by Alice Raine
I was already super sensitive, so it didn’t take much to send me spiralling towards a climax. My muscles clenched around him, the spasms sending him over too and he barked out a groan, clutched my hips in desperation, and buried himself inside me as his cock jerked its release.
Talk about speedy. Well, he had said it needed to be quick, and I almost giggled, feeling high from the rush of adrenaline and endorphins now spreading around my body.
‘God, I love you,’ Sean muttered, dropping one last kiss on my lips before gently sliding from within me and grabbing a box of tissues.
Gently running one tissue between my legs, he looked up with regret. ‘I’d like to do my usual routine, but I really have to get going. I’m sorry, my gorgeous girl.’ He really did look regretful, bless him. Shaking my head, I dismissed his concerns and finished cleaning myself up while he quickly wiped himself off and righted his clothing.
‘Sorry this is such a rush, but think of it this way–the quicker I get to the studio, the quicker I can finish and spend some time with the birthday girl. Are you free tonight?’ Sean asked, fastening the buttons of his shirt.
I’d thought that with all that had been going on Sean would have forgotten my birthday, but clearly he hadn’t, and I found myself grinning at him and nodding.
‘You thought I’d forgotten, didn't you?’ he tutted with mock disbelief. ‘I didn't want to mention it in my text in case you thought I was trying to pressure you,’ he explained as he dropped another kiss on my lips and reached into his back pocket to draw out a long, black velvet box.
‘Happy birthday, Allie,’ he murmured, and he pressed the box into my hand but left his lips lingering on mine. Suddenly I found it quite hard to breathe, let alone think straight, and as I moved my lips away I shakily looked at the box in my hand.
‘OK, I am desperately late now, but could I tempt you into allowing me to cook you dinner tonight? I’ll pick you up at seven o’clock?’
‘That would be lovely, thank you,’ I replied, my thumb caressing the velvet of the box.
‘I really must go before Finlay has my nuts on a plate, soopen your present before I go,’ he urged as he adjusted the tie round his neck. Examining the box, I saw a small bronze clip on the side and flicked it open, the lid popping up to reveal a deep blue silk lining and the most stunning necklace I’d ever seen in my life. It was a silver chain with a circular pendant on the end. At first glance it looked like a solid sphere, but as I looked closer I realised it was made up of two thin strands of metal that had been intricately swirled and twisted together to form its circular shape.
‘Sean, it’s beautiful!’ I exclaimed as tears instantly filled my eyes. ‘I love it.’ Sean seemed to observe my reaction with pleasure before he reached into the box and removed the necklace, stepping behind me so he could gently drape it around my neck.
‘It’s hand worked platinum, made by a designer I know. The pendant is called Unspoken Bond. When I saw it I knew I had to get it for you.’ His words were no more than a whisper, but I felt his warm breath tickling my neck as he spoke.
‘Unspoken bond?’ I whispered hoarsely.
‘Yeah... that’s how it feels to be with you,’ he murmured, sounding almost embarrassed by his confession.
He turned me to admire his efforts. ‘You look stunning. Right, I really must go, but I promise I’ll see you tonight.’ With that, he dropped the briefest of kisses on my lips and was gone, leaving me completely overwhelmed. Not to mention a bit damp between my legs.
Talk about whirlwind.
I was a lost cause where that man was concerned–there was no point in denying it any more.
Thirteen
Cait
After birthday cocktails of the much-anticipated Strawberry Daiquiris, and then burgers and chips – or fries, as I was now getting used to calling them – Allie and I were now home. I was in the kitchen, mid-way through icing a freshly baked birthday cake–carrot cake, Allie’s favourite – when there was a loud banging on the front door.
Frowning, I turned towards the sound. Allie was upstairs primping for her date with Sean later and Jack had said he might pop in after six, but it was only 4.35 so I couldn’t imagine he had finished filming yet. Only the four of us had clearance at the front gate, so unless one of our neighbours was knocking, I couldn’t imagine who it could be.
Feeling a tingle of anxiousness in my belly, I paused by the sink to wipe the remnants of cream cheese frosting from my fingers, smoothed my hair from my face, and made my way cautiously through the lounge.
As I peered through the peephole, I felt my shoulders relax – it was Jack, obviously finishing up early. But before I could get nervous, I realised he had a small boy wrapped around his shoulders like a limpet. What the heck? Pressing my eye harder against the peephole, I saw there was also a pretty little girl clutching his hand and desperately jigging back and forth on her feet.
Children? Now I was confused. I leant back, somewhat surprised by their presence. Not being an expert on kids, I guessed that the boy was about five and the girl slightly older, but the age was irrelevant when compared to the more important question–who were they?
Even with my confusion, I couldn’t help but break into a broad smile when I pulled the door open and took in Jack, looking at me with his trademark breathtaking grin. This man’s smile was so good it could stop traffic.
‘Hi, Jack.’
‘Hey, sweetheart.’ My cheeks flushed, and I rolled my eyes at my out of control blushing where this man was concerned.
‘This is Eddie and Freya. We need to ask you a favour.’ He smiled apologetically. ‘Freya is desperate for the toilet–is there any chance she can use yours? I’m not sure we’d make it all the way home without an accident.’ He narrowed his eyes and gave a smile, probably imagining his fancy car getting an impromptu interior valet.
Looking at Freya as she jigged from foot to foot, I grinned at her. ‘Sure, sweetie. It’s at the top of the stairs, do you want me to show you the way?’
Freya smiled politely before shaking her head. ‘No thanks, I’ll find it.’ With that, she dropped Jack’s hand and began to head inside before the boy interrupted her.
‘Wait, Frey, let me come with you!’ he exclaimed, struggling frantically to untangle himself from Jack’s shoulders, keen on the idea of exploring a new house.
Jack’s arm was still bandaged up, and as he struggled to help the boy down, I quickly reached over to help, taking hold of the boy under the arms, swinging him off, and causing him to shriek with joy. Once I had safely deposited him on the ground, he grinned at me, and as I returned his smile, I decided they must be brother and sister, because they both had floppy brown hair and chestnut brown eyes to match.
As I stepped back to gesture them towards the stairs, it occurred to me that they weren’t the only person in the room with chestnut eyes and floppy brown hair...their hair and eyes were exactly the same shade as Jack’s.
My lungs suddenly felt tight, and a wheeze drew itself from my chest. Oh my God...were these his kids? Did he have children I didn’t know about? I suppose that was a possibility.
Suddenly feeling completely winded, I watched the children disappear upstairs and then turned back to Jack.
Closing the door, he gave me an apologetic look and stepped closer to me. ‘Caitlin, I’m so sorry. I know we were supposed to be meeting later, but...’
‘You have children?’ I blurted, completely losing the ability to regulate my conversation into something more polite. I suppose it wasn’t a huge issue, but it certainly was a bit of a shock.
‘What?’ He looked completely confused, but after a brief moment, his eyes suddenly twinkled with recognition. ‘Oh! They’re not my kids, Caitlin, I would have told you!’ he chuckled, stepping further inside.
Trying to ignore his distracting closeness, I jerked a thumb at the stairs. ‘Well...whose are they then?’ Had he randomly picked them up from the street to impress me with his patience and way with kids?
‘One of my co-stars, Jared, he’s a good friend and his girlfriend was supposed to have them today, but she had a family emergency. He needed someone to watch them while he shot the rest of his scenes and kids aren’t allowed to stay ’cause it’s a closed set, so I ended up finishing early and offered to take them for an ice-cream,’ he shrugged. ‘I was going to call you and explain I couldn’t make it later, but Freya got desperate for the loo.’
I had to admit, finding out they weren’t Jack’s was quite a relief. I’d barely managed to have a grown-up relationship yet, I was hardly the most ideal candidate for taking on the role of mother figure.
Now I understood, I relaxed and grinned, but as our eyes met, I found a much different emotion reflecting at me. Lust.
Oh God. One look like that and my insides were suddenly curled with heat. It was like Jack had managed to transform me into this open, relaxed, and wanton version of myself.
Given that this was our first meeting as a couple–well, as ‘two people who liked each other and wanted to get to know each other’–I should have been consumed by nerves, but crazily enough, I wasn’t.
I could do this: be with a man and not be terrified, and it was all because Jack had somehow made me trust him. I knew he wouldn’t hurt me or push me, and that knowledge had me feeling liberated and carefree.
On top of that, I felt normal, and that was something I’d feared I would never get back.
‘Umm...it’s nice to see you outside of the hospital,’ I mumbled, not sure what else to say when all I could focus on was the tingling of attraction running all over my skin.
Nodding slowly, he kept his gaze firmly locked with mine. ‘It’s good to be out.’ Drawing in a long breath through his nose, he seemed to be trying to control himself, and then smiled softly. ‘Can I come closer, would that be OK?’
My heart kicked with excitement at his words and after licking my lips, I plucked up the bravery to reply. ‘That would definitely be OK.’
He looked thrilled by my response, and then,taking another step closer, he moved his body so that there was barely a scrap of distance separating us, but just enough that he was still respecting my fear of physical contact. I felt like my entire being was radiating with awareness. The temptation to lean forward and give myself over to his strength was almost overpowering.
‘I know we’re taking it slow, but I really have to tell you how gorgeous you look.’ Jack’s voice was rough and low, and sexy as hell, and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
Now we were finally alone together, it seemed that all our chemistry, connection, lust, and desire couldn’t remain contained any more. It was a live, breathing thing, heightening my senses and depriving my lungs of air at the same time. I was so attracted to this man I could barely control myself.
Just as I was about to say, ‘sod taking it slow’ and grab him, Jack spoke again. ‘You have something on your nose. Is that icing?’ he asked, and he might have been talking about something as innocuous as icing sugar, but his voice seemed to travel straight through me and pool somewhere between my legs. I’d literally never experienced feelings like this before–I was so affected that I felt like every inch of my skin was being licked with burning flames, and all he was doing was talking. God knows how I’d cope when he touched me. Really touched me. I’d probably pass out.
Giving a wobbly nod of my head, Jack lifted a hand before pausing. ‘Can I wipe it off?’ Instead of being embarrassed by the way he asked for permission, I found myself touched, but like the lust-filled idiot I was I just nodded again.
Jack leant down so he was barely a few centimetres away, then gently wiped the tip of my nose with his forefinger before popping the digit into his mouth and taking his time to lick the icing off with a happy hum.
It was quite possibly the most erotic thing I had ever seen.
His eyelids became heavy as I watched his lips curl around his finger, and I desperately wanted to rip his finger from his mouth and suck on it myself. That really was a crazy thought for me, Caitlin Byrne, the woman who had barely any sexual experience, and I suddenly craved finger sucking.
Where had that come from?
As I continued to watch him, my entire body seemed to explode with horniness, and suddenly all I wanted to do was throw down my walls, grab his shirt, and kiss the life out of him.
‘I really want to kiss you,’ Jack muttered, as if reflecting my own thoughts, but just as I was about to tell him to do it, a bang from the landing upstairs had me pausing.
Bloody kids.
‘We shouldn’t really...the children...’ I murmured, my tone far less convincing than it should have been, because truthfully, I wanted nothing more than for him to kiss me.
‘They’ll be a while yet, and we really, really should...’ he whispered.
‘Then you’d better do it quick before they come back,’ I whispered huskily, amazed by my own confidence.
Jack looked almost as shocked by my offer as I felt, but then his head began to lower toward mine and my breath froze in my lungs as his soft lips brushed over mine.
Tingles flooded my system from the gentle contact, but just as I was rocking forwards onto my toes so I could wrap my arms around him, he suddenly pulled back, a look of frustration lingering on his features.
‘I can’t, Caitlin. Not when we’re pushed for time like we are now. I want our first kiss to be amazing, not rushed.’ Jack’s face was close to mine, his breath warm and minty, and I nearly cried out in frustration and stamped my foot like a toddler having a tantrum.
Rolling back onto my heels, I nodded shakily and licked my lips, running my tongue across the skin where his had just been, all of which was watched by Jack as his eyes darkened with desire.
The next second there was a clattering of feet on the stairs as the children rejoined us in the lounge, proving Jack right for stopping and leaving us both flushed and more than a little wound up. I could still feel the chemistry between us lingering in the air, and my lips were almost buzzing from his brief touch as I replayed it over in my mind again.
Jack stepped close beside me and leant down to whisper in my ear. ‘Breathe, Caitlin.’
I realised then that I was still holding my breath and gave an embarrassed laugh before pulling in a deep breath.
Jack flashed me a wink that was so intimate it very nearly stopped my breath all over again. ‘Better. We can’t have you passing out every time I kiss you, because once we venture down that path I’m going to be kissing you a lot.’ His words had been whispered but I heard them loud and clear.
Holy hell. I was so hot I felt a distinct need to crank the air conditioner up to full blast.
Clearing my throat, I dragged my gaze away from Jack’s and found two sets of curious eyes peering at me. The children. Blimey, in my lusty state I’d almost forgotten they were here.
‘I can smell cake,’ Eddie stated, his curious stare changing to one of hope as he sniffed the air again.
‘Oh, yes! I have cake! Come on through!’ My voice was higher than usual because of my flustered state, but cake was the perfect distraction, so I ushered them all to the dining table and then rushed into the kitchen.
I could hear Jack settling the children down so I took a moment to lean back on the counter to try and compose myself. It could take a while. I think to truly recover from that interlude I’d need a cold shower and a fresh pair of knickers. I swallowed hard and picked up a tea towel to fan my face.
Thankfully, after a few moments I felt more composed–just–and busied myself getting some plates out.
Luckily I’d had spare mixture and made two cakes, so I sliced one and carried it through to where Jack was sitting with two impatient children. Bringing in some glasses and a carton of milk to complete our impromptu picnic, I smiled at the domestic scene, and then pushed away an errant vision of Jack and I and our own children. Jeez. It was way too early to even consider that type of scenario.
I dished out some glasses of m
ilk and plates and popped a slice each in front of Eddie, Freya, and Jack and watched as both children dived in with gusto. Smiling, I slipped into the last seat around the table as I served myself a slice.
As I tucked into my cake, I gradually became aware that two small sets of eyes were once again watching my every move. Smiling, I picked up the milk bottle. ‘Anyone want more milk?’ I asked, to resounding nods from Freya, Eddie, and a grinning Jack. He really did look like an overgrown child, and the image did nothing to help remove the goofy smile on my face.
As I popped the lid back on the milk, Eddie whispered something to Freya and then the girl turned her shrewd eyes onto me again. ‘Eddie and me want to know if you and Uncle Jack are dating,’ she asked as she wiped the milk from her upper lip.
‘Uhhh...’ I think the answer was yes, but if I were honest, I wasn’t entirely clear on specifically what position I held in Jack’s life. I was seemingly the girl who he wanted to kiss, but that wasn’t exactly something I could say in this particular situation.
‘Ummm...’ I looked desperately at Jack for support, only to find him waiting keenly for an answer along with Freya and Eddie.
Great. What had his description been in the hospital? ‘Just two people who enjoy each other’s company and are getting to know each other.’ Was that the same as being his girlfriend? Did it class as dating? We had mentioned we wouldn’t see other people, but what if I said yes and he freaked out?
I didn’t want to presume anything, so I cleared my throat and totally chickened out. ‘Uhhh, well, we’re good friends,’ I stated, quite pleased with myself for sounding calm and coming out with what I thought was a safe, child-friendly answer, and one that wasn’t likely to send Jack running for the hills.
‘You can’t be very good friends with him because we’ve never met you before and we see Uncle Jack all the time,’ Freya responded with an assessing tilt of her head. How intelligent was this kid? Feeling more and more flustered by the second, I looked at Jack and he finally took pity on me.
