“You killed Bekim Hassan and we made a deal.”
“It was self-defense.” He’d made sure it looked like that.
There was a snort from the other end of the phone. “Why are you calling? Changed your mind about accepting some help?”
Caspar took a deep breath. “I’m calling to warn you the shit might be about to hit the fan.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Caspar walked into The Wyndale Arms, unsure whether or not he wanted Ally to be in there. His ex-boss had made it quite clear what he expected. Caspar’s ties with Ally had to be severed in order that Caspar distance himself from her remarks. If he was exposed as a former spy, all those he’d been in contact with in Albania would come under suspicion—dangerous for one person in particular. The woman he’d met in the bathroom of the bar.
Richard insisted the sooner Caspar made the break with Ally, the better. The power of the Foreign Office would ensure no newspaper carried a story linking Caspar to spying in Albania, though Caspar suspected there would be a story about him and Lina.
There was no doubt in Caspar’s mind that if he didn’t break with Ally, life would become difficult for both of them. Richard hadn’t needed to spell it out. Caspar didn’t care about himself. How much worse could his life be? But he cared about Ally and he cared about his contact in Albania. Shit, what a mess. All because Ally had interfered, albeit with the best of intentions.
She wasn’t in the pub.
Relief tussled with disappointment.
“Caspar!” Tom called. “Ally not with you?”
“No.” Caspar bought a glass of red wine and sighed when he saw his usual seat by the fire occupied by a giggling redhead. He leaned on the bar instead.
Tom came to join him. “You left her at home then?”
Caspar bristled. “Not at my home.”
Tom’s mouth tightened. “It didn’t take long, did it? Christ, Caspar. What the hell’s the matter with you?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Fed up of her already? Your timing’s crap.”
A skeletal finger scratched the length of Caspar’s spine and poked him until he turned to face Tom. “Why? What’s happened? Is Ally all right?”
Doubt clouded Tom’s face. “When did you last see her?”
“After you didn’t kill her paragliding.”
“You passed her in your father’s car. There was…an accident just after.”
Caspar put his glass down and sloshed wine onto the bar. “What sort of accident?”
Tom moved closer. “The brake cables on Ally’s bike were cut. She crashed on Dawes Hill.”
“W-what?” Caspar’s heart jumped.
“She’s okay,” Tom said. “Unbelievably. She went to Buxton to give a statement to the police. They sent someone over to speak to me and her friends.”
“What the fuck happened?”
“I don’t know. I did wonder if she did it herself.” Tom stared straight at him. “Trying to get attention. Trying to make you stay with her. Trying to make you want her and not Lina.”
Caspar felt as chilled as if he’d dived into arctic water.
“She told me about the incidents in London,” Tom said. “Seems farfetched to me to conclude someone wants her dead. More likely she has…problems, though I suppose it’s possible one of her friends cut her brakes while we were in the pub.”
“One of her girlfriends?”
“We weren’t the only ones in the pub. Emma’s boyfriend Geoff, Ally’s ex-boss Jack and her ex-boyfriend Mark were there too.”
Why? Caspar wondered. Had Mark abused her, followed her up here to do it some more?
“I told Ally I’d bring her back from Buxton, but when she didn’t call, I did. The guy I spoke to said she got a taxi two hours ago. I thought she’d be with you by now.”
“No, she—” Caspar closed his mouth. “I thought she was staying at your place.”
Tom glanced around and then lowered his head closer to Caspar’s. “I don’t think she was too keen after she found a corn snake in her room this morning. One of her friends playing a trick, I think.”
Caspar shuddered.
“Talking of snakes, I didn’t put that one on Tyburn Crag. I wouldn’t endanger life at the top of a cliff. Not even yours. Neil’s still improving, by the way. They’re talking of letting him out in the middle of the week.”
“Good. So where the hell is Ally?”
“Unless she changed her mind about the speed-dating, she must have gone back to her brother’s place.”
Speed-dating? Shit. But sharing with Lina?Caspar doubted it. He gulped his wine and put the glass on the bar.
“Going to find her?” Tom asked.
“Yes.”
“Maybe you have changed.”
The glance they exchanged told Caspar repairs had been made to their friendship though there was a way to go.
Caspar took out his phone as he left the pub. Please don’t be a prick like me and ignore this call.
“Hello.” Ally sounded wary.
Caspar held back his groan of relief that she’d answered. “I’m sorry.” He figured that was always the best thing to say to a woman regardless of circumstance.
“Why? What have you done?”
Or maybe not.
“Where are you?” he asked.
“Finn’s garage.”
Caspar started to jog up the hill. “What are you doing in there?”
“Bit of woodwork. Thought I’d make a coffee table. If that didn’t work out, a coffin.”
“Ally!”
“I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
I am such a dickhead. “I heard about what happened today.”
She sighed. “Not sure which was worse, the snake or the lack of brakes. Now I’m not dead, I’m inclined to think it was the snake. Horrible orange thing.”
“Are you going to open the door?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m standing outside.”
The moment he saw her, Caspar dragged her into his arms and hugged her then let her go just as fast. “Shit, am I hurting you?”
“No.” She shot him a little smile.
He pulled her back into his arms. He wanted to hold her and never let her go. The exact opposite of what he was supposed to be doing, but the thought that he might have lost her forever almost stopped up his lungs. Throwing herself under a train? Cutting the brakes on her bike? She needed help. Over her shoulder, he took in the sun lounger and the dressing gown lying on it. She’d been going to sleep in here? In the cold? On her own? I am such a fucking dickhead.
One more night wasn’t too much to ask. This wasn’t the moment to confront her about the rumormongering.
“Come on,” he said. “Lock up. We can’t sleep on that. Apart from which it’s too cold in here to take our clothes off.”
Ally grabbed her purse. “Why would I want to take my clothes off?”
“I need to check you all over for injuries.”
When her face lit up in a grin, Caspar’s heart did a little jig. He switched off the light as they left and closed the door. Ally locked it. He took her hand in his and held tight.
“Tom said you drove past when I was zooming in the other direction. Thanks for not hitting me.”
Christ. “My father’s car. I gave Lina a…lift. She wouldn’t let me put the top down.” He didn’t want to hide the truth from Ally, but this didn’t seem the right time to tell her what had happened. Caspar pulled his keys from his pocket and twisted them in his fingers. “I wished you were next to me.”
“What? And mess my hair?”
He laughed. The moment Caspar had closed and locked his door, he let out a long sigh. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to bring her here. Ally switched on the light and he flicked it off.
Caspar ran his finger down her cheek. “You’re going to think I’m a sex maniac.”
“Going to?”
“I blame you. The moment I get anywhere near
you, my cock sucks up my entire blood supply and my brain develops a one-track mind.” He pushed her gently against the wall in the hall and unfastened the buttons on her coat. “Forgive me?”
“What for?”
“For not moving from this spot until I’ve come inside you.”
She let out a shuddery breath and stared into his eyes.
Caspar threw his coat onto the floor, Ally’s followed. He kissed her, melting into her mouth as he stripped her of every item of clothing. As she did the same to him, Caspar leaned into her, pressing his cock into the swell of her stomach, grinding his hips against hers as they exchanged hungry, open-mouthed kisses.
He pulled back for air and rested his palms on either side of her head as he stared into her eyes. Ally was breathing rapidly through her mouth, her chest rising and falling, her beautiful nipples like little raspberries. Is this the last time I’ll touch her?
She lifted her hand and traced the arch of his eyebrows with her finger, trailed her fingertip down his nose, over his lips to his chin and along the curve of his jaw to his ear. Caspar copied what she’d done, and when he ran his finger across her mouth and her lips curled up, he smiled. Ally reached for his cock, and he hissed when she tightened her fist around the base and drew her hand up to drag the wrinkled foreskin over the crown. A fat ball of pre-cum rolled from his slit. Ally scooped it up with her finger and thumb and brought it to her lips. Her sigh when she sucked her fingers made Caspar’s balls tingle.
He slid his hand down the soft skin of her belly, over the teardrop of curls. Caspar could feel the wet warmth of her folds even before he touched them. He laid his forehead against hers as he eased his fingers over her sex. He’d thought he’d never get to do this again, and now he wanted her so much every cell in his body ached in desperation.
“Ah God, sorry, Ally. I can’t wait.”
He used his knee to widen her legs, bent and took her in a single thrust, sliding deep, hard and fast.
“I l…” Oh fuck. One thing he mustn’t say.
Ally wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted her legs onto his hips. Caspar pressed her against the wall, his hands supporting her backside as he pounded into her.
“Ally, Ally,” he gasped.
She was so wet and tight and hot, his cock swelled at her grasp. Even in the thrall of lust, Caspar needed her to come before he did. He pulled her down as he thrust up and Ally worked with him, driving herself onto him, her hands pressing on his shoulders. Her breasts banged against his chest and the brush of her nipples rubbing against him wound his balls into a harder knot. The muscles of her pussy clenched him so fiercely Caspar could hardly bear it yet thought it the most exquisite feeling in the world.
Ally shifted her hips and Caspar gasped at the change in angle, the different sensation against his cock head as if he‘d reached some hidden place inside her. His thighs shook with the effort of holding back, with the effort of holding her up.
“Oh God,” Ally cried, and her climax broke over him.
Caspar jerked through the clench of her spasms with a flurry of hard, fast thrusts because he had no choice. The need to come overpowered everything. His balls tingled, his cock heated as their bellies slapped together in frantic motion. A lightning bolt hit his head and sent pulses of electricity shooting down his spine. His balls were drawn up so tight to the base of his shaft it felt as if they were trying to climb it. His cock pulsed and Caspar came with a jolt, flooding her with his seed as if he were trying to put out a fire.
They sagged against the wall, and Ally’s legs slid down his thighs until her feet hit the floor. Caspar nuzzled into her neck and held her until their breathing eased, until his cock softened and slipped free. He’d been so close to blurting he loved her. His heart pounded at the thought. How stupid would that have been?
He was a dick. He pulled back and smiled at her. “That’s taken the edge off.”
Christ, it’s official. I am a dick. He needed to think for at least an hour before he opened his mouth in view of what he needed to say to her tomorrow. You selfish prick.
Ally smiled as Caspar leaned against the wall at her side. She took his hand in hers and squeezed his fingers.
“Can we go to bed?” she whispered.
Caspar tried to speak but nothing came out. Probably just as well.
Ally tugged him to the stairs. “There’s something I want to do.”
Anything.
“I’ve never tried it before but I want to do it to you.” Her face lit in a smile.
Anything.
They were halfway up the stairs when she turned to face him. “We need marmalade, two feet of barbed wire and a nine volt battery.”
Ally laughed when Caspar fell over. “Or just my mouth.” She led him by the hand into the bedroom. “Lie on the bed. Face up.”
Caspar settled with his arms folded under his head. Ally switched on the bedside light on his makeshift table. Her stomach clenched when she looked at him lying there all long and lean and luscious. Her gaze ran from his toes up to his nervous expression and she grinned.
“Why do you have that mischievous glint in your eye?” he asked.
“I want to suck your cock until it’s gone hard again.”
As if his cock heard, it stirred in its nest, swelled a little, and Caspar let out a deep groan.
“Damn it,” Ally said. “Normal men don’t recover that fast. You…weirdo. Right. Close your eyes and keep them closed.”
She ran back downstairs and opened the fridge. Ran back upstairs with the ice tray and two glass bottles of ketchup. Caspar lay with his eyes closed, his arms by his sides, fists clenched as if he suspected trouble. He was right. Ally put the ice tray on the floor and crawled onto the bed with the sauce. Taking one cold bottle in each hand, she laid them either side of his cock.
Caspar sprang to a sitting position. “Jesus Christ, what the…? Ah.” He sank back again. “You could have warned me.”
“There would have been no fun in that at all. You don’t have marmalade. I’ve had to compromise. Are you soft again?”
“My balls have taken refuge behind my kidneys and my cock is unlikely to speak to you ever again.”
“I’ll just leave the bottles there for ten minutes.”
“Take them off now.”
Ally laughed. “Right.” She put them on the floor then laid her head on his belly and blew warm air on his cock. “How fast?”
“The bottles were a waste of time. I’m going to be rigid as soon as you put your lips on me.”
“Try not to be.”
Caspar growled.
Ally licked his shaft from the root to the head. She liked the different feel of his flaccid cock, the spongy softness, the delicate fragility. She licked him again, head to the root. She could hear Caspar’s ragged breathing, feel his chest rise and fall. When she took the tip of his cock in her mouth and sucked gently, his breathing stuttered to a halt. Ally teased the tiny slit with her tongue, used her lips to pull his foreskin over his crest then used them to push it back. She ran her tongue around the ridge below the head and then landed a shower of kisses over his cock as it grew and grew against her face.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“You don’t sound sorry.”
“I am, I promise. I wish you could just lie there and do that all night.”
“I haven’t finished with you yet,” Ally said. “Keep still.”
She reached to the floor and pulled an ice cube out of the tray. As she licked one side of Caspar’s cock, she ran the ice along the other side.
“Fucking hell,” Caspar gasped.
The ice melted against him, dripping down into his pubic hair. When Ally ran the cube over his glans, Caspar’s hips bucked. She popped the cube between her lips and let him feel it along with the heat of her mouth.
“Jesus, Ally.”
Another sweep over the winking slit and Caspar bucked again. This time his hips caught Ally’s chin and she swallowed the ice. When she launc
hed into a coughing fit, Caspar sat up to pat her on the back.
“God, you’re dangerous,” she said.
“Ha, and you’re not?” He leaned back against the pillows. “How are you at multitasking?”
“Better than you.”
Caspar laughed. “Let’s see.”
He caught hold of her waist and swiveled her around so they lay on their sides, her face against his crotch, her sex close to his mouth. The warmth of his exhalation brushed her wet folds, and a coil tightened in Ally’s belly. She trapped the head of his cock between her lips, and after a series of short, hard sucks, Caspar let out a long sigh. One lick over her clit and Ally groaned around his cock.
Caspar shuddered and mumbled into her, “Oh God, do that again.”
Ally obliged, but it was hard to concentrate on him when he was teasing her. Finger and tongue spearing her, his lips pressed tight to the hills and valleys between her legs, Caspar made it impossible to focus on pleasing him. Her budding orgasm rose like a kite, still tethered by string but desperate to fly free.
Caspar pressed and stroked and licked and kissed. Ally could do little more than nurse on his cock, her tongue lapping at the crest, her mind swirling, heady on the taste and scent of him. The nip of Caspar’s teeth on the most sensitive nub of tissue broke the twine that held her back. Ally came with a strangled gasp around his shaft, swallowing against him as the cascade of sensation swept her away into a cloudless sky.
As the tremors in her body faded and the explosion of release subsided back into its different parts, she once again felt the caress of Caspar’s tongue, his delving fingers and his rough cheeks. Ally wrapped her fist around the root of his cock and twisted as she sucked. She heard Caspar swearing into the lips of her sex. Using the tip of her tongue, Ally traced the swollen veins that laced his cock, licked the heavy sac that hung at the base and massaged his balls with her mouth.
Caspar eased away from her with a groan. “You win. You’re the best. You can have all my worldly goods. I just need one small favor in return. Me—inside you—now.”
Kiss a Falling Star Page 25