Page 128 of A Country Practice Christmas
Eyes on hers, he shuffled lower, running the tip of his tongue across her chest, teasing and licking and sucking as if she was a forbidden dessert and he was relishing every mouthful. And then he was lower still, unbuttoning her jeans, and she was sliding out of them and his mouth … oh my God, his mouth. Every cell in her body vibrated. Every inch of her skin thrummed. But it was still not enough, nowhere near.
‘Cole.’
At the moan of his name, he looked up, his hands resting on her hip bones. A good thing too or she could have easily floated up into outer space.
‘I didn’t think to bring anything,’ he said.
‘Lucky one of us did.’ Reaching for the jeans he’d so expertly slipped off her, she fumbled in the pocket and pulled out the two silver packets.
‘I wasn’t expecting—’
‘I know. And I appreciate that. I brought these just in case.’
The uncertainty on his face faded as his grin widened. ‘I like the way you think.’
She handed him one of the condoms and he rose to his knees.
Even watching him undo his jeans and peel them from his legs was a turn-on. And then he was naked, his body as chiselled as a Florentine sculpture. All that lay between them was a tiny scrap of lace and silk: her black G-string. Hooking his fingers in each side, he slipped it down her legs, ran his hands all the way back up her body and over her breasts, kissed her jawline as she stroked the hard bones of his shoulder blades.
‘Are you sure?’ His question was like the gentle wash of the sea hushing against the shell of her ear.
‘Yes.’
He moved against her and she gripped him with her legs, her breath coming faster and faster, her chest heaving in time to the rhythm of their movement, her heart racing, her head spinning, wanting it to end but wanting it to last forever, an explosion of stars behind her eyes as she found blissful, earth-shattering release. And then his body shuddering into hers, the rapturous heaviness of him falling onto her, the steady beat of his heart against her own.
A smile of sheer, unadulterated contentment played on her lips as she savoured every single second. Night fell around them as they lay, warm and content, wrapped in each other’s arms.
Chapter 17
‘I’m guessing by that dreamy look on your face and the number of times you’ve checked your phone that you may have got lucky last night.’ Lenore gave a double raise of her eyebrows, as if one wasn’t enough, and fixed her with ‘the look’.
‘Lenny.’ The warning in Nancy’s voice as she put the last of the pre-cut vegetables into the fridge, ready for the big day tomorrow, was half-hearted. She liked to pretend to be shocked by some of her wife’s tactless pronouncements but if the way she stuck her tongue in her cheek as she gave the warnings was any indication, she secretly found them amusing. ‘For someone who didn’t marry until she was in her sixties, you have a lot of thoughts about other people’s love lives.’
‘Just because I didn’t tie the knot until late doesn’t mean I didn’t have myself some fun along the way.’ Lenore shot a glance at Nancy, possibly wondering if she’d overstepped, but got no more than a head shake in reply. ‘So, did you?’
‘Did I what?’
‘Get lucky. Come on, give a dying old woman a break and let me live vicariously.’
Hannah’s rib cage tightened at the mention of Lenore’s condition. But if she could make light of it, there was no need to be morbid. At least not right now.
‘Live vicariously?’ Nancy piped up. ‘Need I remind you you’re a lesbian?’
Lenore waved her hand as if swatting away a fly. ‘Oh, you know what I mean. It doesn’t matter what apparatus you use, the result is still the same. So, tell us, Hannah, did you get hot and heavy? Get the deed done?’
Keeping the smile from her face was as impossible as shutting down the thrumming in her body whenever her thoughts drifted to last night. ‘If you must know …’ She arched a retaliatory brow in Lenore’s direction. ‘I did. And it was bloody amazing.’
‘Yes. You go, girl.’ Lenore shot a fist into the air. ‘So do you think it was a one-off or is this Cole fellow a more long-term prospect?’
That was a good question. If the sense of ease Hannah felt with him afterwards, lying there on the picnic rug stark naked, looking up into the night sky together, was any indication, there was a strong possibility things could develop. But she wasn’t giving any of that away just yet.
‘Maybe.’
‘Good for you. And at least you’ll be getting a bit while you decide.’
‘Oh, Len—’
‘I know, I know, too far.’ Using the edge of the table as leverage, Lenore pulled herself to her feet. ‘Well, I hope we get to meet him and give the seal of approval before we leave.’
