When he eventually rolled her over and eased himself out of her body, she actually whimpered in protest. It had felt lovely with him still inside her. As he moved off the bed and away from her, the feeling of abandonment was acute. And worrisome.
How could she ever live without this again? How could she ever live without him?
The prospect appalled her.
He’d gone to the bathroom. She could hear him in there, whistling. The shower taps were turned on and she was imagining him in there washing himself all over when suddenly he was standing in the doorway, stark naked and dripping wet.
‘OK, get yourself in here, woman,’ he said. ‘Refresh time.’
Jessie wanted to. Desperately. But didn’t that make her a desperate? She had to stay cool, and strong.
‘You and I know what will happen if I get in the shower with you,’ she pointed out with what she hoped was sufficient sophistication. ‘And I couldn’t possibly do it again. Not this soon. Besides, I’m getting hungry. I’ll need something to eat soon.’
‘Funny you should say that,’ he quipped, a wicked gleam in his eyes.
Jessie’s mouth opened, then closed again. He meant it. He actually meant it. Worse, the idea excited her. She was getting to be as wicked as he was.
‘Do you want me to come over there and carry you?’ he challenged. ‘I will if you don’t get that delicious butt of yours off that bed in five seconds flat.’
The thought of his carrying her naked body in his arms was almost as thrilling as her going down on him in the shower.
She stayed right where she was, and six seconds later he swept her up into his masterful and muscular arms.
‘Just before I forget to tell you,’ he said as he carried her into the bathroom, ‘I think you are the most beautiful, sexiest, loveliest woman I have ever met.’
His words startled her. But she tried not to let them turn her head—or her heart—too much. Men like Kane were always good with words.
‘Knowing you, you’re sure to be thinking I’m only interested in you for sex,’ he went on. ‘And I have to confess,’ he added as he placed her down under the hot jets of water, ‘that right at this moment, sex is pretty much my main focus.’
His hands reached up to smooth her hair back from her face whilst the water soaked it through.
Jessie had often seen movies where water was used as a symbol of eroticism. Now she knew why. There was something primal about standing naked with your lover under water. The way it ran down over your body, making you aware of every exposed curve and hidden orifice. It splashed inside her mouth, beat on her nipples, pooled in her navel and ran down between her buttocks, soaking her secret places before trickling down her inner thighs.
‘But it’s the same for you tonight, isn’t it?’ he murmured as he cradled her face with his hands and looked deep into her dilated eyes. ‘We need this, you and I. Need to do everything to each other. We have to get this out of the way first or we won’t be able to think of anything else. I’ve dreamt about you like this all week. Naked and willing in my bed, and in my shower, and in every room of my house. I won’t let you wear any clothes tonight, Jessie, not even when we’re eating. You’re going to stay naked for me. You’re going to let me touch you whenever I want to, take you whenever I want to. Give me permission, beautiful Jessie. Tell me that you want that, too.’
‘Yes,’ she heard herself say from some darkly erotic far-off place. ‘Yes…’
‘WELL? How was it last night?’ Dora asked when they finally caught up with each other over mid-morning coffee. ‘I was too sleepy to ask you when you got home. Sorry. I hope you didn’t think I was rude to leave like that.’
Jessie had actually been grateful. She’d staggered home around one, having declined Kane’s offer to walk her to the door, using the excuse that it was late enough. But she must have looked a right mess with her hair all over the place and not a scrap of make-up remaining on her face. Anyone other than a half-asleep old lady would have known on sight that she’d been having sex all night.
Jessie swallowed at the memory. Not just sex. Hot sex. Incredible sex. Sex such as she’d never known before.
‘I had a very enjoyable time,’ she said with an amazingly straight face. ‘The food at the restaurant was fabulous. You know that place down on the beach at Balmoral?’
Dora didn’t, thankfully. She said she’d never been to Balmoral, either the suburb or the beach.
Jessie invented a menu from scraps of memory of the last time she was there, all the while trying not to think of the incredible meal she had had last night. The food hadn’t been incredible. It was just a couple of frozen dinners, washed down with white wine and finished off with a selection of melons. Incredible was the fact that they’d been naked whilst eating, and sharing one of the kitchen chairs, with her being forbidden to feed herself.
In hindsight, their various sexual encounters the previous night seemed decadent. But at the time, they’d simply been exciting.
‘Where did you go afterwards?’ Dora asked.
‘Just back to his place for a while,’ Jessie said nonchalantly.
‘And?’
‘He has a very nice house. Not unlike yours.’
‘And?’
‘It has a glorious view of the ocean and it’s chock-full of antiques. Kane must be worth a fortune.’
‘And?’
‘And what?’
‘Jessie Denton, did you or did you not go to bed with the man?’
Jessie blushed at this unexpectedly forthright question. ‘Don’t ask questions like that, Dora. Emily might hear.’
‘Not at this distance, she won’t,’ Dora replied.
They were sitting at the small plastic table setting outside their communal laundry, which was a good way from where Emily was happily playing in her fig-tree cubby house.
Jessie sighed. ‘Yes, I did,’ she confessed.
‘Good,’ Dora pronounced. ‘He’s a really nice man.’
Jessie clenched her teeth hard in her jaw lest she open her mouth and say something to disillusion Dora.
‘And he really likes Emily,’ Dora added.
‘He divorced his wife because he didn’t want children,’ Jessie couldn’t resist throwing into the conversation.
‘What? Are you sure about that?’
‘Positive. He told me so himself.’
‘Strange. He doesn’t act like a man who doesn’t like children. He’s very patient, for starters. And kind.’
‘Maybe he just doesn’t like babies. Emily is not a baby.’
‘True. But that’s a shame. I thought he might have been the one.’
‘Which one is that?’
‘The one who’ll marry you and be a father to Emily. She’s very keen on that idea, you know.’
No, Jessie didn’t know. ‘You mean, on having a father? She’s never spoken about it to me. Emily hasn’t missed out on anything, not having a father,’ she argued defensively.
‘How do you know? She’s