Extra Time (4 page)

She kept her eyes closed as his fingers slid out of her, her stomach clenching as another wave of anticipation flooded her. And then she felt his mouth replace his fingers, his tongue taking over where they’d left off. He was touching her, tasting her, drinking her in, and Amber felt as though she was going to explode. Oh God, what he could do to her! He was gently easing her wider apart with his fingers, his tongue covering every inch of her down there, and it was the most intense, incredible experience. She could already feel those beautiful pins and needles start to creep up her body, that release beginning its attempt to break free, and he must have sensed that, too, because he pushed harder, probed deeper, and she pushed against him, giving him everything she had as it all came to a crashing end, her body shaking in spasms of ecstasy. But he stayed right where he was, taking everything she was giving him, drinking her dry until she could do nothing but collapse around him. Her legs were weak, her body tingling, yet she knew it wasn’t over. She knew he needed more, and so did she. She still ached to feel him inside her, despite the fact she’d just experienced one of the most glorious orgasms of her entire life. She still wanted to feel him, hard and ready, deep, deep inside of her.

He pulled her back into the water, stroking her cheek with his thumb as his mouth lowered down onto hers. She could taste herself on him, his lips salty and damp, and it only served to heighten everything she was already feeling. Every nerve ending was on red alert, just waiting for the next instalment of this erotic ride.

He was naked now, too. He was naked and he was hard, his erection pressing into her thigh, and she honestly thought she was going to pass out with the intensity of it all. Had she missed out on all of this for over twenty years? Or was it only like this be
cause
of those years apart? It didn’t matter now, not anymore. They were together, and that was all that mattered. They were together. Finally.

Lifting her up again, but keeping her in the water this time, he pushed her back against the pool wall as she wrapped her legs around his hips, her arms around his neck, burying her face in his grey-flecked hair as he finally pushed inside her. And he pushed hard, fast, sliding in and out of her in a beautiful, perfect rhythm, his hands underneath her bottom, keeping her firmly on him as he continued to fuck her in the most incredible way. And maybe it was the water that was helping to intensify everything, she had no idea; all she knew was that, when the climax finally came, she’d never felt anything like it. When he exploded inside her, she felt every drop of him spill out, every shudder and jolt sending her further over the precipice into a heaven she’d had no idea existed. She had to bury her face in his shoulder to muffle the screams, to silence the moans, and he held onto her so tight she almost couldn’t breathe, waiting until it was over, until she’d experienced every last, heart-stopping second of it all before he finally loosened his grip. She almost fell against him when he did, and he had to grab onto her quickly to hold her up, her legs were so weak. She felt drained, almost; all energy had been sapped out of her.

‘Hey, beautiful,’ he whispered, tilting her chin up so her eyes met his. ‘You okay there?’

She smiled, nodding slowly, slipping a hand round the back of his neck, playing with his damp hair. ‘Where’d you learn to do all that?’

He laughed, that low, sexy laugh that made her stomach flip and her heart race. She was falling in love with this man all over again, although she doubted whether she’d ever fallen out of love with him. From the age of sixteen he’d been all she’d ever wanted, all she’d ever dreamed of, even if she’d only just realised that now. No other man could ever match up to him. Ever. ‘When I’m with you, baby, it all comes naturally, believe me.’ He buried his face in her hair, his fingers gently stroking her breasts, their bodies still pressed together. ‘You taste so good, Amber. So fucking good.’

She shivered slightly as he spoke, remembering the feel of his tongue as it had touched her, brought her to that crashing climax. He was the only man who’d ever managed to do that, and he always would be – now. The only man she’d ever need. ‘Remind me to repay the compliment one day.’ She smiled, reaching down to take him in her hand. She was surprised to find he was still hard, and she couldn’t stop that small shiver from turning into another huge tingle. ‘Mr. Allen, surely you must be done by now?’

‘Never.’ He returned her smile, nuzzling her neck, covering that space just below her ear in hundreds of tiny kisses.

‘Then you’ll have to let me repay that favour the second we get back from dinner. We can’t have you in any way dissatisfied now, can we?’

He looked at her, smiling that smile, and she felt her stomach dip and dive again. Oh Jesus, she loved this man so much. So, so much. ‘I’ll hold you to that.’

She closed her eyes as he kissed her again; a beautiful, slow and languid kiss that caused her to melt against him, never wanting to leave his arms, but knowing she had to. They couldn’t stay here all night, even if that was where they both wanted to be.

‘Later.’ He smiled, stroking the damp hair from her face before climbing out of the pool. Amber watched him walk back into their hotel suite, naked and handsome and still as sexy as he had been when she’d first met him over two decades ago.

‘Later,’ she whispered, looking back out at the view in front of her, the resort below now shrouded in a blanket of darkness, the lights of the bars and hotels twinkling away like a myriad of coloured fairy lights. And she just wished later would come sooner than it was going to.

‘I could do without this,’ Ryan muttered, sitting back in his seat, pushing it backwards until it rested on its rear legs, kicking the table leg in front of him like some petulant, bored child.

‘Jesus, you’re not still moping over Amber, are you?’ Gary sighed, sitting down beside Ryan, handing him a pint of lager. ‘Get over it, mate. It’s been months now. And I thought, after everything you’ve been through recently…’ He stopped talking as Ryan threw him a look, and Gary turned away, taking a quick sip of his lager. ‘I thought you were over it, that’s all. You can’t have her anymore. She’s married to the boss. Deal with it.’

Ryan said nothing, just swung back on his chair again, resting his hands on his toned and taut stomach as he watched everything going on around him on the dimly lit, fairy-light-strewed terrace of the restaurant Jim had told them all to meet up in. Colin Bailey – Red Star’s head coach and assistant manager – had made sure all the guys in the squad had got there on time, but there was still no sign of Amber or Jim. Ryan could only guess at what they were doing that was making them so late. And it hurt.

‘It’s got nothing to do with Amber.’

‘Oh really?’ Gary asked, raising a cynical eyebrow. ‘You sure about that?’

‘Ellen’s here.’

‘Eh? What do you mean, Ellen’s here? Ellen’s where?’

‘For fuck’s sake… she’s here, in frigging Tenerife. What do you think I mean?’

‘Okay, okay. Chill out, will you? When did that happen? I thought partners weren’t allowed on this trip? Otherwise I’d doubtless have had Debbie hanging off me arm 24/7, which I can well do without. I can have me pick of women here, but not if the wife’s around.’

Ryan looked at Gary. ‘You finished? Partners
aren’t
supposed to be here, but Ellen’s taken it upon herself to have what she’s calling a “girly weekend” with her mates – here, in Tenerife. She’s staying at a hotel in Torviscas, wants to know if I can meet her tomorrow. I’ve told her it’s match day, that it’s not a good idea, but then she puts that voice on, you know? That little-girl-lost voice, like I’ve physically wounded her or something… What am I supposed to do, Gaz? Ignore her?’

Gary just shrugged.

‘You’re no fucking help, do you know that?’

‘Well, what do you want me to say? You can’t really ignore her, can you? Not after she’s come all this way. But it might be a good idea to make sure the boss doesn’t find out. The last thing you need is him on your back.’

‘She should’ve asked me first, Gary. I mean, we have fun, don’t get me wrong, and she’s a frigging stunner but… this was supposed to be a break, a chance for me to kick back and let loose for a bit.’

‘She’s spoilt your fun, huh?’ Gary grinned. Ryan didn’t return it. In fact, he didn’t say anything. He just watched as more figures stepped up onto the terrace, and all of a sudden he felt his heart start to beat harder. In anticipation? Of what? Of Amber walking in, taking one look at him and realising that she’d chosen the wrong man? That
he
was the one she should have stayed with? Yeah, because she’d been acting as though that was the way she’d been thinking ever since this pre-season tour had started. She’d barely looked in his direction. What the hell was he doing? After what he’d done to her, the way he’d behaved…

He felt his stomach literally sink when he saw Ronnie White arrive, because he was alone. Still no Amber and Jim.

‘I’m going for some fresh air,’ Ryan sighed, standing up.

Gary looked at him. ‘Fresh air? We’re outside, Ryan.’

‘I need some space…’ He was stopped from going anywhere as more people arrived, and this time he saw her – Amber. His ex-fiancée and his boss had finally put in an appearance.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. There was something different about her now; about the way she looked, the way she acted. She was slimmer, more beautiful, that ice-queen image she’d once given off now seemed nothing but a distant memory as she smiled at everyone who looked in her direction – everyone except him. Because, when his eyes finally locked with hers, that smile disappeared, just for a few seconds, until she turned away, back to look at her new husband, and then the smile returned. Ryan felt his heart ache as he watched her stand up on tiptoe to kiss Jim Allen. He watched as their lips met in a long kiss, one that was met with whoops and whistles from the rest of the squad as Jim’s arm snaked around her waist, his hand resting on her hip.

‘I really need that space now,’ Ryan muttered, standing up and almost kicking his chair back. ‘I won’t be long.’

‘Ryan…’ Gary started, but thought better of it. He knew that, sometimes, it was best just to let Ryan get on with things the way he saw fit. As long as you didn’t let him out of your sight for too long. He may have come through that latest round of rehab with no problems, but he was still quite volatile, still likely to do something he shouldn’t if pushed far enough. And Gary knew that better than anyone.

Quickly making his way out onto the beautifully-paved walkway that separated their restaurant from the beach in front of them, Ryan stopped only when he finally found the space he needed, walking over to the low wall that overlooked the beach, placing his hands palm-down on it and leaning forward, closing his eyes, breathing in deeply before exhaling loudly. He hadn’t thought it would be this hard. Was that incredibly naive of him? Since coming out of rehab, regaining his form as one of the greatest footballers of his generation, being given the captaincy at Newcastle Red Star and then taking them to that historic Premier League win, he’d felt fine about it all. He was back in the game, free of his demons – or so he’d thought. But maybe the summer break had given him some kind of false sense of security as far as thinking his feelings for Amber had changed. This pre-season trip was the first time he’d seen her since the end of last season. The first time he’d had a chance to properly face those feelings he’d had for her head-on. The first time he’d really faced up to the fact that she was actually married now, that she’d spent the summer break on a honeymoon that should have been the honeymoon
he’d
shared with her, not his boss. But he’d fucked that one up good and proper, hadn’t he? Thrown it all away in one night of utter stupidity that just thinking about it brought with it a stabbing pain of regret he couldn’t seem to shift.

Taking another deep breath, he exhaled again, opening his eyes and staring out ahead at the view of the beach, which was shrouded in darkness, almost eerie in its feel as the sound of the waves lapping slowly against the sand echoed in the distance.

Maybe Ellen turning up was the best thing that could have happened. With her around he’d have less chance to think about Amber. Less chance to think about what he’d lost. Instead he could focus on what he had now, and that didn’t just include his career being back on track. It also included a beautiful young woman he should be happy to have by his side.

Maybe it really was time for Ryan Fisher to start thinking about settling down. With Ellen? That wasn’t something he wanted to think about just yet. He just knew that over the past couple of months he’d finally started to become the man he really wanted to be, and he also knew that if he tried really hard he could deal with his feelings for Amber. He just had to be stronger, and he could do it. He could. He could do it. He had no other choice.

‘You look different,’ Ronnie said, leaning back against the bar. ‘I meant to tell you that earlier, over lunch. But you do. You look different.’

‘Different, how?’ Amber laughed, taking a small sip of cava.

‘Well – and don’t smack me for saying this, because I know what you’re like – but, for starters, you look like you’ve lost a bit of weight, which I’m assuming is down to all the sex you’re having.’ He grinned at her, sticking his hands in his pockets and throwing her a wink.

Amber couldn’t help smiling, looking at her best friend out the corner of her eye. ‘Yeah,’ she said dryly. ‘That’ll be it. Is that all?’

Ronnie watched as the large group of footballers that had taken over the greater part of the restaurant for the night laughed and joked with each other in a less than subtle manner, shouting loudly before being told to keep it down by Colin, whose booming Glaswegian voice was far louder on its own than the whole squad’s put together. ‘You just seem, different.’ He shrugged. ‘I don’t know… more confident… no, that’s not true, because you’ve
always
been confident. It just seems as though you marrying Jim – it seems as though marrying him has changed you, somehow.’