"What made you change your mind?" Perhaps it wasn't the best question to ask at that moment, but he wanted to know, and wanted to be sure she wouldn't regret it. He stretched out his arm to turn out the light.
Jean frowned at him. Really? She had just discarded her dressing gown on his bedroom floor, and was now lying with her head on his chest, and he wanted to know why?
"Because I love you. Because I'm tired of waiting. Because I've come to my senses and realised the gossips don't matter." She was sitting up again now, leaning on one hand and using the other to trace a lazy line down his chest. He could just see her pale skin as it seemed to glow in the moonlight.
She had thought he might stop her as her hand strayed lower but he didn't. He seemed happy to let her lead. His eyes fell closed and he gave her free rein to do whatever she wanted. He let his mind float, so he was only feeling, not thinking about anything at all.
He hadn't felt this free, this trusting, with anyone since... actually he couldn't remember when. All he was sure of was that Jean was different, completely different to any other woman he had been with.
Jean, on the other hand, was trying to concentrate on the moment. She wanted to remember this. She kissed him slowly, more deeply than before and lifted his hand till it closed gently over her breast.
With some relief she realised her body still knew what to do. She didn't have to think about what came next, she was responding to his touch anyway. She had plenty of experience, but it had all been with one man, and she had no idea how Lucien might be different, just that he would be.
"Because people will talk whether we do this or not. Because I'm lonely without you." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper.
He was touching her now in ways she had never even thought of, and he had turned them both over somehow so he was leaning over her.
She wondered fleetingly where he had learned what he was doing with his fingertips, then surrendered to the moment.
"Because I want you," she murmured, and he was happy to give her whatever she wanted.
xxxxxxxxx
Jean may have expected to sleep well in the aftermath, but in fact they both struggled to sleep. Neither of them were accustomed to sharing a bed anymore, and they seemed to wake each other up every time they moved.
Lucien didn't mind; he rarely slept well anyway, and he was happy just to be near her. He found himself wondering about the future, and couldn't imagine going back to the relationship they had had only yesterday.
Jean quickly found she had to move away a little to sleep at all, but every time she woke she seems to be holding Lucien's hand, or lying against his side. She too wondered what the next day might bring. How were they going to deal with this in daylight?
As dawn broke she got up, and put the robe back on. Wrapping it round herself tightly, she went to the kitchen and made a pot of tea and some toast, and brought it back to Lucien's bed. Her bare feet were cold from the hard floors and she pressed them against his legs to warm up. Lucien pretended to look at her severely, but couldn't help smiling. In fact, very little would be able to annoy him this morning.
They shared the toast, not worrying about crumbs in the bed, laughing at themselves doing something previously unthinkable.
Then they lay together contentedly, not speaking much, until the sun was fully up and they could hear Charlie head towards the bathroom.
"What about Charlie's breakfast?" Lucien asked. "Should we be getting up?"
"I left him a note on the kitchen table," she replied. "I said he should help himself to breakfast today."
Lucien raised his eyebrows at her. "Won't he think that's strange?"
"I told him we were having a lie in this morning." Jean said this with a straight face, while Lucien looked appalled.
"What will he think? He'll assume..."
"And he'll be right, won't he?" Jean replied. "I'm not going to lie to him, and I'm not going to spend every night apart from you just to spare his blushes." She looked defiant, though in truth she was a little nervous about his reaction. She didn't want to lose Charlie over this.
"I see," Lucien said slowly. "Well, let's make the most of this lie in then." And he put his arms round her more tightly.
xxxxxxxxx
When they finally got up and dressed, Jean went into the kitchen to make a second breakfast for them both. Secured under the edge of the vase of flowers, Jean's note was visible, and underneath her words Charlie had written his reply.
She read it and smiled, blushing slightly at the knowledge that he had guessed the truth, but relieved she would not have to tell him face to face.
She left the note at Lucien's place where he would see it, and turned back to finish cooking the eggs.
It said, "Congratulations! About time too!" Lucien grinned cheekily at her when he read it. Whatever the rest of Ballarat might think, Charlie was on their side.
