Thigh High (7 page)

And he certainly had. Maz was on fire with need. “Bastard.” She was trapped by desire.

“But you love me, yeah, you do.” Joe trailed his fingers lightly up and down her thigh. “Hot? Needy? ‘Want some relief? Just say yes to my proposal and I’m happy to oblige.”

Maz sat up and squeezed her legs together. “No. Now leave me alone.” She could use her own fingers almost as well as he could use his.

“It’s not the same, Maz.”

He was right. Touching herself after Joe was most definitely second best. “You cannot be serious.”

“Deadly so.”

“I would suck at marriage.” It was never an option she had ever seriously contemplated after the Cheryl episode.

Joe smiled. “Sucking is good in marriage,” he teased her.

Maz closed her legs a little tighter. “Be rational.”

“This is the most rational thing I have ever done in my life. Marry me.”

“For sex?” Was he that desperate? Was she?
Maybe.

“Yes, but also love and companionship.”

“Oh jeez.” Should she agree to marriage to relieve an ache? In a crazed moment like this it seemed doable. “If I agree, no one can know.” Maz figured by then Joe would have moved on and no longer be in town.

“It’s a small town. They’ll find out.”

“Yeah, but let them find out when it suits us.”
Or not at all
. She was betting on the latter option.

Joe’s grin widened at her words. “So you’ll marry me?”

“Well, as it stands I’m not going to get your cock any other way am I?” desperation was a bitch.

“Nope.”

“Did I mention you’re a bastard?” Maz looked at the obvious bulge between his legs. Need was a two-way street. She had some leverage.

“Yep.”

“Okay fine, yes, whatever.”

“Excellent decision.” Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out a strip of condoms. “Unzip me.”

Maz pulled a face of mutiny. She wanted to say no. He’d tricked her. “Manipulation is not attractive.”

Joe unzipped his own fly. His cock sprang out. “Do you want me?”

“Do you want me?” Maz returned the question. She watched as the pounds per square inch going into the condom fascinated her.

“Oh hell, yes.” He snapped the last piece of rubber in place.

“Damn you.” Maz scooted around so her legs were on either side of his hips.

“Yeah, I’m incorrigible.” His cock slid into her body in one smooth stroke.

Maz closed her eyes and enjoyed the heady thrill of him filling her up once more. “Joe?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m not marrying you.”

“Oh yeah, you are.” He started thrusting determinedly inside her.

“In a pig’s ear I will and there’s nothing you can do about it as you need me just as much as I need you right now.” Her eyes locked with his and they shared a smile.

“Correct. You’re a smart woman.”

Maz tightened her legs around his waist and lifted her mouth to his. “Shut up and kiss me.” They remained locked like that and stayed that way long after their mutual release.

Chapter Six

“There’s a bet on in town,” Merlene said to Maz as they folded napkins that they kept for the simple bar snacks they served.

“Oh yeah? What’s Wazza betting on now? The proverbial two flies crawling up the wall?” Maz was amused. William “Wazza” Brown would run a book on anything. “He‘s as dodgy as a two-bob watch.” All his bets were fixed so no one but Wazza really came out ahead. Yet, the locals always took on his odds because betting was an Aussie way of life.

“The bet is on you and Joe and when you’re getting married.”

Well, of course it was. There were probably half a dozen women knitting baby clothes as they did when any two single people in Amberwarra Falls even glanced sideways at each other. “I am not marrying Joe.” That silly moment in the gym had been just that.

“You’re having sex with him,” Merlene pointed out.

Maz sighed. “Jeez Louise, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to marry him. What is wrong with this town?”

“Nothing worth watching on television.”

Maz knew there was no point fighting it. “What are the odds?”

“Six to one Joe came back to town for you and not the gym, and four to two that you’ll get married.” Merlene rattled the figures off. “And sixty to one you’re not having sex with him. I took those odds.” Merlene tapped her nose in a knowing way. “Insider knowledge and all.”

“What will Auntie Beryl think?”

“I believe she’s taken odds on that Joe will marry you. She’s probably crocheting you a dress like one of the dolls that cover the toilet rolls.” Merlene rolled her eyes at the thought. “I’ll decline being a bridesmaid thanks.”

Maz blew out a sigh and dropped the napkin she had scrunched in her hand. “I don’t need this. You know my life was fine and average and I was happy plodding through the days.”

“Boring days though.”

Oh yeah, they had been. Like most people she had gone through her days on automatic, doing and saying stuff without any thought at all. “Anyway, it’s not like Joe’s going to stick around regardless of what he says.”

Merlene looked interested. “He’s told you he will?”

“Yes, but the man has been all over Australia and overseas. Amberwarra Falls is not going to be enough to keep him here.”

“But you’re here.”

“I’m convenient.” That was the thing that stuck in her mind. If she had said no to having sex would Joe still be interested? For god’s sake, he had shagged Cheryl, so that in itself made her wonder.

“You still love him don’t you?” Merlene’s smile was soft. “Nah, you don’t have to say the words I can see it in your eyes, mate.”

There was no point lying to Merlene. “Yeah, stupid of me but I do.” It was somewhat of a relief that she could talk to about this without involving the whole town. As the local pub owner, Merlene kept many secrets. “But I don’t want to get my hopes up and then he leaves.”

“I can understand that.”

—

“What do you understand?” Joe smiled at Maz as he came around the corner of the bar from the back door “Is this about Wazza’s bet? And yeah, of course I’ve heard.” That and lot more. Wonder of wonders, Maz still loved him. He wanted to leap over the bar, sweep her into his arms and take her somewhere they could be alone to talk and make love to her until she finally understood that he was never leaving. Joe had every intention of marrying this woman. “How’s your thigh?”

“Stiff and sore, but I’ll get by.”

“So my—er—my massage didn’t help?” Joe smiled at the sudden blush that rose to her cheeks. “Come for a swim.”

Merlene nodded. “That would help relieve tension—er—in your thigh. You two know what I mean.” The smile she exchanged with Joe was conspiratorial.

“There is no water anywhere in town.” Maz pointed out the obvious.

“I have a pool at my place,” Joe told her. It was the perfect solution and he did so enjoy getting Maz all alone to himself.

“That’s right, you bought Rabbit Warren’s place. He put a pool and spa in when he had a fling with the ditzy blonde from the city.” Like most of the locals Merlene was a fount of useless Amberwarra knowledge. “He thought it would make her stay.” She rolled her eyes at that thought.

Maz winced and adjusted her stance. “I’ll be fine.”

Joe felt momentarily guilty. Having sex with Maz so soon after an injury had not been a smart thing to do but it had been excellent. “I’m not asking you to skinny-dip nor am I going to ravish you.”

Merlene sighed and winked at Joe. “Ravishing sounds good.” She moved away to serve a customer.

Maz looked at Joe. “Where would you be if I was in the pool?”

I would be inside you enjoying the buoyancy of the water holding us up.
That’s what he wanted to say but Joe knew if he did Maz would be militant enough to back away and be in pain to prove some crazy point. “Do you want me to be one hundred paces away?”

“Well I just think if I am just going there to relax my muscles then you don’t have to be there at all.”

Joe loved it when Maz put her hands on her hips. It was a sign to him that she was trying to keep control in a situation rapidly becoming uncontrollable. “What are you scared of?”

“You know I was doing just fine until you turned up with your gym and made me think about—”

“About us?” It was all Joe could think about. He longed to have Maz in his life for good. She was the only piece that had been missing.

Maz lifted one hand and waved it dismissively. “It was a long time ago.”

They were more an “us” now than they had ever been but Joe refrained from pointing that out to her. “And I broke your heart.” He could never change that.

“Yes.”

“I regret it, but I was a stupid kid.” Joe sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Aren’t we allowed mistakes?”

“Yes, but—”

“That you did not give up on me gives me hope.”

“Just because I never had sexual relationship with anyone else doesn’t mean I was never tempted. I just want more than a quick tumble and a fast goodbye. I deserve more than that.” Others may settle for less but Maz wasn’t about to. Maz stopped dead and clapped hand over her mouth.

Joe smiled. It was as he thought, as he knew in his heart. “You only confirmed what I suspected.” He reached out a hand to her. “I swear I will not touch you unless you ask me to.”

Maz looked worried at that. “O-kay.”

That she didn’t sound at all certain made Joe happy. He knew he wasn’t the only one caught up in the madness of their being together. True love and undeniable lust was too heady a combination to ignore. “You’ll ask me though.”

“I will not, cocky son of a bitch,” Maz murmured as she moved away to serve a patron.

“What a woman.”

—

“What are you doing?” Maz watched wide-eyed as Joe broke through the surface of the water after diving naked into the pool.

“I’m hot.”

He certainly was. As was she now. “I just want to swim.” That’s why they had stopped at her place to pick up her swimsuit.

“I’ll swim with you.”

Maz trod water and looked at him. “What is this?”

“What do you want it to be?”

She sighed. This was like the chicken and the egg talk. It was a never-ending circle. While there was an answer, it was not one Maz wanted to leap at and take. Love was difficult at the best of times. Loving someone who may leave again was impossible. “You just can’t come back, Joe, and expect me to fall in your arms any time you look at me.” Which was exactly what Maz wanted to do. There were times when it was hard to remember this was the same man who had ripped her heart out of her chest and drop-kicked it into a wall making her wonder what the hell she could have done to keep him in her life. Looking back, it was madness for Maz to have thought that way but love did that to the sanest people.

“Don’t you feel anything for me, Maz?”

Oh yeah, she did. Every gooey, sweet, sticky emotion she had inside was for this man alone. “I don’t just fool around with anyone.” That in itself had to prove something to him.

“Is that what we’re doing? Fooling around?” Joe arched his eyebrow in disbelief.

“Having sex then.”

“Yes, and something else.”

“I don’t want to get caught up in you again.” There. It was out. It was much better to lay it on the line. All his crazy talk about coming back for her and wanting to marry her was fine for him to say but she needed more. Maz needed reality. Was Joe her reality? Or was he always going to be the boy from home she pined over?
Hell. Do I even love him? Maybe I’m just as infatuated as I was when I was twenty.

Joe made no move to touch her. “Still scared of what you feel?”

“Yes.” And it was love. Blind Freddy could see that.

“So what do you propose, Maz? I need to be with you, to touch you.” Joe’s eyes were honest on hers. “I know you feel the same way too.”

Oh yes
. “But I don’t want anything more than that.”

“Really.” Joe’s eyebrows arched with cynicism.

“Yes, let’s just enjoy ourselves and make no plans.”

Joe reached out to touch her. “I’m not leaving, Maz.”

She bobbed away in the water. “I may not be staying.” Even as Maz said the words, she knew it would never have occurred to her to leave Amberwarra Falls.

“Where would you go?”

I have no idea
. “I need to get out and see stuff. I’m too insulated. I only know the same people. Maybe there are better people out there.” Even as she said the words Maz doubted that.

“Men you mean?”

“Maybe.” Again, that had never occurred to her either.

“So in the meantime I’ll do?”

“Yes.”

Joe grinned at her. “Liar.”

Maz sighed. “I have no control with you.” Joe could do what he wanted with her and she welcomed it no matter how much she said didn’t.

“So take some.”

Okay. That had never occurred to her. “How?”

“Do whatever you want with me?”

That was a fascinating thought. “Really?” Her mind went back to that moment in the hotel. She had enjoyed that and she had felt in control.

“Yeah, drive me wild, Marilyn.”

That could be fun.

Chapter Seven

Maz knelt between his spread thighs. “If you laugh at me I will slap you.” She had no idea what she was doing but she kind of liked that. After Joe’s offer for her to take control, they had climbed from the pool and gone straight inside the house. Her swimsuit had hit the ground but her hands had kept him at bay.

“This is about me, remember,” Maz had told him as she ordered him to sit down and be quiet. She remembered that moment in the gym when she had been totally out of control when his mouth descended on her pussy. Maz wanted to see the same reaction from Joe.

“Oh trust me, I am having the most deadly serious moment of my life here. The thought that you would walk away from me now kills me.”

Her hands reached out to encircle Joe’s cock. “You don’t feel dead.” She loved the feel of his penis inside her body, on her breasts, in her hands. It was hard yet velvety soft and the urge to take the length of it into her mouth and suck was overwhelming.

“May I?” There had been times Maz had wanted him so badly that she could barely concentrate on what she was doing. Was Joe aware that every word he uttered made her stomach clench in excitement and her inner thighs sweat? Did he feel the same madness that she did?