by Trish Wylie
So why wasn’t she ecstatic about that? She should have been…
‘Well, I have to say he’s very sexy, isn’t he?’
Her mother joined her side and they looked out at the two men surveying the car, both of them standing with their legs slightly apart and their arms folded across their chests—in a very visibly male stand-off.
‘That he is.’
‘Doesn’t let you get away with much, does he?’
‘No, he doesn’t.’
‘Mmm, it was always going to take a strong-willed male to capture your heart, my darling one, wasn’t it?’
Merrow didn’t answer that one.
‘Wanna tell me why you look so smug?’
Merrow frowned when he leaned in to whisper the question. ‘Shh,’ she hissed back. ‘You’re supposed to be deep-breathing.’
He took a deep breath and let it out to prove a point. ‘I am. Why are you smiling like that?’
She glanced at her mother at the top of the class to make sure she wasn’t watching, then leaned in to whisper back with a quirk of her eyebrows, a slow blink of her lashes and a knowing smile, ‘You are so gonna cave after this.’
‘The hell I am.’
She poked him in the chest with a finger. ‘Well, we’ll just see, won’t we?’
‘Uh-uh.’ He frowned before he leaned back. ‘No touching. Your mother said no touching yet. Don’t break the rules.’
He watched as her chin rose, the secretive smile growing on her face. And his eyes narrowed in response. What was she up to? Because he didn’t see how deep-breathing to a soundtrack of waves crashing could possibly make him cave in when he only had one day, three hours and a handful of minutes to go.
Her mother’s voice sounded, with a softly soothing tone that was obviously supposed to add to the ambience, ‘And now, the gentlemen moving from your knees to stretch your legs out in front of you…’
Alex adjusted his position accordingly, stretching his jean-clad legs and wiggling his bare toes in the cool air. This was easy, this stuff.
‘And ladies moving onto the gentlemen’s laps, knees either side of his hips, gentlemen bending the knees to provide support. Making sure there is as little intimate contact as possible and still not using the hands.’
He frowned a little as Merrow raised the sides of her long handkerchief-hemmed skirt and moved into position, her teeth biting down on her lower lip as she concentrated, her gaze flickering up to his long enough for him to know that her lip-biting was also a tool to stop herself from giggling.
He swallowed. All right. He could do this. He could block from his mind the image of the first time they’d made love in his apartment in pretty much the same position. He could pretend he didn’t know that underneath that skirt she probably had underwear made of dental floss.
He moved his head from side to side and rotated his neck to loosen the tight muscles.
And Merrow whispered across at him, ‘You’re not limbering up for a prize fight, Alex.’
It felt as if he were. But he merely narrowed his eyes in warning. He was not going to cave in before her.
‘And now continuing with the deep breathing, look deep into your partner’s eyes, look into their soul and feel the connection building between you.’
Alex waited for Merrow’s long lashes to rise, her luminous green eyes looking straight into his. And he looked back, looked deep, a smile teasing his mouth.
She blinked slowly, light from the large windows on one side of the room sparkling in her eyes, showing him glimpses of all the varying different shades of green.
Alex continued to breathe deeply, the tension sliding out of his neck and shoulders. She had sensational eyes. He’d always thought that. He held the smile from his mouth, but attempted to let it show in his eyes.
Hey, over there, O’Connell.
The corners of her mouth twitched, the green in her eyes softened and Alex could almost hear her reply, Right back at ya, Alex.
‘And breathing deep…’
Alex realised that part wasn’t going so well for him any more. He tried hard to focus his mind on it, but while looking into Merrow’s eyes it wasn’t so easy. In fact his heart was protesting against the lack of air, thudding harder against his chest.
And something in Merrow’s eyes had changed too; the twitch at the corner of her lips was gone.
Alex searched the green, and saw something flit across them.
What is it?
Her head shook the smallest amount, so small that anybody who wasn’t as close to her probably wouldn’t have seen it. But Alex had.
Nothing, she was telling him.
Alex didn’t believe her.
‘And now I want you to keep looking into your partner’s eyes. I want you to think of three words each to describe how you see them, right this minute. Tell them that you can see who they really are. Take turns. One word each. Relaxed deep breathing continuing…’
Merrow closed her eyes briefly and Alex smiled a small smile when she opened them. Ah, communication of the open and honest kind. This class could just prove useful after all. He was a genius.
He quirked his brows, looked deep into her eyes and said the word on a deep, husky grumble. ‘Trouble.’
Merrow laughed silently, and then raised her chin a half-inch, the bridge of her nose crinkling, eyes narrowing playfully as she answered, ‘Stubborn.’
Her mother, who had taken to prowling the room, leaned her head down to whisper loudly, ‘Not criticisms. Be nice to each other. Let down your guard.’ She stood up and moved her upturned palms along the front of her body, ‘And breathe.’
Alex pursed his lips to keep from laughing, silently clearing his throat to force it away as Merrow looked at him sideways in recrimination. He hadn’t actually thought the words were criticisms himself. They were honest. She was trouble: trouble of the best kind.
She looked into his eyes and mouthed, Behave.
So he took another deep breath, rolled his neck in preparation and then leaned his face a little closer to examine her eyes. It took five seconds for him to smile, but she’d always had that effect on him, hadn’t she?
‘Beautiful.’
The same something from before washed over the green, she took a shuddering breath, then a calmer one, swallowed hard and answered with, ‘Amazing.’
Alex felt a wave of warmth wash over his chest, his heart beating erratically as he was distracted from her eyes long enough to watch the oh-so-familiar sight of her damping her lips with the end of her tongue. Then his gaze rose and locked with hers, the word a husky, agonised whisper.
‘Caving.’
He hadn’t meant her, he’d meant him. But she understood without him having to explain, her mouth curving up into the kind of smile that made his blood rush in his ears. ‘Me too.’
‘That’s two words.’
‘And now we’re going to deepen the trust with each other.’ Her mother stood at the top of the class again. ‘Ladies, set your hands on your partner’s face, then allow the tips of your fingers to explore his throat, then over his shoulders, down along his arms. Feel the energy seep through your fingertips; gentlemen breathing deeply and slowly in an almost meditative state. Keeping eye contact—and breathe…’
Merrow curled her fingers into the palms of her hands for a moment before she lifted them to his face, watching as his lips parted when she touched his skin. She felt the slight suggestion of new-grown stubble contrasted with smooth skin, she watched his thick lashes flicker, eyelids growing heavy, the gold in his hazel eyes flare.
The sensations were overwhelming.
How could he make every nerve ending in her body tingle without touching her? How could he speed her breathing up with just that look? And how could he not see how she felt when he looked into her eyes?
He smiled the hint of a smile that had always ‘got her’. Damn him. Still waters ran deep—that was what Ash had said. And that smile of his was simply a ripple on the surface. Had he neve
r once in his life been like a duck? Okay, maybe not a duck. A male swan maybe—calm and in control and perfect on the surface…but paddling like mad underneath?
Heaven knew she’d done her share of paddling. And that paddling had made every achievement in her life seem all the sweeter. Because she’d paddled for it…
She ran her fingertips down the column of his neck, her thumbs feeling when he swallowed hard. She watched his thick lashes brush his tanned skin as he slowly blinked.
Never in her life had she been so completely overwhelmed by a man. As if she could drown in those still waters and never feel the need to come up for air until it was too late.
And that scared her. What if she missed the paddling? What if she got so wrapped up in living in a land of perfect happiness that the first time a wave hit she’d have forgotten how to paddle to survive it?
His eyebrows quirked. What’s wrong?
Nothing. She smiled a small smile to hide behind.
But his small frown said he didn’t believe her.
She slid her fingertips in beneath the collar of his white shirt, felt the jump of his pulse at the base of his neck and the rise and fall of his chest as his breathing increased, before she lifted her fingertips from his skin and ran her hands along his broad shoulders.
A whisper of a groan sounded. I’m caving.
She tightened her fingers around his upper arms as she slid her hands down. I want you to.
Her fingertips felt the dust of hair on his wrists and she grazed her fingernails over the skin there, smiling as his eyes narrowed.
‘And now the gentlemen repeat the same touches, ladies breathing deeply…’
She let go. Your turn.
Alex smiled dangerously. My turn.
Payback was about to be hell—because she’d almost killed him with those touches and that look in her eyes. He’d thought he was a strong, self-contained man. But with her looking at him like that, he wasn’t. He was weaker than he’d ever felt before. And he should have hated that feeling. But he didn’t.
Could she see she did that to him?
A part of him wanted her to. Maybe then she’d understand. Maybe then she wouldn’t look the way she had for a heartbeat a moment ago, because that look had worried him.
She took a deep breath and held it as his hands rose to brush her hair off her shoulders. When they framed her face she exhaled on a soft sigh, leaning her face a little to one side while he saw her fight the need to close her eyes.
That’s how it felt when you put your hands on me.
Her gaze flickered back and forth, studying his eyes with the tiniest quirk of her arched brows. What?
How could she not see what she did to him?
He moved his hands down, slid his fingers back into the thick curtain of her hair, his thumbs on her jaw as he felt the erratic beat of her pulse through his palms.
A sigh escaped her parted lips. I’m caving in.
He smiled a meaningful smile as he moved his hands along her shoulders, cheating the rules by splaying his fingers so that his thumbs brushed the soft skin at the very top of her breasts. I want you to.
Her breathing increased, her bottom lip trembled, she bit down on it, the dark irises in her green eyes grew bigger…
And Alex almost groaned aloud. Because she was doing exactly what she did when she was close to the edge, when all it would take was one of his long fingers to reach down between their bodies, to seek out her moist heat, to flick the end of his thumb over—
He swallowed hard and couldn’t help himself, breaking eye contact to look down at her skirt splayed over his legs. Then he realised what he was doing and looked up in time to see her gaze rising too.
And judging by the widening of her eyes and the accusatory lift of her brows, she’d caught sight of the very visible evidence that she wasn’t the only one turned on by what they were doing.
Alex shrugged and chuckled silently. It’s your fault.
He moved his hands down her upper arms and stretched his thumbs out to brush the soft skin of her outer breasts. He glanced down and watched her nipples peak against the material of her blouse.
Merrow gasped, and shrugged his hands off so suddenly that he blinked in surprise when he realised she was struggling to her feet, her cheeks flushed as the occupants of the room all turned their way.
For her to mumble, ‘I’m really sorry.’
She leaned over and grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt, hauling him to his feet with a frown. ‘Up!’
Alex somehow managed to scramble to his feet with her hands still fisted in his shirt, a look of amused apology on his face as he was dragged from the room. ‘Sorry about this. Please continue. Don’t mind us.’
He managed a glance at the smug expression on Merrow’s mother’s face as she waved her palms along the front of her body again. ‘Breathe deeply and relax…’
Outside the door Merrow kept one hand fisted in his shirt as she dragged him all the way down the hall, mumbling beneath her breath.
Alex caught the words, ‘Plan sucked…beginning…but, oh, no…’
He grinned behind her. ‘And where are we going?’
Outside the doors she spun round and flung herself against him while Alex laughed. ‘What are we doing O’Connell?’
‘We’re caving in—that’s what we’re doing.’
Both hands again fisted in his shirt, she stood on tiptoe and kissed him, her lips urgent and demanding. And Alex wasn’t about to complain, caving in at the same time was absolutely fine with him—they were both winners then.
But when her fingers uncurled and her hands slid under the bottom of his shirt to splay on the warm skin above his jeans he groaned, deep in his throat.
He was already painfully hard, and if she kept up the pace she was setting they were going to end up putting on one hell of a show for whoever opened the door next, so he wrenched his mouth from hers. His hands cupping her face and holding her back from him as they both struggled for breath.
‘We can’t do this here. Where?’
She scowled in annoyance, turning her head from side to side. Then the scowl disappeared, as suddenly as if an invisible light bulb had appeared above her head. ‘Can you manage without shoes?’
At that point he’d have run over broken glass if it meant he’d soon be sheathed inside her body. ‘I can if you can.’
‘Then come with me.’ She took his hand in hers and began to run across the grass towards the woods.
While Alex followed behind her, her choice of words enough to make him wish he knew where they were going so they could get there faster.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE cabin was so small it was almost a shed. And the trees and bushes had grown so thick around it over the years that anybody who didn’t already know it was there would never have even thought to look for it.
Merrow laughed with relief.
Maybe not as magical or as grand as Alex’s favourite room, but it was her favourite place; her teenage hideaway. No one would interrupt them out here. And she could cry out loud to her heart’s content…
Alex’s deep voice sounded behind her as they both hopped their bare feet over twigs and bark in favour of softer green patches of moss.
‘What is this place?’
She grinned broadly when she looked over her shoulder. ‘It’s my hideaway.’
The light in his eyes danced. ‘Is it now?’
She nodded, tangling her fingers tighter round his as she pulled him forwards. ‘Yes, all mine. This was my “escape from the madness” place.’
‘Did you need to escape?’
Merrow sighed, not wanting to lose the sexual momentum by delving too much into the lack of ‘perfect world’ she’d grown up in. ‘Sometimes.’
‘From your parents?’
‘There was only ever me and them so that’d be a yes. You try being a teenager in a house where the dinner conversation is about deepening orgasms and aligning chakras, and you’d want the odd five minute
s to hide too. Can’t you move any faster, marathon-runner boy?’
He must have heard the irritation in her voice, because he tugged on her hand, stopped dead in his tracks and hauled her back into his arms, widening his feet a little before he informed her in a steady voice, ‘After all this waiting we’re not having a quick fix here, O’Connell. Let’s just get that straight. We’re going to take our time and we’re going to explore…’
Merrow sighed. ‘It isn’t going to take that much damn exploring, trust me. After that dumb class and—’
He framed one side of her face with his large hand, leaning his head in to kiss her softly, his lips whispering from one side of her mouth to the other, effectively stopping her from complaining and making his point at the same time.
But she smiled against his mouth. ‘All right, then, just so long as you’re inside me and we finish what we started in there, I’ll be happy.’
He raised his head a little, his voice husky. ‘You were close, weren’t you?’
She tugged him forwards again. ‘Very close.’
‘So this would be us going to reap some of those benefits, then?’
‘Absolutely it would.’
‘Do we thank your mother for that over dinner?’
She laughed as she pushed open the door. ‘If you do I’ll kill you and leave your body in these woods.’
‘Nah, you won’t do that; you need this body.’
More than he could possibly know. But not just his body; she needed him. She’d never in her life been so needy. And a part of her genuinely did hate him for that; the part living inside of her right next door to the part that was terrified by it.
But she could deal with that later. Right now she just wanted him—she wanted to get lost again.
She let go of his hand to search for the plastic containers that held fleece blankets, throwing one out on the mattress of the narrow cast-iron bed before she turned round to look at Alex.
He was surveying his surroundings, his brows rising in question as he stepped towards her. ‘You still use this place?’