The idea of exposing himself to that level of intimacy set a shiver racing down his spine. Ric folded his arms before him. He took a deep breath and forced himself along the corridor, head down, absolutely not straining his neck to look back over his shoulder at what could still be, if he simply knocked upon the guest room door.
Don’t be a fool. Kara North might be a very welcome addition to Liddell Island; she looked good, smelled better and, boy, did she make a good after-dinner guest, but he absolutely wasn’t looking for a permanent fixture in his life.
Still, he only crossed the threshold of his room once he’d seen her light blink out. Much as the idea of company enticed him, intruding on a person’s sleep overstepped certain boundaries, and, if all you were offering was one night of no-strings sex, it moved you firmly into dickhead territory.
Ric stripped off in the dark, leaving his clothes in a heap upon the floor. Sleeping apart was for the best. It meant that come morning they’d part company with no further expectations of one another. It might not constitute the most comfortable arrangement, but at least he hadn’t helped to generate any false hopes on her part. She wouldn’t be the first lover he’d had that had called him a bastard for laying things out straight. He’d wait and see how she settled down on the island before he even thought of claiming his prize.
Ric grinned as he flopped on to the pillows anticipating that future date. The memory of Kara’s long legs and the silk-smooth grip of her pussy still made him feel warm and fuzzy.
Sometimes he liked to imagine he could get by without sex. That he could genuinely lock himself up in this fort and not bother with the world outside. But he’d tried celibacy once. Gone stir crazy in a matter of weeks and then ended up wanking himself stupid, before hitting Torquay as though he meant to shag every inhabitant. Few good memories existed of that weekend. Not so this evening. He’d hardly believed his luck when he opened the door to find her peeping in at him from the gloom like some sort of sea sprite.
She had an earthy sort of beauty: faerie-like angularity set within an oval face, the delicate bone structure combined with a wide, giving mouth. Everything about that mouth said she was a girl who liked to suck. Maybe he should have pressed more to find out. In his mind’s eye, he pictured her crouched over him, ready to dip her head and pull him deep.
Not that he was ready to hand over that sort of power. He had issues on that score already.
Ric instantly switched the scenario in his head, imagining her sitting, him standing. He cupped her bounteous breasts together, while he thrust his cock into the soft chasm between them. Every time his shaft peeped from between her breasts Kara dipped her chin and licked the tip of his cock.
Damn – his hand closed around his shaft and began to pump – it’d been too long since he’d met a woman willing to roll with her desires. The last few he’d become embroiled with had been ridiculously coy and swore they wanted nothing but vanilla sex. Not so Kara. It hadn’t mattered what he’d suggested, she’d gone with it. She’d let him lead, and trusted him enough to guarantee her pleasure.
Fuck! This was no good. Ric snatched his hands away from his crotch. He clenched his fists by his sides. Now he was randy as a satyr again, with only his palm to relieve him. Well, his palm and a few toys he liked to torture himself with. There were loops of silk cord knotted around the posts of his bed for good reason and they were fuck all to do with being tied up. Ric preferred restrictions to restraints. He preferred to keep his hands away from his cock. Wanking oneself was altogether too easy, too addictive and just didn’t relieve any of the strain.
That which is harder to attain is always more rewarding. Saying it didn’t help with the cockstand he was facing. Ric splayed his fingers over the eiderdown. He lay breathing in a steady rhythm for several moments, but his erection wasn’t going away. Masturbating would be a poor substitute for the gorgeous woman occupying the bed across the hall, but with any luck it might get him to sleep tonight.
You sad bastard.
He stretched sidewards to open the top drawer in the bedside table, only for his phone to buzz just as he closed his hand around a bottle of lube. He kept hold of the lube, and answered the phone with his free hand. ‘Yeah,’ he drawled into the receiver.
‘We need to talk,’ the husky voice of his favourite fuck buddy purred into his ear.
Shit! Not now. ‘I can’t imagine what about.’
A deep sigh reached him from the other end of the phone line. ‘Cut the bollocks, Ric. We’ve known each other too long. Credit me with some brains.’
‘Fine. I assume this is why you’re not over here now.’ They had a semi-regular date. Shagathon Sunday, Zach had once branded it. It would certainly have been that if Kara had arrived in the middle of what they normally got up to. Considering her reaction to that group shot, he didn’t think she’d have balked at a threesome with two guys.
Ric flicked open the top of the lube and slathered it over his hungry dick. ‘Wouldn’t this have been more appropriate face to face?’ he asked sweetly.
There was a lip-chewing pause on the other end of the line, before Zach’s deep voice rumbled, ‘I know what happens when I come near you.’
‘You come,’ he quipped in return. ‘Isn’t that the whole point? That’s what fuck buddies do.’
‘Stop calling me that.’
Ric formed a ring with his fingers and began to work his cock. The silky lube made for an extra-smooth glide that eased his overwrought nerves. Now he had two lovely images in his head. One of Kara’s cunt clasping him, and one of Zach’s delightfully wicked tongue lighting up an array of very sensitive nerve-endings.
‘Shit! Are you with someone?’ Zach cursed.
The sounds of his self-loving must have reached Zach’s ears, or maybe it was the catch in his breath each time his palm rubbed over his glans. ‘Not just at the minute, but the new owner of Beachcomber’s Barn has arrived. She’s staying in my guest room,’ Ric confessed.
‘You fucking …’ Zach’s words trailed off. ‘Uh!’
Ric refused to let the frustration in Zach’s voice rile him. He hadn’t changed in any way. Zach was the one suddenly murmuring about commitment after years of them enjoying a very casual and open relationship. They’d always had other partners. ‘Shall I tell you about her?’ He deliberately made his voice low and sexy. They often traded sexual encounter stories. Sometimes it really helped to set the mood.
‘What else do I need to know, beside the fact that you fucked her?’
‘Hey, needs must when your date doesn’t arrive. And you’re hardly a saint yourself.’
Several moments of uncomfortable silence stretched between them, during which all Ric could hear was the unsteady sound of Zach’s breaths. ‘You could still come over,’ he suggested. His cock pulsed at the idea, giving a little nod of approval.
‘Oh, yeah. I’m an idiot like that.’ Zach began to laugh. ‘You screwed it up, didn’t you? Just like normal. What did she tell you that you were – vermin, a bastard, a right fucking wanker? All of which are true, by the way.’
‘I did not screw anything up.’ Ric bristled. ‘I’ll have you know that my new tenant is a very amenable lady.’
‘You’re a fuckwit. And I’ll be amazed if she’s talking to you in the morning.’
Why was it so hard for people to accept the truth? ‘What’s so wrong with being honest?’ It was a shame more folks didn’t appreciate it. He didn’t pretend. He didn’t offer anything he wasn’t prepared to give. Zach had always understood that – well, until recently. If it had been anyone else bleating on about having a proper relationship, he’d have severed the damn thing on the spot. For some reason he hadn’t been able to do that to Zach, perhaps because they’d