Her first, her last, her only

Chapter 8

Her exams were well under way when Callum next visited her. She woke one morning to find that she wrapped herself around him in bed. The past few weeks had been hard. She'd grown to enjoy the sensation of snuggling up to him, the heat of his body warming hers, the tickle of his breath on her skin. He made her feel safe and she'd missed his presence.

He was watching her when she woke, his dark blue eyes unreadable in the early morning light. His fingers ran over her face and rubbed along her lips. His touch made her skin tingle and her breathing hitched. She squirmed under his touch and his gaze. Her bladder made its needs known and she slipped from the bed.

When she was done he was in the living room, sat on the sofa with two cups on the table. He beckoned her closer and he pulled her down to sit between his legs, her back against his chest. He stroked her hair and her neck, saying nothing. Eventually he sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry I've not been around much Féileacán, work has been ....busy." They sat in silence for a while. "When do your exams finish?"

"Next week. I have a week free then I'm off to Germany for a month, then away with William and Cedric for three weeks." She reminded him. She was excited at the prospect of her trips away but what these last weeks had shown her was how much she was going to miss Callum.

His grip tightened around her as she spoke. He seemed less than happy about her being away. "So you won't be back until the end of August?"

She nodded. It was a long way off. "We've got an end of term meal on Wednesday then we are done. It will seem strange having so little to do."

He chuckled she closed her eyes as the sound washed over her. Her rarely laughed yet it was such a rich sound. She imagined if it had a colour it would be a rich toffee colour.

"What's so funny?" She asked.

"You sound so lost at having some free time, even if it is only a few days." He quietened for a few minutes then he asked her when she flew to Germany.

"Saturday afternoon. My chaperone is coming with me, part of the conditions from the Court."

He kissed the back of her head then shifted, telling her he had to go but he would come and see her on the Friday night to say goodbye.

The end of term meal had been organised by the final year doctoral students all of who were leaving for pastures new. Julia knew them in passing, she sometimes covered classes for them. On the whole they were mostly pleasant but they tended to ignore her as she was so much younger than them and couldn't socialise with them.

The evening of the end of term meal arrived and Julia was in good spirits. At the restaurant she found herself sat between Mike and Paul her two least favourites. Both men had made her feel uncomfortable with their lingering looks on her all year and the occasional brushing against her. It was often so subtle that she wondered if she'd imagined it. Certainly her chaperone hadn't said anything and when Julia had asked if she thought the two men's behaviour odd in any way she'd shaken her head clearly not having  witnessed anything untoward.

Mike in particular had tried to get her to drink wine that night and it was only when Julia told the waitress that she was underage that they'd stopped. All through the meal their hands had brushed against her thighs and despite trying telling them to stop they'd continued making her feel grubby.

She'd finally managed to escape to the bathroom at the end of the night when the other students had suggested going on to a club. Julia was tired and wanted to go home. She wasn't old enough to go clubbing anyway. She'd been filled with horror when Mike had said they would see her home safely in light of the incident a few months before. Despite her protestations that she was fine they were creepily insistent. Safely in the ladies she sent a text to Robert asking if he could urgently come and pick her up. He replied he could be there within 10 minutes and she was to wait for him. She hid for as long as she could then emerged to find everyone gone except Mike and Paul. The restaurant staff were busy and no one paid any attention to her.

"Thanks for waiting but I've organised a lift home, you can go on to the club with the others, it'll be here in a minute."

Mike advanced towards her, creeping her out with his predatory smile.

"No worries, you can cancel the cab, we'll see you alright sweetheart."

He took her arm and tugged, "Come on it's not nice to keep a gentleman waiting." With that his fingers tightened in her arm, squeezing painfully and jerking her towards him. Before she could protest she'd been bundled out of the restaurant.

Julia started to panic and Mike grinned as he saw this. Paul had disappeared and Julia began to feel real terror as she saw he'd brought a car around. She started to struggle as Mike tried to drag her to the door to force her in. She looked around. The restaurant was on a quiet side street and there was no passing traffic. She tried to scream but Mike clamped a hand over her mouth, stifling any sound.

Mike suddenly looked up over her shoulder then let her go, pushing her away and jumping into the car which then took off, leaving her shaking. A hand on her shoulder had her letting out a scream and trying to bolt but she found herself confronted by a large hard body. It took a few long moments to realise that it was Rob. Quite what he'd done to inspire such a reaction she wasn't sure but she was glad.

"Let's get you in the car and home." He murmured, guiding her to his car. The journey home was quiet. Julia felt sick to her stomach. Mike and Paul had seemed so predatory, so calculating. Despite her sheltered upbringing Julia fully understood what they had planned for the evening and it made her want to be sick.

Once home she bolted into her bedroom and was sick, her stomach heaving the contents of her dinner. Rob was waiting in the living room when she emerged on the phone. He turned and regarded her with a long silent look then spoke to the person on the other end in what she thought was Italian. He finished the call.

"Callum will be here shortly. Do you need anything?"

Julia shook her head. "I will go and have a shower if that is ok?"