Summer's Edge (28 page)

He had never spoken to her before quite like this. He had said words that were similar, but now his tone was more serious, more intense. It was the first time he had seemed vulnerable and it moved her. He was older than her, he had so much more life experience than her, yet she had the capacity to affect him in this way.

But she didn’t feel scared. If he had said this to her six months ago she might have panicked.

Now, she felt completely as he did. The love she felt for him was constant, it had grown during the time they had spent together and the time apart. She wanted a future with him.

Outside the sun was rising. They had left the blinds half open and it was beautiful. It was the start of another summer, they had escaped winter altogether. Alice had first fallen in love with Stewart half a year ago, at the start of the English summer. Now she was on the edge of a second summer and a new, deeper phase of their love.

Epilogue II

Beloved, thou hast brought me many flowers

Plucked in the garden, all the summer through

Sonnets from the Portuguese XLIV

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

To South Africa, November 2002

Ten years ago Alice had escaped the grey grizzle of England for the Southern Hemisphere sun. Although they’d travelled backwards and forwards between Australia and the UK many times over the past decade, this felt like a milestone. She wondered if Stewart realised the anniversary as well.

"It’s ten years this month, isn’t it? Nearly to the day when you first landed in Brisbane."

Like so often during their time together he had read her mind.

"We’re doing the right thing aren’t we? You are happy about the move?" She was excited herself, but still anxious whether it was the right choice for all of them.

"It’s only for ten months. And the kids will love it."

Alice looked down at the tousled blond heads of their sleeping twins. Thankfully they were both amazing travellers for such young toddlers. They’d had to be, with relatives on opposite sides of the world.

The four of them were flying to visit Alice’s old boss Jo and her husband Pieter. One of the vets at the sanctuary Jo ran was going on maternity leave and Alice would be filling in for her. It was a dream opportunity. She’d initially been hesitant to accept but then Stewart had landed an amazing role with the South African cricket team, which would have been even crazier to turn down.

Sometimes Alice still marvelled at how perfect her life was. Since falling in love with Stewart she had never wanted anyone else, her feelings for him had only grown. Her desire too. Even after having the twins he could make her insides melt merely by looking at her in a certain way.

Chloe stirred and Alice stroked her head to settle her. The longer they slept the better. The little girl had insisted on wearing her tiger costume to the airport, even though they had tried to explain to her that there were no tigers in Africa.

Caspian, who was so much the spitting image of his father that Alice sometimes wondered if she had cloned him, was by far the quieter one of the pair.

"I was so nervous flying to Brisbane that time. Remember Jules with her hair all braided? We looked like such a couple of backpackers."

Stewart laughed. "Not a style she’s managed to repeat." Jules had realised her dream of becoming a corporate lawyer and worked in aviation. She spent half her life travelling, usually in first class, and had racked up more air miles than she could ever use.

Becky and Brett had done well too. He’d enjoyed several years playing for Australia and now worked in sports marketing. Becky had specialised in sports physiotherapy which had made it easier for her to travel with him. They had two children as well, older than the twins.

"It’s been summer almost always since I met you," Alice said. "We always seem to escape winter."

"It’s because you look so sensational in a bikini," he told her.

She loved that he still thought this about her. He had also kept his athletic figure and barely looked a day older from when she had first met him.

Alice had a strange, fleeting memory of the fear she had felt all those years ago, when she had been summoned to explain her "inappropriate relationship" with him. Stewart saw the faint shadow pass across her face.

"Something wrong?"

"No, I was just having a strange flashback to Fairmount," she told him. "Wondering what Mr Francis and Mrs Paddington would think about us now."

"Are they both still there?"

"I think she is, though she must be due to retire soon. He moved to run a school in the north of England a year or so after we all left," Alice said. The school spirit had been jubilant at the departure of the Padlock by all accounts.

Thinking about Cheltenham reminded Alice of her parents. She had been feeling quite sad about missing another Christmas with them that year. They had spent the previous year with Stewart’s family in Sydney and they usually tried to alternate.

"In case you still have cold feet about the move," he said, reading the slight shadow that was passing across her face, "I have a surprise for you."

"What?"

"Since it’s our tenth Christmas together I thought it should be a big one. So everyone’s coming, your mother, Richard, your brothers. And all my lot too," he told her.

Alice was overjoyed. "Really? How did you arrange all that?"

"It wasn’t difficult. Your family were only too happy for some winter sun, and mine can’t bear to miss a single Christmas with the twins."

It was the best news ever. It made the trip completely perfect. Her brothers were both at Fairmount now, excelling at maths and science like Richard had. They were wonderful uncles to the twins despite still being schoolboys themselves.

"And your sister?" Alice had become firm friends with her sister-in-law even though she didn’t get to see her very often.

"Yes, with her brood as well."

Alice sat back and wondered about the journey they were taking. "It will probably fly by, won’t it? And be over before we know it."

"We can always bring back a souvenir. A cub maybe."

"I don’t think they let you take lion cubs out of the country. I’m sure the twins will be begging to though," she said.

"That wasn’t the kind of cub I had in mind." His eyes flicked briefly to her stomach and back to her eyes.

She felt her stomach flip at his gaze. Just the fact that he wanted to get her pregnant again made her weak with lust for him. They had only planned on having two children and the twins had been a happy surprise to arrive as soon as they did. She had no idea he was keen on more.

"You could handle all that again?" He’d been amazing the first time around, all the sleepless nights and helping with feeding. Double the trouble as well, being twins.

"The thought of you carrying my child again is enough to make me try for it here and now," he told her.

"I don’t think the pilot would be very pleased."

He grinned at her and she blushed, knowing he was thinking of a flight to Sydney they’d taken a few years ago when they’d been upgraded to Club Class. It had led to them joining a rather more exclusive, if illicit, club as well.

With two infants to mind that kind of behaviour was on hold for now, but she knew he wouldn’t be letting her get much sleep after they landed, given the desire in his eyes now.

It would be dusk below but above the clouds the sunset was still burning up the sky in an apricot-gold fire. Its light streamed through the window onto them all. Stewart always looked golden to her; now he was literally gilded.

"I love you," he said to her.
 

"I love you too."

He was all she would ever want. There could never be anyone else. He was her love, her joy, her desire and she was his. An eternal summer, that would never fade.

Author's Note

While all the characters in this book are fictitious, the events portrayed are as historically accurate as possible. The free party or rave scene in the UK was in full swing in the late 1980s and 1990s. The raves described in Summer's Edge took place on the dates and locations mentioned, culminating in the great Castlemorton Common Festival towards the end of May 1992 which attracted up to 40,000 people.

The arrests of some of those involved in the festival eventually resulted in much of the free party movement moving over to Europe.

Concerns about Castlemorton also led to legislation in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, which outlawed outdoor parties playing "sounds wholly or predominantly characterised by the emission of a succession of repetitive beats."

All the county cricket matches as well as the Australian Test match also took place on the dates and locations between the teams mentioned. The players, the order of play, and any results given are entirely fictitious.

About Noël Cades

If you love erotic romance with a school setting, between hot teachers and willing students, be sure to check out Noël Cades’
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Noël Cades is a British writer who currently lives in Sydney, Australia.
 
A fan of romance from historic to erotic, some of Noël’s favourite authors include Jilly Cooper, Jackie Collins, Elizabeth Rolls and Victoria Holt.

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Excerpts from
Forbidden Lessons
by Noël Cades

He was tall. That was the first thing Laura noticed. He had clear-cut features and had a kind of masterfulness that many new teachers lacked, to their cost. He reminded her of a book she had once read, of a man who "must have done something in life".

She saw Teresa Hubert simpering with her friends across the room, and also realised how good looking he was.

"I’m Mr Rydell," he told them. "I’m from Surrey, I read Modern Languages at Cambridge, I’ve previously taught at schools in Hertfordshire and Northamptonshire, and my goal is introduce you to German in a way that inspires at least some of you to love the language and its literature as I do."

Concise, factual, straight to the point. Their initial unasked questions all answered. Everyone always wanted to know where a teacher was from and where they had been, in part so they could assess how soft a touch lay before them. "This is my first job" or "I’m new to teaching" were fatal.

"German is more challenging in certain ways than French or Spanish, but also highly rewarding. If you put the effort in, you’ll very quickly be able to use basic German on holiday, or to talk with German visitors," he continued. "Hands up who’s done Latin?"
 

Around half the hands went up, including Laura’s. Latin was compulsory at Francis Hall for the top set and was the bane of their lives. Mr Rydell’s eyes went around the room. When they met hers - it was only for a moment, she felt a sudden jolt. For a split second the rest of the room disappeared, and then he moved on and she felt herself flush and wanted to hide behind her hair. Which she couldn’t do, because it was neatly tied back as school rules demanded.

Oh I hope I didn’t make an idiot of myself, she thought. Had he noticed? He seemed so much more serious than other teachers. In fact he hadn’t even smiled yet.

"Though German isn’t as complex as Latin, you will find your studies useful for recognising certain elements of grammar," he explained.

Textbooks were handed out, and opened at the first chapter. Teresa muttered and sniggered something to her friend, then froze as Mr Rydell looked directly at them.

"I would like this to be enjoyable for all of us," he said. "But it is going to be hard work, particularly for those of you taking exams a year early, and will require everyone’s full attention." He emphasised these last words while looking at Teresa. There was a faint contempt in his voice, which coming from him seemed more cutting than any direct censure or threat of detention.
 

The posse at the side of the classroom went white and quiet. There was a crackle of electricity around the room. Rarely did a new teacher assert that they meant business so quickly or so effectively.

The lesson progressed, and Laura was happy to discover that he was a very inspiring teacher. He had a broad depth of knowledge, and had spent considerable time in Germany.

"Are you fluent, Sir?" one girl asked.

"Not natively. Sufficiently for conversation and correspondence," he told her.

When Laura was looking down at a list of basic vocabulary, she had no idea how but she felt his eyes on her. She glanced up, and he held her gaze for a moment, before turning to the blackboard again. She couldn’t read his glance at all, but her stomach did the same flip that it had done earlier. Get a grip, she thought. He clearly can’t stand foolish schoolgirls, look at how he reacted to Teresa Hubert’s giggling.

* * *

Laura was running another errand, delivering a pile of photocopied forms on behalf of the school secretary. She had been passing by the staffroom after the last lesson of the day and been commandeered.

The empty English classrooms seemed eerie at this hour. It was still light, but starting to fade. She hurried through them, and finished with the modern languages block: first French, then German.

She honestly wasn’t expecting Mr Rydell to still be in his classroom. She had assumed he was in the staffroom, amid the clink of teacups and conversation that always emanated from that mysterious sanctum.

About to walk in and drop off the last papers, she stopped dead when she saw him by his desk.

"I had to deliver these," she said.

"Come in." He was cleaning something off the blackboard.

She entered, walking past him to put the forms on his desk. As she turned to go he looked at her and she stopped, looking back up at him, and they both stood there.