Summer Fling (15 page)

“Ow!” In spite of her protest, she moaned
and turned soft and liquid around him, and he closed his eyes as he slid easily
into her welcoming flesh.

Her long sighs and moans were driving him
crazy. He moved his hand up to squeeze her nipples, dropping it again to rub
the small button between her legs that obviously turned her on.

“Yes…” She widened her legs more and pushed
her hips against him, and he brought his other hand down to hold her hip as he
plunged repeatedly inside her. She gasped. “Oh God, yes, don’t stop.”

His voice came out hoarse. “Couldn’t if you
wanted me to.” The hot water and her silky skin only added to his enjoyment of
the position.

“Harder,” she begged, and he lost it and
deepened his thrusts. The wet slap of his body against hers was so erotic he
had to grit his teeth to hang onto his control. She caught her breath, and then
she cried out, clamping around him. He thrust even harder, the tightness of her
muscles bringing him right to the edge of his climax. Holding on long enough to
enjoy her cries and the shiver of her body against his, he finally erupted into
her. Shuddering, he spilled inside her in short, jerky thrusts, until he was
empty and exhausted, sated and happy.

He leaned on the tiles, waiting for his
heartbeat to slow before he withdrew from her, and she cried out as he did so,
her legs trembling.

Turning her into his arms, he held her
tightly beneath the water, kissing her hair as the water continued to pour over
them. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nuzzled his neck. Overwhelming
happiness flooded through him.

“Are you okay?” He drew back to look at her
flushed face.

“Yes. Just a bit wobbly.”

“That’s why they call having sex standing
up a Knee Trembler.” Smiling, he turned off the shower and opened the door to
grab them both a towel. He disposed of the condom, and they dried themselves
off.

He led her into the bedroom, and they drew
back the covers and collapsed onto the bed.

“I’m shattered.” His eyelids grew heavy as
he pulled the duvet over them.

“I’m not surprised, expending all that
energy.” She sat up as a light whimper echoed from behind the door. “Aw,
Orion.”

He waved a lazy hand. “He’ll shut up in a
minute.”

“Oh no, we can’t have him being lonely.”
She got up and let the boxer in. Orion bounded onto the bed and gave Garth a
wet, slobbery kiss, and he cursed out loud.

“I thought you liked kissing with tongues,”
she teased.

“I like kissing with your tongue. Orion’s
goes in my ear and comes out the other side, I swear.”

She laughed and climbed under the covers,
and moved her hand beneath the duvet to make a play monster for the dog to
fight with. Orion growled, playing along for a while until she sighed and lay
down.

“Off,” Garth said, and the dog jumped onto
the floor and curled up beside the bed.

“You have him well trained.” She turned
onto her side, and Garth curled around her.

He pulled her toward him, kissed her neck
and breathed in the smell of her damp skin. “Yeah, he’s pretty good.”

“Do you train your women that well?”

“Not even close.”

She giggled, but her comment made him think
of Jess and her betrayal, and that made him think of Stewart, which soured his
mood. Perhaps he should confide his plans to her. He thought about it, but even
as the words formed on his lips, he saw she’d fallen asleep. Probably for the
best. She might disagree, and he didn’t want to argue with her.

What
did
he want? He nuzzled her
hair, smelling chocolate even in spite of their shower, and smiled. He wanted
to hold her like this every morning. There was no doubt at all that he was
going to ask to see her again. And she enjoyed being with him, didn’t she? So
much so that she’d overcome her reluctance to take risks and she’d had a
one-night stand with him.

He laid his head on the pillow, the
happiest he’d been for years. His dog by his side, sun streaming through the
wide windows, and a beautiful woman in his arms. It didn’t get much better than
that.

He pushed away his unease at the thought of
opening up his heart to someone. The situation with Jess had been very
different. He’d spent a long time distancing himself from people so he wouldn’t
get hurt again, but he had to open up sometime, if he didn’t want to spend the
rest of his life alone.

He wasn’t going to worry. Chloe wouldn’t
hurt him.

They dozed for a while, warm and sleepy in
the sunshine-filled room, finally stirring when Orion decided he needed a trip
outside and nudged Garth repeatedly until he got up. Chloe borrowed a T-shirt
off him, laughing when it came halfway down her thighs, the sleeves almost to
her elbows. She followed him out as he opened the door to let the dog run
outside.

She sat on a stool by the breakfast bar talking
to Garth while he prepared lunch. He toasted sandwiches of brie cheese with
cranberry sauce, and added salad and a glass of white wine.

They took it onto the decking and ate
looking over the bay. He put up an umbrella for her, shielding her from the
intense afternoon sun, got a cushion for her back, and refilled her wine glass.
He was attentive and warm, witty and relaxed. She glowed every time he smiled
at her.

Uh-oh
, said
the angel.

Chloe finished off her sandwich, a knot of
uneasiness settling in her stomach.

You luuuurv him,
smirked the devil.

No, no, no. She liked him, that was all.
They got on well. He made her laugh. She’d only met him a week ago, for crying
out loud.

Her phone jangled in the bag by her feet.
Relieved to have a distraction, she flipped it open, and a text from her mother
popped up.

Hi babe. Where r u? Can u come round
l8r? Got something I want 2 tell u :)

Her heart sank. Oh no. That could only mean
one thing. Nina Jackson had met another man.

“Problem?”

Chloe snapped the phone shut. “Just my
mother. She wants to come around.”

“You want me to take you home?”

Stay!
yelled
the devil. But the angel gave her a warning glance.

Chloe closed her eyes. She’d slept with
Garth on the third day she’d met him, and already the thought of being apart
from him made her ache. She
was
falling in love with him.

She was turning into her mother. The
thought horrified her.

Opening her eyes, she picked up her wine
glass to finish the last mouthful, then put it down again, not sure she could
swallow because of the tightness of her throat. “Actually, would you mind? I
have some work to do as well. I could do with getting back.”

“Of course.”

He stood and collected their plates and
took them into the kitchen, and she brought in the wine glasses. She walked
through to his bathroom and picked up her dress and bikini bottoms.

“Have you got a change of clothes?” He walked
in behind her, making her jump.

“Um, I have in my overnight bag in your
car.”

“I’ll go and get it.”

 She sat on the bed while he got her bag
and looked at Orion, who appeared sorrowful that she was leaving. “Come here,
stupid dog,” she said tearfully, and gave him a hug.

Garth came back in with her bag, and she
pulled out a pair of panties and shorts. Then she remembered she’d leant her
spare T-shirt to Stella, who’d forgotten a nightie—not that Stella would have
needed a nightie in the end. “Damn.”

“Keep the T-shirt,” he said. “It’s an old
one anyway.”

She nodded, trying not to think about the
feel of his clothing against her skin, and slipped on her panties and shorts as
he collected his car keys.

They went out to the car in silence. Garth
locked Orion in the house before climbing in the driver’s seat. Chloe buckled
herself in, attempting to ignore the clothing that smelled of him, of his
laundry detergent with the faint, underlying smell of sandalwood.

He headed the car along the drive and back
toward Paihia, quiet as he drove, and she remained silent, lost in thought. He
followed her directions to her house and pulled up outside the small,
two-bedroomed property she shared with Stella. Her mother’s car was already
there, but empty, which meant that Stella must be back, and had asked her
inside.

Great.

He left the engine running, although he unclipped
his seatbelt. Then he turned in the seat to face her. “Well,” he said.

“Well.” She swallowed.

He lifted his sunglasses on top of his
head. His eyes were hot, angry. “You’re going to tell me this is it, aren’t
you?”

She blinked rapidly, not sure what to say.
“I don’t know. I… I haven’t known you very long, Garth. We got intimate very
quickly, too quickly maybe, for me. I thought it would just be a bit of quick
fun, some hot sex… I didn’t expect to want to get to know you better. And now I
feel…confused.”

“I understand. I feel the same. But maybe
we’re trying to analyze it too much. Perhaps we should trust our instincts.”

“It was listening to my instincts that got
me into trouble in the first place.”

“What do your instincts tell you now?” He
slipped an arm around her and pulled her close.

Her heart pounded at the nearness of him,
at the strength in his arms and the breadth of his shoulders, a basic animal
urge to take this splendid specimen of maleness as a mate.
Say “To kiss
you!”
yelled the devil. But she placed her hands on his chest and met his
gaze as boldly as she could, and listened instead to her angel. “To run,” she
said honestly.

Garth hesitated. “I don’t believe you.”

She wanted more than anything to throw her
arms around him and smooth the frown away from his brow, to press her lips
against his, thread her hands through his hair. She didn’t want to be cruel to
this lovely man who’d been through so much. But she couldn’t let pity drive her
actions.

She made herself sit still. “It’s not
because I don’t feel anything for you. It’s because I do. I shouldn’t be
feeling these emotions, Garth—I’ve only known you a week. And I won’t give in
to them and make wild declarations of love, only to find out in a week’s time
that we’re totally wrong for each other. I won’t turn into my mother.”

He gripped her wrists and moved her arms
behind her back. She gasped. His mouth was grim, his lips inches from hers, his
hazel eyes hot, intense, and for a moment she thought he was going to give into
the raging emotion he was obviously feeling and kiss her anyway. Part of her
wanted him to. To fight her, to take her anyway, because then it wouldn’t be
her fault if it all went wrong. She was desperate to feel his mouth on hers,
his hand on her breast, to have him inside her again.

But he didn’t move.

Instead, he released her. “This isn’t over.
I’m telling you now.”

She shivered at his possessiveness. “Don’t
be like that.”

“Like what?” He looked out the window for a
moment. The muscles bunched at the corner of his jaw as if he’d clenched his
teeth. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before looking back at her.
“I guess we both have our demons that make it difficult for us to trust in
love. And maybe we have to exorcise those demons before we’ll be able to make
things work. I’ve got things I have to sort out, things to do with the past,
and I don’t want you caught up in them. But you’re the best thing that’s
happened to me for a long time, and I’m not taking cowardice as a reason for us
not to be together.”

“I’m not a coward.”

“Aren’t you?”

Her cheeks burned. “I’m being sensible.
Relationships should grow slowly, so a couple can make sure they’re suited
before they fall in love. This isn’t love, Garth, it can’t be, this soon.” She
knew what she was talking about. How many times had her mother declared she
loved a man after days of being together, only for it to fall apart? “It’s
lust, and I’m not going to mistake it for something more serious.”

Grabbing her bag, she got out of the car,
shaking. As soon as she’d closed the door, he drove off, disappearing down the
road in a cloud of dust.

She pressed a hand to her mouth, her lips
trembling. Thank God he’d gone. She needed some time on her own to process what
had happened that weekend, and to think about what to do next.

Unfortunately, time alone wasn’t an option.
She walked up the path to the front door, wondering what sort of mood her
mother would be in. Buoyant, excited, full of the latest guy to ring her bell?
Or limp and lethargic, overwhelmed by the pressure of everyday living? Her text
had suggested the former, but her mood could have changed in the short time it
had taken Chloe to travel from Opua to home.

She let herself inside and went into the
small living room, trying not to think about the beauty of Garth’s spacious
house. Nina Jackson sat on the sofa facing Stella in the armchair, and she
stood as Chloe walked in, her eyes bright and excited. “Chloe! Sweetheart.” She
came forward and hugged her daughter. Shorter than Chloe by several inches but
just as blonde, she gave an impression of fragility, although Chloe knew her
mother was tough as very old, very well-worn leather boots.