“Why didn’t you walk away when I told you I had just got out of prison?”
“Should I have done?” I ask him, “It isn’t my business to judge you, most of the people I know have been in and out of prison. For all I know you could have a good reason to do whatever you did,” I say.
He laughs but it doesn’t feel patronising.
“I like the way you think.”
“I’m not as innocent as I may look, like I said, I know people who have been banged up and they are still decent people to me. I treat people how they treat me not how they live their lives.”
He nods and gives me a devilish grin. I vowed I would never turn out like my father. He judges everyone.
“I have one more question for you.”
“Go ahead.”
The more I sip my vodka and coke the more I feel able to speak to him without making myself look a fool.
“Since this isn’t technically the first time we’ve seen each other so we aren’t technically strangers, will you spend the night with me? One night, just you and me till the sun comes up?”
He is abrupt and upfront and I have to take a second to digest what he just asked.
The only thought that runs through my head is, if I couldn’t get him out of my head all those months ago just looking at him from across the coffee shop, if I turn him down tonight how long will it take for me to regret it?
My mouth opens and my reply comes fast.
“I will.”
“Drink up then, I don’t want to waste any of our time together in here.”
This isn’t the first time I have left the pub with a guy for a one-night stand. However, this is the first time I don’t want it to be a one-time thing. Not that I will tell him this after only speaking for a half hour.
“I don’t even know your name,” I blurt, realising how crazy this is. I have already agreed to spend the night with him yet I don’t know his name.
“Drake Deveroux.”
The way he says his name sends chills down my spine.
“I’m Cammie, Cammie Darcy.”
He pushes out of his chair and holds his hand out for me. I finish my drink and enjoy the warm rush the vodka gives me. As soon as my hand touches his I don’t know if it is the vodka or him that causes my heart to thump double the normal rate. Maybe it is a mixture of the two, in any case, I’ll enjoy it while I can.
Once again, a path clears as he walks me to the exit and then he stops dead making me stumble into the back of him.
God, his back is solid and immediately all thoughts of how hard the rest of his body rockets through my imagination. Lucky for me, I don’t have to imagine for long.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, when he doesn’t move.
“It’s hammering it down out there.”
I peer round him to see the rain we were all hoping for coming down so hard you can hardly see through it. It isn’t late enough for it to be dark but dark clouds loom heavy over us making it feel later than it is.
“Where are you staying?” I ask, hoping it isn’t on the other side of town.
“Only up the road,” he replies.
I tighten my hand in his and walk around his solid frame, stopping in front of him.
“Are you afraid of the rain?” I tease him lightly.
“Hardly,” he snorts.
“Why are you standing here then? I thought you wanted me wet tonight?”
His eyes spark with passion when he catches on to my double meaning and he shrugs out of his hoodie that he always wore into the coffee shop.
He drapes it around my shoulders and pulls the hood over my hair.
“Oh I want you wet but not shivering from catching hyperthermia. When you shiver it will be because of me, not the rain.”
I smile and if it gets any bigger my jaw will break.
We stand there staring at each other letting the sexual tension build until the moment is broken by someone wanting to pass us.
“Let’s go,” he murmurs, and pulls my hand in his and out of the door.
Our feet hit the pavement and the rain soaks us in seconds, we run hand in hand up the road. He wasn’t lying when he said he was staying up the road, it only took a minute or two for us to barge through the bed and breakfast door and into the dry.
His room is on the first floor and while it is spotlessly clean, the furniture looks older than me.
“It’s not much but it’s cheap and only for one night,” he tells me, throwing the door key onto the dresser.
“One night,” I nod, breathing deeply reminding myself not to make this anymore than it is.
Now that I’m not distracted with the rain and running for shelter, I can appreciate how tight the white vest is he was wearing under his hoodie, especially as the rain has soaked it right through. He rips it over his head leaving his chest completely bare. He definitely had to have worked out while he was inside. His arms are perfectly sculpted with pure muscle accentuated by tattoos that I can’t make out in this dim light. Both arms are covered in them. His shoulders are wide and roaming around and down I find tight, tattooed abs. Sex literally radiates from him in waves.
He slowly strides across the room letting his jeans that hang around hips slip up and down as he moves to where I remain standing by the door after we came in. He keeps eye contact with me as he gently removes his hoodie off my head and lets it slip off my shoulders and to the floor. He slides his finger under my dress straps one after the other and his eyes rove up and down my body.
“Perfection,” he whispers, barely loud enough that I can hear.
With the rain beating down on the window being the only sound in the room, he leans in and presses his mouth on mine. My soft lips are a stark contrast against his hard lips, it creates heat between us and he applies more pressure backing me against the door. He grabs the back of my thighs and hikes my legs up around his waist.
Squeezing my legs around his hips I take advantage of our position to grind against him and see how hard he truly is between my legs. He growls into my mouth and it is the hottest response a guy has given me. I barely notice the room spinning around me as he moves us towards the bed. His body follows mine until I feel the mattress beneath me, never once taking his lips away from mine.
I am entranced by his mouth I don’t register his hand sliding down my thigh.
“You feel like silk,” he whispers into my mouth.
His fingers trace a path back up to the hem of my underwear and he gently tugs them down. I lift my hips and they slide off with ease. It never once occurs to me to be self-conscious. The man I have been crushing on for months is about to see me naked and I don’t care. There’s no room for thinking at this stage. His hands on me makes me forget how to think.
His head dips from my mouth to my breasts, freeing them from my bra. A small hiss escapes him before he is taking my nipple in his mouth and sucking hungrily. His teeth grazing over jerks me up but he pushes me back down.
“You’re incredible,” he tells me, earnestly.
I want to tell him the same and we haven’t even gotten started yet but I’ve forgotten how to speak.
He rolls off me and reaches for his bag. After some rummaging, he produces a box of condoms and pulls one out.
He must have brought them on his way, I can’t imagine he brought them in prison. I raise an eyebrow and he smirks.
Undoing his jeans, he pushes them down and his boxers follow. In the dim lighted room, I can still see clearly and I have never seen a more beautiful man before me.
“This probably won’t last long,” he mutters, after protecting himself and climbing back on top of me.
Our eyes connect and a warmth hits me. The heat radiates from him and quells my shudder. I close my eyes and ride the building wave of pleasure as his fingers deftly and quickly slide inside me.
“You’re so wet already,” he murmurs, leaning down to kiss me again.
I make some sort of noise in agreement, foreign to my ears and buck my hips t
o meet his finger thrusts.
Before I know it, they are gone and he is inching inside me in their place.
Another hiss fills the room as we adjust to each other and his slow movements begin to fasten. Wrapping my legs around his waist, I use the heels of my feet to urge him in deeper.
“Oh fuck, stop doing that,” he pleads.
On purpose, I push down harder and silently plead for more.
“You feel better than I ever imagined.”
He picks up speed and his hips become a frenzy as he drives into me like I have never experienced before.
“So fucking good,” he growls.
“Yes,” I hiss.
Grinding my hips up to meet him each and every time he slams into me, it tips us both over the edge.
He manages three more thrusts before his whole body is shuddering on top of mine, pushing his lips into my neck.
“I don’t think one night with you is going to be enough,” he pants, still against my neck.
I don’t say anything, he’s probably only saying it because it is the first sexual release he’s had in months. He would have said it to anyone who was the first woman he slept with after getting out.
He rolls onto his back and discards the condom before repositioning me so I am laying in the nook between his arm and his chest and strokes my hair until it is free from my face.
“We still have hours till the sun comes up,” I remind him.
“So we do,” he chuckles, “Let me get my strength back and I’ll make the rest of the night worth staying awake for.”
And he did. When we weren’t exploring each other’s bodies he was asking me all sorts of questions about my life. I fell asleep already hating the fact he would probably be gone by the time I woke up and Drake Deveroux will become another one-night stand and over time, a distant memory. I was already addicted to him. There are no other words to describe how I felt at the sight of him.
Chapter Two
It’s been three weeks and six days since I spent the night with Drake. Days have dragged by slowly and nights have felt empty and have dragged by even slower, almost painfully so.
One night with him and nothing has been the same. I had hoped that working would take my mind off of him, but it’s had the complete opposite effect. Instead, I found myself thinking more about him, wondering if he was going to show up. While I was serving and in the land of coffee beans and coffee machines I wasn’t in the land of Drake and committing his touch to memory. In the quieter times, I would take myself back to the morning after our night together. I had only been asleep for a couple of hours before I felt movement around me and I struggled to open my eyes after such little sleep.
When I did open them I was met with his dark eyes and soft smile looking down at me. He was fully dressed in his jeans and hoodie again and looked like he was ready to go at any minute.
“I thought you would’ve left by now,” I managed to crook out in my husky, sleepy voice.
“I was going to, but I couldn’t leave until I saw how you looked when you first wake. Also, you kept me entertained talking in your sleep,” he chuckled.
“I do not talk in my sleep,” I disagreed, embarrassed at what he could have heard.
“You do. I couldn’t make out much of it but it was cute.”
Before it could fall into an awkward silence of what to say when you’re done with a one-night stand and trying to find the right words to say without appearing clingy or desperate, I climbed out of the bed with the duvet wrapped around my naked body and tracked down my underwear and dress.
I could feel him watching my every movement as I slipped my underwear on as discreetly as I could and then my dress. I noticed one bag by the door, it didn’t look like he had much.
“Is that all you have?” I asked.
He stood up from the bed and picked said bag up and slung it over his shoulder.
“You don’t exactly get to fill a suitcase when you’re sent down, it’s not like I was going on holiday,” he smirks.
“Really? Here’s me thinking it was,” I said, sarcastically.
The amusement in his eyes shined bright before they returned to dark pools of mystery.
It was time to go. I followed him back down stairs and briefly waited while he handed his key back and checked out. He didn’t say a word to the old man behind the desk, when he was finished he turned and held out his hand for me. I took hold of him and walked out next to him.
The early morning sun was already heating up and the heavy rain last night had done little to clear the muggy air.
We paused on the side of the pavement and I knew it was time to end my twelve-hour fantasy.
“I’m glad you stopped over before going home,” I smile.
“It’s the best decision I’ve ever made.”
We both leaned in and met each other’s lips with a finality that made me want to keep the kiss going so it never ended. I had never experienced it before, usually I am happy to say goodbye the next morning and be on my way. Half of the time I didn’t wait for the bloke to wake before leaving.
Eventually though he did pull away, obviously having more restraint than I did. I had to remind myself that he had a life far from here and I was a perky bump along the way.
“Bye,” I whispered, afraid my voice would sound all wrong.
I turned away from him and carried myself away with as much grace as I could on tingling, shaky legs. There was something about him from the first time he came in the coffee shop and after last night, I wanted to see him again but it wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t going to be the girl who turns to see if he was still standing there, but by God if I wanted to be that girl in that moment. In the end, it didn’t matter, the instant he called my name, I froze. I tried to hide the fleeting grin on my face and by the time I turned to see what he wanted I had composed a natural what-do-you-want mask. Standing in the same place I left him, he calls,
“I’ve decided I’m coming back for you. I was right, one night wasn’t enough.”
My composed mask slipped as fast as an avalanche and a grin that reached ear to ear spread across my face.
He was going to come back, for me. In that moment I knew this was different. Anyone looking in would think it is too fast, we hardly know each other but to me, I knew. I knew there was something between us. I felt it from my head to my toes and no one could tell me any different.
My phones shrill ring tone brings me back to the present and that morning returns to its memory slot in the back of my mind ready to pull it back out the next time I have free time to think. Digging into my apron pocket I pull out my phone and answer it.
“Hello.”
“You’re thinking about him again aren’t you?”
Lorna’s sceptical voice booms down the phone.
“You’re very assuming today,” I point out.
“I’m not assuming anything, I’m standing right in front of you and need my daily latte and would like some service.”
I look up and see her standing right in front of the counter. She ends the call and we both put our phones away.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you come in.”
“I’m not surprised. Do you notice anything anymore? Christ, that guy must have made an impact to make you this crazy over one night.”
“Something like that,” I mutter, turning away to start preparing her drink.
Lorna has asked many times over the last few weeks what happened that night, wanting all the details we normally share with each other but Drake was mine and the idea of sharing our night didn’t feel right this time. She has given up demanding details, now she just wants me to get over it. I can’t explain it properly so she will understand and that is the problem so I keep him to myself.
“Why don’t we go out tonight? You haven’t been out since then, you could do with a drink,” she urges.
My father has loved the change in me, every night after I finish my shift I stay in which makes him happy as I haven’t been out
with Lorna. He has never approved of our friendship, even when we were young children, he was adamant she would lead me astray. She never has but there is no telling him that.
“Let’s see, we’ll go out, you’ll meet someone and leave me on my lonesome. I think I’ll pass, thanks,” I say, sliding her latte across the counter to her reaching hand.
“I promise, just you and me tonight. A girl’s night out, but a quiet one.”
When Lorna gets an idea in her head there is no getting out of it, it is easier to agree and go along with her.
“I get off in an hour, I’ll meet you at the Piper,” I tell her, before she goes on into an hour lecture of why I need to get out more.
“Good girl, I’ll see you then,” she smiles.
Now she has got her way she doesn’t stick around, as she leaves I begin to wipe down the counter and make a start with the close up cleaning duties.
Today has been busy and my feet ache, but with my boss, Gerry, back from his holiday it hasn’t been as hectic as it has been without him. He is the kindest and most understanding boss I have had. He keeps talking about retiring and selling up and when he first spoke about it I was worried about losing my job. I have since learned that he will never retire, he loves the busy commotion of the shop too much. He has timed it perfectly getting out of cleaning the machines when he walks out of his office with my weekly pay packet.
“There’s a little extra for being incredible while I was away,” he smiles, handing it over.
I don’t bother looking to see how much he has given me. I’ll do that when I leave.
“Thanks.”
“I was meant to ask you, did that guy find you?”
Shoving the cleaning bucket in the small cupboard under the counter, I look up to see what he is going on about.
“What guy?” I ask.
Could he be on about Drake? Is he back? Gerry now has my full attention.
“Just before I went away, this guy came in looking for you. Said you had left your phone in his car and he wanted to give it back. I told him you would be in the Piper because that’s where you said you were meeting Lorna that night.”
“Did he have dark hair and wearing a hoodie with jeans?” I ask.