Bumping Uglies

Chapter Twenty Two

I don't know what changed, or how it happened.

It could have been her, issuing some sort of subliminal messages to mess with my resolve. It could have been the plum brandy coursing through my blood stream. It could have been a delayed adrenal reaction to a brush with death inside the Tunnel of Love.

It could also have been the underlying current of suspicion and danger that amplified the other feelings I had for her.

Whatever it was, later that evening as Sophie came to lie next to me on my bed in the hayloft, I took her in my arms and kissed her for the first time since she had been at the farm.

When she relaxed into my embrace and kissed me back, I ran my hand along the smooth skin of her buttocks and up underneath the baggy T-shirt she had borrowed from me to sleep in. I found the clasp of the bra that Priya had bought for her between her shoulder blades and undid it with an out-of-practice fumble. I was just loosening the fit and was about to make my way underneath the wiring when Sophie broke away from my lips.

"Satchmo, wait!" she whispered, panting slightly. She looked beautiful in the moonlight streaming through the skylights above the bed.

I said nothing, just looked at her, trying to order and prioritise my emotions. In that moment, everything else was playing for second place behind desire.

"Why is she here, Satchmo?" she asked, breaking free a little.

"Who?" I replied.

"Elira. Why is she here? Why was she brought here, why did you and Ty rescue her?"

Uh-oh. This was heading for dangerous ground. I remained silent, waiting for inspiration that might see me through this conversation and back to dancing the first steps of the horizontal mambo.

"There must have been a dozen women there. Ty wouldn't answer me, he told me to talk to you," Sophie pressed for a response.

"I, ah, I thought she might be able to help with the investigation," I finally responded with a half-truth.

"You are lying. Why are you lying to me?" Sophie's voice rose several levels and she broke away from me.

"She was in danger. I couldn't leave her there to die," I tried again, this time with a lie of omission.

Sophie now moved to sit at the end of the bed, drawing her knees up to her chest and hugging them close.

"How would you know that, unless you already knew her... Did you fuck her Satchmo? Did you pay to fuck her?" Sophie was loud now, indignant, accusatory.

I thought quickly and saw no way out.

"Yes," I said softly. "But it wasn't like that, it was..."

"It wasn't like that? How was it, exactly, when you paid to have sex with that whore?" Sophie spat, her voice laden with venom.

I was taken aback. She was acting as if she and I were an item and I had cheated on her with Elira. She sounded genuinely upset and insulted, which in turn made me feel defensive.

I instinctively wanted to defend Elira against such a hurtful attack. She had been trafficked, she was the victim here. I managed to choke back the words, as I knew that would be throwing petrol on the fire, but it still stung.

My actions in The Tunnel of Love were not my proudest moment, but I was free to make that mistake without being made to feel like I had also gone behind Sophie's back, wasn't I? Throughout this whole business Sophie had hired me to find her former fiancé. She was the one with attachments! I was free to get my rocks off wherever I wanted, even if it was for a fee.