Michelle Betham - Extra Time

She said nothing, just leaned forward and kissed him, her slightly open mouth covering his in a painfully beautiful kiss, every movement her lips made against his making him want her more.

‘These past few months, they’ve been incredible, Amber. Finally having you here, beside me, with me, after everything we’ve been through…’

She put a finger to his lips, stopping him from saying any more. ‘You just said the past is gone, Jim. So let’s not go there, okay? We don’t need to go there.’

He gently took hold of her wrist, pushing her back onto the bed, nudging her legs open with his knee. ‘No. We don’t.’

She smiled again as she closed her eyes, putting up no fight, despite the fact he was holding her wrists quite tightly now. In fact, if anything, it seemed to be turning her on more, which in turn made him twice as eager to go back to that safe, secret place he’d visited just an hour earlier.

She arched her back, pushing herself up against him, inviting him inside, and he wasn’t going to hang about. He wasn’t even going to waste time removing the rest of his clothes, there was no need. He was hard and he was ready, so why wait any longer?

Keeping that tight grip on her wrists, her arms up at either side of her head, he carefully pushed inside her, taking his time, loving the way she felt, all soft and wet and warm. And then he was there, buried deep within her.

Finally letting go of her wrists, he placed his hands on her knees, pushing her legs back up against her stomach, enabling him to go deeper, her moans urging him to push harder, making it difficult for him to hold back any longer. And as she thrust her hips up against his again, he felt that burning release begin to build until he had no option left but to let go, spilling out inside of her, holding onto her as she wrapped her legs around him, keeping him there, holding him in.

But that wasn’t the end. It wasn’t over. It would have been selfish of him to assume that, so slipping an arm around her waist, he pulled her over in one swift movement, groaning loudly as she climbed astride him, naked and beautiful and yet to come. But she was going to do it now, just for him, and he had a front row seat.

He watched as she threw her head back, reaching down to touch herself and it was almost crazy how quickly he felt himself grow hard all over again. With his hands on either side of her thighs, he carefully moved her forward, lifting her up slightly before lowering her back down, sliding into her once more with an ease only those who’d made love so often possessed.

With him firmly back inside her, she quickly resumed the journey to her own climax, closing her eyes and pushing her breasts out, her hand taking position back where it had been before, and Jim watched as she continued those slow, circular motions, every move her fingers made against herself bringing him closer to another crashing finale. Jesus, he never wanted this to end! Never. And he’d come so close to this not happening at all, to losing her, so he had to bring out his A-game this time. To make sure he didn’t lose her again.

‘Amber, baby…’ he groaned, not taking his eyes off her hand as those once-gentle circular motions became more frantic, signalling her imminent arrival at her own endgame, but he wasn’t to be outdone. As that familiar, beautiful tingle started creeping its way up his body he knew they were going to come together this time. And they did, almost simultaneously, their bodies shuddering to that blissful halt as one, leaving them both spent and breathless. ‘Jesus, that was good. That was so fucking good!’ Jim sighed as Amber collapsed on top of him, her head on his chest.

‘Yeah.’ She smiled, a more-than-satisfied smile, her eyes still closed. ‘It was.’

He kissed the top of her head, burying his fingers in her dark red hair. ‘I’ve really got to go in a minute, honey. We’ve got a game to prepare for, and if I’m not on top of it all…’

She raised her head slightly, finally opening her eyes. ‘I’d much rather you stayed here, on top of me .’

He returned her smile, kissing her long and slow. ‘Yeah. And there’s no place I’d rather be, beautiful. But, unfortunately, I’m here to work. And so are you.’

She groaned, throwing her head back down on his chest. ‘I know, I know.’ She closed her eyes again, making the most of those final, few precious seconds together before reality returned and took over. ‘I just wish I didn’t have to.’

Reluctantly pushing herself up and off him, Amber got up and walked over to the French doors, looking out at the stunning view of the pool and the palm trees and the sea that stretched out ahead of them like a never-ending blue blanket.

Jim couldn’t take his eyes off her. His beautiful wife of just five months. The woman he’d never thought he’d get close to again, after everything that had happened. Their past history was complicated, but from the second he’d walked back into her life he’d had no intention of losing the fight, not this time. Even though there’d been days when he’d thought he was going to have to concede defeat.

‘Isn’t Ronnie coming over to the island today?’ Jim asked, hauling himself off the bed and joining her at the French doors, slipping his arms around her from behind, pulling her naked body back against him.

‘His flight lands at lunchtime. I said I’d go pick him up. They were going to send a car for him, but…’ She stopped talking and turned round in his arms, running her fingers lightly over his rough jawline, ‘… he’s my friend, and I want to… You don’t mind, do you?’

‘Why would I mind?’ Jim laughed, his hand gently stroking the base of her spine.

‘I don’t know.’ Amber shrugged, pulling away from him, suddenly realising what a stupid question that had been. Why would Jim mind? She and Ronnie were good friends, best friends, and now they were work colleagues, too, but that was all. Okay, so they’d once had a brief relationship, back in the days when he’d been a professional footballer and she’d been the Sports Editor at News North East, a popular regional TV news programme based in her native North East England. But that had been years ago. All forgotten. She didn’t feel that way about Ronnie, and he didn’t feel that way about her. Not anymore. ‘I just didn’t know if we were meeting up later, that’s all.’

He followed her into the bathroom, watching as she switched on the shower, shaking out her hair before throwing him a look over her shoulder, smiling knowingly at him.

‘Want to join me?’

Fuck it! Everything else could wait.

‘Do you miss her?’ Gary looked at Ryan out the corner of his eye as they finished up the last of their coffee over what had been an unusually long and somewhat more leisurely than expected breakfast. This pre-season trip to Spain and the Canary Islands was turning out to be a more relaxed affair than anyone could have anticipated, but that was mainly because Newcastle Red Star’s recently-married manager, Jim Allen, was still very much in the ‘honeymoon period’. And because of that, he was being far more lenient with his rules than was the norm.

‘Miss who?’ Ryan asked. A purely rhetorical question, of course, because he knew exactly who Gary was talking about.

‘You know who,’ Gary said, leaning back in his seat and stretching out his legs.

Ryan looked at him. He knew what he was trying to do, but it wouldn’t work. He wasn’t going to give anyone the satisfaction of knowing how he was really feeling. He was stronger now; there was no time to be weak, not anymore. Being weak had cost him big in the past, and he wasn’t going there again. ‘Why would I miss her, Gary? I’m with Ellen now, aren’t I? And she understands the kind of relationship I need; a relationship that doesn’t involve any kind of commitment.’