New Year, New Man. Laura Iding

poke a stick at. Mine is fabulous, and solar-heated as well.’

      ‘I didn’t doubt it.’

      His smile carried amusement. ‘You have a tongue on you at times, don’t you?’

      ‘I never said I was perfect.’

      ‘Just nearly,’ he murmured, and leant over to kiss her on the cheek.

      Her head turned fully to face him. ‘I thought you said you weren’t going to kiss me.’

      ‘You call that a kiss? I’ll show you a kiss when I get you to my place.’

      A quiver ran through her body at the desire gleaming bright in his eyes. This was what she’d always wanted, to have him look at her like this. But would it be enough, just being the recipient of Nick’s passion? The truth was she wanted more now. She wanted that happily-ever-after ending. She wanted Nick’s love, the very thing he claimed he could never give anyone.

      ‘You can relax your hands now,’ he said. ‘We’re through the turbulence.’

      Not so, she thought with a tormented twist to her heart. The turbulence has only just begun.

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

      THE beauty of Happy Island just blew Sarah away. The pilot circled it once before landing, giving all the window-seat passengers a splendid view.

      Talk about a tropical paradise!

      She’d heard people wax lyrical about the colour of the sand and the water in this region, but the beaches and bays were just magic to the eye, framed by lots of palm trees and environmentally friendly buildings that blended beautifully with the green vegetation.

      Nick was right about the number of pools, though. They did stand out from the air, because there were so many, in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

      Any worry she was still harbouring about the eventual outcome of their relationship was put aside as excitement took hold. It would be wonderful to have a romantic holiday here, with the man she loved. Wonderful to have him all to herself for a whole month.

      If nothing else, she would have this marvellous memory.

      ‘No point in rushing off the plane,’ Nick said when everyone else jumped up from their seats. ‘We’ll only have to wait in the heat for our luggage. There’s no carousel in the terminal here, just a collection area down near where all the resort shuttles are parked.’

      ‘Will we be taking a shuttle?’

      ‘No. I own a golf buggy, which I keep at the airport.’

      ‘Oh, yes, I read about those in the brochure. It said there weren’t many cars on the island, and everyone got around in golf buggies.’

      ‘That’s right.’

      ‘Can I drive it?’

      ‘Sure.’

      ‘Oh, wow. That’ll be fun.’

      Sarah and Nick finally exited the plane next to last, with Sarah surprised to find it not quite as hot outside as she’d been expecting. ‘Am I wrong, or is it not all that hot out here?’

      ‘No, you’re quite right. But the weather forecast says there’ll be a change later in the week. It’s going to gradually get hotter, with higher temperatures and humidity. They’re predicting a storm on Saturday afternoon, with strong gusts of wind and tons of rain.’

      ‘How do you know all that?’

      ‘Looked on the internet last night for the forecast up this way.’

      ‘You didn’t bring your laptop with you, I hope.’

      ‘No need. I have a full computer set-up here.’

      ‘What don’t you have here?’ Sarah heard herself saying half an hour later.

      She was standing in the main living room of Nick’s holiday house, looking through a wall made totally of glass at the most magnificent pool she had ever seen. It was called a horizon pool, so named because the far side of the pool seemed to have no edge, the water meeting the sky the way the horizon did out at sea.

      ‘It cost me a pretty penny,’ Nick agreed.

      ‘You mean the pool, or the rest of this place?’

      Actually, the house wasn’t all that huge. Only three bedrooms. But everything was beautifully and stylishly decorated in cool greens and blues that complemented its tropical setting. There was also every mod con available, including a kitchen to die for and a king-sized plasma television.

      ‘The foundations cost the most,’ he told her.

      Sarah could understand why. The house was built on the side of a cliff, its half-hexagonal shape creating one-hundred-and-eighty-degree views. All the rooms had huge glass windows or walls that looked out to sea and the other islands beyond. The glass was specially toughened to withstand even the worst storms, Nick told her, and tinted to soften any glare.

      ‘It took two years to build,’ Nick said. ‘It was only completed last June.’

      ‘Really?’ Sarah said. So that was why Nick hadn’t brought any of his girlfriends here before. He hadn’t had the opportunity. Still, it was nice to think she was the first girl to stand here with him. And the first to share this particular master bedroom. She could hardly make the same claim about the bedroom back home.

      ‘It’s spectacular, Nick,’ she said, throwing a warm smile up at him. ‘So’s this view.’

      Nick slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close. ‘Wait till you see it at sunrise.’

      When he turned her towards him, Sarah knew he was going to kiss her. And this time, there would be no stopping him. Not that she wanted to. Her heart was already pounding by the time his lips met hers.

      ‘I don’t think I’m going to let you unpack,’ Nick said to her some considerable time later. ‘I like you like this.’

      They’d eventually made it to the master bedroom, though Sarah’s clothes were still on the living-room floor. Nick’s as well.

      Sarah sighed with pleasure as Nick gently caressed her stomach.

      ‘I like you like this as well,’ she returned dreamily.

      The lovemaking between them was getting better and better, and gradually more adventurous. Sarah had thought she preferred the missionary position with Nick, where their eyes could meet and she could hold him close in the traditional way. But she found this spoon position very much to her liking, thrilling to the hot feel of Nick’s body cocooned around hers. She loved that it left his hands free to play with her breasts and the rest of her body whilst he was inside her. The sensations had sent her head spinning.

      He hadn’t withdrawn afterwards, and she could feel him slowly coming back to life. He groaned when her bottom moved voluptuously against him.

      His hands lifted to her breasts, where he pinched her nipples.

      ‘Oh,’ she gasped, startled by the odd mixture of pain and pleasure.

      ‘You liked that,’ he muttered thickly in her ear.

      ‘Yes…no…I don’t know.’

      ‘I liked it,’ he said, and did it again.

      She moaned, then squirmed. Yes, she definitely did like it.

      ‘Do it again,’ she urged breathlessly.

      He obliged and her head whirled with the dizziest pleasure. Now he was fully erect again, and began thrusting harder than the first time. Heat enveloped her, her forehead breaking into a sweat.

      ‘Yes,’ she bit out, everything inside her twisting