Prologue

      It reminded Kara of the night it all began. Standing pressed against the railings bordering the canal, with her panties around her ankles and the caress of cool air stirring against her skin. Except this time it was the sea breeze blowing across the bay, ruffling her skirt, and in place of cold iron and inky water stood the sea wall and a thin stretch of white sand.

      Two fingers rode the line of her slit, making her hips punch forwards in eager anticipation of the touch reaching her clit. She needed this, after the last two weeks of hell, when everything had fallen apart and she’d wondered how it would ever be righted. Zach had fixed that with his presence alone. Explanations were unnecessary, likewise apologies given in words.

      The aching tension that had knotted Kara’s muscles slowly began to unravel as his touch reached the desired destination and worked its magic. He teased his fingers back and forth in her moisture.

      ‘I’m glad you came,’ she whispered, as her lips found the soft stretch of skin between his ear and the line of stubble upon his jaw. Not that ‘glad’ really encompassed what she felt. No one word could, nor even a thousand. You couldn’t sum up love with words. It was something you experienced deep down on a cellular level. It had the ability to raze and savage, heal and nurture. Love destroyed and elevated, wrought bliss and panic. She’d felt every one of those emotions over the last few days, but now, at last, everything had come full circle. And maybe the fact that it was hard won made the high she was sailing towards that bit sweeter.

      ‘Not half as pleased as I am.’

      Joy radiated off him like heat, and was made manifest in numerous other ways: in the metre of his voice – soft yet pleasure-laced – and in the way the worry lines that had etched his skin were wiped away.

      Zach turned his head, forcing her lips from his ear in order to drive his mouth down hard upon them. He worshipped their curves, before pressing inside and stroking his tongue against hers.

      Kara’s arousal spiked, sending a shiver down through her tensed limbs, while the touch of his fingers caused an upwards sweep of excitement. The twin sensations pooled in her belly, leaving her overeager and poised on the tips of her toes. Off balance, Kara grabbed hold of Zach’s belt and held on tight. He knew how to do right by her. She couldn’t think of a single occasion when he hadn’t delivered. Zach was the ultimate giver. He gave now, circling her clit with the tip of his thumb, so that it perked up, eager for direct action.

      ‘Like that, do you?’ He pursed his lips, expression one of bemused contentment.

      ‘You know I do,’ she sighed, giddy in anticipation of that hot stroke across her clit. Her nipples stiffened, breaking the smooth line of her dress. Immediately, Zach’s gaze dropped, followed by his head, so that he could rub his cheek against the protruding points. His stubble rasped against the fabric and sent a sharp flash of lightning zipping through both breasts and down to her sex, provoking a groan.

       So damn good.

      Somehow she always forgot exactly how good he was. Great enough that she longed to feel his mouth against her bare skin and to hell with the possibility of being seen. If her dress would have allowed it, she’d have wrenched the fabric aside without a second thought. As it was, she could only tilt her head back and arch her spine so that her breasts were thrust forwards in offering.

      If it had been Ric out here with her instead of Zach, then he’d have had a hand in her hair by now, and would be pulling, urging her to give a little more. Zach invariably proved the gentler of the two men. Her two lovers…

      A broad grin stretched wide across Kara’s face.

      Two lovers – every time she considered those words it felt like her nerves were powered with rocket fuel.

      What’s more, they were rock-solid again. Ric would join them soon enough. Then they’d prove triangles weren’t only mathematically strong, they worked emotionally too.

      ‘How long do you think he’ll be?’ she asked.

      ‘Why, are you in a hurry to get somewhere?’

      Only to get off. She didn’t need to say that aloud for Zach to hear her. He read it straight from her thoughts.

      ‘We don’t need Ric for that.’

      He claimed the rigid peak of her nipple, sucking hard and flicking it with his tongue, while his hand remained curved against her pussy. He was right, of course. Ric’s assistance wasn’t required. Zach had only to keep up his current teasing and she’d come all over his fingers. The only thing that held her back from writhing hard against his hand was the desire to get him a whole lot closer.

      The stroke of his fingertip almost brought her off anyway.

      ‘Nooo,’ she squeaked. ‘Not yet. Not yet. I want more…closer.’

      She tugged at the waistband of Zach’s formal trousers, but they didn’t budge from his waist.

      ‘You can have more. I’m not going anywhere. Let me give you this, Kara.’

      ‘Oh, God!’ she gasped, voice no more than a croak, as he drove her into the white void ready to topple. ‘I’m gonna…’

      ‘Shh!’ He nuzzled her neck. ‘Just let it come. You know I like it when you’re slick and smooth, and you get my cock all wet when I rub against you.’

      Kara dug her teeth into her lower lip, trying to hold the imminent explosion inside. She couldn’t do it, not when he was stroking her like that, touching her in just the right place, in exactly the right way.

      ‘I’ll give you everything you want, Kara. You know that. No tricks. No false promises. Just let it come.’

      Let it…She couldn’t hold it back if she tried.

      Fuck…fuck…fuck! That was good. That was so fucking good.

      Zach held her as his fingers beat a rapid tattoo against her clit that matched the drum of her climax.

      Spent, she sagged in his embrace, limbs boneless.

      Zach held her steady, as aftershock upon aftershock rippled through her and she breathed in his heavenly scent.

      ‘That was cruel, Mr Blackwater.’

      ‘Cruel?’ Twin furrows appeared between his wing-like brows. ‘What’s cruel about getting