Fairground Attraction Read online

“This doesn’t mean I forgive you, you asshole.” Her voice would cut ice. “I’m here because Denny asked me, and here with you because Phil said. No other reason.”

  Raig kept his face straight with difficulty. Who was spitting the dummy out now? He decided discretion was the way to go and chose not to mention that.

  “We both appreciate it, Vairi,” Raig said, sincerely. “Especially as it must have gone against your principles to help the baddy.” He winked. “Who honestly isn’t rotten right to the core.”

  A slow grin spread over her face and she laughed, reluctantly. “Oh, shut it, you moron. I’m still not playing. I didn’t bring my ball.”

  “No problem, I’ve got two we can share.” Raig winked and mock-winced as she punched his shoulder. God, how easy it was to slip back into their bantering.

  “Hmm, I don’t share. Ever.”

  “Neither do I, Vairi My Queen. Neither do I. Right, let’s away to the gallopers. I promise you won’t need to move around on the ride.” He held out his hand. She looked at it then at his face. He could see the indecision on her eyes before, reluctantly, she nodded and took hold of it.

  “For the record, I’m staying pissed with you,” Vairi informed him as he unlocked the gate in the security fence around the galloping horses. “I’ve decided I don’t get mad often enough. I enjoy a good mad if it’s needed.” She stopped and looked at him. “This was needed.”

  “I accept that. However, for the record, I still have secrets I can’t let you in on yet,” Raig replied. “I hope when I do, you’ll stop being pissed.” Oh, how he hoped.

  “Hmm. So, when do you own up and spill the beans?” Vairi’s voice was that of a child lost in an adult’s world and who wasn’t happy.

  “Soon. Maybe in a week if all goes well.” He snuck a quick kiss.

  She glared at him. He thought she might just stamp her foot. “Why not now?”

  “I can’t. When you do hear what I have to say, I hope you’ll understand.” If not? Well, if not, there was nothing more he could do. He would have to accept that was it. Finished. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I need you to trust me on this one, love.” Her expression hadn’t changed. “Vairi, don’t tell me not to call you love. Because I won’t stop. You. Are. My. Love. Get used it.”

  Chapter Eleven

  She glowered.

  Raig grinned as he ushered her through the gates of the perimeter fence around the galloping horses. “Next Thursday you’ll know everything, on my oath. Keep the night free. In fact, keep Friday free. We’ve a lot to catch up on. It won’t be Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting. It’ll be Friday day and night are fine for fucking.”

  This time her laughter was unforced. “Only fine? You disappoint me.”

  Raig grinned. “It scanned better than bloody marvelous, brilliant and amazing.” He covered all the safety checks, signed them off in the book and explained to Vairi what she had to do.

  “Basically, you’re the policeman, or the lollipop lady. Wait till everyone is off before letting anyone on, and count to make sure everyone can get a ride. Don’t be afraid to shut the gate while you check. There’re fifty-four horses on it. Although some people will double up.” He didn’t add, ‘like we did’, but her eyes glazed and again her breath quickened.

  “We’re doing tickets only today, so they need to go to a booth first.”

  She nodded her understanding. He felt her eyes on him as he moved to the mechanism and set the ride going, Rod Stewart blaring out Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? from the speakers.

  As he looked toward her, he could have sworn after her initial laugh, she blanched as the thing went around. With luck, she was remembering her motion sickness, and it wasn’t the song, or worse, the climax she’d experienced, that made her look so pale.

  Nimbly he leaped onto the moving floor, walked over and jumped off near to where she was standing. Already the first few visitors were trickling up. Less chance of a slapped face if he kissed her? Raig decided it was worth a try, and while she didn’t reciprocate, she didn’t pull away either. Hopefully it was a good sign. He ignored the muttered, “Fucking chancer.” There didn’t seem to be any heat in her words and she wasn’t glaring at him.

  “Okay, love, are you ready once I stop it?” He smiled cheekily as he spoke.

  Vairi harrumphed. “As ready as I can be.”

  “Good show. Look, Vairi, on a serious note, I really appreciate you coming along tonight. I hoped you would but wouldn’t have blamed you if you didn’t. I was a plonker.”

  She nodded. “Oh, yes. You can say that again.”

  “Ah no, I can’t. Once is enough.”

  Vairi rolled her eyes. “I’m taking the fifth on that. So what else do I need to know?”

  Raig ran over the instructions she’d need in his mind. “Wave or use the radio if you need help. I’ll be in the middle on that high step, and I’ll keep looking over. Don’t open the gates till I’ve bought it to a stop this time. Every other time, don’t open them till it’s empty. The gates are marked Entry and Exit and I’ll get to the exit to stop chancers trying to get in that way. There’s not enough bodies to have someone else there. Right, give me a minute to slow it to a stop. When it’s full, use the radio to tell me. ‘Kay?”

  Vairi nodded. “Bring ’em on.”

  Raig kissed her again as the urge to pull her tight and grind her against his hardening cock was almost irresistible. It took more strength of mind than he’d known he possessed around her to resist and get himself to where he needed to be. Concentrate on your work, not your gonads, man.

  The next couple of hours were hectic, and Raig had no problem ignoring his body. He kept an eye on her as she saw people on and off the carousel and occasionally heard the banter and chat she carried on. Kids shrieked, teens chattered and squealed and over it all the tinny fairground music blared out. Raig worked on automatic as he manned the ride, kept an eye out for fights and sorted a few youths out who thought they’d have a free ride and tried to hop the fence.

  As the evening progressed, he wondered why he could feel nothing except pleasant friendship for most people, but then, wham, one person hit him like a ton of bricks and brought out every protective, loving, chauvinistic, caveman feeling he possessed.

  Every smile Vairi threw at a male of any age made him want to snarl. Put a sign on her saying, Hands off, she’s mine. Throw her over his shoulder and lock her out of sight. Get a grip, he told himself in disgust. It was so unfunny, it was laughable. He had it bad.

  Every so often he caught Vairi looking at him, in that ‘come and take me, I’m yours’ way she had. Raig decided she didn’t even know she did it and would no doubt be mortified if he told her. So he absorbed and enjoyed the heat it sent through his body.

  After a couple of hours, he made his swaying way over to her. He could have easily used the radio but enjoyed the look of ‘oh my God, macho man antics’ she threw at him as he jumped on and off the moving roundabout.

  “No more after these get on. We’re going to be relieved by Phil and someone so we can have a quickie break.” He misused the word intentionally.

  She giggled. “In your dreams, carnie-man. I need food. And a coffee.” She paused, and he wondered what she was going to say. His cock thickened and hardened from the semi-erect state it always seemed to be in when she was near, to the zip-breaking one it preferred around her. A bloody efficient Vairi-alert!

  “As I’m in a good mood, as a gesture, I’ll spend my break with you.” She patted his cheek. “To make you wish and writhe.”

  She did that all right. After ten minutes of watching her practically make love to the baguette he’d filled with chicken salad for her in his trailer, and continuing the visual eroticism and teasing with an ice-lolly, his cock was so hard he could have used it to break ice. Or the bloody ice-lolly. Kung Fu Cock!

  The idea made his lips twitch.

  “What?” Vairi must have noticed the smirk.

  Should he tell her? Hell, why not, she see
med to have melted slightly toward him. A bit like that sodding ice-lolly, which was rapidly staining her lips the color of her other lips.

  “You’ve made me so fucking hard, my cock could cut that lolly in half. I was thinking it was going to take up martial arts.”

  She got the inference. “Oh well, be my guest, feel free.” Slowly with a little plop, the remains of the ice-pole slipped from her lips and, with a swipe of her tongue over her mouth, Vairi held it toward him. Wickedly, Raig moved his hands to his zip, and very slowly lowered it an inch. Her eyes widened. He stopped, and left that tantalizing opening to tease and, with luck, draw her eyes.

  “Nah,” he drawled, bringing her gaze back to his face from the quick glance she had indeed flicked toward his zip. “Too easy. You’ve fucked most of it away.” Her eyes widened at his crudity, but she didn’t comment on it.

  He watched her shrug. “Oh well, I’ll finish it off myself.”

  Yeah, no doubt. It was a pity it didn’t happen to be his incipient climax she was talking about. Did she have any idea what she was doing to him? Of course she did, that wicked glint told him just how much she was enjoying herself. Raig surreptitiously adjusted himself as he stood and threw his cold coffee down the sink. “Ready to get back? You don’t have to if you don’t want to. You’ve done a lot already, and boy is it all appreciated.”

  “All?”

  The remains of the slippery lolly disappeared down her throat, and she wiped her hands and lips on a paper napkin. It reminded him of her serviette drawer, and he mentally groaned.

  “Oh, good.” She added and touched her upper lip with the tip of her tongue.

  His hard-on, which he had been doing his best to control and make become a semi-hard-on, immediately changed tracks and roared back into violent action. She noticed, damn it. It would be hard—he groaned, don’t use that word even in your mind, he admonished himself—not to, the zip on his denims almost unzipping itself. Raig decided to be blatant about it.

  “This”—he gestured toward his cock—“is due to you. Your name, your voice, thinking of you, and I’m hard. I literally ache for you, Vairi My Queen. I dream you are with me, and I’m touching you, absorbing those arousing love sounds you make, feeling you touching me. I wake up rock-hard and realize you aren’t with me. A sobering thought when I know, even when I am able to open up, you still might not want me, trust me.”

  Her face was clouded as he gently touched her cheeks and kissed her. “Don’t worry, my love. I’m telling you because I promised I would be as open and honest as I could at any time. I’m not asking you to comment, make a commitment, or anything. Just to listen and hold the thought. Will you do that?”

  Vairi nodded.

  “Thank the gods.” He kissed her again. Hard, but lighthearted. “Right, shall we go?” Raig locked the door before he took her hand and they walked back across the site toward the carousel. As usual, the sights and sounds of his beloved fair raised his spirits.

  “Hell, I love this. The sounds and smells of my childhood. The scratchy music either one notch too soft, so you can’t catch all of it, or one too loud, so you’re bombarded. Diesel and usually grease from chips and popcorn. Huh, I can feel that missing. It’s as if only half of everything is alive. Grease apart, the crying kids, screaming teens and squawking parents and oldies? I love it all!”

  Vairi laughed. “Easily pleased, then?”

  “Oh, love,” he all but purred, “so very easy, you wouldn’t imagine. Hopefully though, I’ll soon be showing you.” They had reached the barriers by the carousel and received some resentful looks as with a polite “excuse me”, he escorted Vairi to the exit gate.

  Before he had a chance to key in the password to allow them through, someone challenged him. “Oy, mate, there’s a bloody queue here for a reason, you know.” The speaker, twenty-something, tattooed and belligerent, was glaring at him from the snaking line of people He was holding the hand of a tiny girl dressed in a tiara, bright pink frilly jumper and reach-for-the-sunglasses shocking orange and purple leggings, who met the ‘you must be this tall to ride’ level by a centimeter. “Dubonnet-Auriel has been waiting ages.”

  What the…? He saw Vairi turn away and had to stifle his own grin. Which soap did that mouthful come from?

  “Of course, sir,” he said smoothly. “However, if we don’t come through, there won’t be a ride. We’ve just had our mandatory break and are returning to run the ride for you. The staff there at the moment need to take their break. We are most careful to ensure everything is done to achieve your safely and enjoyment.” Shit, he sounded like a pompous old git. Nevertheless, the words seemed to mollify the man, who nodded.

  “Berra get on then, eh. Or I’ll not be best pleased.”

  It was Raig’s turn to nod as he waited for Vairi to enter the compound and shut the gate behind them. Her lips twitched, but wisely she faced away from the queue.

  “Why not call her Tia Maria or Whisky Tango?” she muttered.

  “Already taken, by some drinks company and the police. If I was being non-PC, the latter is where he looks as if he is heading. As I’m not I’ll just say, see you in a mo,” he muttered out of the side of his mouth, before smiling at the girl waiting for Vairi to relieve her. In one smooth leap he vaulted onto the ride, crossed the floor between the rising and falling horses and reached the middle so he could jump down and stand next to Phil, who was about to stop the roundabout.

  Phil nodded toward Vairi. “All back on track?”

  “I wish! Still, she’s talking to me, so that’s a positive.” Even Phil didn’t know everything about his life, so he probably thought Vairi was overreacting. However, he merely nodded before handing the keys over to Raig, who signed for then with an unintelligible scribble and his name printed afterward. “Cheers, Phil. Closing at eleven?”

  “Yup, and I’ll tell you for nothing, I’ll be more than pleased when we get there.”

  So would Raig, except it meant the last he would see of Vairi for a while. Time to enjoy being with her while he could.

  As the last ride slowed, stopped, and the final stragglers moved away, Raig went across to where Vairi stood waiting for him.

  “Want a ride?” His tone was bland, the innuendo clear.

  Laughing, she shook her head.

  “On that?” She pointed to the unmoving roundabout. “No way. On you, ditto. You want a ride, you go on it. Ride the horsey, cowboy. Show me how it’s done.” Her innuendo was equally as clear—her assumption he would blow her request off showed in her face.

  Right, call-your-bluff time. Come on, Raig, you’re as horny as a ram. No problem, even the motion would be enough, to say nothing of that pole moving up and down and Vairi’s eyes fixed on you. Go for it. His hands were suddenly sweaty, his breathing fast and choppy. He saw Vairi’s eyes darken and cloud with desire and knew he was going to sit on the horse and ride the pole. Briefly he thought about cum-covered jeans, before remembering the calf length, high-viz jacket hanging by the control cupboard.

  “Watch and ache. Or feel free to join me.” He moved close to her, deliberately invading her personal space. Her breath hitched, but she didn’t move as she looked up at him steadily, that sensual quirk of her lips mesmerizing him as his body brushed hers. He hoped the hardness of her nipples and his rock-hard cock hard against her clit gave her the same experience. Sadly, he saw her fight the awareness.

  “I’ll watch. From here.” She leaned back on the fence and folded her arms over her breasts. To hide her burgeoning nipples from any stray worker or customer who might wander past? No matter, his imagination had her stripped, leaning against the fence wearing those sparkly flats and a smile. He could tell by the skeptical look she gave him she felt he wasn’t going to follow through on his words.

  “Come and stand in the middle, before I set it off. Then you’ll see more.” And he could make sure he was on the innermost horse and farthest away from prying eyes. He held out his hand and helped her into the center. Making sure the
music was switched off, he set the ride in motion, feeling Vairi’s eyes following his every move as he stepped onto the platform and chose a horse.

  “Conqueror,” he said as, settling on the saddle, he checked the name written in flowing script around the reins. “Hope so. Ready to watch?” he called as he rode past her, and saw her nod.

  Right, Raig, time to show what you can do. He edged as near to the pole as he could and felt vibrations run through him as it began to rub against his erection, the denim of his jeans increasing the friction, intensifying those erotic sensations.

  God, he would never have thought he could get anywhere near coming by such a simple thing. If only they could market “Come! Ride the Ride!” They would make a fortune. Sadly, or maybe luckily, there was no way they would. It would bring every pervert for miles out of the woodwork. Meanwhile, for him now? Enjoy the ride, Raig. Your pole on the pole.

  The sensation of being rubbed, the knowledge that Vairi’s eyes were trained on him, following his tracks as much as possible, was making his climax a fast-approaching event. Even the thought that anyone could come along, see his face contorted with desire, his cock almost welded to the pole, and ask what the hell he was doing, didn’t diminish his feelings. It probably intensified them. He never knew he had the incipient makings of an exhibitionist. As he flew past Vairi he spoke, his voice hoarse.

  “Any time now.” His cock pulsated, filled and spilled and the wet stickiness as it covered him, plus the telltale stain on his denims would be visible to anyone who looked. He shuddered and gasped until the last pulsing throb quieted. He was spent, in every which way. If he’d have been able to, he would have put his head down. As it was, he held tightly to the horse’s head until his breath was less ragged and he was able to stand up without falling over.

  Slowly he moved off the ride and onto the ground, almost stumbling as he hit terra firma. With deliberate movements, he switched off the ride and secured it before leaning back on the wooden cupboard.

  Vairi walked across the stationary ride to where he stood and deliberately looked down to where his jeans had changed color.