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  Pulling back, he thrust into her again, and his control threatened to unravel. He could not come before her; it would be a sin he would never live down. Not that he had to worry too much; she was well on her way. He could feel her insides clenching around him, the small moans interspersed in her heavy breathing. Her back was arched, showing that lovely arch between her back and bum.

  The pressure was building and he ground down hard against her hips. Her breath hitched and the pulses grew stronger. Keeping still, he simply felt her body respond, felt her orgasm build and release. Deep moans escaped her and her legs quivered. They hadn’t really done that much. All he’d had to do was be inside her and it had been enough for her to come. He was inordinately proud of that, and now he could relax and simply enjoy this. Shania, against the most beautiful backdrop there was. He would remember this forever.

  His own breath hitched and the tension built unbearably. The pulses from her lingering orgasm clenched around him, milking him until he couldn’t hold back anymore. With a stifled groan, he came, emptying himself into her. God, he hoped she was on the pill; he hadn’t asked. Actually, at that moment, he couldn’t care less. A baby with Shania wasn’t entirely as distressing as it should be. If that ambivalence was a sign of how good this sex was or something deeper, he didn’t dare ask himself.

  He didn’t want to retreat, but he was softening quickly. Her breathing was still heavy and she finally turned to him. What barbs would she throw at him now?

  But she didn’t say anything.

  “I want to stay,” he said before she suggested otherwise.

  “Oh?”

  “There’s more I can wring out of you.”

  “You think so?” she said, her body softening into that confident and relaxed stand that always seemed to suggest he wasn’t getting to her. When he touched her, though, her body told another story.

  No, he definitely wanted to stay, the entire night. Maybe even try the bed for once, nestled in her thighs utterly naked. That was what he wanted. Look her in the eyes this time. He wanted to see her eyes, understand what this actually meant to her, because there was more there than she was letting on. Perhaps he would just keep her in this room until that understanding was made clear.

  First, maybe they could do that again out here on the balcony—naked this time.

  Chapter 56

  The bike Ricky ended up with was non-descript, but it was surprisingly nice sitting on the back, pressed to Ricky with her arms wrapped around his solid body, Aggie thought. There was a long and largely deserted pumice beach on the other side of the island, quite non-spectacular in comparison to the dramatic cliffs.

  They’d studied a little map and there weren’t that many roads, and some weren’t in particularly good shape, but it was still lovely.

  She carried a large tote bag with a couple of towels and a bottle of wine.

  Ricky felt solid in front of her, his thighs thick and muscular. Surprisingly, he hadn’t tried it on last night, but then he’d been quite drunk in the end. Aggie had been disappointed, having hoped for a more inspired end to the evening. Today, though, they had the whole day together.

  They drove around the outside of the main township and around to the very end of the crescent. If she could only remember where the stairs were, the ones that led down to the water. In the end, they had to stop and find a lookout, where she could see down the side of the cliff. It was so far down. It would be a real mission to get back up again, but she was game.

  The water looked gorgeous—light green and clear. She could see most of the seabed, the rocks and volcanic sand. It had been a while since she’d done anything like this, finding a hidden swimming spot and going there with a guy. It felt secretive and infinitely naughty.

  Ricky had stripped off at the pool the previous day, and she’d barely been able to contain herself. Now it would just be the two of them, and maybe she could feel as well as look. “This way,” she said.

  He had on mirrored sunnies and looked ready to follow her wherever she went. It took a bit of trying, but she eventually found the stairs and started down them. It took a while to get down and her knees were shaky after the effort. It would be hell getting back up, but that only meant they would be putting it off.

  A small jetty reached out into the water and Aggie placed her bag down. The sun was warm and she might do a bit of sunbathing after a dip.

  Ricky stripped off, giving her a nice flash of his stretching muscles. He wore small shorts, which didn’t leave all that much to the imagination. For a moment, she wondered if they could go skinny dipping, but there were just too many buildings above them. Far above, but they might still be arrested. Shame. She could imagine them getting a bit cosy in the water, maybe hidden under the jetty.

  With an arching dive, Ricky plunged into the water, emerging some ways away, a spray of water flying as he flicked his head. “It’s lovely,” he said. “Come in.”

  Nothing would stop her, she conceded and stripped the sun dress off herself, revealing an olive green bikini. Was he watching her? She hoped he liked what he saw. She didn’t fare too badly in the body department, and she had been trying to work on it over the last week or so—she always did when she was interested in someone.

  A more moderate dive got her in the water, and an initial rush of cold shocked her body. She gasped as she emerged, wanting the warmth of his body to embrace her, but he swam in the other direction.

  The water grew comfortable very quickly and Aggie relaxed and treaded water, letting her eyes scan the surroundings. It truly was lovely. Why had it taken her so long to come back here? The last time she’d come, she’d been with her family, but this was the perfect getaway place, wasn’t it?

  Ricky dived and emerged, slowly swimming back to her, stopping to float in the water. “This is the life, isn’t it?”

  It could be better, she thought, with a bit of an affair.

  “The whole island is blue and white, even the flags.”

  “The Greek flag.” Okay, he wasn’t the brightest, but it wasn’t his mind she was interested in. “Some wine would sit nicely right now,” she said and swam back to the jetty, climbing up the concrete stairs to sit down on the warm wood of the jetty, her feet dangling off.

  She didn’t have any cups so they would have to share the bottle. Twisting the top off, she took a sip. It was dry—perfect for the day. With a lean back, she let the sun warm her. There was something special about salt water drying on her skin—something decadent. This day was all about decadence, if Ricky could just get out of the water.

  Finally, he did, climbing up the rungs onto the jetty, water dripping on the wood as he walked and Aggie leant over on her side towards him. “Wine?”

  “Sure,” he said, sitting down with his feet over the edge, looking out across the bay. His muscles strained as he moved and Aggie felt a rush through her body. She couldn’t wait. There were, after all, some places with sufficient privacy. Under the jetty, in the water, if they had to. A quick one in a hidden place would be absolutely perfect. If fact, she would prefer something a bit rough and tumble with him. Her insides clenched with anticipation. She was going to have to get her bikini wet, or her anticipation might just show. Quick and nasty, grunting sex was what she was expecting. In fact, she couldn’t even imagine doing it somewhere mundane with him, like in a bed. It really needed to be somewhere dirtier.

  “Just stunning,” he continued. “I definitely have to come back here at some point—maybe with a girlfriend, you know? This has got to be the most romantic place.”

  Aggie blinked, trying to understand his infamous seduction technique, because she wasn’t getting it. In fact, there had been nothing coming from him, really. “Nothing like the present?” She was basically naked, lying to her best effect and he was musing on bringing some girlfriend here? First of all, Ricky didn’t do girlfriends. Perhaps the romance of the place had him going sentimental.

  “You really need to appreciate the things around you, you know
?” he went on.

  Could she perhaps reach out and stroke his thigh? She really wanted to, but they hadn’t breached that touch barrier yet. Which was actually quite astounding.

  “I’ve been thinking a lot about it,” he continued.

  “What?” Aggie asked hopefully.

  “About my life and how I’ve been distracted by things that absolutely don’t matter. I totally screwed things up with Megan.”

  Aggie’s shoulders sank. Was he still going on about that? It was nothing. It meant nothing and Megan didn’t know he was alive anymore. Was that really so distressing? CANT WE JUST FUCK NOW? she was screaming inside her head.

  Maybe she should just go ahead and breach the barrier, run her hand along his thigh suggestively.

  “I need to treat girls better,” he decided. “I used to think whipped guys were losers who couldn’t manage anything better, you know? But maybe I had it wrong. Maybe being whipped isn’t all that bad. Maybe there’s something there. Everyone does it in the end, don’t they?”

  Images of leather and whips were flashing through Aggies mind. “What?”

  “Got me thinking on what I’ve been missing out on all this time. I never gave it a chance with Megan. So I’ve decided: no more girls.”

  “What? Come on,” Aggie said, sitting up, not believing what she was hearing. What the hell was going on? All she wanted was a tumble and he was having a crisis. For God’s sake. Ricky turned to her in surprise. “You without girls; isn’t that unnatural?”

  “I need to make a change. So no girls.”

  “Going cold turkey hardly works,” she said, not quite knowing what she was saying, too astounded to think straight.

  “It’s not like an addiction,” he said, looking at her like she was being silly.

  Aggie didn’t care what it was like, but now was not the time to stop. She’d been banking on this. It’s why she’d brought him.

  “You get the need to change, though,” he continued. “You said so yourself. We keep doing the same things and it’s not getting us anywhere. I get it now.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” She actually couldn’t recall the conversation.

  “In the past, I wouldn’t have even stopped to see. I stayed nowhere, just moved on relentlessly, never even noticing the girls around me. They were for using, then discarding. You know I’ve never had a girl in my life who is a friend. What does that say about me?”

  Aggie’s mouth was open and she didn’t know what to say. Things had just gone sideways so fast, she didn’t know what to do. Ricky was having some fucking metamorphosis, but she just wanted to get laid. Couldn’t this have waited a week? So the self-absorbed and probably slightly misogynistic wanker decided it was time to reform. Well, it didn’t suit her schedule, but grudgingly, she had to accept that he was trying to better himself.

  “I hope I can count on you as a friend,” he said, looking hopefully at her. “You’re one of the coolest girls I’ve ever met and you seem to kind of know what I’m about and not shy away in disgust. I am trying to be better. I see now that I need to be.”

  Inwardly, Aggie groaned, but she couldn’t entirely ignore a cry for friendship from a guy who was trying to reform himself, as much as she wanted to. She wasn’t quite a bitch enough to lose it with him and flounce away just because he was trying to better his relationship with women, and in the process not give her the quick and dirty fuck she was amping for. Of all the bad luck, really.

  “That’s admirable,” she said, cursing herself, but what could she do? She had been the one telling him off for how badly he’d treated Megan.

  Taking the wine bottle, she drank deeply, feeling despondent. Why did nothing work out as she planned? Whatever she did went wrong, even when she chose to have no expectations and was perfectly happy to settle for quick sexual gratification. “I might swim a bit more,” she finally said and dropped off the edge of the jetty into the water. The coolness was welcome this time and she swam under the water as she accepted all her plans had been scuppered. Now if she ended up sleeping with him, it would be an abject failure on his part and that would feel fun—not. Why couldn’t meaningless boys just stay that way, she thought bitterly, then felt bad about it.

  Chapter 57

  Jesus felt the weight of expectations in the text he received from Megan saying she was back after a lovely holiday. She asked how things were going with the club. He knew that wasn’t what she was asking. Her intentions had been laid out in the kiss she had stolen; she’d laid them bare for him and now awaited his response.

  Her suggestion to go away with her had been a surprise, a bit forward for the state of their non-existent relationship. There was nothing between them, just a revelation of interest. Going away together was a bit much.

  Generally, he wasn’t opposed to the odd quick fuck. He’d done his fair share during his time here, but he’d also done girlfriends, ones he tended to be loyal to—while they lasted. He didn’t, however, do in-betweens. Megan fit into neither. She was certainly not the girl for quick fucks. Messing with Ricky proved she didn’t understand the concept. But girlfriend? That was a big step and she really wasn’t his type.

  Looking up from where he was behind the bar, he saw her photo. She was so very beautiful and he appreciated that, but she didn’t have the hardness of the girls he normally went for. She was all softness and if he was with her, he’d have to treat her with softness.

  Then there was all the rest. She was a rich girl, accustomed to having everything and anything she wanted. That wasn’t the kind of lifestyle he led. He did fine, really fine, for a normal expectation, but she didn’t have normal expectations. He couldn’t provide for her in the way she was used to living, and that was an inescapable truth. How long would it be before that grated? Why set up a relationship that had such inevitable roadblocks?

  As beautiful, and willing, and soft as she was, he couldn’t go there. It wouldn’t work, even if she walked into it with her eyes open, which he wasn’t sure she was doing. He’d thought seeing his parents’ humble means would have highlighted that, but that didn’t seem to have dissuaded her, or she hadn’t understood that eventually, his life would probably revert back to his roots. After all, you were what you were, no matter what you purported yourself to be. As much as he’d struggled against his roots and the life his family wanted for him, as he grew older, he understood the inevitability of eventually becoming just that.

  The clubs, the money, wouldn’t hold his interest forever. They had been the time of his life, but as his life developed, as he eventually had children, a wife, would this lifestyle hold the values he wanted? Or later, when the children were grown, what lifestyle did he want then or for them? It wasn’t Marbella. No, he would want a more comfortable life at a slower pace. That would never suit a girl like Megan.

  But now he had to decide what to do with her text. One option was to ignore it and its hopeful tone—just let it slip away. Perhaps that was the easiest way. Or he could text something back which acknowledged her intentions and then say it would not work. He didn’t want to embarrass or hurt her in any way. Texting wasn’t really how he liked to handle these things. It was the coward’s way.

  This was all a bit unfortunate as this girl was the face of his new club and he could use a productive relationship with her. An alternative was to approach this necessary task in a stronger tone, to inform her that their commercial relationship did not require that he know where she was. That would ignore the kiss entirely and place them back to where they had been—or potentially not.

  He wasn’t comfortable with lying, saying something like her previous relationship with Ricky made things difficult, because that would be an untruth, and he didn’t respect liars. As would saying there was someone else. It would be merciful, but it would also be a lie.

  Swiping through menus, he called her, hearing three rings before she picked up.

  “Hi,” she said brightly. She was excited about this call; he could hear it in her voice.
“How are you?”

  “Good,” he said. “Everything is fine, but I have been thinking. You are a beautiful girl, and any man would be lucky to bask in your attention, but between us, you and me, it can never work out.”

  There was silence for a while. “Oh, okay,” she said, her voice thin and tinny. “I was just… you know. Uhmm. No, that’s absolutely fine, of course. Perfectly reasonable. Okay, I’d better go.”

  She hung up and Jesus shook his head. She was so very ill-equipped to deal with this. It was abundantly clear she had no idea what to say. It was that softness in her. How had she gone through life that way—even working in the same industry that had created a person like Cheyenne Terpa? Was she so coddled nothing had ever reached her? Or was she just extraordinary in that other people’s harshness never rubbed off on her?

  In a sense, he was sad, because as impossible as it was, it would have been very sweet. Megan would give her heart without hesitation and it would be a real and deep relationship—until it soured. Until she realised he had no intention of living a life that only went up and up, and that eventually, he would go back in the opposite direction.

  It still felt as if he was letting something go, something that could have been very meaningful, but letting it go was the responsible and wise thing to do.

  Chapter 58

  The call from Jesus might actually have hurt more than finding Ricky cheating. Megan got that they hadn’t actually gotten anywhere with the relationships, but she wanted him so badly. She dreamed of him at night, dreamed of his dark eyes. It just felt so right, but he didn’t want a bar of it.

  Sitting up, she tried to catch her breath. She didn’t understand. He did like her; she’d seen it in the way he looked at her, but he walked away like she was poison.

  “What’s the matter?” Aggie asked from where she sat on the other sun lounger at the Athletic Club. The girls had agreed to meet her for a lie out before lunch.