Wanderlust: A Holiday Story (A Heroes and Heartbreakers Original) (3 page)

Her fingers were already on the door, and he crossed to hold it open for her. Ruby jumped when his fingers covered hers, and closed her eyes momentarily when he curved his other hand around her shoulder. “Looking forward to it, Ruby red. It’s been too long.”

He dipped his head, aiming to kiss her cheek, catching the side of her mouth as she turned her head. She stepped back almost straight away, and if she hadn’t, Ford would have, because he felt the same bolt of carnal lust. Her mouth had barely touched his, but it was enough to let him know that what had been a slow burn between them for more than ten years was now so tinder hot that it was in serious danger of burning this old place to the ground.

Chapter Four

Living on site had its advantages, not least of which was the lack of commute in a snowstorm. Ruby glanced worriedly at the fat flakes falling outside the mullioned windows of her cottage, hoping that the weather wouldn’t have a detrimental effect on Emma and Niall’s impending nuptials. Everything was in place for their special day. Thankfully they’d kept the numbers low for intimacy, but they were still expecting twenty or so guests in the morning, some of them travelling quite a distance.

None as far flung as the man currently residing across the courtyard in the attic suite, though. Her mind conjured up images of him lounging on the brass bed she’d hand-selected and of him stripping naked to sink into the bath she’d insisted should be placed at the foot of the bed. The idea of him stripping naked lodged itself in her mind. Would he have tan lines? Probably not, knowing him; he’d no doubt be perfectly at home sunbathing nude. Ford. Nude. Ford. Naked.
Ford. Ford. Ford.

Ruby pressed her hands against her hot cheeks and belted her coat over her favorite black dress. It was the only suitable thing she possessed for dinner with the hottest man on the planet. Black lace over satin, its neckline and long sleeves said demure, while its short skirt and low back screamed sex kitten.

A glance out of the front door confirmed that her high heels weren’t going to cut it across the courtyard between her cottage and the hotel. Holding her shoes in her hand, she shoved her bare feet into the wellingtons by the door and trudged her way across the courtyard.

Her flimsy umbrella fought a losing battle against the blizzard, making her glad she’d fastened her hair into a messy side-bun at the nape of her neck, an attempt at casual classy that hopefully didn’t look as if she’d tried too hard. It was just as well she’d opted for something unstructured, as by the time she reached the back door of the hotel her umbrella had blown inside-out and her hair had half tumbled around her shoulders.

“Crappy, shitty weather!” she swore under her breath as she tussled with the umbrella in the doorway, hoping that no one was in earshot in the quiet back corridor.

“And hello to you too.”

Ruby closed her eyes without turning around
. Of course
. If anyone was going to find her in her wellies and mac with her hair hanging off her head at a weird angle, it was going to be him.

She threw the mangled umbrella down onto the hallway floor in disgust and dragged the heavy door shut against the wind with both hands.

“Ford,” she breathed as she turned around.

It didn’t help that he looked the opposite of bedraggled. He looked … delicious. Dressed in charcoal, his expensive-looking shirt outlined the athletic flow of his body and clung to the width of his shoulders. Ruby’s eyes skimmed fleetingly down his fitted trousers and hurriedly back up to his amused eyes without stopping at crotch level.

“You clean up well,” she muttered, well aware of how ridiculous she looked by comparison.

“Thank you. You look…” he glanced pointedly at her wellingtons, “interesting. Like a cross between a strip-o-gram and a farmer’s wife. Are you wearing anything under that coat?” He raised his eyebrows. “For the record, I’m hoping that the answer is no.”

Ruby scowled at him, yet at the same time registered the fact that he was flirting again. They didn’t flirt. Or else they never used to, before the kiss that changed everything.

“Let me help you.”

Ford unhooked her shoes from her fingers and set them on the floor, and as he straightened he held out his hand to steady her as she stepped out of her boots.

Ruby placed her hand in his bigger warm one without thinking, and then had to hold in her gasp at the thrill of awareness that his touch triggered. She’d touched him many, many times before, but this was different. His fingers curved around hers and held her steady, and she busied herself kicking off her boots to avoid looking up at him. Standing barefoot on the flagstone floor, Ruby was hyper-aware of Ford’s height next to hers, and of the heat emanating from him. Had he always been so tall? Logic said he must have, but the Ford of Ruby’s memories seemed slighter; less of a man, more of a boy. Maybe that was the difference. They weren’t kids anymore. Ford was a successful Caribbean hotelier, and Ruby was justifiably proud of the position she’d carved out for herself too. They were all grown up now, and it would seem that their easy friendship of old had morphed into something far less platonic.

She stepped into her shoes, glad of the extra few inches and the way they evened up more than just their heights. Barefoot had somehow equated to vulnerable.

She didn’t miss the flare of interest in Ford’s eyes when she let go of his hand and reached for the belt on her coat.

“Behave,” she murmured, shrugging out of the damp jacket.

“Nice dress, Ruby red,” he said, taking the coat from her fingers and hanging it on the wall hooks by the door. His eyes wandered down her legs. “Did you get taller?”

“Surprisingly, no,” she said dryly, reaching up to attempt damage control on her hair.

Ford reached out and stilled her hands. “Leave it down.” He plucked the remaining pins out and mussed it around her face. “It suits you.”

Ruby swallowed hard. Was it a come-on? From any other man it would be an obvious come-on, yet from Ford it just felt … right. Sexy, but right. She nodded, and stepped ahead of him to lead the way through to the restaurant. Safety in numbers, even if the hotel was pretty quiet.

“Fucking hell.”

Ruby heard his low curse a second before she felt his fingers fasten around her wrist. She turned around, realizing belatedly that her low-backed dress had been the cause of his consternation. The raw, naked lust on his face knocked the bottom out of her stomach. He’d looked at her like that once before. They stood stock still staring at each other in the hallway, and Ruby noticed the way his lips parted slightly as his restless eyes scanned her face. She suddenly wanted to kiss those lips very badly.

When he tugged her towards him by the wrist her heartbeat skipped up to heart-attack levels, and a couple of steps brought her almost flush against his body.

If Ford had spoken, it might have broken the spell. But he didn’t. He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her up against the length of his body, scorching her from shoulder to hip, the firm heat of his hand imprinted against her exposed spine.

His mouth was a whisper from hers as he backed her against the wall, his other hand flat on the stone next to her head as he dropped his head to hers.

The final switch from friends to lovers happened as easily as that. With just one look, Ford had her wanting him more than she’d ever wanted anyone, willing to risk a lifetime of heartache in exchange for one perfect night. With the first touch of his lips against hers, he had her needing him more than she’d ever needed anyone. By the time he slid his tongue inside her mouth, he had her desperate to rip the shirt off his back.

His scent surrounded her as his hands moved to cup her face, holding her steady as he took the kiss from sensual to intimate. His hard aroused crotch pressed her into the wall, and she wanted him to press even harder. His kiss was a delicious, urgent assault, a hot tangle of tongues as Ruby’s palms flattened against the front of his shirt, and she could feel his heart hammering every bit as hard as she knew her own was. He had her pinned between his body and the wall, and she wanted him to lean harder against her, to push the hard heat of his erection further into her.

If any of her staff or guests had walked down that corridor, she probably wouldn’t have registered their presence, because in that moment she wasn’t the manager of the hotel. She was just Ruby being kissed by Ford for the second time in her life, and it was a million times more amazing than the first time. She was a woman consumed with molten lust for the man whose kiss had dissolved all of the good intentions she’d had of keeping things platonic. The fact that it had taken eight years to get over just one of Ford’s kisses didn’t matter once his mouth touched hers for a second time.

He lifted his head, his breath coming in ragged gasps. “I don’t want dinner. I want you. Come upstairs with me.” He tipped her head back to press hot, open-mouthed kisses down her throat. “Christ, Rubes, you taste fucking amazing.”

She dragged her eyes open and slid her hands into his hair. “Stairs,” she murmured, lifting his head from her neck and nodding towards a staff doorway just along the corridor. “There.”

He nodded and half-dragged her through the doorway by the hand. “Does this go all the way up to the attic?” he said, taking the narrow staff staircase at a fast pace and tugging her along behind him.

“Yes.” She skipped quickly. He paused on the first landing and turned to pull her into his arms for a few seconds. His kiss downstairs had been off-the-scale sexy because of its unexpectedness and its urgency. This was less rushed, a holding kiss, a brief seductive hint of his tongue against hers and a sigh that told her that he couldn’t make it to the attic without kissing her some more.

On the second landing, Ford stopped again and pulled her against him, his hands cupping her bottom. “Ruby.” He said only her name, and she reached out and traced her finger over the fullness of his bitable bottom lip. He half-growled as he caught her finger between his teeth and bit down lightly.

“Ford…”

She didn’t get any further words out, because he shook his head.

“Don’t say it.” He moved her hand flat against his cheek and then turned to kiss her palm. “I know it’s all kinds of crazy and we live on opposite sides of the world now, but please don’t say stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop.”

“Thank fuck for that.” He put his hand behind her head and drew her lips to his. “Thank fuck for that. Come on.”

He wound his arm around her waist as they climbed the final flight of stairs, his hand resting on the warm skin revealed by her low backed dress. She understood the slow graze of his thumb up and down her spine as he reached for his key. Designed to comfort, and to acknowledge that this shift from friends to lovers was a big deal for him too. The potential for this had shimmered between them ever since they’d met more than a decade ago, yet up until now they’d managed not to cross the line. They’d buried their attraction behind a facade of friendship back then, but there was no burying it this time around.

Ford swung the door open, and Ruby stepped inside. There was no going back.

Chapter Five

His hands were on her lace-covered hips, his mouth hot and wanting against the side of her neck. She could feel his rigid erection straining against her body as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

“Ruby,” he breathed against her ear, pressing her body into his.

She’d never experienced desire like this. She’d had sex with a few boyfriends and at the time it had seemed good enough, but no one had had her so desperate, so needy for the contact of skin on skin.

She turned into his arms, her fingers searching for the buttons of his shirt.

“Jesus, Rubes…” he whispered, shrugging the shirt off his shoulders and letting it drop to the floor. His body was ridiculous. Hard. Tanned. A light smatter of dark hair turned tawny by sunshine that tapered down into his trousers. Then her eyes settled on the tattoo on his chest, a solitary star placed over his heart.

“Oh, God. Ford. It’s you.” She couldn’t hold the words in or keep her hands off him. She wanted to stroke him, and the feel of his smooth, warm back under her hands as she slid her arms around him made her groan.

“How does this come off?” he muttered, his hands searching for a zip on her dress as he kissed her.

“It peels off.”

She heard him half-laugh, half-groan with appreciation, and then his fingers were on her shoulders. “Like this?” He hooked his thumbs under the stretch material and eased it down her upper arms, leaving her momentarily gypsy-like. Ford dipped his head and trailed a ribbon of kisses along the top of her shoulder, paused to lick the hollow at the base of her neck, and then kissed his way across her other shoulder.

He straightened, his fingers back on the material of her dress.

Then he slowly pulled the lace downwards, his eyes following his hands, his chest rising and falling in shallow, turned-on breaths.

Ruby closed her eyes. The dress didn’t allow for a bra.

She opened her eyes again as he continued to peel the dress slowly down, watching his expression as the material grazed down over her painfully stiff nipples.

“So fucking beautiful,” he whispered hoarsely, and finally pulled the dress down to her waist, freeing her hands from the sleeves. He wrapped his arms around her, and the sensation of his naked body against hers made her moan with satisfaction. Her nipples brushed his chest, and when he kissed her, his lips were slow and hypnotic.

“I’ve imagined what you’d look like so often,” he said, sliding his tongue over her parted lips. “I knew you’d be beautiful, but not like this.”

He eased back and looked down at her breasts, then back up into her eyes. She saw so many of her own feelings reflected there in his clear green gaze and it reached down deep into her heart. Red-hot lust. Nerves. Need. Fear. Because being like this together felt so overwhelmingly emotional. She wasn’t sure that she wasn’t going to cry.

“Touch me.”

She heard the catch in her own voice, and he reached for her face rather than her body. He kissed her eyelids, his thumbs stroking away the tears that trickled down her cheeks.