‘Right,’ he sighed, leaning over to quickly kiss her forehead, giving her hand a small squeeze before standing up, shoving both his hands in his pockets. ‘I’ll see you later.’
‘Where are you going?’
‘For a walk. Clear my head before we set off for the match.’
Amber watched as he headed back into the hotel, still frowning slightly. Something didn’t seem right, but she wasn’t going to push it.
Grabbing a short, bright pink kaftan from the table by her side, she pulled it over her head and stood up, smoothing it down over her white bikini. She was tired of sitting out in the sun now. Being out here on her own was only giving her far too much time to think about things, to dwell on stuff that she shouldn’t really be dwelling on, stuff that wasn’t important. Stuff that didn’t matter. And some stuff that did.
She was missing Debbie, too. She’d never really had a close female friend before, not until she’d met Debbie Hogan – part-time glamour model, North East socialite, gossip columnist, and new wife of Gary Blandford, Newcastle Red Star’s top defender and Ryan Fisher’s best friend. When she’d first met Debbie just a few months ago, Amber had thought there was no way the two of them could, or would, ever get on – Debbie was, more or less, your ‘typical’ WAG, if there really was such a thing, because Amber was beginning to think there wasn’t. Not really. Her attitude towards the women who shared the lives of these sometimes overpaid, cosseted, egotistical men had certainly changed after everything she’d been through with Ryan. And Debbie had become a friend Amber loved like a sister now. There were things she could talk to her about that she couldn’t share with anyone else, not even Ronnie, and especially not Jim. And right now, Amber missed her. Right now, Amber needed her.
Breathing an inner sigh of relief as the cool, air-conditioned interior of the hotel hit her, Amber strode towards the elevator, hoping with all her heart that Jim was in their room. She really wanted to spend just a little bit more time with him, on their own, before work took over once again, because sometimes she felt a little bit like she was still living in that glorious honeymoon period, and she was scared to let that feeling go. Scared to let reality back in.
Sliding her key card into the lock on the door of the hotel suite that had been their home for the past few days, she closed it behind her and walked inside, throwing her beach bag down onto the floor and pulling off her kaftan, casting it aside as she continued to walk through into the bedroom.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed, her handsome husband, flicking through a pile of papers, his mobile phone close beside him, a frown covering his face.
‘You okay?’ Amber asked, watching as he lifted his head, his frown quickly turning into a smile.
‘I am now.’
She smiled back, climbing onto the bed and kneeling up behind him, sliding her arms around his shoulders, kissing the back of his neck. ‘You look tired,’ she said, slowly beginning to massage his shoulders, feeling the knot of tension below her fingers as she kneaded deep. ‘And you feel so tense.’
He threw his head back, still holding onto the papers he’d been flicking through. ‘I’m fine, honey.’
She continued to knead his shoulders, listening to his quiet moans as her fingers pressed harder. ‘What are you looking at?’ she asked, resting her chin on the top of his head. He quickly turned the papers over, placing them on the bed beside him, his hand palm-down on top of them.
‘Just work stuff. Nothing important.’
It was Amber’s turn to frown at the way he’d quickly hidden those papers from her view. But maybe he just didn’t want to talk about work anymore. That would be understandable. ‘Anyway,’ she said, shrugging it off. ‘How about trying to ease that tension just a little bit more, huh?’
‘What you got in mind?’ He smiled, closing his eyes as her thumbs stroked the back of his neck in small, circular motions.
She stopped what she was doing for a second, untying her bikini top and throwing it onto the floor before pressing her naked breasts against his back, running her hands up and down his arms as she rested her chin on his shoulder. ‘Oh, I don’t know. You got any ideas?’
He gave a low, sexy laugh. ‘Get over here. I need to look at you.’
She slid round in front of him, climbing astride him, pushing her breasts out as an invitation for him to touch her because, oh God, she wanted to be touched. She wanted him to touch her so badly.
‘Jesus, Amber,’ he groaned, running his fingers ever-so-lightly over her nipples, his eyes watching their every movement. ‘I don’t think I’d have got through this trip without you here.’
‘Yeah, you would,’ she breathed, throwing her head back as his fingers pressed harder against her naked breasts before travelling slowly down her body, trailing over her stomach, stroking her hips. ‘You’d have managed.’
‘You know that for sure, do you?’ he whispered, his lips lightly brushing the base of her throat as he began slowly untying the sides of her bikini bottoms, pulling them away from her so she was completely naked.
‘You’d have found some way of relieving the tension.’ She smiled, burying her fingers in his hair as his mouth covered one of her breasts, his tongue flicking over her nipple, sending her stomach on another major somersaulting session.
The time for talking was over. They both knew where this was heading now.
She could feel his erection hard against her, ready and waiting to fill her up, and she reached down to free him, taking him in her hand, gasping as her fingers wrapped themselves around him. His groans turned her on even more, her need to have him inside her growing by the second, so when he lifted her up slightly, she made no attempt to fight the inevitable, lowering herself back down onto him, guiding him in with her hand.
‘Oh Jesus, Amber…’ he groaned as he slipped inside her. She was so wet it took no force at all, no effort to push his way in. ‘You have no idea how much I need this right now.’
She threw her head back again as she rode him hard and fast, feeling him slip in and out of her in a beautiful, almost painful rhythm, her fingers buried in his hair as he thrust deep into her. She really couldn’t live without this man. She’d tried – for nearly two decades she’d tried – but despite thinking she’d put him to the back of her mind, laid all those ghosts to rest, she’d only really been kidding herself. He’d taken her at such a young age, and his hold had never loosened its grip. She was caught in his trap, entangled in his web, and there was no place else she’d rather be.
Within minutes she could feel that tingle begin to appear, start its climb, slowly turning from a delicious shiver into a tidal wave of exquisite pins and needles as he pushed deeper, taking her to that beautiful precipice before tipping her over the edge in a wave of pleasure and pain that engulfed her completely, making her cry out loud.
Oh God, she loved this man. She loved him so much. They had so many lost years to catch up on, and Amber wanted to make sure that, this time, nothing was wasted. No opportunities were overlooked or lost. She couldn’t afford for that to happen. She wanted to be with this man forever. And she wanted everything he could give her. Everything.
‘I love you so much, Jim,’ she whispered, her face buried in his hair as their bodies shuddered to a halt, his arms falling around her. He was still inside her, and Amber wanted him to stay there, just for a little while. Just for a little bit longer. ‘I love you so much.’
‘Hey, I love you, too, baby,’ he said, gently stroking the small of her back in slow, rhythmic movements. ‘You drive me fucking crazy, I can’t begin to tell you…’
She pulled away slightly, closing her eyes as his mouth touched hers, kissing her in the