by Aimee Duffy
That didn’t stop Zack from getting it though and it looked much better than the jumbo shrimps she ordered.
‘I can’t believe you didn’t go with the lobster,’ he said, using a strange looking device to crack through the massive thing’s shell.
‘I wouldn’t have known what to do with it,’ she admitted.
His mouth tilted up at one side and her heart thumped. God, he really was gorgeous.
‘It’s easy, see.’
As he cracked his way into the tail she didn’t think it looked easy at all. She stuck to decapitating her shrimp and was pleased to at least find them the best ones she’d ever eaten. Zack used his fingers to strip back the shell and the movements transfixed her to the point she forgot how starving she was.
He put a chunk of the meat in his mouth then groaned. She watched him chew, her body heating with every clench of his jaw and his eyes were full of pure bliss. God, even watching him was erotic!
‘You have to try this,’ he said, picking up a piece of meat and holding it close to her mouth.
She was sure this moment had the potential for some sexy move she’d seen in movies, but of course she wasn’t that graceful when she opened her mouth and closed her lips over his fingers. She did suck a little though, just to get some of the juices off his digits and he groaned again, a deeper sound that made her cheeks flush.
He was right, the meat was delicious – better than anything she’d tasted. Taking her time, she chewed and savoured, never wanting it to end.
‘Good?’ he asked, his voice rougher than before.
‘The best.’
‘Let’s go half and half,’ he said. She frowned, not sure what he meant. Zack smiled. ‘We’ll share, like this.’
He swapped a couple of her shrimp for way more than half of his lobster and she was about to protest when he distracted her with a question.
‘How long are you traveling with my lunatic cousin?’
‘She’s not a lunatic,’ Ciara scolded, but relaxed when he laughed. ‘Not all the time, anyway. We’ve got about six weeks left.’
‘And then go home, get a job?’ he asked.
If only it was that easy. ‘Something like that. What about you? Why are you in the states? I thought the company was based in London.’
‘It is, but I needed a break. I’ve been redesigning the offices since I got my degree anyway, but our granddad needs someone to take over. He wants me and Elle to do it together,’ he said.
‘What about your parents?’ She knew Elle’s dad had died when she was young and her granddad had taken them in, but she didn’t know anything about Zack – she hadn’t even known he existed!
‘I lost them both a long time ago, in the same car accident that killed my uncle, Elle’s dad.’ He picked at a shrimp, not meeting her eyes.
She squeezed his wrist. ‘I’m sorry, that must have been hard.’
‘It was rough, but my granddad took me in too.’ Then he smiled, but it looked strained around the edges. ‘Growing up with a little, blonde dictator was almost worse.’
She got the feeling he was trying to lighten the subject so decided to help by steering it to something else. ‘Why architecture?’
‘Look out there, Ciara.’ He pointed out to Little Havana and she noticed what he meant.
There were buildings of all shapes and sizes, each one with its own unique stamp. So very different from Miami. Though he’d shown her just how diverse Miami was tonight.
‘You want to make something that’s unique?’ she asked, turning back to him.
He didn’t look away from the window. ‘Yes. But I don’t know where to start. Everything I do for the business is modern, to my granddad’s tastes. I’m given a project but I can’t put my own stamp on it. I’d love to be able to start up on my own somehow.’
‘But you don’t have the money?’ she asked, then bit her lip. Asking a guy how much he had in the bank surely broke some kind of rule.
He laughed. ‘That’s not the main problem. My granddad wants what’s best for me and Elle to the point he thinks he knows what’s best for us. I love him, don’t get me wrong, and for the most part he lets us do what we want which is how I got my degree, but he wants us happy, settled and to have something for ourselves.’
‘The business?’ she asked.
He nodded, but from the way he avoided her eyes and started picking at a shrimp she got the feeling he wasn’t telling her the full story. She didn’t push, just finished up her meal. After all, they were only having a fling and maybe they’d already passed the point of sharing too much.
Chapter Seven
After splitting the most amazing key lime pie ever, Ciara disappeared to the bathroom and sent Elle a quick text to see if they were okay. Elle replied in seconds, saying she was missing out on the best night ever by ditching them for her cousin, but the sickly, green faced smiley and kisses assured her Elle wasn’t pissed off.
When she got back, Zack was waiting by the door and held out his hand. She took it. ‘You’ve paid the bill, haven’t you?’
‘Guilty as charged.’ He lifted her hand and kissed the back. ‘Where to now?’
‘Zack, I wanted to halve it,’ she said, but she wasn’t miffed enough to snatch her hand back.
‘Ever heard the saying, you can’t always get what you want?’ He winked at her and opened the door.
‘Yes. But I don’t feel comfortable letting you pay,’ she admitted.
The sun had set by the time they got out, but the air wasn’t chilly like it would be back home. Zack pulled her to a bench not far from where he’d parked the moped and sat her on his lap, despite the fact the thing was big enough to fit her bum five times over.
‘I wanted to take you out, so I pay this time. If you want to cook me breakfast as a thank you, then I won’t stop you.’ He grinned.
Luckily she could manage breakfast. If there was anything decent in the fridge. ‘I might have to treat you, since Elle doesn’t believe she needs to eat when there are bikinis to wear.’
‘A healthy appetite boosts stamina, don’t you think?’
Without giving her a chance to voice her agreement, he pulled her face to his and kissed her. It was much, much better than the assault from earlier. Zack’s lips were soft, but demanding. She answered, opening to him and when he slid his fingers into the hair at her nape, the whole combination became electrifying.
Molten blood rushed through her veins and her breath came in gasps as she twisted in his lap until she was straddling him. He grabbed her bum with one hand and pulled her so close that his erection was lined up perfectly between her legs. With her whole body aching with need, she thrust her hips to find some kind of friction and was rewarded with little currents of pleasure.
He let her lips go and trailed kisses down her neck while his hands slid under her dress. She wished her knickers weren’t from the bargain bin, but it was too late to worry about that now. Unable to wait, she shoved his tee-shirt up and her fingers tingled with bliss when they connected to his warm, smooth skin.
‘Ciara, we need to stop,’ he said against her throat, still not slowing down with his kisses.
‘I don’t want to,’ she said in a voice she didn’t recognise.
Instead she went for his belt and managed to unbuckle it before he caught her wrists. She pouted at him, but then the breath was kicked out of her lungs at his expression. It was carnal, erotic and full of the need she felt.
He lifted her off the bench and she grabbed his shoulders in case she fell. ‘What are you doing?’
After a too brief kiss, he untangled her legs and let her slide down to the pavement. ‘We’re going to get arrested if we keep this up and I think Elle will be too busy tonight to bail us out.’
She looked around and bit her lip. The locals and shop workers across the street were staring at them and no doubt would have seen a lot more than was appropriate if Zack hadn’t kept his head. ‘Oops.’
He laughed, but it sounded strained.
‘We need to get back to the beach house. Now.’ He took her hand and led her to the moped.
***
Her stomach was in bits by the time they arrived at the house. It didn’t help that he’d made her stop off at a twenty-four hour mart and buy a bucket of ice cream either. Her mind was full of all the possibilities and the second he parked up, the nerves hit her in the form of speechlessness.
Zack led her through the house, flicking the hall light on but he left the kitchen and lounge area in darkness. ‘Take a seat on the sofa, I need to grab something.’
Condoms? Her nerves fizzled under a flare of lust. Doing as he asked, she made her way to the huge white leather sofa.
He returned with a spoon and the open tub of ice cream. It was no Ben & Jerry’s, but it looked good. Mint and chocolate, her favourite. She hoped he liked it too.
‘Good taste, but it might be missing something,’ he murmured, using the spoon to scrape up a roll of it and then slip it into his mouth. ‘I know what will make it better.’
Putting the tub and spoon down on the table, he pulled her off the sofa. Ciara’s heart was hammering so hard she found it hard to breathe, and when he pulled the dress over her head it seemed to double its speed.
First he just looked at her in the shadows for so long she wanted to cover herself from his scrutiny. But then she noticed how dark his eyes were in the dim light, and his jaw seemed strained like he was fighting to stop himself from jumping her right there.
It gave her the confidence to unhook her bra and let it fall to the floor.
‘Lie down on your back. I don’t think I can touch you right now without things going too fast.’
She did as he asked, never taking her eyes off him. Zack pulled a pillow off one of the wicker chairs and put it under her head. She watched as he picked up the tub and spoon again, then knelt on the floor next to her.
Anticipation had her strung so tight she might shatter at any second. He scooped a little ice cream onto the spoon, then put it in his mouth briefly. It had melted a little when he took it out and hovered it above her breasts.
‘Have you ever tried this? Using cold as a stimulant?’ he asked.
Seemingly past speech again, she just shook her head and kept her attention on the spoon.
‘Close your eyes, Ireland. This is about feeling,’ he whispered.
She did and tried to relax back into the pillow but she was still too tense, waiting for some sensation she’d never experienced. The cold, smooth ice cream hit her nipple and she gasped with the shock of it.
‘Give it a second,’ he said.
She did, and suddenly the cold did something she never thought possible. It burned her nerve endings, sending a trail of fire right between her thighs. He added more to her other breast and everything doubled.
‘Zack, it’s… uh…’ She couldn’t describe how she felt, only that she was more aware of her breasts than she’d ever been. Who’d have known?
‘I know.’ His mouth closed over her nipple and the shift from cold to warm intensified everything.
By the time he’d lapped up the ice cream on her other side, she was well on the way to coming right there and he’d only touched her breasts. She didn’t have time to recover before he trailed the melted desert down the centre of her stomach, lapping it up as he went. Her breathing was coming fast now, like it did just before she went over the edge and she wondered if she should be embarrassed about coming so easily but was too lost to care.
He slid her knickers down her legs next and when they were off, parted her thighs. Oh god, yes.
‘This is going to be more intense,’ he warned with a grin, then before she could mutter out a response he parted her gently with his fingers and poured what felt like a lump of ice cream over her clit.
She muttered a string of curses as pleasure built so fast and hard at her core, but it wasn’t enough to send her into a full scale orgasm. She thought ice down there would have a numbing affect. How wrong could she be?
‘Look at me,’ he said, his voice thick.
Ciara opened her eyes in time to see him put her leg over his shoulder and dip down. He started from below, licking the melted ice cream before it hit the sofa and his tongue dipped deep inside. She clenched around him, hoping to hold him and was surprised the sight of him using his tongue increased the pleasure instead of embarrassing her.
When he moved up and sucked her clit into his mouth, she grabbed onto the cushion and fought back a scream, opting for gasping instead. Zack never took his eyes off her, and they glittered with challenge when she bit her lip instead of giving into the moans and groans.
And accept it he did. He was merciless, bringing her to the edge of sanity again and again, then pulling her back over and over. She gave up watching, couldn’t even open her eyes as her head shook from side to side on the pillow. Every time he built her back up she was sure that this was going to blow her mind and now, as he pushed her back to the brink of the biggest orgasm ever, she gave in and screamed for him not to stop.
Zack didn’t and used his tongue without mercy, pushing her so high she was sure the fall would break her but she didn’t care as long as he never stopped. This time the icy cold came back to her nipples as he tweaked them with sticky fingers. It was all it took for the pressure to release. The waves of ecstasy rippled through her, hard and relentless and he didn’t give up, not until he’d wrung the last aftershock from her limp body.
She kept her eyes closed for a second, trying to catch her breath.
‘Ciara, don’t fall asleep on me. There’s more where that came from,’ he promised, and sucked on her nipple again, relighting the flame.
‘Never,’ she replied, grabbing his hair and pulling him in for a wild, desperate kiss that promised more than she knew how to give.
***
‘Look what the cat dragged in,’ Zack said, pulling her closer to him.
Ciara squirmed out of his hold and jumped up from the sun lounger when she saw Elle’s nose wrinkle. He laughed quietly, then shifted his knee up to hide the evidence of their fumble in the sun.
‘Five minutes later and we might have got a decent show,’ Gem said with a grin.
Despite the fact both Gem and Elle looked like they hadn’t had an hour of sleep, they both still managed to look immaculate for their walk of shame. Ciara took a seat on one of the chairs, a safe distance away from Zack. It was crazy that no matter how many times she had him last night and again this morning, she couldn’t get enough.
Ignoring Gem, she asked, ‘Good night?’
‘You wouldn’t believe it!’ Gem said, collapsing on one of the loungers. ‘Rye had the biggest dick ever and he used it like a porn star. I swear they must get some kind of course on the female anatomy at school here. English men don’t know about half the stuff he did to me.’
Zack cleared his throat. ‘I think that’s my cue to leave you all to it.’
Ciara pressed her lips together to keep from giggling. He kissed her before he left, lingering a little too long and she almost forgot her friends were there when he broke away.
He whispered, ‘Hopefully this Englishman didn’t disappoint.’
She smiled. ‘Not once.’
Ciara watched him go, gripping the side of the chair so she didn’t follow. When she turned her attention back to her friends, Elle was looking at her with a weird expression – almost like pity…
Ciara wondered if she was really that in lust with Zack, or was it about something else?
‘Did you get Brandon’s number?’ she asked, wondering if that was the problem.
Elle seemed to snap out of it. ‘I gave him a bad one since he talked about hooking up for more than just sex.’
‘Oh.’ She didn’t know what else to say. That’s what she’d liked about Brandon.
Gem then went on with a more explicit breakdown of her night from the private shower in Rye’s ensuite to the athletic morning fuck that left her sore but satisfied. All the whil
e Elle was frowning at the glass wall of the house and she couldn’t shake a horrible nagging feeling that Elle wasn’t happy about something.
‘I guess we better go spend your vouchers, Ciara. You up for a day at the shops?’ Gem said.
‘Sounds good,’ she said, trying to hide her disappointment at having to leave the house. Or, more accurately, Zack.
‘Then we’ll go out for dinner. I haven’t eaten anything other than lettuce in days,’ Elle said distractedly. ‘Excuse me.’ She got up, went into the house and closed the door.
‘Is she okay?’ Ciara asked, hoping Elle wasn’t annoyed at her. ‘She doesn’t mind, does she?’
‘What, that you’re doing her cousin? I doubt it. She’s been quiet all morning,’ Gem said.
She wondered what was wrong, but Elle wouldn’t open up until she was ready. Her friend was quick to talk about herself until it came down to touchy subjects, then she kept her lips sealed.
‘What are you getting at the mall? You should plan for Paris since we’re leaving soon!’ Gem said, reminding her that the clock was ticking.
And soon her fling would be over for good. The high she’d been riding all morning crashed like a surfer hitting the sand face down.
***
They didn’t get home till late and the house was in darkness. After a day at the mall buying as much as they could carry, they hit a beach bar, ordered tasteless food and stayed there chatting and drinking for hours. But Ciara wasn’t even tipsy when they stumbled up the path in the dark, or worried about falling in the pool. It might cool her off, since Zack didn’t appear to be up.
Elle walked ahead and turned the Patio lights on. She was staring a hole through Ciara’s head.
‘Spit it out, Elle. I’m too tired to figure out what’s wrong with you.’ All the guessing was making her paranoid.
‘What’s going on between you and Zack? Is it serious?’ she asked.
Oh god, how did she answer without putting her foot in it? Elle might pretend to hate Zack but she grew up living in the same house as him, and this interrogation felt a bit like Elle was worried she was going to hurt him. After all, she had the attention span of a gold fish and it wasn’t like they didn’t know. When they headed out to parties she was always the first to get drunk and hit the dance floor because standing around waiting to catch a guy’s attention drove her bonkers.