Five

The alarm went off at 6.30 am. Callum reached out and stabbed the snooze button, then rolled back and pulled Allie closer to him. She cuddled into him for a minute or two.

“You have to get up,” she said. He mumbled something unintelligible.

“I know,” she said, understanding the sentiment if not the words. “But you still have to get up.” He rolled her so that she was lying on her back and then nuzzled into her so his head was between her breasts. Allie laughed.

“Come on,” she said. “Wake up, Callum.” Another mumble, this time tickling her skin and causing her to laugh again. His hands stroked her hips. Then he growled.

“What?” Allie asked. He turned his head slightly. It was still between her breasts, but at least he could talk without smothering his words. She stroked his messy hair with the hand she could move her fingers on.

“I love my job,” he said.

“I know,” she replied.

“No, I mean I really love my job,” he persisted. “I enjoy helping people get their finances in order and I like helping them make their businesses work well and…I love almost everything about it.”
”That’s nice,” she said, stroking her fingertips down his back. “So…?”
”So why don’t I want to go?” he asked. He nuzzled back into her breasts as she laughed.

There was a knock on the door.

“Breakfast!” Fiona called out. “Can I come in?” Callum rolled off Allie and pulled the covers up to her neck before looking down to make sure that most of him was concealed as well.

“Yes,” he called back. The door was opened, nudged open by Fiona’s hip, and she came in bearing a tray laden with plates and cups.

“I’ll put this down and come back with the other one,” she said, sliding it onto the foot of the bed.

“There’s more?” Callum looked at the tray in open-mouthed wonder. He was almost dribbling. There was scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, orange juice, coffee.

“Of course there’s more,” Fiona said. “That’s yours. I’ll bring Allie’s in now.”

“Yes!” Callum said, diving out from under the blankets and crawling for the tray as soon as she was out of the door. Allie laughed again. He looked decidedly cute crawling around the bed like that, his bare butt within reach of her hand as he moved back, the tray in his hands. He wriggled his hips when she gave in to temptation and trailed those fingers over him, and he was only just under the covers again when Fiona walked back in.

“Can we expect this sort of treatment every morning?” he asked, his mouth already full of scrambled eggs. Fiona snorted.

“In ya dreams, kid,” she said. “I thought I’d help you get off to work this morning. After today, you’re on your own. Here, Allie. Let me help you, since super nurse there appears to have forgotten you.” She sat down on the side of the bed and stuck a fork in the golden scrambled eggs on Allie’s plate. Callum looked up, stricken.

“I’m sorry,” he said. Allie grinned.

“It’s all right,” she assured him. “Fiona’s cooking will do that to anyone.” It should have felt odd to be sitting there naked in bed beside her lover with Fiona feeding her, but it didn’t. It felt comfortable and natural and friendly. And the breakfast was wonderful.

Draining his coffee, Callum looked at the clock and sighed.

“I have to get going,” he said.

“You do,” Fiona agreed. He looked over at her. She smiled sweetly.

“You could leave the room at this point,” he suggested.

“I could,” she agreed again. Allie was smiling too. Callum was stuck. His clothes weren’t within reach.

“I’m not going to, though,” Fiona went on. “Allie hasn’t finished her breakfast yet. Have you, Allie?”
”No, I haven’t,” she said, enjoying the teasing. Callum sighed again.

“Fine,” he said. He slid the tray onto the middle of the bed, reached behind him to pick up a pillow and stood up, keeping his back to Fiona. As he stood, he put the pillow behind him to cover his backside. “I’ll have a shower,” he added. “With the door of the bathroom locked, in case anyone has any silly ideas.” To laughter from both women, he left the bedroom with as much dignity as it was possible for a man wearing only a pillow.

Fiona was gone by the time he came out, a circumstance for which he was very grateful.

“She’s incorrigible, and you’re almost as bad,” he said, opening her closet and selecting some clothes. He’d hung some of his stuff there on the weekend.

“We inspire each other,” Allie admitted. She was enjoying watching him, wearing only a towel, laying out his clothes for the day.

“Heaven help me once the two of you have had a full day together,” he said wryly. He dropped the towel on the floor and reached for his briefs.

“Oh, I do wish I could applaud,” Allie said softly. Callum grinned.

Once dressed himself, he was oddly reluctant to dress her.

“I like the idea of you just lying here naked all day, waiting for me to get back,” he said.

“I don’t,” she responded. “Clothes, please.”

“Fiona could dress you,” he pointed out.

“I want you to,” Allie responded. “I prefer it when you do.”
”Really?” he was pleased. She nodded.

“Nobody gets me comfy quite as thoroughly as you do,” she said, smiling when he laughed.

………………

They had a nice day together, catching up. Fiona had some writing to do, but as usual, it took her next to no time, so for most of the day they were either curled up on the living room chairs talking or curled up in Allie’s bedroom talking. The physiotherapist visited just after lunchtime, and gave Allie some exercises to do for her fingers. A good-looking young man, short, but very muscular and fit-looking, he made a praise-worthy attempt to keep his attention on her, even though it was quite obvious that he was very distracted by Fiona. Since he referred to Callum twice as “your boyfriend” to Allie, it was obvious that he considered her off-limits. Fiona flirted with him, as she did with all men, and by the time he left, he was already talking about the necessity of him coming back twice weekly.

“Another one to add to the list,” Fiona sighed as she shut the door behind him. Allie shook her head and smiled.

“How long is that list now?” she asked.

“Long enough to keep me going out on first dates for about four months,” Fiona admitted. “Coffee?” Allie nodded and she headed into the kitchen.

“You don’t mind that Callum’s now off your list?” Allie asked.
”Who said he is?” Fiona teased. She laughed at the look on Allie’s face. “No, of course not. I was never serious about chasing him. He’s been keen on you since day one.”

“So he’s said,” Allie shook her head. “I never noticed.”
”You’ve been too focused on work to notice anything,” Fiona pointed out. “All you’ve wanted has been easy, no-threat men who can buy dinner, look good in a tux and give you an occasional bedroom work-out in the dark.”

“Almost identical to what you look for in a man, in fact,” Allie countered. “Identical except for the “dark” bit, in fact.” Fiona nodded.

“You better believe it,” she said. “And it will continue to suit me until I’m ready to settle down and have some babies.”

“And when will that be?” Allie asked. Fiona shrugged.

“Who knows?” she said. “Having seen my brother’s latest, I may never do it. That is one ugly infant, let me tell you. Mind you, what would you expect, given the poor child’s mother.” She settled down beside Allie, both coffee cups in her hand, and slipped seamlessly into yet another entertaining story about her family.

The day passed quickly, but was still long enough for Allie to miss Callum. She’d spent every waking moment with him for more than a week, and it seemed strange to not have him within calling, if not touching distance. By the time evening arrived, she was really looking forward to seeing him again. Fiona caught her looking at the door.

“He’s probably been making mistakes all day,” she said. “Missing you instead of concentrating on his work.”
”I don’t think so,” Allie said. “He’s been busy catching up. And he didn’t say he missed me when he called.”
”On any of the four telephone calls he made,” Fiona agreed, tongue in cheek. Allie smiled.

“He was ringing to make sure I was all right,” she said, knowing it wasn’t the only reason.

“To check up on me, more likely,” Fiona said. “Ah, ain’t love grand?”

She had hardly finished speaking when the door opened and Callum walked in, still in work clothes, his dark trousers and jacket and open-necked white shirt setting off his messy blonde hair well. Allie smiled at him, appreciating how he looked and the hungry expression on his face as he zeroed in on her. Fiona may as well not have been in the room for all the attention he paid her.

“Hi there,” Allie said. “Did you miss me?” She barely had the words out of her mouth before he’d crossed the room, bent down and scooped her up into his arms. He fixed his mouth to hers and walked with her cradled against him, in the general direction of the hallway. Laughing as he kissed her, Allie struggled.

“I’d take that as a yes,” Fiona suggested from the kitchen. She was laughing too. “Dinner will be ready in half an hour, so hurry it up, Cal.” Her only answer was the sound of his footsteps disappearing down the hallway and the sound of the bedroom door closing.

He was in a very mellow mood by the time they came back, and if Allie was embarrassed by the fact that Fiona knew what they’d been doing for the last thirty minutes, Callum certainly was not. Barefoot, in his trousers and half-buttoned shirt, he was now ravenous.

“Worked up an appetite?” Fiona asked.

“Definitely,” he answered. “I am really looking forward to this, Fiona.”
”Not quite as much as you were looking forward to something else, I noted,” she said. He grinned.

“You know how it is with priorities,” he said, his eyes meeting Allie’s.

After a day spent away from each other, once was never going to be enough. There was a movie on television that night that they all wanted to watch, and since Callum had shifted the big television into Allie’s room, they all crowded onto the bed to see it. Fiona lay down on the side of the bed closest to the set, her head at the bottom of the bed. Callum laid the other way, pillows stuffed behind him, and Allie lying back on his chest, her lower body between his legs. The only light came from the television set. Enjoying the feel of him under her, behind her, Allie nestled in closer, turning her head on his chest.

For almost half of the movie, they watched, laughing and making comments in comfortable camaraderie. And then, when Callum made a derogatory comment about the lead actor, Allie tipped her head back and looked up into his face. He smiled at her, and her heart gave a not entirely comfortable extra thump. God, she thought to herself in wonder. He was so damned gorgeous. Even upside down. His face was smooth, his eyes bright and his mouth curved in a sexy smile. She wriggled a little as heat tingled low in her belly. Callum’s hand smoothed over her hair as she turned back to the movie.

Then his hand slid onto her shoulder. Then across her neck, and down, dipping just under the top button of the shirt she wore. A quick flick of his fingers and the button was undone. Allie reached up with her left hand and covered her buttons. He wasn’t going to undress her in front of Fiona. Or behind Fiona, as the case might be. Callum’s other hand came across and gently lifted her covering arm away, his long fingers encircling the plaster case easily. Holding it down on the bed, his other arm in the way of her right hand, he continued his previous task. Her second button was opened. And then the third. Spreading her shirt just enough, he trailed his fingertips inside, down her cleavage, pausing to stroke the insides of her breasts, and then travelling back up again. And then down again.

The teasing, light stroking, barely touching her, woke up every erogenous zone in her body and invited all nerve endings to dance. Allie looked up at him again. His eyes were on the television screen, but when she moved, he looked down at her and smiled again. And still his fingers continued their gentle exploration. Every now and then, he would just press them against her chest, feeling the rapid beat of her heart. Allie turned back to the movie and willed herself to be still. She wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of embarrassing her in front of Fiona. She underestimated him.

“Your bra clasp is digging into me,” he said. “Just sit up for a second, Al.” Fiona didn’t even look around as he slipped his hands under Allie’s blouse and undid the bra. Then he settled her back onto his chest. She moved faster this time, crossing her arms over her chest. Again, he shifted them down to the bed beside her, and the gentle finger walk recommenced. This time, he varied the trail, easing his hand right inside her shirt, inside her bra, his fingertip searching for and then circling her nipple. Allie’s breathing was becoming ragged now, and she tilted her head back again to glare at him upside down. He winked at her mischievously. And he didn’t stop.

She could feel him under her, growing harder by the second, and it pleased her enormously to know that she wasn’t the only one being turned on by his activities. In fact, it was becoming quite uncomfortable to lie on him, and she had to wriggle to reposition herself.

“Well,” Fiona said, stretching her arms above her head. “Good though the movie is, and fun though it is to listen to you two torturing each other, I think I’ll call it a night, children.” She rolled over and grinned at the look on Allie’s face.

“You can finish watching the movie, Fee,” Allie assured her.

“No she can’t,” Callum countered. He removed his hand from her breast in an unhurried fashion. There was no doubt that Fiona had seen it.

“No, she can’t,” Fiona agreed with him. “Because if I stay here that long, there’ll be another show going on in the room, and I know which one I’ll be watching. Have fun.” She gave them each her customary good night kiss and left them, smiling to herself. As she neared the door, she flicked the room light on.
”Can’t have you fumbling in the dark,” she said, as Allie protested and Callum laughed.

“You were bad!” Allie admonished Callum, rolling off him. He grinned as he leaned over to turn the television off.

“I was,” he agreed. “And now,” he said, rolling back and opening her blouse up completely, flipping her bra up and baring her breasts. “I’m going to be worse.”

Despite the urgency of their need, they took it slowly, Callum undressing each of them piece by piece, taking his time exploring her body minutely and with great care, as if he wanted to make sure he didn’t miss a thing. Still unable to use her hands, Allie kissed what parts of him that she could reach; letting her hair trail over his body once he was naked, too. The insides of his thighs were particularly sensitive, she noted, and she exploited that knowledge with real glee. But she was less free with his body, less comfortable with it than he was with her hers, and for the most part, she just laid back, in his hands, as he aroused her, stirring her skin, her body, her blood, banking his own passion and need. It became a game, almost a test of endurance. For how long could they lie there, naked, their bodies hot with need, until they gave in?

Finally, both of them panting with the restraint, they decided that enough was enough. They reached for each other. Callum’s body was already damp with sweat as he slid up her body, smiled into her eyes and lowered his hips to hers.

There was a loud knocking at the door.

“Go away!” he called without moving his head.

“I can’t!” Fiona called. “Come out!”
“Bad timing, Fiona!” Allie called, almost laughing. Callum wasn’t looking amused.

“Sorry, but…oh, stuff it.” The door was flung open and Fiona walked in. “Sorry, but…oh shit. There’s an image that’s going to be burned on my retinas.” She turned away, hand over her eyes.

“What part of “go away” didn’t you get?” Callum demanded, still not moving. Allie, on the other hand, was moving and trying to roll him off her. It was like trying to roll a car. He wasn’t shifting.

“I know, I know,” Fiona said. “But there’s a guy beating on the front door. Listen, can’t you hear it? He’s yelling something about killing Allie. I thought you’d like to know before he kicks the door in.” Callum tensed even more, if that were possible. Every muscle, every tendon, every drop of fluid and hint of instinct in his body urged him to mate, and it hurt like hell to pull back from Allie’s soft, open body. But he did, breathing heavily.

“Fuck!” he said, succinctly and with feeling as he climbed off the bed and walked towards the door.

“Well put,” Fiona approved.

“Callum…at least put your pants on!” Allie called after his disappearing back. Fiona, who’d got a look at him as he went by, shook her head.
“Don’t bother,” she said to Allie. “It’s going to take a brave or stupid man to take him on when he looks like that. Furious and aroused. If he wasn’t so good-looking, I’d be scared, too.” Allie wasn’t laughing. She was doing her best to drag a sheet around herself with one hand.

“Help me,” she demanded. “Callum, don’t open the door! I’ll handle it!”

“Like hell!” he yelled back, just before he wrenched open the front door. “What do you want, Foster?”

“boutfuckintime,” Glenn Foster said, just barely coherent. It was apparent as much from the appearance of him as from the smell of him that he was drunk. Not falling-down drunk, but certainly not stand-up-straight drunk, either. And most definitely fighting drunk. Before he began to lurch forward, he took one bleary look at Callum. At all of Callum.

“Aaaargh,” he said, disgusted. “That’s disgusht…that’s awful.” Callum placed one hand on the man’s chest and pushed him back.

“You’re not coming in,” he said firmly. “Go away before I call the cops.”
“They’ve already been called,” Foster sneered sloppily. “I had visit from em warning me off the bitch who got me sacked. And there sh’is. Proud of yourself, bitch?” Without turning around, Callum spoke.

“Go back to the bedroom, Allie.”
“No,” Allie said. “His fight’s with me, not you. Go away, Glenn.”

“Why? Can’t face me?” he demanded. “Feeling guilty? Should be.”

“Go back to the room, Allie,” Callum said again. “Fiona, take her back.”
“Thass right. Hide behind the nurse,” Foster said. “Just like you hid behind Carter. Big, tough girl, aren’t ya? Can’t fight ya own battles. Have to hide behind the nurse with his sucker punches. Fuckin coward.” Allie moved before Fiona could grab at her, walked forward, the sheet clutched tightly around her.
“That’s big, coming from a man who assaulted a woman with broken arms,” she spat as she walked forward. “I wouldn’t be calling ME a coward, Glenn.” With annoyance in his blue eyes, Callum turned to look at her just as Foster swung. The copious amounts of rum he’d consumed slowed him down just enough for Allie to duck the punch aimed at her face, but she tangled her legs in the sheet and went down, landing hard on her backside on the floor.

Foster was flailing wildly with his other arm now, not noticing that his target had disappeared well below where he was swinging at. It made no difference to Callum, and when his fist connected with Foster’s jaw, the other man’s head flew back, then he folded up on the spot and simply collapsed on the welcome mat.

“Now, that’s a sucker punch,” Callum said with satisfaction. Fiona begged to differ.

“No, I believe that’s what’s called a knock-out,” she corrected. “He’s out cold. You haven’t killed him, have you?”

“Who cares?” Callum said, turning to Allie. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she said, squirming to disentangle herself enough from the sheet to get up.

“Man, those pretty muscles aren’t just for show, are they?” Fiona marvelled. She stepped around Callum and took a closer look at the fallen man. He was breathing. “Remind me never to cross you, Cal.”

“I cannot believe you walked within range of him,” Callum said to Allie. He’d put his hands on her upper arms and hauled her, none too gently to her feet. He gave her a little shake. “You don’t have any hands to defend yourself, let alone attack!” he said.

“I have words,” she said.

“Not a lot of good against an abusive drunk,” he pointed out. He shook his head at her. “Fiona, can you call the police? We’d better get them to take him away. I imagine we’re going to spend a lot of time answering questions when they get here.”
“And you might want to put some pants on before then, kid,” Fiona suggested. “If you can, which I doubt.” Callum frowned, then looked down.

“Shit!” he said, covering his groin and turning away from her. He’d been so caught up in it, in frustration, annoyance and rage, that he hadn’t even registered that he was naked. And still hard as a rock.

“Go put some clothes on,” Allie smiled. “We’ll watch him.”
“What, and talk at him if he comes to?” Callum asked. “I don’t think so.”
“Actually, I was going to get a blunt knife,” Fiona said as she walked to the telephone and picked it up. “And cut his balls off. Remember? You promised that if he came back, you’d hold him down for me so I could do it.”
“I think he’s suffered enough,” Allie said. “Go get some clothes on, Callum.” He shook his head.

“I’m going to watch him until the police get here,” he said. “Fiona can bring me some clothes once she’s off the phone, and then she can help you get dressed. I’m not walking away from him.”

“Once she’s off the phone, I’ll call Mr Carter,” Allie said. “I’m sure he’ll want to know. And his friend the Police Commissioner will probably be interested, too.” Callum nodded.

“One way or another, we’re going to have a busy night tonight,” he said. As the realisation that making love was obviously not going to be back on the agenda for some time worked its way through to him, his body got the message, finally. Allie smiled again as she glanced down.

“Well at least you’ll be able to zip your pants up now,” she said. She went up on tiptoes and kissed him. “Later,” she promised. Foster groaned.

“Later,” Callum agreed. “Now go, before he decides to try hitting you again and I have to kill him.”

…………….

Six weeks later, the night Foster had invaded their home was just a memory. He’d been charged, fined, and had left the state, going home to work in his father’s building business. It was a come-down for a bright, up and coming architect, but none of them felt sorry for him. Even his fellow workers were less than sympathetic, as Allie found out once she returned there. In fact, with Foster gone, the remaining architects went out of their way to welcome her back to work, and to make up for their previous exclusion of her. She suspected that this was partly to do with the fact that Mr Carter made no secret of his sponsorship. In this, she underestimated herself. She had spent almost four weeks advising on work he’d had sent to her at home, and had made a substantial difference to the work of many of her colleagues with her eye for detail and her astute comments. Her arms were still sore, but her hands were functional, and there was no shortage of people at work to make sure that she didn’t sit at the computer aided design terminal for too long at any one time.

Home life was even better. Callum spent little time in his own apartment, which suited her just fine, and the three of them got on very well. He and Fiona continued to tease and fight with each other in their usual manner, and Allie and Fiona’s close friendship was as strong and tight as ever. Which was why it had come as a rude shock the night before when Fiona told her that she was thinking of moving out.

“I think it’s time I gave you two kids some space,” was all she would say on the subject. Allie was stunned.

“But I don’t want you to go!” she said to her. “And Callum doesn’t either.”
”I know,” Fiona said. “But I think in the long run, it might be a better idea. It’s not going to happen overnight, sweetie. Don’t work yourself up about it. It might be months. Years even.” But it wouldn’t be. Allie knew that. Once Fiona decided to do something, it normally happened fast.

“I don’t want her to go,” she said to Callum that night in bed. She was still very upset.

“I know,” he said, holding her close. “I don’t want her to go either. Mmmm. Keep doing that, Al.” Her hand, which had been travelling right down the middle of him, stilled at his navel and moved back up again.
”What are we going to do about it?” she asked, leaning up and looked at him. He stifled a sigh. He was concerned about Fiona too, but he would have liked that hand to keep going.

“We’ll do something,” he promised. “She’s not gone yet.”

Allie was still down when she left for work the next day, driving the car that Callum had insisted she start using instead of a bicycle. Since Fiona had backed him up and Mr Carter had also added his weight to it, she’d had to buckle under the pressure. On that morning, she would have enjoyed the distraction of the challenge of cycling through the traffic. It would have taken her mind off the impending loss of Fiona. Still, she mused, looking at the passenger seat. It made carrying plans easier, and it meant that she didn’t have to change clothes when she reached work.

Callum reached home a lot earlier than usual that afternoon. Fiona, having just finished her writing for the day, was surprised to see him.

“Are you here to talk me out of moving out?” she asked bluntly. Callum smiled.

“No,” he said. “I don’t want you to go, but it’s up to you. I will do whatever I can to convince you to stay, but…no, I have another reason for being home early.”
”Nothing to do with me?” she asked.

“Obliquely,” he replied. “I have to go upstairs for a few minutes. I’ll be back.” Fiona nodded, picked up a paperback from the coffee table and sat down on one of the living room chairs to read.

Ten minutes later, Callum walked wordlessly into the room and sat down on the chair opposite her. Fiona gave him a quick smile, then continued with her reading. Two pages later, she glanced up in time to see him look away from her. She returned her attention to the book. Half a page later, uncomfortable, she looked up again. He did it again.

“What?” she asked. He caught his lower lip between his teeth and slowly released it.

“I need your help for something,” he said. “And it’s difficult.”
”Difficult for me to help or difficult for you to ask?” she clarified.

“For me to ask,” he said. Fiona smiled, put her book down and crossed her legs under herself. She leaned forward.

“Spit it out, kid,” she said. Callum nodded.

“You’re not allowed to laugh,” he said. Fiona pressed her lips together.

“Oh, this is going to be good,” she said, eyes dancing. Callum did the lower lip thing again.

“Come on,” she encouraged. “I’ll try not to laugh. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try.”
”Okay,” he said. He leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs. “It’s for Allie.” Fiona nodded.

“With her arms being broken and her hands useless the way they were early on, I was doing everything,” he said. She nodded again. “I mean everything in a sexual way,” he said. “Well, not everything, but almost all of it, if you know what I mean.” Fiona was enjoying this. He looked so adorably uncomfortable. He drew a deep breath.

“Anyway, now that she’s got her hands back and her arms out of plaster, I think she’s still reluctant to take the lead, if you know what I mean.”

”Oh, I think I might,” Fiona said, still amazingly keeping a straight face. Callum shot a suspicious look at her. He knew damned well that Fiona pried a lot of details out of Allie about their love life.
”Yes, I think you might, too,” he said. He smiled wryly. “I’ve encouraged her to…I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am very happy with the way things are, but for her sake, I want her to be able to do what she wants to do, not just what I want to do. Am I rambling?”
”Yes, but I understand,” Fiona said. “So what do you want to do about it?”
”I want to reverse the situations, at least temporarily,” he said.

“You want me to break your arms for you?” she asked. Callum grinned again.

“Not quite,” he said. “I want to…ah shit, this is difficult.” He exhaled, then went on. “I want you to help me tie myself to the bed.” Fiona folded both lips into her mouth in an effort to keep them closed until she had herself under control.

“Mmmm,” she managed. Callum looked at her, then looked away, shaking his head.

“I can’t believe I’m asking you this,” he said. Fiona tightened her jaw and looked slightly to the left of his face.

“I take it that you’ll be naked,” she said. He nodded.

“But covered up with a sheet,” he replied.

“Aha…and when do you want to do this?” she asked.

“This afternoon, before she gets home,” he replied. “I have some rope.” He patted his pocket.
”Of course you do,” Fiona said. “So, shall we go and…” She made the mistake of meeting his eyes and lost it, falling back into the chair in laughter. Callum got up out of his chair and walked away.

“Come back,” Fiona said, between gasps of laughter. “Cal, I’m sorry. Come back. I’ll help you. Of course I’ll help you.” He turned back to look at her.

“I can trust you?” he asked.

“Who else are you going to trust to help with something like this?” she asked. His eyes narrowed.

“That wasn’t a yes,” he pointed out.

“It’s as good as you’re going to get,” she countered, not backing up an inch. “So – shall we go in there now and get you ready?”
”I’ll go in first,” he said. “I’ll call out when I’m ready.” Fiona pressed her lips together again and nodded. She waited until he’d walked down the hallway before she picked up a pillow, covered her face and muffled her howls of laughter in it.

When she went in, he was lying on the bed, the sheet covering him from waist to knees, his legs apart.

“Comfortable?” she asked, seeing the white ropes draped over the foot of the bed.

“Yes,” Callum replied. He moved his head around on the pillow, which was right in the middle of the bed. “Now, make it tight enough that I can’t get out of it, but not so tight that she can’t undo it, okay? She still hasn’t got full strength back in her arms.”
”Relax,” Fiona said, picking up the ropes. “You’re in the hands of an expert. It was very wise of you to enlist my help before I upped stakes and moved out. Although, if you ever want to do it again, don’t hesitate to call me. Like Dr Richard, I make house calls.”

Callum started getting a bad feeling about it as soon as she moved onto his second wrist, and it wasn’t just because she was grinning from ear to ear. There was just something very jaunty about her demeanour that was worrying him. Apart from anything else, she was humming.

“You know, I’m not sure this was a good idea,” he said. Fiona laughed and pulled the cord tight, trapping his wrist with the second knot.

“Too late to back out now, kid,” she said. “Now, do you want your legs tied to the bottom corners of the bed, or not quite so far apart?” She’d put a business-like tone in her voice again, and it lulled him into going on with it…not that he could have done anything other than make things difficult and try to undo the knots with his toes anyway.

“To the corners,” he said, spreading his legs further apart.

Fiona waited until she’d tied his second foot before starting to tease. She grabbed a handful of the sheet where it was draped between his knees and flipped it up.

“Oooh, look at that!” she teased, letting it drop down again when he protested and swore.

“Oh, settle down,” she laughed. “Nothing I haven’t seen before, Cal. Now stay right there. I’ll be back.”
”Where are you going?” he asked. His only answer was a little wave of her fingers as she left the room.

“Oh shit,” Callum muttered to himself.

Bad idea. It was definitely a bad idea. He hadn’t thought it all through. The thought that she was leaving had made him bring the plan into action before he’d had the chance to think it all through. Now, he was regretting it. He tested the cords at his wrists, tugging at them to see if he could break them, then twisting his hands to see if he could get his fingers to them. No on both counts…and also no to any attempt to snap the cords that held his feet in place. He dragged on all four points of binding again, just on principle, and succeeded in shaking the bed around, but doing absolutely nothing to free himself. He kept shaking it anyway.

“Now what do you think you’re doing?” Fiona asked brightly as she came back, holding a little wicker basket.

“You stole my question,” Callum responded, looking very warily at the basket. “What’s that?”
”It’s a basket, dear,” she said sweetly as she put it down on the floor at the foot of the bed. She straightened up, her hand full of colour. “With lots of ribbons in it.”

“Why?” he demanded.

“Presentation, darling,” she said. “Men just never think of these things. Now…pink or red?” She looked him up and down, lingering on his bare top half. The sheet was down around his hips now, and he looked frazzled and rumpled and gorgeous. Lucky Allie, Fiona was thinking. “Or blue. With your colouring, I think blue would be good.” She opened her hand and selected a length of light blue ribbon.

“Oh shit,” Callum said again, pressing his head back into the pillow and shutting his eyes.

“Now don’t be like that,” Fiona said, teasing to beat the band. “Do you have ticklish toes, Cal?” With that, she picked up some scissors, cut a length of ribbon, and began weaving it round the big toe on his right foot. Fortunately for him he wasn’t ticklish, because she spent some time on the task, encasing every single toe in ribbon, each with a pretty little bow on top.

She was on her way up to do the same to his fingers. Callum looked steadily at her.

“Going to do my hands now?” he asked. There was just enough of something in his voice to warn Fiona, and she hesitated.

“Hmmm,” she said. She looked at his long, strong fingers. “You know, I think I might pass on those,” she said. “I’ve seen you take lids off jars, and your fingers are a bit too strong, kid. I don’t want to risk a broken hand.”

“I wouldn’t break your hand,” he assured her sincerely. He’d certainly grab it and exert enough pressure to get her to undo the ties on his wrist with her other hand, but he wouldn’t break it.
”All the same,” Fiona said. She leaned over him while Callum screwed up his face. That had been his only escape plan.

“What are you doing now?” he asked. She gathered up some of his hair.

“Wondering how cute you’d look with a topknot,” she said, laughing as he immediately tried to pull his head away. “Or maybe two pigtails. Or lots of them all over your head.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you,” he said, shaking his head ruefully and grinning despite himself. She was going to make him look so stupid.

“Well now I’m offended,” Fiona said, standing up and plonking her hands on her hips. There was a very evil grin on her face. “And you know how dangerous I can be when I’m offended.” Callum didn’t say anything to that. He had a feeling that it didn’t matter anyway. She’d already decided everything she was going to do. He was right. With a smile, Fiona took a firm hold of the sheet and whipped it off him.

Callum didn’t even bother to protest. He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“I’m an idiot,” he said. Fiona’s laugh bubbled out.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” she said, reaching into the basket for another, wider ribbon. “A bit naïve, perhaps, but not an idiot. And you don’t need brains when you look this good naked, Cal. Now, where will I put this one, I wonder?”

Callum gritted his teeth and refused to look down as she slid the ribbon under his penis and brought it round to tie it in a big, floppy bow.

“I think I need a bigger ribbon,” she commented, delighted when he groaned. Then she eased his festooned penis out of the way and loosely wound yet another ribbon around the top of his scrotum. She tied a bow.

“Not too tight?” she asked. His blue eyes looked pointedly into hers. He said nothing. She laughed again.

“Obviously not,” she said. “Now, lots of tiny little bows, I think.”
”What the hell for?” he had to ask.

“I’m going to tie them into your pubic hair,” she said matter-of-factly as she searched. “It’ll take Allie ages to untie them all. It’ll keep her happily occupied for hours.” Callum sighed again. Loudly.

“Why don’t you just get a pen and write “Fiona was here” on my dick?” he asked. Fiona, busy searching in her wicker basket, stilled and looked up at him. Then she grimaced.

“Damn,” she said. “I didn’t think of that. Here you are, wanting to make a present of yourself to her. A very nice present, I might add…” she gave his genitals a friendly pat. Callum shifted his hips and growled at her, making her grin again. “You don’t really want to advertise that her best friend has been handling you.”

“No, I don’t,” he said, glad that she was appreciating the point. “In fact, it would be even better if her best friend HADN’T been handling me, but I suppose that was a bit too much to expect.”
”Definitely too much to expect,” Fiona agreed, nodding. “Great body, young Callum. Far too tempting to resist. Ah well. Let’s get those ribbons off your boy bits.” She untied them and tugged them away from him without touching him again. Then she stood up and looked down at him for a minute. Callum, lying nude, spreadeagled and defenceless, forced himself to remain completely still.

“I also probably shouldn’t put lipstick around the head of your…no, probably not,” Fiona teased as Callum began to swear and tug at the ropes again. She picked the discarded sheet up off the floor, looked at it, then at him, then shook her head.

“No, we don’t need that,” she said. She walked away with it under her arm.

“Fiona!” he called as she left the room, taking her wicker basket with her. “What the…” He gave up and settled down. It wasn’t as he’d planned it, but it was better than it might have been. He could put up with lying here uncovered except for ten stupid little bows on his toes. He didn’t have much choice anyway.

Fiona came back in.

“This will be better,” she announced as she approached the bed. She spread “this” out and arranged it over his private parts, fiddling with it until she was satisfied with the arrangement and Callum was getting distinctly uncomfortable. It was a white handkerchief, and it barely covered him, the thinness of the material leaving a clear outline of the shape and size of him underneath it.

“Now don’t move,” she said, smiling impishly. With that, she bent over and planted a quick kiss on his lips.

“Come back here,” Callum invited. Eyes twinkling, Fiona bent down again cautiously, and he kissed her back this time, a warm, friendly kiss. “I can’t believe I’m saying this,” he said. “But thanks for your help.”
”I’m not finished yet,” she said, again in that deceptively sweet tone she’d used earlier. Callum groaned again as she disappeared from the room one more time. And then he began protesting, loudly, as she came back in clutching the digital camera.

“Now, you’d really better keep still,” she advised. “Or else I’m going to get some very interesting photographs here.” She got them anyway. Callum kept still enough to not let the handkerchief move, but he threatened and abused her all the time she was taking photos of him from every angle.

“Keep still,” Fiona warned again, laughingly tickling up the sensitive inside of his thighs until he tossed about in a vain attempt to dislodge her fingers.

“Oh dear. Now look what you’ve gone and done.” The handkerchief lay on the bed beside his hip. “Smile,” she said brightly. Five shots later, she draped the cloth back over him again, having filled the disk on the camera.

“You little bitch!” Callum spat at her, genuinely annoyed.

“Gee, and just now you were thanking me for helping you,” Fiona sighed. “Men are so erratic.” She stilled, held up her hand to stop any further insults, and listened.

“She’s home early,” she said. “Bye, Cal. Enjoy yourself.” She raced out of the room, down the hallway and into her own room, shutting the door just as Allie called out “Anyone home?” from the living room.

Still fuming, Callum took three deep breaths and let them out. When Allie walked through the door, he’d recovered enough to smile at her. She froze just inside the doorway, her eyes wide. Then she looked behind her, checking for Fiona. Then she looked back at him, took two steps inside the room and shut the door behind her. Firmly.

“I love the ribbons,” she said as she walked towards him, smiling. Callum said nothing. He just watched her walking towards him, the look in her eyes telling him that she knew exactly what he was presenting her with. Her gaze skimmed over the ropes that bound him at four points, then settled on the handkerchief, which seemed to be starting to lift up of its own accord.

“That’s pretty too,” she said. She reached out, snagged one corner of it, and slowly tugged it off him, letting the lace edges of it tickle over his skin. “Fiona’s?” she asked. He nodded.

“She helped you with this?” Allie asked, looking her fill of him, up and down, concentrating just south of the middle of him.

“She did,” Callum said his first words, keeping his voice neutral.

“That was nice of her,” Allie said, sitting down on the bed and reaching for him.

“Oh yeah, she’s a real Mother Theresa,” he said. And caught his breath as her hand closed on him.

“Did she take advantage of you?” Allie asked, trying to sound sympathetic, but with laughter in her eyes.

“A little,” he admitted ruefully. “I should have expected it.”
”You should,” Allie agreed. “But Callum?” He looked at her. “I’m going to take a lot more advantage,” she promised. “I’m going to take wicked advantage, in fact.”

“Oh good,” he grinned.

…………………..

When almost two hours had passed with no sign of them emerging from the bedroom, Fiona went out for a while, wandering around some nearby shops. When she walked back in, Allie was in the kitchen stirring something in a saucepan and Callum was lounging in the doorframe from the hallway.

“Well, don’t you look rested,” she said to him. “Nothing like a good stretch to make you feel good.” He smiled, and Allie laughed.

“Thank you for your help with that,” Allie said.
”Yeah, thanks heaps,” Callum added, but the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes boded ill.

“Don’t mention it,” Fiona smiled at them both, keeping a wary eye on him.

“Where’s the disk from the camera?” he asked. Fiona laughed.

“You’ve already looked in the camera, I take it?” she asked. He nodded.

“Where is it?” he repeated.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she teased.
”Yes,” he said, serious now. “And I’m only going to ask nicely once more.”

“I’d give it to him, Fee,” Allie advised. Fiona turned her gaze quickly to her.
”Not if you’d seen the photos, you wouldn’t,” she said. Allie sighed.

“I’m sure you’re right,” she said. “But he’s not kidding. He wants the disk.”
”I do,” Callum agreed. “Please may I have it?”
”Well, since you asked so nicely…” Fiona began. Her grin broadened. “No.”

Before she could do so much as laugh at her own joke, he had her. He moved so fast she didn’t have a chance to evade him. One minute she was standing there, her handbag dangling from her fingers, the next he had one arm around her middle and had lifted her right off her feet. He stepped back, sat down on the arm of a chair and swung her round, tipping her over his knees while she squealed, only partly in fear. Her hair hung to the floor, pooling on the carpet.

“Callum, don’t hurt her!” Allie said from the kitchen. The soup was almost boiling and she had to put three more ingredients in. She looked from the pot to the tableau in the living room and then back again. The soup won. Callum wouldn’t really hurt Fiona. She hoped.

“Ohhh, you’re soooo strong,” Fiona said, trying to sound like a swooning heroine. Then she really did squeal a protest as he grabbed the hem of her dress and flipped it up at the back, right up to her waist. Allie turned again at the sound of distress.

“Don’t pull her panties down,” she warned, wooden spoon in hand. Callum looked up and grinned.

“I don’t have to,” he said. “She’s only wearing a thong. A red one.”

“Pull my dress back down NOW!” Fiona yelled, struggling. Her feet were dangling off the floor. She reached back to cover herself and had her wrist caught tight in a vice-like grip and held in the small of her back, right on top of her rolled up dress.

“Cute butt, Fiona.” Callum teased. He’d seen it before, the night he’d dragged her out of the fountain she’d decided to go skinny-dipping in, but never quite so up close and personal. “Now, where’s the disk?”

“Well, it’s not there!” she responded.

“I can see that,” he said He ran his fingers over her bottom. “Where is it?”
”Go to hell,” Fiona said between clenched teeth. “I do not give in to this sort of…OW!” The smack hit her square in the middle of her almost bare backside, leaving a neat handprint that almost covered it, and giving vigour to her struggles.

“I’ll ask again at ten,” Callum said, and settled in to deliver the next nine.

By the time he’d finished, Allie was out of the kitchen, the saucepan taken off the hotplate and the wooden spoon gripped tight in her hand.
”Callum, let her up,” she said. The man she loved smiled at her, then bent down.

“Where’s the disk?” he asked. Fiona renewed her struggles.

“Let me up!” she insisted.

“You tell me where the disk is and I’ll let you up,” Callum said. “Of course, if you don’t tell me where it is…” He patted her bottom gently, leaving her in no doubt.

“No!” she and Allie said at the same time. Callum winked at Allie and shook his head. He mouthed the words ‘I won’t’ at her. Reassured, she went back into the kitchen. Silence stretched. Fiona, blood rushing to her head, bottom up and dignity at an all-time low, sighed.

“In my handbag,” she said.

“Thank you,” Callum said. He released her hand, pulled her dress down, and stood up, bringing her with him. Somewhat unsettled by the experience, Fiona didn’t even try to stop him when he picked up the handbag she’d dropped on the floor, opened it and rifled through it. She wanted to hit him, she really did. In fact, at that point, she would have happily brained him with a lamp, but she knew she didn’t have the strength or speed to get him. Besides, her best friend was attached to him. And apart from that, the humour of the situation appealed to her.

“You know, that isn’t as much fun as you’d think it would be,” she said, rubbing her backside. Callum laughed.

“Depends on what part you’re playing,” he said, eyes dancing. “I enjoyed it.” He slipped the disk into his jeans pocket and held her handbag out to her.

“You look so smug,” she said. “You wait. You just wait.”
”No!” Allie said. “No vendettas, please. You two stop it right now. All right?” Blue eyes and green eyes turned to look at her. Callum and Fiona both nodded obediently. But when they turned back to look at each other, neither of them was in any doubt that the war was not yet over. And that they were both going to enjoy themselves immensely in the process.

……………………………

The following Saturday, Allie’s worst fears were realised when Fiona announced over breakfast that it looked like she had a place lined up to move into. She held her hand up to stall the protests.

“No, before you start,” she said. “It has a roof garden, two bedrooms, a studio for me to write in, and a reading room in the building.” She took a mouthful of cereal, chewed and swallowed. “And a chapel.”
”A chapel?” Callum repeated. She nodded.

“Well, that’s one room you won’t be using much,” he said.

“Why a chapel?” Allie asked. Fiona smiled beatifically.

“Because the building is owned by a very religious family. A mother and son who live on the premises. They hold prayer meetings twice a week.” Allie covered her mouth with her hand. Callum didn’t bother. He laughed openly.

“You? At twice weekly prayer meetings?” he asked. Fiona managed to look wounded and saintly.

“Of course,” she said. “My parents used to drag us off to church occasionally. I can probably remember all the right responses and some of the hymns. That should get me through the first month, until the probationary period runs out.”

“At which point the wild parties begin,” Callum countered. She grinned.

“You know me so well,” she said. “But they will have to be quiet wild parties. They have all sorts of strict standards.”

”It doesn’t sound like the sort of place you’d want to live,” Allie said. Fiona shrugged.

“Apparently about twenty people want the apartment,” she said.

“So what makes you think you’re going to get it?” Callum asked. Another smile, this one wicked.

“I do have a date with the son tonight,” she said. “I plan to impress him with how staid and respectable I am.”
”And seduce him into signing a contract before he leaves,” Allie offered. Fiona laughed.

“If at all possible,” she agreed. “But I’m going to have to be very careful. The first time I met him, he looked deeply disapproving of my stiletto heels. It’s going to have to be ‘convent school Fiona’ tonight, I’m afraid.”
”I am going to enjoy this,” Callum grinned.

“You are going to have to behave, or else I’m going to lock you in your own apartment,” Fiona said to him seriously.

“Why do I have to behave?” he asked.

“Because I want the apartment, and if you want to have this apartment for yourself and your lady love, you’ll help me,” she said.

“Just one flaw in that argument,” he pointed out, picking up a piece of toast. “I don’t want you to leave any more than Allie does.” Fiona sighed.

“It’s for the best,” she said. “So you just behave, kid. Or else.”

All day, Allie thought of little else. She didn’t want her to go, she really didn’t. She certainly wasn’t prepared to sacrifice her relationship with Callum, but she did feel guilty that it was the impetus that was encouraging Fiona to move out. Callum, knowing how she felt, did his best to distract her during the day and to let her talk about it. She was still talking about it that evening, standing at the kitchen counter preparing dinner for them.

“I just wish there was something we could do,” she said for the hundredth time.

“It’s up to her, Al,” Callum said. He was lounging on one of the comfortable chairs. He’d offered to help prepare the meal, but had been laughed at, so he was contenting himself with watching.

“I know, but it’s just wrong,” Allie complained. “It’s her home, too. And here she is, pretending to be something she’s not in order to impress some ultra-conservative landlord so she can have an apartment in a place she probably won’t like anyway.”

“And when she gets thrown out, she can come back here,” Callum said reasonably. “And she will get thrown out. The first time she runs downstairs in her pyjamas to get her mail, or the first time she pushes one of her lovers out the door naked and throws his clothes out the window.”

”She’s only done that once,” Allie reminded him, laughter in her eyes.

“Yes, but it was memorable, you have to admit,” he responded. “Poor guy.”
”Poor guy, nothing!” Allie said. “He tried to talk me into going to bed with them!” Callum nodded.

“You’re right, of course,” he said. “For that, he should have been killed. But I can understand why he’d try.” He laughed as she glared at him. “That was a compliment, by the way,” he pointed out. “To you. Much as I love Fiona, there is no way I’d want to get into bed with her, even if you were there to defend me.”

“That’s a relief,” Allie said, even though she’d known it already.

“But I do wish we could do something,” she said yet again. “If not to convince Fiona, then perhaps to work on the landlord. What’s his name again?”
”Derek,” Callum answered. “And I’ve been thinking about that a bit. Given what he’s like, there may be something we can…whoa!” he stopped and changed tack as Fiona came down the hallway wearing only a towel. Her hair was pulled back into a neat twist at the back of her head.

“You’re certainly going to catch his attention if you go out like that,” Callum approved. The towel was tucked into her cleavage, and she was showing a lot of slim, toned legs.

“Look and weep, kid,” Fiona said sweetly. “If you hadn’t decided to throw yourself away on the brunette, all this could have been yours.” She sailed into the kitchen as Allie burst out laughing and Callum grinned appreciatively.

“Well, if I’d known what I was missing,” he said, teasing both of them.

“You’d have done what?” Allie asked. As usual, Fiona couldn’t resist pushing it further.

“And you haven’t seen the best bits yet,” she said. With that, standing beside Allie, she caught the front of the towel in her hands and flipped it right open, flashing him. Callum gave a shout of laughter.

“You find that funny?” Fiona demanded. Allie rolled her eyes and turned back to the vegetables she was chopping. Fiona had no shame. She’d never had any, and she obviously wasn’t developing any.

“No, I find it cowardly,” Callum said unexpectedly. “Standing all the way over there to do it, where I can’t see you properly.” Fiona just looked at him. “Betcha wouldn’t do it over here,” he taunted. Allie shook her head at him, telling him not to encourage her.

With a prim, proper evening ahead of her, Fiona was in dire need of a little bit of wildness, but she wasn’t silly.

“If you think I’m going to fall for that one,” she said to him. “You can think again.” She picked up the deodorant she’d bought that day and left on the kitchen counter, tucked it into her palm, and went to walk back. One step away from him, she turned, and lightning fast, whipped the towel open again. She was already laughing, ready to crow at him as she walked away, but it didn’t turn out as she’d intended. Callum, who’d seen her palm the deodorant and realised that it meant she was keeping her fingers free for something, had correctly guessed what that something was. Ready for her, and even faster, he caught her wrists, trapping them and holding them wide, the towel clutched open in her hands.

“You’re right,” he said, scanning her pale, shapely body up and down quickly. Then his blue eyes fixed on her face. “The best bits are good, too.” Fiona was too busy trying to wrench her hands free of his fingers to come up with a smart retort, and Allie was astounded to see the blush on her friend’s face. Perhaps she did have some shame after all?

“Callum, let her go!” she insisted. Grinning, he did, backing up before Fiona could act on the impulse of murder in her green eyes. But by the time she had the towel closed, she was laughing.

“Damn, you’re fast,” she complained.

“When motivated,” he qualified. “Nice body, Fiona. I’ve always thought so.”

“Well, of course you have,” she said, swinging away from him and walking down the hallway, making sure she wasn’t walking fast enough to make it look as if she was running away. Which she was.

Callum looked over at Allie and grinned.

“I know, I know,” he said apologetically. “But I couldn’t resist it. She was so sure of herself.”

“And you can’t have that,” Allie said.

“Of course not,” he agreed.

“You embarrassed her,” she said. He scoffed.

“Not a chance,” he said. “I’ve seen her body before, remember? The night at the fountain?”

“She blushed,” Allie pointed out. Callum shook his head.

“That was annoyance,” he said. “She doesn’t like being beaten at her own game. Fiona could walk naked down the street and not be embarrassed.” Allie tipped a cascade of vegetables into a saucepan.

“Anyone seeing that really would think you were sharing your time between our beds,” she said, still smiling. Callum almost laughed, then something sparked in his head. He grinned instead.

“Don’t even think it!” Allie said firmly. That did make him laugh.

“I wasn’t,” he assured her. “I told you before. I’m not interested in getting into bed with Fiona. And where on earth I’d get the energy given the workout you give me, I don’t know.” Allie smiled contentedly. Callum continued.

“But it has given me an idea. Come and sit down so I can tell you quietly.”

……………………………

Derek arrived early. He was an attractive, well-groomed man who was a bit thin for Allie’s taste, but had a nice smile. He looked to be in his late thirties.

“Come in,” she said, standing back to let him enter the room. He was wearing brown pants, a brown jacket and brown shoes. His shirt was white and his tie, no surprise there, was brown.

“Fiona is almost ready,” Allie said brightly. “Please, sit down. I’m Allie.” She held out her hand, and for an instant, she didn’t think he was going to take it. He looked hesitant. Good manners prevailed, and he shook hands with her, but it was a very soft, weak handshake, as if he either didn’t want to hurt her, or had little experience in shaking hands with women.

“Hello,” said Callum, coming into the room. “You must be Derek. I’m Callum.” Derek had no compunctions about shaking hands with HIM, Allie noted darkly. She disliked him already.

“Derek Maywright,” Fiona’s potential landlord said. “You must be Allie’s husband.” Callum grinned.

“Not yet,” he said, his eyes dancing when he saw Allie’s jaw drop. Derek’s back was to her, so he didn’t see it. “No, we’re just living together at present.” He saw the look on Derek’s face. Instant disapproval. Allie had moved towards the hallway as he was speaking, so she saw it too.

“I’ll let Fiona know you’re here,” she said. The two men sat.

“Would you like a drink?” Callum asked. “A beer?”
”No, I don’t drink,” Derek responded.
”Probably wise,” Callum agreed. “Where are you going tonight?”
”To a restaurant owned by a member of the congregation I attend,” the man replied. “A good, wholesome place with no alcohol served.” He was obviously making a point here. Not only did he not drink, but he didn’t approve of it in others, either. He was a natural preacher, too.

“I’d better tell Fiona not to take any wine along then,” Callum said. Derek looked shocked.

Prim little stuffed-shirt, Callum was thinking. No way are you getting our Fiona. Resolve kicked in to the plan he’d half made.

“I’m glad it’s you who’s going out with her tonight instead of me, this time,” he said, managing to sound weary.

“You go out with Fiona?” Derek asked, looking taken aback. “I thought you were engaged to…to…?” He obviously couldn’t remember Allie’s name. Callum smiled enigmatically.

“Not quite engaged to Allie,” he said. “Things are a bit more…open, shall we say, than that. But we don’t go out all that often. We tend to stay in a fair bit. The three of us find rather a lot to occupy ourselves here, if you know what I mean. Far too much, at times. Those two have a lot of stamina and creativity. It’s just as well they’re, um…fond of each other as well, or I’d be exhausted.” Derek looked confused. Then he blinked and looked closer to horrified.

“You…are you and Fiona…involved?” he asked.
”Involved,” Callum tasted every syllable, every letter of the word. “Hmmm… I don’t know whether I’d use that word. “Close” is probably a better word. Or even “very close”, although I suppose that’s two words. Anyway, you’ll have a great time tonight. She’s a very energetic, imaginative woman. And multi-skilled. She can do more than one…thing at once.”
”Imaginative?” Derek repeated just that word. Callum smiled.

“Very,” he said.

When Fiona came into the room a minute later, dressed in a sedate green dress, with low-heeled shoes, she knew immediately that something had happened. Callum was looking relaxed – too relaxed, and Derek was looking wary. She narrowed her eyes at Callum, who smiled at her in a way that made her narrow her eyes even more. It was a lazy, sexy smile.

“I’m ready,” she said, turning to Derek and smiling brightly. “Shall we go?”

“Umm…yes,” Derek said, standing up. Obviously uneasy, he glanced over at Callum. “Yes, let’s go.” Callum stood up, stretched his arms above his head, every inch the man comfortable in his domain.

“Have fun,” he said to Derek with a wink. Then, as he walked past Fiona, he gave her a proprietorial pat on the backside. “You too, babe,” he said. “See you later.” As he would tell Allie, he was concerned he’d overdone it with the last three words, especially since he said them in a low, meaningful tone, but the look of confusion on Fiona’s face told him otherwise. He barely managed to keep his laughter contained until he was down the hallway and the front door had shut behind them.

…………….

She stormed into their room just before midnight, flinging the door open and turning the light on. Fortunately, they’d finished what they’d been doing (twice) in her absence, but had yet to go to sleep. Shielding her eyes with her hand, Allie sat up, clutching the covers to her chest.

“How did it go?” she asked. Fiona made a noise that was not unlike that of a steam engine. Then she launched herself across the room and at Callum, who sat up and caught her, laughing. He rolled her over him and pinned her down on the bed between them.

“Let me go, you…you mongrel!” Fiona roared, struggling to get up from where he held her trapped on the covers. She was trying to get her fingernails into him – into the bare skin of his arms or chest – or preferably somewhere near those taunting blue eyes.

“Not a good date, Fiona?” he asked. “Gee, you’re home early.”
”What did you say to him?” she demanded. Allie wriggled over a bit, so that Fiona was not quite so squashed.

“To Derek?” Callum stalled.
”Yes, to Derek,” Fiona bellowed. Allie covered her ears.

“It’s just as well the upstairs tenant is friendly,” she commented. “Otherwise we’d have complaints about the noise.”

“What makes you think I said something to Saint Derek?” Callum asked innocently. He wasn’t fooling anyone, but then he wasn’t trying to.

“Because he talked to me all night as if I were some latter day whore of Babylon!” Fiona roared, still at the same volume. “He asked me if I’d like to repent my sins and go to church with him on Sunday. That was over the entrée. By main course, he was wondering aloud whether I had ever considered being reborn. He mentioned that his life completely turned around once he had himself baptised and reborn. Not, he hastened to add, that he had sins on his conscience anywhere near as bad as I had on mine! Stop laughing, damn you!” Callum was having a hard time holding her arms pinned, he was enjoying this so much.

“How did you respond when he said that?” Allie asked, doing a marginally better job of keeping a straight face.

“I asked him what sins he thought I had on my conscience, naturally,” Fiona spat, glaring at Callum. “And he replied “Well, that’s not for me to say” and talked about “casting the first stone” and generally looked dreadfully uncomfortable.” Allie made a whimpering noise. Callum didn’t bother holding it back. His shoulders shook as he laughed.

“And by dessert?” he managed to ask.

“He asked if I wanted to move into a shelter for women at risk,” Fiona said. Both of them collapsed laughing. “And by then, I can tell you, that I was giving it serious thought!” She gave in and laughed too, still annoyed, but amused despite herself.

“What did you say to him?” she demanded again, kicking at Callum.

“I didn’t actually say anything,” Callum said, relaxing his hold on her enough to let her get comfortable. “But I may have implied something.”
”What, that I’m open to all comers?” Fiona asked. He grinned.

“No,” he said. “Just that you were open to me. And to Allie.” The look in her eyes had him tightening his grip again.

“What?” she cried. “You let him think that I was having sex with you? And that I’m having it off with Allie as well?”

“Not so much “as well” as “at the same time”, I believe,” Allie offered helpfully. Fiona’s mouth opened wide and she looked from Callum to Allie and back again.

“Why?” she asked him. “Why did you do that?” Allie answered again.

“We don’t want you to move out,” she said simply. “So he sabotaged your attempt to get in good with the landlord.”

“He certainly did,” Fiona agreed, shaking her head. She zeroed in on Callum again. “But why like that? Destroying my reputation? Don’t you scoff, kid! My reputation is not that bad!” Callum grinned.

“Why did you do it that way?” she asked him. His grin turned wicked.

“Apart from the fact that it was the best way to shock him, think blue bows and a digital camera,” he said. Fiona snarled, then fell silent as he laughed again.

“Revenge,” she said. “For the sake of revenge, you would ruin my chance to move out and leave you two lovebirds to coo in private.”
”It’s not the cooing that you’re wanting to give us privacy for,” Callum pointed out.

“Alright, to fuck on the kitchen table, then,” Fiona modified it nicely.

“We don’t have a kitchen table,” Allie contributed, earning a glare from her best friend.

“For revenge,” Fiona continued regardless. “You would condemn me to a night spent being preached at by the most boring, stuffed-shirt excuse for a man it has ever been my misfortune to meet. For revenge, you would lie…”

”Lie?” Callum echoed, managing to sound wounded.
”Yes, lie,” Fiona rounded on him as much as she could, given that his hands were pinning her arms, effectively holding her down on the covers.

“Well gee, all I did was imply that the three of us spend time in bed together,” Callum pointed out. “And as far as I can see, that’s exactly what we’re doing at the moment. Of course, only two of us are naked, but hey, we can do something about that. Give me a hand here, Al. This dress shouldn’t take much effort to get off, and that body of hers is very nice. I know. I had a good look at it today.”

As he and Allie laughed, Fiona struggled, cursed, kicked and yelled until they stopped teasing and let her get up. Then, reluctantly amused, she went out to the kitchen to make coffee while the two of them pulled some clothes on and went out to join her.

“You spanked me,” she reminded Callum as he came into the kitchen, still buttoning up his jeans.

“I did,” he grinned. “And I enjoyed it. And your point is?”
”That you already exacted revenge for the blue bows and digital camera,” Allie answered for her.
”Got it in one,” Fiona commended her. “In fact, I owed YOU one, not the other way round.” Callum shook his head as he reached into the fridge for the milk.

“I spanked you because you wouldn’t give me the disk,” he said. “I didn’t ever retaliate for the humiliation you put me through.” Fiona snorted.

“You didn’t look too humiliated,” she said. “He looked great,” she said to Allie.

“I agree,” Allie grinned. “I plan on seeing him like that more often.”

“Which is why I should move out,” Fiona jumped on that. Callum looked at her.

“So Allie can tie me to the bed?” he asked. She shook her head.

“So you two can do whatever you want, without fear of my stumbling across you and embarrassing you,” she said.

“We don’t spend all day making love!” Allie pointed out.
”More’s the pity,” Callum added. She tried to glare at him, but couldn’t. Her lips twitched as he grinned.

“And even if we did, we don’t do it outside of the bedroom,” he said. “Or the bathroom,” he added, after consideration. “Apart from that time when…oh, never mind.” Allie was glaring at him.

“But if I wasn’t here, you could be doing it on the floor, on the kitchen counter, up against the wall in the hallway…”
”Fee!” Allie was laughing.

“No, don’t interrupt,” Callum said. “She’s giving me all sorts of ideas. Keep going, Fiona.”

“The point is, I’m playing gooseberry here,” she said. “I’m the fifth wheel, pick whatever cliché you like. And I don’t want to…what are you doing?” Callum caught her under the arms and picked her up, plonking her down on the kitchen bench.

“The point is, that if Allie and I decide we want to have wild, loud, kinky sex in unusual locations, I have a place upstairs we can go to,” he said. “Alternatively, if you want your own space, you can move in upstairs.” He put his hand under Fiona’s chin. “And the other point is that this is your home. And despite the fact that you’re a Grade A pain in the ass, we both like having you around.” She looked very pleased at that, although it wasn’t clear whether it was the insult or the compliment that brought her smile. Callum leaned in and kissed her on the nose.

“I can’t speak for Allie, but I love ya,” he said. He grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. When he backed off, she kept hold of him and he lifted her down again, at which point Allie hugged her too.

“Don’t try to leave again,” Allie said to her. “Okay?”

“Because next time, we’ll handcuff you to the bed,” Callum said.

“And do what?” Fiona responded, grinning at him. Then she sighed loudly. “All right,” she gave in. “I’ll stay.”

That did not mean that Callum was going to get away unscathed, however. Fiona had principles, and one of them was that no-one ever scored a point off her without retaliation. An hour later, after he and Allie had gone to bed, she dug a disk out from a secret pocket on the side of her mattress and went out to the living room to find his computer.

……………………….

Callum had entering his office building down to a fine art. He had to get past the guards, the reception, four offices and two open work areas before he got to his own part of the building, and if he stopped and talked to everyone, it took him an hour. He’d timed it once. So, he picked up his pace as he walked in through the doors of the ground floor, smiled and waved hello to the guards, did the same with the women in reception, slowing down just enough to throw a compliment or a question, and then walked down the hallway between the offices looking straight ahead. He slowed near the open work areas to trade insults and comments with a few people, but never allowed himself to linger. Then, stopping in briefly at the kitchenette closest to his office, he made himself a coffee and walked out and around the corner.

“Morning, Mr Webster,” his assistant Marcie said quietly. She was in her late forties and had a lovely smile that she used only rarely. She was efficient, courteous and friendly in a reserved way. She had been Callum’s assistant for more than a year, and he had never managed to get her to call him anything other than “Mr Webster”.

“Morning, Marcie,” he responded with a smile. “How was your weekend?”
”Very pleasant, thank you,” she said. “And yours?”
”Full,” he responded. He handed her his laptop computer. “Can you work your usual magic on that? I finished the Fuller case and have almost everything I need for Rutherfords.”

”Well done,” she approved. “I’ve put together some of the basics for Carlisle’s, and I’ve had a call this morning from Carter and Associates, that big architecture firm.” Callum raised his eyebrows. Marcie picked up a note from her desk.

“The man in charge, Arnold Carter, wants to talk to you about the benefits of his firm signing on here,” she said.

“That’s nice of him,” Callum said. “I should probably pass it to one of the partners, though. That’ll be a big client if we get them. And besides, my girlfriend works there. I probably shouldn’t mix business and pleasure.” Although when he thought about what Allie had been doing to him while he was finishing off the Fuller case, he realised he’d done quite a lot of that later. The “tying to the bed” episode, however humiliating Fiona had made it, had certainly done the trick where Allie was concerned. She was just about tackling him and ripping his pants off these days. Not that he was complaining at all.

He took the file Marcie was holding out. It had “Carlisle” printed neatly on the top right hand corner.

“You’ve done a lot of work on this,” he commented. “You must have spent most of the weekend on it, Marcie.” He frowned. He didn’t encourage her to work that hard. She shrugged and one of her sweet smiles flashed.

“It gave me something to do,” she said. She turned back to her desk and put his computer on it.

Ten minutes later, he was thoroughly engrossed in the file, jotting down some numbers on the notepaper beside him when Marcie knocked softly on the door.
“Hmmm?” he asked, dragging his eyes away from the file with difficulty.

“Mr Webster, did you put a new screensaver on your computer?” she asked warily. Callum frowned.

“No,” he said. “What is it, Marcie? A virus?” God, he hoped it wasn’t. All of his work for the last two days was on there. He was out of his seat.

“Well…no,” she said hesitantly. “Umm…it’s, more like…um….photos. Of you, I think. I’m fairly sure they’re of you.” She was positive. She’d been looking at them for several minutes in a mix of disbelief, confusion and admiration. Callum stopped mid-stride.

“Photos of me?” he asked. She nodded, her cheeks pink.

“Six of them,” she said. “They float across the screen, one at a time.”
“What sort of photos of me?” Callum asked. He paled. “Oh no, don’t tell me.” She told him anyway.

“Well, in three of them, you seem to be wearing some sort of little white cloth, and in the other three, you…”
“Aren’t wearing anything at all?” he asked wearily. She nodded.

“And you’re tied to a bed,” she finished. Callum closed his eyes.

“She is so dead,” he muttered. He opened his eyes. “I’ll get rid of them, Marcie,” he said. He gave her a rueful smile. “I’m sorry.” She chewed her lips for an instant before an uncharacteristically mischievous smile escaped.

“No need for apologies, believe me,” she said. Callum’s eyes widened.

“Marcie!” he said, shocked. She laughed, a quiet, tinkling little laugh that surprised him even more.

“In fact, I’d be just as happy if you left them there,” she said.

“Well that’s not going to happen,” he said, brushing past her as he left his office. He took one look at the computer screen, which was turned towards his door so that it couldn’t be seen by anyone passing by. It was displaying a fully nude photograph of himself. The photo was moving slowly down the screen, drawing the eye to every detail from his toes to his hair.

“Oh man,” he said, stepping forward.

“Without a doubt,” Marcie added, laughing again. Callum tightened his jaw and ignored her as he set about removing the screensaver.

Finished, he swung round on her chair, which he’d purloined for the task, and looked her square in the eyes.
“I suppose I’d better explain,” he said. She shook her head.

“No, you don’t need to,” she assured him. “And no, I won’t tell anyone.”
“I knew that already,” he said, managing a smile. “Thanks.” She nodded as he stood up. “Oh, and Marcie?” he said as she went to walk past him. She looked up.

“Any woman who’s seen me naked has to call me by my first name,” he said. She laughed yet again. She’d laughed more often in the last five minutes than she had in all of the time she’d worked for him.

“All right,” she conceded. “Callum.”

…………………………

He didn’t ring Allie during the day to tell her what had happened, because he didn’t want Fiona warned. By the time he arrived home, he was no longer fuming. Instead, he’d simmered down to dangerously calm, with all of his considerable intelligence focused on just one thing. Getting even.

Making a point of leaving early, he went up to his own apartment before going down to theirs. It was Fiona’s bad luck that she was in the shower when he arrived and that Allie was not home from work. Callum, having opened Fiona’s bedroom door quietly, smiled when he heard the shower running. Then he went back to the kitchen quickly.

Initially he set the tripod up outside the bathroom door, but when he opened it and heard her singing tunelessly to the accompaniment of streaming water, he moved it inside, soundlessly. Given how loudly Fiona was singing, an army could probably have marched in and set up camp without disturbing her, but he was careful anyway. Then, the remote for the camera in his hand, he drew his arm back and threw a large jug full of freezing cold water, ice and all, over the top of the shower.

Fiona screamed, threw the shower door open and came out fighting, her long red hair wet and hanging all over her face, shoulders and back, full-frontal to the little digital camera that obligingly clicked off three shots before Callum snatched it up, tripod and all.

“No!” Fiona yelled, thumping her fists into his shoulders, his back, whatever part of him she could reach. “You bastard!” Because she was slippery and her feet couldn’t find proper purchase on the tiled floor, she couldn’t get much force behind her blows, and since her hair was in her eyes, she couldn’t pick a target either.

It was unclear whether her abuse was about the photographs, the cold water or both, and Callum didn’t wait to find out. Laughing, he fended off her wet punches and left her bathroom and bedroom, leaving her fumbling for a towel and a weapon. By the time Fiona came out, covered and still spitting, he was gone from the apartment, and no matter how much she belted on the door of his, he wouldn’t open it to her. She gave up and went back to get dressed, calming herself with the thought that he’d have to come down later if he wanted to see Allie. She’d have time to gather armaments and develop a war plan. Being Fiona, within ten minutes she’d settled down and was appreciating the funny side of it. But that didn’t mean she was intending to just sit still and take it. All she’d done was put some photographs of him on his own computer. It wasn’t as if it was a big deal. She smiled. She could probably expect the shower photos to show up on her own computer some time soon. Honestly, if the best he could do was slavishly copy what she’d done, he’d be better off giving up.

When the quiet knock sounded on her door, she opened it with a smile for the elderly lady who lived two floors down.

“Hello, Mrs Hastings,” she said. “Come in.”
”No, no, I won’t, dear,” the woman said. She was a thin, little lady who looked like a mild wind would blow her over, but she was surprisingly fit, walking five miles a day, every day, in all weathers.

“I just wanted to show you this,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d want it to stay on the noticeboard.” With that, she held up a page-sized photograph. Fiona’s mouth opened and she stared wordlessly. She looked like a pornographic witch. Like something out of Roman Polanski’s “Macbeth”, one of the nude hags who danced around prophesying doom. Her red hair hung in rats tails over her face, not enough to obscure it, unfortunately, her hands were raised, their fingers curled into claws, and her entire, naked body was on show, her milky-white skin providing the perfect backdrop for her pink nipples and bright red line of pubic hair.

“Aghhhhh!” she finally managed. “Oh no.”
”Would you like me to make you a coffee, dear?” Mrs Hastings asked, concerned. Fiona reached for the photograph and she handed it over. Callum had a colour laser printer upstairs, and he’d obviously put it to very good use. This was printed on photo paper, the details were clear, with no blurring at all.

“No,” Fiona managed. “No, thank you, Mrs Hastings, but no.” She clutched the photograph, staring at it, willing it to not exist.

“Is it a jealous ex-lover?” the elderly woman asked. She watched a lot of soap operas.

“No,” Fiona said again.

“But you do know who did it?”

“Yes,” Fiona varied her response. “Yes, I certainly know who did it. Thank you again, Mrs Hastings. I’m so glad you were the one to find this.”
”I wasn’t, dear,” the woman shook her head regretfully. “Mr Barnard on the ground floor saw it, and he and Felipe Cantrell on two brought it to me, because they weren’t sure what to do about it.”

Fiona made a whimpering noise and Mrs Hastings looked sympathetic.

“I know,” she said soothingly. “But don’t worry. They’re both old enough to be your father, if not your grandfather, in Mr Barnard’s case.”
”Exactly,” Fiona said. She glanced down at the photograph again.

“Well, I’ll be going now,” Mrs Hastings said. “I’m sure you’ll deal with this yourself.”
”You’re right,” Fiona replied grimly. “I will.” If she had anything other than an ancient black and white ink jet printer, she’d have retaliated immediately, but it was of such poor quality that if she printed out the photos of Callum tied to the bed, no-one would recognise him anyway. Damn it.

She wasn’t going back up to his apartment so he could ignore her again. She sat down to plan her attack. She could call Allie, but a quick glance at the clock told her that Allie was probably already on her way home. She could wait for Allie. No, that didn’t appeal. Sitting and waiting while he wreaked havoc was not a good idea. While Fiona pondered her next course of action, Callum fired the next salvo. Fiona heard a rap on the door and sprang up in time to see an envelope slide under it. She dived for the door, but he was gone by the time she opened it. She heard his footsteps as he raced up the stairs.
”Coward!” she yelled. “Unoriginal coward!” His laugh echoed down before his door shut.

She opened the envelope warily. Inside, was a reduced version of one of the photographs. Her mouth was open in this one, the camera had caught her mid-scream. Now, she looked both pornographic and ugly. There was a typed note attached to it that read “We could use you as an alarm on a fire engine. Your hair’s the right colour and you certainly make enough noise. Hmmm. Perhaps we should just use you on the fire cupboard instead? …and perhaps we already have?”

With steam issuing from her ears and curses spilling from her lips, Fiona dropped the paper and ran down the hallway and round the corner. Did he mean on this floor or on his floor? She skidded to a halt at the cupboard that held the fire hose and hydrant. Sure enough, taped to the door, was a page-sized version of the nude photograph of her. Underneath it, he’d attached a typed message that said “If you see this woman, run screaming from the building. Do not approach her. Repeat. Do NOT approach her.”

“Oh, very bloody funny,” Fiona muttered. As she ripped the photo off, she saw that there was writing on the other side. She read it and paled. “Oh no,” she whimpered before she took off for the stairs.

She started at the ground floor and worked up, almost colliding with Allie as she charged back from the third floor.

“What?” Allie asked, on instant alert at the look on Fiona’s face.

“This!” Fiona said, shoving the photograph at her. Allie’s eyes opened wide in shock.

“What…who…?” she began.

“Your boyfriend,” Fiona said, racing up the staircase. “I can’t stop to talk. Look what it says on the back of that.” Allie turned it over.

“There’s a fire cupboard on every floor,” it said. “I know. I’ve been to all of them.”

Eyes narrowed, Allie walked up the rest of the stairs, right up to the top floor. Then she hammered on Callum’s door.

“Go away, Fiona,” he called.

“It’s not Fiona,” Allie replied grimly. “Open this door, Callum Webster.” He did, doing his best to look sheepish, but with a triumphant gleam in his eyes.

“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded, holding the photograph up and evading his welcoming kiss.

“Good, clear photo, isn’t it?” he responded, taking her arm and easing her into the apartment. He looked out again to make sure the hall was Fiona-less before he shut the door.

“Callum!” Allie said. Again, she refused to be drawn into an embrace.

“The meaning of this, my love, is revenge,” he said unapologetically.

“Revenge?” Allie repeated. He nodded. “What did she do to deserve this?” Callum’s lips curled up into a half smile.
”Have a seat,” he said. “And I’ll tell you.” Eyes narrowed, she sat down and listened.

“Marcie saw them?” she asked when he’d finished. Callum nodded. “Ohhh,” she said. He nodded again.

“Exactly,” he said. “Short of showing them to the senior partners, it couldn’t have been more embarrassing.”
”Serious, maiden-aunt, “oh no, I couldn’t call you by your first name”, skirts down to the ankles Marcie?” Allie was still working this through.
”That’s her,” Callum said. “Although she’s decided she can call me by my first name now. Something about seeing a close-up of my genitals seemed to encourage informality in her. I’ll remember that in future. Now can I have a kiss?”

“No,” she said firmly. He’d started up out of his seat, but he sat back down again, looking disappointed.

“My mother used to say that two wrongs don’t make a right,” she said.

“And my father used to say that you shouldn’t start a fight, but if someone hits you, hit them back harder,” Callum countered.

“That’s all very well, but…oh, Callum. You should see her! She’s frantically running up and down stairs.”
”Good,” he said calmly. Allie sighed. There was no way he was going to back down from this, and to be honest, she couldn’t blame him for seeking revenge on this occasion. But still. Poor Fiona.

“Have you done anything else?” she asked. He shook his head.

“Not yet,” he said.
”Not yet?” she repeated in disbelief. He grinned.

“I have some ideas in reserve,” he admitted.

“No,” Allie said firmly. He opened his mouth to argue, and she held up a finger to stop him. “No,” she said again. “If you ever want to get back into my bed, you will stop this now, Callum.” His blue eyes focused straight into her brown eyes. His grin broadened.

“Well, when you put it like that,” he said. “All right.” The words were no sooner out of his mouth when there was a thunderous thumping on the door. Allie stood up.

“Let me,” Callum said. “She’s likely to come in swinging.” To do Fiona justice, she didn’t swing until she’d confirmed it was him, but swing she did. Callum caught one fist, but didn’t move fast enough to avoid the other, which connected with his stomach, hard. All of those hours of exercise had not been in vain, however, and Fiona yelped and shook her hand, tears springing to her eyes.

“Did you hurt yourself?” Callum asked, tugging her into the apartment. “Here, let me see. You punch all wrong, Fiona. You can’t tuck your thumb in like that. Let me see.”

“Oh no you don’t!” she said, trying to pull her arm free of his grip. “You’re not going to go all concerned big brother on me now. Not after what you did!”

“Then let me see,” Allie said, walking over. Fiona held her hand out for inspection, wincing as Allie gently moved her thumb.

“I don’t think it’s broken,” she pronounced.

“Pity,” Fiona said, claiming it back and sucking on the sore knuckle. “I could have sued.”
”What, for hurting yourself when you hit me?” Callum countered, smiling. For once, Fiona didn’t have an answer, but she glared at him anyway and continued to tug at the arm he was still holding.

“Come and sit down,” Allie said. “Callum, let go of her.” He did, stepping back. The look in Fiona’s eyes spelled danger in anyone’s language.

“Are there any more photographs scattered around the building?” she demanded of him.

“Apart from the ones I put under everyone’s door?” he asked. “No.” Fiona paled, the flush on her face from running up and down stairs standing out in stark relief.

“Under everyone’s door?” she repeated.

“What’s the matter?” Callum asked. “Don’t like the taste of your own medicine?” And then he relented, because she was looking sick.

“I didn’t really put them under doors,” he admitted. “You’ve got them all, although Frank Barnard souvenired the one I put on the noticeboard. I was on the stairs when he took it.”

“He gave it to Ailsa Hastings,” Fiona said, sinking into a chair. “And she brought it to me.” Callum nodded.

“I hate you,” Fiona said rubbing her eyes and her face with her hands.

“No you don’t,” Allie said.

“I do,” Fiona assured her. Callum sat down on the arm of one of the chairs.

“She probably does,” he agreed. “I felt that way today when Marcie told me about the photos on my computer.” Fiona looked up at him.

“Marcie?” she asked. “Your assistant?” Callum nodded.

“Every Monday, Marcie takes my computer and downloads all of the work I’ve done on the weekend,” he explained. “Whatever needs to be shifted onto the mainframe, she shifts, whatever needs to be printed and followed up on, she does.” Fiona sat motionless. Then, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
”She saw the photographs?” she asked. Callum nodded.

“Oh,” she said. She sniffed. And then she smiled. “Oh,” she said again.

“Now you understand?” Callum asked. Fiona burst out laughing, joined almost immediately by Callum. Allie looked from one to the other in disbelief.

“You two are amazing!” she said. “And immature and cruel and inconsiderate! Mr Barnard has a weak heart. What if he had an attack when he saw that photograph?”
”Forget Mr Barnard,” Fiona choked out. “I almost had one running up and down those stairs. I haven’t had that much exercise in years.”
”Perhaps I should do that more often?” Callum teased.

“Bastard,” Fiona said to him.

“Bitch,” he responded. Then they both grinned.

“So, is that it?” Allie demanded. They both looked at her. “Does that even the score now?” Both of them considered it. Then Callum nodded.

“She started it, but yes, I’ll consider it even now.”
”That’s big of you, kid,” Fiona said derisively.

“I’d quit while I was ahead, if I were you,” he warned. “I still have those photos, remember?”

“I want them,” she said, sounding tough.

“I’ll trade you for the copies you obviously made of the ones you took of me,” he responded. Allie growled.

“I’m going to confiscate both digital cameras,” she said. “I swear, if either of you do anything like this again, I’m going to knock your heads together. You’re both over thirty, for heaven’s sake! Now, shake hands and make up.” Callum, who’d been grinning at her words, looked over at Fiona again.

“We can do better than that,” he said as he stood up and held out his hands to Fiona, who put hers into them and stood up too. She didn’t object as he slid his arms around her and picked her up off the floor into a tight hug.

“At least I took nice photos of you,” she complained, holding her head back so she could look him in the eyes. He laughed.

“So it was your vanity that was damaged, not your modesty?” he said. Fiona grinned ruefully.

“Yes,” she admitted. “And I still hate you.”

“It’s mutual,” he said, planting a kiss on her lips. He didn’t put her down, and she didn’t struggle.

“A question,” Allie said, pleased that they were friends again. They both looked at her, Fiona’s feet still dangling several inches off the floor. “If she hadn’t been in the shower, how would you have taken humiliating photographs of her?” she asked.

“I had ropes in my pocket,” Callum said steadily. “I was going to strip her and hogtie her.”
”You and what army?” Fiona snorted. Callum grinned back at her and easily hoisted her higher against him. Allie wasn’t finished.

”You were going to strip her?” she repeated. Callum nodded.

“Yep,” he said.

“Just like that?”
”Just like that,” he agreed.

“Would there have been any ripping of clothes involved?” Fiona asked. He grinned again.

“Probably,” he said.

“Rats,” she responded. “I’ve always wanted to try that.” Even Allie laughed at that, although part of her was still horrified.

“You two are dangerous,” she said as Callum finally let Fiona slide to the floor.

“Lucky we’re on your side,” Fiona smiled.

“Speaking of which,” Callum said, reaching out with one hand to draw Allie closer to him. “Can I have that kiss now?”

“Oh please,” Fiona muttered, heading for the door. She stopped just short of it and looked around. “Does the offer of this apartment still stand?” she asked. Callum looked over at her.

“Yes,” he said. “If you want it, you can have it for what you pay at the moment, and you can continue to pay it to Allie.”

“That’s hardly fair,” Allie pointed out. “Since it’s your apartment she’ll be in.”
”And since I’ll be getting the whole apartment instead of half of one,” Fiona added, scrupulously fair. Callum shrugged.
”So stay where you are and we’ll move up here,” he said. “Either way, there are fringe benefits, as far as I’m concerned.” Tired of waiting, he pulled Allie up against him and kissed her.

“Well, I’ll think about it,” Fiona said, still looking around. “I might give it a month or so and then I’ll…oh, never mind.” Realising she’d lost her audience, and not minding a bit, she left them to it.

………………….

One of the side-effects of Fiona’s prank was that Marcie became more open with Callum, and mentioned in conversation a few weeks later that she had a holiday cottage on an island off the coast that she rented out.

“You should go over there for a week,” she said to him. “You’ve been looking a little tired lately, Callum. You’re obviously working too hard.” He decided not to tell her that the reason why he was looking tired had little to do with work and a lot to do with the fact that he was using his time in bed for something more energetic than sleep. Allie was looking tired, too.

“What’s the rental cost?” he asked, interested.

“Free, for you,” Marcie said. He shook his head, smiling.

“No way,” he responded. “If we use it, we pay for it. Tell me more about it.”

“Well, it’s an old place. It was my father’s old fishing shack and was very run-down, but I’ve been able to have some work done on it over the last few years. I spend my holidays there, go over whenever I can. It’s on a very private beach. There are no shops or tourist places around there. It’s really just totally secluded, so if you want bright lights and dancing, it’s not the place to go” she said. She was picking up files off his desk and tidying them as she spoke.

“It sounds wonderful,” Callum said. “So you take food and supplies from the mainland over on the barge?” She nodded and picked up another file. He put his hand on it.

“Stop tidying,” he grinned. “Sit down and talk to me.” With a sigh and a small smile, she gave in and sat down.

“It has electricity?” he asked. She nodded.

“It loses it in storms, sometimes, but there are maintenance people on the other side of the island, and they’ll come across if necessary. And I have lots of candles there in case of blackouts.”

“Total seclusion,” he said. “Hmmm.” He slapped his hand down on another file she was attempting to tidy. “Stop it!” he ordered, laughing. His desk was a mess, but he liked it that way. It was the bane of Marcie’s existence, but he would not let her arrange it for him. Robbed of her opportunity to neaten it up, Marcie put her hands in her lap, looked down at them and retaliated.

“Total seclusion,” she repeated primly. “No-one to hear if someone’s girlfriend decided to do something like…oh, I don’t know, tie him to a bed, or something.” Callum’s jaw dropped. Marcie continued to look down at her hands, stifling a smile.

“For the record,” he said, once he had his voice back. “The woman who tied me to the bed was not my girlfriend. She was…oh, that sounds great, doesn’t it?” Marcie looked up, her lips pressed together.

“Really, you don’t need to explain,” she said.

“Oh no, I think I’d better now,” Callum said, trying to extract his foot from his mouth. “I asked her to help me to do that as a gift for my girlfriend and she…”
”…did a bit of unwrapping herself?” Marcie offered.

“Yes, well no, I was already unwrapped, as it were, but she…oh, dammit, Marcie. Stop looking at me like that.” Marcie laughed. He hadn’t looked as embarrassed as this on the day she’d actually seen the photographs. She had a lot of respect and affection for Callum, and was enjoying herself immensely watching his squirming discomfort.

“It’s all right,” she assured him. “I’m just being a bit mischievous here.”
”And if you were picking on anyone else, I’d like it,” he responded ruefully. “But believe me, I get enough of this at home. I share an apartment with my girlfriend AND the woman who took those photographs. I’m exposed to more than enough teasing as it is.”
”Well, you’re certainly exposed more than enough, if those photos were any indication,” Marcie couldn’t resist it. He sighed.
”Could we get back to talking about your holiday cottage, please?”

“If you insist,” she said, smiling impishly. It occurred to Callum that in some respects, it might be easier if she went back to being prim and proper and distant with him. But it was too late now.

……………………..

The “cottage” turned out to be white weatherboard. It had four rooms, and was furnished in pastels with lots of soft fabrics, soft area rugs and flowing curtains.

“I do like your Marcie’s taste,” Allie said, looking around the rooms. “Look. Copper saucepans! Oh, this is wonderful. I can’t believe she rents this out.” Callum was wrestling with the lock on the sliding glass doors that led to the beach.

“She said the locks get rusty because of the salt air, and she was right,” he said. “They’re …there, got it. I’ll oil these up for her before we go back.” He threw back the curtains and opened the door, and the beach surged in to join them.

“Ohhhh,” Allie said, walking over to his side. “Don’t even think about going back yet.” There were two steps down from the cottage and then there was golden sand, some curving dunes and then a wide beach that ended in a curved line of wash from the ocean.

“That’s some backyard,” Callum said with appreciation. “I wonder if she’d consider selling this to us?”

“I can’t imagine that she would,” Allie said. “I can’t believe she doesn’t just live here all the time.”

“She’s very good at her job,” he said. “And she seems to enjoy it.”
”Despite having to work for you?” Allie said, slipping her arm around him. “Dear me. The woman is obviously strange.” He cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up to his.

“Just for that,” he said, before he bent down and kissed her. “I’m not getting our luggage out of the car.”

“Oh, that’s nice, that is,” she commented. She tried to pull back from him, but he held on, his other arm travelling around her to hold her firmly against him. “Might I remind you that Richard said I was not to lift any heavy weights?”

“Was this on his visit this week or on his visit last week?” Callum asked, grinning. The good doctor was laying siege to Fiona, under the pretext of checking on Allie’s arms. Fiona was fighting, but even she had to appreciate his tenacity. He’d visited at least once a week for almost two months. The physiotherapist had given up, and oddly enough, Fiona hadn’t been working her way through her “first date” list as much, either. She’d been out once with Richard to a movie, but had insisted that it was not a date. There hadn’t been any strange men at the breakfast table since before Allie’s accident, either.

“It doesn’t matter,” Allie replied. “The point is, I am not supposed to be lifting heavy weights, and you are the one with the muscles, so go fetch!”
”Nope,” Callum said, shaking his head. He was still grinning. “I’ve brought the bathroom stuff in, and I’ll get the groceries off the backseat, but our clothes are staying right where they are. And I’m hiding the car keys.” He laughed as she tried yet again to pull away from him, this time to get some leverage to thump him.

“I am not going to spend the next week washing out one pair of panties and a sarong!” Allie told him firmly.
”No, you’re not,” he agreed. “You’re going to spend the next week naked.”

“I don’t think so,” she said. “In fact, I’m…Callum, stop it!” He was tugging at the knot that held her sarong in place. In keeping with the holiday atmosphere, and because no-one was going to see her in the car, she’d let him talk her into wearing the sarong, and the dark purple colour looked lovely against her skin. But with no bra under it, she was a bit self-conscious, and it had been a big concession on her part.

He had the knot undone, and was stepping back to tug it from between her legs. His hands moved to her waist to untie the other knot.

“Callum! Listen to me!” Allie slapped at his hands, laughing. The top had fallen down and her breasts were bare.

“I can’t. I’m too distracted,” he said, staring at her breasts while his fingers busied themselves with the knot.

“Would you STOP it!” she struggled, loving the mischief in his eyes, even loving the fact that she was clearly outclassed in the muscle department, but seriously concerned that he was actually serious about this staying naked business.

“No,” he said simply. He pulled the sarong away and tossed it over a chair behind him. Then he turned his attention to her panties.

Allie held on to them at both sides. No way was he pulling these down until they’d sorted this out.

“Callum Webster, I am not a nudist,” she said, stepping back. He went with her, grinning. He pulled his t-shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor, then reached for the clasp of the cut-off jeans he was wearing.

“Not yet,” he said.

“You know I’m not comfortable about not being dressed,” she said, retreating another step. His jeans fell to the floor, and he stepped out of them. Allie’s eyes widened when she realised he wasn’t wearing any underpants. He kicked the jeans behind him with one bare foot and reached out for her.

“You’re a lot more comfortable than you used to be,” he pointed out. She was momentarily distracted by the sight of his naked body. Callum was very nice to look at, dressed or undressed, and familiarity had not bred any sort of complacency, let alone contempt.

Taking advantage of her quick scrutiny of his form, Callum hooked both sets of fingers in the side of her panties, just in front of where her fingers were curled, holding them up.

“Yes, but…OH! You ripped them!” And he had. He hadn’t bother fighting her for them, he’d just torn them apart at one side. Before she could get away, he caught the other side and did the same thing. The ruined panties fell to the floor.

“They cost a fortune,” Allie, now nude as well, said. His blue eyes glinted with fun and intent.

“I’ll buy you some more,” he promised. Then he stepped forward quickly and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her naked body hard up against his.

“Now, how should we start our holiday?” he asked, his hands under her bottom lifting her up on her toes.

“A meal?” Allie suggested, deliberately provoking him. “Perhaps a good book? Discussion? A walk on the beach?”
”Keep trying,” Callum said, bending to kiss her. His lips were soft and warm, and hers opened under his instantly, her arms moving up so her hands could tangle in his hair. Fiona had trimmed it for him the week before, and it was rough-cut and messy.

“I can’t talk with my mouth full,” Allie said against his lips. “It’s rude.” He laughed and filled her mouth again. And then he bent down and picked her up, cradling her against his chest.

“Let’s try out the bed,” he said.

“Oh, well, I’d never have thought of that,” Allie commented. “What a clever man you are. Even if you are a knicker-ripping barbarian who is NOT going to convince me to cavort nude for a week.”

“Oh yes I am,” he said.

Just as he put her down on the lacy bedspread, the telephone rang, loud, insistent and right beside her ear.

“I’ll unplug it,” Callum said, reaching for it.

“No,” Allie protested. She smacked at his hand. “Leave it.” Callum laughed and sat down on the bed.

“Well for once it’s not Fiona beating on the door,” he said. “I swear the woman does it deliberately to frustrate me.”

“That is her aim in life, after all,” Allie agreed. She picked up the phone.

“Hello? Oh…Fee, how are you?” Callum groaned and put his head in his hands. “Yes, that was Callum. He says to say hello, too. The place is lovely. It’s right on the beach and very private. Callum wants to declare it a nudist zone, but I’m not going to give in to him.” Callum was nodding and smiling. “No, I’m not,” she said again. “No, don’t you start, Fee. He doesn’t need any back-up, believe me.” Knowing that any conversation with Fiona was going to last a long time, Callum stood up and walked over to the doors, then, without hesitation, outside to the beach, ignoring Allie’s shriek of “At least put your pants on!” as he went.

“He just went outside naked,” she explained to Fiona. “So, what’s happening there?” She listened for a while, her happy expression clouding into a frown. “You what? Oh Fee. We’ll be right there. No, I mean it, we will. I can’t believe you fell down the stairs, and I really can’t believe that you didn’t call us as soon as you were taken to hospital…you weren’t? Well how are you…oh, Richard. Another house call, huh?” She listened for a while longer, watching through the open door, through the billowing white curtains as Callum walked naked down to the water. His backside was just slightly paler than his naturally brown skin and his blonde hair made him look like a surfer. He was an advertisement for healthy living. Healthy nude living.

She dragged her attention back to the telephone call, annoyed and amazed at herself for not concentrating.

“He’s sure they’re just sprained? All right, so it’s sprained, and what, the tendon in the other one is stretched? Torn? You tore the tendon in the other one? Gee, you did a good job on it, Fee. So you can’t walk at all? Well how are you going to manage if we don’t come home to look after you? Ohhhhh. He has holidays? I didn’t think doctors got holidays? Well no, I guess if there are others who can cover for him, there’s no real problem if he wants to look after you. Stay? Well, of course he can.”

Allie was grinning from ear to ear now, almost laughing, but keeping it under control. Fiona was in good hands, but she was a bit groggy, and she would not appreciate having her current situation laughed at. “No, there’s no problem at all with Richard staying there for the next week or so. In fact, why don’t you ask him to move you into my room? It’s bigger and it’ll be easier for him to look after you. No, if you’re sure it’s all right, we’ll stay here and leave you to recover in peace. With your doctor right on hand. No, of course I’m not laughing at you, Fee. I know what it’s like. I would never laugh at someone in that situation. Yes, you should rest now. Bye. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Allie barely had the phone hung up before she subsided into slightly guilty laughter. The irony of it and the symmetry of it was too much for her. But poor Fiona…Allie knew what it was like to be helpless, and Fee was going to find it even harder to deal with than she had. It was true that modesty wasn’t an issue for her, but independence certainly was. The fact that it was Richard who was stepping up to the plate was going to make it even more difficult. And yet it felt so very right.

She looked up to see Callum standing at the water’s edge, his hair blowing in the sea breeze, his profile to her. She had to share this, she just had to. She picked up her sarong, intending to tie it round her, and then she stopped. And smiled. She put it back down on the chair, and daringly stepped nude out of the cottage and onto the sand. Callum turned and watched her walking towards him, smiling his approval and signalling his admiration with a smile that was both sexy and wicked. Allie had no doubt that given the slightest encouragement, he’d have her flat on her back on the sand within minutes. And, viewing the empty beach, feeling the gentle stroke of air and breeze on her skin, she was inclined to give him just that encouragement. But first things first.

“So, what’s happened with Fiona?” Callum asked, walking towards her.

“Oh, you are not going to believe this,” Allie replied.

THE END