Page 40 of One Bed

‘I don’t want to talk, Gib,’ she told him, her husky voice telling him that she’d shed a tear or two.

He got that in ways she didn’t understand. And never would. ‘That’s OK,’ he murmured, pulling her hair off her neck to place his lips on her skin. There were different ways to comfort someone, and this was another. And, in his opinion, just as effective.

Bea tipped her head to the side to give him better access to her neck, and he nibbled his way up, and across to her jaw. On her so-smooth skin, he smelled flowers – he was a guy and couldn’t identify what kind if you held a gun to his head – and when she turned her head so his lips could reach hers, he tasted wine on her luscious lips, on her tongue. Not wanting to push, he kept their kiss soft, undemanding…

He suspected she felt like things were out of her control, so he wanted to give her a measure of it here, to let her set the pace. He was a take-charge guy, someone who liked having the upper hand in bed, but he knew when to stand back and just wait. Bea returned his lazy kiss, but he clocked an uptick of need in her, and when she placed her hand on his leg and squeezed his thigh, he knew she wanted more.

Maybe she wanted to forget, maybe she wanted to step out of her life, maybe she simply needed to lose herself in the moment. Whatever her reason, he didn’t care; he was just happy to sit here, and take anything she offered.

He lifted her onto his lap and allowed his eyes the pleasure of roaming over her face. Not classical pretty, definitely not perfect … but, man,gorgeous. Interesting. A face you could study a thousand times, and still find something captivating. And while looking at her was a pleasure, kissing her was better. He skimmed her mouth with his, wanting to prolong the anticipation, and build up a little more tension, before finally locking his mouth on hers. When his tongue slid against hers, Bea released a part-mewl, part-groan and he was lost.

And found.

Needing more, wanting everything, he took their kiss deeper and darker, and in a movement that was as old as time, and twice as natural, he covered her breast with his hand. His thumb found her already taut nipple and teased it with a slow stroke. He pulled her T-shirt up, and the palm of his hand settled on her breast, small but lovely, perfectly formed.

They said that time stopped on Santorini, but on this island tonight, with Bea in his arms, her lovely, sweet ’n spicy mouth under his, nothing else mattered. Just Bea, and the way she made him feel. He was the plug and she the source of power.

He craved more of her, needed everything, needed to taste her, to feel her in his mouth, her nipple against her tongue. Pulling her shirt up her body and over her head, he dropped it to the deck and reached behind her to twist open her bra’s clasp. While still kissing him –God, her mouth was a revelation, sexy as sin and twice as hot – she tossed her bra over his shoulder and sat up. She straddled him, moonlight on her lovely torso. She swiped his mouth with hers, her breath warm.

‘This is just a bit of fun, right?’ she whispered.

He pulled back and stroked the hair off her face. That was his line, and it felt strange to hear the words he so frequently uttered falling from her lips. And yes, of course, it was. Fast and fun, he was a master of the concept.

‘Gib?’

She was still waiting for an answer. And why was he hesitating? He nodded. ‘It would be a lot more fun if we were naked,’ he stated. ‘And if we were back in the cottage, rolling around that huge bed.’

‘We’ll get there.’ Bea placed her hand on his cheek. ‘When was the last time you made out on a deck at night, Gib?’ she whispered.

He was conscious of her hot core pressing against his steel-hard dick, so thinking was hard. ‘I must’ve been seventeen, she was nineteen, an older woman. It was summer, and we went skinny dipping.’

Bea’s mouth curved. ‘Wanna do that?’

Without waiting for his answer, and using his shoulder for leverage, she stood and shed her shorts and what looked to be a white, lacy thong. Before he could see more, take in her beautiful body, she whipped around and dived into the pond.

It took her a while to surface and when she did, she slicked her wet hair off her face, grinning. ‘It’s lovely,’ she told him. ‘Come on in.’

If the pay-off was getting up close and personal with a naked Bea, he’d swim the fucking English Channel. Gib rolled to his feet, gripped the back of his shirt and pulled it off in a one-handed move. He undid the button of his shorts, unzipped and pulled down his briefs and shorts in one economical movement. He was hard, painfully so.

Not knowing how deep the pool was, he sat down on the edge of the deck, risking splinters in his ass by sliding off into the water but Bea’s soft voice drifting over to him immediately distracted him. ‘You’ve got such a gorgeous body, Gib.’

He met her eyes, and he swallowed down the lump in his throat. Hers would be lovelier. He cocked his eyebrow and grinned. ‘Are you done ogling, or can I come in?’ he asked.

‘If you must,’ Bea told him, laughter in her voice.

He pushed off, ducked under the water, and his feet brushed the floor. When he stood, the water hit his shoulders. He planted his feet and watched Bea swim toward him, her lips curved. He pulled her into him, and her legs wrapped around his waist, and her arms around his neck.

Instead of kissing him, she tipped her head back and looked up at the stars. ‘You are a very pleasant distraction, Gib,’ she murmured. ‘If you weren’t here, I think I would be a lot more miserable than I am.’

‘I know my holiday would be alotquieter.’

She tugged his wet hair.

He smiled against her lips. ‘OK, I’ll admit it might be more boring.’

‘Boredom is the last thing you have to worry about when you’re around Golly.’

Oh, he wasn’t referring to her godmother’s antics or the fact that she was a trouble magnet. He was only staying close to the action because he couldn’t stay away fromBea. Because something in her called to him…

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