by Sarah Morgan
He drove for five minutes and then pulled off the road into a field.
‘You can’t park here!’
‘Watch me.’ He released both seat belts, reached for a torch from the glove compartment and then sprang out of the car. ‘Come with me.’
She let him take her hand. ‘Where are we going?’
‘You’ll see in a minute.’ He led her onto the soft grass and then paused. ‘You could take your shoes off here, if you like. The ground is soft.’
She did as he’d suggested, her hair flowing forward over her face as she bent down to slip off her shoes. ‘If I tread in a cow pat, your car will suffer.’
‘No cows.’ Without the shoes the top of her head reached his shoulder and he felt suddenly protective. She was almost impossibly slender. ‘Come on.’
Despite the darkness he walked confidently, occasionally flashing the torch to check where they were going. After a few minutes he turned sharp right and started walking down towards the sea.
She tugged at his hand, nervous in the semi-darkness. ‘We’re going to fall off the edge of the cliff!’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’ He dragged her against him. ‘We’re almost there.’
They dropped down a bit further and he heard her gasp. ‘Oh, Josh, it’s amazing.’
The night was clear enough for her to see the rocks and the abandoned lighthouse that stood proudly on the headland.
‘We call it Smugglers.’ Cove.’ He tightened his grip on her hand and led her down the grass. ‘Most of the tourists don’t even know it’s here because you can’t see it from the road and there’s no car park.’
‘So whose field did you park in?’
Josh smiled at her. ‘He’s a farmer. He had a nasty accident on his tractor a few years ago and I patched him up. He doesn’t mind if I use his field.’
‘Have you patched everyone up?’
‘It sometimes feels like it. There.’ He stopped and pulled her against his side. ‘Legend has it that if you stand here when there’s a full moon you can hear the sound of shipwrecked sailors crying out for help.’
‘Cheerful.’ But she fell silent and listened to the sound of the waves crashing against the rocks and the soft sigh of the water as it swirled over the sand and retreated. ‘Are there any wrecks along this coast?’ Her voice was a hushed whisper and she pressed closer against him.
‘Several.’ He could feel the warmth of her body pressing against his and he felt her shiver. ‘Are you scared?’
He felt her hesitation and then she turned to him. ‘Not scared.’ And then she lifted her face to his and her eyes glittered green in the moonlight. ‘Not scared.’
Their eyes held for a long moment and then his self-control snapped and he brought his mouth down on hers with savage urgency.
With a moan of relief and a greed that matched his own, she dropped her shoes, hooked her arms around his neck and kissed him back.
And it was a kiss like no other. As wild as the sea that licked the coast behind them and as bright as the moon that shone above them, it went on and on as they explored, tasted and teased each other to distraction.
He slid his hands down her back, down the soft fabric of her dress, until his fingers found the soft, silken flesh of her legs. Hot, molten lust flashed through him and he tumbled her gently onto the grass and came down on top of her, careful not to hurt her.
He felt her gasp of need against his mouth, felt her squirm under him, and he slid his hand round her back until he found the zip of her dress and jerked it down. As he ripped the dress from her trembling, heated body, his hands shook and his eyes were dark with need. He couldn’t ever remember feeling desperation like this before. It galloped through him, violent and greedy, driving every stroke of his hands and every flick of his tongue.
‘Josh…’ The sound of his name on her lips penetrated the red haze that surrounded his brain and he lifted his head, his breathing unsteady.
‘I need you, Kat.’ His voice was rough and he felt her hands jerk at his shirt and fumble with his trousers.
‘Yes.’ Her voice was a soft gasp in the night air. ‘Oh, yes…’
With a violence he hadn’t known he was capable of, he kissed her neck and then slid lower, groaning as he took the tip of one breast into his mouth and discovered the true meaning of pleasure. He felt her nipple harden in instant response, and slid his hand down her body, to the junction of her thighs. Tiny panties were the only clothing that remained on her body and they were damp as his fingers probed and then slipped inside her.
His hottest fantasies became reality and she arched against him, sobbed his name and squirmed under his deliberate caress.
His vision blurred and the need threatened to choke him. He hadn’t planned it to happen this way. Not here. Not now. But her hands were stroking him and her soft, sweet body was urging him closer and closer.
With a rough curse he ripped her panties and came down over her, claiming her mouth just a fraction of a second before he claimed her body with his, thrusting deep, his fingers biting hard into her bottom as he held her firm.
He heard her cry out as he filled her, felt her close round him, hot and tight, but he couldn’t hold back, couldn’t do anything except take her hard and fast, with the sounds of the sea roaring behind him and the cool night air sliding over his heated skin.
She came almost instantly and he felt her body pulse around him, driving him closer and closer to his own pleasure. Desperately he searched for control but he couldn’t find it and he felt his vision blur as he exploded inside her, driving into her with a rhythmic force that sent her tumbling over the edge again with a series of sobbing cries.
Drained and in a state of disbelief, Josh dropped his head onto her bare shoulder and struggled for breath. It took several minutes before he could speak. Several minutes before he could say any of the things he wanted to say.
Finally he lifted his head and looked at her.
Her eyes were closed, her cheeks slightly flushed in the moonlight, and he dropped a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth.
‘Kat, I’m sorry.’ His voice was hoarse and tinged with concern. ‘I didn’t mean it to be like that.’
There was a brief silence and then her soft mouth, bruised from the roughness of his kisses, curved into a soft smile. ‘How did you mean it to be?’
He stared down at her, relief flowing through him as he saw the smile. ‘Slow. Gentle. Not here. Not in a field with both of us too desperate to even undress. Did I hurt you?’
‘No.’ Her eyes opened and she looked at him. ‘Don’t apologise for wanting me so badly you couldn’t wait, Josh.’ Her voice was husky. ‘It wasn’t exactly conventional, but I think you just paid me a compliment.’
He groaned and rolled onto his back, taking her with him. ‘I don’t know what happened—’
He’d never lost control with a woman before and he felt more than a little shocked by his own behaviour.
‘Then that’s another compliment.’
They lay together, staring up at the stars, and Josh tried to remember a single moment in his life that had felt as perfect as this one. He failed.
She sighed and then sat up and reached for her dress. ‘I don’t suppose I’ll be wearing this again.’
He winced guiltily at the reminder of just how rough he’d been with her. ‘I’ll buy you a new one. A shorter one.’
She was so beautiful, her skin creamy white in the moonlight, her waist narrow and her breasts full. Despite what had happened moments before, he felt himself harden in immediate response.
‘Kat?’
Something of his reaction must have been in his voice because she held the dress against her and her swift glance was suddenly shy. ‘What?’
‘Let’s go home so that I can show you what I had planned.’ He found that he was holding his breath. He’d never invited a woman back to his house before. He preferred to be the one in control, the one who decided when the evening ended, but somehow, with Kat,
everything felt different. He wanted her in his home, in his bed. Would she say no? ‘Let’s go home so that next time I can take more time.’
There was a long silence and then she gave a slow smile and bent to kiss him. ‘That sounds good.’ Her voice was pure seduction. ‘But you’re going to have to lend me your shirt to walk back to the car.’
The way she was looking at him, he wasn’t at all sure he’d ever be able to walk again, but he certainly intended to give it a try.
And he was prepared to sacrifice every scrap of clothing if that was what it took to persuade her to come home with him.
He reached for his shirt and gently wrapped it around her. ‘Let’s move.’
CHAPTER EIGHT
SHE knew exactly when Josh fell asleep.
Felt his strong body relax in her arms, heard his breathing steady and she lay still, savouring the sheer perfection of the moment.
After their wild, passionate encounter on the cliff, he’d carried her back to the car and then driven back home with one hand on the wheel and one hand on her leg, the frequent glances he cast in her direction assuring her that he felt the same need and urgency as she did.
And the moment he’d opened the door to his house, he’d shown her just what he’d felt. With his hands and his mouth, he’d driven her to heights that she hadn’t known existed and he’d made love to her again and again until she’d thought she’d just die from the pleasure.
It had to end, of course.
No night, however perfect, could last for ever and she stared out of the tall windows of his bedroom, which overlooked the beach, and saw the sun rising. Kat wanted to reach out and stop it, she wanted to cry out and beg for just one more hour of night before daylight came, because somewhere during the evening, or maybe even before, she’d fallen in love with Josh Sullivan.
But the passage of time cut through pleasure like the blade of a knife and the sun mocked her as it rose and threw light into the early morning.
The night was over.
It was time for her to leave.
And she knew it was up to her. She needed to take control and walk away, while her pride was still intact. She’d gone into his arms thinking of nothing but lust but she was leaving them thinking of nothing but love, and those weren’t thoughts she could risk sharing with him.
Josh Sullivan didn’t fall in love. He didn’t want commitment.
And she couldn’t afford to give more of herself than she already had. As it was, she couldn’t imagine going back to her life, the way it had been only yesterday.
Before Josh.
She couldn’t imagine never having this again, never again sharing this level of intimacy with a man.
Safe in the knowledge that he slept, she allowed her fingers to trace the strong muscle of his shoulder, to drift downwards and brush the dark hairs that dusted his chest.
Every part of her ached. Her senses, her body, but most of all her heart.
It was definitely time to leave.
* * *
Josh woke to find the bed empty.
He lay still for a moment, registering the strength of the sunlight blazing through the window, registering the silence. There was no clatter of coffee-cups. No sizzle of bacon frying. The emptiness closed around him.
Kat was gone.
With a soft curse he swung his legs out of bed and padded over to the window that faced her cottage, but there was no sign of her.
He glanced at the pile of clothes next to his bed.
There was no sign of her torn, blue dress and there was no sign of his shirt.
He raked long fingers through his roughened dark hair and swore fluently. He remembered the soft little cries she’d made as he’d explored every inch of her. He remembered the way she’d slid her hands over his back and urged him on, urged him to go faster, harder, and he let out a sharp breath and ran a hand over his face.
How could she just leave after last night? Hadn’t it meant anything to her?
Of course it had meant something to her.
He knew it had.
So why had she left?
Frustrated for the first time in his thirty-two years, he paced barefoot into his kitchen and found some coffee. The irony of the situation didn’t escape him. All those occasions he’d avoided bringing women back to his house because he’d been afraid he wouldn’t be able to get rid of them, and here he was wishing Kat had left her toothbrush with his.
He ran hand over his face and wondered what was happening to him.
It was just sex, he told himself firmly, pouring coffee into a mug and prowling over to the window again.
Incredible sex, but just sex.
And he was just being contrary. If she’d been lying in the bed when he’d woken up, he would have wanted her to leave. He would have been cursing himself for being so foolish as to bring her to his home. The only reason he was missing her was because she’d been the one to walk away.
He gave a half-smile and took a mouthful of coffee.
It was typical of Kat to want to be the one in control.
Typical of her to show him that it was just the one night.
And typical of her to be different to every other woman he’d ever met.
But he wasn’t prepared to settle for one night. He drained his coffee, feeling the kick of caffeine stir his brain.
And if she truly thought it was ending after one night, she knew nothing about him.
* * *
Kat arrived at work the next day wishing there was some way she could avoid Josh.
She wasn’t at all sure she could work alongside him and not betray her true feelings.
How could she ever have thought that a night with Josh would be just a one-off? That she’d be able to walk away without a second thought?
She must be have been delusional.
She felt confused and nervous and vulnerable, but most of all she was angry with herself. Angry with herself for giving in to temptation. But give in she had, and now she was paying the price. She’d unlocked a part of herself that she’d kept hidden securely away, and now she was going to struggle to return to the way life had been before.
In the staffroom, she changed into her scrub suit and lingered for a moment before finally plucking up the courage to walk onto the unit.
She’d got herself into this situation, she reminded herself crossly, looping her stethoscope around her neck, and she just had to deal with it. All she had to do was concentrate on the patients. She wasn’t going to think about an abandoned lighthouse or the way the soft grass had felt against her bare skin. And she wasn’t going to think about his hands and mouth moving over her body.
‘Dr O’Brien, I presume.’ Josh’s soft drawl came from directly behind her and she gave a gasp and turned to find him leaning against the wall, watching her.
His blue gaze was disturbingly intent. ‘I thought it was Archie that did the magic in the family.’
Just seeing him again made her body heat. He looked tough and male and more attractive than any man had a right to be. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
‘I’m talking about your disappearing act,’ he drawled, his eyes dropping to her mouth. ‘One moment you were in my arms. The next minute you were gone. Clearly my technique needs work.’
She gave a gasp of shock. ‘Josh, this is hardly the place—’
‘It’s a perfectly good place.’ He grabbed her arm and pulled her against him, and she felt the heat of his body burn through the thin fabric of her scrub suit. ‘You just walked out on me without so much as a goodbye.’
She tried to free herself but his arm slid round her waist. ‘Well, goodbye didn’t seem the right thing to say.’
‘So instead you chose to say nothing.’ He glared down at her, streaks of colour lighting his cheekbones. ‘For crying out loud, Kat, we made love all night! You fell asleep in my arms! And then you walked out as if we were strangers.’
‘Keep your voice down!’ Her face turned scarlet and she glanced
around self-consciously, but fortunately there was no one else in the corridor. ‘What’s the matter with you, Josh? You said yourself that you’d never invited a woman back to your house before. You know as well as I do that this was just a one-night stand.’
‘I never said anything about it being a one-night stand.’ He frowned. ‘I don’t have one-night stands. What sort of a man do you think I am?’
‘A single one!’ This time she managed to wriggle free and she backed away from him, pushing a strand of hair away from her flushed face. ‘You’re single, Josh! And I’m not.’ Aware that her voice had risen, she took a deep breath and forced herself to speak calmly. ‘I have a son and he features in everything I do.’
‘He didn’t feature last night.’
She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to think about last night. ‘Last night was a one-off, we both know that.’
‘I don’t know that.’ His jaw was hard and uncompromising and there was a dangerous glint in his eyes.
She sighed. ‘You’re acting as though we have a relationship, and we both know that’s just ridiculous. We don’t have a relationship, Josh. It was just sex. That’s all it ever was.’
There was a brief silence while he scrutinised every inch of her face. ‘What we shared was much more than just sex,’ he purred softly, ‘and you know it, Kat.’
His tone was lethally smooth and she tugged away from him, desperate to put some distance between them. She couldn’t stand the way he was looking at her with those lazy, sexy, blue eyes. As if he wanted to throw her down on the floor and make love to every inch of her. As if this was the beginning of something. As if they had a future…
She gave herself a mental shake, infuriated with herself for fantasising again. It was definitely time to end the conversation.
‘Wait a minute.’ He caught her arm again, refusing to let her go. ‘Are you really saying that’s it? Are you serious? Last night was just a one-off?’
‘Of course it was.’ She looked at him in exasperation. ‘What else could it possibly be? Like I said, I have a child and you’re a single guy.’ A sexy, single guy. ‘End of story.’