The Secrets She Must Tell - Lucy King Page 0,42

one last time, hard and deep, and erupted as the pleasure hit and spun through him like a starburst.

How long he spent slumped against her in the quiet darkness, his heart thundering in time with hers, he had no idea. After what could well have been the most intense experience of his life, he wasn’t capable of thought, much less reason. All he could do was drop his forehead to hers, his breathing harsh and his control in pieces, and whisper, ‘You are incredible.’

The following morning when she woke, Georgie stretched and grinned like the cat who’d got the cream, or a woman whose body had been put to thoroughly good use.

Muscles deep inside her ached. She felt all soft and languid and buzzy. Last night had been brilliant. She hadn’t realised how frustrating not having full sex had been, but it had clearly been very frustrating indeed, because with the flourishing of that condom she’d unleashed a beast in both of them that had kept going until the early hours of the morning, when they’d both collapsed into a sated, sleepy tangle of sheets. Hard and fast, soft and sensuous, on the bed, in the shower, they’d done it all...

But it wasn’t just the mind-blowing sex that had made the night so amazing. It was the realisation she’d just come to that, after months of darkness, there was finally light. Everything was falling into place and, to her giddy relief and delight, the shadows were fading and it felt as if she was back.

And, while she didn’t know about being incredible, she certainly felt invincible right now, which was in no small part down to the man stretched out beside her, who was sliding a hand down her body and doing a very good job of making her forget everything but him and her and the way he made her physically feel.

Or, rather, attempting to.

Because she wasn’t quite so addled with desire that she’d forget about her son.

‘I should call Mrs G and see how Josh is,’ she murmured, determinedly ignoring the heat beginning to wind through her and reluctantly trying to ease away from him.

‘He’ll be fine,’ Finn muttered against the sensitive skin of her neck that he was nuzzling as he clamped his hands on her hips to hold her still and then rolled over to pin her to the bed. ‘I, on the other hand, am not,’ he said, his eyes dark with need as he looked down into hers. ‘I’m in pain.’

‘You’re insatiable.’

‘That would make two of us, then.’

‘A good mother would prioritise her son over sex.’

‘You are a good mother.’

‘You have to be kidding,’ she said, staring up at him in disbelief. ‘I’ve been a terrible mother.’

‘Rubbish.’

‘Have you forgotten how Josh and I came into your life?’

‘You were ill.’

‘Doesn’t matter.’

Clearly realising that sex wasn’t happening, although to his credit he didn’t emit so much as a whisper of a resigned sigh, Finn lifted himself off her and lay on his side, propping himself up on his elbow beside her instead.

‘Of course it does,’ he said, with such certainty that she was almost convinced. ‘How’s he doing?’

She thought about her happy little boy and the way his tiny, chubby arms lifted up and reached for her when she walked into the room. About how, when she lifted him up, he actually snuggled into her. Josh’s well-being couldn’t all be down to Finn and Mrs Gardiner, could it?

‘OK, so maybe I’m not so bad now,’ she said as a different kind of warmth stole through her, ‘but before...’

‘Remember your bedsit?’

A picture of peeling paint and threadbare carpet flashed into her head and at the back of her throat she thought she could taste a trace of damp. ‘I’d rather not,’ she muttered with a shudder, pulling the sheet up to dispel the flurry of goosebumps.

‘You weren’t going to let me take Josh without you.’

‘Well, no, but—’

‘Trust me. You’re doing fine. And you’re around,’ he added. ‘Which is a plus.’

A shadow flitted across the lean lines of his face and her heart twanged in her chest. ‘How did you cope without your mother?’

‘I have no idea.’

‘But you did.’

‘Of course.’

Oh, to have his confidence, she thought wistfully. To not be in doubt about anything or anyone. She’d never met anyone so sure of himself and it was hard not to envy him. ‘I was so jealous of you, you know,’ she said, shooting him a quick smile.

‘When?’ he asked with a faint frown.

‘Those first few days after we