A trail of water snaked from the pool up the terracotta steps, along the breezeway and down to a door. Jay’s door.

We were barely in the hall before the door slammed behind us, Jay lifting me against the wall, quickly peeling off my soaking top and letting it fall to the floor. Jay had been right about one thing: I was impatient. Impatient to get his shirt off, dragging it up so Jay could rip it over his head, throwing it to find good company next to mine.

His muscles were firm and defined under smooth skin. My legs encircled his waist just as they had in the water down below, but this time I felt the weight, felt the heat and pressure of him against me, the hardness between my thighs, gasping as he arched up into me, moaning against my mouth. He was still wearing his wet denim, but there was no mistaking the hard press of him through his pants, under my palm.

I wanted to set him free, to make quick work of his top button, but he didn’t oblige; instead, he moved my hands and pinned them above my head, his tongue filling my mouth, inside me in a way that only made me hunger for more.

More, I need more.

‘Patience really isn’t your thing, is it?’

I could feel the vibration of his laughter under my lips, as I kissed along his neck, nipping.

‘I know what I want,’ I said, turning to his mouth; he let my hands fall then, and I wrapped them around him. Jay carried me down the hall through to his bedroom, crashing down onto the bed, caring little of the wet clothes we were still wearing. They wouldn’t be staying long. Jay was already hooking his fingers into my waistband and dragging them down my thighs; only one leg was free before his hands pinned my thighs, his mouth on me.

Look who’s impatient now.

My amusement morphed into something else the moment Jay’s tongue pressed against me.

‘J-Jay,’ I gasped.

It was too much; my skin was damp, raw, overly sensitive with his hot mouth on me; I was going to come right now if he kept doing that. But I had no means to voice it, I was too busy rocking into him, silently urging him on despite the edge I knew I was crashing towards.

Reading my body, Jay pulled away just as my back arched and my moan sliced through the darkness of his bedroom. I collapsed, panting, protesting when he moved away, until I saw where he was going. Jay leant over to the bedside table, opening a drawer and retrieving a silver foil square.

‘I knew you had the good stuff in there,’ I giggled, and though it was dark, the sheer curtains drawn across his bedroom window allowed enough light in that I could see his smile, see him unbutton his jeans as he stood over me. He pulled them off one leg at a time, followed by his briefs, his long, hard length springing free before he sheathed it, then he bent to remove my pants completely.

Now I lay beneath him, still damp and salty from the water, my cheeks flushed, my nipples hard. I had never wanted a man like I did now, looking up at Jay, revelling in the feel of his hands on my thighs, sliding down to reach under my knees to pull me closer to him. I watched his darkened silhouette bend to capture my breast in his mouth, pulling and sucking gently at first, then move to the other, nipping and raking his teeth over the sensitive peak. He played my body like an instrument, attentive to the rise and fall of my breaths, the gentle moans that turned into begging pleas as his fingers and mouth found the right places.

His skin was salty to taste, and I would have welcomed him into my mouth, but for the hunger I felt when he rubbed his tip against me, testing, before pushing inside me. His movements were slow at first, being gentle with me, and maybe it was the guise of the dark that made me so brave, or just the feel of him inside me, but soon I was rocking up into him, wanting him hard and deep, my nails digging into his shoulder, my breath burning into his neck as he gripped my leg tight, pushing me wider to open for him, the tightness so intense he gritted his teeth.

‘Abby, fuck, so good!’

Our bodies, once damp and cold, were now hot and slick, the friction between us so intense that I could feel him building, chasing my cries as he fucked me harder and harder like I begged. I yelled a mixture of God and his name, requests and demands, then pure, raw emotion that tore me apart as I came, harder than ever before, screaming into his skin. My cry vibrated against him and he thrust into me so hard the bed scraped against the hardwood floors. Jay’s hoarse groan filled the air as he filled me with final brutal thrusts, before collapsing on me, his heart thundering through his chest.

I couldn’t breathe underneath his weight, but I didn’t want him to move, wanting him to lie there a little longer, inside me, filling me so completely. Nothing felt better than being in Jay’s arms, but as comforting as that was, it also terrified me because, as I was coming to learn, anything too good to be true usually was. But as Jay pressed lazy, gentle kisses across my neck, I knew this was different.

‘Don’t answer it,’ I breathed, begging Jay not to relent. His hands gripped my hips as he relentlessly rocked up into me, meeting me halfway while guiding me back and forth over him, urging me to ride him, and I did. The sunlight streamed in through the sheer curtain, heating Jay’s room with the golden light of morning sun. I could see the sheen of perspiration across my bare breasts, and Jay could see it too, his hand sliding up to cup and squeeze them.

His face was a mixture of pleasure and pain as his phone rang for the third time on his bedside. Someone was really trying to get through and, as good as it felt riding Jay, my hands clamped on his chest, the ringing was starting to override the pleasure.

‘Fuuuck,’ Jay yelled. ‘I better get it.’ He reached over, taking a moment to still his breathing and smiling up at me.

‘Hello?’

It took all of my willpower not to tease him, to rock in slow, torturing circles with him still inside me.

‘Oh, hey, Billie … yeah, she’s here.’

The mood was well and truly killed for the both of us; as I slid off Jay, he winced, and tried to keep the conversation normal.

‘Sure, yeah – hang on, I’ll put her on.’

I cringed, hoping I didn’t sound like I’d been interrupted in the throes of passion, whatever that sounded like.

‘Hey,’ I said sheepishly.

‘You didn’t come home last night,’ Billie said, stating the obvious.

‘Ah, I know, I, ah …’

‘No need to explain, I get it.’ She didn’t sound mad; if anything, she sounded downright amused. ‘But listen, you’re going to have to call Ziggy. She’s been trying to ring you and has been driving me nuts. Aren’t you two having brunch or something today?’

‘Oh shit, yes – what time is it?’

‘Eight forty-five – you better get a move on. Isn’t she leaving today?’

‘Yes, shit. Shit. Yeah, she flies out at lunch.’

‘Right, well, you better make the long commute home.’

‘Yes, on my way!’ I said, ending the call, realising how ridiculous that sounded.

I looked back at Jay, stretching in the sunshine, smiling like the Cheshire Cat.

‘What are you looking so smug about?’

His smile only broadened as he traced his finger down my spine, momentarily distracting me.

I sighed, leaning over him, giving him a chaste kiss on his lips. ‘I gotta go. I have to meet with Ziggy before she flies out. I was so busy being a bloody diva yesterday that I didn’t take her calls, not cool. And then there was that other, uh, distraction …’

With a sheet wrapped around me I picked up my damp, balled-up jeans, cringing at the thought of trying to get them back on. Last night there had been no thought of how my clothes would fare the next day; I hadn’t been inclined to stop mid-way to fetch a clothes horse.

‘Top drawer of the tallboy.’ Jay pointed behind me, and I pulled on it to find a drawer of T-shirts.

‘You’ll have to start giving them back – I’ll have nothing to wear.’

I pulled the tee over my head – again it swam on me – and turned expectantly to Jay.

‘Plastic bag?’

I laughed. ‘You know the drill.’