Page 67 of Daring to Date Her Ex

‘Lucas.’ He knew every part of her, every last tremor and every quickening. And he could use them all. She curled her fingers around the condom she’d taken out of his pocket and tugged at his belt with the other hand.

He chuckled, bending to kiss her forehead. ‘Wait, my love. Wait.’ His hand brushed against her breast and she cried out in frustration. ‘First things first.’

He pulled back for a moment, undoing a couple of the buttons on his shirt and then losing patience and pulling it over his head. One hand reached for the ice bucket on the sideboard. Cold on her lips, followed by the heat of a kiss. Her body started to shake and he wound one arm around her waist, supporting her weight against him, trailed the ice cube along the line of her jaw and down her throat.

A soft melody of heat and cold played on her skin. Slowly he unbuttoned her shirt, unhooked her bra. The warmth of his mouth on hers, and icy shivers running down her spine.

‘Thea.’ He choked out her name, and this time he didn’t resist when she undid his belt and zipper. Her skirt joined the growing pile of discarded clothes at their feet and then she was in his arms and he was carrying her to the bed.

She held him tight, feeling the delicious press of his body on hers. ‘I’ve never forgotten how it feels to have you inside me, Lucas.’

He caught his breath and she felt his body harden. He was stronger, broader than he had been. Somehow more tender. ‘I’ve never forgotten either. But I want you to let that go now. Feel it again for the first time.’

The one last trace of doubt fell away. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t re-create old memories. They were making new ones. ‘Yes.’

She rolled the condom down over him, and he gasped at her touch. Then his weight was on her, pinning her down. He slid inside her, just an inch, and she groaned, feeling her whole body begin to quiver. Leaning on his elbows, he grasped her hands and she hung onto him tightly. He kissed her, sliding inside her as he did so, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, so she could move against him.

‘I’m…’ She couldn’t stop it now.

‘I know.’ The way his body was trembling with every strong thrust told her that Lucas wouldn’t be too far behind her. His fingers curled tightly around hers and he kissed her again.

When she came Thea thought for a moment she was going to black out. But she could feel him with her, his body tightening, convulsing along with hers. She looked up into his eyes and knew that she was finally home.

* * *

He woke with her in his arms in the early hours of the morning. It felt so good to know, once more, that everything was right with the world and that he was where he was supposed to be, with Thea curled up against his chest, fast asleep.

When he felt her stir, he found her hand and her fingers twined with his. He let her wake up and then dropped a kiss on her neck. ‘You okay, honey?’

She laughed, and pulled his hand up to her lips to kiss his fingers. ‘Why wouldn’t I be?’

Good question. Last night they’d taken everything to the limit. Extreme passion, and extreme tenderness. There had been moments when Lucas had thought his body would break and his heart would burst, but somehow he was in one piece this morning. And still wanting her.

She moved lazily against him. ‘What’s the time?’

‘Four o’clock. We don’t have to get up for another hour or so.’

‘And you’re going to sneak back to your room again? It’s not strictly necessary, you know. Tourist hotels usually turn a blind eye to unmarried couples sharing a room.’

‘I know. I quite like the element of subterfuge, though.’

The previous evening, when hunger for each other had temporarily given way to the need to eat, Lucas had got dressed and slipped back to his own room via the balcony, showering quickly and emerging from the other door leading to the hotel corridor. Thea had emerged from her own room at almost the same moment, for all the world as if they’d been alone in their rooms, reading quietly or unpacking for the last couple of hours. Not touching her for the duration of a long, lazy meal turned the first brush of his fingers on her cheek, when they were alone again, into a confection of pleasure.

She chuckled. ‘We wouldn’t have lasted in Bangladesh. No fancy hotels to run away to.’

‘No. But the two of us in Bangladesh… It was never going to happen, I didn’t give it a chance.’ The tattoo on his arm reminded him of that. Was reminding him now that Thea was too precious to be hurt again and that he had to go carefully. The idea of a forgiven past had overwhelmed those fears last night, but they were always waiting to return.

‘I know. It doesn’t matter now.’ The friction of her body

against his as she moved to kiss him brought his senses alive again.

‘You’re not even slightly angry with me?’ He raised an eyebrow and she laughed.

‘What? Angry sex? Remember that time when I was so furious with you that I made you sleep on the sofa?’

‘I do.’ His body was hardening just at the thought. ‘And then you crept in while I was asleep and tied me up. It was terrible.’

‘Not what you said at the time.’

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