow, loads of frills with several large, strategically-placed bows all over it...and daisies really, really big daisies...” when she saw my horrified expression, she collapsed in hysterics,

  “What did you expect?” she continued, still laughing, ”I’m not having you look better than me!”

  I sighed dramatically,

  “Oh well, as it’s you, I suppose I can live with not being gorgeous for one day in the year.”

  “You’re all heart, Carrie, you really are."

  Having finished lunch, we settled back to enjoy the last of the wine,

  “So have you heard from Lainie in Rome?” Kat asked.

  I nodded and told her about the latest email I had received from my daughter, detailing how much she was enjoying the course, how much she loved the city and, best of all, from my point of view, how much she was looking forward to coming home soon. When I finished, Kat smiled,