Chapter 14

Surprisingly, I slept extremely well that night. Even allowing for the one moment of uncertainty, I was really happy with the way the evening had gone. True, I was a little scared at the strength of feelings I'd had. It didn't take much hindsight to accept that this was the first time I'd had a proper emotional connection with a woman. Whilst I was still a young male with a definite physical interest in Lyn as a female, it was not the prime feeling. I wouldn't swap last night for even a night of sex with identical twins (my ultimate and unfulfilled fantasy).

The bright sunshine that greeted me that morning seemed just a reflection of my mood. I spent an hour doing the mundane household chores and giving the roads time to warm up; then it was on with my leathers and out with my bike. Though over a decade old and with a fair bit of mileage under its belt, the 750cc engine purred along. It was no sports bike but then again I was no knees down rider. I was more than happy to ride around at a steady speed (admittedly usually 20mph above the speed limits) and enjoy the wind in my face, yet still see something of the surrounding countryside.

I covered around 200 miles of Welsh roads before I headed back. As a biker, I love living in Stoke because we are within forty minutes or so of some great roads.

I was backing my bike into my garage when I heard a sweet voice say. 'Nice bike, I didn't know you rode.'

I looked up and was more than a little surprised to see Petra.

I smiled. The thought of my bike always made me smile and Petra's smile was contagious too. 'Afraid so, been riding virtually since my seventeenth birthday. What brings you to my humble abode?'

Her smile faded slightly. 'I need to talk to you.'

'Okay, ' I said, wondering what Natasha had been up to. 'Give me a moment to put my bike away and we'll go in the house.'

'So, what's Natasha been up to now?' I asked once we were sitting in my living room with a brew.

'What makes you assume it's something to do with Natasha, ' Petra said with a grin.

'Well isn't it?' I said returning the grin.

'Only partly.'

'Go on then, I'm intrigued.'

'Well ... after your talk with her father she felt the full force of his disappointment. He was clever there, I guess he knew she was stubborn enough to withstand his anger but she's always strived to please him. In many ways she's a real daddy's girl. Anyway, she was really down, more so than I ever remember. As usual she came to me to talk, not for solace you understand, just to talk.' Her sadness at the last bit was obvious. 'I was amazed at how it affected her. I was expecting anger more than anything else, yet there was none, well except at herself for being so stupid.'

Petra paused, as she gathered her thoughts.

'I do believe that she has finally grown up. I believe that she truly accepts everything her father said. She then asked me if I had anything to do with his knowing about it. I've never been able to lie to Nat and I couldn't then. I don't know how I expected her to react but it certainly wasn't with a thank you. She even said to thank you for coming up with the best option for her.'

That was definitely not the Natasha I knew. 'Do you think she's really changed and will it stick?' I asked.

'In my opinion, her father's words, whatever they were, has profoundly affected her. We talked for an awful long time and for the first time since our schooldays we talked about us. She explained as kindly as she could that there never could be anything between us other than close friends. She even admitted that she used my feelings for her to get me to do things. Of course, I already knew that but I'd never heard Nat admit to it.'

'Very interesting and even more surprising, ' I said, 'but why are you here telling me this?'

I was surprised to see Petra actually blush. 'Well, after our talk, I went home and did a lot of thinking, a proper self examination. Obviously the main direction I started with was my attachment to Natasha. Was that because of Nat herself or was I really attracted to women, in other words am I a lesbian. If I removed my cousin from the equation would I find that I'm no more drawn to women as I am to men.'

I wondered where this was leading and why she felt the need to tell me, it wasn't as if I was her best friend and confidante. I asked her as much.

Her voice changed as she answered, it was quieter, less confident and tinged with sadness. 'You see David, that's where you are wrong. Ignoring Natasha, you are my best friend, only friend really ... I know it doesn't say much for me but it's true. I have loads of acquaintances, the vast majority only interested in me to get access to Natasha or her father, the rest just want to get into my knickers.'

I smiled. 'I see that as a worthwhile goal.' I said, not so much because I believed it, more to cheer her up a little.

She did smile as she looked at me. 'Spoken like a true man.'

'Guilty!'

'Getting back to why I'm here. Now this is very hard to say, so David, please don't interrupt until I finished.'

'Alright Petra.'

'The hardest part for me to figure out is my sexuality. Am I really a lesbian or was it just that I was obsessed with Natasha and what happened ten years ago. I then remembered something you said about crossing over from the dark side or something. I've never even kissed a man, nor boy for that matter, so I decided that I needed to. At first I thought about one of those that just want me for my body, but to be honest, that horrifies me. Anyway, I thought of a few things but only one that I actually wanted to do. That's why I'm here.'

I was looking more shocked as she spoke and I'm sure that I was going just as red as Petra was.

'I want to do things with you, you know man-woman things.' She said very hesitantly.

I had just seen this coming and rued my luck. Just a week ago I would have jumped at the chance but now with Lyn on the scene it was entirely different.

'Petra! I'm honoured, I really am... ' I started.

'I feel a but is coming.' She said with sadness.

'There is. I met someone and yesterday we really clicked. I don't want to jeopardise that.'

'Oh David, I'm sorry, I didn't know.' She said and started to cry.

'It's okay Petra, there's no way you could have known.'

I stood up and pulled her up into a cuddle. I hate women's tears as I always feel either angry if I feel they're trying to manipulate me or guilty that I've somehow caused them. This was one of the latter so I tried to comfort Petra with a hug.

Unsurprisingly we ended up kissing. Petra may have been inexperienced at it but I couldn't notice. She gave her all into it as I instinctively reacted. It was only when I pulled her to me and felt the firm young body that I'd so often dreamed about and my subsequent physical reaction that I realised that I was feeling lust, which, as great as it was, fell short of what I'd felt with Lyn. Very, very reluctantly I pushed Petra away.

'I'm sorry... ' we both started and then both gave a little laugh.

'Petra, you don't know how lucky you are.' I said trying to sound serious.

'Lucky?'

'Yes, if Lyn wasn't in my life then by now you'd be upstairs and naked on my bed.'

I saw the shock appear. 'Then I'd better thank this Lyn, as nice as that was, I don't think I'm ready for anything more that quickly. I want to try it but ... with a slower build up I think.' She said nervously.

'Nice? Is that it, nice? She kisses me like that and it's only ... nice?' I said ensuring that she knew that I was joking.

She giggled as she understood. 'Yes nice, no more, then again I have nothing to compare it with.'

We looked at each other and became serious. 'I shouldn't have done that Petra but unless I'm mistaken you enjoyed it as much as I did which, to me, would indicate that you're not a lesbian, bi maybe.'

'I did enjoy it, more than you realise but I shouldn't have started that after what you said.'