Page 101 of Never Too Late to Date

‘Yes, I’m sure. I’m so tired I’ll be asleep in seconds.’

‘OK. I’ll sleep here too if it will help. Why don’t you use the bathroom first?’

‘Will do.’

Huddled under the sheets in his T-shirt that smelt of lavender, her body tensed at the soft click of the door that told her he was back in the room. He slid silently into bed next to her.

‘Kalinychta, Vicky.’

‘Alex?’

‘Yes.’

‘Can you hold me, please?’

Chapter Twenty-Three

Vicky rolled onto her side, so they were face to face in the dim light. Alex’s expression was hard to read.

‘Is that what you want?’

‘Yes, I wouldn’t say it otherwise. Just a little cuddle would do me fine. We can pretend we’re roommates.’

She’d attempted a mood lightener, but Alex’s face didn’t look pleased.

‘I think we’re a little old to be roommates.’

‘Oh, just come over here a moment. Then I’ll let you off the hook.’

Vicky moved towards the centre of the bed and closed her eyes. Strong bare arms enfolded her, and she realised that Alex hadn’t bothered with one of his own T-shirts. She could feel the outline of the muscles all along his back when she hugged him back.

His masculine smell of shower gel and aftershave, combined with the exertion of their walk, was unfamiliar in her nostrils. She’d avoided Ian at close quarters in the last months before he moved out and the divorce was signed. Sharing a bed with a man hadn’t been a regular occurrence for more than a year.

The slight tang of brandy on Alex’s breath was no doubt mirrored in her own, as their faces came closer. All talk of a little hug went out of the window. Once he’d held her, she didn’t want him to let go, but neither, it appeared, did he want to let her go either.

He moved even closer, so their legs were touching too. The cotton of his boxers was soft on her bare legs below the hem of the T-shirt. They couldn’t stay like this forever, but it felt so nice after their terrible discovery of Bruce’s little body.

Vicky took a deep breath and reached across the tiny divide to find his mouth with hers. At first, it seemed like he was about to pull back as their lips touched, but she deliberately increased the pressure, and he responded in the way her body had secretly hoped.

A brief kiss deepened moment by moment into a passionate exploration of each other’s mouths, which sent her head spinning. The heat of the exchange brought the blood rushing to the surface all over her exposed skin. She broke off to free herself from her T-shirt, pulling it over her head in one movement, which forced an audible groan from Alex as she gave him a close-up view of her breasts.

The moon gave them just enough light to see each other clearly. Reaching for his hand, Vicky placed it on her left breast, without breaking eye contact. Alex’s eyes were black in the half-light as he moved to take one nipple and then the other in his mouth.

The sensations it produced made her moan out loud, and she was shocked at hearing her own voice in the quiet, still room. The fire he’d started couldn’t be stopped. She moved against him with her whole body, and there was no doubting his answering call.

She reached down to pull her briefs off with one hand, and Alex turned back the cover and pulled the sheet clear.

‘Let me look at you.’

She was too far gone to even worry about him seeing her sixty-year-old body. It had served her well, and after two months of very hard physical work, it was now toned and tanned.

‘You’re beautiful.’

You’re looking pretty good yourself was her last coherent thought, as he moved down her body, kissing every inch until he reached his goal, and her brain exploded into a million pieces.

When she looked at him again, he was smiling up at her.

She pulled him towards her, caressing as much of his body as she could reach. He’d managed to take his boxers off somewhere along the way, which made things simpler. From the way he was letting out little groans, he was as up for it as she was.