Framed and Hung (12 page)

This was about more than just carnal satisfaction. He didn’t want a quick screw in the grass — well, he did, but that wasn’t all. He wanted Zoe. Not just for this one instant in time. He wanted to explore what was between them, see where it went. A future? Maybe…

Zoe wrenched her lips from his, gasping, ‘Jake, where’s the freakin’ condom? I can’t wait much longer.’

Jake’s breathing quickened as he took her hand from between her thighs. He lifted it to his mouth and licked at her fingers. The taste of her arousal blew his mind. Sweet. Spicy. Guaranteed to send his temperature soaring.

‘Sexy. Oh so sexy,’ he whispered. ‘You taste like all my dreams come together in one delightful, erotic package.’

Unable to wait any longer, he untangled his jeans from around his feet and grabbed the wallet out of the back pocket. His hand shook as he handed it to Zoe. ‘Condom. In the zipper compartment,’ he rasped.

‘You were that sure of me?’

He shook his head as he tossed her shorts and his jeans down on the moss, the best he could manage as a bed. ‘Wishful thinking,’ he managed.

With an economy of movement, he dealt with her top, throwing it on the pile of clothing. Then, his arms around her, he tumbled her onto their makeshift bed, following her down to nestle between her thighs. God help him, he felt like he’d come home.

‘Sneaky move, Mr Lord, but how about this?’ She waved a silver foil packet at him.

Jake snatched it from her hand and laid it on the moss beside him. ‘Soon. But first…’

Zoe squealed as Jake moved, nipping and licking his way towards her chest. Her luscious breasts beckoned. He ran the tip of his tongue across one nipple. Zoe arched her back, pushing her breast closer to his mouth. He wasn’t slow. He took the invitation and closed his lips over the dusky-pink crest.

God help him, he could die happy right now. This was Nirvana. Zoe in his arms. His mouth feasting at her breast, suckling hard until she arched higher, whimpering her need. He diverted his attention to her other breast, sucking the nipple hard. Flicking it with his tongue. Rolling it against the roof of his mouth and seducing her with sensation that bowed her body even harder.

Desperate for more, he moved down her body, leaving a string of soft kisses in his wake. When he reached her thighs, he nudged her legs apart, opening her to his hungry lips. A gasp escaped her as he spread her wide and lapped at the musky moisture that drenched her core.

Jake closed his eyes, savouring the feast. So much more than he expected. The taste of her seeped deep inside him, but it wasn’t enough. He’d lusted after Zoe for so long he wanted all of her. But it was more than lust. He wanted this woman with a passion he couldn’t deny. Not just for now. Not for tomorrow. But for all time, because he had a feeling he and Zoe were meant to be together.

Zoe lifted her hips as if demanding he continue. He put aside any other thoughts and concentrated on pleasing this intriguing woman.

Lowering his head, he ran the tip of his tongue across her clit. She bucked, pushing closer to his mouth. Then he probed at her core, sliding deep inside and moving his tongue to catch every drop of her moisture.

Zoe panted, the breath escaping her in needy little puffs that drove the tension inside him higher. ‘Oh God, Jake, stop teasing.’

He managed a grin. ‘Um, like you did?’

She jerked against his mouth as his breath wafted across her pussy. ‘I’ll never tease you again,’ she promised. ‘Just do — ’

‘This?’ he murmured and sucked her clit into his mouth, flicking at the tight bundle of nerves with his tongue.

‘Jaaake! I’m burning up here. I’m begging you…’

He released her and grabbed for the condom, quickly ripping the packet open and rolling it down over his aching cock. ‘I would love for you to come in my mouth, but I’m burning up as much as you are. I need you…now.’

He surged forwards, need pulsing through him as he seated himself deep inside her welcoming warmth. Warmth? Hell, it was red-hot, molten fire. It burned him from the inside out and spurred him on.

Withdrawing, he thrust into her core again. She was so tight. She fit him like a glove, a velvet caress he felt even through the latex condom. She clenched her internal muscles and her grip tightened around him, threatening to drag him over the edge. He fought against the need to let go. He didn’t want this to end so quickly.

Setting up a rhythm designed to drive them both crazy, he withdrew and thrust again, pushing the tension higher. The muscles in his lower gut tightened. His arms shook as he fought to keep his weight from crushing her.

When Zoe wrapped her legs about his hips and pulled him in tighter, he almost lost it. He fought to hang onto his control. The breath rushed from his chest and he gritted his teeth, determined Zoe would find her satisfaction before he let go.

Knowing he wouldn’t be able to hold back the tide much longer, he reached between their bodies and flicked at the swollen bundle of nerves that formed her clit before taking it between thumb and finger and exerting a subtle pressure.

A ragged cry shattered the air as Zoe cried out in response. He felt the first spasm rippling through the muscles of her pussy, dragging him closer to the edge. His balls tightened, the sac pulling up closer to his body. The fight for control became even harder as a series of ripples wrapped around his cock, squeezing with exquisite torture.

For the first time in his life, Jake screamed out his release, his hoarse shout echoing under the canopy of the weeping willow tree. Zoe’s cry followed his, her head thrown back as her climax caught her up.

The fierce contractions of her core milked him dry, taking everything he had to give. When he finally regained his senses, he could still feel the lingering spasms of Zoe’s orgasm deep inside her.

‘Wow,’ Zoe whispered, her eyes still closed. She unhooked her legs from around his waist and allowed them to flop down onto the spongy moss. ‘That was — ’

‘Unbelievable? Amazing? Mind-blowing?’ Jake rolled onto his side, taking Zoe with him. He wrapped his arms about her and pulled her close to his body. ‘Lady, that was totally freakin’ earth-shattering.’

The afterglow of such powerful sex filled him with a sense of contentment he’d never felt before. He wanted nothing more than to stay right here with this amazing woman, but the real world had a way of intruding. He lifted his arm and squinted at his watch.

‘Damn it.’

She twisted until she could prop herself up on his chest. ‘What? You regretting this already?’

Jake pulled her down and gave her a hard kiss. ‘No way in hell. This has been the most incredible experience of my life.’ He put her from him and sat up, grimacing. ‘It’s just… I’ve got that darn flight to Sydney to catch. I wish I could put it off but I can’t.’

She sat up and pulled his clothes out from underneath her and handed them to him. ‘Work waits for no man,’ she quipped. ‘Your faithful customers will never accept you gave up an important meeting for a roll in the grass with me, so you best get on with it.’

He knelt in front of her and grabbed her by the upper arms. ‘Not a roll in the grass, damn it! I’m hoping this is a beginning for us.’

She shook her head and opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off. ‘I know you have issues because of your marriage, but you think you’re the only one? Hell, I have just as much trouble with being in control of everything in my life as you do, but together, I think we can find a way. Some middle ground that we’re both happy with. What do you say?’

All of a sudden, she grabbed his shirt out of his hand and draped it over her shoulders, pulling the front together and staring towards the trunk of the weeping willow tree. ‘Um…I’d say your so-many-greats ancestor is definitely a dirty old pervert.’

Jake followed the direction of her gaze to see a ghostly haze hovering a few inches above the ground. The mist gained definition until his grandfather stood there making the same rude gesture he’d used in Zoe’s bedroom.

He released a crack of laughter. ‘Go get your jollies somewhere else, old man. This is private.’

Zoe pushed in behind him, her breasts pressed to his back. ‘Joshua, I’m going to smash every mirror in the place so you’re trapped forever if you don’t take off now.’

Although the words were a threat, Jake could hear the thread of laughter in her voice. His own mouth twitched as Joshua made one final obscene gesture and winked out, a few wisps of mist remaining to mark his passage. A ghostly chuckle rolled through the garden before fading to nothing.

Zoe and Jake shared a smile and then set about getting dressed. Before Jake walked her back to the inn, he turned her towards him and clasped her cheeks in his hands.

‘I’ll be back late tomorrow. Are you still going to be here? Or are you going to do a bolt while I’m gone?’

Zoe grinned at him. ‘Oh, I’ll be here, if only to serve one up to that old man. No way is a ghost going to get the better of me.’

She walked away from him, heading towards the inn. Jake’s gaze was fixated on the curve of the cheeks of her arse that peeped below the edge of her shorts. His blood caught fire again and testosterone surged.

Holy crap, he had it bad.

‘And one other thing?’ Zoe paused about eight feet away from him, casting a wicked grin over her shoulder.

‘And that is?’

‘I plan on screwing the hell out of you until I make
you
lose control first.’ Then she turned and sauntered off.

‘And I’ll let you,’ he murmured to her parting back, a huge grin on his face.

* * *

Zoe wiped a hand across her forehead and then threw the sketching pencil on the table. Pushing back the chair, she stood and stretched, easing the kinks out of her back. Her stomach rumbled, making her realise how long she’d been working.

‘Hey, you, I’m getting hungry. I didn’t have any morning tea. You finished in there?’

Zoe jumped as Rachel stuck her head around the door. ‘Bloody hell, girl, you scared the crap out of me.’

‘Well, I’m not going to apologise. I’m starving and it’s already 12:30. What do you fancy for lunch?’ Rachel sidled into the room and stared at the series of sketches laid out on the table. ‘Hey, these are pretty good. Not like the old portraits in the Garden Room, but pretty fantastic regardless.’

Zoe leaned over the sketches. ‘Yeah, Jake’s an easy subject. They didn’t turn out too bad at all.’

‘Particularly this one.’ Rachel pulled out a drawing from the bottom of the pile and waved it at Zoe, a big grin on her face.

Heat washed up over Zoe’s face and she snatched the sheet of paper from her friend and turned it face down on the table. She didn’t need to look at it to know which one it was. It hadn’t been copied from a photo. It was an image imprinted on her memory.

Jake Lord spread-eagled on the soft green moss. One raised knee hid his family jewels from view, but the rest of him was gloriously naked. His head was propped up on one bent arm and an intriguing smile curved his lips.

No way was anyone meant to see this sketch. It was private, something Zoe would hang on to for a long while to come.

In an effort to divert Rachel, she picked up a sketch of Jake showing him from mid chest up. He was leaning back against the weeping willow tree, shirt open at the neck and his hair ruffled. Once again a mysterious smile graced his lips.

‘What do you reckon about this one? I’m thinking of using it for the portrait.’

‘Bit different from the ones already hanging in the Garden Room, isn’t it?’

‘Definitely. That’s what Jake wanted. Something a bit less formal. If I do it in the same sepia tones as the other portraits, I think it will fit right in and Jessie will be happy.’

Rachel nodded. ‘Yep, I think you’re right. For Jessie, it’s not about whether Jake’s portrait matches the others. It’s all about family, and Jake is next in line to be immortalised.’

She took the sketch from Zoe and flipped it onto the table. Then she grabbed Zoe’s purse and hustled her towards the door. ‘On that note, let’s get out of here. I’m starving. I thought we could go to the pub for a counter meal. What do you reckon?’

Zoe’s stomach grumbled right on cue. ‘Sounds good,’ she said with a grin. ‘I didn’t realise how late it was. Lead on, my friend.’

Zoe was happy to let Rachel take the reins and drive them the short distance to the pub. The restaurant area was quite full, but Zoe spotted a couple of spare booths on the far side. The women slipped into the second last one, their backs to the occupants of the next booth. Zoe really didn’t take too much notice, but her brain registered that it was two men sitting behind them. Given her issues with always remaining in control, she’d have to warn Rachel to keep her voice down. She had a problem with others knowing her business.

Once they’d ordered their meal, Zoe and Rachel sat nursing a glass of white wine and nibbling on peanuts while they waited. Zoe started counting under her breath.
One…two…three…

‘So what happened with you and Jake?’ Rachel nudged her in the ribs. ‘And don’t tell me nothing did. I’m not blind. Girlfriend, you’re glowing.’

‘Hah, knew you wouldn’t be able to wait longer than three seconds.’ She chuckled. ‘You are so predictable.’

‘So, give!’

Zoe’s heart started to race as soon as she thought about her interlude in the garden with Jake. Her emotions seesawed from fear of not being in control to excitement at where this could lead. She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face.
Oh yeah, baby, bring it on. Life is about to get interesting.

Rachel slapped her on the arm. ‘You’re not going to tell me a darn thing, are you?’

Her grin widened. ‘No.’

‘Alright, I can appreciate that, but tell me this. Are you going to give Jake a chance? Or are you going to cut off your nose to spite your face, as the old cliché goes?’

Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, she heard her name mentioned behind her. She looked over her shoulder. All she could see was the back of the heads of the two men, not enough to identify them. But she sure recognised that voice.

She held one finger to her mouth to keep Rachel quiet and continued to listen to the conversation.