Unexpected: Day 21

Word Count: 140,091

Summary of Events:

After extensive questioning by the police in Kingston, during which Hilton offered them his mobile to examine and listen to the recording he'd made, Hilton and Meinwen were declared by the authorities to be innocent of any involvement in Dr. Stiles' kidnapping and murder… but they were also deemed to have both entered Jamaica illegally, meaning they had to leave immediately upon their release. They were given dispensation to get their luggage from where Hilton had left it, and Hilton was able to get permission from the official sent with them to make sure they did as they were supposed to to make a brief visit to Goldeneye, as Hilton had always wanted to go, and the official wanted him and Meinwen to have a good memory of Jamaica, considering all that had happened to them. At Goldeneye, Hilton took Meinwen a lovely, picturesque little spot with a view of the sea . . . 

Excerpt of the Day:

After a moment, Hilton took hold of her other hand so that he was positioned to be facing her, forcing Meinwen to look away from the sea and at him.

“Meinwen,” Hilton said softly, his face looking serious, but also nervous. “From the moment I first laid eyes on you, soaked to the skin and lying on the road after I nearly hit you… I’ve been taken by you in a way I’ve not been taken by another woman. Ever. And the more time I’ve spent with you, the more I’ve come to find in you a quality I can’t even put into words. I haven’t done half the things with you I’ve done with other women, but yet you mean more to me than the lot of them ever could. I do believe I’m falling in love with you Meinwen, in a way I’ve never loved a woman before, and I was wondering if I might have permission to express my love to you, by kissing you, here, on the lips.”

A twinge of that desperate little boy with the posy was on his face, and his hands seemed to be clutching hers with a desperation. He looked earnest, as well as sincere, as if the kiss he’d exchanged with that young woman not all that long ago was rubbish to him.

“Well,” Meinwen replied. “I must confess that you’re not hard to look at, admiringly, and… considering how honest you’ve been with me, I owe you the same. I do believe that there is something within me, a feeling, that I feel towards you, which I’ve never felt toward another man in all my life. I very much appreciate all you’ve done for me, and how you’ve treated me, from that very first moment. I don’t want our going home to be the end of our relationship. I believe that I… I am falling in love with you too. So I gladly give you the honour of being the first man since my father many years ago, when I was a little girl of three or so, to kiss my lips.”

Hilton looked a little startled. “You’ve never kissed a man before?”

Meinwen shook her head. “Nor, as I said, have I felt this sort of love toward one.”

This seemed to leave Hilton at a loss.

“We don’t want to keep him waiting Hilton,” Meinwen whispered.

Hilton nodded and drew her against himself, lowering his head. Meinwen felt a shock of trepidation that made her want to pull back, but Hilton’s mouth softly made contact with her own before she could, sending a rush of exhilaration through her that made her seize fistfuls of his shirt in her hands.

His hands pressed her against him, and Meinwen actually felt a wish that they would stay as they were for ages, as it truly felt more wonderful than she could possibly have imagined it could feel.

In the end, Meinwen willingly pulled back when his pressure on her back and head released, and saw Hilton’s face was a picture of the reluctance at parting she felt.