Horse's Arse by Charlie Owen

was
unbelievable.'
        After
a few minutes during which neither spoke, but stayed gasping for breath with
racing pulses, he withdrew from her and stood upright. His legs were still
trembling and beads of sweat shone on his forehead. She lifted herself from the
breakfast bar, turned, and buried her head in his chest as he held her tight.
        'Oh,
David, that was wonderful. I can't tell you how much I needed that. I thought I
was never going to stop coming.'
        'It
was good, wasn't it?' agreed Bovril, who was beginning to feel something for
this girl that made him slightly uncomfortable. It wasn't just the sex, which
was the best he'd ever experienced; there was something else about her that was
different from all the other women he'd known. He dismissed it from his mind;
just post-shag euphoria, he reasoned. They stood holding each other for a while
before he kissed the top of her head.
        'I'm
going to have to make a move, darling,' he said softly.
        She
looked up at him watery-eyed and whispered, 'OK.'
        He
realised that he didn't want to go. He'd happily spend the rest of the day with
her, and the night, and the next day ... Jesus Christ, what's happening to me,
he thought. He'd only ever been to visit her when he was on duty and it
occurred to him that he had only ever seen her in a dressing gown. They'd met
when he'd taken an early morning call to her house to deal with overnight
damage to her boyfriend's van, and now he wondered what she looked like when
she went out: how she dressed, what she liked to do, where she worked, what her
last name was.
        'Listen,
Lisa,' he began hesitantly, 'I'd like to do something different next time we
get together.'
        'Oh
yes?' she said naughtily.
        He
laughed. 'No, not like that. I'd like to spend some time with you. You know, go
out for a drink or a meal or something like that. Anything really, just spend
some time together, get to know each other properly. Do you want to do that?
Could you get away in the evenings?'
        She
didn't reply immediately, but looked at him, searching his face.
        'I'm
sorry, I shouldn't have asked you that. I'm getting ahead of myself,' he said
apologetically. He began to get dressed and she retrieved her dressing gown.
        'Are
you being serious?' she said finally.
        'Forget
it, it doesn't matter. I was out of order.' Bovril fastened his belt.
        'It
does. I just need to know that you're not taking me for a ride. I know I'm not
the first girl you've had. For all I know you may be off to visit another one
now. But yes, I'd like to do that as well. I can get away in the evenings.'
        Bovril
paused. 'I can't explain how or why I feel the way I do about you. I only know
that I want more. Much, much more.'
        'Alan
spends most of his evenings getting drunk with his mates at the snooker club,'
she said. 'Tell me when and I'll be ready.'
        'Deal,'
said Bovril. 'I really want to see you again, and away from here.'
        'OK.'
She smiled, straightening his jacket and clip-on tie. 'Call me soon.'
        He
held her close and whispered, 'I will, I promise.'
        They
walked in silence to the kitchen door, which she opened slightly so she could
peek out. 'Seems all clear.'
        He
kissed her on the forehead. 'Soon,' he said and began to walk down the path.
        'David,'
she called quietly. He turned back and raised his eyebrows questioningly.
'Nothing,' she said hesitantly. 'Just take care, OK?'
        'I
will, I promise,' he said again, before turning and hurrying away down the
path.
    ----
        

Chapter Six
        
        Psycho
Sean was one of the last of the Relief to leave the nick. Straight after Muster
he had raced up to the third floor and the corridor occupied by the
sub-divisional commander and his deputy. The main man, Chief Inspector Pat
Gillard, was a coiffured, bone idle, permatanned old fart who wanted a quiet
life and