The Sweeping Saga Collection: Poppy’s Dilemma, The Dressmaker’s Daughter, The Factory Girl. Nancy Carson

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СКАЧАТЬ yards away. Not a soul stirred. Already an old moon, reddish and low, was hiding behind black-fleeced clouds that were tinged with its eerie glow. Across the landscape, plumes of factory smoke bent like the tails of a hundred furry dogs. Here and there a feeble light glimmered.

      Jericho breathed deeply, drawing in the cool night air. His exhilaration was matched now by his anticipation. He moved a further twenty yards inside the tunnel and waited. Within a few minutes, he could make out the figure of Minnie in the dimness as she walked briskly towards him; the rug she had been shaking was rolled up under her arm. The blood started coursing through his veins once more.

      ‘Psst! Over here,’ he said in a hoarse whisper and Minnie headed towards him.

      ‘I don’t think anybody saw me,’ she breathed.

      ‘There’s nobody about. But we’ll go a bit further into the tunnel, for fear.’

      Stumbling here and there over loose stones in the darkness, their noisy footfalls through the gravel bed echoed along the tunnel in the hundred and fifty yards or so that they put between themselves and the entrance. It was as dark as a crypt in there. Outside, the mean backsliding dusk allowed no light to enter.

      ‘Here?’ Minnie queried.

      ‘Aye, here will do.’

      Unable to see what she was doing due to the extreme darkness, Minnie carefully laid out the rug on the gravel, made sure it was level, and they sat down, each blind to the exact position of the other. She reached out a hand and felt his arm. She hitched herself closer to him and was reassured by the warmth of his body as they made contact.

      ‘It’s so dark in here,’ she whispered. ‘You can’t see your hand in front of your face.’

      ‘Are you frit?’

      ‘A bit,’ she admitted.

      ‘Don’t be. Here, let me put me arm around you to keep you safe … There … How’s that?’

      ‘Better …’

      ‘Good.’

      A pause developed when neither could think of anything suitable to say because of the curious circumstances. Minnie broke the silence.

      ‘It seems funny, me being here with you like this.’

      ‘I don’t mislike it. Do you?’

      ‘No. I din’t say as I mislike it … I like being with you, Jericho.’

      ‘You know I fancy you, don’t you, Minnie? I’ve always fancied you.’

      ‘I’ve always fancied you, Jericho. But I thought you was struck on Poppy.’

      ‘I still fancy Poppy,’ he admitted shrewdly. ‘But she’s a bit slow to let go of it.’

      ‘You ain’t had her then?’

      ‘Not much chance o’ that, Minnie.’

      ‘More fool her, I’d say.’ Minnie giggled girlishly. ‘Anyway, what would you say if Dog Meat found out we’d bin in the tunnel together?’

      ‘Christ, we mustn’t let him know, Minnie. It must be our secret.’

      Jericho felt Minnie’s arms come about him and he sought her lips urgently. When their mouths connected, they leaned backwards and lay on the rug. At once, Jericho reached out and took a handful of the hem of her skirt and hoisted it up to her waist as she raised her backside to aid him. She was wearing no stockings and the smooth flesh of her bare legs, slightly moist with the day’s perspiration, was a tonic to goad him on.

      ‘Oh, Jericho,’ she sighed as his large but skilful fingers gently caressed between her thighs. She reached down to the front of his trousers, unfastened the buttons of his fly and probed inside.

      ‘Christ, he feels lovely and hard, Jericho … And big.’

      ‘Oh, he’s big all right. And you feel lovely and soft, ready and waiting for him, by the feel o’ yer.’

      Minnie unfastened the rest of his buttons and eased his trousers over his buttocks. He manoeuvred himself between her legs and, without further ado, she guided him in. As she gasped with the pleasure of his movements, she pictured him naked on the night he fought Chimdey Charlie, remembering well how the sight of him excited her. Well, now she was enjoying him to the full as he thrust lusciously inside her. She pulled him hard into her by his buttocks and raised her legs so he could fill her up the more.

      ‘Christ, Jericho,’ she uttered ardently. ‘Jesus Christ …’

      ‘Am I hurting you?’

      ‘No, you do it really lovely. Ooh, ever so lovely … I could stand this all night …’

      They settled into a steady rhythm that too soon was interrupted by groans from Jericho.

      ‘Don’t stop, Jericho … What have you stopped for? You ain’t finished already, have yer?’

      ‘Christ, I’m done,’ he groaned, spent.

      ‘Well I ain’t. I hope you’m gunna finish me off …’

      ‘Course I will. There’s no rush …’

      ‘You could’ve fooled me.’

      ‘Well, I wanted you so bad, Minnie.’

      They lay a while longer, still joined, till a drip of water from the roof splattered on him and dribbled coldly down the cleft of his bare behind. He rolled off Minnie, lay beside her, then fondled her again with his dextrous fingers till she began wriggling more insistently. She let out shrieks of ecstasy that diminished into a series of little moans, then sighs, but the smile on her face remained fixed, although invisible in the darkness.

      ‘Better now?’ he asked.

      ‘Oh, Christ, yes,’ she responded, with breathless enthusiasm.

      ‘I needed that, Minnie.’

      ‘And me, Jericho.’

      ‘We’ll come here again, eh?’

      ‘Tomorrow night, if you like,’ she suggested. ‘When Dog Meat’s gone out on the beer.’

      ‘Let’s hope somebody can lend him some money,’ Jericho remarked, the irony in his voice beyond Minnie. ‘You won’t tell him, will you?’

      ‘Am yer mad? He’d kill me.’

      ‘And don’t tell Poppy neither. If you tell Poppy, I’ll tell Dog Meat …’

      ‘Don’t worry. I won’t tell your precious Poppy.’

      They lay still and silent for a while, each privately reliving the pleasure. A few feet away, they heard a scuffling and Minnie thought it must be a rat. She froze and clutched Jericho’s arm tightly. Somebody tried to stifle a cough … or was it a laugh?

      Jericho СКАЧАТЬ