"Has he fucked you yet?"

I laughed. "No, he hasn't."

"Really? Well, I would have!"

"Would have what?"

"Fucked you." 

I gave her a puzzled look.

"What!" she said, giggling. "You go with girls, don't you?"

"Yes, but you're his sister and besides, Marco and I have only just met."

Giulia lay back on her sun-lounger and looked up into the clear blue sky. "Well. You've got a gorgeous little bod, and I would simply love for us to, you know, do things."

"Good to know, Giulia, but can we change the subject now, please?"

The sun is sinking, the shadows lengthening, and the only sound is the wind in the cypress trees surrounding the villa.

I look up and watch a solitary bird, wings outstretched and unmoving. It's very high. I wonder if it could be an eagle. Perhaps it can see us as it watches for little creatures moving in the long meadow grass. Maybe it can see us, two teenage girls sunbathing topless beside a vast swimming pool.

The idea for this holiday began as a celebration for Marco and Giulia's Dad on his return from abroad, following a lengthy concert tour. His name is Gastone. He is a composer and a conductor and ever so famous. (I have changed his name coz he actually IS ever so famous.) 

The family lives in Rome, but they need to get away from the city heat in summer, so they move to their villa in the hills above Florence.

There's to be a big banquet tomorrow in Gastone's honour, and we will all be on the terrace in the open air, and it will be such fun. And Marco will be there, he's my newish boyfriend. Yes... the one who hasn't fucked me yet!

His sister Giulia is nineteen, the same age as me. Marco is a bit older. Their Mum is called Flora, and she is charming and beautiful and elegant. Giulia and I met while she was studying in London. We hung out together. I had a girlfriend at the time, and we all got on really well together.

Marco first appeared on the scene when he came over from Italy to visit his sister. My girlfriend Tabbi and I had arranged to meet Giulia in a part of London called Covent Garden, there are lots of excellent restaurants and bars there.

We arrived at the agreed place; it was all done out like a wild-west saloon. Giulia waved from her stool at the bar, and there, beside her, also waving, was the most beautiful man I had ever seen.

The four of us sat at a round table, and the waitress gave us all silly cowboy hats to wear, and there was a honky-tonk piano playing, and we were all drinking beer, and we all got on so well together, and it was just so wonderful. Marco was fun and so polite; he stood up whenever one of us girls got up to go to the loo!

Tabbi and Giulia had been exchanging glances throughout the meal, and they swapped phone numbers. I did the same with Marco, and later... much later, we poured Giulia and Marco into a taxi, and Tabbi and I kissed and cuddled our own way home. That night, our lovemaking was ever so hot. I guess we each had our new friends on our minds.

Since then, Marco and I kept in touch with silly WhatsApp exchanges and lovely long emails. His English was almost perfect, and the bits that weren't so perfect made me adore him even more.

This villa is more of a palace, with many rooms, high wooden ceilings, and ancient stonework. It's ever so old.  My room is enormous. I can see rolling hills that seem to roll on forever and mountains all misty and pale on the far horizon from my window. The air smells so fresh and clean and with so many scents. Today, jasmine predominates, and far below me, I can see the bushes with their tiny white flowers that fill the air with their sweet aroma.

I was so willing to accept Giulia's invitation coz Tabbi and I had split up. It was definitely not my choice. An older woman where Tabbi works took my lover from me and smashed my heart into a trillion jagged pieces. 

Now all that seems to belong to a different world. Now I am here, and there is no one to make demands on me or question my feelings. 

Giulia often comes to my room first thing in the morning while I'm still in bed. Usually, she wears just a huge baggy t-shirt and nothing else and gets into bed beside me, and we chat about stuff and giggle and talk about sex things. It's really lovely. We don't do anything, but she does like kissing me, and I like it too. She is funny, and I like her very much. She takes every opportunity to show off her bare bottom, but I don't mind coz it IS a lovely bottom!

Today, Marco is going to show me around the local area. We are going to visit the house where the artist Giotto was born. The nice thing about Marco is that he doesn't mind that I have no idea who Giotto is. There are lots and lots of books here so I must do some studying on my own. 

Marco has a beautiful car. An Alpha Romeo Spider. Italian men love their vehicles much more than anything else (except their mothers). It's an open-top and bright red (naturally). Another cute thing about Marco is that he opens my door first and closes it once I am seated in his car. Am I in a fucking MOVIE here? 

Tonight, Marco and Giulia and I plan to have a little party on our own, among the oak trees far away from the main house. There's an old chapel there. It's a bit spooky, actually coz there are tombs built into the walls and an altar and everything, but it's not used for holy things anymore. We are going to bring lanterns and candles and something to play music and some special things to drink.

(I am sorry if this is all a bit disjointed. When Tabbi left, things became very disconnected, and I really wasn't expecting to be made so unhappy so unexpectedly. Now I feel pleased for Tabbi. She will be able to enjoy things we could never afford together. Her new partner is stronger than me. She will make it last longer. Now my new life begins, and I so want to tell you about this fantastic family that seems to have adopted me.)

The sun is setting, all the vast sky is all gold and red and pink. We are all in the kitchen gathering supplies for our secret trip to the old chapel.  Bread, all different kinds of ham and stuff for a salad and olive oil and an excellent cheese made from sheep's milk and wine and bottles of water and more wine...

It's such a warm evening, so Giulia and I are just wearing our skimpy summer dresses. Marco is in a beautiful green linen shirt, baggy khaki shorts, and bare feet, and he looks just perfect.  Oh God, now he's put on a battered old straw hat, pulled low, and now he is even MORE perfect than before. I have never known a place where men take such effortless care with their appearance. (You may have guessed that I am ever so fond of Marco.)

Now, fully laden, we are on our way down the long slope away from the main house. This place really is vast! Beyond is a tall beech hedge, and behind it, a little flat area with soft grass and totally secluded, and the grass leads up to the chapel. 

Marco spreads a table cloth on the grass, and we all get everything unpacked. I take loads of pictures coz it looks like a classic picnic, the sort you see in children's books.

The first stars are beginning to appear. Venus is already there, and a bit later, the moon will rise from behind the mountain. 

The wine is flowing freely, and so is the conversation. Giulia, ever the discreet one, says. "Marco, have you kissed Suzy yet?"

Marco answers straight away to distract attention from my bright red face. "No, sister dear, I have not."

"Well, sweet brother, perhaps you should fucking get on with it."

Oh God... here we go.

"Suzy, would you allow me to kiss you?"

I feel myself rising to the occasion. The wine is helping my confidence big-time.

"Why indeed you may, Signor Marco." 

Then Marco, who has been sitting cross-legged in the tablecloth, stands up and comes towards me and helps me to my feet and leads me to the soft grass. He puts his arms around me, bends me ever so slightly backwards and kisses my lips.

Giulia applauds. 

I return the kiss as gently and softly as he had kissed me. We smiled at each other, and I giggled, which made me blush even more. I went to break away, but Marco held me tighter and kissed me again, and our kisses deepened, and I felt a joy that had not existed in me for such a long time. 

I also felt something else. I don't have much experience with men, but I know an erection when I feel one. And I suddenly feel all proud of myself.

Now I did break away and tried to compose myself again. Then Giulia reaches out to Marco, pulls him to her, and kisses full him on the lips. 

After pouring myself a generous glass of wine to steady my nerves, I sit on the grass and watch Giulia kiss her brother passionately, sexually. His hands move down to her bottom, and I realise that, unlike me, this is not the first kiss by any means. It's hard to see from where I am sitting, but I think Giulia has her hand inside her brother's shorts.

It would be easy to imagine that I would feel intensely jealous, but I actually found myself very, very aroused. So lost in the sheer erotic beauty of my two friends kissing and touching. The fact that they were brother and sister seems essential to the feelings I am having down below. I'm talking about the tingling and throbbing, and I KNOW I am getting wet.

"Let's go inside the chapel," Marco said. Leading his sister by the hand, he took mine too, and the three of us entered the cool dark space together.

End of Chapter One