The Next Season (novella) (10 page)

She smiled again as he bent his head and kissed her again, this time—if it were even possible—more intensely, more ferociously than the last. Her body, which had not nearly recovered from their pleasurable couch encounter, sparked to life again and this time she was ready. As they devoured each other with their tongues, Zoe slipped her hands up between their bodies, sighing as she stroked the hard planes of Shaun's chest. He'd been built well in high school, but the years of surfing and plying his trade had only enhanced his muscles.

In contrast, her legs felt like jelly and her knees quivered as Shaun tore his mouth from hers and started dropping kisses down her neckline. Behind them Eeyore arced up again, barking furiously to get their attention.

Zoe giggled and Shaun growled, ‘Shut up, dog. Go chase a cat or something.'

But Eeyore was persistent. He pressed his nose between their legs in his efforts to come between them.

‘Is he trying to protect you or get in on the act?' Zoe asked. It was impossible not to be amused.

‘Who knows?' Shaun nudged him with his leg. ‘But if he doesn't let up, he'll be a dead dog.'

‘Aw, poor baby,' Zoe cooed, as she slipped her hands beneath Shaun's t-shirt.

He sucked in a breath and she felt his six-pack tighten. Nothing had ever felt so good but she had a feeling it was going to get a whole lot better.

Eeyore barked.

‘That's it.' Shaun pulled away, breaking their connection and it was all Zoe could do not to cry out. He grabbed hold of the dog's collar and started towards the door, but didn't get far before Eeyore planted his paws on the carpet and refused to budge.

Zoe tried to smother her giggles. Even though her body raged with desire, she couldn't help finding Shaun's interactions with his mammoth mutt amusing.

‘Damn dog, I'm beginning to regret rescuing you,' Shaun said, glaring at Eeyore. Then he looked back to Zoe. ‘Can you do me a favour?'

She nodded. Right now she'd do anything he asked.

‘In the kitchen, in the pantry, there's a bag of dog treats. Can you grab the biggest one you can find and bring it back?' He kept his grip firmly on Eeyore's collar.

‘Sure.' Knowing they needed to distract the beast if they were to get any alone time—and boy did she want alone time—Zoe all but sprinted into the kitchen and ransacked the cupboard. She returned thirty seconds later and upended a bag of treats onto the carpet.

Shaun laughed and Eeyore—no doubt thinking all his Christmases had come at once—dropped to his haunches and began to devour the snacks.
Just like a man when it comes to his stomach.
Zoe grinned, victory sweeping over her as Shaun let go of his dog, stepped over his massive form and came towards her.

‘I like your style,' he said, taking hold of her hand, ‘but he's a glutton and a fast one at that. Let's get out of here.'

He tugged Zoe towards the door and she followed down the hallway to his bedroom, her heart racing in anticipation of the pleasures she knew were just around the corner.

Eight

Shaun tugged Zoe into his bedroom and kicked the door shut behind them, feeling like a little boy about to have ice-cream for main course. She laughed her beautiful, contagious chuckle as he pushed her back towards his bed and tumbled on top of her. Inside his head a voice told him to get a grip, to use a little finesse, but he'd been in a permanent state of arousal since the petrol incident and all he could think about was getting his end away and making her scream in the process.

Luckily, it appeared that Zoe and he were on exactly the same page. As he laid his hands upon her hips, she reached out and tugged at his shirt. Within seconds they'd rid each other of all clothing; stolen kisses punctuating the removal of each item.

‘Oh Shaun,' she sighed—the sweetest sound on the planet—as he ran his hands over her naked body, reacquainting himself with each tender curve.

‘You feel so damn fine,' he said, lowering his head to take one sweet nipple into his mouth. He sucked a breath in and then flicked his tongue over the bud.

She moaned, her chest arching up into his mouth and her hand closing around his pulsing erection. He wanted to focus on her pleasure, to bring her to a shrieking release before enjoying his own, but the way she touched him caused mega-distractions. He felt like a high schooler on the brink of losing his virginity—all fumbling hands and desperation. Just like he'd felt that first time.

Concentrating hard, he moved his mouth lower. Her hand fell away from his cock and then anchored itself in his hair as he kissed a delicate trail from the underside of her breast, over her smooth belly and down between her legs. Although she was no longer touching him where it mattered, his hardness grew stronger as he pushed her legs apart and kissed her. She gasped as he flicked his tongue over her clit, licked, sucked and more. She tasted so damn good, better than anything and anyone before, and the sounds she made as she quivered and shuddered, coming in his mouth, almost drove him over the edge. As teenagers they'd experimented but they'd never done this before.

Things were different now. They were different. Older, wiser, all that shit, which meant they could indulge each other's pleasures without things getting complicated. Hopefully.

As his thoughts tried to intrude on what they were doing, Zoe spoke—‘Wow, wow, wow'—and then tugged on his head, drawing him back up towards her. He didn't need any encouragement to meet her mouth with his as he laid her gently down and settled his body above her. The feel of her soft breasts against his hard chest only aroused him more. He held her close, their kisses growing hot again as his erection burned, begging him to put it to use. Sensing his need, Zoe wrapped her legs around his waist and thrust upwards so his cock nudged at her entrance.

‘Holy fuck.' He sucked in a breath, desperate to plunge right inside her but remembering the need for protection. ‘Condoms,' he hissed, rolling off her and diving towards the bedside table to retrieve one.

The moment he turned back, she snatched the small foil packet from his fingers, tore it open with her teeth and then, using both hands, rolled it slowly down over his cock. She pushed him onto his back, climbed up atop him and their eyes met. The heat and want he saw there echoed his own, the air between them crackling. They moved at the same moment—she sunk down and he thrust upwards—both of them vocalising their contentment as he entered her.

He watched, mesmerised as her head fell back and she moved above him, the sight of her exposed neck and chest more erotic than anything he'd ever seen. He cupped her breasts, his thumbs flicking over her taut nipples as he drove in and out.

‘You're so tight, so hot, so—'

She lowered her head and silenced him with a hot, urgent kiss. He crept his hands down her body and around to cup her buttocks, drawing her against him as they both shuddered towards release.

Afterwards Shaun wrapped his arms around Zoe and held her close, feeling her heart beating in time with his as they caught their breath. Reluctantly, he slipped out of bed to deal with the condom but returned quickly. She smiled as he drew her once again into his arms, pulling her close until she rested her head against his chest. It'd had felt sensational being inside her but just lying with her, snuggling, felt pretty damn fine too. Neither of them said anything for a long while, but he couldn't help grinning as they lay there.

This autumn fling idea might just have been the best plan Zoe had ever conceived.

He wasn't ready for another relationship and neither was she. They both had heads to sort and plans to make, but that didn't mean they had to be celibate while they did so. They would both be able to think better if they weren't in a permanent state of sexual frustration.

And he wouldn't let her break his heart again, because this time he knew the score from the start.

But they should get a couple of things straight before they went at it again.

He loosened his grip on her slightly and moved his head so he could meet her gaze. ‘I think you just blew my mind.'

Her lips burst into a smile that made his heart warm. Miraculously he felt himself harden again. ‘Ditto.'

He grinned back. ‘This fling idea of yours… I think I'm going to like it.'

‘I'm glad.' She pressed a quick kiss against the side of his neck and it was all he could do not to ravage her once more.

‘Just one thing…'

‘Uh huh?' She bit her lip, waiting.

‘I reckon we should keep a low profile. My family are all gung-ho about me moving on from Melissa and finding Miss Right, and if they got wind of us sleeping together again… Well, let's just say things might get a little heavy. Neither of us need that kind of pressure.'

‘Agreed. And I think illicit affairs are far more exciting than public ones anyway, don't you?'

He pulled her close again. ‘I wouldn't know. I've never had one. But I'm looking forward to finding out.'

In reply, she hooked her leg over his torso and then pushed upwards, rolling over until she was straddling his hips. He sucked in a breath, his erection flaring and zoning in on her like a homing missile.

‘Well, hello down there,' she said, reaching back while grinning seductively at him.

He offered her a lazy smile and shrugged as if to say,
What can I do?
She seemed more than satisfied with this reply as she leaned down to meet his lips, her bare breasts pressing pleasurably against his skin.

If she wanted to be ravaged again…who was he to refuse?

Zoe lay sprawled across Shaun, grinning like a fool as she tried to catch her breath for the second time that night. Maybe they were crazy to indulge in a fling, illicit affair, few-nights stand—however she wanted to define it—but she wouldn't regret what they'd just done. Never in her wildest fantasies could she have imagined the friction they'd just caused between the sheets. Her girly bits felt tender from their interaction with Shaun but already she was thinking about making love with him again.

No
. She chastised herself for thinking such a thought. This wasn't love, this was just sex—fabulous sex between two consenting adults who had incredible chemistry but weren't in the market for a relationship. Fun sex. Sex without strings. Sex without complications.

That's all.

‘You hungry?'

Shaun's deep, sexy drawl broke Zoe's delicious reverie and she lifted her head to gaze into his dark eyes. ‘Actually I'm famished.'

‘Must be all the vigorous activity.' He winked up at her and she felt the effects to the very depth of her bones.

Still, she teased him. ‘Or it could just be that I was run off my feet all day and didn't have a chance to eat.'

He snorted, and pulled her back against him. ‘
Swept
off your feet more like.'

‘Get away with you.' She pretended to be unimpressed by his corny words but inwardly she swooned. It would be all too easy to be swept off her feet by Shaun but she must keep her head. Extricating herself from his delicious grasp, she rolled to the edge of the bed, taking the sheet with her and wrapping it around her body. It was too late for modesty but she wasn't confident enough to get dressed in front of him.

‘What are you going to feed me?' she asked as she stooped to gather her clothes.

Still lying naked in bed and not at all abashed by the fact, Shaun said, ‘I do a mean beans on toast. And there's probably some two minute noodles in the cupboard.'

She screwed her face up at him. ‘Is that the best you can do?' The truth was that anything he cooked would make her tastebuds happy. She'd never had gourmet tastes anyway.

He shrugged. ‘Why don't you take a shower, get dressed and then I'll see what I can manage?'

‘Okay.' She pursed her lips together, trying not to stare at all his naked glory. Crawling back beside him seemed like a good idea, or better still, inviting him into the bathroom with her to share the shower, but she bit her tongue on suggesting either. If they went another round tonight, she might not be able to bring herself to leave—and that would definitely break the unwritten rules of the common fling.

Zoe cuddled her bundle of clothes against her and shuffled into the en suite, closing the door behind her. She glanced around, acquainting herself with Shaun's space. It was a luxurious bathroom—all black and white tiling with a massive shower and a spa bath in the corner—fitting for a man who knew how to make things with his hands. She imagined sinking into the spa with him wrapped around her, and shivered at the thought of exactly what else Shaun could do with his hands.

A jolt of unadulterated lust shot through her and Zoe steadied herself on the vanity, catching a glimpse of her flushed face and sexed-up hair in the mirror and unable to believe she had anything left in her to even think such thoughts. But today had been beyond special—Shaun had lifted her spirits and made her feel good about herself.

Telling herself there would be plenty more nooky where he was concerned, she let the sheet fall to the floor and pool around her feet, then reached into the shower and turned on the water. She showered quickly and then dressed, half expecting to find Shaun still lounging in bed. But when she emerged, irresistible smells were drifting down the hallway.

Curious, she padded down towards the kitchen, only to be greeted by an enthusiastic Eeyore as she entered. ‘Hey there, big boy,' she said, leaning over to ruffle the dog's ears. Judging by the reception, the treats she'd lavished him with earlier had put her back in his good books. She giggled as he licked her bare feet, which she'd just lathered with coconut lotion she'd found in the back of the bathroom cupboard.

Shaun caught her eye and grinned back. ‘Looks like I'm not the only one who thinks you're good enough to eat.'

She rolled her eyes. ‘Where on earth are you getting these corny lines?'