Free Water and Fire by Demelza Carlton Page A

said.
    Cutlery clattered as I dove for
him, intent on finishing what we'd started in the shower. Beneath
my fierce kisses, he murmured words that I didn't hear until his
hands pushed my breasts away. "Bed. Bel, I'd like to take you to
bed."
    I shed the
coat and stood, as he struggled out of the apron. Kissing and
stumbling, caressing and gasping, we crossed the living area to his
bedroom. The bed pressed against the backs of my legs and it took
only a slight push to tip us both onto the slippery sheets. Red satin, like last night's shorts, I thought incoherently, my hands sliding over the
fabric as Aidan's fingers were far more productive.
    I could feel
the ripples building for another powerful orgasm as Aidan asked,
"What do you want, Bel? How do you want me?"
    I crossed my
legs around his hips, my feet pressing insistently against the bum
I'd admired over breakfast. My voice came out in a sob. "In me. In
me. Now. Oh,
Aidan… Aidan …"

32
     
    Some time later, when the
sweat-saturated satin stuck to my skin and our Irish luck had well
and truly wilted – at least for a few hours, Aidan assured me – I
lay beside him. My heart still racing as I tried to catch my
breath, I couldn't resist Aidan's kisses as he lightly stroked my
skin.
    "Thank you, my amazing,
beautiful Bel," he murmured, stretching as his head hit the pillow
beside me.
    "Shouldn't I be thanking you?"
I responded lazily, my skin feeling pleasantly raw in places from
the frenzied friction of our lovemaking.
    His laughter shook the bed.
"I'm pretty sure you've expressed your loud appreciation
already."
    I blushed, feeling my already
warm cheeks grow hot. "Am I too noisy?" I whispered, mortified.
    Aidan turned, his face hovering
above mine. "If you screamed for joy at the top of your lungs every
time you came, you'd never be too loud for me, Bel. You'd only make
me want to hear you scream again." He kissed my neck, lifting his
leg to stroke mine beneath his.
    His caresses had very little
effect on him – nor did my hands help. He sat up. "A couple of
hours, Bel, and I promise I'll be ready for you again. Is there
anything you'd like to do while we're waiting?" He seemed on the
cusp of saying more, but he didn't.
    I shook my head, contenting
myself with stroking the length of his red chest hair, from top to
glorious bottom.
    "On the Sundays I'm not
working, I usually go up to the Distillery for lunch. Taste a
whiskey or two and have something to eat…" He trailed off, his
mouth still open. A moment passed before he continued. "I'd love to
take you out to lunch, if you'll let me. I think you'd enjoy
tasting the whiskeys, too, if you liked the one we shared last
night." He looked worried. "But if you don't want to…"
    I reflected. "I think you're
right. I would like to." I summoned a smile that came easily to my
lips. "But I think I'll need another shower and some clothes."
    "Let me help you," Aidan
offered eagerly.
    I shot him a questioning
glance.
    His smile was broad, though I
didn't trust it entirely. "Oh, this one will be very clean. Plenty
of soap and this time we'll be in and out before the hot water runs
out," Aidan promised.
    Trustworthy or not, I shrugged.
I wanted this man's hands on me. Whether his intentions were dirty
or clean were of no consequence.

33
     
    My skin tingling from Aidan's
thorough ministrations in the hot water, I reluctantly dug out some
clean clothes from my bag. I pulled on my knickers and I stretched
my arms behind me to fasten my bra when I noticed Aidan standing in
the open doorway, for I no longer saw any point in hiding from him
as I dressed.
    His appreciative smile widened
when he knew I'd seen him. "Red," he said, gesturing at my matching
underwear. "I like it."
    I smiled. "Me, too," I
admitted, holding up the similar-coloured shirt I planned to wear
over my ruddy underwear.
    Aidan reached for me as he took
slow steps into the room. His hands cupped my breasts through the
cloth. "You're irresistible in or on red satin,