‘I’ll catch you about,’ Robin said. Her pretty eyes twinkled in the growing gloom.
When Kara next opened her eyes, her guest had departed. She cleaned herself with shower gel and then rinsed off under the shower. It’d been fun, but she hoped Robin didn’t think they were going to make this sort of thing a regular date. She’d spent too long relating the facts of her whereabouts and life to Gavin; she wasn’t about to start relaying everything to an obsessive friend instead.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kara woke to the twilight of her laptop screensaver. She’d spoken to her brother, but that must have been some hours ago. The creaky, tapestry-strewn master bedroom lay in almost total darkness now, with only a trace of moonlight visible through the circular stained-glass window set at knee level in the wall. Someone – oh God, was that Zach? – was banging on the door. Judging by his impatience, he’d already been out there some time.
Kara hopped off the bed. She fastened her bathrobe tight around her waist as she ran for the stairs. Honestly, she ought to give lessons on how to make a poor impression. She’d have to make it clear once she’d invited Zach in that he’d caught her out and that she hadn’t dressed this provocatively on purpose.
‘Shit – oh, shit! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to make you wait. I fell asleep, you just woke me.’
Only it wasn’t Zach idling on her porch with his feet planted on her doormat and his bum resting against the wall – it was Ric.
His flaxen hair framed his narrow face as he turned to her. His hands were pressed prayer-like to his generous lips. He’d dressed almost entirely in black, which by moonlight gave his skin a luminous pallor. Kara’s heart did a sort of hiccup, while her feet glued themselves to the spot. Speechless, she blinked at him. Heaven help her, but she’d forgotten exactly how striking he truly was. She’d given in to lust last night for a very good reason: he was magnetic. Suddenly, his offhandedness in dismissing her after sex seemed a minor issue. He was here after all, come to claim his prize, and not even twenty-fours had passed.
The outline of the thickly bunched muscles that made up Ric’s torso showed briefly through his ribbed cotton top as he shifted slightly on the spot. He hadn’t given her an opportunity to explore his body. That had to be rectified immediately. A smile tugged its way across her lips. How glorious he’d look stretched out in her bed with only a sheet to cover him. She was going to spend hours doing just that, stroking him, teasing him, until he was quaking and desperate for release.
‘I wasn’t expecting you.’
‘Evidently not.’ His pale gaze swept across over her body, dwelling briefly on the hasty knot she’d made in her belt. Kara returned the look with an equally salacious one of her own. His jeans were low-slung, and pleasantly tight around the thighs. They also fastened with a button fly, perfect for teasing open slowly.
‘I’m not interrupting anything, am I?’ He straightened up from his slouched position.
Kara swept the horizon behind him, wondering if Zach were about to arrive too and what would happen if he did. God forgive her, but she couldn’t help fantasising about an arrangement in which she got to have them both. Zach claimed that he and Ric had been lovers. They both seemed open-minded. A threesome wasn’t such an enormous ask, was it? Perhaps it was. So she kept her mouth closed about Zach. What was the point in stirring up trouble unnecessarily?
‘You got my note?’ Ric asked.
Kara tugged the handwritten card out of her bathrobe pocket. Got it, thought about it and hadn’t quite believed in it. ‘You were a bit sparing with the details. So, you’re here to claim your prize?’
He had a nerve. Boy, did he have a nerve. She didn’t hate him for what he’d done, but he did owe her an apology, and he was outright presumptuous turning up like this.
Ric tilted his head so that his hair shadowed his face. His luminous eyes grew dark. ‘Actually, I wondered if you fancied coming for a walk.’
‘In the dark!’ Was he for real? Who the hell invited their neighbours out for an evening stroll any more? The human race had just about forgotten how to walk. Another few years and they’d be zipping about on floating motorised pedestals.
‘I often walk in the dark,’ he elucidated, evidently prompted to speak by her silence. ‘There are fewer people about, and since I was coming this way –’ of course, he had his dogs to exercise, though, curiously, they didn’t seem to be with him on this excursion ‘– I thought you might like to see the beach. I didn’t think you’d have been down there yet. It’s really pretty.’
Kara stepped out on to the garden path. Above them, the entirety of the Milky Way was strung across the night sky like a glittering stream. The reflection of all those lights upon the water would make the ocean seem vast and magnificent. Ric’s notion remained questionable, though. ‘It seems awfully romantic. I didn’t have you pinned as that type.’ He hadn’t done anything up to this point to suggest it, quite the opposite in fact.
‘Well, don’t come out if you’re expecting odes and sonnets. I like the stars, but I’m not much for flowery sentiments.’
‘Likewise.’ She’d been taken in by a heap of romantic nonsense in the past. Then she’d woken up and realised Gavin’s romanticism and coddling were simply designed to keep her in her place. The crunch had come the day she’d lost her job and she’d caught him smiling because she was finally dependent upon him. ‘Very well, I’ll come. What should I expect?’
Ric’s brows briefly furrowed. ‘A scramble down the cliff face followed by sand between your toes.’
That’s it? He had to have an ulterior motive. ‘Did you bring your camera?’
‘No.’ He quizzically cocked an eyebrow. ‘I’m sensing disappointment.’
‘Well, after last night, I’m not sure what to expect. I thought perhaps you were going to spring some ancient tithe on me?’
‘Oh!’ His mouth rounded. ‘I wasn’t planning to. Besides, none of the ancient documents refer to photography. Maybe I ought to add a codicil.’
God, he both vexed and charmed her. It wasn’t as if she wanted lewd photos of herself floating about the place – the locals were gossiping about her enough – although the idea of having a permanent record of some of her experiences did kind of appeal. She had always loved the more visual aspects of sex.
Actually, she’d like to turn a camera on Ric. He’d make for a far more evocative picture than she would, with his silk-like hair and pale hypnotic eyes, not to mention that feral, fox-like smile. Plus, she liked to see muscle and cock, not feminine curves.
‘Clothing recommendations?’
‘Thigh-high boots and nothing more.’
Kara gently tapped his cheek. ‘It’s a little nippy for that, don’t you think?’
‘You asked.’ His lips pursed. ‘And I’m sure I could dream up ways to keep you warm.’
Blazing, she imagined. Unfortunately, she didn’t own such footwear. Maybe Ric did, amongst his studio props. If so, perhaps she could play dress-up next time she dropped by the fort. ‘I thought you said we were going on a stroll.’
Maddeningly, he just grinned.
‘OK. Look, come on in.’ Kara pushed the door wide, making space for him to cross the threshold. With any luck, Zach had already come and gone, and she’d slept through it. She liked Zach, and didn’t want him stumbling upon her engaged with Ric. Right now, it seemed sensible to keep her options open.
Ric flicked on a lamp in the lounge, saving Kara the bother of stumbling around trying to locate the overhead light switch. She left him to make himself comfortable and trotted upstairs to pull on some clothes. Five minutes later they were back on the doorstep, her in jogging pants and a zip top worn over a sports bra.
Ric tweaked the sports ensemble with a pout. ‘I preferred my suggestion.’
They headed straight across the heath to reach the cove, where the moonlit water lapped quietly at the shore. The crisp, salty smell of seaweed drifted up to them as they scrambled down a narrow gorge that was
cut into the rock face and zigzagged its way down to the shingle-covered beach. Only near the water’s edge did the pebbles give way to sand. They stood on the wet shore, letting the tide pull the ground away from beneath them.
‘Thank you for the scones,’ Kara said, as she watched him skim stones across the waves. ‘Robin found me and let me know you’d sorted everything.’
‘I’m sure she did.’
The sharp edge to his voice made Kara’s attention perk. ‘Sorry, I thought you’d sent her.’
Ric shook his head. He began to walk again, following the line of the surf. ‘I figured you’d go home eventually.’ He stuck his hands in his pockets and focused his attention out to sea. ‘I sent Zach a text, in case he ran into you again.’
‘You didn’t send Robin?’
‘Didn’t I just say that? Why would I? She’s nothing to do with me.’
‘She’s not your PA?’ Kara hurried to keep pace with him. That’s definitely what Robin had implied.
‘She’s not my anything.’
Alarm bells started ringing in Kara’s brain. She’d allowed Robin to … well, to masturbate her, having accepted her for whom she claimed to be, when apparently it had all been lies. What, if any of it, had been the truth? ‘Then why would she say that?’
She didn’t need Ric to answer. Not that he did. Robin’s obsession had been apparent from the outset. She’d latched on to Kara deliberately so she could get a vicarious kick out of reliving Kara’s night with Ric. She’d probably seen her leave the fort first thing, or, hell, just made an assumption based on her knowledge of Ric and the rights he claimed over those resident on his island.
‘You didn’t speak to her about us?’
‘I haven’t spoken to her in years.’
Kara stopped walking and watched the space between her and Ric grow. ‘That’s odd,’ she called, ‘because she seems very fond of you.’
Ric’s back immediately stiffened. He stopped and turned, and then swallowed up the space between them in five long strides. ‘Fondness isn’t really the right term, is it?’ He looked her hard in the face, bending to do so. His expression had become brittle and tiny crow’s feet creased the corners of his eyes. ‘Go on, ask. Most people want to know why I don’t oblige her.’
‘Why don’t you?’ Kara murmured.
He shrugged as he straightened back to his full height, allowing the movement to convey his ambivalence. ‘I don’t fancy her. She doesn’t live here.’ He raised his hands in a gesture of indifference, before digging them back into his pockets, so that the denim crept down his hips. ‘You can couple that with the fact that she’s too clingy. I’m not interested in that sort of dependency. I figured you’d have realised that by now.’
Kara folded her arms across her chest. ‘It’s why you cut things dead last night. You didn’t want me thinking that you were somehow available,’ she drawled, extending the syllables of the last word.
Ric had the grace to look contrite. He pulled his hands from his pockets and extended them towards her in friendship. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to piss you off. I just wanted to –’
‘– make it clear that it was sex and nothing more. I got that. I’m fine with it.’ She stared at his hands, unwilling to accept the embrace. ‘I’m nonplussed over this, though. Walking? You’re not interested in dating me so what is it?’
‘Does it have to be anything?’
‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘Yeah, it does.’
He dropped his gaze to the sand for a moment. ‘OK.’ He looked up, nodding. ‘As you want it. I needed to return these.’ Ric fished about in his pocket and drew out a scrunched piece of cloth. ‘You left your knickers behind.’ He twirled the coloured scrap of cotton he’d stripped from her the night before around the end of her finger.
Kara stared at him, but didn’t reach out and claim her undies.
‘I suppose you know only naughty girls take off their knickers in a stranger’s living room,’ he crooned, still twirling the cloth about his finger. His grin split his face, and warmed the blue of his eyes. ‘And only really naughty girls walk around in short skirts wearing nothing underneath. I dread to think of all the trouble you’ve stirred up on my island flashing your muff at the tourists.’
The tourists hadn’t given her much trouble. It’d been the inhabitants.
Kara made a backhanded swipe at his torso, not caring about the knickers but irritated by his grin. Ric easily dodged. He grabbed her arm and swung her into his embrace, so that she was standing with her back pressed to his front, both of them facing the ocean. ‘Get off me.’
‘Shan’t.’
‘What do you want?’ His loins pressed tightly against her bottom, so she could feel the shape of him beneath his clothing.
‘You know what I want. It’s the same thing you want.’
Was it? Could she genuinely do long-term sex with him without becoming even a little emotionally invested, or knowing the first thing about him? Could anyone do that? Ought she to mention Zach, who seemed altogether more emotionally malleable, and whom she could see building an actual friendship with? She probably should, but wasn’t that the point Ric was making? That he forfeited all right to any knowledge of her?
Kara buttoned her lips and kept the information locked up inside her, where it fizzed, making her feel somewhat volatile.
‘Strangers,’ Ric purred into her ear. ‘Not fuck buddies or friends. There’s nothing familiar about us except our wants and the shape of our bodies.’ His lips traced the pulse point in her neck, lightly at first, though his sucking soon became insistent.
Kara tilted her head, allowing him greater access as her breathing began to stutter. A flood of sexual heat liquefied her insides. That point just next to her collarbone was apparently hardwired to her nipples and her clit.
Her sighs became voluble, and devolved into pleasurable groans.
She turned in his arms, and stretched on to her toes to reach his lips. His hand clasped tight over hers where she held it against his chest. His thigh fitted neatly between her legs as she leaned into him. As for the kiss, Ric’s lips were softly demanding. He teased, never quite giving her all she wanted, like he was deliberately winding her up and holding her back.
Craving more, not less, Kara clung to him. She pushed her hands inside his jacket and explored the contours of his back. This time sex wasn’t all going to be his way. She intended to take a little of what she wanted, not just wait for him to dish it out.
Her tongue tangled with his, spearing into his mouth in an imitation of coitus, while her hands moved to his button-fly and the wedge of his cock lying diagonally beneath.
‘Let me go down on you.’ He’d shown her what he could do. Now it was her turn. She pulled away from his kiss, though he tried to hold her there by pushing his hands into her hair.
Kara backed him up against a nearby rock. Her hands passed up and down his body, taking in the hollows and planes. He was broadest across the shoulders, thinnest at the waist, every inch pleasingly firm. Within seconds she had him out of his jacket and T-shirt, his clothing making a shadowy pile by their feet. ‘You’re not cold, I hope,’ she said a second before latching on to one of his stiff little nipples.
‘If I were, what would you do?’
Kara unbuckled his belt. She didn’t bother with the buttons of his fly, choosing instead to simply tug the denim down until it hugged the tops of his thighs. ‘I’d tell you to man up and cope.’
He responded with a soft guffaw that morphed into a sigh as she slid her tongue down the tight contours of his abs to where the head of his cock bucked expectantly against his flesh. His cock stood flushed red and eager, his balls drawn tight to his body.
Kara stood back to admire him. Ric Liddell had to be one of the most beautiful men she’d ever met and just because they weren’t headed for something deep and meaningful didn’t mean she couldn’t appreciate that. Lord, even his cock was pretty, ramrod-straight and streaked with pale blue veins like a Ming-dyna
sty vase. Only at the tip where the skin was taut and smooth did the colour grow fierce; there it darkened to a pinkish-plum.
In fact, he looked so perfect, so lewd and magnificent all at once, that she got out her phone and took a snapshot.
Ric didn’t bat an eyelid at her recording his image, not even when she turned the screen towards him so he could see how proud he stood. He sniffed. ‘Definitely one for the female gaze, that. Lighting sucks.’
‘Aren’t you supposed to follow that with “I hope you do too?”’ Kara smiled up at him sweetly. ‘You could ask nicely and I might, you know.’
‘How about I ask nastily?’
God, that feral grin of his, it damn near turned her inside out. Somehow he managed to make his subsequent growl of ‘Suck my cock, Kara’ the sexiest sound on the planet.
Ric hooked a hand behind her head and pulled her down towards his erection. She knelt willingly and took him fully into her mouth. The hot, pungent taste of his body, all male, laced with the salty taste of pre-come, hit her tongue and sent a welcome ripple of arousal through her body. This was simple and straightforward. She knew all the rules. Sex could be so uncomplicated. It didn’t need prettifying with unnecessary sentiment. All that mattered was that he shagged her senseless and that at the end they were both satisfied.
God, she hoped he was going to shag her senseless, and that he didn’t just come in her mouth and then walk her home.
Ric, it turned out, was a little more than she could comfortably swallow. Kara stuck to lavishing attention on the head of his shaft, swirling her tongue against the delicate slitted eye and claiming each precious drop of pre-come that spilled.
Ric’s palm rubbed over the back of her head, not so much encouragingly as though he was keeping a tight hold on where she was taking him. It still came as something of a shock when he pushed her away.
Kara fell back on to her haunches. ‘What?’ She gazed up at him expectantly. ‘What?’ She wriggled her jogging bottoms down to her calves so he had only to pull aside the scrap of her knickers to get to her.
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