‘Sorry, I’ve been wanting to do that all night,’ Harry said, after he’d pulled out of the kiss. He hadn’t deepened it, kept it light, but he had tasted the sweetness of the orange juice on her lips from her drink. The kiss had still sent blood rushing to his groin.
‘Really?’ Maddy’s green eyes were fixed on his, her pupils large and dilated in the dim light of the pub. Her hand rested on his chest. Could she feel the rate his heart was beating? He hadn’t had an intimate relationship since Karin. He’d missed it so much. His attraction to Maddy was unstoppable. Each day he’d wanted to get nearer to her, finding himself daydreaming about her even when he was busy at work. However hard he tried, he couldn’t get her out of his head.
‘Yes, in fact, I think I will do it again.’
This time Harry deepened the kiss, his tongue in search of hers, his hand gently supporting the back of her head as he turned her round to place his back to the room, his fingers entwined in her hair. And Maddy allowed it, now shielded from the eyes in the room, pressing her body against his, and curling her arms around his neck. He wrapped both arms around her. The problem Harry warred with was he didn’t want to just kiss her, he wanted her whole body. While one hand caressed her upper back and neck, searching for her bare flesh, the other strayed down to curve around her bottom – and thankfully, there was no objection from her.
Harry let out a growl of longing into Maddy’s ear.
‘I think we should get the water taxi home.’ He mouthed the words over her lips, not wanting to separate from her.
‘I agree,’ Maddy said, kissing him back.
‘Did you want to go back to the cottage, or stay at mine tonight?’
‘I do have a double bed at the cottage.’ Maddy grabbed Harry’s hand and pulled him towards the pub’s front door.
And Simon did say something about it needing testing. But Harry kept that thought to himself.
Because the tide was low, they had to catch the ferry from a different point in Padstow, which meant going on the beach. This time, Harry lifted Maddy up into his arms, not in the fireman-carry, and carried her onto the boat, setting her down gently.
Once the water taxi started the crossing, Maddy got straight on her phone to call a taxi as Harry kept her close.’Yes, a pick up from the ferry point in Rock, please. We’ll be arriving in ten minutes.’ She ended the call and slipped the phone into her bag. With the sun down, the night air was much chillier on the short estuary crossing. She shivered, and Harry pulled her even closer, warming her up. She curled into his embrace.
It was dark now, and above them in the clear sky, stars brightened like tiny fairy lights. Harry stole another kiss, covering Maddy’s arms with his own to keep her warm.
When the ferry docked, there was a taxi waiting for them. The car journey was laborious. Warming up, they both sat in the back, holding hands, Harry’s thumb rubbing Maddy’s palm while they made light conversation with the chatty taxi driver. He was only being polite, asking about their evening, intrigued to hear their opinion about the new restaurant in Padstow, but it didn’t make the journey go any quicker for Harry, who wanted Maddy – all to himself.
At last, Harry closed the front door to the cottage and Maddy slung her bag at the bottom of the stairs and sighed as she removed her shoes. For a moment, there was an awkward silence. Did they continue what they’d started in the pub? He was out of practice at this. It had been two years since Karin. He hadn’t felt like doing anything like this with anyone in all that time. It had seemed wrong, a betrayal of her memory.
He edged forward, and gently combed his fingers through her hair. He stroked her cheek, rounding her face, then finally his knuckles brushed under her chin, raising her head, her mouth to his.
The kiss deepened, her fingers fumbling with his shirt buttons, his hands lowering the zipper at the back of her dress. Fluidly, never breaking contact, they stood in the hallway, like love-struck teenagers, making out, kissing, caressing each other.
‘Harry … I think,’ Maddy said between passionate kisses and snatched breaths, ‘we should … take this upstairs.’
‘Hmm … yes, good idea,’ Harry said, reluctant to remove his hands from her body. He ached for her, his trousers feeling tight around his groin. He hooked her, fireman’s carry style, over his shoulder.
‘Harry!’ This time she squealed with delight and chuckled without a fight.
As he placed her on the bed, rosy-cheeked and hair tousled, but her expression mock-reproachful, he said, ‘I thought this would be the quickest way to get you into bed.’
She sat up, leaning on her elbows. ‘Did you now? There’s me thinking you like it kinky.’
‘I’ll be anything you like.’
Eyeing him mischievously, she sat up fully, reaching around his bum and pulling him towards her. She undid the buckle of his belt, his flies, then pushed at his trousers, so they fell to his ankles. Slowly, she teased down his boxers, and he closed his eyes, concentrating on the warmth of her mouth, taking him into her. He groaned at the intense feeling as her lips and tongue ran along his hardness. Back and forth rhythmically, hardening him further than he thought possible.
‘Stop.’ Harry withdrew from her mouth. ‘This is about you … not me.’ And if she carried on like that he’d be good for no one.
Harry had to taste her. He craved her – had done all night. He removed the rest of his clothes and kicked them aside, then with urgency, slid Maddy’s dress down, over her hips and free from her feet, revealing pastel pink underwear, the colour of spring blossom.
Fuck, she’s gorgeous.
He wanted to kiss every inch of her.
Kneeling over her, he kissed her mouth, neck, collarbone, fumbling behind her back to unclasp her bra. He was definitely out of practice when it came to undoing bras.
Maddy chuckled. ‘Shall I help you?’
‘No, I’ve got it.’ Finally, the bra released. Relieved, Harry smoothed the straps down her arms gently and pulled the garment free. He hadn’t wanted to admit how long it had been since he’d done this kind of thing. Maddy might run a mile, thinking he was crap. He kissed her lips, plump and naturally red; they seemed to be compatible there. He could kiss her for eternity. Following his hands, he moved his mouth to her breast, then the other breast, toying with her nipples with his tongue. It was all coming back to him, just like how to swim – you never forget. She pulled her stomach in and arched her back, shifting in the bed, as he ran his tongue along her inner thigh.
She lifted her hips to aid the removal of her knickers and he threw them in the same direction as the bra, not caring where they landed. His own heart pounded with excitement – or was it nerves? – as he softly kissed and tasted her most intimate parts. A small voice inside his head nagged that maybe he shouldn’t be doing this with Maddy … of all women … But he’d missed this intimacy, the foreplay, the thrill of pleasuring his woman. Right now, Maddy was his as her body gradually relaxed under his gentle caress. As his tongue licked, his finger, deep inside her stroked her soft spot. She gave her approval; her fingers combing through his hair as she whispered her enjoyment and gave little whimpers of pleasure.
‘Harry,’ her hand brushed his arm resting on her stomach, ‘however fantastic that feels, I really want you inside me.’ He looked up to meet her flushed gaze.
He wanted her too.
Condoms. ‘Hang on!’
Leaning over Maddy on all fours, he rummaged for his wallet which was still in his trousers. He’d put condoms in there as a precaution, taking them from the stash in his bedside cabinet he’d never thought he’d use again. He tore open a foil packet and rolled the thing on. They were such passion killers, but it needed to be done.
His mouth found Maddy’s as he entered her, and their bodies connected at last. Harry held onto her for as long as he could. For the first time in over two years, he felt truly alive again.
***
Maddy awoke early to very pleasant memories of … she wanted to think lovemaking, but quite clearly last night had just been sex. Hot, incredible, sex. The first time hadn’t quite rocked her world, but she’d put it down to the pair of them being a little nervous. The second and third times … Well, Harry’d had her in all sorts of positions, eager to find out what suited her best, which position gave her the most pleasure. She’d never known someone so considerate in the bedroom. Harry’s strength, power, slowing it down, speeding it up, firm then gentle … the memory of these sensations alone sent flutters to her stomach. She couldn’t possibly still be horny?
Fearing to move, she glanced at Harry, still sleeping; his arm draped over her. His chest rose and fell with his breathing and she could hear the air escaping. Surprisingly, she’d slept well last night, too – thanks to the alcohol, albeit not too much (she still had her memory) and the hot sex, and the fact the bed wasn’t strange to her. Usually, when sleeping with someone new, she’d lie awake half the night.
But now the alcohol had worn off, would they both go back to being just neighbours or even friends? What had happened? The evening certainly hadn’t ended how Maddy had planned.
Oh come on, who are you kidding? You’d worn your best dress, and matching underwear – just in case – and made sure you looked smoking hot.
Maddy’s real fear was whether this would change the dynamic between them. Would it make things awkward? At least she could stay at Wisteria Cottage … And what if this didn’t work out? Probably jumping far too ahead now, Maddy – you had sex, he didn’t ask for your hand in marriage. But even once she moved back into her own house, the fact remained that they lived opposite one another. Oh dear Lord, maybe this hadn’t been wise.
They were both adults. And sex wasn’t a dirty word. It was healthy for two consenting adults. Commitment needn’t be necessary. Maybe they could carry on as if it never happened, if needs be?
An alarm shattered the quiet in the room, jerking Harry awake and startling Maddy simultaneously.
‘Shit, what time is it?’ Harry glanced at his phone, silencing it. He rubbed his face and groaned, then focussed on Maddy lying naked beside him. He gave an approving smile, his black hair all ruffled. Gazing into his hard-to-resist blue eyes, Maddy realised she didn’t want this to be just sex with Harry.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said kissing Maddy firmly on the lips, her own eyes widening at its suddenness. ‘But I’ve got to go early this morning. I’m meeting someone to quote for a landscaping job and need to collect my pickup from Rock first.’
‘It’s okay.’ It wasn’t: she was hoping to talk about last night, but the morning after was not the day to act like a demanding psycho bitch from hell. That was the number one rule in being the perfect girlfriend.
Girlfriend?
‘Can I use your bathroom?’ he asked, breaking her reverie.
‘Of course. There’s plenty of towels in there.’
Harry kissed her again and got out of bed, and Maddy bit her lip watching his tight bum as he walked naked out of the bedroom. She remembered her hands clasping hold of those firm pieces of flesh last night. Heaven help her, he was gorgeous. A life sculpture of perfection.
Maddy still hadn’t moved when Harry re-entered the bedroom towelling himself dry. Last night’s activities hadn’t left him shy either. Before last night, Harry would have kept the towel firmly around his waist. Now he wasn’t hiding anything. Unfortunately for Maddy – not that she was staring – Harry soon had himself covered up, donning his clothes from last night.
‘Shall I give you a lift to your pickup? How were you going to get there?’
‘If you’ve got time that would be great. But Maddy, didn’t you say something last night about opening the gallery up this morning because Valerie had an appointment?’ Harry said, frowning.
‘Oh shit!’ Maddy sat up in bed, pulling the duvet up to her chest. Yes, she had. She’d stood there last night, a tiny bit wobbly on her heels, telling Harry she couldn’t get too drunk, and now he had to remind her she was opening the gallery up. It all came flooding back. ‘What time is it now?’ She looked about for her mobile phone.
Harry glanced at his watch he’d fastened on his wrist. ‘Coming up for eight o’clock.’
Her mobile phone confirmed it too: 07:50 am.
She didn’t have time to lie in bed. It was a Monday, not a Sunday, not that it made a difference running a gallery in the summer. It had to be open seven days a week. She had to be in work. Plus the builders would be arriving any minute. She needed to get dressed. Maddy bolted out of the bedroom, kissing Harry on the cheek, and dashed into the bathroom.
‘I’ll see you tonight,’ Harry called through the bathroom door.
‘Okay,’ Maddy shouted over the noise of the shower as the water cascaded over her head. Had she avoided the awkwardness there? Had it been awkward or had she now made it worse? Should they have said more to one another?
Oh, hell, had sleeping with Harry been a mistake?