Room 732 Read online

And he felt better, he smelled better, he tasted better than even her fevered imagination had remembered.

  Her nostrils were full of him, her head fuzzy with the overwhelming masculinity of him and she couldn’t contain it. She couldn’t be still or passive with it. She needed more, she needed to devour him.

  ‘God, I’ve missed you,’ she gasped against his mouth as she rolled on top of him, trying to get closer, trying to disappear beneath his skin, to become part of him. His mouth was hot and he tasted all minty and she wanted more of it.

  More of his mouth. More of his body.

  More of him.

  Crap. She wanted all of him.

  Always.

  His head lifted off the bed, chasing hers as she slid her hands under his shirt, pushing it up, feeling the warmth of the muscles beneath her palms, feeling them contract under the scrape of her nails.

  She broke off the kiss, straddling him as she wrangled with his shirt, desperate to get it off, to look at him.

  He caught her hand, stilling her progress. ‘No… stop …wait,’ he said, his chest heaving. ‘What’s going on here, Johanna? I thought we weren’t having sex?’

  Johanna looked down at him, dazed, her thoughts scattered, her brain somewhere else completely. ‘What?’

  ‘I don’t want to be accused at the next wedding of taking advantage of the situation. I think we should talk some more before we do anything you might regret tomorrow.’

  Johanna looked down at his earnest face. Clearly her no-sex resolve had messed with his head and he was determined to be gallant.

  Screw that.

  If she knew he was open to a relationship then that was all she needed for now – they could discuss the rest at great length later.

  Right now, she needed him inside her more.

  Without thinking Johanna grasped the hem of her t-shirt and hauled it over her head. Her stomach alternately plummeted and tightened as Ed’s eyes practically bulged out of his head and he whispered, ‘Oh. My. God.’

  But it seemed he was determined to be the gentleman he’d denied he was earlier. He held his hands up in front of him.

  ‘Johanna…just wait a moment, will you?’

  Johanna shook her head. She was done with denying herself. She reached behind her and unclipped her bra. Her breasts swung free and she loved that Ed’s jaw visibly dropped.

  She loved it even more seconds later when the last iota of his resistance finally oozed from his body.

  ‘Right,’ he said, clearly deciding to take control of the situation as he moved quickly, skilfully flipping her onto her back.

  And then he was on her, pressing his body into hers, pressing her into the mattress, kissing and kissing and kissing her, and suddenly his shirt was off and then her pants and then his pants and before she knew it they were both naked and his mouth was travelling south, sweeping down her neck and across her collar bone, swiping maddeningly back and forth across nipples begging for attention as she reached for the heavy weight of his erection, filling her palm with him and squeezing appreciatively.

  His guttural groan reverberated through her ribs and she arched her back as he bit into the sensitive raised flesh of one thoroughly ravaged nipple.

  Then he was heading down again, his hardness slipping from her palm as his tongue paid homage lower, dipping into her belly button, swiping the ridge of her hip and skirting the inside of her thigh.

  Hot tingles burned between her legs and she knew if he went there, if he put his tongue to her down there, she was going to come apart in seconds and she needed him inside her more.

  Thick and solid. Sure and steady. Good and hard and pounding.

  She needed to be possessed by him.

  ‘No,’ she said, pulling on his shoulder, dragging him up. ‘No. I want to come with you inside me.’

  And then he was grinning at her, his face looming over her, kissing her again, kissing her hard and soft and all kinds of ways inbetween as his hand groped down beside the bed.

  ‘Now,’ she said, her voice a desperate kind of keen as one hand plucked at his shoulder and the other grabbed a firm buttock, her hips lifting. Begging. ‘Now.’

  ‘Wait…’ he said. ‘Condom.’

  And then he was gone but he was back again in a few seconds, tearing at a foil packet with his teeth and then he was shifting, donning the thin latex covering and then he was over her again, kissing her again, parting her legs, the blunt prod of his erection pressing into her before finally pushing inside.

  Johanna gasped as he took her, her breath completely sucked away by the totality of his possession. He gasped too, pitching forward, groaning his pleasure into the curve of her neck.

  ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Yes.’

  He moved inside her then and she gasped some more, gripping his arms as he did it again. And again. Slowly. Surely. Driving her crazy with his methodical thrusts.

  Pushing in millimetre by millimetre. Pulling out just as inexorably. Pulsing inside her. Taking his time.

  Johanna mumbled a protest. She shifted restlessly beneath him, already feeling the pull of things to come. Lifted her hips. Squeezed his bicep hard. ‘Come on, Ed. More. Faster.’

  He looked down into her face, his gaze drilling her to the bed. ‘Patience,’ he muttered, his face fixed in concentration.

  Johanna gritted her teeth. Screw that. ‘Hurry,’ she demanded.

  He had the gall to chuckle. ‘You know what happens when you rush the man who gives you orgasms, right?’

  Johanna blinked as he pulled right out of her. ‘You’re going to quote movies? Now?’

  He grinned as he thrust in to the hilt, seating himself high and hard inside her. ‘You get lousy orgasms,’ he said.

  Johanna gasped, shut her eyes, arched her back. ‘No such thing with you.’

  He chuckled again. ‘You got that right.’

  And then, as if sensing she could take no more he gave it to her – exactly as she wanted. Burying his face in her neck he took her hard and fast, her legs locked around his waist, building her orgasm, bringing her to the brink and pushing her over, falling over himself. Rocking her and rocking her as they cried out, falling into the abyss together.

  Rocking her for the longest time.

  Riding the tail, chasing the lights that burst and popped around them, holding on until the last ember faded and burned, until the last cry was wrenched from her throat.

  His weight felt good as he collapsed against her. It felt solid and real, and Johanna slid her hands onto his buttocks, never wanting to let him go.

  When he did finally move she protested, holding on tighter. ‘Shh,’ he murmured, kissing he neck, her cheek, her mouth. ‘I’m too heavy. I’ll be back in a second.’

  And then he shifted, moved away, pulling the covers over her as he left. Johanna curled up on her side in a deliriously altered state. Sludgy blood pumped through her veins and flowed to heavy limbs.

  Taxing questions floated peskily out of reach.

  And then he was sliding back in with her, pulling her close, spooning her with his warm body, his big hand smoothing her belly, his mouth kissing her neck.

  ‘I love you, Johanna,’ he murmured, his breath warm and delicious on her skin.

  She smiled and snuggled in closer, still riding her serotonin high. His declaration of love seemed unremarkable in the grip of her kaleidoscope glow. ‘I love you too,’ she said,

  The questions floated away as she dropped into a dreamless sleep.

  ***

  Bright sunlight filtered in through gauzy curtains when Johanna woke the next morning. There was lead in her bones and a delicious ache between her legs. She smiled as she remembered the events of last night, rolling over to greet the man responsible.

  But the bed was empty.

  Her post-coital bliss evaporated into thin air as everything froze inside. Her hand slid out to touch the empty space that Ed had filled not that many hours ago. The sheets were cold, the indentation from his head in the pillow non-existent
.

  No matter how much she told herself this was classic Ed, her heart beat painfully in her chest. He had told her he loved her. She may have been half asleep but she remembered that very clearly.

  How long had it taken him to regret it? How long before he’d realised he’d got carried away in the moment? How long had he lain with her before he’d left?

  Her heart had leapt last night when he’d explained his reasons for leaving her those last three times. And being forced to take responsibility for her own actions had been cleansing. She had pushed him away with her assertions, so determined not to be hurt by him and his love them and leave them ways. Or to be needy and clingy like the other women who chased him relentlessly.

  And when he’d said he wanted marriage as well, it had been everything she’d ever wanted to hear.

  His I love you had been beyond her wildest dreams.

  Maybe she shouldn’t have, but in those hazy, floaty, post-coital moments, she’d believed him.

  Johanna cringed now thinking about what a fool she’d been. An ache took up residence in the centre of her chest and she dragged his pillow over and buried her head in it, tears threatening.

  Idiot.

  Stupid, romantic fool.

  A clicking noise at the door startled her and when it opened she sat up abruptly, dragging the sheet with her, her hair wild, her heart drumming.

  Ed appeared. He was wearing jeans and a snug grey t-shirt, his hair tousled, his grin infectious.

  ‘Good,’ he said. ‘You’re awake. I was starving and I know how mad you are for bacon butties.’ He held up two plain brown paper bags and she could smell the bacon and see the grease stains from metres away.

  It seemed wrong to be besmirching this posh hotel with such common fare but her stomach growled loudly anyway.

  ‘I found a great little caff just down the street. They’re piping hot and fresh off the grill.’

  Johanna blinked, staring at him in all his tousled morning glory. The pain in her chest eased. ‘You’re here.’

  It was such a dumb thing to say, she knew in years to come she was going to cringe over it. But he looked so good and he was here.

  Ed placed the packets on the nearby bench and looked straight at her, burying his hands in his pockets. ‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he said. ‘If that’s okay by you.’

  Hope bloomed in Johanna’s heart pushing out the ache. She loved this man with her whole heart. It was more than okay with her. It was beyond her wildest dreams. But she didn’t want any false pretence between them – it was time to lay cards on tables.

  ‘You said the L word, last night.’

  He nodded. ‘Yes.’

  Johanna’s heart belted out the hallelujah chorus inside her chest at his calm acceptance. ‘You didn’t have to do that, Ed. I’m a big girl, I don’t need you telling me pretty lies.’

  ‘I would never lie to you Johanna. Not about anything. But especially about this. I love you.’

  She took a shaky breath. ‘That was…sudden?’

  ‘No.’ Ed shook his head. ‘Maybe it was sudden in the telling but not in the feeling.’ He walked over until he was standing at the end of the bed. ‘I’ve been telling myself the last couple of years that I’ve just been waiting for the right woman to come along and I realised last night that the highlight of my life the last two years has been tumbling into bed with you. That you’re the right woman. And I don’t want to have to ration myself to weddings. I don’t think you want to either.’

  Johanna shook her head. ‘No. I don’t.’ She took a deep breath. ‘I’ve been in love with you since I was fifteen.’

  Ed’s blink said it all. ‘Fifteen?’ He sat on the end of the bed. ‘Johanna…I’m sorry. I didn’t know.’

  She shrugged. ‘I hid it well behind a veil of wit and faux contempt.’

  He chuckled and it warmed her heart. ‘That you did. Still,’ his hand slid onto her sheet clad foot, ‘it’s a long time.’

  Johanna grinned as she wriggled her foot onto his thigh. ‘I’m sure I can think of some way you can make it up to me.’

  He grinned back. ‘I’ve always loved the way you think.’

  She peeled back the sheet. ‘How hot did you say those butties were?’

  His gaze took a long, slow, thorough tour of her naked body and Johanna was actually blushing by the time his eyes returned to her face. ‘They could do with a little cooling off.’

  She smiled. ‘Whatever shall we do?’

  Ed stood and toed off his shoes. ‘How about round two?’

  Johanna opened her arms to him. ‘As you wish.’

  If you enjoyed this book,

  look out for Amy Andrews’s next Medical Romance

  200 Harley Street: The Tortured Hero

  July 2014

  And her next Modern Tempted story

  The Heat of the Night

  August 2014

  ISBN: 978-1-474-00093-2

  Room 732: Bridesmaid with Benefits

  © Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  Special thanks and acknowledgement are given to Amy Andrews for her contribution to The Chatsfield series.

  Published in Great Britain in 2014

  Harlequin (UK) Limited

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