‘I’m not looking to rekindle a romance. The past is done with but it’s clear that the chemistry is still there between us.’ She stroked a finger down the front of his shirt, revelling in the desire darkening his eyes until they were almost black. This was what she wanted—confirmation that she still affected him as much as he did her. More importantly, she needed this to give her some closure.
She’d used Charles as an excuse not to let anyone else get close to her but recently she’d begun to wonder if she was missing something in her life. If she was ever to entertain the notion of a serious relationship, or even a family, she had to put Charles’s memory to rest first. One more time together and a chance to say a proper goodbye should finally close that chapter of her life.
‘As I remember, that was never a problem for us, but we do have a long, complicated history. Is it really a good idea to go back there?’
‘Now isn’t the time to start getting chivalrous, Charles.’ Harriet let her finger trail down until she reached his belt buckle, then started to undo it.
Charles let out a groan. ‘I just don’t want us to do anything that will end up with you getting hurt again. I can’t give you any more now than I could all those years ago.’
‘All I’m asking for is tonight. I’m not going to beg.’ She popped open the button on his trousers then stopped. If he wanted more he was going to have to say so.
‘One night?’
‘We never got to say goodbye. Let’s think of it as us both getting closure.’
‘Going out with a bang?’ he asked with a smirk, but he was close enough she could hear the hitch in his breathing. Clearly, he wasn’t as composed as he was making out.
‘Something like that. A one-time offer never to be repeated or spoken of again.’
‘Deal.’ His voice was a growl as he wound his arm around her waist, pulled her tight to his body and covered her lips with his.
Just like that the touch paper was lit, their passion reignited in an instant. The kiss so urgent and demanding it took her breath away. She didn’t remember Charles being quite so...masterful. Perhaps it was that knowledge they were being reckless that added an extra frisson to their passion. This was definitely the last time they’d be together and would be a sweeter memory, she hoped, to hold onto than the last one.
He backed her against the wall of the lift, his mouth, his tongue never leaving hers. Arousal swept through her, showing no mercy or regard for their location or history. Harriet felt along the wall for the control panel and hit the button for the fourth floor. Charles paused their amorous reunion to hit the one for the second floor instead.
‘My room’s closer,’ he whispered against her neck, and she felt the effect of his warm breath on her skin all the way down to her toes.
The thing about being her past lover was that he remembered exactly where to strike to make her weak at the knees. He knew all her sensitive spots and she shivered with anticipation at the thought of him using that advantage. Two could play that game and it wasn’t long before they were both gasping with pleasure as they began to reacquaint themselves with each other. If either of them had booked the penthouse suite she doubted whether they would’ve made it out of here without consummating their renewed acquaintance.
The doors opened, and they were soon fumbling their way down the corridor, steadfastly locked in their passionate embrace. Charles smiled against her lips as he tried to unlock the room door behind her. They were giggling young lovers again, driven by their hormones and lust, and Harriet was ignoring her adult brain telling her otherwise.
‘Have you got any protection?’ As they fell through the door her mind was racing ahead. She didn’t want to interrupt a crucial moment to track down some condoms in case it gave either of them time to think about what they were doing and change their mind.
‘Somewhere.’
He backed her over to the large bed, raining kisses along her neck and collarbone until she fell onto the mattress in a puddle of ecstasy. With one hand he fished in his pocket for his wallet and produced a foil packet. Harriet was glad he didn’t have a drawer full of condoms by the bed stocked up for a weekend of bedroom antics with faceless women. A hook-up had come as much of a surprise to him as it had to her but now it was happening she was glad one of them had come prepared.
She helped him shed his jacket and set to work unbuttoning his shirt, longing for the feel of his skin beneath her fingertips. Finding that patch of hair on his chest reminded her how familiar his body was to her but, oh, how she wanted to get to know it intimately again. Her hands at his fly, she began to undo his trousers.
‘Harriet? I want to make this last,’ he gasped as she pulled him free from the constraints of his clothes.
‘I want you. Now,’ she demanded. This had to be on her terms, so she remained in control. The only way she could justify bedding her ex was to treat him as casually as he had her. She had needs and though she’d taken lovers since Charles, only he could give her what she truly wanted.
Charles didn’t protest. Instead, he slid his hand beneath her dress and tugged her underwear away. With their clothes half on, half off, and Harriet’s dress hitched up around her waist, she waited with bated breath for him to sheath himself. There was something daring and incredibly sexy about the spontaneity of it all. She was risking everything she had by bedding him one more time when he’d had the power in the past to topple her world around her.
‘I guess we do have all night to get to know each other again.’ Charles smiled at her in the darkness and Harriet arched to meet him at their most sensitive parts. She wanted their bodies to do all the talking tonight. That way there could be no confusion about what she expected from him. This was only about sex. An area she knew he excelled in.
They clung to one another, perspiration settling on their skins as they raced towards that moment of utter bliss they knew they could find with each other. Harriet was already on her way to hitting that peak as though she’d been waiting for twelve long years to do this with him again. Those years apart certainly hadn’t diminished their appetites for one another, not on her part at least. No other man had come close to satisfying her the way Charles had. Perhaps because she’d never allowed herself to get as emotionally involved with a man as she couldn’t bear the pain that came with it, or perhaps because he’d been the best lover she’d ever had.
He knew exactly where to touch her to drive her crazy and exactly where she needed him to be. Charles too seemed to be making up for lost time, lust setting the heady rhythm of his every stroke inside her. It was as out of control as she’d ever seen him, or indeed had ever felt herself.
When her orgasm came it hit fast and hard, and as Charles’s cries echoed hers she knew she never wanted this night to end. There was no more living in the past when the present was so much more enjoyable.
Two months later
EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE on this road trip had been telling Harriet to have a merry Christmas. From the radio presenters accompanying her on this journey, to the few strangers she’d encountered along the way, to the very weather, they’d been insisting she should be enjoying Christmas Day.
There was a fat chance of that happening, thanks to Charles, and now she was about to ruin his day too. She was happy to do this alone and more than capable. The only reason she was coming all this way was to give him the chance to step up to his obligations this time instead of walking away. He could tell her face to face if he didn’t want any part of this, then they wouldn’t have to see each other ever again.
The drive