Read Online Picture Perfect by Steve Elliott - Free Book Online Page B

peace.”
    “Yes, she did,” I replied, lost once again in my memories. “She was the most peace loving person I ever met.”
    “What we do now?” Maria asked.
    “It’s nearly daybreak,” I replied. “Do you have any cooking to do?”
    “ Always is cooking,” she replied with a grin. “Go now. Talk later,” She delicately touched my cheeks where her fists had landed. “Sorry for hurt. Come after eat breakfast. Fix good. Mother train me.”
    I kissed her fingers as they left my face. “I wondered how you’d become so good at it. You’ve learned from the very best.”
    Maria smiled at me lovingly. “She happy to know me find you. Always she talk of you. Now me happy too.”
    “Me too,” I whispered, fresh tears spilling down my face. Maria lightly brushed them from my cheeks with the back of her hand. “Mother gone, but me here now,” she murmured. “Sure she want it that way.”
    We went our separate ways. I went to the bathroom to try and repair the ravages my prolonged weeping bout had inflicted, while Maria headed for the kitchen. After making myself reasonably presentable, I toured the house again, checking for intruders or sabotage, but finding neither. A disturbing thought intruded into my consciousness. If Maria was innocent, and I couldn’t imagine that the daughter of Moonbeam being anything but, then that left Roger as the culprit. But somehow, I just couldn’t see him as a villain. No, I must be missing something, but for the life of me, I couldn’t see what.
    Breakfast was served, with Maria giving me surreptitious little caresses when she thought nobody was watching. Roger said he didn’t want me that morning, so I decided to take Maria up on her massage offer. She practically dragged me into her room as I went looking for her after breakfast.
    “You come,” she said. “Good. Massage now. Make relax.”
    I took off my clothes and lay down on the table, gleefully anticipating what was to follow. But now there was an added element niggling at me. Should I be transferring my affections to Moonbeam’s daughter ? Was she too young for me? She was an adult, sure enough, and a very self-assured one at that, but was it morally right? What would Moonbeam have said in this situation? Then I relaxed. I promised her that I’d look after her daughter and I knew she’d be happy that her child was in a loving relationship with someone that she had loved in turn. No, I was positive that if Moonbeam was here now, she’d give her blessing. I gave myself over to the feel of Maria’s magical fingers as they soothed away knots and brought calmness to tired and aching muscles.
    All too soon, Maria advised me to turn over and commenced to glide her hands over my upper body. She broke off now and again to kiss me and I responded with enthusiasm. Her massage became rather more intimate after that and I started to tremble.
    “Is hard to rub when you all jumpy ,” she grumbled, as my muscles twitched under her hands.
    “That’s your fault,” I complained. “You’re the one making me all hot and bothered. It’s you and your temptress fingers doing it. Of course I’m jumping around.”
    Maria paused in her work and shook her head. “This no good,” she stated. “Not one thing or other. We fix.” She wiped her hands on a paper towel and began to remove her clothes. I stared at her, partially shocked and partially voyeuristically. She had a marvellous body, toned and trimmed to perfection. When she was finished she took my hand, helped me off the table and led me to her bed. I followed as if in a dream. Images of Moonbeam flittered through my brain and I had to remind myself that this was Maria , not Moonbeam, and deserving of the dignity of being recognised as an individual and not merely the shadow of another person.
    Luckily, the bed was roomy enough for the both of us. Maria pulled me down and ran her hands sensuously over me, from head to toes. From there, it developed into a classical petting