Distraction

Chapter Thirty-Eight

'The night it was stolen, I was shagging your father at a boutique hotel overlooking Grasmere. And the night your mother received the ket from her dealer, I was dressed as the Queen of Hearts, surrounded by half of Gosthwaite. It was a great party. You'd have loved it. The police very thoroughly checked my story.'

Ed leaned in, putting his lips next to her ear. 'Thing is, stepmummy, I think you're a liar.'

He stood so close she could feel his semi and Zoe turned her head so her lips hovered an inch from his. 'What do you really want, Ed? To play with your daddy's toys?'

His lips curled in a mirthless laugh, his semi growing and pushing against her hip. 'You're a gold-digging whore.'

'Shame you don't have any gold to dig.'

Their lips met in a hot, breathless kiss, their tongues claiming new territory. She throbbed, her pants already soaking. Jesus, even Jonathon had to do more than just kiss her. She pulled away, staring at Ed.

He stared back. 'Oh, Christ.'

'You need to leave.' She begged him. 'Don't bugger this up for me. I really like him. I honestly do.'

'It's wasted on him. He screwed around on my mum for years. He'll do it to you too.' His right hand reached down, slowly hitching up the hem of her jersey dress. 'You can't marry him.'

Zoe wanted to be sick, repulsed by how much she wanted Ed. 'You just want revenge.'

'This isn't revenge and you feel the same.' His hand ventured further, gliding across the silk of her knickers. The damp patch had him groaning into her hair. 

She kissed him, sucking on his bottom lip, fumbling with the buttons on his jeans as he pushed her knickers to one side. Zoe ground against him, encouraging him, needing him to go further.

'Jesus, you're wet.' He closed his eyes as his finger slipped inside and her muscles squeezed, begging for more. He obliged. 'I want you, upstairs in my dad's bed.'

A third finger slid in, stretching her until she whimpered. 'No. Here. Now.'

He spun her around, bending her over the breakfast bar. Or maybe he wasn't his father's son. Ed pushed up her dress with one hand and pulled her knickers to the side with the other. The thrill of been controlled by him had her pushing back against him. She'd never needed anything like this before.

He entered her, rough and huge, muttering the things he'd wanted to do to her since he'd first seen her at the funeral. Shagging her like this was only the start. She was his, he said, and she always would be. Zoe knew he was right.

Ed's fingers teased her and his teeth bit into her neck. He marked her, owning her, and she didn't stop him. She couldn't. Her body shuddered, coming against his hand and ten seconds later, he cried out, pumping himself inside her.

Zoe collapsed, resting her forehead against the cool marble worktop. It was the first time she'd had unprotected sex in ten years. How had she let that happen?

'Sorry,' he whispered, still inside her, 'but I had to.'

You can, whenever you want. Her weakness scared her, but the thought of Ed never screwing her again, scared her even more.

'Did you supply Mum with the ket?' His words were murmured against her hair.

Zoe turned, facing him with honesty as his come dripped from her. She shook her head. 'But if I had, I... I wouldn't feel bad. She was in so much pain. Your dad said she was smiling when he found her. Maybe she thought it was time to let go.'