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Emma. Was she ok? Hopefully she was asleep by now. Hopefully they’d give her something for the pain, something that meant she’d get some proper rest.

Quiet descended between them as they climbed the stairs. Holly let them into the room, deliberately not looking at Jack. It was different to yesterday, the air between them thicker. And unlike yesterday, when he’d sat on the edge of the bed and let her cry on his lap, today the bed felt like this big presence, taking up all the space between them.

Jack shut the door with a quiet click and Holly moved away to place her bag on the chair in the corner of the room – as far away from him as she could get. But he reached out, placed a hand gently on her arm. ‘I’m not sure it’s a good idea for me to stay here again tonight,’ he said, his voice a low rumble.

Holly frowned, and tried to push away the sting of rejection. It wasn’t rejection if she hadn’t made a move, was it?

‘Why not?’ she asked.

His lips twisted into a small, self-deprecating smile. ‘Because I don’t think I can sleep if I’m lying next to you all night.’ Though there was a touch of lightness in his voice, his gaze was very direct on hers, enough to send something hot shooting through her body.

She turned, and though he’d dropped his hand from her arm, she placed both her hands on his chest, feeling the muscle through his shirt. It was a relief, to be able to touch him, to finally give into it. She cocked her head up at him. ‘Who said anything about sleep?’

He was very still. ‘You told me we shouldn’t go there, last time,’ he said, his voice slow and careful. Windsor – he meant Windsor, when he’d reached for her, and she’d backed away.

She shook her head. ‘That was then. This is now.’ And really, who was she kidding? The moment he’d suggested the jazz club, she’d known it would happen. Maybe even before that, though she’d refused to let her mind go down that route – because to call it inevitable made it feel too much like fate.

His hands came to her waist and beneath her playsuit, her skin burned. ‘I don’t want to take advantage of you. You’ve had a rough couple of days, and I—’

She pressed a finger to his lips, felt the whisper of his breath on her skin. ‘Jack. Trust me when I say that you are in no way taking advantage of me.’ She leaned in to kiss him, felt his hands slide down her body, his fingers dig into her hips. He returned the kiss, and she could feel it, the effort it took to be gentle, how his body vibrated with it.

It was she who deepened it, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his head down towards her. Self-control had never been her strong suit, in any area of her life, and right now, she wanted this. She needed it, something real and all-consuming, and she was not going to let herself think past that.

Jack murmured an oath against her lips and hooked one arm around her, the other going to her hair, his tongue meeting hers, changing the angle of the kiss and chasing away the gentleness. She gasped when his teeth caught her bottom lip.

He moved to kiss her neck, teeth lightly scraping her skin, and she groaned, arching her back to allow him better access as a shiver ran down her body.

‘Fuck, Holly,’ he murmured against her neck, and the sound of his voice all low and husky like that made her toes curl.

She tugged his shirt out of his jeans, ran her hands up his torso. It wasn’t enough. She wanted more. ‘Let me,’ she said, tugging at the shirt. ‘Just let me . . .’

Laughing a little breathlessly, he pulled his shirt over his head, and she ran her hands down that glorious chest, before moving them around to feel the muscles on his back. His eyes stayed on her the whole time, and she thought she might burn with the intensity of it.

He leaned in to kiss her again, then moved her back towards the bed. His thigh came between her legs, and even that was enough to make her feel swollen. He tugged at her playsuit and it was her turn to laugh that same breathless laugh. ‘Playsuit. So not attractive to get off. I should have thought this through.’

He grinned, and it was the grin she realised she was growing to love – mischievous and quick and a bit cocky, all things that only came out in those unguarded moments. ‘Planning this, were you?’

She let her breath out on a hiss when his teeth scraped against her jawline. ‘Oh God, you have no idea.’

He ran his hands up her thighs, his fingers skimming just under the shorts of her playsuit. ‘I think I do. I really think I do.’

She managed to get out of the playsuit – ungracefully, in a way that made them both laugh. At least she’d thought through the underwear combination. His eyes dipped, taking the time to travel up the length of her body, in a way that made her nerves quiver. His hand skimmed over the top of her bra, down her sides, and she felt that liquid pull, one that made her grab at him, pulling him with her when she lay down on the bed.

Her pulse flared at the feeling of him on top of her, and she fumbled with the belt on his jeans, heard the buckle, the slither of the belt.

Her breath was coming in shudders now as his fingers dipped below the cotton of her pants. He kissed her stomach, then lower, and she ran her fingers through his gorgeous dark hair, groaning when his tongue took the place of his fingers.

He grinned up at her, and she pulled him to her, running her hands down his body, feeling the bulge beneath his boxers. It was only then that something occurred to her, and she stopped, biting her lip as she looked at him. ‘Jack. Do you have a condom?’

He stilled, stared back at her. ‘No.’

‘You don’t?’ Her voice came out as a squeak.

‘Well, I wasn’t exactly planning that kind of holiday.’

She laughed, but it was a restless, frustrated laugh. He pressed his forehead against hers. She could still feel the thrumming inside her body, the way her hips lifted, begging despite herself. He kissed her neck, tongue teasing. ‘Jack,’ she said, her voice pleading.

He linked his fingers through hers, lifted her hands above her head. ‘Don’t worry,’ he murmured, and kissed her lips again, more searchingly now. ‘There are plenty of things we can do without a condom.’