Ultimate Heroes Collection

by Various Authors

  ‘That was something else,’ she said, her hand fluttering like a butterfly between them, skimming his chest, his arm, as if she didn’t know whether he wanted to be touched or not.

  ‘You were something else.’

  He captured her hand and held it to his heart as it pounded and thudded and slammed against his chest like a wild beast eager to be freed. Ironic, considering after what they’d just shared, the already strong bond between them had strengthened considerably and he didn’t feel free.

  Instead, he felt inexorably drawn to Abby, tied to her in a way he never had before, and he had no idea if he was ready for it yet.

  His entire life had been based on freedom. He hadn’t been able to get away from Pier Point quick enough when his dad died, despite the strength of his friendship with Abby. And he sure as hell hadn’t stuck around when he’d glimpsed the expectation in her eyes after their first kiss.

  So what now?

  He was returning to Sydney, but Abby had made it more than clear that an island fling was all this would be.

  What if the unthinkable had happened and the ultimate freedom fighter wanted more?

  ‘You’re thinking too much.’

  She reached up with her free hand and smoothed the frown lines from his brow and he forced a smile, the same carefree smile he’d given her countless times before.

  ‘Thinking is highly overrated. I’d much rather be feeling,’ he said, capturing her mouth in a swift kiss, the fire simmering between them needing little to rekindle.

  ‘I knew I liked you for a reason,’ she whispered against the side of his mouth as she rolled on top of him, pinning him down and effectively wiping any thoughts of the future out of his mind.

  CHAPTER NINE

  ABBY rearranged the clothes for the umpteenth time in the last ten minutes, knowing she couldn’t concentrate after what had happened last night.

  She should be sorting the bikinis and wraps into sequential order. Instead, all she could think about was how having sex with Judd made her feel.

  Amazing?

  Cherished?

  Satisfied?

  Definitely the latter as heat sizzled through her body at the memories of every delightful way Judd had satisfied her. The guy might be a world-class photographer and a great friend, but his talents as a lover far surpassed all her expectations and personal experience.

  Quite simply, Judd was a master. And she’d just become a very willing pupil.

  Trying to play it cool while her body burned up at the erotic memories flitting across her mind, she picked up her clipboard and went over the list of shots for today, the figures dancing before her eyes.

  ‘You’re hopeless,’ she muttered, flinging the list down and picking up a bundle of silky slip dresses, dumping them on a nearby table and reaching for hangers. Anything to keep her hands busy and her mind focused on a task other than pondering the fact she’d been avoiding all morning: labelling what she’d shared with Judd as sex.

  It hadn’t been just sex and she knew it.

  She’d made love with Judd.

  Love being the operative word.

  She did love Judd, always had, as evidenced by the telltale twitch in the vicinity of her heart whenever she so much as thought of him over the years.

  But was she in love with him? No way.

  She wasn’t that silly. Judd was a free spirit and there was no way she’d be foolish enough to fall for a guy like that.

  Besides, it would ruin their friendship if he got wind of the slightest emotional entanglement between them as a result of their fling and she’d never jeopardise their relationship like that. He meant too much to her. He always had, always would.

  ‘Friends, schmiends.’ Stabbing a hanger through an armhole with particular viciousness, she knew it was time for a little honesty.

  After all, look at what had happened when she’d been honest enough to tell Judd how much she wanted him. It might have been in-your-face I’ve-got-the-hots-for-you-bad type of honesty, but it had worked and if last night’s spectacular explosion of passion had been any indication, honesty was definitely the best policy.

  Now, if only she could summon up the courage to come clean about the rest to him, their friendship might actually have a chance of surviving beyond this week.

  Muttering unladylike curses under her breath, she swept the bikinis into a carry bag and stuffed the clipboard on top.

  Screw the list. Right now, she needed an extra large lunchtime Mojito.

  Followed by a reality-check chaser.

  Judd studied the last few shots, pleased with the results of the day’s shoot. Though he loved photographing wildlife in their natural habitat, there was something equally satisfying in working with humans. In fact, if he was totally honest, he’d missed the contact with other people during his travels.

  Particularly one person.

  He grinned as Abby packed up the last of the clothes, sent him a saucy wave and sauntered around the pool’s edge, sending one last sexy little shimmy his way before disappearing from view.

  He hadn’t slept a wink last night—or in the early hours of this morning, more to the point—when he’d finally made it back to his room. Images of Abby—her seductive smile, the noises she made as he thrust inside her, how soft and pliant and welcoming she’d been in his arms—had replayed across his mind over and over again.

  She’d made him feel incredible. Then the guilt had set in. He wasn’t playing fair. He hadn’t told her the whole truth. Would she forgive him once she knew everything?

  Closing the shutter over the camera lens, he wondered if she’d do the same once he told her the truth: effectively blot out their friendship despite the many years they’d shared together, despite everything they’d been through.

  He should never have taken the risk. He should’ve told her everything before they’d got physical. However, he’d lost his mind once his libido had gone into overdrive and started doing all his thinking for him.

  He wanted her with a fierceness that scared him and, now that he’d had her, he couldn’t get enough. He’d barely been able to concentrate on work today, what with her flirty floral skirt swishing about her thighs every time she moved, her white camisole top outlining her breasts to perfection, resurrecting recent memories of how they’d felt, how they’d tasted …

  No woman had got under his skin like this, ever. Sure, he’d had a few liaisons over the years, but those women had known the score; he rarely settled in a country for longer than a few months before moving on to the next job and it had suited him down to the ground.

  But Abby was different and despite every intention to keep this thing between them light-hearted, he knew that by sticking around in Sydney, he’d changed the rules of the game.

  ‘Your cheerfulness is disgusting.’ Tom hoisted most of the equipment onto his broad shoulders and held out his free hand for more.

  ‘Tough.’

  Judd grinned and handed over a camera while zipping up the last bag.

  ‘I liked it better when you were a grumpy workaholic.’ ‘Why?’

  ‘Because then I could lord it over you about all the fun I was having. It’s hell when you’re strutting around with a smug grin.’

  Judd hoisted the last bag onto his shoulders, wondering when he’d last felt this carefree. Tom was right. He was usually so focused on his work, so cut off from people, that he probably never appeared genuinely happy. Which explained why he couldn’t keep a goofy grin off his face today considering happy didn’t come close to describing how Abby made him feel.

  ‘Yeah, well, I can’t help it if I’m a chick magnet.’

  Tom guffawed and hoisted a few bags, as if the heavy camera equipment draped over his shoulders weighed less than a kilo. ‘If I hadn’t helped you with women problems before you’d have no clues with Abby now.’

  ‘Helped me?’ He chuckled, remembering the few times Tom had helped him. ‘Let’s see. The first time you helped me in Venezuela I ended up with the vill
age chief chasing me through the jungle. The second time in Botswana I almost ended up being a tribe’s main course and the third time the mayor of Little Rock wanted a public hanging for “ruining his daughter’s reputation”, end of quote. So, pardon me if I don’t give you any credit.’

  Tom grinned. ‘Okay, so maybe those other times didn’t quite work out as I planned. But look at you now. From where I’m standing, looks like things are hotting up between you two, you lucky dog.’

  So the big guy had a point.

  All he could think about was getting Abby alone … and naked … all the time…

  Tom snorted. ‘By that dummy look on your face, I rest my case. These tropical breezes have sent you troppo. Not that I blame you. Abby’s quite a girl.’

  ‘You said it.’

  He fell into step beside Tom, his mind already on the remainder of the day and the many ways he’d like to spend it with Abby.

  ‘So, you ever thought of doing the wedding thing for real one day?’

  Judd’s heart stuttered for a split second, filling with fear. He wasn’t a marriage type of guy and he had a feeling Abby would love to do the whole ‘white dress and flowers’ thing for real one day. And now they’d moved from friendship to—what?—it nagged at him that she might expect more from this thing they shared than he was willing to give.

  ‘Butt out. And stop being so damn nosy. You’re really starting to pee me off.’

  Tom chuckled as he walked away.

  So the big guy liked to ask the hard questions? Didn’t mean he had to answer them. Besides, he had better things to do with his time starting with finding his best buddy and coercing her into spending some quality one-on-one time with him.

  Abby accepted the mango daiquiri from Judd, raised it in his direction, sat back and propped her feet on the banana lounge.

  ‘Sure you wouldn’t like me to rub some of that suntan lotion on you?’

  Abby raised an eyebrow and sent him her best ‘not on your life, mister’ look. ‘Let’s just relax and soak up a bit of sun, okay?’

  He grinned and shrugged. ‘Hey, can’t blame a guy for trying.’

  Abby lifted her hair off her neck in a purely feminine gesture designed to drive him wild, enjoying flirting with him when she could see how much he wanted her.

  She’d never felt this empowered before, this aware of her allure as a woman and if she’d enjoyed teasing him when they’d been just friends, it had nothing on the fun she was having taunting him now they were lovers.

  ‘You’ve spent too much time with primates, that’s your problem.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘All you’ve got on your mind is monkey business,’ she said, taking a healthy slurp of her cocktail as he rolled his eyes at her lame joke.

  ‘In that case, care to keep me as a pet? I play the organ real well.’ He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and she burst out laughing, knowing he always had to have the last word.

  ‘Don’t you mean organ-grinder?’

  ‘That, too.’ He clinked glasses with her. ‘Here’s to us, sweetheart.’

  She batted her eyelashes at him. ‘Us? My, my, and here I thought this was just casual sex.’

  He leaned forward and ran a fingertip down her bare arm, setting her skin alight.

  ‘How about some not-so-casual sex? Like all night’s worth?’

  A shiver of anticipation slid down her spine and she ran the icy glass along her forehead. ‘A nice thought.’

  ‘Just nice?’

  Placing her frosted glass on the table next to her, she folded her arms and glared, quickly dropping her arms when she saw his heated gaze focus on her chest.

  ‘Fine.’ She shrugged, toying with the bikini string behind her neck, enjoying the beads of perspiration popping out on his forehead as he tried to refocus on her face. ‘It’s a great thought but unless we get plans for this sorted out now, we might be hashing out solutions all night and that might put a dent in your romantic aspirations?’

  He held up his hands in surrender. ‘Okay, okay, so what’s the plan?’

  Abby laughed at his resigned expression. ‘I don’t know yet, but we’ve got to do something special for Tom and Tara. They’ve definitely gone above and beyond the call of duty on this shoot.’

  ‘Yeah, the big guy came through on the wedding shoot. And Tara helped out, too.’

  Abby squinted her eyes and tapped her bottom lip with a finger, deep in thought. ‘You know, I’ve seen a few covert glances between the two of them. Maybe if we give them a gentle push in the right direction nature will take its course?’

  ‘Gentle push? More like a hard shove. I haven’t noticed Tara reacting much to Tom’s incessant flirting.’ Judd stilled her tapping finger, drawing it to his mouth to kiss it, effectively wiping all thought from her mind. ‘Besides, we’re not here to play matchmaker, we’re here to figure out a way to thank them, remember?’

  ‘You’re right.’

  Abby picked up her glass and took a sip before snapping her fingers. ‘Maybe the four of us get together for a drink? Shout them a meal, or is that too informal? Not enough? What do you think?’

  ‘I think you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met.’

  Her breath hitched as he leaned forward, tipped her chin up and slanted his lips across hers, a slow, sensual assault that left her senses reeling.

  ‘Where did that come from?’

  Her hand shook as she placed her cocktail on the table, but not half as much as her heart. In fact, shaken wouldn’t come close to describing the cataclysmic realisation that had hit her a split second before his lips had touched hers.

  She didn’t just love Judd.

  She was in love with him.

  Heart and soul.

  Oh, boy.

  Reaching out, he captured her hand in his, steadying her, infusing her cold hand with his warmth. ‘You really need to ask that?’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  Damn it, she needed to know if he stood by their initial plan for a fling or if last night had changed everything for him, too.

  She needed to know if feeling this way about a guy she’d known for so long was crazy.

  But most of all she needed to know if the heat, the passion and the tenderness blazing from his eyes every time he looked at her were real or just part of some role he was playing.

  She’d seen him do it before. He’d played roles his entire life: the devil-may-care kid who didn’t give a hoot what people thought about him, the rebel teen who pushed away anyone who tried to get close, the adventurous warrior hell-bent on travelling the world and never having ties to one place.

  She’d seen it all, had loved him through all of his stages, yet now, what if his role-playing affected her?

  ‘We’re good together. So good,’ he said, holding her hand as if he’d never let go. ‘You are incredible. You’re the most important person in my life and my head’s still spinning from what’s happened over the last few days. Surely you know that?’

  Abby blinked several times, annoyed by the sudden tears burning the backs of her eyes.

  She could’ve asked him how he really felt.

  She could’ve asked him if this was all a game, a new role he was trying on for size.

  Instead, she did what she always did with Judd: kept things light.

  ‘All I know is you’re a great friend … and an even better lover.’

  Leaning forward, she kissed him, swift and hard, demanding an instant response, needing to obliterate her doubts and questions with the consuming heat blazing between them.

  The kiss could’ve lasted a second, a minute, an hour, she had no idea, and when they finally came up for air, both breathing heavily with stunned expressions, she knew this wasn’t the time for thinking or admitting anything.

  ‘Come with me.’

  She held her hand out to him and he took it, all but leaping off his banana lounge.

  ‘Should I trust you?’

  His sinful smile sent heat rushing th
rough her and she tugged on his hand.

  ‘Oh, yeah.’

  ‘So the Tom and Tara thing is taken care of?’

  ‘Totally,’ she said, laughing as they picked up the pace, their feet flying across the sand towards her room. ‘Now it’s time I take care of something else.’

  ‘A woman who likes to take charge. What a turn-on.’

  ‘Less talking, more running,’ she said, laughing as he tripped over his feet in his haste to keep up.

  She had to do this right now. To lose herself in his arms, in his kisses, in the sheer mind-blowing pleasure of sex, anything to reassure herself that maybe she’d made a mistake and she wasn’t in love with him.

  It had to be just physical.

  Contemplating the complications if she’d been stupid enough to fall for Judd didn’t bear thinking about. She couldn’t think, didn’t want to think about anything other than how incredible he made her feel.

  ‘Here, let me,’ he said, reaching out and taking control of the key-card to her room as she fumbled with it several times, cursing softly as the door light repeatedly lit red.

  ‘So much for my femme fatale impersonation.’

  He smiled and caught her as they tumbled into her room, the door swinging open first go under his expert touch.

  ‘I’m not into impersonations but I’m sure into you, Abby Weiss,’ he said, nuzzling her neck and sending fire streaking through her body as his lips brushed the sensitive skin at the nape.

  ‘Prove it.’

  She pulled back slightly, staring straight into his expressive hazel eyes and sending him a scorching look designed to entice.

  ‘My pleasure.’

  His elaborate bow made her giggle, but before she could move, he swept her up in his arms and headed for the bed, his intent expression leaving her in little doubt that he was a man of his word.

  Laying her gently on the bed, he propped himself next to her, tracing idle circles on her bare arms as shivers of excitement skittered through her before he leaned forward and grazed her lips with an exhilarating kiss that promised more, so much more and, boy, was she ready for it.