Page 44 of The Cottage on Pelican Bay

“Yes. Some refer to it as Tantalizing Tuesday. Others think of it as Thrilling Tuesday.”

She looked at him and held his gaze. He was still holding her at the waist, and her body felt good next to his. “What do you think of it as, Saint?”

He smiled. “I think of it as just what I intend to make it for you. Terrific Tuesday.”

He lowered his head and captured her mouth with his as if he wanted to swallow her whole. They had made love earlier, several times. He kissed her with a hunger that was filled with a need he could only associate with her. Why was he so addicted to her kiss? To everything about her? Suddenly, he knew why. He was allowing her to do something he swore he wouldn’t allow another woman to do. Get under his skin.

That realization had him breaking off the kiss. However, he still held her in his arms, unable for the time being to release her. According to their plans for the week, they would have lunch together on Friday. He needed to put distance between them until then. Somehow, over the next two days he had to pull himself together, collect his senses and remind himself that she didn’t want anything serious and neither did he. They both had been there and done that and preferred not to go there again. All they wanted was to enjoy each other sexually. That kind of arrangement might not work for some, but it worked for them.

He had said he intended to make this a Terrific Tuesday and would keep his word. “Come on, it’s getting late. Let’s swim back and forth for a while,” he whispered against her ear.

“Alright.”

They did for a half hour and then he drew her into his arms and carried her to the bay’s shore where he’d placed a huge towel earlier. He was already naked and it didn’t take long to remove her skimpy and sexy bathing suit. When he joined her on the towel the need to make love to her again was so strong it nearly took his breath away.

Then he remembered. “I need to grab a condom.”

“No, you don’t, unless you truly want to. I’m safe and I believe you are, too. And I’m on birth control.”

Saint truly didn’t want to, although he knew he should. Being skin to skin inside her could make the situation between them worse. Hadn’t he felt the need to take time to pull himself together over the next couple of days where she was concerned because she was getting under his skin? What she was suggesting would be like pouring kerosene on an already blazing fire. However, at that moment he was too weak to resist her offer.

“I’m all in, Zara, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure, Saint. That’s how I want you. All in. No pun intended.”

His hand cupped the side of her face, and he leaned in and kissed her hungrily as a need consumed every inch of his flesh. She tasted hot, delicious and all woman, and at that moment he wanted as much of her as he could get. It didn’t matter that they’d made love mere hours ago. He wanted her again. He needed her again.

This kiss was burning out of control, and he pressed her back onto the beach towel. Pulling his mouth away he began licking her throat, reveling in all the sensations he was feeling. He wanted more. Positioning his body between her open legs, his hands slid around her back and curved around her backside and lifted her as he thrust inside her. When he’d gone as deep as he could go, the thrusting began, and he couldn’t hold back the guttural sound stemming from deep within his throat. Nor could he suppress the emotions that were unleashed by being inside her, skin to skin.

“Saint...”

She’d moaned his name and the sound made his hunger for her become ravenous. The feel of her inner muscles gripping him while in the most intimate part of her had him moaning her name as well. “Zara...”

She was always an equal participant in their lovemaking, refusing to let him make love to her without making love to him. Their eyes met and she lifted her arms to wrap around his neck and began licking around his mouth, chin and neck, while lifting her body to receive each one of his thrusts.

As he continued to rock against her, over and over, he knew the exact moment an orgasm of extreme power slammed into each of them. The same degree of lust consuming his senses had taken over hers. More than just pushing him over the edge, Zara had taken him to another universe.

“Saint!”

She screamed his name when another orgasm hit her, and her tremors caused another to detonate inside him as well. When he finally got the quivers of his body under control, he pulled her into his arms. Even with wet hair and swollen lips from his kisses, he thought she looked breathtaking. It took a while before he was able to finally speak. “Did I make it terrific for you, Zara?” he whispered against her lips.

“Yes,” she said, licking the side of his neck, chin and lips again. “It was tempting, tantalizing and terrific all rolled into one.”

Smiling, he leaned forward to kiss her again.

Two days later Zara was walking into the arts-and-crafts store on the boardwalk. “Good morning, Ms. Fanny.”

The older woman greeted her with a huge smile. “You’ve run out of paint already, Zara?”

Zara chuckled. “No, I’m starting something new and need additional colors.” She had decided to paint a portrait of Saint without him posing for it. She would do it from memory. That shouldn’t be hard to do since she had such vivid images of him in her nightly dreams.

Tuesday night had been as terrific as he’d set out to make it. However, he hadn’t stayed overnight, like she assumed from the overnight bag he’d brought with him. Why he’d changed his mind she wasn’t sure. She couldn’t think of a single thing that would have made him leave after they’d made love on shore after their swim, showered together and then made love again.

Maybe she was overthinking things. It could have been that he had an early-morning meeting Wednesday that he’d forgotten about. When he’d left, he told her he would see her on Friday, which indicated he wouldn’t be seeing her again before their scheduled lunch. He had told her to call him if she needed help moving boxes. She had spent yesterday packing for the second straight day and decided to take a break today and paint.

She had made her purchases and was walking back to where she’d parked her car when she heard her name being called. Shading her eyes from the brightness of the sun, she saw it was Samantha Groover. What on earth did the woman want with her?

They’d never been introduced. Zara only knew who she was because Sierra had pointed her out to her at the engagement party. She recalled that Samantha had been trying to get Saint’s attention every chance she got, the same woman who apparently told other women she had an advantage over their interest in Saint because he’d once had a crush on her in the sixth grade. Like that truly mattered.

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