Page 26 of For the Love of Lily

I don’t know how he did this to me with his hand and whispered words of desire but within minutes my head was pressed into his shoulder as he made me lose all control. He moved on top of me. I smiled as he rubbed our noses against each other in the sweetest kiss. “Definitely sure, Lily?” he asked one last time.

I nodded, desperate to feel more of him, as he reached under the pillow and grabbed a condom. “The things they leave for you in hotels these days,” he smiled as he put it on, and then …

His eyes were so intense, they took in every reaction as he pushed slowly into me. Nothing had ever felt like this before, I was overwhelmed but also desperate for more. My legs clamped around him, not ever wanting to lose this feeling between us – my body smouldered and my mind burned with love for him, the fiery combination explosive.

He began with such tenderness, kisses and strokes making me feel like the most loved person in the world. Every nerve ending inside me lit up. All caution was soon cast aside, it was as though the world outside of this bed had ceased to exist. Completely lost in each other, he moved faster and deeper, mouths locked together; hands pulled at hot, damp skin, my legs gripped him, urging him on and on.

The pressure built and grew within me to limits I didn’t know I had, as my whole body tightened around him. I took desperate breaths of his scent into me, willing myself to never forget it. I don’t know if the words that came out of my mouth even made sense as I gasped his name, begged him not to stop, told him how he was everything to me. I was barely recovering as he matched me, moaning into my mouth, his hips pushing me down into the bed with fierce force.

Zack’s head dropped to the pillow next to mine as our rapid breaths began to slow, our warm skin stuck together. He smiled as he spoke to me. “Are you alright?”

“So good,” I grinned. “Please say we can do that again?”

“I plan to keep doing that to you, over and over.” He pressed a sweet kiss to my lips.

“Worth waiting for then?” I asked, hoping it had felt as good for him as it had for me.

“God yes. Glad we waited. Imagine if it had been after that first proper date? Wouldn’t have been anything like that. I knew from that first night I would fall in love with you,” he admitted, his face bashful. “I couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t want to stop myself. I wanted you to feel it too.”

“I do feel it. It hit me pretty quick, I was just scared of it. But you have this … magic power over me. You make everything feel safe and right,” I sighed with happiness.

“Give me two minutes.” He ran his finger down my cheek, taking in my flushed face before he headed to the bathroom. Returning, with water splashed through his hair, he climbed beside me and wrapped me in his arms, kissing me over and over. “I love you. Get some sleep. I can’t promise I’ll be able to control myself in the morning.”

My eyes fluttered closed. I grinned like the cat who got the cream as I fell into a beautiful dream.

Nine

I had to drag myself downstairs to work on Monday morning. There were so much better things to be doing, and we’d done them quite a few times over the rest of the weekend.

Zack wasn’t due back at work so had driven me home and spent the night with me. It felt surreal to be at my desk, knowing he was upstairs. I’d barely looked at my phone all weekend so fired off messages to Cassie promising all the details soon, and to my mum and dad letting them know I’d had a great time. My mum replied within a minute, hinting that she couldn’t wait to meet Zack after seeing all the photographs of us.

I wasn’t ready for any meet the parents’ scenario, but I was intrigued about the photographs my mum had mentioned. I knew Zack had tagged me in that one beautiful selfie, but it seemed that now I had ‘friended’ all his friends, I was tagged in a lot! Zack and I holding hands as the bride walked up the aisle, Zack and I looking into each other’s eyes at the wedding breakfast, drinking champagne together on a love seat, him spinning me round the dance floor and our faces full of laughter, slow dancing and his mouth whispering to me, looking hungover together the next morning with all his friends before everyone left.

I heard a cough and put my phone down. Luke stood over my desk, his eyes on my phone screen.

“Hi, morning, how are you?” It all came out too fast as I stood up. “Did you need me to get you something? I don’t think I have your files here, sorry.” Could he tell I’d been shagging all weekend by looking at my face?

He glanced at me, his eyes empty. My heart sank. I knew why he behaved this way, it was self-protection. It tore me apart that my best friend was falling away from me, and there seemed to be nothing I could do.

“I wanted to make sure you’re OK. I heard footsteps upstairs just now,” he said quietly.

“Ahh yeah,” I replied. “Zack is up there.” I saw Luke’s face drop as he put two and two together. I wanted to cry at the unfairness of the situation. How had I gone from four years of no love interest at all, to this feeling? He looked at me, his eyes regretful as he turned to leave. “Luke-”

He cut me off with a sharp tongue. “Lily, please don’t.” I sighed as he closed his office door.

The morning at work was the longest. My emotions swung between ecstatic, exhausted and charged. I was drained. I’d asked Zack to meet me downstairs at twelve o’clock so we could grab lunch before he left. If I went upstairs, we were bound to end up back in bed. My thighs had had quite the workout, but the ache in them every time I moved made me smile with the memory and pledge to get to yoga more often.

We went to a quiet café, an older place that I adored, all cute tablecloths and tea-cosies. As we ordered drinks, I knew I had to explain what had happened with Luke. He’d wonder why I didn’t see my best friend anymore.

“That was the best weekend I could’ve imagined,” I smiled at Zack as we held hands across the table, our legs linked underneath. “I wouldn’t want our relationship to have secrets though. I’m going to tell you something, and I don’t want you to worry. I handled it, and it doesn’t affect you and me. This is what I want.” I watched him as concern flicked across his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He squeezed my hand tight.

I gulped before I began. “Luke has been my friend for a long time, and I’ve never thought of him as anything more than a friend or a big brother figure. I know you had your doubts,” I continued. “He came to me, not long ago, to tell me he was in love with me and had been for a long time. He regretted not telling me sooner.” I squeezed Zack’s hand again, wanting to reassure him all was OK before I got to the end of the story. “I got really, really angry at him; we had a massive fight. He stormed out. I felt like he took advantage of our friendship and put me in a horrible position, knowing I’d met you and it was going so well.”

“Lily-”

I shook my head at him. “It’s all fine, promise. Let me finish.” I reassured him as best I could. “He stormed out, and I was so upset. You were on the stag do, so I couldn’t burden you with it. Then I didn’t know when was best to bring it up. I met him the next day and told him it was you I wanted to be with, Zack. We’ve hardly spoken since. It’s tricky at work, but it’s manageable. I don’t think our friendship can be the same again, and that hurts me, but he knows it’s you I want to be with.”

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