Best of Bosses 2008(112)

Somewhere along the line, she was too lost in a world of sensation to really know when, he flipped them over so that she was lying on top of him, with his hands on her buttocks and her breasts dangling down, their swollen nipples perfect targets for his eager mouth.

There was no part of her body that wasn’t aroused. Bliss to feel him in her even while his mouth was avidly on her.

Bliss, even, afterwards, as she eased herself off him, wonderfully fulfilled, like the cat with a very full bowl of cream.

Yes, of course, the reality of the situation was only a thought away, but she was being mad, wasn’t she? Taking chances for the first time in her life? And it felt good.

‘We should get some sleep now,’ Rose said regretfully, ‘or else we’ll be like zombies in the morning.’ This was like a dream, lying here, curled into him and everything making sense because she loved him, against her will. Piercing through the dream, however, was the sure and certain knowledge that there was no way she could let him know that. Unrequited love was only bearable if it remained a secret.

But…

Rose hugged this thought to herself…what if he fell in love with her? Against all odds?

Sure, she wasn’t his type of woman, at least not in the expected sense, but he was seriously attracted to her, wasn’t he? And he did like her, didn’t he? Put those two things together and there it was, like a root beginning to take hold in the soil, the notion that in the days remaining to them she might just discover that her love stood a chance after all.

Having fought for a life that contained no nasty shocks and hence no surprises at all, Rose now found herself walking the perilous but exhilarating path of toying with what had seemed an impossible dream.

‘I’m lying in bed with you and you talk to me about getting some sleep?’ Nick ran his hand along her thigh. Sleep was the last thing on his mind, never mind the hour.

Rose smiled and closed her eyes. He made her feel wanton, something she had never felt before, and she stretched her arms above her head, tempting him with the breasts he seemed to like so much, loving the way his eyes darkened as they swept over her.

Their love-making was long and languorous. He touched her everywhere and she, emboldened by him, touched him everywhere and revelled in exploring his body.

It was five before they finally fell asleep, wrapped in each other’s arms, and Rose awakened to the sun doing its utmost to get a foothold in the room.

And an empty space next to her.

The dreams she had nurtured the night before, when everything had seemed tantalisingly within reach, began to dissipate like mist in the sun, but then she heard a slight sound and there he was, standing in her doorway, with a cup of coffee in his hand.

Rose sat up, pulling the sheet up to her neck, and drew her knees up with a smile.

‘For you.’ Nick strolled towards her with the cup of coffee.

‘How long have you been up?’

‘Oh, an hour or two.’

‘You should have woken me up.’ She yawned and took the cup from him, hoping a healthy injection of caffeine would revive her.

‘And missed the sight of you sleeping the sleep of the innocent?’

Rose marvelled that someone could look so good in a pair of baggy shorts and a fairly disreputable tee shirt.

‘I don’t feel innocent this morning,’ she confessed, shifting to make room so that he could sit on the bed next to her. ‘In fact, I feel…’

‘Wicked? Decadent?’ He tugged the sheet down and nodded. ‘Much better. I like the view far more without the sheet covering it.’

Rose blushed and grinned and gulped down some tea. Mrs Rose Papaeliou. Nice ring to it, she thought.

‘Something like that. I’ve never…just had a one-night stand. Believe it or not, I’m not that kind of girl.’

‘I believe you, and whoever said that this was going to be a one-night stand?’

Hope flared but she managed to keep her expression neutral. ‘Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be up,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘What do we have planned for today?’

‘Oh, I thought we would spend the rest of our time here doing a little exploring of our own.’ He stood up and shot her a wolfish grin that made her toes curl in anticipation. ‘How do you feel about scuba-diving?’

Rose thought that pretty much anything in the company of Nick Papaeliou would be an inviting prospect.

And there was no Lee Peng in tow. He had flown to Indonesia for a week to oversee another building project. The various people with whom they had liaised were no longer necessary, Nick informed her.

Which just left the two of them on their own and the delights of Sabah and its surroundings.

Nick thought that boredom might set in. After all, wasn’t that the way of the world? And they were in each other’s company twenty-four seven.