Our Kind of Love

by Victoria Purman

  She moved towards him, held her arms out to the sides.

  ‘Now me.’ Her words were an invitation and a challenge. She reached for her hair, pulled it to a high ponytail and held it. The spray of water starting at her toes, cooled her knees and her thighs and then splashed her bikini bottoms. It only added to the ache she had there, a throb that had only one remedy. She felt it in every nerve ending in her body, every hair on her head, each toe and every place in between. Joe’s eyes were dark and aware, trained on her like radar. And then the water got higher and his hand was on her, his fingers teasing along the edge of her clinging red bikini top, pulling it away from her skin. The cool water drizzling down over her left nipple, then her right, couldn’t suppress the scorching need she felt, was tremulous with. An index finger caressed a line between her breasts, down along soft skin to her belly button, teased a circle there, then drifted down.

  Then he was so close she could feel his ragged breathing on her lips. When he teased the elastic of her bikini bottoms away from her skin, the heat from his fingers almost burned her, and his eyes followed their path, past the curls of hair, down lower. Joe leaned in, his lips so close to hers she could feel their heat, as he trickled the water down low, and she felt like she was burning up from the inside.

  ‘Joe,’ she moaned.

  ‘Jesus, Anna.’ Joe dropped the hose and reached for her. He pulled her to him, their wet skin slick against each other, his strong hands at her shoulders, pulling her to him.

  ‘I want you,’ she moaned in a whisper against his lips.

  ‘I think we should fuck. Right now.’

  Anna closed her eyes. Fun. Wasn’t that what they’d agreed? That it was time to have some fun? And right then, Anna didn’t want to analyse anything anymore. She was letting go. Feeling free. Her heart pounded. She felt alive and she liked it. ‘Horizontal, vertical or upside down?’ she whispered.

  He trailed a hand down her arm and took her hand. ‘How long we got?’

  ‘As long as we need.’ Anna knew this ache for him wasn’t about wanting him. It was about needing him. Needing to feel him inside her, all around her, needing to feel like a woman again, needing to rock against someone as she came on a cry of something she’d been missing for so long.

  Joe took two huge strides to the tap and yanked it off. Then he looked at her with a spectacular smile. ‘Oh, I need.’

  CHAPTER

  29

  Joe chased Anna through the front door and down the hallway, although he didn’t try too hard to catch her. For just half a minute he wanted to watch her arse move in that red bikini.

  Just before she got to the bedroom door, she stopped, turned to him.

  He almost lost it right there. She looked alive, her eyes blazing, her chest rising and falling, her wet hair covering her shoulders and her breasts like a parted curtain, getting in the way of that insanely good red bikini. He strode to her, pressed his body up against her until she was backed up to the wall in the hallway.

  He held her face, her cheeks cool and silky soft as satin sheets, and watched her brown eyes latch on to his, flaring with awareness. She was so ready she almost exploded into his arms, crushing her lips against his. There was a whimper and a moan and at least one came from Anna. Joe trailed his lips from her mouth to her cheek, down her neck, tasting the salt on her skin. When he felt her fingers at his back and her palms slide down inside his boardshorts, her soft fingers against his damp skin, his cock hardened and ached, robbing him of all rational thought and most of his blood supply.

  He wanted her. Was rocked by how much.

  ‘Having fun yet?’ he murmured against her lips, full and soft and damned delicious.

  She planted her palms on his chest and he resisted her pressure. Nothing was going to keep him away from that body.

  ‘Maybe.’ She glanced down at her bikini top and her full lips parted on a sigh. Joe tugged at the knots at her back, at her neck, and it hit the floor with wet thwack.

  He cupped her left breast, feeling the weight of it against his fingers. When he bent down and took a nipple in his mouth, rolling his tongue over it to tease it into tightness, Anna damn well nearly whimpered.

  ‘What about now?’ Joe teased against her.

  ‘Kind of,’ she whispered. Her fingers teased through his hair, gripping and pulling. He lifted his head and pressed his rigid cock against her belly.

  ‘What about now?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ she groaned and he swore out loud as he saw her tug down her bikini bottoms, flick them away with her foot. In a flash he’d reached behind her and lifted her off the floor. Her reaction was primal, quick, carnal. She opened herself to him, spreading her legs and gripping them around his hips. She pushed against him and he pushed back, grinding himself on to her sweet spot while Anna thrust herself against his throbbing length.

  ‘Anna.’

  ‘God Joe, please, right now.’

  Her hands were at his hips and Anna fought with his boardshorts. When he was free of them, he found her. Lips crushing, groans of agony, her breath hot on him, he thrust into her, ready and wet and all his. Anna moaned and threw her head back. Joe nipped at her throat, her name on his lips, again and again, with each thrust deep into her. Fingernails on his back, her tongue in his mouth, shouting his name.

  When they could finally breathe again, they stared at each other. Joe found Anna’s mouth, nibbled her lower lip. She ran her fingers through his hair and held on.

  Still inside her, gloriously filling her, Joe grinned. ‘That the kind of fun you were talking about, Dr Morelli?’

  She clenched him, pushed her breasts tighter against him and closed her eyes. ‘Not bad, Joe Blake.’

  Up close, like this, after she’d just become molten in his arms, she was flushed and perfect. Breathless and beautiful.

  ‘Not bad? Jesus, I’ve had better reviews than that.’ He kissed the tip of her nose, then her plumped up lips. Again. Just because he could.

  ‘You know what they say,’ Anna murmured. ‘The secret of a great performance is practice.’

  His eyebrow quirked and he tightened his grip on her, taking her weight completely in his arms. ‘And practice makes perfect.’

  The night had seeped in and covered them like a blanket. The repetitive crash of the waves on the Middle Point beach across the road was like a pulse, a heartbeat in the dark of the night, in her wrists, in her chest. Her own had slowed and syncopated with it hours before, when they’d finally let go of each other and lay still, exhausted and blown apart.

  Anna stretched out naked, her limbs aching from surfing and great sex, and pulled the sheet up to her neck. She turned on her pillow to face Joe, pushed her hair back and tucked it behind her ear so she could properly study him in the dark. There was enough light in the room from the window, just enough for her to make out his features but not enough to wake him. He was on his back, one arm crooked above his head, the other straight in the space between them. His face was turned to her, and his chest, uncovered by the sheet, was slowly rising and falling with each breath.

  She envied him his easy sleep. He’d dozed off, still talking to her, his face adorned with his sexy grin, after very skilfully managing to make her come for the third time. She’d so wanted to drift off too, to succumb to the post-fuck euphoria to send her off to dozy, unconscious slumber. But she couldn’t sleep. Her mind was still racing with the hormone rush of that incredible sex. It wasn’t oxytocins, prolactin and endorphins to blame – it was all Joe. When she lifted a finger to touch her lips, they felt kiss-bruised, her knees were still wobbly, and the muscles behind her belly-button moved and contracted involuntarily, as if they wanted more.

  Hell, they weren’t the only ones.

  The sheer physical release of sex was addictive, she knew. She’d been addicted before, knew how her body reacted to it, was aware of the purely physiological responses that an orgasm had on a woman. The explosion of a climax had always cleared her head, scratched her itch and unwoun
d her; afterwards, she loved the drifting somnolence that would overcome her like a fog.

  But not tonight. There was a restlessness in her that she couldn’t quell, a nervous flittering energy that bubbled to life in the part of her stomach, which had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with being so close to Joe, naked and beautiful. She let her eyes wander over his face. The stubbled jaw that had grazed her cheeks as he’d kissed her was shadowed with growth. His mouth, which had been full of jokes one second and then the power to rock her to her core the next, was relaxed. With his lids closed, she had to imagine his blue eyes, darkening when he turned them on her. And that messy blond hair, barely different at that moment from the way it looked during the day.

  Who needed an ocean view when she could look at him?

  The first time they’d played out this scene, she’d been horrified and humiliated, hadn’t wanted to lift her eyes to meet his. She’d gathered up her clothes and sped off in her car as fast as she could. If she’d had a tail, it would have been so tangled up between her legs that she would have tripped on it on the way out.

  She’d lived with that regret and guilt for too long, had let it ferment inside her when really, she had nothing to feel guilty about. This time, she’d let herself feel every moment of the sheer pleasure of being with him. This time, there was nothing to run from. They both knew the score, that this was simple, uncomplicated fun between two adults. Maybe it had taken Anna longer to get to that place than Joe, but she was there now and she was mysteriously happy about it. She’d been trying for so long to put the past in the past where it belonged and maybe, just maybe, it would stay there.

  Joe moved slightly, let out a breath and she allowed herself the luxury of more time to stare. In every respect he was a very decent package of manhood. And just thinking of the word ‘package’ had Anna fighting a grin. The idea was altogether too wicked for the straight-laced and serious doctor, daughter and good Catholic girl. But she couldn’t seem to stop her fingers from reaching for the sheet and ever so gently, as if she was urging off a band-aid, peeling it back. First his ribs were exposed, rising and falling gently with his breathing. His stomach next, smooth and flat, then the tan line on his hips that she still wanted to lick like ice cream. She held her breath, tried to contain her racing heartbeat and pulled the sheet down to his thighs. Anna slowly let it gather there, trying not to wake him. She wanted to check out every inch of him, unseen.

  He was divine. She remembered how it had felt to be filled by him, so powerful that she’d barely had any room left to breathe with him inside her. How right it had seemed, how naturally they moved together. His body and hers. They fit, somehow. That fog in her brain just got thicker.

  ‘You right there, Dr Morelli?’

  Anna startled. Her gaze jumped from his now hardening cock to his eyes, which were now trained on her, narrowed, sly. His half-asleep voice was about the sexiest thing she’d ever heard.

  ‘Shit,’ she exclaimed with a jumpy giggle. And then something more bubbled up from that nervous place in her stomach and she laughed.

  He joined in and gathered her in his arms, pulling her into his warm body. Their laughter filled the room, drowning out the waves and the wind.

  ‘Were you checking me out?’

  ‘I was just examining you, Mr Blake. I had to check you’d survived the sex.’

  He groaned into her hair and she pressed herself against his side, her palm flat on his chest. Underneath her fingers his heartbeat calmed her.

  ‘Barely,’ he murmured. ‘You?’

  ‘God, I’ve missed that. The sex thing.’ She clamped her lips shut before she spilled out the words she didn’t want to say. I missed having sex with you.

  ‘I’m not a doctor, but I know the cure for that,’ Joe said. ‘But now I just need some sleep.’

  Anna yawned. ‘Surfing and all that sex in one day? I know what you mean.’

  Joe reached down with his free hand and covered them both with the sheet and the blankets.

  ‘Chill, Anna. Just chill. Listen to the waves. Sleep will come.’

  The second time Anna Morelli woke up in Joe’s house she didn’t want to run or hide or escape. She wanted to stay. She lifted her head from the pillow and noticed plain white walls. A tall bookcase filled with worn paperbacks, crime thrillers (judging by the dripping blood illustrations on their spines), and a stack of CDs. There were no pictures on the walls and simple taupe curtains covered the windows, although they weren’t so thick as to keep out the morning light. An old wooden wardrobe stood next to the bookcase, and a few items of clothing hung droopily over its half open doors. This was a man’s room. Thank God. If this wasn’t a dream, there would be a hot body next to her. Anna smoothed her fingers over what felt like new cotton sheets and she reached out to her right with a groping hand. Yes, he was there. She felt smooth skin and strength, muscles under the warm skin of Joe’s thigh.

  It hadn’t been a dream. It was a blissful reality.

  She sighed with relief and turned on to her side, tucking a hand under her cheek.

  And then her heart almost stopped.

  Joe was awake and smiling at her. Damn that sexy grin. He was propped up, white pillows jammed between his back and the wall, one hand behind his head and the other holding a battered paperback. His bare chest was an anatomy test waiting to be taken. Anna knew she could recite the names of all those muscles if she wanted to, but decided to just look at them instead, in great detail. She followed his body from his pecs to his face, the blond growth on his jaw catching the light from the windows, and noticed he was wearing a pair of rounded black glasses. Nothing could hide the smile in his denim-blue, just-been-shagged eyes.

  ‘Hey,’ he said. ‘You were sound asleep. I didn’t want to wake you.’

  ‘Thanks,’ she murmured dreamily, squeezing her thighs together to fight off the tingling that was about to burn her up.

  ‘But,’ he tossed the book on the floor at the side of his bed and tugged his glasses off, ‘I wanted to make sure I was here when you woke up.’ He reached a hand over to her face, stroked her long hair away from her cheek and tucked it gently behind her ear. Then, ever so softly, he traced a finger down behind her ear, over her collarbone and down the curve of her left breast. He found a nipple, tweaked it between his thumb and forefinger.

  ‘Because this time I was fully prepared to throw myself across you like a human shield if you tried to run away from me.’

  Anna moaned and covered his hand with hers. That was all the encouragement Joe needed. He slipped an arm underneath her and pulled her on top of him as he moved down the bed. They were breast to chest, skin to skin, and it was perfectly clear to Anna what he wanted to give her for breakfast. Who needed coffee when you had a man like Joe Blake offering you a much better wake-up call?

  ‘I’m not running away,’ she said softly, trying out this new Anna on herself and liking it quite a lot.

  ‘Thank you, Jesus,’ Joe said and pressed his lips to hers. His hands smoothed down her back and he took each cheek of her arse in his hands, urging her forward as his tongue teased her lips open.

  Oh God, how she wanted to spread her legs wide and open herself up to him, take him in. He was so hard, so close, and she was so ready. The way his lips played with hers, his tongue creating a sultry rhythm on her lips, it was almost impossible to stop. But she did, holding his face in her hands and rubbing her thumbs over the soft skin under his eyes. His crinkling, lovely eyes.

  ‘Joe,’ she murmured and returned his gaze.

  ‘Uh huh?’ Joe’s eyes settled on her lips and stayed there.

  ‘I don’t know what this is.’ Anna paused. Where had that doubt come from? She wasn’t sure. It felt like the old Anna was fighting back and she wanted to bite the words away. Did she regret another unbelievable night with Joe Blake? Look at him, who would? And the way he was looking at her now, his eyes like dark pools of midnight ocean, he didn’t seemed to be filled with anything other than pure, insatia
ble lust.

  He kissed her. ‘It’s called sexual intercourse. I’m surprised you have to ask, being a medical professional. But,’ he said as he pressed himself against her, hard and huge, ‘I’m available for lessons. Right now, as a matter of fact.’

  ‘You are a good teacher,’ her eyes blazed. ‘But …’

  ‘You don’t want to do it again?’ he said and his brows furrowed.

  ‘Don’t put words in my mouth.’

  ‘So you do want to do it again?’ He was so close that if she coughed he’d be inside her.

  ‘Wanting has nothing to do with it. If it did, we wouldn’t be talking right now.’ Anna pushed herself off him, dragging the sheet with her, and turning her back on Joe.

  All around them was quiet and Anna tried to make out the sound go the surf in the distance but couldn’t quite catch it.

  She felt a shiver as a single finger traced a line down her spine, slowly and sensually. ‘C’mon, Anna. You wanted fun. Aren’t I delivering?’

  ‘Don’t let me be the only sensible one here, Joe.’

  ‘I thought we had this worked out. You do the sensible and I do the fun. That way I get to lead you astray and you can put on your best face and your belly figura thing and go back to Adelaide and no one has to know a thing about what happens down her. What happens in Middle Point, stays in Middle Point.’

  Anna heard the challenge in his words and issued one of her own. ‘You mean you don’t care if I just use you for sex?’

  ‘Yes, I care.’ He paused and quirked that damn eyebrow at her. ‘Said no man ever. Look Anna, this is working out fine for me. You can continue to be the sensible one. Isn’t that what you do best? You can be the one who looks at things dispassionately, considers the evidence, looks at the facts, weighs up the balance of probabilities before you make decision.’

  She looked back over her shoulder at him. ‘Jesus, Joe, I’m not a robot.’

  ‘You’ve got to let go, stop thinking so much.’ Joe sat up and moved himself in tight behind her, his chest to her back, and encircled her with his right arm, urging her back to rest on him. He kissed her shoulder sweetly and then pressed his palm to rest between her breasts. His voice dropped as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. ‘You did it yesterday, out there in the water. Let yourself feel from here, Anna.’