28. Chapter 28
Jack, feeling much more comfortable in chinos and a linen shirt, headed back into the tent. It had cooled down outside, and the stroll back from the hotel to the marquee across the gardens had been a welcome relief. As he entered, he was hit with a blast of heat from sweaty, writhing bodies. The crowd had thinned out slightly, some people sloping off to bed, others taking a break from the music and the crowd in the gardens.
Valerie, who seemed determined to see the event through to the very end, was shaking her head at James as he tried to coax her to leave. Dave and Georgia were wrapped in each other’s arms in a dimly lit corner of the marquee.
Jack scanned the bar, looking for Lucy. She was nowhere to be seen. He wandered further into the marquee, peering around the dancers, scanning the tables for a glimpse of honey hair and a bottle green dress. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he caught a flash of green. There she was. On the dance floor, wrapped in the arms of a tall, blonde man, her arms looped about his neck.
Jack stopped in his tracks as he watched them swaying. The man was saying something, his lips pressed against her ear, and Lucy laughed, her head tipping back. Jack could hear the sound of her laughter playing in his head, even as the music drowned it out from where he stood. He knew that sound, that tip of the head, how it felt to be the one to make her laugh like that. He felt like his heart had dropped to his stomach. His mouth went dry.
Dancers were shuffling all around him, where he stood at the edge of the dance floor. Willing his feet to move, he made his way over to the bar. He ordered a drink on autopilot and watched through the shifting crowd as Lucy and the blonde man sashayed around the floor.
He clutched his glass tightly. He didn’t appreciate the way the man brushed Lucy’s hair off her shoulder or how low his hand was on her back, his fingers on bare skin.
As he sipped his drink he realised, to his surprise, he was jealous. He was boiling at the sight of another man’s hands on her. He had no right, he told himself. She was single, she could dance with whomever she liked.
And then, a moment after he could name the feeling, he remembered—as far as anyone else knew, they were a couple. Lucy shouldn’t be getting up close and personal with another man. She was here with him. Her boyfriend. If he had to keep up appearances for the sake of the lie, then so did she.
He set his glass down on the bar a little too heavily, and whisky splashed over the rim. She had come here with him and, as far as he was concerned, she would be leaving here with him. He strode over to Lucy and the blonde man, carving a path through the dancers as he went.
Without missing a beat, he reached for Lucy’s hand and said smoothly, ‘Excuse me, you don’t mind if I cut in to dance with my girlfriend, do you?’
With one firm movement, he pulled her into his arms. The blonde man looked stunned but had little choice other than to step back.
‘Jack,’ Lucy protested, as he swung her away and across the dance floor. ‘That was rude!’
‘Really? Not as rude as making everyone here think you’re about to cheat on me,’ he said, through gritted teeth.
‘Cheat on...? How can I cheat on you?’ Lucy’s eyes were flashing, but he saw a flash of uncertainty in there. ‘We’re not even together.’
Jack spun her around. ‘As far as everyone here knows, we are.’
He pulled her in close, his hand on the small of her back, where the blonde man’s hand had been moments before, his fingers grazing the green satin at the top of her bottom.
‘You know,’ Jack said into her ear, as he spun her around, ‘someone,’ he pulled away to face her, ‘not me, but someone, might accuse you of double standards.’
Lucy gasped as Jack whirled her about the floor and managed, ‘Why?’
‘Because,’ he spun her away from him, then brought her forcefully back to him so she was pressed into his chest, his hand on her back, fingers splayed against her bare skin. He trailed his fingers gently up her spine, watching as her lips parted slightly. ‘I am apparently not supposed to talk to other women because we wouldn’t want anyone to think we weren’t a happy couple. But I go to get changed, and I come back to find you’ve moved on already.’ He dipped her. ‘Left me for some guy that looks like he should be starring in a campaign to advertise paddle boards.’
Lucy’s hands were digging into his shoulders, holding on.
‘So now,’ he twirled them both, ‘we need to make sure everyone still thinks that we’re a happy couple. Because I am sure,’ he turned her away from him and slipped his arms around her waist from behind, feeling the curve of her bottom against him as he guided them in the same rhythm, ‘you didn’t talk me into coming all this way, to a wedding—which I hate—to then ditch me because you think a better prospect came along.’ He nuzzled his face into the fragrant softness of her hair. ‘That wouldn’t be a friendly thing to do, would it?’
‘You went off with Suzy.’
‘I went to have a quiet conversation away from the blaring music, with Suzy—who is happily married, by the way—to talk about business, because I was after some advice. And we,’ Jack’s fingers tightened about her hand, ‘just talked. We weren’t pressed up against each other on the dance floor—’
‘We weren’t pressed up against each other,’ Lucy protested.
‘––making everyone wonder if you’re going to cheat on me.’
‘Don’t be so dramatic!’
‘And I might only be a fake boyfriend, Lucy,’ his mouth was against her ear, his lips moving against her skin, ‘but you brought me here, to do you a favour. So you’re stuck with me.’
Lucy wrestled free, spinning around to face him and trod on his foot.
‘Stop spinning me,’ she said. ‘I can’t think.’
Jack relented but didn’t let her go. He slipped her arms around his neck, just as they had been on the blonde man, and held her by her waist.
‘I didn’t think a better prospect came along,’ she said. ‘But we’re not really together, Jack. What do you care if I meet someone else?’
Her eyes were on his, searching. Jack felt her fingers slip up his neck and into his hair. He could feel the curve of her body pressing into his, the fullness of her breasts against his chest, her thighs pressed against his.
He dropped his mouth to her ear and murmured, ‘Oh, I don’t care. I just think you can’t have your cake and eat it.’
The music slowed, and Jack eased the furious pace of their dancing.
‘So you’re jealous?’ Lucy said, pulling back to look at him.
He couldn’t look at her. He was afraid she’d see that there was truth in her accusation.
‘No, not jealous.’ He pressed his cheek against hers. ‘I just think you need to be fair. If I can’t talk to anyone else—’
‘I didn’t say that!’ Lucy bit out.
‘––then neither can you.’
Jack glanced over Lucy’s shoulder and saw the blonde man watching them. Someone was talking to him, and the man nodded distractedly, his eyes still following Lucy.
Jack waltzed them into a crowd of dancers and out of sight.
‘Who was that man you were dancing with?’ he asked. ‘You seemed to be getting to know one another very well.’
‘So you are jealous?’ Lucy said, a gleam in her eyes and a smile on her lips.
Jack didn’t know if she was simply happy to be proven right or glad that he was jealous of her being with someone else.
‘What if I was?’ he threw back.
The smile drained off her face. Jack felt her soften and stumble in his arms. He tightened his arms around her, holding her to him. He could see the cogs whirring as she took in his words. She opened her mouth to speak, then swallowed.
‘Ha, right,’ she said, on a whisper.
‘What if I was?’ he insisted, his mouth now inches from her lips, his eyes boring into hers. ‘Would you care?’
Lucy didn’t reply. Her eyes flicked between his, as if searching for more information before she could reply. Then he felt her fingers curl into the hair at the nape of his neck.
He covered the last few inches of distance between them and kissed her. It was a hungry and possessive kiss, fuelled by things left unsaid. His hand raked up into her hair, holding her to him as his mouth explored hers. She met his intensity, her tongue seeking his, her teeth grazing his lips. After a few moments, Jack pulled back just enough to look at her. Her eyes were big and dark, her lips red and swollen from their kiss. He struggled to even out his breathing.
‘I do care,’ she said, on a ragged breath, ‘if you’re jealous.’
‘I didn’t like coming in here and seeing you with him,’ Jack said into her mouth, stroking her hair.
‘I didn’t like it when I thought you had gone off with Suzy.’ Lucy grimaced.
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.
Lucy groaned and pressed into him and whispered, ‘This is probably a bad idea.’
Jack brushed his lips against hers. ‘Quite possibly.’ His hand drifted across her bottom, feeling the curve and warmth of her skin through the thin satin.
‘Ooh.’ She smiled. ‘You really are handsy.’
Jack laughed and said, ‘I’m being as well-behaved as possible. Your mother is just over there.’
Lucy followed his gaze.
‘Let’s get out of here then,’ she breathed into his mouth.
He took her hand and pulled her towards the exit.
***
Jack shoved the door to their room shut and pressed Lucy against it.
‘What if this is a mistake?’
Lucy gasped as he slid her dress off her shoulders, his thumbs grazing the tops of her breasts.
She felt his shoulders shrug slightly.
‘People make mistakes.’
She groaned as his lips pressed into her shoulder. She could feel his teeth grazing her skin and his hand was sliding up the inside of her thigh. She gasped as his fingers pressed against her flimsy underwear.
His fingers were massaging her now, and she tilted her hips to give him more access. He peeled her dress down from her breasts and took her nipple in his mouth at the same time as his fingers pushed inside her. Lucy gasped and rocked her hips into his hand, clutching onto his shoulders as his fingers pressed and massaged into her slick wetness. He lifted his mouth from her breast and covered her mouth with his, groaning softly as his tongue slipped deeper. His fingers slid back and forth inside her, his thumb massaging her.
Lucy felt weightless, as if nothing was holding her up. All she could feel in the world was Jack’s mouth on hers and his fingers.
Jack kissed her deeply, supporting her as she leaned into the wall, feeling like that was all that was stopping her from falling onto the floor. He turned her around to face the wall. He was behind her, pressing into her, and she could feel the urgency of his need pressing hard against her buttocks.
He slid his hands around and cupped her full breasts, his thumbs sliding roughly over her nipples, sending sharp stabs of pleasure into her groin. Lucy pressed into the wall for support as another wave of desire rushed through her, and then Jack’s hands were behind her, unzipping her dress, slipping it down her arms, over her hips, letting it fall to the floor in a pool of satin around her feet.
She turned to face him, naked now but for a sliver of lace. Jack let go of her and stood back. She suddenly felt exposed and foolish. She moved her hands up to cover her breasts.
‘Don’t,’ Jack said in a husky voice, reaching out to stay her hand. ‘You’re beautiful.’
Lucy swallowed and allowed him to look at her. In the dim light, his eyes were hard to read, but his need for her was not. He didn’t take his gaze from her as he undid his shirt and let it fall to the floor. His hands moved to the waistband of his trousers and undid them, his eyes on hers all the time. He stepped out of them, and then they stood, inches apart, eyes locked on each other. At the same moment, and without saying a word, they both slipped their underwear over their hips and dropped them to the floor.
Lucy felt like minutes had passed as they gazed at each other. Her heart was in her throat. She had never stood naked in front of anyone before—never just been looked at, gazed at in awe, the way Jack was looking at her now.
Feeling powerful and sensual, she stepped forward and closed the gap between them, feeling Jack tremble as she reached out and ran her hands over his chest. Eyes on his, she slid one hand lower, teasing, as she took him in her hand and started moving, slowly and gently at first. Jack’s eyes closed, and he leaned down and kissed her, moaning into her mouth as she moved her hand faster over him.
Then suddenly, he pulled her hand away. Taking her hand, he pulled her onto the bed. He lay her down on her back and then lowered himself on top of her, his weight pressing her into the mattress, his mouth finding hers. He pinned her arms to the bed beside her head, his lips moving down her throat, onto her breasts, his teeth plucking at her nipples, making her arch and groan. Lucy could feel the need rising in her and the heat between her legs. She wanted him so badly. She opened her legs wider, and he slid between them.
‘We need a…’ she managed, before another pulse of longing shot through her belly and she couldn’t finish the words.
Jack lifted himself away from her for a second.
In a gravelly voice, he said, ‘Yes, of course. I’ve got something here.’
He left her for a moment, and she heard the zip of his suitcase. Then he was back, and she heard the tear of the condom wrapper. He slid his hands under her buttocks and tipped her hips forward, and then she could feel him positioned at her entrance, pushing into her wetness. His lips were on her throat as she arched her back up, feeling the pressure between her legs.
‘Please,’ she urged into his ear.
He covered her mouth with his as he pushed deep inside her, and Lucy held on tightly, her fingers digging into his back, her hips pushed hard into his. Jack groaned as he sank into her and pressed his forehead to hers, cradling her face in his hands. She could feel the tension rippling through him.
He started to move inside her, thrusting deeper. Her hips moved to meet him, her fingers on his buttocks, driving him deeper inside her. She wrapped her legs around him, making him gasp as she opened herself to him even more. Then they were moving faster, their breath coming in gasps, his hands on her breasts, her hands urging him deeper.
Lucy felt a wave building inside her.
‘Jack, I’m…’ She gasped.
‘Don’t stop.’
He grabbed a fistful of her hair, holding her as he drove into her faster and faster.
Lucy arched her back, her nails digging into his shoulders, breathing heavily.
‘Oh God, Lucy.’
Then, her body began to shake as a wave of pleasure coursed through her. Jack’s arms tightened around her as she clenched around him, her orgasm pushing him over the edge. They clung to each other as their bodies shook. They lay in each other’s arms for several moments, breathing slowly, returning to normal.
After a few moments, Jack lifted himself to look at her and brushed tendrils of damp hair back from her face. His eyes locked onto hers, his gaze searching as his thumb stroked her cheek.
‘Are you okay?’ he whispered, as if he was afraid of breaking the spell between them.
Lucy nodded, her breathing slowing. She didn’t have the right words, so she reached up and gently touched her lips to his.
Jack eased himself away from her, slipped out of bed and went to the bathroom, pushing the door closed. She heard the clatter of the bathroom bin lid closing. Then the bathroom door opened and a sliver of light advanced into the room then clicked off. Back in the bedroom, Jack slid in beside Lucy and shifted until he was behind her, her bottom tucked into his hips. Tightening his arms around her, her head fitted under his chin. Wrapped around each other, they fell asleep.