Page 64 of The Seaside Cocktail Campervan

Ah yes, they’d shared champagne and cocktails. He’d not be able to drive Ruby away. The memories of sleeping in that tent on Holy Island with him right beside her filled her mind, adding even more to that warm, fuzzy feeling. Was it time? Time to take that plunge? Time to live life to the full?

‘Ahm … You can come back to mine … if you like.’ The words were instinctive, and now out. Lucy really didn’t want this night to end, not yet.

Their eyes met. Jack’s gaze was intense, as an understanding passed between them. ‘You sure?’ he asked gently.

‘Yes,’ her voice was clear, and warm, and sensual.

Both took a deep breath, and then after finishing their drinks, they packed up the remnants of the food, the glasses, plates, folding up the chairs and the picnic table.

Walking somewhat awkwardly with all that gear back up and into the dunes, Lucy managed to steal a shy, yet hungry, look at him. Oh my goodness, she’d be seeing, touching, his bare flesh very soon! Oh, blimey. Oh, wow. Oh, bloody scary. And bloody hell, no-one had seen hers in an age …

Jack glanced back over his shoulder at her with a rakish grin.

A late-night dog walker passed by, with a brief ‘hello’ cast their way. Lucy felt like the middle-aged guy might be able to read her mind or something. She blushed as she recognised him and his Labrador from her regular beach walks, answering with a polite, yet slightly husky, ‘Hi.’

As dusk fell deeper, they loaded all the gear into Ruby. And then, as they headed up the lane that led back to the village, Jack took her hand in his, threading his fingers through hers – like a real couple. Everything around and within her felt alive, hyper-sensitive.

A small bird tweeted, darting in and out of the hedgerow beside them, ready to settle for the night. The seagulls had already gone to roost. The world began to hush. Just the distant whisper of the waves rolling to shore.

Soon they were walking by the first row of cottages, and next, they’d turned into her little street. The horsebox was parked up there beside her cottage. Her cottage … where they were about to go in, together. She fumbled clumsily for her house keys in her jeans pocket. Managed to get the front door open, and ushered Daisy swiftly through to the kitchen where she had her bed and her water, closing the door on her with a soothing, ‘Night, Daisy.’ Coming back to the hallway where Jack was waiting, leaning against the wall and looking so bloody gorgeous. Yet, he seemed a little anxious too, giving a cautious smile.

Lucy moved in towards him, so very close. So, this was it.

Jack tenderly brushed away a lock of her hair that had tumbled down across her eye. He grazed a fingertip slowly along the side of her chin, which he then pulled ever so gently towards him. Placing his lips on hers. And that was it, the match ignited. A passionate kiss, that warmed her from her fingertips all the way to her toes, and lit those sensual parts which had been pretty damned dormant for almost two years now, making her whole body tingle with anticipation. A gasp escaped her lips, as their kiss ended. Oh my.

Would they have sex right here in the hallway? Did she want that?

She began unbuttoning his shirt, greedily reaching inside to touch his warm, toned chest. Jack kissed her again, moving closer to press his thighs against hers. She pushed back, crushing him against the wall, feeling the hard heat of his erection through their clothes. Bloody hell, this was really happening. She’d never had sex with Liam like this. Like they couldn’t wait. Like it needed to happen right here, right now.

‘Oh god, Lucy.’ Jack was pulling off her T-shirt over her head.

Suddenly, she realised she didn’t want this to be fast and furious and over in a minute in a hallway. She wanted to make it last, to relish every damned gorgeous second. She grabbed Jack’s hand and led him up the stairs. He didn’t need asking or explaining. Once in her bedroom, the door left ajar, she stopped to undo the buckle on his belt, pulling down the waistband of his smart black trousers with a sense of delicious anticipation.

Again they kissed, mouth on tender mouth, not rushing now, taking it deliriously slowly in fact, both knowing what was to come, but not quite how it would happen … yet.

A new burst of sensual energy and a tangle of jeans and underwear coming off. Jack reached around her, to unclasp her bra, her small breasts bared.

‘Oh, Luce. You’re beautiful.’ He was gazing at her, smiling.

His words melted her.

As they lay on the bed, both naked, she traced the contours of his chest, trailing her fingers over his butterfly-trembling stomach, down to his slim hips. His low groan, as she touched him, oh so lightly there, was such a damned turn-on.

His turn now, trailing kisses from her neck down to her breasts where he lingered, teasing a nipple into his warm mouth. Sucking and licking, as he moved a hand to touch her gently below, in a rhythmic rub – deliciously all at the same time. He was an accomplished lover, considerate and evidently well-practised, that thought slid into her mind but she pushed it straight out again. No place for those concerns here. This was about them, her and Jack, and this moment.

Oh – my – god, he so wanted her. Her touch just before, had sent him over the edge. He wanted to know her, inch by yielding inch, to make love with her. It was heady and he had to admit a little scary too, but there was no going back now. Jack could hardly wait, but he needed to know that she was absolutely okay with this. It seemed like she was very okay, from her eager responses. But he couldn’t get this wrong; needed to show her that respect, that care.

‘Luce, is this okay?’

In all honesty he hadn’t expected this. Tonight, the set-up on the beach, that really had all been about getting to know Lucy more, seeing how things went. That maybe it could be the start of something … Well, it seemed like it had got off to a flying start.

‘Yes.’

That one word igniting him even more.

Her lightly tanned body laid out before him. The yearning so strong within him. He was ready, had a condom beside the bed, but took the time to kiss her once more, to elevate them both back to that same sexy plateau they were at, before the necessary precautions were in place. Fingertips tracing her breasts, her stomach, back to base until her low oh-so-sexy moan was impossible to ignore.

‘Now?’