‘Do you like that?’ Adam’s voice was low, raspy, but still sincere in its question.
Noah had to concentrate very hard to form an answer. ‘Yes,’ was all he could manage. Adam began to thrust faster, and Noah threw back his head in rapture. He understood now, what it meant to surrender to pleasure. He understood that he had to accept it in its entirety, to give himself over to it, and learn to embrace the pain as part of it, perhaps even the most delicious part of it.
Noah could not distinguish between his own moans and Adam’s, and when he came close to the edge of climax, he could not have known if it was his hand or Adam’s that reached down to coax him into that blissful release. In those timeless seconds, Noah caught a glimpse of Adam’s face and he saw his own elation mirrored back at him – the moment was too profound to bear and Noah had to close his eyes as they toppled over the edge in unison.
Chapter 44
Once Adam and Noah had left, and Opal had recovered herself from her blunder, something about the mood shifted. Opal had half hoped that Johan might also make his excuses, but instead he topped up his wine glass and tucked into his gateau.
‘Have you got your eye on a winner yet?’ Johan asked nonchalantly. In truth, Opal had all but forgotten that this whole thing was a tournament. It seemed ludicrous now. Had she really been so estranged from the world of bohemia, and so beholden to the grips of Thatcherism that she thought art could be competitive?
‘I haven’t given it even a moment’s thought,’ Opal answered honestly. Johan studied her face, as though trying to decipher some deeper meaning from her words. Seemingly finding none, he went back to his food.
‘But I’m very much looking forward toyourfinal piece. Can you give me any teasers?’
Johan didn’t respond immediately; instead he put down his spoon and finished his mouthful slowly, contemplatively. He swallowed and looked Opal in the eye. ‘I have no idea what to do next, not even the faintest clue. Everything I’ve tried sofar is rubbish.’ His eyes were almost turquoise in the candlelight. Opal found herself wondering how she had never noticed them before.
‘You see, my favourite muse hasn’t been … at my disposal, lately.’ His gaze was intense, and Opal blushed. It was true that ever since the palm-reading incident nearly two weeks ago, Opal had been, perhaps subconsciously she thought now, avoiding spending time alone with Johan.
‘Surely you could photograph Ruby. I mean given the subject matter …’ Opal felt prudish all of a sudden. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. ‘With the theme being sex, I mean.’
Johan laughed. ‘Yes, I understood your inference, although I hadn’t realised that our “liaison” was common knowledge.’
‘Let’s just say that while the walls are thick in this house, the doors are … not so much, and what’s more they often shrink a little in the summer and sounds finds their way through the cracks.’ It was pointless trying to fight her own biology. Opal could feel the heat flush into her cheeks again as she spoke.
She was satisfied, though, to see that Johan wasn’t completely immune to embarrassment himself. ‘Right, yes. Understood, Lady Fairfax,’ he said a little sheepishly.
‘It’s Fortescue,’ Opal said without thinking, regretting it almost immediately as she watched Johan’s face light up with devilish curiosity.
‘About that, what is going on between you and the lord of the manor? Although I hasten to add that I’m being facetious there; I know it’syourtitle, not his.’
Opal scoffed, and took another gulp of wine, buying herself just an extra few seconds to decide what exactly she was aboutto share with Johan about the state of her marriage. By the time the crystal was back on the table, she’d landed on the ‘fuck it’ option.
‘Martin is having an affair with my next-door neighbour and best friend’s daughter.’ Opal hadn’t expected it to feel so freeing to say the sentence out loud, though the accompanying thought of Debbie, and their estrangement, still stung deeply.
‘I hate to burst your bubble, darling, but that much I do know,’ Johan said as he topped up her glass. The term of endearment didn’t slip Opal’s attention.
‘Of course you do, as does everyone in the county now I suspect, after his little performance at the gala.’
‘But I don’t want to know about him, Opal; I want to know aboutyou. This little escapade with Noah seems … ill conceived.’ Johan couldn’t quite keep the disdain from his voice at the mention of Noah’s name.
Opal shifted in her seat. Now that she was out the other side, it was hard for her to explain her infatuation with Noah. He was a beautiful man, and he always smelled great but that wasn’t really reason enough to justify her obsession. She hated entertaining the possibility that it was something about his youth she’d found so alluring.
‘You know what I think?’ Johan asked.
Opal was willing to take on any insight she could get. ‘Go ahead.’
‘I think you were looking for someone, anyone who was as different as possible from your husband. In walks the Indian Brummie with his silk shirt and strong cologne, and you thought he was your one-way ticket to reinvention.’ Johan looked pleased with himself.
‘He’s from Uganda,’ Opal corrected.
Johan shrugged. ‘You know what I mean.’
‘So if I told you that you were right about some of that, the reinvention bit, and that I’m still looking for that, to find some way to distance myself from this scoundrel of a husband whose name I still inexplicably insist on being called by, what would you recommend?’
Johan didn’t respond, but there was a glint in his eye.
‘If my dalliance with Noah was so ill conceived, what should I have been chasing instead?’ Opal wasn’t totally naive; she knew that Johan had laid out a path for her to follow, and she was feeling just drunk enough to wonder where it might lead.
