by Aimee Duffy
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 wo
ndered 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 while 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.
But honesty always went down better with Elle. ‘We agreed to have some fun while we were here, like a fling. He said that’s all he wants too.’
Her nose wrinkled again, but then she laughed. ‘Good, but make sure you don’t share any of the gory details.’
‘But the details are the best parts,’ Gem protested.
Elle shuddered. ‘It’s bad enough listening to your sexcapades, never mind my cousin’s!’
Gem laughed as she followed Elle into the house, but Ciara’s mind was working overtime. Why had Elle relaxed when she said it was just a fling? But she knew the answer. Elle didn’t want her to hurt her family, quite rightly too. She’d hurt some at uni, those who she thought she could maybe have more than the occasional hook up with and would always get bored of them a little too late to spare their feelings. Ciara definitely didn’t want to do that to Zack.
Zack didn’t appear as they packed away their shopping so she resigned to going to bed alone and hanging up her purchases. After a shower and a quick brush of her teeth, she climbed into bed, wondering if he was even there. They hadn’t exactly been quiet when they got back.
But then her door opened and he snuck in, wearing nothing but his boxers.
‘You tired?’ he asked, then kissed her lightly on the nose.
‘Not anymore,’ she said, winding her arms around his neck. ‘How was your day?’
‘Good. I worked on some drawings and I’m actually happy with them.’
‘Really?’ She pulled back to try and see his face in the darkness. ‘Can I see?’
‘Tomorrow,’ he promised and sealed it with a kiss.
He pulled at the hem of her new, silky nightgown she’d gotten from Bloomingdales. ‘I like this, by the way. I take it you had fun shopping?’
‘I bet I’d have had more with you,’ she said, running her hands down his back.
He managed to get her out of the silk without her having to let him go. ‘I’d put money on it.’
‘Wait,’ she said, pulling the sheet over her breasts. ‘Isn’t this a bit weird with Elle and Gem in the house.’
‘Maybe.’ He laughed a little. ‘You’ll just have to bite your lip tonight.’
By the time they’d finished with each other, she’d almost chewed it right off.
***
The sound of scratching woke her up the next day, and the first thing she noticed was Zack sitting at the dressing table in her room with a sketch pad and pencil. She stretched, feeling the burn in her muscles where she’d bent into some positions she never thought she’d been capable of.
‘Good morning sleepy head,’ he said.
Ciara rolled her eyes. ‘I wonder what could possibly have gotten me so exhausted.’
‘The hazards of bedding a stud?’ he suggested.
She tossed a pillow at him, but he batted it away with a smile and put the sketch pad down. ‘You’re crabby this morning.’
Maybe, but it hadn’t hit her until now that this would be the last morning she’d get to spend with him.
‘Can I see now?’ she asked, needing a distraction from the depressing thought.
He closed over the pad he’d been working on. ‘This isn’t finished yet, but you can look at these.’ He brought a bigger notepad over to the bed and sat on the pillows next to her.
She noticed he’d been showered and dressed and realised she was probably smelling like a sweaty, sex filled night. Zack didn’t seem to mind. He tugged her up so she was cradled against his shoulder, then opened the book.
‘Wow.’ The first design was a block of flats with a twist. Maisonette in style, but with a more modern, new build feel. He’d sketched a river next to it and the gardens looked like something out of a new age fairy tale.
‘I was thinking of doing a development like this at some point. Do you really like it?’ he asked.
‘I love it. You’re so good at this.’ She flipped through the pages, all of them getting better and better until she came to one she had to stop at.
This house was huge, as big as an old Victorian mansion but wasn’t flashy with it. The sides were completely glass with floating staircases inside at either end. It was very chic, a little space agey but definitely stunning. ‘This is like something you see on those dream home shows.’
‘It’s my dream home. I’m going to build it someday, hopefully,’ he said, sounding more wistful than excited.
‘You should!’ She grinned at him. ‘It’s brilliant, really. Stunning.’
‘So a bit like you, then?’
She laughed at his cheesiness, but then her mood plummeted again.
Zack seemed to feel the same. ‘I wish you were staying longer.’
‘Me too.’ She sighed and snuggled closer against him.
‘We’ll just have to make the most of today,’ he said, finger combing her hair back from her face.
‘You know, the buildings in Paris would be good inspiration.’ The words were out before she could think about it. ‘I… er… sorry. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.’
His eyes were abrupt
ly sad. ‘I have to go to London tomorrow, Ciara.’
‘Of course, you have responsibilities. I’m sorry,’ she mumbled again.
‘Don’t be,’ he said, shifting over so he was facing her. ‘No regrets, okay?’
She nodded, since she didn’t want to lie and he pulled her into his arms. She hugged him close, knowing she was going to have lots of regrets when she left Miami – the biggest being that she didn’t take after her loving, dependable father instead. Then maybe she’d get to keep hold of Zack a little bit longer.
The fun continues…
Join the girls on the next stop of their round-the-world trip!
Point Us to Paris
Aimée Duffy
All my life I’ve been dreaming up stories. My mum said when I was little I used to make all the My Little Pony figurines talk to each other and even fall in love. Later, it was Barbie and Ken. In my teens, I played matchmaker with my friends at school.
When I wasn’t creating imaginary scenarios, I had my nose stuck in books, reading across genres and there was one thing I loved more than the escapism—the fact a story could touch me so deeply, like I was experiencing everything along with my characters. I knew from early on this was something I wanted to do for others.
Fast forward a few years and the dream almost got lost in real life, but I still couldn’t shake it completely. Now I write sizzling romance with the hope of making my readers’ hearts race as if they are falling in love for the first time.
You can follow me on Twitter @AimeeDuffyx.
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