Just Human (15 page)

There’s a shift between us and I look at her. Her eyes are closed, she’s still recovering her breathing and then she opens her eyes right into mine. Her beautiful dark brown eyes look deep inside me, knowing me, like no one else ever has. I take her into the bedroom and close the door.

We undress each other and kiss skin to skin. I want to feel all of her, touching all of me. I’m naked, but she’s still wearing her lace underwear. I guide her down to the bed, lifting the covers to one side as I go. She moves up to the centre of the bed and I move over her, so that the entire length of our bodies are touching.

I slide my hand into her underwear, pushing my finger slowly into her. I add a second finger and she lets out a moan. I move them in and out, again and again, as I kiss her. She moves her hand to where I’m pushing my hard-on into her and wraps her hand around me. I push myself in and out of her hand while she grasps tight. Then she lets go to take off her underwear. I lift off to help her slide them down, but I leave them round her ankles. They’re sexy lace panties and knowing they are restraining her a little turns me on. I go back to free her from her bra and then put my fingers back where they belong, inside her, moving in and out. I suck on her nipple and she sighs as my thumb begins circling her clit.

I could watch her like this all night, moaning with pleasure. I keep going at a steady rhythm, kissing her mouth, then her nipple in turn, my fingers constantly moving, until I feel her start to tense slightly. I slide my hand out of her, before she comes; I want to be inside her when she does. She protests slightly but I push myself against her, deliberately not inside her, and begin to move. The friction on us both is gratifying. We move like this for a while, grinding like teenagers; my tongue finds hers, it feels so good.

She lifts her hips up further, firing my need to be inside her. I break the kiss and stare at her. I'm about to get up to grab a condom when she pulls open the drawer on the nightstand revealing a whole string. I'll pretend she just bought those, for my own sanity. Pushing the image of Liv with another man out of my head, I shift slightly and watch her roll the condom onto me. Her hands feel amazing on me; I have to have her right now.

Moving over her again, I open her legs with my knee, feeling as they strain against her lacy underwear, although I can't see it I’m turned on by the idea. I enter her slowly, my breathing affected by the warmth and pressure. I keep going until I’m buried fully inside her, then trying desperately not to think too much about the circumstances for fear of unravelling, I begin to move. Once we’ve established a rhythm, I shift higher over her so that I rub against her clit as I move. I want her to come and I know she will if I hit the right spots. I hold onto her head and as she starts to thrust, I know the friction has found its mark.

I could watch her all night, sighing and rocking. But after a short while, I pick up the pace and we both groan, thrusting faster, building. We’re sweaty and tangled, she’s straining to move her legs, but they are held down as my legs pin her underwear to the bed. I watch her, my face touching hers. She’s lost, her eyes closed. I’m so close now I feel it building. She suddenly opens her eyes and, holding my gaze, we kiss deeply. It finishes me and I come loudly inside her, staring into her eyes as she comes too. I shake as my body contracts with pleasure and I can feel her body doing the same.

As we still, I relax onto her and nuzzle into her neck. We lie like this for a while. My hand finds hers and I mingle our fingers, holding her tight, while she begins to stroke my hair.

I want to stay like this all night; I never want to let her go. I kick off her underwear and wrap us in the covers then return to my place on her chest, her hand in mine and once again she strokes my hair. I’ve never felt so close to anyone. I realise now, I’ve never let anyone but her in.

Ten.

Liv.

Two magic weeks.

I’m woken by the familiar sounds of the kitchen staff starting the day. They get in at 6am and we open for breakfast at seven. I feel like I’ve woken from a beautiful dream, I’m so relaxed and content. It takes me a sleepy minute to realise that the source of my happiness is asleep next to me. I sigh, Danny. He isn’t a dream, he’s a breathtaking reality and he’s sleeping peacefully beside me. I turn and watch him softly breathing. His face hasn’t really changed, a bit fuller in places I suppose. There are one or two lines that are new, but that’s all really, except maybe a general bronzing you can't escape living in California, my sister’s the same. He has thick golden brown hair, cut quite short, but a bit dishevelled. His hairline has receded slightly, which I find quite attractive. His hair’s shiny and smells so good, I want to touch it, but I don’t want to disturb him.

He must be jet-lagged, but I’ve no idea if it’ll make him sleep late or wake up early. I decide to let him sleep for as long as he needs. He doesn’t have to wake up for any reason and I'll be at work in a few minutes anyway. Sighing at having to leave him, I tiptoe out of bed and run the shower. As I glance back to the bedroom, he’s turned over, but not woken. He obviously needs the sleep. I shower and then dress in silence. I wish I could stay with him in bed, but I have to be downstairs this morning. Resigned, I creep out and close the door quietly behind me, feeling sad and detached as I make my way downstairs. If I knew how long he was going to stay, I'd feel better.

I make coffee for the kitchen guys and myself and potter around. I want to get ahead this morning so that I can spend the middle of the day with Danny before I have to work tonight. It’s going to be hard having him here and having to work, not knowing how long I will have him. I could be wasting precious time. On the plus side, he’s only upstairs, not in California. I’ll take this any day over the nothing we had before. Maybe I can take a few days off; I’ll look at the rota later.

It’s Friday and tonight will be full-on in the bar. I don’t know what he’ll do while I’m working all night, I guess go back to the hotel. I should tell him he can stay upstairs, but that’s a conversation we need to have. He's welcome to stay here, I want him to. It just feels like a huge step that I shouldn’t be ready to take. But the fact is, he’s spent so long away from me, now that he’s here, I want him to be right here with me. I need to talk to Max about it, but he worked late last night. I could ring Connie, but it's a bit early. I’ll ring her at seven.

I busy myself with prep for the day. I just need to get through breakfast, then I have cover from eleven, leaving me free until six tonight, so I can spend the day with him. Hopefully we will talk, we definitely should.

I’m putting the blind down, when Connie arrives.

"Hello, what are you doing here so early?" I ask. Instantly suspicious that Max has been on the phone, reporting my visitor.

“Jack was out fishing early, so I thought I would come and help my darling girl. Coffee?”

“I've got one, but do one for yourself and we'll sit down, I could do with a chat.”

“A chat? Everything alright?”

“Yeah. I’ll be in, in a minute.”

She disappears and puts her bag away then she makes her coffee while I put the tables and chairs outside. We have a few coffee regulars at this time, but it’s an hour before the breakfast crowd usually hits, so I have a few minutes to talk.

She sits on the end stool, while I fill sugar jars. How do I go about this?

“I talked to Danny again,” I begin.

“Good, I told you, you would…and?”

“Well, he was working, that’s why I didn’t hear from him.”

“See, it wasn’t as bad as you feared,” she smiles, satisfied. “So, are you going to talk to him again?”

“I hope so. He’s upstairs!” I wince as I land this huge fact on her.

“Here?” She seems genuinely stunned. I nod, beaming from ear to ear.

“He’s here, right now? Danny?”

“Yes!”

“For heaven’s sake, sit down and tell me…how?”

I roll my eyes and come round to sit with her. She takes my hand and waits. So I launch into the whole story. Well, I leave out the sex details, but I tell her everything else.

“Darling, that’s wonderful. So what now?”

“I don’t know, that’s the thing. He won’t tell me how long he plans to be here. He has an open ticket and he says he wants to stay as long as we need to sort things out. But I can’t get my head round it. If he stays until we sort things out, then goes, what will we have sorted out?”

“Darling, you should be asking him all of this.”

“I know, but we haven’t really talked yet and if I press the issue, I might put him off.”

“Well, then, just see what happens.” She thinks for a minute. “Have a few days off, go away with him.”

“I know, I’ll try.”

“Where is he staying?”

“Well, last night he stayed here, but his things are at the Holiday Inn. I want him to stay here if I only have him for a short time. But is it too forward of me to ask him?”

“Ooh, darling, that’s a tough one. Though you could say that he has been rather forward himself by flying thousands of miles to see you, so if you want to ask him to stay, ask him.”

“Hmm, I didn’t think of it like that.”

“He can’t have come all this way, hoping to stay in a hotel down the road from you.”

“I know, I just feel uncertain.” I rub my temple, while I give it some thought. I’m interrupted by an American accent.

“Mind if I join you two beautiful ladies?”

“Danny!” Connie jumps up to greet him. They hug and Danny kisses her cheek. Then she holds him at arm’s length. “Let me look at you.”

“How are you?” he asks, politely.

I stand up to let them talk. I pass behind Connie’s back and mouth ‘Coffee’ at him, he nods slightly and winks at me. Such things don’t normally affect me, but my legs almost buckle. I shake my head. He’s really getting to me. I look him over as I make the coffee. He’s wearing last night’s clothes and I decide that I will ask him to stay here with me. The worst that can happen is that he says no. The best that can happen is that he does stay and instead of coming down in last night’s clothes, he comes down in, say, loose track suit bottoms and a tight t-shirt…you know, just off the top of my head!

They chat so easily that I’m once again green with envy that the most he has said since he arrived is to someone else. He sips his coffee while they chat; he’s very at ease this morning. I return to the sugar, whilst listening. They drink their coffee and he tells her about his work. He has a meeting scheduled for May for something new because he thought the last project would take him longer. But he will only take the job if it suits him. The last job wasn't great, but the money was good so he can take some time off now. He says he’ll be more selective in the future. He normally enjoys his work. I wander into the kitchen, leaving them deep in conversation and start a batch of ice cream.

I’m pouring the finished mix into the ice cream machine when I feel his hands on my hips. I relish his touch as his arms close around my waist and he sinks a kiss into my neck.

“You're going to make me spill this," I whisper, as he lingers at my neck and sways slightly at my hips.

"Sorry," he lifts his head, but keeps a loose hold on my waist. "What is it?"

"Ice cream."

"Can I help?"

"We have to wait twenty-four minutes for it to pasteurise and then freeze."

"What do we do for twenty-four minutes?" he grins and kisses my neck again.

I nudge him away with my hip.

"Clean!" I admonish, throwing my tools into the container I'm holding and carrying it all to the sinks.

"What can I do?"

I nod my head towards a roll of blue tissue mounted on the wall.

"Dry."

He obediently pulls off a metre or so and uses it to dry the utensils I’ve washed. I pull the hose down from its cradle and wash out the container, turning it upside down when I'm done.

"Leave that to dry," I say, pulling blue tissue out for my hands and then tossing it in the bin from where I stand. It lands bang on target and he raises an eyebrow. I pretend not to notice. He follows me back to where I’m working and watches as I wipe down the surfaces.

"I should go back and change."

I stop wiping and turn around.

"I don't want you to."

He looks at me quizzically.

"You like me dirty?"

I stifle a giggle; I’m not usually a giggler.

"No, I mean I don't want you to keep going back and forth to the hotel." I’m suddenly serious and insecure. I need to pull myself together before I look at him. “Can’t you just stay here?” I hold my breath, waiting for his reaction.

He frowns, but then comes over to me, placing his hands on my hips and holding me face to face.

“I would love to, but I don’t want you to get sick of me.”

“I won’t.”

“I’ve just arrived; don’t you want to see what happens?”

“How long are you booked in for?”

He looks sheepish.

“Until tomorrow morning.”

“You said you’d stay around.”

“I will, but when I came, I didn’t even know if you’d want to see me. So I checked in for three nights hoping I could figure out what I should do in that time.”

“And?”

“And I think we can agree, three days won’t be long enough!” he grins.

“So how long
are
you staying then?” I think it’s a fair question and my face tells him, I seriously want an answer.

“Until you tell me to go,” he whispers against my cheek, but he pauses and doesn’t kiss me.

“Well then, you can’t afford the hotel.” I offer a tight smile. “Now kiss me, then go and get your things.”

He pulls back from me and laughs.

“Not in that order, I haven’t brushed my teeth.” But he looks troubled.

“What is it?”

“I don’t want to lose you before I really have you back.”

His face is pained. I put my arms around his neck and smile.

He wants me back! I use all my willpower to prevent myself doing a little dance and maintain a serious expression. When I'm sure I have control, I speak.

“Okay, how about you stay here for two weeks and if it gets too intense or starts to go wrong in any way, you go back to the hotel while we figure it out.”