So I've been a right grumpy hormonal fucker today, and so for the benefit of humanity I decided to forgo the delights of the world's largest arts festival, and lock myself away in my van instead – and this is the result.

So Cat has been in hospital for nearly a year now, but for the first time they are now actually starting to talk about her getting out of there, so I would like you all to join me in rejoicing and sharing our energy to make it happen.

The highlight of my week was when Cat told me this…

"I was reading the next chapter, and a nurse walked in and I slammed my laptop shut and all she said was "you look guilty"

There is a slight moment of heatedness in this, but I think you're all probably safe without the warning…

12. A Deep Connection

Emily

I drove Naomi back to her cottage but I'm not sure I should have been allowed to drive my scooter that morning. I was still delirious from the events of the night before, and I was struggling to concentrate on driving, especially with her arms wrapped round my waist and her breasts pressing into my back as we rode. By the time we arrived there I had worked myself up into such a frenzy that as soon as our helmets were off I had thrown myself onto her lips again.

"Wow," said Naomi, when I released her from my grasp. "You really are the most fantastic kisser."

"I try," I blushed at my own enthusiasm.

Naomi pulled me back towards her, and held me tight.

"You're lucky I've got plans," she murmured into my hair. "Otherwise I might just have to chain you to my bed."

I knew she meant it light-heartedly, but my mind suddenly flooded with the most inappropriate of images.

"We better go in," I said, my voice suddenly croaky. "We don't want to keep Thomas waiting."

Naomi kissed my forehead and slid away from me, leading the way inside. She frowned on discovering an empty kitchen, looking at her watch to confirm the time.

"Thomas," she yelled up the stairs, before shrugging back at me. "Not like him to still be in bed at this time. He's usually been and gone for a run by now."

The sound of heavy footsteps started thudding down the stairs, quickly followed by the appearance of Thomas, looking like he had just thrown some clothes on the second before.

"Naomi," he blinked a few times before breaking out in his trademark smile. "And Emily, how lovely to see you."

A second set of footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Naomi flashed her eyes cheekily at Thomas, and punched him on the arm, before turning her eyes expectantly to the door. She was rewarded moments later when a pretty blonde storm of energy burst into the room.

"Blooming 'eck, Thommo, I hope you've got some food in cause I am whacker hungry after all that making monkey."

"I ran into Pandora at the pub last night," grinned Thomas sheepishly.

"Oh really?" smirked Naomi, delighting in winding him up. "And what happened then?"

"Oh he charmed my pants off. Literally, as it happens," giggled Pandora. "Came back here and we've been surfing and turfing like crazy people all night. He's a blinking dream, and I swear he musta given me about twenty orgasms, cause right now my legs are like big wobbly jellies."

Naomi's eyes went wide at Pandora's particularly joyful brand of oversharing.

"Well, you did ask," I grinned, having grown used to her idiosyncrasies through the week.

"What about you two?" asked Pandora. "Get up to anything fun last night?"

I threw a sideways glance at Naomi, and the violent blush that exploded across her face. Once again her adorable transparency had my heart doing dances under flashing lights and twirly glitterballs like a full on disco queen. I felt both Thomas and Pandora's inquiring glances switch between Naomi and me. There was no point trying to beat about the bush, especially as I was fully intent on making Naomi my girlfriend. I gave a cocky little shrug.

"Some monkey may have been made," I admitted.

We packed some supplies for lunch, and Thomas drove the four of us down to the harbour in his car. Once Pandora had found out we were going on a boat there was no containing her excitement until Naomi had agreed to let her come too. After all, she could hardly begrudge her after having invited her own lover along for the ride.

"This is going to be whizzer!" exclaimed Pandora, as she skipped along the jetty. "Look, there's even some blue sky over there."

"She's excitable," said Naomi dryly.

"She is wonderful," beamed Thomas. "And you did tell me I should go for a nice girl."

"They don't come much nicer than Panda," I said.

"And I see you have taken my advice too Naomi," said Thomas.

"What advice?" I asked him curiously.

"Take the plunge," he grinned.

All brain function seemed to desert me at his words. I remembered just how magnificently Naomi had taken the plunge with me last night. The thought of how she had taken me on the sand dunes made me trip up over my own feet, and clutch at the jetty railings for support, as my entire being decided to decamp to my pussy once more.

"Smooth, Ems. Smooth."

I looked up to find Naomi grinning at me, obviously delighted that I had taken over her crown in the adorable klutz stakes. At least I hoped she found it adorable. I got my answer when she held out her hand to pull me back to my feet, not stopping until I found myself being kissed. I'm sure we were supposed to stop at some point and get on with the business of the day, but she just tasted so fucking gorgeous I couldn't tear myself away. Naomi seemed of a similar opinion as her lips kept seeking out mine and her hands roamed over my back. She was an intricate and beautiful maze that I never wanted to find my way out of. I could wander these perfect corridors forever, lost in softness and lust. I had almost forgotten where we were until the sound of Thomas calling out Bob's name repeatedly, caused Naomi to pull away from me.

"Where is that crazy old bastard now," she muttered, turning towards the Rosie Malone.

It took me several seconds to recover myself, but then I quickly jumped down onto the boat.

"Probably just sleeping it off," I said, turning to hammer on the cabin door. "Come on, Bob you lazy sod. You have customers."

"Looking for Bob, is it?" came a gruff male voice from the adjacent boat."

It was Huw, one of the fishermen.

"Yeah," I said.

"Well, you'll not find him there," said Huw.

"Where will we find him?" frowned Naomi. "He's supposed to be taking us out today."

"These the students is it, Emily?" said Huw, ignoring her.

"Yeah," I said placatingly. "Where's Bob?"

"In the hospital down Swansea," he replied. "Got himself pissed and totalled that new car of his. Broke an arm and a leg, he did. He'll not be taking your students anywhere for a while."

"What the fuck are we supposed to do?" exclaimed Naomi. "We can't afford another boat. We need to go and see him and get our money back."

"Oh, you won't be seeing that again," shrugged Huw. "He spent that wodge of cash you gave him on that new car he's just crushed."

"This is indeed a problem," frowned Thomas. "We can't exactly wait for the insurance money."

"Insurance?" laughed Huw. "You'll be lucky. Bob, doesn't believe in insurance. Says they're all a bunch of thieving bastards, so he does."

"Fuck," yelled Naomi, slamming her fist into the side of Bob's boat. "Fuck, Fuck, FUCK!"

I leapt back onto the jetty and wrapped my arms around her, before she could do herself any more damage.

"It's ok," I told her. "It'll be ok."

"No, it's not ok," she screamed. "Tell me how the fuck this is going to be ok."

"My she's a feisty one," winked Huw. "I bet she's a tiger in the sack, eh Emily?"

From the look in her eyes I thought she was about to rip his balls off. Luckily Thomas seemed to understand his friend's temper and swiftly placed his body in between Naomi and Huw's boat.

"We cannot solve anything by fighting, Naomi," he soothed. "Come on back to shore. I'm sure we will be able to find a way."

Between us we managed to half drag Naomi back to the harbour wall, with a somewhat dazed Pandora following on behind.

"What the fuck are we going to do, Thommo?" she said, once her second cigarette in a row had managed to calm her enough to speak. "The project's fucked. We need another boat, but that cunt Bob has crashed our only money into a ditch."

It was only then that I truly understood just how passionate she was about what they were doing, and the distress in her eyes made me want to sell my own sister if it could afford a solution. Out of that thought a sudden bolt of inspiration hit me, even if it meant I would probably have to spend the rest of my days trying to convince Katie of the joys of lesbian sex.

"Effy has a boat," I said.

"Effy?" said Naomi incredulously. "Wasted Effy has a boat? Do they let people that munted have boats?"

"That's Captain Effy to you," I said defensively. "She's actually an excellent sailor. Besides, you can hardly talk. You went on the high seas with Bob. Don't try and tell me he was sober."

"Do you really think she could help us out?" said Thomas. "We have no money to offer her."

"Effy doesn't need money," I replied. "And she's my best friend, an environmentalist, and a good person. I'm sure she'd want to help you. Just let me talk to her first. If Katie did cop off with someone last night, she might not be in a very good state. Why don't you go get tea at Rita's and I'll see what I can do?"

I set off down the jetty towards the Catherine The Great with a sense of trepidation. I know Katie had claimed to have been staying at a friend's, but I knew my sister, and I knew something had been going on with her. I just hoped to fuck Effy hadn't witnessed it and gone on another bender. I climbed over the gangway, calling out her name as I entered the cabin. There was no sign of her.

"Effy?" I called cautiously as I opened the door to her bedroom.

Effy was not comatose or falling down munted as I had expected. She was in bed, but seemed wide-awake, and she whipped her hand out from under the covers.

"Emily," she said somewhat breathlessly, and all the signals clicked alarmingly into place in my brain.

"Oh shit, were you…? Oh fuck, shit. I'm sorry…" I stuttered.

Effy seemed entirely unfazed by my intrusion.

"I may be saving myself for Katie," she smirked. "But I still have needs."

"I'll come back later," I muttered in embarrassment.

"No it's fine," smiled Effy. "You've kind of ruined the moment anyway. It's hard to masturbate over someone when their baby sister's in the room."

I rolled my eyes at her.

"I know we're close, babes, but there are some things I do not need to know," I shuddered.

"Who else would it be?" shrugged Effy.

I jumped onto the bed beside her, and she immediately pulled me into a massive unsolicited hug.

"You're in a good mood," I said in surprise, pleased that I wouldn't have to try too hard to convince her to help Naomi and Thomas.

"I am," she beamed back at me.

"How come?" I asked, pushing thoughts of Katie to the back of my mind.

"Katie stayed here last night," grinned Effy.

"WHAT?" I stuttered.

"Not like that," said Effy calmly. "Just as friends. I was in the car park of the pub last night doing some deals, when Katie came rushing out. She was upset, because that Thomas boy was getting off with Pandora from your surf course. I think she had her eye on him for her next non-Freddie distraction shag. Anyway, she let me comfort her, and we ended up coming back here to get wasted. It was lovely, Ems. I mean we ended up having a whole bunch of coke, but it meant we talked to each other for hours, and it was fucking amazing. She's just amazing, you know?"

I shook my head. I know Katie. I've lived with her all my life, and I know she isn't the angel she is in Effy's eyes, but there was no disputing the sheer joy on my best friend's face.

"She stayed here, Emily," smiled Effy. "Here in my bed. I slept next to her all night long. It was beautiful. It means she's starting to trust me."

I wanted to support Effy in her happiness, but I remembered how rattled Katie had seemed when she got home.

"Tell me you didn't try anything, Eff," I sighed.

"I didn't," insisted Effy. "At least I didn't mean to…"

"Were you dreaming again?"

Effy nodded sheepishly.

"I didn't mean to. I really was just happy that she was here and she wasn't freaking out. But I think I might have cocked it up this morning."

"You felt her up didn't you?" I sighed.

I had been the victim of Effy's wandering dream hands on more than one occasion. Who knew how much further she could have gone with the real Katie sleeping here beside her?

"The first thing I knew about it was waking up to her yelling at me, and pulling her clothes on as if she was in an Olympic speed dressing event, before she flew out of the door. So yeah, I guess I must have felt her up. Will you apologise to her for me? Will you explain?"

"Of course I will, I'm your best friend, and best friends look after each other, right?"

Effy cocked a quizzical eyebrow at me.

"You want to borrow the boat," she said knowingly.

"It's a bit more than that," I said, not even bothering to try and deny it. "Bob the Rental crashed his car pissed last night and he's ended up in Swansea hospital with a broken arm and leg."

It took Effy less than a second to figure out what I was after.

"So Naomi's fucked," she said.

The proximity of the words 'Naomi' and 'fucked' caused implosions on a cosmological scale in my faculties of reason, and the corresponding physical reactions ran riot through my tiny frame. Breathing became suddenly difficult, my body temperature shot up in an instant and I could almost feel my pupils growing in size. All of my muscles tensed, and a massive thump of desire punched its way into my pussy. The indicators would have been obvious to a hyperactive four year old, let alone the stupidly perceptive Effy, who could read body language like it was made from giant flashing neon signs.

"In more ways than one," she smirked.

I threw my hands in the air and allowed the smug grin I'd been hiding to explode over my face. If I couldn't do a little gloating with my best mate then who could I do it with?

"It went well, I take it?" said Effy.

"You have no idea," I replied huskily, whilst random flashbacks played themselves out vividly in my brain.

"One day I hope to," she said.

I hope so to Eff. I hope so too.

"So Naomi and Thomas need a boat," said Effy.

"They were supposed to go to sea today," I informed her.

"And every other day for the next eight weeks," said Effy, reminding me of the enormity of the favour I was trying to pull from her.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but.."

"I'll do it," interjected Effy. "With the proviso that if something comes up business wise, that has to take precedence."

"Of course," I agreed readily on Naomi's behalf. I would have to somehow try to explain it to her later without revealing too much. "How did the rendezvous go the other night?"

"Sweet as," said Effy, clambering out of bed to put some clothes on. "All done and dusted."

"And the other stuff we needed?" I asked her cautiously, as if we were being bugged.

"Sorted," said Effy looking me in the eye.

"So it's on then?" I said with a mixture of apprehension and determination.

"It's on whenever you're ready for it, Em," said Effy, her steely blue gaze laced with a dare. I looked back at my beautiful brave friend, and the conviction won out over the fear.

"Sweet," I grinned back at her.

The news of Effy's agreement was greeted with great joy back on the quayside. Pandora did a little victory dance, Thomas's smile threatened to split his face right open, and Naomi flung herself into my arms and plastered my face with kisses. Naomi and Thomas went off to get their equipment from Bob's boat once Effy had told them where he kept the spare key, and then she had given a wide eyed Panda a tour of her boat, nearly giving the poor girl heart failure when she promised her she could drive it once we reached the open sea. It took us almost an hour and a half to reach the dedicated study point for the day, still probably less than half the time it would have taken in Bob's old heap of junk. There was an initial bit of setting up to do, but once that was done, it was as Naomi had explained to me, mostly about the waiting. Thomas and Pandora cuddled up in front of the undersea video feed as if it was a David Attenborough programme, Effy got started on some serious marijuana smoking, and Naomi and I found ourselves on the back deck with little other to do than snog. It was an activity I threw myself into with great gusto, and the pair of us went at it like teenagers in the bus stop. There had been no awkward silences, no nervous discussions of where we were going next. There seemed to be no doubt in either of our minds that we were headed for a relationship, we could scarcely let go of each other long enough for the discussion.

Despite the fact that we had barely spoken before we'd fucked, I felt an innate closeness to her. A sumptuous intimacy that I had struggled towards, but rarely achieved with any of my previous lovers. I couldn't think of anything I would rather be doing than kissing her out here on the waves, their ceaseless motions only adding to the sensuality of our delicious meeting of mouth on mouth. We had managed to control ourselves for what seemed like hours, but eventually, inevitably maybe, Naomi's hands grew restless, and I could feel her fingers searching for the edge of my top. As soon as she managed to discover a little flesh she let out the most delightful little moan, and before I even knew what I was doing I found myself sliding on top of her until I was straddling her where she sat on the white upholstered bench. I took her face in my hands and kissed her again with open lips, offering myself to her for a deeper kiss. Naomi took the bait and her tongue came searching into my mouth, releasing a now familiar tingling sensation into my cunt. I don't know how she made me want her so much so quickly, but I was dying to feel her filling me up again. I found myself grinding up against her as our tongues clashed more violently, and I felt her hands slide down over my bum to feel the way my hips moved. My hands spread over her tits, and I massaged them through the thin fabric of her borrowed T-shirt, imagining how much better they would feel if she were naked.

"God you make me want you so much," I growled into her ear. "I want to feel you fuck me where we are, like this. I want to ride you."

I watched her eyes grow wide at my dirty talk, but she slid one of her hands round to the front and grabbed me by the crotch.

"I want that too," she hissed breathily. "I want to watch you come on top of me."

"You know I've got a perfectly serviceable bed downstairs if you need it," came an amused voice from above us.

I looked round guiltily to see Effy leaning on her elbows peering down on us from where she was lying on the roof of the boat.

"Unless you were planning on giving me a show, cause I'm cool with either option," she said calmly.

I looked back towards Naomi to find her transformed from sexual tiger to horrifically embarrassed shy scientist in an instant. I raised my eyebrows at her. I was so fucking horny I wasn't about to turn down Effy's offer of a bed because of shyness. I flicked my eyes towards the door of the cabin, and watched Naomi bite her bottom lip nervously.

"I'm supposed to be working," she whispered.

"Fuck first, work later," I suggested.

It was enough. She kissed me passionately and slid forward, forcing my feet back to the ground and propelling the pair of us to standing. She kept kissing me, as she continued to push me backwards until I had to stop her for fear of falling down the cabin steps.

"So bed, yeah?" I said breathlessly.

"Bed," affirmed Naomi.

I had just turned round to lead us down the steps when I was distracted by the sound of shrieking coming from the prow of the boat. Naomi and I looked at each other, before abandoning our mission and clambering to the front of the boat. When we got there Panda was jumping up and down, practically screaming. I wasn't quite sure whether it was with pleasure or terror, until I saw Thomas smiling and messing with the video controls.

"Naomi, you have to see this," he said excitedly, setting the video onto playback.

"We saw a sea monster!" screamed Panda. They didn't even have a scale of measurement for how excited she was.

"Fuck me," I said, when the image of Panda's 'sea monster' floated across the screen. It was a massive fucking turtle, over two metres long floating gracefully though our very own bit of ocean.

"Dermochelys coriacea," said Naomi almost respectfully. "The giant leatherback sea turtle. I knew their numbers have been increasing in these waters, but I never thought I see one on our own camera feed. This is awesome."

"And relevant to the study," enthused Thomas. "It is the pollution affecting the jellyfish stocks that are bringing them here."

"Well some say climate change is the major mitigating factor," countered Naomi. "That and the overfishing of the herring stock."

I left them arguing about the why's and wherefore's, and acted purely on instinct. I could see Effy had had the same thought as me when I saw her shrugging herself out of her jeans and preparing to dive from the top of the boat. I left my clothes in a pile behind me and took several deep breaths. A final glance across at Effy and within seconds the pair of us were in the water, pulling down and down towards the darkness. Effy kept up as well as she could but soon I easily outpaced her, pushing myself onwards until I knew I was reaching my limit. I could feel it in my lungs, and I stopped my descent, flipping myself right way up again and allowing myself to travel slowly back towards the surface. And that's when I saw them. Four majestic turtles swimming no more than twenty metres away from me. I desperately wished I'd had the time to put on my scuba kit, so I could stay and watch them for longer, but if I had done that they would have been gone. So I had to make the most of the precious seconds I had with them and commit the experience to memory as I continued my infuriating ascent. Moments like these are priceless, when we can experience communion with beasts who know nothing and care nothing for us. The ocean is a different world, and much as though we try to lord it over the planet, we can only ever be guests in its embrace. It's a thrilling and yet humbling experience, that I am thankful for every time I have the chance to grab at it. It fuels me, and makes me understand why I am who I am. I prolonged it for as long as I could, but I knew my lungs would start burning soon, and I cursed my need for air. I stared as hard as I could as the magnificent creatures that completely dwarfed me swam on into the distance. It was time to kick off, and back to the surface.

I breached, taking in great gulps of air and buzzed as fuck from what I had just experienced. It took me several seconds to realize that Effy was shouting at a terrified looking Naomi.

"She'll be fine," yelled Effy, treading water, her eyes holding the same glint of pure wonder as my own. "She knows what she's doing."

"But she's been under there for ages," said a panicked Naomi.

"I'm here," I called, waving my arms in her direction.

"Oh thank fuck," she cried. "You scared me."

I swam over to Effy, once I had reassured Naomi as to my safety, and we shared a knowing glance. Effy and I were partners in crime, both daredevils, both willing to take risks if the payoff was worth it, and it was that connection that flared between us as we let the swell carry us.

"Did you see them?" I asked her.

"Yes, I fucking saw them," she beamed.

We fucked around in the water, swimming and diving around each other in the aquatic equivalent of a dance of joy, reluctant to go back to the boat and relinquish our connection to our special moment, to our rapture. It was the cold that drove us back in the end. We were in the open sea in our underwear and our bodies simply couldn't maintain temperature. Panda and Thomas were still clustered around the video feed, excitedly looking out for more turtles, but Naomi was watching us as we swam back towards her and I knew she'd been watching us for some time. I kicked off and swam fast to the back of the boat, leaving Effy behind, wanting to reassure my nervous lover.

"See," I declared as I climbed back onto the low deck platform. "All safe and sound."

"That was crazy," said Naomi, wanting to hug me, but not wanting to get wet. "You fucking freaked me out."

"I'm sorry," I told her. "Me and Effy free dive all the time. I guess when you know me better, it won't frighten you so much. And I want you to get to know me better, Naomi. I want you to get to know me a whole lot better."

"Wowzer, you and Eff are like mermaids," said Pandora, scampering towards us with towels as Effy climbed out of the water.

"Yeah, we swim like a Fitch," smirked Effy.

I caught Naomi eyeing her suspiciously.

"Come on you," I said, grabbing Naomi's hand. "First food, then the next round of samples, then back to what we were headed for before we were cockblocked by a turtle."

"Bed?" said Naomi, a hopeful glint returning to her eye.

"Yeah, bed," I assured her. "And your hands inside my body."

She seemed happy with that.