by Emma Lea
As the sky darkened and the younger ones were tucked into prams and sleeping bags, the band toned down the music from the high energy bush dances to slow ballads and Blake found himself swaying to the sultry voice of the lead singer as he held Zoë against him. It was easy to forget that he didn’t belong there. It was easy to imagine that this was his life and these were his people. No one treated him like an interloper and no one expected him to open his wallet for some cause or another. The hat had been sent around earlier in the night with donations going to the Rural Fire Brigade and another for the local CWA to fund their Christmas Hamper Appeal. The Country Women’s Association made up hampers to distribute to those in the community that were going through a hard time due to the drought or other financial factors. Blake had given generously, not because he was expected to or to flash his cash around but because he believed in the work they were doing and he wanted to help.
“Having a good night?’ Zoë asked, looking up at him.
They’d both changed out of their respective Christmas costumes and she now wore a pretty red summer dress with white polka dots. He’d changed into jeans and a t-shirt—no tuxedos or bow ties for this event.
“I’m having a great time,” he said, smiling down at her. “What about you?”
She pressed up on her toes and nipped his bottom lip. “Best bush dance ever,” she said.
“They’re going to light the bonfire!” Someone called and the band finished the song as the dancing couples all headed outside.
“Isn’t it too hot for a bonfire?” Blake asked as he slung his arm around Zoë and walked with her toward the exit.
“Definitely,” she said, “but it’s tradition.”
They stopped behind the line of people that had bottlenecked at the exit and Zoë tipped her head back. “Look,” she said, pointing up.
They’d stopped under a bunch of mistletoe and Blake grinned down at her. “If you want me to kiss you, Slim, all you need to do is ask.”
“Kiss me Hotshot,” she whispered.
He lowered his head and took her lips in a soft, gentle kiss. Zoë pressed herself against him and parted her lips. He groaned, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. His tongue explored her mouth and she clung to his shoulders, pulling him down as she pushed against him.
“Keep it PG people,” someone said from behind them with a cough. “There’s still some young, impressionable minds around.”
Blake broke the kiss reluctantly, satisfied that he’d put the dazed, soft look in Zoë’s eyes. The line moved forward and he tucked Zoë into his side as they made their way out into the night. Zoë shifted out from under his arm but wove her fingers through his and pulled him around the outside of the crowd to a secluded spot beneath a huge gum tree.
“I got us a spot,” she said, pulling a blanket from behind the tree and spreading it out on the ground.
Blake sat and then pulled her down so she was between his legs. She leaned back against his chest and he didn’t think his night could get any more perfect. The bonfire was lit with a soft whomp of lit match against kerosene and a cheer went up from the crowd. Closely following was the first explosion of fireworks that lit the sky in a shower of coloured sparkles.
Blake leaned back on his hands and was glad that Zoë relaxed back against him as they watched the display. He breathed in her scent and sighed with contentment. Something had changed between them tonight. It no longer felt like they were pretending to be a couple. They seemed to fit together so perfectly that Blake was convinced that something real was beginning to bloom between them.
14
Blake was quiet on the drive back to Windaroa. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but it did make Zoë a little nervous—nervous with anticipation. They sat in the back seat, their fingers entwined. Dad had been the designated driver and he and Mum sat up front talking quietly about the night. Zoë laid her head on Blake’s shoulder and he turned his head to kiss her on the top of her head. It was sweet and casual and yet felt intimate.
She was exhausted, but happy. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun at a Hope Springs event. Usually she was ducking the attentions of bachelors her family deemed suitable and kept dragging across her path with an ‘Oh, look who I just ran into.’ Tonight she had been left blissfully alone, not that she’d been lonely. Blake had been by her side almost the entire night and she couldn’t help but admit that she’d enjoyed every moment of it.
She’d danced with Ryan and the new doctor, but her eyes had strayed, zeroing in on Blake to find that he was looking at her too, despite dancing with some of Hope Springs eligible single ladies. They seemed to find each other after every dance, like magnets, drawn to one another without conscious thought. They’d sat side by side on a hay bale eating their dinner with her sister and brother-in-law. Blake had laughed and chatted like he was a local and she couldn’t help but feel that he fit in so well. Not just with her family but the town as a whole. You’d never know he was a city boy, born and bred. He even managed to charm old Mrs. Mangle who’d blushed like a school girl at his compliments on her fairy cakes.
“Just pull up at the house,” Blake said to Dad. “Zoë and I can walk from there.”
“Are you sure?” Mum asked, turning around to look at us. “It’s no trouble.”
“It’s a nice night for a walk,” Zoë said and Blake squeezed her hand.
Dad pulled into the shed and they got out of the car.
“See you in the morning,” Blake said to her parents as he took her hand and led her toward the park and their cabin.
“Felt like a moonlight walk?” she asked, looking up at him.
He shrugged. “Thought we could talk.”
She bit her lip and looked down. Had she been too clingy tonight? Did he want to ask her to cool it with the PDAs? If so, why the hand holding now? Why the romantic walk in the moonlight? He could have waited for them to be in the cabin before talking to her about it.
“It couldn’t wait until we got to the cabin?” she asked, her body going cold. She tried to pull her hand from his, but he tightened his fingers and stopped, pulling her to a stop with him and tugging her so that she was pressed up against him.
“I’m afraid that if we get to the cabin first there won’t be a whole lot of talking going on.”
She once again tried to pull away.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“Isn’t this the bit where you tell me that this isn’t real and we’re only pretending?” she asked.
He frowned and then tugged her closer. “It may have started out like that,” he said, his voice low and rough. “But I think we’ve gone way beyond pretending now.” He lowered his head and kissed her, sipping from her lips lazily, like he had all the time in the world and she was the best thing he’d ever tasted. “This feels pretty real to me,” he murmured against her lips before threading his hands through her hair and deepening the kiss. “The question,” he said, punctuating his words with small nips down the side of her neck, “is if you feel it too.”
“Yes,” she breathed, tipping her head back and giving him more of her neck to tease with his lips, teeth and tongue. She rocked her hips against him, needing to be closer, needing to feel all of him.
He groaned softly and buried his nose in the crook of her neck. “I want you Zoë,” he breathed against her fevered skin. “But I need to know you want this too.”
“God yes,” she said, gripping his head between her hands and lifting his head so she could kiss him. “You’ve been driving me crazy and if you don’t take me back to the cabin and screw my brains out then I think I might just go insane, or explode.”
“Death by spontaneous orgasm?” he asked with a grin.
“Something like that.”
“Then what are we waiting for?”
He pulled her up the track but then stopped to kiss her several more times before they made it to their cabin. She had to smother her giggles and moans as they passed the sleeping c
abins and caravans of her family and then they were finally behind closed doors. Blake pushed her up against the wall and pulsed his hips against hers.
“Too many clothes,” she rasped, trying to pull his shirt from him.
He batted her hands away, instead lifting the hem of her dress and pulling her panties to the side, his fingers sliding over her wet folds. Her knees wobbled and she tilted her head back, a groan escaping from between her parted lips.
“You’re so fucking wet,” he whispered, his hot breath skating over her skin in a delicious caress.
He used his free hand to slip the thin strap of her dress from her shoulder and nosed the cup of her strapless bra aside to find her hard nipple with his lips. She arched her back, needing more and he sucked the hard nib into his mouth as his fingers slid inside her. Her muscles clenched around him and she bucked into him, riding his hand. His thumb found her clit and circled it as he pulsed his fingers inside her. His teeth scraped across her nipple and it was all she needed to send her over into her first orgasm of the night.
Blake scooped Zoë up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He sat her on the edge and then pulled her dress up over her head, stepping back to look at her in the moonlight.
“Fuck Zoë,” he whispered, falling to his knees in front of her, his hands going to her waist and skating up her sides and around her back as she looked at him with big eyes. “I’ve wanted to do this from the moment I first laid eyes on you.”
He unclipped her bra and tossed it aside before he ducked his head and ran his tongue around the outside of one nipple and then the other. She sighed and arched, pressing her breasts up to his mouth. He gently eased her back on the bed and kissed his way down her body. His fingers slipped under the waistband of her panties and he dragged them down over her legs, getting them caught on the sandals she still wore. He worked the shoes off and then the panties and tossed them over his shoulder before sitting back on his heels to look at her.
The soft moonlight slanted in through the window. Her breasts were full and round, the dark nipples, taut peaks. Her skin was smooth and he wanted to run his hands over every single inch of her. She looked so good spread out before him, he didn’t know where to start.
“Kiss me, Blake,” she said.
He lowered his head and kissed her hip then trailed his tongue across her lower belly to the other hip. He nipped her lightly and she thrust her hips up. Her fingers tangled in his hair and she pulled him to where she wanted him, between her thighs.
“Is this what you want?” he asked as he nuzzled her warm, wet centre.
“Fu-uck,” she breathed.
“We’ll get to that,” he chuckled, dipping his tongue into her.
Her taste exploded across his tongue and fuzzed his brain. Her thighs fell open and he feasted, devouring her as she rocked against his mouth. He sucked her clit between his lips and she moaned, fisting his hair. He eased back, but her hands held him tight. He smiled against her and licked, swirling his tongue through her folds and up around the hard little nub. A sweet sound of surrender escaped her mouth and his dick throbbed, pressing hard against the zipper of his jeans.
He pushed one finger into her and then a second while lapping at her, flicking his tongue against her clit in a steady rhythm. He wanted inside of her. He wanted to feel her clench around his hard-on the way she clenched around his fingers but not until she came again.
“Blake,” she moaned her back bowing as she pressed her sex against his mouth.
He curled his fingers inside her, thrusting deep and she cried out, breaking apart for him beautifully. He gentled his touch, bringing her down slowly before slipping away from her and standing.
Her lashes blinked open and she stared up at him with a satisfied grin. “Your turn,” she said, her voice husky.
He pulled his shirt off and unzipped his jeans. Her eyes flicked over him greedily and he slowed down, although it just about killed him to do so. He kicked his boots off and shoved his jeans down, taking his boxer briefs with them. He kicked them free of his feet and wrapped his fist around his erection, stroking himself as she watched. He loved the way her eyes flared as she followed the movement of his hand. Her gaze tracked up to his and she crooked her finger at him.
“Come here,” she said.
He grabbed a condom from his wallet and rolled it on, kneeling between her spread thighs, his eyes not leaving hers. She wrapped her legs around his waist and tightened them, drawing him closer. The head of his hard length notched her entrance and he stilled. She reached for him, dragging his mouth to hers and he slid into her. Her core rippled around him, drawing him in until he was fully seated within her tight, wet sex. He ground his hips against her, moaning into her mouth. Her nails scored his back as she dragged them over his skin and her heels dug into his arse.
“Fuck me, Blake,” she whispered against his mouth, biting his lip to punctuate her demand.
He drew out and slammed back into her over and over again. He lost himself in the feel of her. She surrounded him; her scent filled his nose, her taste was in his mouth and she wrapped herself around him so perfectly that he didn’t know where he ended and she began.
“You feel so fucking good,” he ground out and dipped his head to pull a nipple between his lips.
“So do you,” she breathed, arching up to meet him with every thrust.
He was so close. He’d been dreaming about this moment for days and he was surprised that he’d lasted this long. He wanted to let go and let his climax take him, but he wanted to watch her go over one more time. He wanted to feel her as she came around him. Only then could he let himself go.
He pulled one of her ankles up over his shoulder, changing the angle and Zoë cried out, bucking into him as he hit her deep. He felt her tighten, heard her breath shorten as she neared her orgasm and he dipped his head to growl in her ear.
“Come for me now, Slim.”
He watched her eyes roll back and her mouth open in a silent oh as she exploded. He held himself still, deep within her, and revelled in the pulsing of her inner muscles around him before it was too much and he withdrew and slammed into her one more time, letting go and coming with a shout.
Blake collapsed over her, bracing his forearms either side of her so that he didn’t crush her. Their rough breath mingled and he could feel the drumbeat of her heart against his chest, matching the accelerated rhythm of his own. He took her mouth in a needy kiss and then pulled out of her with a groan. He disposed of the condom and laid back down, tugging her against him and pressing a kiss to her temple.
“You okay?” he asked, worried about her silence.
“Yeah,” she whispered, turning to burrow into his chest.
He tightened his arms around her and breathed her in, closing his eyes and relishing the feel of her skin pressed against his.
He didn’t know what this meant. He had no idea how to navigate the rest of their time together here at Windaroa and he had no clue what it meant for them when they got back to the city. The only thing he did know was that he wasn’t ready to let her go; not tonight, not tomorrow and definitely not next week. What that meant for them, he couldn’t begin to guess and if he was honest, he didn’t even want to contemplate right now.
“Hey Blake,” Zoë said, her voice almost too soft that he didn’t hear it.
“Yeah, baby,” he replied, his own voice hushed in the stillness of the night.
“We’re going to do that again, aren’t we?”
He huffed out a laugh. “Give me a second to recover, Slim,” he said, pressing another kiss to her temple.
He felt her lips curve into a smile against his throat. “Light weight,” she said.
He rolled her over, nestling between her thighs and holding her hands down above her head.
“What was that?”
She smiled up at him and his heart twisted in his chest. To hide his reaction, he dipped his head and kissed her, lingering over her lips, sliding his tongue against hers and rubbi
ng naked skin against naked skin.
No. He wasn’t done with her and they would definitely be doing that again. And again, if he had any say in the matter.
15
Blake woke with his hands full of soft curves. His morning woody was nestled comfortably in the crease of her gorgeous arse as they spooned and his hand cupped her generous breast. It was a hell of a way to wake up.
Zoë’s breathing was slow and deep and he lay behind her, appreciating the way she fit against him. It was still early, the sky out the window above the bed was streaked with the pink and purple of sunrise. He could easily let himself slide back into blissful sleep. He didn’t want to be anywhere else except right where he was, wrapped around Zoë.
It was perfect…all except for the guilt.
His pesky conscience pricked him, tainting the perfect morning. It was a small lie…not even a lie really, more of a misdirection. His mother’s maiden name was Spencer, so it wasn’t like he was outright lying. The more he tried to plead his own innocence to himself, the more his justifications fell flat.
He moved slowly, peeling himself away from Zoë so that he wouldn’t wake her. He wasn’t running away. He knew what happened between them was more than a one night stand or a drunken fumble in the dark. But he needed to clear his head. He couldn’t think straight when his nose was full of her delicate scent and his hands were full of her soft, silky skin.
She rolled toward him as he tried to roll away. Her eyes remained closed and in sleep she was even more beautiful. The tension she carried around her mouth and the strain he’d seen around her eyes were gone. He’d like to think he had something to do with the thoroughly relaxed and contented look on her face. Using his forefinger and a light touch, he smoothed a stray curl off her forehead and tucked it behind her ear. He could quite easily just slide back down beside her, gather her close, close his eyes, and drift back into sleep with her.