12 Days At Silver Bells House

by Jennie Jones

  She hauled in a breath. ‘I’m not flapping. I just wondered if you thought my mouth felt ancient.’

  ‘Your lips tasted of raspberries. I only wish I’d opened your mouth and tasted the inside.’

  She stared at him, her body stiffening, though he could see her trembling.

  ‘Do you want to kiss me?’ he asked. ‘Or not.’

  She nodded. She hadn’t paused, not for a millisecond.

  Jamie held both arms out. They’d been aching the entire day. Aching to hold her. No, damn it. Let’s get real truthful. Seven days…and counting.

  She dropped the carry-on and skittered down the stairs with the grace of a Siamese cat.

  Jamie caught her as she threw herself against him.

  A split second later he’d steadied her, had his arms around her tight enough to hold her up and his mouth on hers before she had the chance to change her mind about the kiss. Bingo. The shock trembled through them both as he opened her mouth and tasted her. He deepened the kiss as her arms tightened around his neck. His sweet, executive lady had the name and the body of an angel. His lady. His. Jesus. He’d only met her a week ago and yet she sent shockwaves of adoration down his spine. ‘Katie,’ he said, releasing her from the kiss so he could speak. So he could tell her…

  ‘Holy jalopy!’ she said, breathless, eyes wide. ‘You felt that? Yes? The tingle.’

  He smiled, studied her face, and moved her fringe where a strand of her hair had caught on her eyelashes. ‘Right down to my gumboots.’

  ‘So what do we do now?’

  ‘I think we need further tests.’

  ‘To check the chemistry stuff before we sleep together?’

  He loved the way she thought. No messing about. We’ve kissed, we liked it, next step is to go to bed with each other.

  ‘I was never any good with sciences,’ she told him. ‘But I was good at maths.’

  ‘So how long have we known each other?’

  ‘A hundred and sixty-seven hours and—’ She angled her head and glanced at the watch on his wrist. ‘Thirty-two minutes.’

  Jamie nodded. ‘You’re good. I could give you a job sizing up ditches if you want one.’

  She opened her mouth to speak but Jamie kissed it to stop her. He ran his hand down her spine until it landed on her right bottom cheek. He squeezed it.

  ‘Am I getting fat?’ she murmured through the kiss.

  ‘You’re getting sexier every day.’

  ‘Because I’m putting on weight?’

  ‘In here,’ he said, pulling back and tapping her forehead with his index finger. ‘You’re getting sexier with every newfound discovery you make about how lovely you are. With every happy thought about yourself.’

  ‘My mind is making me sexy?’

  ‘You’re damned right it is.’

  ‘So are we going to sleep together because of my mind?’

  ‘No. And we’re not going to sleep until much later. We’ve got a few physical moves to get through first.’

  ****

  Kate paused, holding her breath.

  ‘Unless you’ve got something else to do…’ His words trailed off.

  She stared into his darkened brown eyes. Five minutes ago she’d been hoping for a bus. Now it looked like she’d be getting another fireman’s lift from her rescuer.

  ‘I didn’t fancy the walk into town anyway.’

  He didn’t hesitate. He walked her up the stairs, backwards, holding on to her waist, a desperate look in his eye.

  Her heart rate matched the sound of their footsteps on the stairs — wild. She clung onto his shoulders and let him lead her. ‘I can’t wait to get you out of your clothes, Jamie Knight.’

  ‘Uh-uh,’ he denied with a rasp in his voice as he pushed her through the doorway to the big main bedroom. ‘Guests first.’

  Chapter 10

  Undressing Jamie Knight was going to be better than undressing ten top-paid models. Better even than raspberry-ripple anything.

  Kate was experiencing a wave of expectancy as, true to his promise, she was the first to shed her clothes. And she wanted to be naked when she undressed him, so that when she was done, there was nothing in their way.

  Her fingers tangled with his. ‘Just pull it out of the slot,’ she told him as he fumbled with the wrap-belt of her stupid herringbone wraparound dress.

  ‘I’m trying. Where the hell’s the slot?’

  She laughed, pausing them both by holding his waist and pressing her face to his chest. ‘Oh, Jamie, I’m sorry.’ She was tied up tighter in this dress than a trussed turkey in a baking tray.

  He stepped away, letting her go. ‘Okay, this is the way it’s going to work.’

  Kate’s smile wavered with desire, her body tingling in all the unused places. The places that hadn’t tingled for — who cared how long? They wouldn’t be waiting much longer. ‘How?’ she asked.

  ‘You undress yourself from that executive wraparound and I’ll stand back and watch.’

  His impertinent grin could untangle the belt on its own. But probably not quickly enough.

  Kate unknotted the tie at her waist, ripped the belt apart and out of its side-slot and flung the dress back from her shoulders.

  It landed on the floor at the exact same time as Jamie inhaled a hot-sounding ragged breath.

  ‘Dear God, Katie. If I’d known you had those in your suitcase this would have been happening five days ago in the paddock.’

  ‘Eight days,’ she reminded him, slipping her white pumps off her feet while smoothing her hands over her hips and the string of her black lacy knickers. More of a tiny V-shape piece of nothing than an article of clothing.

  ‘Or on the back seat of the digger.’

  ‘There isn’t a back seat,’ she reminded him.

  ‘Believe me, Kate, I’d have found the space.’ He stepped towards her and Kate moved back. ‘Uh-uh! You’re watching, remember?’

  ‘But I want to touch.’

  ‘You said I had to get undressed before you did.’

  ‘That was all of three minutes ago. I want my hands on your naked body, Katie. Now.’ His gaze moved up her torso and rested on the matching lacy bra. The saucy, push-up half-cupped underwire bra that she wore because she was a designer and was supposed to wear flibbertigibbet lingerie even though it was occasionally scratchy and not always the most comfortable. ‘You want me to take this expensive old thing off first?’ she asked, flicking the silky pencil-thin strap on her shoulder. ‘Or these?’ She snapped the straps of her lacy knickers.

  ‘Shit. Just take it all off quick if you won’t let me do it.’ He toed off his boots and started undoing the buttons on his shirt.

  ‘Hey!’ Kate held up a warning hand. ‘That’s my job.’ And she intended to enjoy every button-worth. But as he didn’t look willing to wait, her striptease would have to happen another time. Please God let there be another time.

  After this time…

  She unhooked the bra and let the straps fall down to her elbows as she shimmied out of her knickers. By the time she’d stepped out of them, Jamie had his hands on her waist. He pulled her upright and kissed her as he slid the bra straps from her arms and off, his mouth hot and sweet-tasting on hers. His hands roamed her body, cupping and caressing, sliding and stroking.

  ‘You’re one damn fine piece of engineering, Kate.’

  And she was happy to have him measure her and size her up. She was, after all, his next job.

  He started on the buttons of his shirt again. Kate let him, the pads of her fingers prickling with pins and needles. She’d never deal with the small buttons. But she’d probably manage the khaki trousers.

  She dealt with his belt buckle, then the buttons on his fly.

  He growled like a bear as her fingers flicked against him.

  He shrugged off his shirt. Kate tugged the trousers from his hips, then his boxer shorts. He stepped out of them and suddenly — Master of the Universe stood before her, naked.

  He pulled her agai
nst 48-inches of muscle-bound He-Man chest.

  She should be struggling to get her arms around the circumference. Fortunately, pressed so close to him, she managed. ‘Hot Tamale.’ He made her mouth feel all sizzly inside. ‘You’re so…so…’

  ‘Desperate,’ he said, looking down on her, clinging on to her.

  ‘You could do the lot, Jamie.’ She fluttered kisses onto his lime-scented chest then brought her hands from behind him to cup his handsome face. ‘Nude. Photographic. Apparel.’

  ‘I don’t have time,’ he said, taking hold of her bottom in his master-builder hands and yanking her against his pelvis. ‘I’m going to be doing you.’

  The man would hit the Top 50 Working list by bearing his left thigh on a billboard let alone the rest of his virile self. She’d dated now and then. She’d had sex — now and then — but Jamie was going to ruin her for all other men.

  ‘I think I’m going to swoon.’ Did women still swoon?

  ‘That’s okay,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell you what happened when you come round.’

  He moved with her still in his arms. Kate went with him, stuck to him, feeling like one big tropical heatwave. His skin was darkened from the sun. His muscles shaped from all the outdoor work.

  As he pulled open the wardrobe door and grabbed something from the top shelf, she saw hot, humid summer nights, Pina Coladas, rum punch and Limbo dancing beneath flaming poles. All her unused places burned in the sultriness of this new climate. A girl could die of heatstroke in this place.

  They were moving again.

  They spent seconds, maybe minutes, in a tug of war. Limbs locking, mouths fighting. Each trying to get a better, closer hold of the other. Desire swelled within her with each caress from her master’s hands. At last — she had a masterful man and a tropical beach where the waves in her head crashed to the shore of her body.

  The best holiday she’d ever had.

  ‘You are so beautiful, Kate.’

  She was on the bed. How had that happened?

  ‘Every part of you.’ He pulled the pillows from beneath her head and flung them to the floor. He spent five seconds too long away from her as he dealt with a condom then pitched himself beside her. His weight dipped the mattress and Kate slid into the hollow and against his powerful chest.

  Delirious shock flowed through her as he touched her.

  His body was a furnace. All He-Man vigorous and muscle-packed dynamite.

  She grabbed at the bedspread beneath her. The air got hotter. The light dimmed.

  ‘Hold on to me,’ he told her, moving his body over hers.

  Kate grabbed his shoulder blades, attempting to pull him even closer to her.

  ‘Oh, my God, I’m seeing stars!’

  ‘Shooting?’ he asked, his mouth nuzzling her ear.

  ‘I’m not sure. They’re all merging.’

  ‘And so are we.’

  ‘Jamie!’ Her cry tailed off to a gasp as he nudged her legs apart and in one dynamic move — turned then into now and all her dormant bits to fizzing liquid pleasure.

  ****

  Jamie studied the night sky outside the four windows in his bedroom. They hadn’t drawn the curtains. No need. No-one to see in. And anyway, if either of them had found even a second of sense two hours ago, he wouldn’t now be lying on his bed looking at the stars outside his windows while holding onto the woman he’d had sex with. Shared pleasure with. Made love with.

  ‘You’ve been so kind to me,’ she murmured.

  ‘You’re so welcome.’ Jamie hooked an arm around her bare shoulders and brought her closer to his side, just managing to keep the smile out of his voice.

  ‘I hope to God it wasn’t pity, Jamie.’

  ‘Was there a specific moment where I gave you some indication of my boredom with the situation?’

  ‘Which time?’ she asked.

  ‘Second. There’s no way I’d have let you know how bored I was the first time.’

  ‘Testing the waters that first time, huh?’

  ‘Yeah. And I can tell you, you got me. Big time.’

  ‘Didn’t I?’ He felt her mouth move in a smile against him. She kissed his pectoral muscle, her lips soft on his skin.

  ‘Both times were a whole lot satisfying,’ he said, kissing the top of her head.

  She snuggled into him but this time he saw her smile as she glanced up, before burying her face against his shoulder.

  They rested awhile, Jamie stroking her hair and enjoying the feel of her breath, warm on his chest.

  ‘I’ll probably go back,’ she said quietly. ‘You know that, don’t you?’

  ‘I figured you would.’ Pointless not answering her immediately and pointless flapping about it. Kate preferred things up front and equal. It would do him good to remember that. Before he got carried away with the smell of her. The sweet soft executive smell of her.

  ‘Thing is, Jamie, I don’t think I’m cut out for constant country living.’ She levered up, resting on her elbows.

  ‘I understand,’ he said, and swiped the tips of her fringe from her eyelashes again.

  ‘I think I have too much wanderlust in me. Or something.’

  ‘Katie. When I’ve finished the contract for Ethan and Sammy, which won’t be for another three months, I’ll be taking jobs elsewhere too.’

  She nodded. ‘Australia?’

  ‘Maybe.’ He shifted until he had one arm on her back and the other behind his head. ‘I’ve got the chance of two jobs overseas. One in England, in the Lake District, and the other in France, near Toulouse.’

  ‘That’s great. You’re going to travel. And you’ll always have Silver Bells House to come back to. I’ve loved it here. I found you and a few hours of passion.’ She strummed her fingertips gently on his chest. ‘My masterful man.’ Her smile told him she was teasing, but the softness of her body, curling into him told him she’d needed not only the release of sex but also that she’d wanted his protection for a little while. The comfort of his arms around her.

  ‘But I can’t stay,’ she said. ‘What would I do here?’

  ‘You could start a Wellington boot factory.’

  ‘In deepest remotest Australia?’

  ‘Swallow’s Fall isn’t that bad!’

  She laughed. ‘No, it’s not. But I’m not sure I want to start another business. I’m not sure I’d be very good at it anymore. I’m feeling really humble, Jamie.’

  ‘Katie, you’ve got the guts to deal with anything. I’d put my last dollar on you.’

  She sighed, settled herself — with her leg wrapped over his thighs — and snuggled into the crook of his arm again. ‘You know, Mr Knight, I could fall in love with a man like you.’

  He folded his arms around her, wrapping her up. ‘Is that so?’

  ‘Mmm. Quickly too.’ Her voice sounded dreamy. All sleepy and rested. ‘Like in a month.’

  ‘That quick, eh?’

  ‘A month is just weeks, really.’

  ‘Uh-huh.’

  ‘Just days, in fact.’

  ‘Yeah?’ How about just hours? Jamie thought. Like the moment her features had softened to acknowledgement of her situation, and how Jamie had felt overawed by her acceptance of him. Jamie Knight, the powerful protector. Or how about minutes? Like when he’d plucked her off the excavator and she’d nearly tripped, trying to figure out why she was at Jamie’s house and not a holiday let. Or how about rewinding farther? Seeing her standing on the edge of her hire car. Waving madly at him over the stone wall, ponytail bouncing. ‘Just seconds, really,’ he said.

  ‘What did you say?’ she asked, her voice soft with almost-asleepiness.

  Jamie didn’t live life in a rash manner, he worked cautiously and carefully. He weighed up pros and cons. He left a situation if there were more cons than pros. And Katie Singleton had a suitcase full of cons — apart from her lingerie. Yet none of his mental negotiations with himself seemed to matter. Not anymore.

  ****

  The sizzle of hot tamale desire s
till blazed through Kate’s body. If this was waking up to the sexual aftermath of riding an impulsive decision made on a shooting star she’d happily slide, slip and slither naked up and down it forevermore. Had Silver Bells House ever heard the sensual whispers, the seductive cooing or the downright X-rated vocal endeavours of two lovers before?

  Oh, God. She had a lover! How so not like Kate.

  Well… She sat up in bed. She’d had a lover.

  She’d had sex with her landlord. It wasn’t as though she’d get struck down for doing so. She might get thrown out though. If he hadn’t really liked it like he said he had. Which he might not have. Because Jamie wasn’t in the bed. Or the bedroom.

  She listened hard and only heard the creak of the beams as they settled in for the start of the day when the sun shone on the tiled roof. He wasn’t in the house. Or perhaps the State.

  She flung the coverlet back and stepped out of bed. She padded to the window and peeked out between the curtains. His big He-Man Knights Works truck had gone.

  No way could he have not liked what they’d done. Not after three goes at it. Three successful goes. Four for Kate. But she’d been a sexual time bomb, waiting to go off, so perhaps he hadn’t had to put his all into it and that’s why he’d decided she wasn’t any good at it after go number three and had left.

  ‘Now that’s what I call a damned good morning.’

  Kate spun to the door and to Jamie.

  ‘A naked woman in my bedroom.’

  Kate had trouble taking in everything about him at once. His jaw, covered in 8 a.m. stubble. Designer-less and perfect. His height. His khaki trousers, the thick belt holding them up around his strong lean middle. The grey shirt tucked into the band of his trousers, opened at the neck. His neck. His bloody neck. Why did his neck send such peals of ringing wonder down her spine? Because it was the neck she’d nestled into and kissed. Getting all cosy before sleep.

  ‘You don’t feel at all shy standing there naked in front of me, do you?’ he asked.

  ‘I don’t actually.’ Was she supposed to?

  ‘Yet when you’re fully dressed in your Wellingtons, my socks and your straw hat, you blush like crazy.’

  ‘It’s your straw hat, not mine.’ She looked down at her naked self and spread her arms. ‘Do you mind?’