Striker (66 page)

Amber stretched out again, throwing her arms up above her head as he pushed her dress up high over her thighs, exposing everything from the waist down, the cool air that suddenly hit her sending another shiver coursing through her. His thumbs were making tiny circular movements along her inner thighs and she could hear his breathing becoming heavier now, too, feel the touch of his fingers growing stronger until they finally found their destination, plunging inside her with expert precision and Amber had to bite down hard on her lip to stop herself from crying out loud. It was a beautiful pain, a feeling she’d craved, something she’d wanted him to do for so long now but it was just the beginning, the first act of a show that had yet to get started.
 

He pushed a little deeper and Amber arched her back, lifting her hips up, a quiet groan escaping from between her slightly parted lips. It felt good, it felt
really
good, but it still wasn’t enough. She wanted to feel that wonderful part of him that would take her to heaven; she wanted him to really become a part of her, and as he slowly withdrew his fingers, which in turn elicited another gasp from Amber, she felt the anticipation heighten as she waited for the inevitable to happen.

She kept her eyes closed, breathing in deep and exhaling slowly as she felt him lower himself down, felt him slip inside her as though it were the most natural action in the world. And maybe, for them, it was. Maybe it always had been. And maybe they’d wasted far too much time, time they needed to make up for now.
 

She opened her legs wider to let him go deeper, moaning quietly as he pushed harder into her, his fingers entwining with hers, his lips brushing her neck. Her body was burning up, waves of red hot shivers washing over her as they moved together, every inch of her warm skin tingling. And she could feel that crashing climax growing already, building with each kiss, with every move he made. She could feel it in the tips of her toes, creeping slowly up her body like a beautiful blanket of pins and needles, his hand in the small of her back keeping her close to him. And she wanted to be this close to him for as long as she could. She wanted to keep him there, with her, and believe that everything they were doing was right, even though she wasn’t entirely sure it was. But it was time to make that move now. They had to do something, turn things around somehow so that everyone could finally move forward. This – what was happening here – it was just sealing the deal. She’d told herself that, if she’d felt everything she’d wanted to feel; if she genuinely felt it all when Jim touched her, made love to her, then and only then could she be certain they were doing the right thing.

And then it came, that incredible, white-hot wave of pain and pleasure that swept every other feeling clean away, leaving only a beautiful, tingling sensation that covered every inch of her body. His lips kissed the base of her throat in tiny, feather-light touches as she felt him spill out inside her, wiping away that last seed of doubt, and she closed her legs around him, keeping them there for just a little bit longer as she felt him continue to flood her body.

‘So, I guess this tells me everything I need to know.’

His voice caused the perfect bubble she and Jim had created around them to burst in an instant. The spell had been broken, the moment suddenly lost.

‘Ryan…’ Amber began, pulling her dress down over her thighs as Jim sat up, running both hands through his grey-flecked hair.
 

‘You should knock before you enter this office, Fisher,’ Jim said, standing up and tucking his shirt back in before calmly walking over to a tray of various bottled spirits on a sideboard at the other end of the room. Amber watched him as he poured himself a whisky. It was as though getting caught having sex was an everyday occurrence to him. He was acting as though this wasn’t anything unusual.

Jim turned to look at Ryan. ‘Shouldn’t you be at the training ground?’

Ryan stared at his boss for a few seconds, before turning his attention back to Amber. ‘I wanted to see Amber.’

‘Well, you’ve seen her,’ Jim said, taking a small sip of whisky, despite it only just being past lunchtime. ‘Now, I suggest you get back to doing what you’re supposed to be doing before Colin feels the need to contact me about your behaviour. Again.’

Ryan looked at Amber. ‘I need to talk to her.’

‘Ryan, I…’ Amber didn’t know what to say. All along she’d known anyone could have walked in on her and Jim, she just hadn’t expected it to be Ryan. ‘I thought we were past all of this. It’s over.’

‘Is it? Is it really?’

‘You walked in on us having sex, Ryan,’ Jim said, walking back over to Amber. ‘What does that tell you?’

‘That she’s in desperate need of a rebound fuck?’

In one swift movement Amber stood up and slapped Ryan hard across the face before she felt Jim’s hand in hers, pulling her back. ‘Like I said, it’s over, Ryan,’ Amber hissed.

Ryan’s hand went straight to his cheek, the heat of where she’d slapped him burning his palm. And then he just turned around and left, without looking back, without saying another word. He guessed he’d seen more than he’d needed to see, and heard more than enough. Amber had made her choice. It was now up to him to decide whether he could live with that, or not.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

‘So, what do we do now?’ Amber asked, turning to face Jim. Her hand still stung from where she’d slapped Ryan, and although she didn’t regret what she’d done, she couldn’t help but feel it had been purely because he’d hit a nerve. But Jim wasn’t a rebound fuck. Not this time. This time things were different.

‘Nothing’s changed, baby,’ Jim whispered, tucking a strand of her dark red hair behind her ear. ‘Just because he caught us…’ He smiled slightly. ‘Didn’t you get some kind of kick out of that, huh?’ His mouth moved closer to hers, his breath warm against her skin. ‘I was still deep inside you when he walked in…’

She pushed herself up against him, her arms sliding around his neck as that familiar tingle spread across her thighs again, despite herself. Despite the situation. ‘I know you were,’ she said quietly, remembering how beautiful he’d felt. Remembering how it had made her feel. But the guilt was still there, gnawing away at her every day – the guilt of what she and Jim had done to her father, more than anything else. But now she had the added guilt of Ryan finding her with Jim. Even after everything he’d done, she still couldn’t help but feel he hadn’t deserved that.
 

‘I’ve been talking to Jorge over in
Malaga
,’ Jim went on, pushing her back against the door, his fingers creeping slowly up her dress again. ‘And it’s all systems go. If that’s what we want.’

Amber felt her heart start to race again, her skin breaking out in brand new goose bumps as his lips brushed over her neck, the closeness of his body causing her own to burn up once more. ‘Jim… Jesus, come on…’ Despite the fact she would much rather have indulged in another round of sex, bury her head in that bubble again rather than face reality, she knew this wasn’t a game anymore. They had to talk about this. They had to decide. They had choices to make, and none of them were going to be easy.

Pushing him away, she pulled herself together, picking her panties up off the floor and pulling them back on. The time for playing was over. Real-life had to take priority now. Whether she liked it or not.
 

‘I understand that this is all very – scary, Amber…’

‘Scary? Amber laughed. She couldn’t help it. ‘You love this job, Jim. This club, it means such a lot to you, and to be able to manage it, and manage it well…’

Jim walked back over to her, gently brushing her cheek with the back of his hand. ‘What really matters to me, Amber, is you. Yes, I love this job, but I can do this job anywhere. With any club. And you know as well as I do that part of the reason I came back here, back to the North East, it was because of
you.
Because it was where
you
were. It gave me that legitimate opportunity I needed to try and make you see how much I love you, baby. So, I don’t care if I have to leave this place behind if it means I have you. That’s all that matters to me.’

She looked up into his beautiful green eyes, and this time she truly believed what he was telling her. Although, she doubted whether she would ever be able to wholly trust him again. All she knew was that she couldn’t fight it any longer. He’d come back, and she had to face up to the fact that she was glad about that. Even if nobody else was.

‘But, what about you?’ Jim asked, noticing the hesitation in her eyes. ‘You have so much more to give up than I do. You’ve got your dad, your job…’

She stopped him from talking anymore by kissing him slowly, just to give her time to think. If Jim took this job in
Spain
– and the offer was very much on the table – then it would mean a whole new start for both of them. Is that what she really wanted? Or was it just a case of history repeating itself? Would she not just be running away from things like she had done before? But one thing was different this time. This time she wasn’t running away from Jim and the things he’d done to her – she was running away
with
him. And wasn’t that what she’d always wanted? Deep down? Her and Jim. Together. Forever.

‘Let’s do it,’ she smiled, stroking his cheek with her thumb, allowing a small frisson of excitement to flit through her.

‘You sure?’ Jim asked, pulling her close, and for the first time in a very long time Amber felt confident that she was finally heading in a direction she wanted to go.

‘I’m sure,’ she replied, still smiling. ‘I’m more than sure.’

Jim smiled, too – that beautiful, warm and charming smile that had captured her heart over two decades ago. A smile that made her heart leap around like some out-of-control jack-in-the-box; a smile that made her stomach turn almost never-ending somersaults. A smile that made her feel sixteen all over again. And she wasn’t prepared to let that feeling go. She didn’t want to lose him a third time. ‘Marry me, Amber.’

That came completely out of the blue and it caught her slightly off-guard. She felt her heart start to race again, but her mouth had gone completely dry. She just knew that if she tried to say anything no words would come out.

At the age of sixteen, she’d dreamed of Jim Allen saying those words to her – marry me. As an infatuated teenager she’d done the stereotypical thing of changing her surname to his, of daydreaming about what it would be like to be his wife, even though she was sleeping with him. But now that he’d finally said those words, she didn’t know what to do. It was as if far too many life-changing decisions were being thrown at her all at once and she suddenly felt slightly claustrophobic.

He pulled her closer and she rested her head against his chest, breathing in his smell, closing her eyes as he kissed the top of her head, just holding her. And it was the most peaceful, beautiful feeling – standing there in his arms. Arms that could protect her, even though that had never been anything she’d wanted or needed – to be protected. Until now. Did she have to be strong 24/7? Couldn’t she have some down-time and allow herself to be looked after? Something she’d fought so hard to prevent in the past.

‘Yes,’ she whispered, but it was like the words had come out of her mouth on some kind of auto-pilot.

He tilted her chin up, kissing her gently. ‘Yes, you’ll marry me?’

She smiled, something akin to a wave of relief spreading right through her. It was almost as if she’d just realised she’d been waiting all her life for this moment to arrive and now that it had, well; she was just having a bit of trouble believing it was happening, that was all. ‘Yes. I’ll marry you.’

She closed her eyes as his mouth lowered down onto hers again, a kiss that really had finally sealed the deal. She’d started this journey over twenty years ago, and although it had been a tough ride, and people she loved beyond anything had got hurt when that was the last thing she’d wanted to happen, she couldn’t help but feel the time was now right to take this chance.

‘I love you, Amber. I just need you to believe that.’

‘I believe it, Jim. Now,’ she smiled, running her fingers gently over the stubble on his chin. ‘I believe it now.’

‘So, what’s wrong?’ he asked, noticing the slight and sudden change in her mood, her eyes turning away from his for a second.

‘I need to talk to Ryan…’

‘Amber, come on. He’s a big boy now, and he’s just going to have to handle this like a grown-up.’

‘You don’t know him like I do, Jim. He’s really not as tough as he’d like to think he is. He’s quite vulnerable…’

‘Bullshit! Amber…’

‘I was right here, in this position, about to start making plans to marry
him
just over a week ago. Remember?’

‘And he blew it. Big time.’

She looked at Jim. She couldn’t really expect him to feel the same sympathy for Ryan that she still felt. Even though she wished she didn’t. It would make life a lot easier.

‘You don’t owe him anything, Amber.’

She gave him one last, quick kiss, smiling as she walked backwards towards the door, grabbing her coat on the way. ‘I just want to talk to him, Jim. That’s all. Try and make things right.’

‘You think you can do that?’