Ultimate Heroes Collection

by Various Authors

  ‘Here’s to a job well done. You two are naturals. Wait till you see the shots.’ Tom raised his glass in a toast, linking arms with Tara before guzzling the lot in one go.

  Abby laughed, her breath catching as Judd placed a hand in the small of her back, a barely there gesture that burned through the silk all the same.

  ‘Happy?’

  ‘Relieved,’ she said, trapped by his potent stare, eager to gulp her champagne but knowing she was light-headed enough without it. ‘Thanks for doing this. You really helped me out of a tight spot.’

  He inclined his head, the casual smile playing about his mouth at total odds with the intent in his eyes. ‘Any time, though our working day isn’t over yet. We’ve got to sort through the shots, choose the best ones and e-mail them to Mark.’ ‘Uh-huh.’

  Abby nodded mechanically, her mind already skipping to the later part, the part after they’d finished work and moved on to. Blinking, she immediately erased the erotic images that filtered before her eyes as to what would come later.

  ‘Here’s to finishing our work real fast,’ Judd said, his hand slipping from the small of her back around her waist, drawing her closer, heat radiating off him like a smouldering blaze.

  ‘I’ll drink to that.’

  However, as Abby clinked glasses with Judd and gazed into his fathomless eyes she couldn’t help but wonder if their friendship had taken a turn for the better.

  Or worse.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ABBY stretched out on the sand, her eyelids drooping as she watched the waves break on the shore, incandescent in the moonlight.

  After the bizarre day she’d had, relaxing in the isolated cabana on the perfect stretch of private beach still roped off from this afternoon’s shoot was heavenly. Surrounded by flickering fire torchlights, the sound of chirping crickets and the lulling sound of the ocean, she finally felt the tension draining out of her body.

  Thankfully, the shoot had worked better than she’d hoped. Tom had done a great job, Judd had helped choose the best shots and they’d e-mailed the lot off to Mark after a snatched dinner of room-service hamburgers, fries and shakes.

  They’d shot for two and a half gruelling hours that afternoon, the hectic pace almost making her forget their revelations earlier that day and the fact she was ready to have a fling with her best friend.

  Almost, but not quite.

  Every time she’d looked at Judd, smiling at the camera, holding a pose, handling her with the skill of a surgeon performing the most intricate of operations, it had struck her anew that she’d agreed to go the whole way with the one guy in this world who meant everything to her.

  As for what had happened when she’d sat on his lap … her skin burned just thinking about it.

  Darn it, she hoped she was doing the right thing.

  Their friendship was so important, always had been from the first minute they’d met. He’d bolted out of his front gate and barrelled into her while his drunken father stood on the porch step shouting abuse. She’d been rooted to the spot, her seven-year-old brain trying to comprehend why the nasty man was shouting at the little boy. As for Judd, he’d glared at her in defiance, swiping at the tears that poured down his dirty cheeks, leaving streaks.

  ‘What are you looking at?’ he snarled, picking himself up from the footpath and thrusting his hands into torn pockets, glaring at her with fire in his eyes.

  She stood up and dusted herself off before answering. ‘Wanna come and play at my place? I’ve got a cubby house.’

  Interest flared in his eyes before he hung his head and muttered, ‘Whatever,’ and followed her home.

  And just like that, their lifelong friendship had been born. Looking back, she would’ve done anything to protect the fierce little boy that day, though she’d been in shock herself. She’d never seen anything like Judd’s father swaying on the front step, with his face a mottled red, shouting rude words at his son.

  Even at that age her maternal instincts had rushed to the fore and thankfully the little boy with an unruly mop of dark curls had let her into his life and they’d forged a bond that nobody could breach since.

  ‘Great spot for a rendezvous.’

  Abby sat up abruptly, almost banging her head on the cabana’s low-lying roof. ‘Hey, I was just thinking about you.’

  ‘Good things, I hope.’

  Judd stooped and entered the cabana, his large frame filling the small thatched room and making her all too aware of its seclusion.

  She’d told him where she would be, needing some time to unwind before facing the reality of what they were about to do, a small part of her counting on the splendid isolation of this beautiful stretch of beach as an enticing prelude of things to come for the rest of the night.

  However, now he’d arrived and filled the small space with his potent presence, her heart thumped and her belly flip-flopped with nervous anticipation.

  Forcing a smile, she patted the sand next to her, trying to act as normal as possible considering they were about to take an irreversible step down the pathway to carnal bliss.

  ‘Just thinking about how the shoot went,’ she said, resisting the urge to tug at her bikini top, hoping it hadn’t ridden up while she’d been lying down.

  Though he’d seen her in stuff as skimpy as her new swimsuit before, this felt weirder now that her body tingled every time he so much as glanced her way. And right now, he was gobbling her up with his eyes and coming back for seconds.

  ‘You were great this afternoon.’

  He sat on the sand, stretching his long legs out in front of him, drawing her attention to them. He looked fabulous in funky black board shorts, a fact that had first registered all those years ago when he’d captained the school football team.

  ‘I’m a professional—what can I say?’

  She struck an exaggerated pose and they laughed, the taut tension between them easing a tad.

  However, as his gaze slowly travelled the length of her body and back, she stiffened, unable to stay relaxed when every cell in her body was on high alert, desperate for his touch.

  The gold flecks in his eyes glittered in the reflected moonlight off the ocean and she swallowed, swamped by a sudden helpless feeling.

  She was no good at this.

  Should she throw herself at him? Tease him a little and hope he’d make the first move? Judd the joking friend she could handle. This new, intensely sexy Judd was throwing her way off balance and she had no idea how to recover her equilibrium.

  ‘Speaking about being professional, why didn’t you tell me about how far you’ve come in your career? We talk so often on the phone, not to mention our almost-novel-length e-mails, and you didn’t mention it.’

  ‘Because we had more important things to talk about besides me blowing my own trumpet.’

  ‘Like what? My latest triumph? My latest trip?’

  ‘Hey, I liked hearing about all that exciting stuff. Don’t worry about it. We’re here now and you get to see firsthand what a marvel I’ve become in the fashion world.’

  He snapped his fingers. ‘From modesty to big head in under a minute. That’s my girl.’

  Her smile waned a little as she decided now was as good a time as any to broach the subject of their impending shift in relationship.

  ‘Seeing as you mentioned being your girl, are we really serious about changing the status quo?’

  He leaned back on his arms, his T-shirt stretched taut across his broad chest, and she gulped. She’d been immune to him physically for years—of course, it had helped not seeing him in the flesh, so to speak. She really didn’t stand a chance considering she’d been hot for him as a teenager and absence in this case really had made her heart—and other parts—fonder.

  ‘I’m deadly serious. How about you?’

  She sat up, her heart turning over at the serious implication of what they were about to do. ‘I’m in.’

  ‘Great,’ he said, tracing circles in the sand with one hand while sending her a
slow, lazy smile. ‘So who gets to make the first move? After all, no time like the present.’

  Abby swallowed, her heart pounding in anticipation while her skin tingled with his proximity. ‘Now, huh? I’m still trying to get used to the idea.’

  ‘It is a bit much to take in, isn’t it? Come here.’

  He opened his arms and, bracing herself for the first scintillating physical contact, she leaned over and hugged him. As his arms slid around her torso and she yielded to the pressure of his embrace and the reassuring warmth, she wondered for the hundredth time over the last twenty-four hours what on earth she was doing.

  His friendship meant the world to her. Was it worth potentially sabotaging for a quick fling?

  ‘Weiss—’ he sighed, his warm breath fanning her cheek as he held her tightly ‘—you’re the best friend a guy could ever wish for. That’s not going to change.’

  Her eyes closed as she leaned into him, savouring the physical contact, trying to keep her hands from wandering all over his body.

  Damn, they’d done this countless times before at school yet it felt so different now. Having the hots for someone did that to a person, sending them crazy with the barest touch.

  ‘It better not.’ He stroked her hair, the rhythmic movement soothing her as it always did. ‘You sure we’re not totally crazy?’

  ‘That I’m not so sure about.’

  She pulled away and stared into his eyes, the adorable laugh lines adding character to an already striking face.

  ‘Promise me that whatever happens, our friendship won’t change. Promise me.’

  He nodded, his laughter fading as his fingertips brushed her cheek in a tender gesture that almost brought tears to her eyes.

  ‘You got it. And don’t worry—nothing’s going to affect our friendship. Consider the rest of our time together as a slumber party.’

  His suggestive wink had her whacking him playfully on the arm in a familiar reflex gesture.

  However, her pulse picked up tempo as the full implication of what she was about to do hit her. They were going to sleep together; though sleep would be the furthest thing from their minds when they finally got naked together.

  ‘Don’t you think we’re a bit old for sleepovers?’

  He dropped a quick peck on her nose before grabbing it between his thumb and forefinger and twisting lightly. ‘We’re never too old for anything. It’ll be fun, you’ll see.’

  ‘In that case, your place or mine?’

  He grinned, the wicked gleam in his eyes eliciting a jittery response deep in her gut. ‘Now you’re talking.’

  She rolled her eyes and stood up, brushing sand from her butt. ‘Flirt.’

  ‘Flirting is good.’ He stood up and handed her the sarong she’d been lying on. ‘Here, cover yourself up before I get carried away.’

  Her mischievous side took over in a second. ‘Why, don’t you like this?’

  She twirled around and struck a model-like pose, enjoying the tortured look that flitted across his face. He wanted to flirt? No problem.

  For there was nothing surer than that this time their flirting would lead somewhere: her plush king-size bed covered in Egyptian cotton sheets with a sky-high thread count, with the two of them getting friendlier than they ever had before.

  Judd tried not to stare, he really did, but it was like telling a hungry lion not to stalk its prey: his reaction to his beautiful Abby was instinctive and watching her parade around in the skimpy purple bikini had the blood draining from his head and heading south.

  He’d done his damnedest not to ogle her while they’d been talking, but now that she was flaunting herself, taunting him to look, he drank his fill, taking in her smooth, lightly tanned skin, her long legs, small waist and full breasts that threatened to spill out of her bra at any second.

  She laughed at his reaction and he joined in, trying to make light of the situation when all he wanted to do was lose himself in her right here, right now.

  He shrugged and turned away, doing his best to appear nonchalant. ‘The bikini’s not bad, though I think blue is more your colour.’

  He heard her splutter of outrage and laughed, unprepared for the ‘straw bag to the back of the head’ trick.

  ‘Ouch!’

  He swivelled around, ready to do battle, which in the past had involved tickling her till she cried truce. However, she knew him too well and must’ve anticipated his move for she darted past him and out the entrance of the cabana, yelling, ‘You’ll have to catch me first!’

  ‘You little minx,’ he muttered, giving chase, secure in the knowledge that she didn’t stand a chance of getting away.

  And though she was quick, he caught her at the ocean’s edge, taking her down with a rugby-style tackle that sent them tumbling into the foam washing up on the beach.

  ‘Let go of me, you big brute,’ she spluttered, wriggling in his arms like a fish out of water.

  ‘Not till you say truce.’

  Water streamed out of his eyes as another wave broke over them, but not before he glimpsed the flash of fire in her eyes, the sexy smile curving her lips.

  ‘Come on, Weiss, you know you want to.’

  He released his grip around her waist slightly, enough to tickle the skin there, relishing how incredible she felt, her skin slick and smooth under his palms.

  She clamped her lips together and shook her head in response, wriggling even harder to escape.

  ‘Okay, you asked for it.’

  He pulled her on top of him and kissed her with every ounce of pent-up need coursing through his body, brushing his hands over every inch of bare skin, hot and wet and oh-so-tempting.

  It took all of five seconds for her to capitulate.

  ‘Truce,’ she whispered against the side of his mouth, raising her head to stare down at him, her gaze slightly unfocused, her tempting lips parted.

  His hands stilled though he didn’t let go, relishing the weight of her lying on top of him, soft and wet and compliant in his arms.

  ‘Smart girl.’ He brushed away her damp ponytail as it flopped onto her cheek, rubbing the strands between his fingertips, honey brown turned golden treacle. ‘Now, about that debt you owe me…’

  She smiled, a slow, smouldering smile designed to shoot what little control he had in not ravishing her on the spot down in flames. ‘Fine. I’ll pay up. What do you want?’

  ‘What do you have to offer?’

  He waited for her answer, knowing what he wanted her to say, wondering if this was finally it, having trouble breathing and knowing it had as much to do with anticipation as having Abby lying on top of him wet and semi-naked, her blue eyes luminous in the moonlight.

  His concentration had been shot to pieces the minute he’d first stepped into the cabana, the sight of her luscious body clad in that skimpy purple bikini driving all rational thought from his brain. It had taken every bit of willpower to act cool in the face of temptation, to not give in to the wild, driving need pulsing through his body.

  ‘What do I have to offer?’ She cupped his face, stared him straight in the eye and said, ‘Me.’

  Judd groaned and covered her mouth with his, the last of his self-control shredding as she pressed down on him, kissing him as if she couldn’t get enough, her tongue delving into his mouth, entwining with his, while waves crashed around them, refreshingly cool against his inflamed skin where she lay along the length of him.

  ‘I’ve waited so long to do this,’ he murmured, breaking the kiss to slide her upwards, giving him easy access to fasten his mouth over her nipple, filling his hands with her breasts, savouring their weight, anticipating the exact moment he could whip off her skimpy top and have them bare and luscious in his hands.

  ‘Ooh … please …’

  Abby’s whole body quivered as Judd used his teeth to tease her nipple through the Lycra, nipping, biting, moving to her other breast and back, shards of sensation exploding beneath his mouth and shooting outwards through her body, washing away any last
lingering doubts she might have had about taking the next step along with the tide.

  How could something that felt so good, so right, be anything other than destiny?

  His tongue delved in the valley between her breasts, laving her skin as if he couldn’t get enough before slowly trailing upwards to kiss her, the taste of salt and sin on his lips.

  ‘You’re delicious,’ he murmured, his mouth repeatedly grazing hers, teasing her, pleasing her, making her shiver with pure hunger for him as he reached between their bodies, toying with the elastic of her bikini bottoms before sliding one finger, then another, into her moist heat.

  ‘Cabana. Now,’ she ground out as he circled her clitoris repeatedly, massaging her with an expertise that made her gasp out loud, ‘Oh, yeah, just like that.’

  As her climax built, she writhed on top of him, her body a mass of coiled nerve endings ready to unravel with the next flick of his finger.

  ‘That’s it, sweetheart,’ he murmured as she stiffened a second before falling apart all around him, her orgasm rocketing through her as she cried out his name, her low moan instantly lost in the crash of the breakers on the sand bar just offshore.

  Abby had no idea how long they lay there; her limbs had turned as limp as seaweed, her body overloaded with sensation.

  Rolling her gently onto her side, Judd brushed the damp hair off her face, the banked heat in his eyes lighting a fire within her all over again.

  ‘We didn’t make it to the cabana, huh?’

  He smiled, tracing the outline of her face with the gentle precision of a blind man trying to read Braille.

  ‘Considering I don’t carry protection around in my board shorts, I didn’t want to tempt fate.’

  ‘Huh?’

  His hand left her face to skim over her shoulder, along her collarbone and across the top of her breast before he palmed her breast completely, increasing the unfulfilled ache between her legs only he could satisfy.

  ‘I’m so turned on I can hardly see straight, let alone hold back if I’d got you naked and all to myself in that cosy cabana.’