‘How about lunch?’ He let her go then and wandered off, giving her a moment to regroup, to blow her nose and wipe away tears she didn’t want him to see from her cheeks. Aware of her reddened eyes and not quite ready to face him, instead she went to the laundry and fished out a fresh light bulb from the cupboard under the sink before heading back to the study.
Aware that if she didn’t do it then her mother would, Lily pulled out the heavy desk and balanced the chair rather precariously on top of it. The ceilings were so high in the house that changing a light bulb was a serious balancing act, and one no fifty-year-old woman should attempt! Tucking the new energy-saving bulb in her top, Lily climbed onto the desk and then up onto the chair—one hand firmly on the ceiling for support as the other screwed out the old one. It was a manoeuvre she’d done fifty, maybe a hundred times before, but never with such stunning consequences.
Just as she had screwed it in and was about to climb down, a vice-like grip wrapped around her legs, the chair tumbling over as she was hurled over a pair of very broad, very tense shoulders.
‘Just what the hell do you think you’re doing, Lily?’ She was too shocked to answer, the world upside down for a moment till Hunter unceremoniously dumped her on the floor. ‘You could have been killed!’
‘A heart attack would be more likely!’ Lily squealed. ‘You scared the life out of me.’
‘Why the hell didn’t you ask me to do it?’ Hunter demanded. ‘One slip and you could have broken your neck. Of all the bloody, irresponsible things to do!’ He stopped shouting then, raked his hand through his hair, his eyes livid in his pale face as Lily blinked back at him. ‘Next time ask for help.’
‘Next time,’ Lily retorted, smoothing down her skirt and taking a deep breath ‘don’t interfere.’
CHAPTER SIX
‘I COULD stay like this forever.’
Hunter’s words caught her by surprise. The argument that Lily felt had blown in from nowhere had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived and they were lying on the picnic blanket, staring up at the blue, blue sky, filled with that dreamy feeling of sleepiness that came from having eaten way too much. And even though it was exactly how Lily was feeling, she’d never expected him to feel the same, had thought that at any moment he’d leap up and start packing up, that the novelty of peace would soon wear off for him. But Hunter wasn’t in a rush to go anywhere and, rolling onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow, Lily gazed down at him, saw that unscrupulous face for once relaxed, his eyes closed, his mouth slightly open, and she wanted to reach out and touch him, wanted to press her lips to his.
So she did.
Delivered gently a soft slow kiss, and he let her, didn’t move a muscle as she took from him what she wanted, no contact other than their lips, pure unhurried pleasure, like an extra helping of dessert, just because it’s there, just because you want it…just because you could.
‘Kiss me until I take you again,’ Hunter growled as Lily pulled back and smiled at him. She wasn’t even shocked by him now—he was so incorrigible, so blatant and unapologetic with his want that he made it more acceptable somehow. He rolled onto his side but only faced her for a second, his eyes moving to her breasts, parting her gaping top and burning her with his gaze. She watched his hand move down to his jeans, saw the bulge of his erection, knew it was for her, a parcel waiting to be opened. A quiver of expectation rippled through her at the goodies that lay ahead, but her smile turned into one of confusion as Hunter pulled an army knife out of the picnic basket, fiddling with all the little instruments and very slowly, very surely selected one, his eyes flashing with pure desire as inched his way over to her.
‘What are you doing?’ Her voice was thick with lust, not scared, just mounting excitement as he drew the tiny blade towards her.
‘Peeling my fruit,’ Hunter answered, his warm fingers delving into her cleavage and pulling out the centre of her bra, the blade cutting through the flimsy fabric. He took the weight of her breast as it fell ripe into his hand, taking her nipple in his mouth, kissing it as she had kissed him, unhurriedly, decadently—just because he could. ‘Lie down!’ His words were a throaty order, and Lily shivered with expectation as she complied. Hunter slowly unzipped her skirt till it was completely open, taking off her shoes till she was wearing only her top and panties, parting her knees. Under any other circumstances she’d have been embarrassed by such exposure, nervous even, yet she didn’t feel that way with him in the slightest.