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She made a face.‘I can’t sleep, so...?’
‘Give me five minutes to throw some clothes on. You might want to change out of your PJs, too.’ He gave her a meaningful look.
Annabelle had forgotten she hadher nightclothes on, and she was abruptly aware that she was naked underneath. ‘Yes, good idea. I’ll... um…be right back.’
Hastily she returned to her room and pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt, and stuffed her feet into a pair of trainers.She wasn’t going to bother checking her appearance in the mirror, even though she knew her hair was probably a bird’s nest. This wasn’t a date, and Ron wouldn’t care what she looked like, but she couldn’t resist running a brush through it anyway.
He was waiting for her in the hall, and although he was fully clothed, her gaze lingered on his chest and what she now knew lay underneath the T-shirt he wore.
‘Are you ready?’ he asked.
She didn’t answer. Instead, she unlocked the front door and stepped outside.
Rest Bay was a different place in the depths of the night. Gone were the dog walkers, the joggers, the people out for a stroll. In their place were theheightenedsound of the waves, the rumble of an occasional car in the distance, and the sigh of the wind through the grass. The sea was black against the sky, andstars glittered in the crisp darkness.
‘It gets better,’ Ron said. ‘Come on.’
To her surprise, once her eyes had adjusted she found she could see well enough, although she did stumble once or twice, and Ron’s hand shot out to steady her.
Each time he did so, she felt athrill pulse through her at his touch. It was fleeting, because he quickly withdrew his hand, but the contact shocked her; she’d not reacted like this to a man since… never?
It was like a punch to the gut, yetwhen he let go of her she felt unbalanced, as though she was about to fall. She put it down to not being able to see exactly where she was puttingher feet, but she suspected she was lying to herself.
Neither of them said anything as they made their way along the path, and she was grateful for the silence; the sound of the waves and the answering beatof her heart was noise enough.
Boardwalk soon became an undulating sandy meadow as the path turned slightly inland, and the night grew darker and more still.As they walked, Annabelle turnedher face to the sky more and more frequently, until finally she came to a halt and pivoted in a slow circle,her arms outstretched as she stared in awe at the heavens.
Softly Ron said, ‘We don’t have to go any further, if you don’t want.’
She knew he was looking at her, and not the stars. She could feel his gaze, as weighty and as soft as a caress, and she shivered. ‘I think we do,’ she said, but shewasn’t referring to the dunes.
She lowered her head, her mind filled with glittering sparks of light, and she took a step towards him.
He was close enough to touch, tosmell, and she wondered what he tasted like.
Annabelle put out her hand, herpalm resting on his chest, and she felt the thud of his heart, and his soft exhalation stirred something deep within her. He wanted her, she could sense it. And shewondered if he’d take her here, in the springy grass.
Ron remained motionless, apart fromthe rise and fall of his chest, and she slowly closed her eyes and leaned into him, her chin lifting as she offered him her mouth.
She almost thought sheimaginedthe first flutter of his lips on hers, as she felt his breath on her cheek, and when she opened her eyes her gaze met the dark depths of his own.
Her lips parted, inviting him in, and with a barely-heard groan, he crushed her to him, and suddenly she was being thoroughly and expertly kissed.
Losing herself in the heady sweetness of it, she closed her eyes again and wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him to her. Then his hands were cupping her face as his mouth explored hers, and desire shot through her, making her pulse race and her senses reel, until all she could think about was his lips, his tongue, the strength of his fingers, his ragged breathing.
Abruptly, he dragged his mouth away and released her, and as he took a step back, she almost lost her balance with the shock of it.
He stood there, breathing hard, a dark shape against an even darker landscape. But she could see his eyes, and they glittered with hunger.
So why wasn’t he...?
His voice was gruff as he said, ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. Please forgive me.’
When he dropped his gaze, theconnection between them was abruptly severed and Annabelle felt like crying. She turned away in shame. She’d practically thrown herself at him, and he was the oneapologising.
Despair replaced lust, rejection replacedheady excitement, and her desire turned to ashes in her mouth. He didn’t want her. Not in the way she needed to be wanted. Ron was too nice a man to take her simply because she’d offered herself. It could have been so easy for him to have lowered her into the grass and had sex with her, when what she’d wanted was for him tomake loveto her. Instead, he’d pulled away.
She ought to thank him for preventing her from making a big mistake, but all she wanted to do was cry.
‘Can we go back?’ she croaked, her voice hoarse with unshed tears and unrequited need.
‘Of course.’ He didn’t sayanythingfurther. He didn’t have to. He’dalreadysaid enough – words weren’t necessary.
When they arrived back at the house, he paused before unlocking the door, and when she risked a glance at him, wondering at the delay, he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand, and said simply, ‘We can’t.’
Annabelle fled to her room, aplethoraof emotions swooping through her mind: because he was right – they couldn’t.
But that didn’t prevent her from wishing that theycould.
