time to prepare himself for the fact that Amber would be there, with Jim, doubtless looking beautiful and elegant and sexy as hell. And she wasn’t his anymore. His own fault.
Whoever was calling him was certainly persistent, and he turned and walked back into the room with a heavy sigh, closing the door behind him to keep the air-conditioning working. He sat down on the edge of the bed and picked up the phone.
‘Yep.’
‘Ryan, it’s me.’
He didn’t know whether he was glad to hear her voice, or slightly angry at her for bothering him when he’d really wanted to use this time away from her to grab a bit of space. ‘Hey, babe. How you doing?’
‘I miss you.’
He closed his eyes, the pause he left adding nerves to her voice.
‘Ryan? You don’t mind me calling you, do you? Only…’
‘No,’ he sighed, opening his eyes and staring out at the beautiful sunset that was happening right there in front of him. ‘No, of course I don’t mind. It’s good to hear your voice. Everything okay back home?’
It was her turn to pause, and when she spoke again the nerves were back. ‘I wouldn’t know. I’m not at home.’
Ryan frowned, running a hand along the back of his neck as he continued to stare out at the now rapidly setting sun. ‘Huh? Where are you, then?’
‘I’m here. I’m in Tenerife.’
The cool water lapped around Amber’s thighs as she waded into the small but private pool on the terrace of their plush and rather spacious hotel suite. The sun was about to set and the sky carried the most incredible rust-coloured glow as the island got ready to turn from another hot and sticky day into a warm and balmy evening.
Despite the darkness that was about to descend, the pool was lit up by the terrace’s low lighting, making it seem all the more ethereal, almost. Peaceful. Perfect for a swim before she had to shower, change and get ready for Jim’s team dinner. It’d be the first time she and Jim had gone out with the rest of the Newcastle Red Star squad since they’d arrived in Tenerife, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t apprehensive about being so close to Ryan. He wasn’t somebody she deliberately made a point of being around, not if she didn’t have to be, and so far, on the whole, she’d managed to avoid it. What they’d shared and the things they’d gone through, it all still felt quite raw sometimes, but Amber knew their relationship had been one that could never have worked. So many obstacles had stood in their way, making it impossible to move anywhere or go any further forward. But she still cared about him, still loved him, in some strange kind of way.
Shaking all thoughts of Ryan Fisher from her mind, she ran her hands through her hair, pushing it back off her face as she stared out ahead at the sun falling rapidly behind the island of La Gomera. Everything felt so calm here, so serene, with nothing but the sound of the sea and the muffled noise way off in the distance of a holiday island getting ready for another night of fun.
She loved the fact it was still so warm, even with darkness descending. There was no air to speak of, the humidity was seeing to that, but the coolness of the water felt good as she finally dipped under for a few seconds before pushing back up to the surface, shaking the water off her barely-clothed body.
‘You have no idea how incredibly sexy that looked.’
The sound of that low American accent caused her to swing round as fast as she could waist-deep in water. Jim was crouched down beside the edge of the pool, ready to join her in just his beach shorts, his tanned and toned body exposed. For a man of forty-nine he was extremely fit, and even now he still took Amber’s breath away. Her beautiful American man. Her wonderful husband. The man she’d waited to be with for over twenty years.
She smiled at him, pushing her hands through her hair again, watching as he slid into the pool, joining her in the water. Her heart was already beating out of her chest, anticipation flooding her body. Sometimes it felt like he only had to look at her and she wanted him like crazy, but she guessed that’s what being away from him for so long had done to her. All those years of missing him, wanting him, it was bound to build up, wasn’t it? All that frustration, that sexual tension. They had all that missed time to catch up on.
She backed up against the pool wall as he swam over to her, stopping right in front of her, their eyes locked together as he reached out to gently push a stray strand of wet hair from her face.
‘You look hot,’ he whispered, his mouth almost touching hers and she could feel her heart beating even faster now, pounding away like some out-of-control drum as his fingers slowly moved down from her cheek, running lightly over her collarbone. ‘So – fucking – hot.’
She threw her head back as he kissed the base of her throat, his fingers running down over her arm, his touch so feather-light it caused a million goose bumps to appear out of nowhere, despite the heat and the temperature outside.
‘Jim…’
He shut her up with a kiss, and Amber had no choice but to respond, sliding a hand round the back of his neck as his mouth pressed harder against hers, their tongues touching, moving around each other in some kind of erotic dance. What this man did to her she just couldn’t explain. And to think she’d almost lost him; that she’d tried to fight these feelings, push him away, when it was only ever going to end up with them being together. It was their fate. She truly believed that.
The kiss left her breathless, and she pulled away slightly, flinching just a touch as she felt his fingers start to snake up her spine, gently tugging at her bikini top until he’d loosened it completely, pulling it away from her and discarding it on the poolside. It was quite a liberating feeling, to be slowly stripped naked, outside, on this humid night, and even though neither of them were totally aware of exactly how private their terrace was, they didn’t really care. Amber certainly didn’t. They weren’t hiding anymore. Nothing was a secret.
‘Oh, Jesus, Jim…’ she gasped, throwing her head back again, pushing her breasts hard against his hands as he cupped them before slowly rubbing his thumbs over her nipples, causing them to harden immediately. That’s what his touch did to her. And it felt so good!
‘Let’s take this one step further.’ He slid both hands down under the water, loosening the tie-sides on her bikini bottoms, pulling them away from her in an instant. ‘Let’s face it, honey, they were so small you might as well not have been wearing them in the first place.’
A shiver ran right through her as he kissed her again, a kiss so deep and beautiful; a kiss that turned her on so much she thought she might come before he’d even touched her, before he’d had a chance to make love to her. And she ached to feel him inside her, so she had to hold back, had to let him take the lead.
His hands were on her hips now, gently lifting her out of the water, sitting her down on the very edge of the poolside, and Amber knew exactly what was coming next. She knew, and her entire body tingled with the anticipation.
He pushed her legs apart, touching her first with his fingers, stroking, probing, running them through a wetness that wasn’t caused by the water alone. She closed her eyes, her hands palm-down behind her to steady her as his fingers probed harder, deeper, before slipping inside her for just a matter of seconds, but long enough to make her cry out loud with a mixture of pleasure and pain. He was touching her, inside and out, and it felt amazing!
She kept
