"Right - that's me. I'm off. What are you layabouts planning for today?" Terry breezed through into the kitchen where we were all slumped over early morning tea and newspapers. He was ready for the office- we had just dragged ourselves out of bed.

"Shopping." Heather and I spoke together. Lachlan groaned.

Terry laughed wickedly. "God, I love work. Have fun, Curry." He kissed me and left, still laughing at his lucky escape. Lachlan was still whining.

"I'll stay here. I am not going shopping with you two. I'm putting my foot down."

"You mean bugger, Lach. Heather wants some new shoes and she wants a man to foot the bill. Come on, it'll be a laugh!"

"I'm not laughing. And I'm not letting her go shopping with you. I know what bills you can run up, Betty. She's not living with a millionaire. You're a bad influence on her."

"Cheapskate! You're a pilot; pilots are loaded- you get paid shitloads of money. Anyway they don't just sell women's shoes. You can buy yourself a pair of Italian leather- very classy. Ermenegildo Zegna. Terry loves them..."

"At those prices? No way. Anyway my feet are too big for those designer shoes." He grinned cheekily. "And you ought to be a shareholder in Jimmy Choo..."

"I don't always buy Jimmy Choos. I sometimes buy Blahniks. Heather, you will adore Manolo Blahnik! He does the sexiest shoes in the world. Guaranteed to get your man tripping over his dick..."

"Do I have to listen to this? I'm not coming..."

He came. Lachlan is hopeless. You know he'll never say no. Terry would have required a major earthquake to get him moving but if you whine enough, Lachlan will give in. He's a saint. So we had this wild morning doing all the things Lachlan loves- first to the Natural History Museum with our resident anthropologist, Heather and then the stores to do shoes.

The Museum actually was quite a successful trip- Heather was in her element, I love any sort of Museum even if I'm not really an expert on dinosaur bones and Lachlan had a ball. He spent most of the morning wandering around following a pack of school kids - it's a wonder they didn't arrest him for being a paedophile, but he just doesn't get that sort of thing. In the world he grew up in chatting to kids was not considered a dangerous sign for a grown man. Of course the kids chummed up with him straight away. They seemed to think he was Steve Irwin because of his accent and would know everything about animals and such. Maybe he does, I don't know, but he proceeded to tell them a pack of lies which I am sure they will remember long after they have forgotten everything that they were taught at school.

First we had a very plausible spiel about how one particular dinosaur had shorter legs on its right side because it lived on a mountainside- he called it a 'legosaurus'- but they died out when they started facing the other way round and kept falling down the hillside. He said they couldn't work out what was wrong because their brains were so small. Then he spent a silly half hour in the section where kids could handle actual skulls and bones by talking in stupid voices and singing Waltzing Matilda with a pair of mandibles in his hand. Heather just pretended she didn't know him. I sat on the floor with the kids and giggled. Then he somehow got onto the subject of spaghetti trees. In answer to the question of what he did for a living, he said he was a spaghetti farmer which then led into a story of how most people don't realize that spaghetti comes from Australia where it grows on trees in pasta forests...I just do not know how he thinks it all up on the spot but the kids adored it.

After that exhibition, Heather said he would have to expect a very trying shopping session to pay him back for any embarrassment that being associated with a goon like him had caused her to suffer. And, boy did we put him through his paces- we must have tried on about fifty pairs and spent a fortune. Terry would have spontaneously combusted. He hates shopping unless he's romancing a woman and then he loves nothing better than sweeping round jewellers' or the like to treat the lady to something special, the smooth bastard. Not that I'm complaining- I am the recipient of most of these sudden bursts of romantic expression. Heather chose a pair if gorgeous slutty black stilettos with an ankle strap- she has great ankles- and once Lachlan saw her in them he suddenly stopped complaining. Until he got to the tills.

"What? They cost what....? Is that in sterling? Jesus Christ! In my day you could have lived for ten years on that much..."

"Will you shut up? Either buy them or don't - but stop whinging. You have to pay for quality," Heather told him.

I snorted. "God, I have trained that woman well! Good onya, H! You tell him..."

"And you can keep out of this, Betty. Or I will make the two of you earn the money back- on your backs..."

"Lachlan, let me help you. Open your wallet...let the moths out...come on...see the gold card...pull it out...relax, you can do this- deep breaths, say 'I can afford these shoes...I must afford these shoes'...better still, use the company card. Give Dino a heart attack - he loves slutty shoes..." I danced about and Lachlan hammed it up, feigning a coronary when he handed it over. Heather grinned from ear to ear, well aware that the guy would do anything she asked, whatever fuss he made at the time. And the shoes looked so good on her - was he going to get lucky when she wore those to bed.

We took lunch in a pub off Oxford Street and later,while Lachlan went off to the gents, Heather grabbed me.

"Uma, I want to ask you a really, really big favour. I want a word with Terry on our own before I go back tomorrow. This Dino thing- I want to go on his list- his #2. Lach knows but Terry doesn't. I just want to have a word before I post. It's only fair...I don't think he'll be funny about it but...I think I should warn him..."

I thought about it for a moment. In reality I was a little surprised that she was going for this. I know she has a thing with Dino and I don't blame her one bit but I hadn't expected this public declaration of her feelings and wasn't sure how Terry would react. He can be extremely rational and fair or a completely unreasonable bastard depending on some notional line he draws in the sand. But she was right- she should do this, and Dino deserved it more than most; Terry would have to accept it like a man. He probably would, but I liked that she was talking to him about it and I know he would respect that, too.

"What do you want me to do, distract Lachlan while you get a few hours alone with Tez?"

Heather grinned. "Lachlan knows where I will be but I don't want to make it so obvious. I was thinking of popping over to Terry's office- public place and all- just for a quick chat and I'll meet you later. Would you look after him for a few hours?"

I chuckled "...Said the spider to the fly...it will be my pleasure. Take as long as you like. Give it a pull for me as well while you're there..."

"Uma...I am going to his office for a meeting...you know I don't mean that...!" Heather gasped in shock at my crude remark- you would think she would be used to me by now.

I gave her a look, snorted and she returned the same expression with a giggle of her own. We looked like two naughty kids. Neither of us said anymore. When Lachlan returned, Heather whispered in his ear and he nodded quietly, winking at her as she gathered her bag to leave.

"Oxford Circus to Canary Wharf on the Docklands Light Railway. Takes about 30 minutes. You want us to take you there? Canary Wharf Tower, Canada Quay...19th floor."

Heather shook her head. "No, really...I quite like the idea of exploring a bit on my own. You have fun...see you back at the ranch."

She dashed off before we hardly had the chance to reply leaving Lachlan playing with the dregs of his pint and me wriggling about awkwardly in my seat.

"So what's it to be, love? Haven't you got another nice museum to visit where I could get a bit of a kip this arvo?" He threw that across at me with a cheeky grin.

"The Victoria and Albert? History of Costumes through the ages?"I suggested with a plummy voice.

"I'd rather bite my own arm off. What I want to do is the London Eye."

"I'd die, Lach. It's too high," I protested.

"You're with me, love, the pilot of your dreams. Who better than to take you up high, eh?"

Maybe I should explain. The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel that was built for the celebrations for the Millennium. It's on the South bank of the Thames and faces the Houses of Parliament, giving this amazing view of the whole City. I, of course, had never been on it, being a wimp of the first order. Somehow Lachlan got me to agree. We took the tube to Westminster and strolled over- I looked lovingly at the Tate Modern Art Gallery as we passed by but Lachlan said "No bloody way, love" and marched me onwards. As we queued up for tickets, I got the shakes and thought I would faint, but Lachlan held onto me and whispered in my ear. I leaned back against his chest and closed my eyes, letting his deep voice wash over and calm me. I knew I was safe. He would never take me anywhere that I wasn't.

So we stepped into the glass bubble and were swung high above London. Lachlan told me to close my eyes and let him hold me. When we were at the top, he whispered 'open' and I did. It felt like we were flying without wings as we dived down back to the earth again, the glass carriage rotating to open up the sweeping panorama of the river and the city before us; I smiled despite myself. This man is like a rock to me and I would trust him with my life.

When our feet finally hit the ground again, I was beaming with delight at my achievement and Lachlan was equally exhilarated. Holding hands we ran up the Embankment to wander along the Thames. I was in a very giddy mood and he was little better; we were feeding into each other's mood as the afternoon wore on.

"What now?" I asked as I danced ahead of him.

"Fancy afternoon tea? That's what we used to do in the war. Tea and a dance. Just the thing, as Jack would say."

I shrieked with laughter. "What? You smooth bastard, Curry. Tea and a bun with a dance thrown in? What an operator! What am I doing with a loser like Thorne when I could have the high life with a man who really knows how to show a girl a good time!"

Lachlan grinned and gave his cocky bow. "At last you appreciate me. Don't knock it, Betty, in my day we had some wild times in those tearooms. Best place to meet a girl who might say yes. Wonder if they have such places these days?"

They do. We found one in the Waldorf Hotel complete with turn of the century décor, refined middle-aged waitresses in black dresses and white lace trimmed pinnies with little white caps in their hair. A palm court orchestra was playing in a discreet alcove and a few older couples were gliding gracefully across the small dance floor. Tables set with heavy white damask, silver teapots and fine bone China cups were arranged in secluded bays with plenty of potted plants dotted around for privacy. Trolleys of dainty cakes and scones were wheeled about on the thick plush carpets. For a moment it was easy to believe that we were back sixty years ago in another age entirely.

We took tea: a pot of Darjeeling, scones, jam with clotted cream, a few slices of fruit cake. I played around with the unfamiliar stodge, Lachlan wolfed it down, clearly appreciating the old fashioned fare. We must have been the only people under seventy in the place. Actually, technically I was the only one under that age, really, if you consider when Lachlan was actually born- no wonder he was in his element.

We sat and talked quite formally at first as befitted the surroundings. I asked him about how he felt about Heather's decision regarding going on Dino's list. He was remarkably easy about it and seemed accepting of her reasons. I don't know why I was surprised about that. Some how for all his easy-going nature, I have a sense that Lachlan is very fixed in his opinions and rather inclined to possessiveness. I was delighted that he had taken this line and knew how much it spoke of his security with Heather; he did not doubt her love for him.

I was pouring us another cup of the excellent tea when Lachlan surprised me again. Out of the blue, in that way he has of asking the question that others might fear to broach, he suddenly said: "Are you getting off Maximus' list? You said that in your diary during Temple Week."

I darted a look at him. He was watching my reaction very carefully. I dodged the issue. "I am making some changes to the lists. Actually you're the biggest change. I'm going on your list if you want me. I would be your number 2."

"What? So, I take Maximus' place? Whoah! That's a pretty big footstep to fill. I'm very touched - can't believe it really. Why?" I knew I had stunned him and loved the delighted expression on his face; it affected me rather more that I had expected to. He was actually blushing and smiling with pleasure; and he didn't have a clue why I had done it- so typical of him.

"Stop fishing for compliments, you daft bugger. 'Cos I love you, 'cos you're my mate, 'cos you've got a big dick- I don't know....must be some reason."

"So, did you tell the general or just brush him off?" Lachlan asked with a glint of satisfaction, a smirk scarcely restrained.

I took a sip from my cup and pretended to butter a scone that I didn't want. "Actually, it wasn't Maximus. It was Bud. I'm Max's #2 as well now."

I saw him knit his brows, wiggle his tongue on his lips and think about that. Would he comment? Yes, he would.

"Why? Thought you and he were history - or are you playing some devious game again?"

Our eyes met; he was waiting for a reply, lighting up a cigarette and leaning back in the seat- there was a hint of disapproval in his tone. I was suddenly reminded of my notion of his possessive tendency - but why was it being focused on me?

"No games but I owe him some respect. He's having a hard time at the moment and about to embark on a real change in his lifestyle. I don't want simply to dump him now. He's a friend. He was once very important to me."

"Was - or is? Terry won't like it, ya know."

I snorted. "Tough. That's between me and him anyway. I only said he was staying on my list, that's all. I won't be seeing him. An occasional mail. Don't start being a pain, Lachlan, I get enough shit from him about Maximus." I helped myself to a cigarette; he leaned over and lit the tip and I smoked with intent. I resented the slight proprietary tone in his action.

"He's bad news, Uma...everyone knows that. You and he are just...not right together...he has a bad influence on you..."

"Oh yes? And you would know all about that, wouldn't you, Lachlan? I hate it when men think they know best. You have no idea about me and Maximus, so keep your nose out, OK?" My reply was snippy and he raised his eyebrows to show that he was aware that I had sprung to Maximus' defence.

"Just watch yourself, Betty. You're a bloody loose cannon at the best of times, can be as daft as a brush and he's on the prowl again. I don't trust him..."

I pulled out my tongue to indicate the end of my desire to discuss that subject further. Lachlan shook his head and smiled ruefully but he didn't pursue the matter. His attitude interested me and I wondered quite why he felt that way. What is it with the alpha males and Maximus? Do they all smell their ultimate challenge in him? We sat back for a while in our own thoughts, the earlier heady giddiness evaporating as we watched the room and its occupants.

On the next table sat an old lady perched on her chair, straight- backed and haughty, sipping her tea. She was still beautiful despite her advanced years with white hair swept up in an elegant roll, a small hat set at an angle and her tweed suit still revealing a trim and shapely figure with a good pair of legs. Her skin was fine, like parchment, and her bright, bird-like eyes shone in amusement. She was looking at us.

"How refreshing to see young people in here! I remember when this place was the best spot in town to meet handsome young officers. Now it is just a sad place for a dying generation." Her voice was clipped, with that almost forced tone that is hardly ever heard in England anymore- it speaks to us of privilege and class, of the empire and past glories.

"I love a good tea dance," grinned Lachlan. "Would you like a turn around the floor, Ma'am?" The old lady's face lit up with merriment. "I thought you'd never ask!" she replied and Lachlan stepped up, held out his hand and the two took the floor. The band was playing We'll Meet Again and it brought tears to my eyes to watch this handsome young man, twenty nine years old, sweep an old frail lady of eighty something round the floor and to know that many years ago, when she had been young and pretty, she might have danced a different kind of dance with the same man.

Flushed and girlish, she returned to her seat on Lachlan's arm; they were clearly firm friends already. I suppose she was lonely and Lachlan's courtesy had loosened her tongue but she was in a voluble mood and we listened to her, entranced.

"I was a WAC in the war and came up to live in London to work at the Ministry. Secretary at the War Office. Very confidential work - I knew Mr. Churchill, you know? Of course I was only nineteen in 1940, just a slip of a girl. What times we had! You have no idea. War's a funny thing, it changes everything. All the old rules and certainties were thrown aside. Before the war, nice girls said no. After the war, too. But in those years we lived as we pleased. None of us expected to grow up. Either the Jerries would get us in the Blitz or your man wouldn't make it. I lost my fiancé early on and I was free and easy, away from home and past caring. Oh, I was a naughty girl! We used to come here and look for young pilots or army officers. You might find love or it might just be an afternoon of passion. At least you felt alive and were helping the boys. That's how we saw it anyway."

She rambled on with her stream of consciousness, a mix of scandalous revelation and poignant reminiscence, eyes sparkling and her mind so clearly in the far off past. Just then, a tall balding man came over and tapped her on the shoulder. "Come on, Mother, time to go home." He smiled at us with an exasperated expression. "I hope she hasn't been a nuisance - she lives in the past, I'm afraid," as he eased her from her seat.

"No, not at all. She's been fascinating company." I smiled at him and leaned over to shake her hand. "Thank you for the chat." Lachlan kissed her on the cheek and she was led away already beginning to forget about us. He looked pensive. "Nineteen in 1940. Younger than me. I should be a doddery old man."

"But you are not- you are one of the young men she would have jumped at. Imagine, you might have had a fling with her!"

Lachlan raised his eyes. "I might have at that. Brings back a lot of old memories, I can tell you. She's right, we used to come to places like this and meet decent girls. Just for a dance but if we got the chance...you know? You always had a Johnny in your wallet and a hopeful gleam in your eye. Of course, the girls would act all prim and make you work for it...half the fun...happy days...even amidst the horror."

For a while he sat and stared about him, as lost in the past as the old lady had been. I stood up to go to the ladies and suddenly an idea struck me. "Lach, I'm going for a wee. When I come back...expect anything? OK?"

In the ladies, I stared in the mirror. My hair is long enough to put up now so I swept it up into a roll and pinned it with a few grips that I found in the bottom of my bag. I buttoned up my jacket and straightened my skirt. I was glad that I had worn a suit today and not a pair of jeans. The final touch was a bright red lipstick, not a colour I usually wear. When I was ready, I made my way back to the table where Lachlan was sitting with his back to me.

"Excuse me, do you have a light?" I tapped his arm and bent over, a cigarette between my lips. His eyes flickered over me, slight confusion, and then comprehension dawning.

"Sure, love." He flicked his lighter and steadied my hand with his own. I saw his eyes lower to the hint of cleavage in display before switching to my face and a shy smile. "You on your own today?"

I nodded shyly. "I was with a friend but she met someone."

Lachlan raised his eyebrows and played nervously with his lighter. "Would you like to join me? I'm on my own as well this arvo."

I smiled and stuttered out "Yes...if you like...you don't mind?"

"No worries, love, take a pew..." He extended a hand and stood up, calling for a fresh pot of tea. "Flight Officer Lachlan Curry...and you are?.."

"Elizabeth Green...Betty, please call me Betty, everyone else does. Are you an Anzac?" I replied tentatively and took a seat.

"Yeah...my accent?" Lachlan grinned.

"That and the fact that you have Australia on your insignia...." We both laughed, a little ice breaker.

"So you're in the forces too? Your uniform?" Lachlan pointed at my suit. 

"Yes, I'm a WAC. Attached to the War Office. Just a secretary. No one important."

He gave me a wide smile. "Everyone's important. Links in the chain, love. So you live in London?" The question was innocuous enough but I heard the subtle subtext. He was beginning to ascertain what chances he had for a bit of afternoon delight.

"I stay in a hostel for young ladies. I share with two other girls. One works nights and sleeps all day..." Lachlan smiled a half smile and dragged on his cigarette; he had recognized the door being closed. Betty was a good girl, she wouldn't take him home- but then would she let him take her somewhere else? Did she want him to push her?

"So where do you like to go on your days off... when you aren't drinking tea, that is?" Lachlan asked smarmily, a touch of the wideboy in his voice, an unusual side of him.

"Nowhere special. Sometimes the park...the pictures...I like dark places...feel safe there."

"Safe in the dark...aren't you scared of bogey men?" 

I looked down coyly. "It depends if I have someone to protect me."

Lachlan flashed his eyes at that but began to change the subject. He had enough clues now to know that Betty was interested if he played his cards right and didn't push her too quickly.

"You...got a bloke, Betty? Pretty girl like you? Hard to think you would be on the shelf." A wink and a cheeky grin accompanied his words.

I looked down. "Yes...there is someone...he's away...you know how it is these days..."

"Airman?"

I shook my head, a little embarrassed, eyes down. "Army...he's a soldier...he's far away...I may never see him again. Who knows? What about you? Did you leave someone behind?"

Lachlan laughed mirthlessly. "Left them all behind, Betty, best way, too. It doesn't matter whether or not I come back. No one to cry for me any more..."

"Don't say that! That's an awful thing to say!" I gasped and he shrugged.

"Sorry, love, don't mind me, Just a bit morbid these days...come on...let's dance." He pulled on my hand and dragged me onto the floor. I reminded myself that he was a stranger and I would feel suddenly conscious of his body if I was in his arms. He swung me close and I slightly readjusted to pull back, holding myself aloof and my holding arm resting tentatively on his collar. His hand on my spine exerted a little more pressure and he bent his head slightly towards mine but he too kept a respectable distance. It was cleverly done and managed to allow touch and propriety all at the same time. All the time we danced, Lachlan chatted easily about this and that but his eyes never left mine and it was clear that a very different courtship was at work there. The contrast beneath the banal cheery banter and the burning desire in his eyes was incredibly arousing.

The music finished and we found ourselves near to the wall; with a smooth side step he had me against it and bent in for a kiss. It was fairly chaste but masterful. He was ready to take things further and I wondered how he would bring up the subject.

"Well, Betty, that was nice...have you had enough tea? Do you fancy a change of scene? Maybe something stronger?" His smile was wide and charming but I don't think Betty would have been fooled. Either he wanted to ply her with drink- and she was only nineteen - or he wanted to take her to a room somewhere.

I acted a little unsure. "It's getting late...maybe I should go home?"

"Home? All alone? What about the bogeymen?" Lachlan whispered the words into my ear and I looked at him startled by the husky tone "You want to stay with me, love, I'll get you home safe. Later. What do you say?"

I giggled and nodded and he settled up the bill; we walked out into the late afternoon gloom. Strolling down the street, Lachlan seemed pensive and we both walked along in silence; I was unsure whether he wanted to keep this up any longer but then he gave a sort of far away smile and said:

"Fancy a walk in the park with me, gorgeous?" It was clear he was still in the mood for more of this game.

"If you like...but it is a bit cold..."

Lachlan pulled out a small hip flask from his inner pocket- he and Terry had been at a match the day before and must have taken it with them. He opened it, took a swig and passed it to me.

"Have a nip?... got the good stuff in it..."

"You trying to get me drunk?" I asked but with a little smirk, like a naughty child.

"Nah, just offering you a sip, love - entirely up to you, though..."

"Well, it is a bit cold...let me have a sip, then...I don't usually drink..." I took a little drink and pulled a face; in fact it was rather nice stuff - Glenmorangie, 15 year old malt ,I reckoned.

Lachlan grinned. "Of course not love but it is cold out. You need something bracing.... you need something to keep you warm, girl..." He slipped the flask back into his pocket and put his arm round my shoulders. "Which way is your flat, then?

"We can't go there...but it isn't far...you said you'd take me back...later."

"Sure I will...those bogey men, you know....I want to be sure you get home safe, love. But we could take the long way back... walk through the park, if you still fancy it?"

He placed an arm around my shoulder, in a friendly manner, but there was that edge of compulsion that young men seem to master so well, making a young woman feel naïve and foolish if she objects to their entirely 'reasonable' request, even if it is exactly the thing that she has been warned about for half of her life.

"OK the park...but, you promise to behave?"

Lachlan pulled me against him and stole a kiss, chaste on my cheek and a look of devilish intent on his face "Absolutely not, Betty!"

He giggled and I snorted. "You are so cheeky, you know? Are all Australians as bad as you?"

"I dunno, I haven't met them all yet!" More giggling as we sauntered hand in hand down the road; he held my hand tight, jerking me against him and then interlacing our fingers. It was only the touch of a hand but I realised that it would have had an intimate implication in an age where physical contact between the sexes was so carefully apportioned. A father or mother seeing this would have regarded it as a step too far.

After a walk of about fifteen minutes during which Lachlan teased and joked easily, no reference to anything more sexual other than the slightly risqué jokes he had started to tell. They were hardly crude by modern standards, but to tell them in 1940 to a girl of nineteen suggested he was sounding out her acceptance level.

"Here's a good one... A teacher asks his class, "Which human organ is capable of expanding to six times its normal size?" He calls on Mary, the vicar's daughter. "That's disgusting," she hisses prissily. "I won't even answer that question." So the teacher calls on Johnny. "That's easy"says Johnny. "It's the eye. The iris can increase to six times its size depending on the amount of light entering the eye through the pupil." "Very good,' responds the teacher. "That is correct." He then turns to Jessica. "Two things," he tells her. "First, you have a dirty mind. And second, you're in for a big disappointment."

I laughed out loud at that and slapped his arm. "That is disgusting, Lachlan Curry..."

"What did I say? It was the little girl who had the dirty mind, love...and...sounds like you do, too." He held his arms out in mock surrender.

Shaking my head and tutting at him, I linked his arms as he smirked to himself. He was feeling more daring all the time, and I could see that he felt pretty confident that he was on more than a promise with young Betty by now.

"Betty, love?" He pulled on our linked arms and bent to my ear, bussing my lips lightly and rubbing his cheek against my ear.

"Yes?"

"There's a hotel up ahead.... I don't want you to think badly of me...but I want to take you there...if you want to that is..." His voice was low and a little gruff, desire beginning to affect his cheerful bonhomie.

"Well, it is a bit cold for a walk..."I said reluctantly. "The park looks a bit bleak..."

"I lied about wanting to walk through the park, I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand...hold the rest of you, too ...and keep you with me a while longer...I get so lonely sometimes, Betty...I just really enjoyed the time we spent together...you're a bonzer girl, ya know?"

"That's OK, Lachlan, I understand. I know what it's like for you boys, especially pilots...I don't blame you for wanting some pleasure..." My voice even sounded breathy and frightened to myself. I was caught up in this charade that seemed to be both poignant and disturbing. Lachlan was not doing anything wrong by the standards of my day- but he was using undue influence on a naïve girl an it was obvious that this was not the beginning of a great love affair; this was a bit of afternoon delight for him and he would walk away and never see her again. It might sound strange but I was a little worried about Betty; I was also a little worried about how real this seemed to Lachlan. It was as though the interlude with the old lady had spun him back into his own past.

"It's just that...I like you but...I don't really do this kind of thing.."

"Your bloke?"

I nodded. "I'm not that kind of girl...I love him, really I do but...It's been so long and I get so lonely, too. I don't want you to think I'm a tart..."

He smiled sweetly and chucked my chin; we were approaching the entrance. "I know you're not...not a girl like you, Betty."

"Do you really think that? That I could do this thing and still be a decent girl?"

"I do, love, I do- and that's not a line from a lonely soldier or anything. I believe that sometimes you need to grab a hold of the good moments to get you through the bad. This is a good moment, Betty. I'll give you a good moment.

"I am just so tired of being alone, Lachlan...I want to feel a man again...I need to feel again...you wouldn't tell anyone?"

"I'd not tell a soul, I swear it." He crossed his heart and then reached out and made the same sign on my breast. His jaunty confident swagger had gone; I saw hope and longing there tinged with sadness that both of us had been brought to this place by life.

I swallowed hard and pulled back my shoulders, my mind made up. 'All right...I'll go with you, Lachlan Curry, and somehow I don't think you'll disappoint me..."

He took both of my hands and raised them to his lips, kissed them softly and then pressed them to his heart. "I won't, love... I will do right by you, or die in the attempt. You're not alone tonight and neither am I."

For a moment we hovered on the steps and stared at each other. With a nervous laugh, I broke the stare and pulled him inside with a shy smile. "Well, come on then -before I change my mind!"

Lachlan ran up beside me and caught me in the foyer, twirling me into his arms and catching my face in his hands. "Thank you, Betty. You don't know what this means to me..." And with that he whispered into my ear "Let's go and make a golden memory, Betty.

We decided on a day room which was a normal renting at that time it seems - young men and women grabbing precious time for each other before real life parted them again was good business for the guesthouses of a city at war, it would seem.

The door of the bedroom swung shut and we stood awkwardly, watching each other. Those moments when two strangers face each other on the brink of the greatest intimacy, of offering their bodies to the other, is fraught with an unspoken dread. Fleetingly one thinks of all that you always wanted to be, somehow being ground beneath your feet in this betrayal of love. Lachlan felt it too but with his delicate understanding, he extended a hand.  "Dance with me, Betty?"

We danced. It was not the dance of the tea room but a more erotic moment. He pressed me close to him, circled my small buttocks with his larger hand and made me feel his hardening penis against my lower belly. My hands stroked his neck and I blew softly on the skin of his neck, nuzzled in the warm man-smell and rubbed my cheek against his darkening shadow. All the while, he hummed the tune of the earlier dance softly and set a seductive rhythm; we whirled and whirled around the room until I began to feel dizzy with desire and expectation.

"You smell so sweet..." his voice grated on a low register, stroking my sex with its subterranean burr. I rested my head on his shoulder, placed my hand on his beating heart and whispered. "I don't really know what to do, Lachlan..." His hand caressed my back gently, an endearing touch, non-threatening and tender.

"S'OK, Betty.... I'll take care of you."

"You'll make sure you don't ...you know..."

"I'll protect you, I swear it, I won't take any chances... you're safe with me that way." He was silent for a moment as if he was searching for the right words to say. He danced closer, his breath on my cheek, heavy and rasping, lust- soaked, but still aware of his need to be gentle with me.

"This your first time, love?" The words themselves thrilled me and increased my arousal. Moisture leaked out of me as I imagined how a young girl would feel in a circumstance like this with a man like Lachlan.

"Not exactly..." He nuzzled my neck, whispering, kissing, making my head swim with his proximity and touch.

"It's OK, either way..."

"I mean I did it with Jimmy before he shipped out...the last night...it was a bit difficult..." I felt his smile against my neck. He didn't want to take a young girl's virginity, although he would have done; it was appropriate that Betty had given that up for love not lust.

"But we did it; it was his first time, too," I admitted breathlessly.

"I'm glad you did.... love, he should be first. I'll bet you made him the proudest boy alive. Made a man of him. He won't forget that, ever."

"I think we did it right...I wasn't really sure...what do you want me to do? I don't know..." A sound of panic was arising in my voice now that the moment has come. Lachlan murmured into my ear, reassuring and calming.

"I know, Betty, I know.... don't be afraid. I know what to do..."

I wanted him to feel my tenseness but also to show to him that I wasn't going to bolt and run. Betty wanted this or she would never have approached him in the first place. Shy or not, she knew the name of the game she was playing, even if she wanted him to assuage her guilt by making her feel that she had been talked into this. But she wanted him and the experience he could offer- she was desperate for it in fact.

"Should I strip for you? Do you want to see me...naked?" The words tripped out in a breathy rush. I blushed and blinked my eyes. A soft sigh gushed from him. "Yes, I want to see you... so much...Betty...but let me do it...I want to undress you - will you let me?"

"Oh! Yes, if you like...anything, Lachlan..." Our lips met, lips open and moist, deep kiss, tongues touching and my body trembling at the feel of his strength and power.

He whispered against my lips as his hands reached for the buttons on my jacket; I noticed that his hands were shaking. Lachlan was so deeply into this scenario that he was back in his past, a lonely pilot grabbing at a moment before he returned to his base and the nightmare of his duty. "See what you do to me?"

I responded more passionately to his kiss, sucking on his tongue and rubbing my breasts against his hand as he began to open my blouse. He moved slowly, checking that it was still with my consent, catching my eyes and asking for permission with an achingly beautiful silent plea. I blushed but nodded as his large fingers hesitated over the small pearl buttons. "Go on."

"Can I?"

"Undo them...touch me...please..."

His hands parted the fabric and he gasped at my nakedness. I wore nothing beneath; a small bead of sweat broke on his upper lip. "So pretty. May I touch them?" My head angled in response as I watched him round his palms and cup my small breasts gently; he bent and kissed my mouth as he exerted a tender pressure. I sighed and my nipples hardened; his thumbs flickered lightly over them.

"Can I touch you, Lachlan?" I mutter against his ear. He plucked harder at my nipples and rolled them; the sensation made my clitoris ache to be touched and my sex long to be filled. How wonderful is the art of love when a good man takes his time!

"Oh yes...." his groaning utterance made me smile..."Any way that pleases you, sweetheart...touch me, it's ok.... you don't have to be shy."

Stepping back purposefully, I begin to open his jacket and pull it off and then with determined movements gaining in speed and courage, I removed his tie and shirt, a little clumsily but they were soon discarded and dropped to the floor. He was now bare-chested as I was and he pressed our bodies together flesh to flesh, my soft breasts flattened against the solid bulk of his warm body, his chest hair tickling my skin.

With a neat motion, almost as in the dance, he turned me round to look at our reflection in the mirror of the dressing table. He pulled down my hair from its pins and loosened it around my head. I saw my slender body framed by his larger bulk and watched as his hands moved down to fondle my breasts from behind and he ground his hardness against my butt.

I writhed back against him, my back arched and my face raised to his; we kissed and then he nudged me with his cheek. "Look at us, Betty, look." His hands covered my breasts. "So pretty.... so dainty...you are so soft and slim...Oh God...." He let out a moan and I realized that he was far from me, in his own world, remembering something that still hurt him; or was he merely remembering many times when he took what he could get and moved on. The empty wasted love of ships that pass in the night.

"Oh God...it's has been so long since I touched a woman..." He had forgotten this morning's romp in the bathroom with Heather- their shrieks of laughter had amused us as we were getting up. I wondered whether I would be able to keep up with his fantasy; it was like observing a sleepwalker and being afraid to wake them too abruptly from their dream.

"Your skin... so soft... I'm sorry, my hands are rough...."

"It's alright...I like the feel...you have strong hands..." He kissed my neck, his teeth bared; I felt a bite that was not quite gentle and pulled away. I didn't want marks that Terry would see. He might be tolerant but he would hardly approve of another man's teeth where he might wish to kiss me himself.

"It's been so long since I've touched a woman... Jesus.... you are so sweet.... I can't...." His mouth began to roam over my neck, his hands pulling at the zip of my skirt and pushing it roughly down my hips, walking me back towards the bed, bending to lick each nipple and then feast on me. The back of my legs hit the bed and the judder stopped him momentarily, long enough to rip at his belt and zip, to shrug away his pants and leave them at his feet while he toed off his shoes and bent to drag away his socks. There was a frantic desperation building in him.

Turning back to me, he looked slowly at my body as I stood shyly before him. By some stroke of genius, I had worn stockings that day (I always like to do that when I am shopping for shoes, makes me feel sexier). Lachlan groaned again and ran his hands over the bare white flesh of my inner thighs and cupped my groin; it was damp and smelt of my musk; his nostrils flared as he caught the scent. With a practiced hand, he slipped off my tiny lace panties and let them drop. I stepped out of them, to stand before him naked apart from a garter, pale stockings and high-heeled shoes.

Lachlan dropped to his knees and lavished kisses on my breasts until they were as wet as my naked cunt, hair already glistening with droplets and framed by the erotic lace and silk of my girdle and stockings. He sank back on his haunches to view the picture, hooded eyes glazed with passion. My own eyes dropped to the soft white cotton shorts he was wearing; his erection was large and straining, poking at an awkward angle. Lachlan saw the line of my vision and took my hand. Rising to stand, he placed it over the bulging rod and pressed my fingers round it.

"Feel what you do to me, Betty, I'm so hard it hurts..."

"Oh...it feels so hard. You're very big...bigger than..." Any man wants to know that when he is in the moment and Lachlan was no exception. He smiled and I felt the movement of his erection; it hardened even more if that were possible. "Will it hurt me...will I bleed again?"

"Shush, shush. It's OK... I won't hurt you, I promise...if I go slow...it will fit, don't worry..."

Curious now, Betty would be curious. She had come this far and was highly aroused by this beautiful young man. For the first time, I became proactive. "Can I see it?"

Lachlan teased his fingers over my naked sex, slipping through the wetness, purring at the feel of my arousal. "I never really saw it before, it was dark..." He was impatient and ripped off his boxers, tossing them somewhere. His cock bounced thankfully free of the restraints and rose up, purple and hot between us.

"Oh! So big!" I felt his eyes watch me look at him, felt his hands smooth over me. My own hand reached out and I touched him shyly, my eyes meeting his.

"Go on, touch me... please, love...." As I clasped his cock, his eyes closed and he gritted his teeth, clearly struggling for control. Lachlan? Coming as soon as I touched him? How deep was he in this game that it could even drive him so far - and was it good for him? I was beginning to wonder if I should not have taken him so deeply into this experience.

I jerked him rather awkwardly, partly the position and partly the surprise that his behaviour had given me. Immediately, his own right hand covered mine and he used me to masturbate him "Like this, Betty, smoothly...don't worry... you won't hurt me...hold it tighter..."

"Do you want me to kiss it? They say men like that...the girls in my lodgings talk about it..." His hand was guiding me securely, long smooth strokes; my offer brought another low moan from him

"I do, sweetheart...please... your mouth...here, sit down on the bed..." I sat back, he moved before me and I looked first at his rigid cock, and then up at him for encouragement. Lachlan smiled and held himself in his hand, offering his cock to my mouth. "Open your mouth, love...take the tip in...kiss me, please... kiss me... use your tongue...."

I followed his gentle instructions; he was very still, not forcing anymore, happy with a kiss and a taste. The salty trickle of his precum fizzed on my tongue. I remembered her naivete; I backed off and gasped. "What's that? You won't pee in my mouth, will you?"

With a low chuckle, Lachlan titled my face to his. "It's proof...of my desire...of how much I want you...and I won't pee. I can't...not now when I'm like this...honest..."

With his fist clenched around his base, Lachlan ran the thumb of his left hand over the tip of his erection and then raised it to his mouth, tasting himself. "See, nothing to be scared of." I giggled in embarrassment and pulled a face, wrinkling up my nose.

"I like I when you do that...touch yourself...it's very manly..."

He gave a knowing smile. "You're a very sensual girl, Betty..." he continued to stroke himself openly... "You like men and you want love. That's a beautiful thing..."

"I think about it all the time...listen to the other girls...they do it with lots of men ...with anyone...I don't want to do it with just anyone, Lachlan, but I want to do it. I saw you at the dance and I wanted you. I wanted you to bring me somewhere and love me...are you shocked?"

All the while he had masturbated slowly before me as though my revelation was ramping him up further; the innocent girl admitting that he had made her feel desire enough to take a bold and desperate chance with a stranger. He let me watch and took pleasure from that.

"No, sweetheart, I'm not shocked. It's all right to think about it - it's natural to want it. I knew what kind of girl you were when you spoke to me... a man can tell the difference." But he did not volunteer what kind of girl he thought Betty was. There was a slight ambivalence in his comment and I wondered whether he would have liked to think that a woman he loved, Lil for example, was prepared to pick up a man for the afternoon, however lonely she felt?

"I was going to go with you...I just wanted you to make me so I wouldn't feel so bad. Show me, please..." I caught the flash in his eyes at my words. He had been a gentleman and he had given me many opportunities to change my mind but no longer; he was ready to take me now and he would.

"You're a cheeky girl, Betty, but such a sweet one...lay back, love...let me see you...open up for me, sweetheart..." I felt him gently push me back on the bed and his hands parted my legs; he ran his right hand over my naked wetness and sighed, used his fingers again and tasting me this time. "Like honey, love, like honey to me..."

Before he joined me, he dragged his discarded jacket across the floor with his foot, reached down and retrieved his wallet. Flipping it open, his eyes on me, he searched for something. I saw the tip of the gold card that had made me laugh earlier in the day in the shoe shop, a picture of Heather tucked in the display pocket and then the foil wrapper of a condom. He slipped it out, tore off the top with practised ease and threw it down on the bed at my side, tossing his wallet back onto the floor.

"You know what this is?" He indicated the condom. I nodded.

"You're safe with me, just like I promised.... I won't go in unprotected...no worries, love."

I was a little stunned. Betty had asked for a condom, part of the fantasy, but it had never occurred to me that he would use one. Why was Lachlan still carrying condoms? The notion somehow heightened my arousal; there was something in Lachlan's behaviour, although gentlemanly and kind, that betrayed a more sexually predatory man than I had ever imagined him to be. He was a man like any other, he might prefer forming relationships with women based on love and friendship, he might have a romantic and passionate nature, but if he wanted sex, he took it as easily as other men. As he joined me on the bed, I felt a slight sense of sadness, a memory of how sex with a stranger really feels, knew that a few days later, he would not even recall what Betty looked like.

LACHLAN

I was there with Uma but I was also somewhere else in my head with 'Betty'. There have been a lot of Betties in my life, a fact that I am not particularly proud of but a fact that I accept - I'm not about to lie about it either. Sometimes a man needs the body of a woman; I always try to give my gift in return. It is a bargain borne of necessity, but every time you do it, a little part of yourself never comes back.

She is quite beautiful, a woman with a fragile girl inside, both knowing and innocent - a dangerous temptation for any man. Betty was a walking lure to a lonely pilot, bound to trigger several responses, most of all that of the wolf. I hope I have not been a total larrikin with the Betties that I have known; they did not deserve that.

Betty was lying wantonly displayed before me, still and watching, but no longer hesitant; this was going to happen. I lay over her, between her parted legs, felt my cock lick her sex and forced myself to rest above her on her flat little belly above the neat thatch of dark hair. I must not risk her; I had made a promise and I would never break it to any woman- I owed them that.

Her head was resting on the pillow, exposing her neck, that soft part where you can see the pulse of her heart beating. My lips found it and kissed a trail to her chin and then on to her lips, where she received me for a deep kiss, a passionate feasting on each other, our hands on each other's faces and hair as we wrestled amidst the sheets. Her eyes closed and she let out a low cry, it sounded wounded, almost anguished. It drove me on. Trailing more kisses down her body, I began to aim for her sex, longing to taste her, her fragrance already permeating my nostrils and my fingers.

"Betty, love... I want to do something..."

"Yeah?" A rather brusque reply that jarred on my ears slightly. "Whatever..."

But I was beyond words. I pushed my fingers inside her, heard her gasp as I stroked gently and manipulated against the strong walls, felt her grip me.

"I want to kiss you here. I want you to find your pleasure, love...let me..." Her response was immediate; she began to rotate on my fingers, bearing down and fucking herself lewdly; it no longer felt like Betty. I no longer cared.

There seemed no reason to wait for a further answer; I was already moving down her body before consent was given. But then she spoke. Her voice was husky and slow, dripping as her body was... "Do it...do it..."

This intimacy was a big step for Betty, who had known no more than a furtive fumbling in the dark, a coupling that she was still unsure had actually taken place. Had he even managed it? Perhaps he had come before he had really entered her? But she spoke of blood...she must have lost it or my fingers would have felt... "Shh... it's OK, sweetheart." I reassured as I widened her legs and pushed up and out. I looked longingly at the sight before me, sex wide open, glistening lips swollen and blush, the tidy frame of dark hair, the entrancing folds of an aroused woman, this wonderful place hidden in the neat slit of her body. It is a hypnotic sight that draws a man and takes away the last vestige of his self-control. I lowered my face, rubbed against her soft wetness, inhaled the strong spicy scent. "You smell so good...Jesus...I love the way you smell..." 

"That's right, big boy...eat it all up..." I gave her a chaste kiss on her lips and shuddered at the delicacy of the petalled flesh; her comment hovered in my brain but it didn't register at first - I wasn't really listening to anything but the voice of my inner desire. I simply delved deeper and kissed her full on, sucking her lips into my mouth and pushing my tongue deep into her vagina, the cream of her wilder passion filling my tongue with a heady taste.

"So sweet, so sweet..."I returned to the honey pot to dive some more.

"Oh baby...you give great head..." My eyes darted up at the comment, breathed out in an unfamiliar voice, but the temptation of her was too strong. My tongue returned to the task, dragging the flat of my tongue the length of her, bottom to top to rest at the centre of her pleasure, the hard little pearl, and to suck gently, her body responding with jerks and moans. I flickered lightly, longing to feel that I could bring her off like this, make me feel like a man...

"Yeah...taste it all...you like to suck cunt? Jesus, I should be paying you..." She gasped out.

"Come on, girl, come on," I murmured against her skin, " Get your pleasure...let it come..." 

Betty was rising to her orgasm, her head tossing on the pillow, writhing into my licks, fucking against my mouth. In reality Betty was long gone; in this moment Uma could no longer maintain the fiction of an inexperienced girl. She was pulling away, the exquisite pleasure pain of this act tormenting her; I held her hips harder and forced her to stay in place - I was beginning to force pleasure on to her instead of coaxing it softly as I would normally have done with a woman. But her aggressive attitude was infecting me and I spat out a harder command: "Come on, girl.... NOW!"

The room was silent apart from our heavy breathing and the occasional gasped comment. We were lying on a bed whose sheets had been ripped from their place and I knew I was close to orgasm myself- I was hard and painful, grinding myself against the mattress, balls tight and hot. A wild sudden cry erupted from her, a string of obscenities. "Fuck me you fucking bastard cunt...come on - fuck- me!"

The unexpected profanities cut through the fog of my desire. Previous remarks and her unusual response came back to me. I wasn't making love to Betty any more but I didn't think I was making love to Uma, either. This was not her- she is wild and free in love but never crude or mocking...she drops that veneer of fashionable smart-mouthed crudeness when she falls into a man's arms. When Uma comes, she comes in a breathy rush of sweet sighs and gentle moans, often crying, calling my name over and over; I have heard her with Terry and the same behaviour was evident then- she is not a talker; her sharp brain seems to disappear as her strong response to pleasure possesses her, leaving her loose and loving, compliant and fragile, a little doll in my arms. As she shuddered her orgasm, I kept my mouth on her until her shaking stopped, my mind searching for the answer to my uneasiness.

But still, a man is a man. I had that satisfaction that I had brought her to pleasure and the knowledge that I was about to find my own. Sliding back up her body, my erection weeping and drawing a wet trail along her sleek thigh, I reached out a hand and closed my palm around the foil wrapper of the condom.

"Are you ready, love? I need to.... Jesus, I need to be inside you."

"Go on...show me what you can do. I can take it..." I pulled away and shook loose the rubber, moving back onto my knees to put it on.

"I promise it won't hurt, you're ready..."

"Stop fucking about- just do it..." Uma was leaning watching me, a glazed look on her face, hair awry, playing with herself .My eyes flicked up to her, momentarily leaving what I was doing - I hardly needed to look, having donned Johnnies enough times to do it in my sleep. A quick look down and I began to roll it on, looking back at her to watch her reaction to this intimate task- it contains an erotic quality full of messages to a woman. I will protect her, I am potent, I will enter her but she is not the one.

"Want to help?"

With a sudden quick movement, Uma slithered up and knocked my hands away, a throaty giggle, unlike her, and then she slipped her lips over the rubbered tip and unrolled the condom down my length, using her tongue deftly to secure it in place. I groaned at the action, the way a whore gives oral sex, refusing to chance contact with a naked, possibly infected cock. It is a skilled art and Uma was as good as any I have ever experienced. I groaned again but kept my eyes opened as her full lips parted and swallowed me down. My hands reached for the narrow nape of her long pale neck and played with the fine gold chain round her neck that holds an unusual ornate clasped locket, which I have never opened; I wondered briefly what it contained. A sudden fierce desire to possess her myself seized me

"Lay back, love...let me in...open for me."

She lay back on the pillows, legs splayed crudely...touching herself, knees bent. I caught her behind the knees and dragged her to me, lifting up and out, raising one ankle, kissing her foot and placing it on my shoulder, the other wrapped around my waist.

"Don't worry, love..."  I slicked the tip, swiping it up and down a few times to be sure the dry rubber was well lubricated.

"You want it deep then, big boy...deep and tight...that what you like?" I caught my breath and held back the desire to just thrust in; I'm big, I don't want to hurt her. She is small inside and although she will expand, she needs time.

"I'll go slow...." I panted as I slid the tip in. Her answer snapped back like a dart.

"Don't bother. I like a bit of pain..." Her words triggered my natural response. I like a tight fit- don't suppose I'm alone in that- and I grunted as I pushed in deeper. Her mirthless laugh as I sank deep heightened the edge that seemed to be rising between us. I would never have treated Betty like that. Or Heather. Or Uma. I wasn't giving her pain, but I was hardly gentle. It was a struggle to try and keep within the realms of the original fantasy we had played out and not allow this to turn into something quite different.

I heard my groan. "You feel so good... so tight and wet, Betty.... so good...."

"Harder...go on...harder..."

My eyes flickered closed at the feel of her but her brittle tone made me realize, despite myself,  that something was up. I watched her as she moaned against me.

"Now, let's see if you can make me come all on your own..."

I thrust harder. Bit her neck. Mauled her breasts.

"More...more...it takes more than that, love..." 

Deeper. Harder. Pounding. I spat crudely on my hand and reached between our bodies to fondle her nub. She grabbed my balls and massaged them in her soft hands

"Yeah...that's more like it..."

Through gritted teeth I grunted... "Move with me, girl... come on...that's it..."

She countered, squeezing down hard on me, "Use that big dick and do some real damage...you know you want to..."

It wasn't Betty. It wasn't Uma. Who the hell was it? But I could not stop. I did not want to stop. Flesh impacted on flesh, hips clashed roughly, my hands gripped her small buttocks until I must have bruised them; my whole weight was bearing down on her and still she taunted me and egged me on.

"Come on, son, give it up...give it to me...I want it...I want it...you are so fine...so big and strong..."

My head dropped as I set my brutal rhythm; the bed seemed to shudder under the impact.

"Come for me, girl...I want...." I could barely hold on but I would not come until I had evidence of her orgasm

"Oh Jesus...yesssss....you fucking bastard....fuck me...fuck me ...yessssss..."

"That's it, girl... come on..."

By then I had buried my head in her neck, unwilling to watch her, knowing without a doubt that this game had gone far beyond where we should have gone. She came, I think. Her body gave all the signs, the sudden contractions of her cunt, powerful muscles bearing down on me and grasping, milking, knowing how to make a man shoot. It was so skilful, so professional...so faked. But still...

"Jesus, I feel you...Jesus...." I hitched and pushed deep, froze for a moment and then the shudder raking through my body, the surge, the juddered pouring of my spunk through that tiny hole... Her body stiffened in my arms as if she was steeling herself against me- as if she was forcing herself to take my touch. Uma, my Uma, instinctive and beautiful, who loves to love- shuddering from my touch? I could not stop but my heart had gone out of it. A few last thrusts and that was it. I collapsed on her, sweaty and slick, trying to be affectionate, trying to catch my breath, exhausted. My hand touched her face.

"You OK, Betty? Did I hurt you?" Slowly I withdrew from her, stroking her hip as I slipped away.

Her reaction was cold and shocking. She pushed my body from her petulantly, turned onto her side and curled into a foetal position, one thumb in her mouth and the other hand curved around her sex protectively, whimpering softly.

"Jesus... Betty.... are you OK?" She nodded her head but made no verbal response

"Oh God... please... God..." I muttered, curling around her; she shimmied further along the bed out of my grasp.

"I'm OK...just give me a minute- right?" A cold and loveless reply. My hands released her immediately and I rolled onto my back. I removed the condom, tied a knot in it and dropped it to the floor. The sight of it, coupled with her behaviour, made me feel sordid and abusive.

All of a sudden, Uma turned and buried her head against my chest; I could feel the wetness of tears. Instinctively my arms wrapped around her and I hushed her softly, petting her hair and comforting her.

"I lied to you"

"You lied?"

"Betty isn't an innocent girl."

I didn't know what to say but understood enough to see that in her odd words lay the key to what had just happened. So I simply rocked her gently, waiting for her to talk to me, to tell me exactly what was going on...

."She does it all the time...she goes there and picks men up." Something was preying on her mind and it seemed to be sexual guilt. Was this about the Brothers? Was she secretly struggling with the idea of sleeping with anyone but Terry now?

"She doesn't care anymore...if she likes them she does it for free." What was she talking about? Betty was a prostitute?

"Betty's not that kind of girl," I whispered softly, stroking her hair. "To that young pilot, you are his sweet girl...the girl who hung the moon in his sky for him..."

"Betty is that kind of girl," she intoned without emotion, "You have no idea what she can do."

I wasn't having this nonsense. Whatever crazy notions were playing in her mind, I was breaking the spell here and now. In a voice less soothing, a little more steely, I spoke back.

"Betty's my kind of girl, I don't care what you say." I hoped she would snap out of it. This was a place that I really did not want to be.

"Well she likes you, Flight Officer Curry...she'll do you for free." Her voice held a mocking, sarcastic edge.

"And I like her, too." I tried once more desperately to make her smile, tilting her chin to look into her eyes.  "She hung the moon for me, remember?" but all I received in exchange was a rueful laugh.

"He won't even remember her name tomorrow- that's how much he cares. Poor Jimmy, hey?"

Does she mean Terry? Is this about me being here with her while Terry is out at work doing his duty? Who does Jimmy represent in her brain?

"Bugger, Jimmy... I'm not letting you go - not now, anyway. You're mine for now..."

"Hold me, Lachlan... hold me tight..." Uma's voice, desperate and afraid, cried out plaintively.

I wrapped my arms round her tightly and felt her snuggle up to me, mould her sinuous frame to my body, entwine her legs with mine.

"It's OK, love... I've got you..."

"So...was it like that, Lachlan? Back then- did you grab many moments like that?" Her quiet question startled me; Uma was breaking through with one of her acute observations but I didn't answer at first, unsure whether I wanted to admit quite how many times I had used a Betty and walked away.

"Will I see you again, Lachlan?"

"I don't think so, love, let's just enjoy the memory, hey?"

"I had too many moments just like that," and rocked her against me again, but this time the comfort was for me.

"Me too, Lachlan, me too."

"You too?  Oh love, I'm sorry...." She shrugged her shoulders, vainly trying to affect an air of nonchalance, but it was clearly anything but that. She felt pain and I knew what that felt like.

"You know how it is these days?"

"I do... it takes a little piece of you every time -pretty soon, there's not much left." I could not keep the tinge of cynicism from my voice.

"Do you ever run out of pieces?" It seemed like a rhetorical question, asked of herself rather than me; but I answered it anyway.

"There was a time in my life when I did, yes..."

"Me too ...but that is another story entirely, young Flight Officer Curry." She smiled up at me tentatively but her eyes said, "Do not go there." I didn't.

"You can owe it to me then- and I'll owe you mine. One day we will share them -deal?"

A tinkling laugh, Uma back with me. "Maybe...one day. Wonder what happened to Betty? Did Jimmy come back for her, do you reckon?"

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "All the Betties.... I imagine all of them had a bloke that came home, they got married and had lots of babies..." It was a completely absurd fantasy and not at all what I imagined really happened, I knew better than that.

"Or maybe he didn't want her then, soiled and used...maybe he cast her aside...would Jimmy do that?"

"I like to pretend none of them had fellas that didn't come home... or who came home broken or missing a limb or paralyzed... couldn't walk, couldn't get it up..." I rubbed my face, hearing the crack in my voice, a voice that was uttering the fears that I had carried within myself for years.

"He was a soldier...sent out to do a dangerous mission and she forgot him...she couldn't live that life of waiting. It was too hard, so she made her choice and turned away from him. Gave herself to everyone else. That's what really happened, isn't it? Not that crap about the end of the war and going home to the farm and living a quiet life with your girl and son...He knew all along it would never happen. Soldiers just need to convince themselves of the fantasy to get through the reality - but in their secret heart, they know it will never happen...."

I broke into her strange wandering discourse, hearing something in it that perturbed me. Who was Jimmy in her head? Or was he more than one man?

"All the Betties, all of them, they stayed good sweet girls, none of them ever got bitter or cynical or had children they shouldn't have had from men who didn't care for them except for what pleasure they could get from their bodies. No girl had to get rid of her baby in a back street..."

She hugged me close..."You are a sweet man, Lachlan..."

I looked away. Oh no, I am not.

"I think I like your fantasy world better than mine..."

"I don't feel sweet, Uma, I feel old. I've seen too much really to think that all the Betties and Jimmies lived happily ever after..."

She wriggled up and sat at my side, fingering the hair on my chest thoughtfully.  "You don't seem old to me. You seem forever young..."

I pulled back to look at her, traced a pattern down her face with my fingers - the lightest of touches- and then drew her to me for a kiss.

"You're a sweet woman, Uma..." Our lips met softly and we kissed now as satiated lovers, tenderly.

"I really care about you. Lachlan...you do know that, don't you?" She murmured as our lips parted.

"I do, love. I feel it in here." I took her hand and placed it on my chest.

"That's alright then...as long as you know."

She smoothed her hand over my chest, bent to kiss my flesh; I brought her fingers to my mouth and kissed them one by one then dropped a kiss above her heart. My eyes closed as I rested my forehead on her breastbone for a moment before pulling her into my arms and nestling close.

"I know...and I do care too, Betty...so much...Uma...what did you mean before, when you said...?"

Down below the distinctive sound of the main door being flung back interrupted my question, at the very moment when I thought that she might reveal to me what had been on her mind. I cursed quietly under my breath. The low timbre of Terry's voice and Heather's giggling response heralded that the others were back.

"I hear them, they're home- downstairs..."

"Shit! Shit!! SHIT!" Uma jumped out of the bed and started a mad dash to retrieve her clothes. We were in their bed and I sure as fuck didn't want to be caught there with my pants down. I followed her and shrugged on my shirt, searching for my shorts that seemed to have disappeared.

"Oh no, no, no..." Uma was hopping from one leg to another trying to pull up her knickers and grab at her blouse and suit.

"Hey, don't panic, girl," I helped her on with her skirt and zipped up, she fastened my shirt.

"They'll know!" she groaned.

"They're going to know anyway; we reek of sex, as I'm sure they will too, I reckon...Where the hell are my shorts?" I muttered to myself. "Where are the fucking things?"

"You threw them somewhere- rather flamboyantly as I remember." We both looked at each other and grinned. "There they are! Hanging on the back of the chair!" she screamed.

"Be calm, Uma," I cautioned her, looking up as I thrust my legs into my shorts and then pulled on my pants. "Fuck 'em." I threw her a naughty grin.

Uma laughed. "We do, Lach...regularly.  Oh my God...can you smell me?" She sniffed at herself and groaned again. "Come on help me make the bed..."

"Leave the bed... straighten yourself, girl." I eased myself into my jacket just as Terry shouted up the stairs. "You two up there?"

"God, he knows we're here! He's seen my bags!"

She lurched for the door. I dragged her back "Wait, your blouse is buttoned wrong..."

I opened the door and shouted back  "We're coming, keep your bloody hat on." I winked at Uma as I made the 'we're coming" comment; she tutted but grinned despite herself as I rebuttoned for her.

"The condom!" Uma gasped suddenly pointing to the mess on the floor. "Jesus, don't leave it there! I would die if he found that!"

"Damn! Pass me a tissue. Shake a leg, girl...." She threw a box over and I plucked it out of the air deftly without even looking, wrapped it up and stuffed it into my pocket.

"Don't leave it in your pocket...God, if Heather found it..." We both grimaced at the thought of that.

"Right, I'm going down.  I'll say I was packing or something and that you went for a nap."

"Uma?"

"Yeah?"

I pulled her close and kissed her gently, slowly

"Be still. We'll go down together."

"But..."

"No buts, love. It'll be apples."

"You sure?" I gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm sure."

We opened the door and walked out hand in hand. "This afternoon...do you think they were...you know?" I looked at her and raised my eyebrows.

"Are you kidding?"

"Not much chance of him keeping his hands to himself, is there?" She smiled fondly at the thought, her mind already on him and fading from me.

"Curse of the Creator, love...some of us have it worse than others." I winked at her; she shook her head.

"Not a curse... never a curse...a blessing, Lachlan....truly." I stopped touched by her words and rested a finger on her cheek.

"A blessing, Betty. Fair dinkum. A blessing."

She grinned and ran down the stairs, dragging me by the hand behind her, the brittle gaiety returned. "Guess where Lachlan and I went today...?"

Terry's eyebrows went up at her comment and an amused expression crossed his face. I could almost hear his thought processes. He knew all too well where we'd been today. Heather and Terry were in the lounge, Heather flicking through a newspaper and Terry sitting before an open laptop case, shuffling some documents. I nodded to him "Mate." He replied as succinctly. I called over to Heather, "Hey, Blue!" She grinned back at me, that look sparkling in her eyes. She only looks like that at me.

Uma was, of course, in overdrive. "We went on the Eye ...and then we went for tea.... and we met this old lady and Lachlan danced with her and we ate tea and scones and..."

I shook my head listening to her prattle on, knowing the more she talked at the speed of light, the more Terry would grin and allow her to paint herself into a corner, the bastard. As she began to run out of steam, blushing and floundering a little, he strode over, kissed her lips to quiet her and then grinned round at the rest of us.

"...and you got home before us...but still managed to keep yourselves amused until we got back, I'm glad to see. So where are the drinks? It's the cocktail hour...surely Tink you could have mixed some martinis?"

Heather spoke up, grinning. "I think something was definitely mixed in here, Terry... but I don't think it was a martini," she wrinkled up her nose suggestively . Uma's eyes widened. I took my cue and decided to make an exit.

"I'm off to the shower.... save me a tinny, mate..."

"I need a shower, too...I mean on my own...not with Lach...Oh bugger..." Uma had tied herself in knots again and Terry and Heather chuckled wickedly. I opened my mouth to say something but thought better of it, simply looking right at Uma and giving her a wide smile. She beamed back and I shouted at her.

"Race you for the big bathroom, Betty..." It was enough; she launched herself at the stairs; I intercepted, threw her bodily back on the couch, and then legged it up while she ran up after me, screaming curses and threats. "You don't dare go in my bathroom, you mean git...I'll...I'll"

I heard Terry's comment just as I ran out of earshot. "Kids, hey, Heather?"