“Ty?” It was a mixture of breathy, wanting need, and trembling shyness.
A tantalizing mix.
Flexing his hips, he slid between the sheltering curls, rewarded once again by her whimper and the tipping back of her head as the tip of his shaft probed along the seam of her body, seeking her opening, lodging at the entrance.
“Yeah, honey.” His voice was low, grating with lust. “It’s me.”
Thrusting in, he buried himself deep, ruthlessly pushing through the tight sheath, tunnelling through the snug walls until he couldn’t go any further.
Pushing herself up onto her hands, Ali whimpered again, surprise and carnal hunger combined. She pushed her hips back at him, wanting more, and he laughed darkly, loving it when she again demandingly pushed back at him.
More than willing to give her what she wanted, what he wanted, what they both needed, Ghost drew back, almost pulling free and making her twist wildly in protest before slamming home again, thrusting hard.
This time he didn’t stop.
Hips pumping, he rocked her against the car, slamming into her, holding those delicious hips in his hands, gripping her tightly as he slammed into her over and over, revelling in her sexy moans that filled the air, the way she thrust her bottom back at him, letting him know by her actions that she loved it as much as he.
Braced on her hands, head thrown back, she arched into every hard pump deep inside her, her sheath clasping him in a hot, tight, wet fist that sought to keep him within, that greeted him and shivered around him, sucking him in so deep, so lovingly, so demandingly.
Heart pounding, a sheen of sweat breaking out across his forehead, Ghost was caught up in the eroticism of the moment. The moonlight that bathed Ali in a silver glow was like a painting of a rubenesque beauty caught in the throes of passion, wild and abandoned. If in that moment he could have had a photo of her like this, he’d have commissioned an artist to paint it and hung it on his bedroom wall.
The softness of her flesh welcomed him, the backs of her thighs snugging his harder thighs, her lush bottom a welcome cradle for his lean hips, the insides of her plump thighs a caress against his jean-clad legs. If he wasn’t so far gone in rutting heat he’d have stripped his jeans off, but just the thought of stopping the delicious driving into her to undress properly was something he couldn’t even consider. He couldn’t stop now to save his life.
Fire burned, sluicing through him from her hot sheath into his shaft, pooling out low and hedonistically into his groin, tightening his sac. Thigh muscles flexed as he adjusted his stance slightly to pound into her vigorously, the base desire to rut forging him on harder, faster, mercilessly, her whimpers and moans of unadulterated pleasure spurring him onwards.
Heart pounding, veins corded in his arms, fingers biting deeply into the pale hips, he pumped yet faster, blood surging, his shaft leaking seed into that tight clasp of her sheath.
The walls of her sheath rippled, his shaft swelling even more in response to her body, and he continued to tunnel into her, pounding the sweet depths, pushing them both higher up that peak. Hot blood roared in his ears, fiery dots of ardour sparking along his skin, the fiery ball of heat tightening his sac. Another hard thrust and this time he barely withdrew before shoving deep again, his hips flush against her bottom, his shaft deep inside, just shoving and shoving, trying to go deeper but unable to do so physically. Not one second did he want to peel back from her, not one inch, so he kept shoving forwards, her sheath spasming around him, gripping him tightly.
The climax took her, the clenching of her sheath ripping his orgasm from him, his seed pouring deep inside her as he roared her name. Hips jerking against her, he was thrown into the erotic tide of prurience and rolled under, the stars from Heaven shattering around him.
When Ghost finally floated back to reality from the dreamy aftermath of a soul-shattering climax, it was to find himself slumped over Ali, his cheek against the back of her shoulder.
Lifting his head, he looked down to see her also slowly coming to, her lashes fluttering until finally she opened her eyes. Almost immediately she stiffened.
Jesus, I’ve just had hard, fast, mind-blowing sex with Ali Mackay. One of his best friends. And right now his shaft was still buried deep within her, only now her sheath wasn’t spasming in the throes of orgasm.
Mind churning, he straightened, stepping back, catching his breath as his shaft slipped free from her. As Ali pushed upright, he quickly stuffed himself back into his jeans, zipping up and re-snapping the button.
He glanced at Ali, seeing her move a little stiffly. Automatically he reached out, grabbing her arm to help her straighten.
Without looking at him, she shrugged his hand off, side-stepping away from him towards the car door on her left.
He had to say something. “Ali…” But what? What could he possibly say to something they’d both done that had just turned their friendship right on its head? But he couldn’t bear to see her keep her face averted, her silence. “Ali please, talk to me.”
“I don’t…” She cleared her throat. “I’m going home. I’ll see you…later.”
That was it? Concern spiked through him and not just at their suddenly weirded-out friendship. He’d been hard on her and going by the tightness of her body, sex wasn’t something she’d indulged in much.
If at all.
It was that last thought that made him catch the driver’s door as she opened it. “Ali, wait.”
One leg already in the car, she glanced up at him, the heavy swath of hair covering part of her face casting shadows so that he couldn’t see her expression clearly. “There’s nothing to talk about.”
Refusing to relinquish the door, he stepped closer, bending down to try and see her face. “Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”
Her smile was tight, her gaze not meeting his. “Fine. Goodnight.” In a swift move she sat down in the car, drawing her other leg in and briskly shutting the door.
It said a lot for Ghost’s state of mind that he just let her. The door slid from his fingers and he could only look as she started the engine and put the car into reverse. Not one word came to his befuddled mind as he watched her leave the parking bay, the taillights of her car vanishing around the curve.
Leaving him alone at the river, the music still drifting from his car, his sexual desire well and truly sated but his mind a blathering mess.
Jesus Christ, he’d just had sex with Ali Mackay, one of his best friends, and now it looked like she didn’t want to see him ever again. Desperately he cast back through his mind to reassure himself that he hadn’t forced her at some point, but no, it was clear as day. Not once had she told him to stop, struggled or gave any indication that she didn’t want intimacy with him. It was the other way around, she’d kissed him back, given every indication that she was just as eager for sex as he’d been, had encouraged him.
But still, the fact remained. He’d had sex with his best friend and he knew enough about females to recognise that now it was all over, things would change. Girls didn’t just have sex and walk away. Especially Ali.
Was that what he wanted? Right now, he was replaying the scene in his mind, the events leading up to it and…
Shit, right now he wasn’t in any fit state to think about anything.
But one thing he did know, if it hadn’t of been for Chris bloody Smith, he and Ali wouldn’t have been out in the sticks and ended up shagging over the car bonnet. Chris had made her cry, made her doubt herself, and right now that was first and foremost in Ghost’s brain.
It didn’t excuse what Ghost had done, that he knew, but it was still Chris who had humiliated Ali, who’d made her cry, who’d shamed her at the restaurant.
The phone calls from several concerned people who’d overheard parts of the conversation only added to Ghost’s anger that had been simmering when he’d first heard what had happened. Now he acted, doing exactly what he’d intended to do once he’d comforted Ali.
Of course, having s
ex with Ali hadn’t been his intention, but regardless, Chris was still going to get that visit from Ghost. Right now.
As for Ali, he’d tackle that problem later. He knew that to chase her now would only escalate the problem.
~*~
The water jetted down, the warmth seeping through her chilled skin. Picking up the shampoo bottle, she poured out a generous amount and lathered up her hair. Refusing to think, refusing to give a second to troubling thoughts, Ali washed her hair, lathered her body and watched the water swirl it all away down the plug hole.
Only when she washed between her legs did her breath catch, not least because she was tender there, but still she blanked her mind, refusing – refusing – to allow any thoughts to spike into her brain with cruel little claws.
Drying herself, she eyed the red dress lying on the floor in the corner and decided she’d better wash it separately from the other clothes until she was sure the dye wouldn’t run. Then she’d give it away to a charity shop.
The cotton nightie was soothing against her still sensitized skin. Picking up the wide toothed comb, she started combing her hair. Looking at her reflection, she deliberately avoided the sight of her kiss-swollen mouth and instead focussed on her pale cheeks. Hopefully she wasn’t coming down with something. Chelsea, one of the waitresses at work, had thought she was coming down with a bug, but it turned out that the nausea was due to pregnancy.
Pregnancy? Oh shit! Comb halfway through her hair, she froze. Everything had happened so fast, so quickly, so heatedly – don’t think about that! – and while she wasn’t hugely experienced, she knew enough to know that Ghost hadn’t used a condom and she certainly wasn’t on the pill, not when she had never planned to have sex with any man until the relationship was solid. One night stands weren’t for her.
One river stands were, obviously. Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!
Sucking in a shuddering breath, she nodded to herself. It was okay, it was all okay. She’d heard of the morning after pill. Tomorrow she’d go to the chemist and get it. Her eyes widened at a sudden thought. Oh hell no. Too many people knew her in this small town, the morning after pill was like waving a red rag to a bull, especially when it would soon get around that she’d ditched Chris. So why, everyone would speculate, would she need the morning after pill?
“Damn it.” Yanking the comb through her hair painfully, she watched her vision blur through the tears. “Ouch! Okay, get a grip, Ali. Simply go to the city. That’s right. Chemists are open on a Sunday there, too. It’s a three hour drive but what the hell? It’ll be good to clear your head. You’ll go, get the damned pill, and come home. Good plan.” She heaved a sigh.
It also meant she wouldn’t have to see Ghost tomorrow, she could skilfully avoid him.
Dropping the comb, she braced both hands on the basin and hunched her shoulders, closing her eyes.
Oh God, she’d just had sex with her best friend. Oh God, she’d had it out at the river, bent over her own car bonnet while he took her from behind.
Her fingers tightened on the porcelain even as she tried to ignore the shiver of delight that coursed low in her belly at just the memory. It had been…awesome! Unfortunately it had also been with Ty Sinclair, best friend and man-next-door. Not good, so not good.
So very, very bad. Because it had been pity sex. She distinctly remembered begging for it at some point during the whole heated episode. God, there’d she’d been, all maudlin about no one wanting her and when he’d kissed her, she’d joked and he’d kissed her again and then it had gone downhill from there. Well, uphill if it had been any other man apart from Ty Sinclair, aka Ghost.
Where did that leave them now? Best friends didn’t have sex. Best friends shared laughter, not nookie. It was all such a mess, such a bloody, awful mess. How on earth was she going to face Ghost ever again? This changed things, messed it up. The one man she felt so at ease with, it was all buggered up now. Completely and utterly buggered up.
Even more humiliating, he’d had a good view of her naked and very generous arse in all its dimpled glory. Oh, kill me now! No, no, stop thinking about it! Stop!
Slamming the comb down, she swore. It was either that or burst into tears,
A knock sounded on the bathroom. “Ali, you okay?”
“I’m fine, Lori.” Taking a deep breath, Ali straightened up. “Just dropped something.”
“Okay. I’m making a hot Milo, do you want one?”
“Love one, thanks.” Placing the comb back in the drawer, Ali took a last look at herself before leaving the bathroom.
There was no way she could tell Lori what had happened. Until she worked out for herself what she was going to do, she wasn’t telling anyone. She definitely couldn’t turn to her best friend now, not when he was the problem. Damn it.
Minx was sitting in the doorway of the kitchen and Ali scooped her up, sitting her on her lap when she took a seat at the table. Stroking the old cat’s ears, she was comforted by the rusty purring and the head rubbing Minx gave her hand.
Pouring the hot water into the cups, Lori glanced at Ali. “Going to tell me about it?”
Ali froze. “What?”
“I got a phone call from Mrs Swanson. You dumped water over Chris Smith and left the restaurant.”
“Oh.” Ali relaxed a little. “Turns out he’s not my type of bloke.”
Lori poured milk into the two cups, stirred and brought them over to the table, placing one before Ali. Sitting down, she studied her. “And?”
“He’s a jerk. I don’t want to see him again.”
“Kind of hard, seeing as we live in a small town and you fuel up at my service station. Where he works.”
“Okay, so I just won’t look at him or speak to him.”
“I’ll speak to him.” Lori’s eyes darkened.
Ali sighed. “You have to work with him. My issues shouldn’t affect you.”
“When he tells my sister she needs to lose weight, then I have an issue with him.”
“Lori, personal problems shouldn’t interfere with work, you know that. You like your job.”
Lori’s lips tightened.
Rubbing Minx’s ears gently, Ali said, “Look, he’s a go-getter, a career ladder-climber and a health nut. He wants the same for me.”
“Sounds like a stalker.”
“What?” Ali couldn’t help but grin.
“You know. Obsessive?”
“I hardly think so. Maybe egotistical. The jerk didn’t think before he spoke.”
“If he doesn’t like you the way you are, then he shouldn’t have asked you on a date,” Lori insisted. “It’s insulting what he said to you, and in public, too!”
“Okay, I give you that. However, he also wore a jug of water in public.”
Lori’s lips twitched.
Ali grinned. “Tit for tat.”
“It still doesn’t excuse his behaviour,” Lori said.
“Right. But it’s his problem, not mine.”
“He made you cry.”
“No, he didn’t.”
“He upset you enough that you didn’t come home right away.”
“I just needed some alone time.” Ali shrugged.
“Ghost found you, though.”
Ali glanced at her sister’s face, but there was nothing but concern in her expression. “Well, yes. Like always.”
“He always knows where to find you.” Lori took a sip of Milo. “It’s uncanny, he was always able to find you when you were upset. I’d look in the obvious places and never find you, but he always seemed to home in on you as though you had a beacon straight to his brain.”
Not wanting to muse any further on that particular subject, Ali stroked under Minx’s chin. “We just had a little talk and then I came home. End of story. Chris is a jerk who isn’t worth my time, you’re not to allow it to affect your work with him, and all’s well that ends well.”
“Huh.”
“Besides, I’ve decided I’m quitting the dating scene.”
Lori’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Yep.” Ali nodded. “I’ve had it with chasing men and attracting the wholly unsuitable kind. From now on it’s me and Minx, right kitty?”
Hands cupped around the mug of Milo, Lori studied Ali. “I think it’s a good plan.”
“You do?” Ali kept her gaze on Minx.
“Yes. Sometimes when you look too hard, you miss what’s right under your nose.”
“Seeing as there’s nothing to miss, that’s a moot point, isn’t it?”
“Whatever.” Lori smiled a little. “So what are you going to do with all this new-found freedom?”
“For starters, I’m going for a drive to the city tomorrow.”
“Really?” Lori’s brows rose in surprise. “Why?”
“Fresh air, get away from here for a few hours. Want to come?”
“For a three hour drive each way?”
“Come on, Lori, live a little.”
“And what, exactly, are we going to do there on a Sunday?”
“Window shop? Go to the zoo? We haven’t been to the zoo in years.”
“Sister, you are seriously whacked.” Lori stared at her for several seconds before laughing. “Sure, why not? What better way to celebrate your best idea yet?”
An even better way to avoid Ghost, but Ali wasn’t going to say that aloud.
“There’s a program on TV about people who really believe they are vampires,” Lori said.
“Really?” Ali was curious. “I read an article about it.”
“Apparently they go to dentists and have their teeth sharpened, or even have fake long eyeteeth put in. Go the whole she-bang.”
“Ewww. That’d make kissing kinda uncomfortable, wouldn’t it?”
“Guess if you’re into a little pain, it wouldn’t hurt.” Lori grinned.
Call On Me Page 10