by Alice Raine
‘God, Allie, you are so fucking sexy,’ he muttered, before I felt the bed shift and the hot head of his cock press against me. As he pushed forwards he kept up the movement of both his thumb and fingers until suddenly I felt incredibly full and extremely aroused. With his thumb busy round the back, and his shaft now buried to the hilt and bumping against my g-spot, I was literally full to bursting.
‘So tight,’ he muttered, his voice strained and low. ‘I love how receptive your body is for me, baby.’ Sean began to move, and with his thumb and cock moving together I was overwhelmed with sensation and knew I wasn’t going to last long.
As it was, I only lasted a few minutes, but as soon as the fingers at my clit began to circle again I was a goner, an orgasm rushing up and engulfing me in spasms that seemed to shake my entire body. I was so overwhelmed that a cry escaped my throat and I had to bury my face in the pillow to muffle the sound. Sean grunted his appreciation, his thrusts becoming jerkier as my muscles repeatedly clamped around him until he suddenly gave a long, deep thrust and began to come in several hot, jerking pulses.
Sean was panting hard, but gently removed his thumb and pulled off the gloves, tossing them to the floor along with his balaclava. Reaching up, he untied my wrists, and, leaving his cock buried inside me, he slid a protective arm around my sweaty, trembling body and rolled us both over so we lay spooned on our sides, breathless and sated.
Holy fuck. Talk about a midnight bump and grind.
‘You OK, baby?’ Sean murmured by my ear. I nodded instinctively, although in truth I was still trying to process all that had just occurred. Did I really let him stick his thumb in there? I winced from embarrassment, but there was no getting away from the fact that I had enjoyed it.
‘I’m more than good. That was a hell of a work-out you gave me. Not to mention a shock!’
Sean gave a hot chuckle by my ear that I felt right the way through his body and into mine. ‘At first I thought I’d screwed up the surprise when you woke up.’
‘So that was you I saw standing by the window?’
‘Yep. I dived under the bed as you were turning the bedside lamp on.’
The image of Sean squashed under my bed made me laugh, before my cheeks heated a little. ‘You hid under my bed? That’s quite pervy.’
‘I like to think so,’ he agreed, a grin obvious in his tone as he gave me a squeeze. ‘I did promise you a pervy, sexy surprise, didn’t I? Did this live up to it?’
If possible, my smile got even larger as I looked over my shoulder and placed a quick kiss on his lips. ‘Most definitely.’
Nodding rather smugly, he wiggled his eyebrows. ‘We’ll definitely have to add more pervy, sexy surprises into our future plans. By the way, why have you got a stash of cinnamon chewing gum under your bed?’
I blushed further, and then gave an embarrassed shrug. ‘I like it, and you can’t get it in the UK.’
‘Weirdo. The smell nearly made me sneeze,’ Sean chuckled by my ear, and after placing a gentle kiss on the nape of my neck, he eased himself out of me and disappeared into the en suite. Seeing him returning with a damp flannel I rolled my eyes, but didn’t complain, and instead merely rolled over on to my back, splayed my legs, and let him do his thing. Sean grinned happily at my compliance, giving me a gentle cleansing and wandering his gloriously naked arse back to the bathroom, humming happily to himself.
Coming back into the room sipping a glass of water, Sean suddenly paused halfway and raised an eyebrow. ‘Nice flowers. You have a secret admirer?’
Sean was referring to the gigantic bunch that had arrived for me earlier, but there definitely seemed to be an edge of jealousy in his voice.
It was the middle of the night, he’d just snuck into my room and sexed me silly, and suddenly he was bristling with tension. Not to mention naked. He was most definitely still naked. I nearly burst out laughing, but seeing how concerned Sean suddenly looked, I managed to refrain.
‘No, randomly they’re from Savannah.’ Sean shot me a surprised look and I gave a returning shrug, equally as shocked. ‘The card said she was sorry for the scene she made when I came to your house. I’ve had a few apology texts too.’
‘Blimey. Well, I suppose it’s a step in the right direction,’ Sean conceded before glancing at the clock as I gave a cavernous yawn. Grinning, he approached the bed and offered me his water. ‘Come on sleepyhead, let’s get some rest.’
He was staying for the rest of the night? This visit just got better and better!
NINETEEN
Cait
The nightmare was suffocating me again. Pulling me under even as I tried to wake up from the terrifying visions of Greg chasing me through the field. It was so vivid I could almost feel the wind rush from my lungs as I fell to the rocky ground, could almost taste the sharp tang of fear on my tongue as the heat of his body began to crowd me as he crawled up my back and rolled me over.
Preparing myself for Greg’s angular, fierce features, I tensed and opened my eyes, but instead, I was met with a concerned face and warm, brown eyes.
Wait …
What?
Jack? What was Jack doing in the wheat field? As I tried to take it in, I noticed that he wasn’t pinning me to the floor, but instead holding out a hand to me. ‘It’s OK, Caitlin, you’re safe. Take my hand.’
Unsure where he had come from, or where Greg had disappeared to, I didn’t hesitate to accept Jack’s hand as he gently helped me to sit upright. A flood of warm relief flowed through me from the contact and I managed to pull in a long breath to ease my straining lungs. Talk about perfect timing. He literally couldn’t have arrived at a better time.
Beep.
Shaking my head to clear the peculiar noise, I frowned, so confused by this change to my nightmare that I could barely comprehend it. The breeze was still there though, warm on my face, but the horrifying ending didn’t seem like it was going to occur, all thanks to Jack’s timely arrival.
Beep.
Blinking my heavy eyelids, it took me several seconds to realise that I was in my hotel bedroom. I was in bed, sitting upright, and my right hand was still extended, but there was no Jack, no field, and more importantly, no Greg.
I had been dreaming again, but today’s version had been significantly different – I’d had a saviour.
Running a shaky hand over my face, I found my forehead clammy and ice cold, and then realised that my sheets were damp too. I was a mess. My skin was slicked with nervous sweat, hair clinging to my face and back in damp ringlets, and my chest was heaving, but I was safe. Safe and unharmed. This time.
The screen of my mobile phone was glowing on the bedside table, indicating the arrival of a text, which presumably explained the beeping noise that had woken me. It would have to wait, I was too distressed to look at it right now.
Closing my eyes, I tried to breathe deeply to push away the sticky tendrils of the dream that were clinging to me. The breeze was real enough, coming from the cracked open window and billowing the lace curtains in the pale morning rays of the sunrise, but everything else had been part of the nightmare.
Silent tears were already streaming down my face, but suddenly a huge sob broke from my throat and I collapsed my head forward onto my knees as my terror seemed to liquefy into an endless stream of scalding tears. Gasping at the emotional wringer I’d just gone through, I then spent the next five minutes crying out the feelings that had welled up within me until I was a snivelling, snotty mess.
Using the backs of my fingers to swipe at my eyes, I dried my cheeks and picked up my phone with a trembling hand. Unfortunately, my shaking only intensified when I saw a text from the saviour in my nightmare.
From: Jack F
I just wanted to apologise again for my behaviour the other day, I’m appalled with myself and hope you can forgive me. Perhaps I’ll see you around the studios in the future. I hope so. Jack
I threw the phone onto the duvet and flopped back with a sigh. How ironic that Jack’s text had b
een the one to interrupt my nightmare just as he had interrupted Greg’s attack in my dream. It was surely a coincidence, but what wasn’t coincidental was how frequently he was on my mind recently.
It was early, but I slid from the bed, rinsed my face under some cool water, and set off in search of coffee. One thing was for certain – just because Jack had saved the day in my dream and sent me a nice apologetic text didn’t mean I was any more inclined to let him in in real life.
I’d shut the door on relationships a long time ago, and for my failing sanity it needed to remain firmly closed, locked, and bolted, no matter how hard Jack tried to break it open.
TWENTY
Allie
Hearing footsteps coming down the corridor from the bedrooms, I turned, assuming it was Sean having finished his shower, but my gaze settled on Cait instead.
‘Morning. You’re up early.’
Plopping down onto one of the breakfast stools, Cait rubbed her eyes, which looked decidedly red rimmed, and performed a spectacularly wide yawn before nodding.
‘Are you OK? Your eyes are red.’
‘I’m fine, just couldn’t sleep.’ Cait murmured drowsily.
My body tightened with embarrassment at her words. Had she heard Sean and me last night? What with the excitement of the burglar role play, I wasn’t convinced I had exactly been quiet. Wailing like a banshee or screaming the house down were probably more accurate. Was that why she hadn’t slept? Crap. That would be so mortifying.
‘Did … um … did I disturb you?’
Cait gave me a sleepy, confused look, shaking her head. ‘No. Why would you have disturbed me? You went to bed before me last night.’
Now feeling decidedly flustered, I flapped my hands in reply and busied myself pouring her a coffee to hide my flaming cheeks. ‘Oh, no reason, I was just wondering.’ Damn it. My voice was way higher than normal and such a bloody giveaway.
As I turned to pass the coffee to Cait, I found her assessing me with a frown, but before she could ask any further questions Sean came strolling in, looking glorious and fresh-faced after his shower. His hair was still damp, and he had a definite ‘I got me some sexy time last night’ look on his face. Talk about perfect timing. My heart did a little skip in my chest, and I couldn’t help the goofy smile that slid to my lips every time I saw him. He was so gorgeous, and all mine.
‘Morning, ladies.’ He flashed a quick grin at Cait, who now had a knowing smirk on her face and a healthy blush to her cheeks. Looked like I’d been busted. ‘Sorry I can’t stay for breakfast, I need to get to the studio. I’ll call you later, babe.’
Dropping a lingering kiss on my lips, Sean proceeded to slide a hand down my side to give my bum a discreet squeeze and then was gone, leaving behind him a trail of his delicious scent, an embarrassed best friend, and me, practically swooning in his wake.
‘So that’s the reason you were worried, huh?’ Cait enquired lightly as she sipped her coffee with a grin. ‘A midnight booty call from Sir Shags-a-Lot?’
A gurgled laugh bubbled up my throat, but my face sobered. ‘It wasn’t just a booty call,’ I clarified, my tone coming out just a touch more defensive than I would have liked. I knew Sean viewed me as far more than just that, but at the moment, it did sometimes feel distinctly like that was exactly the case.
Determined to change the subject, I swivelled the conversation back to Cait. ‘So why couldn’t you sleep?’
Giving a dismissive shrug, Cait placed her coffee down and gave the elastic band on her wrist a flick, her movement immediately catching my eye. ‘I had a bad dream, about … well, you know, about … the fuckwad.’ I loved that she didn’t use her ex’s name any more. As far as I was concerned that was a great step in the right direction. ‘And then to top it off I got a nice, early morning text from Jack.’
Oooh. Now that was noteworthy news. ‘What did he want?’
‘Nothing much, it was just another apology for his behaviour last week.’
My eyebrows rose in amusement at her choice of words. ‘His “behaviour”? You mean the fan-bloody-tastic kiss that left you breathless? That “behaviour”?’
‘Uhhh, yeah …’ Cait was now puce and squirming uncomfortably on her chair, and as much as I was thrilled that Jack wasn’t giving up on her, I knew my cautious friend wouldn’t appreciate my excitement, so I tried my best to dial it down a few notches and keep our chat casual.
‘Well, you’re not the only one getting strange texts. Since that incident with Savannah where she told me that she had slept with Sean, I’ve now received three apology texts, and a bunch of flowers arrived last night from her,’ I added, waving my hand in the direction of the beautiful bunch now decorating our kitchen work surface. For some reason, Sean had decided he didn’t want her flowers in my bedroom and had moved them first thing this morning. ‘It’s totally weird. She’s totally weird.’
‘Maybe she’s not as much of a cow as we first thought?’ Cait speculated as she examined the flowers and gave an impressed nod. ‘Perhaps she really does regret the prank.’
My top lip curled into a sneer as I recalled that horrible day. I wouldn’t call professing a sexual relationship with someone else’s boyfriend a ‘prank’, but I knew what Cait meant.
‘Yeah, maybe.’ As nice as the apologies were, I was remaining quietly sceptical where Savannah Hilton was concerned. Sceptical and cautious. Pouring us a top up of our caffeine fix I plucked the card from the flowers and slid it across to Cait so she could read the words.
Sorry again for my silly fun. I hope I’m forgiven. Savannah
‘Silly fun?’ Cait spluttered. ‘Mind you, real flowers and she used the word sorry,’ Cait mused, turning the card in her hand and grinning at me in surprise.
‘I know. I mean, seriously? I didn’t even know the word featured in her vocab.’
TWENTY-ONE
Cait
After a shower, I made my way back to the kitchen to see if Allie had any plans. I only had a few more days of freedom before I started work, and I planned on making the most of them. Seeing as Sean had left this morning saying he was going to work, I was secretly hoping my bestie might be free to spend the day with me.
As I arrived back, Allie spun towards me with a grin. ‘So, to stop you dwelling on last night’s bad dream I’ve decided we need a day out, just the two of us. What do you think?’
She had practically read my mind, and although my plans to be active today weren’t just to distract me from the lingering Greg dream, I did want to go out, so I nodded happily.
‘Yay! I’m so glad you’re free. Pack anything you need and we’ll head straight out. Don’t forget sun cream, it’s a scorcher.’
With a small daypack containing sunglasses, sun cream, a map, and my camera, I made my way to the porch and found Allie waiting for me.
Locking the door, we started off towards the car park, but I couldn’t help but catch sight of the pout she was throwing my way and frowned.
‘What’s that look for?’
‘You’ll be starting work soon and I’ll barely get to see you,’ she muttered. Rolling my eyes, I followed her across the car park and linked my arm through hers. ‘Don’t exaggerate. We’ll see each other plenty once we’ve moved in together.’
‘That’s true, I can’t wait! Do you have a date yet?’
‘No, but Jason said he’d chase it up and get someone to call me today. It’s going to be awesome living together in our own place.’ I gave a thumbs up to show my excitement and nodded. ‘So what shall we do today?’ I asked, my voice high and gleeful at not only the prospect of spending the entire day with Allie, but of our imminent move.
‘Well, seeing as we’re basically both residents of LA now …’ This was said with an excited wiggle of her eyebrows and an infectious grin. ‘I thought we should get the final touristy stuff out the way. I looked up the top things to do, so we’re going to tick off a few more of the sights. I know we’ve done some already, but there’s plenty more exciting th
ings to see today.’
Unlinking our arms, Allie reached into the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Peering over her shoulder, I saw it was a list. ‘So, top of the list was Venice Beach and Hollywood Boulevard, but we’ve done both of those. Next was shopping on Rodeo Drive, but I think that might be a tad over budget, so I figured we’d save that.’
Dodging around a motorbike, we paused by the taxi rank in the hotel car park and waited for one to pull up alongside us. ‘I know how much you love art, so I thought we’d go to the Getty Centre. Art, architecture, beautiful gardens, and not forgetting restaurants for a nice lunch. Plus, some great city views. The gallery is free, but lunch is my treat to say congratulations on the job. How does that sound?’
That sounded like my idea of heaven. ‘Wow! Sounds brilliant. What more could we want?’
As a taxi driver waved to indicate he was on his way to us, Allie turned to me with a conspiratorial look. ‘Soooo … you said you were a little worried about the job because of Jack, and the, uh … letters from Greg. How are you feeling about it all now you’ve had a little time to think?’
‘Honestly? It’s perfect. I couldn’t have put together a more ideal job description if I’d written the thing myself.’
‘So why can I hear a ‘but’ hanging in the air?’ Allie enquired, no doubt knowing full well why. Seeing as Greg appeared to be in Oz at the moment I’d successfully shelved my concerns about him for now. But as much as I hated to admit it – and I really hated to admit it – my thoughts were often revolving around a tall, brown-haired hunk of man who currently resided in LA.
Flushing, a long sigh escaped my lips which caused Allie to flash me a concerned look. ‘Same ol’ reasons, but I’ll get over them, I’m sure,’ I answered, my voice wavering just slightly. I’m not sure if my lack of belief showed in my voice, but luckily a cab pulled up at that exact moment and distracted Allie from her inquisition.
