Chapter Thirty Six

A light breeze rippling through the open upstairs window of the master suite made the bare skin on Rachel’s backside shiver involuntarily, slowly wakening her from a deep slumber. Sleepily, she yawned and lifted a hand to drag her tangled hair off her face to squint at the alarm clock. With a small groan, she shifted back onto her side and nudged the comatose man spread eagled across the bed beside her.

“Jon? …….What time is your meeting – it’s after nine…..”

Rolling over Jon grunted and smiled when he cracked an eye open at her, automatically curling an arm around her with a little yawn. “Not till two – we’re good.” Pulling her close to his bare chest, he nuzzled into her hair. “How’d you sleep?”

“Like a baby! I love this bed – I haven’t slept this late since high school!”

“Hmmnnn……well we didn’t get to sleep until after four….” Trailing a finger lightly down across her bare hip, Jon chuckled throatily. “So if you ask me it’s miraculous that we’re even awake now.”

With her mind still muddled from sleep, Rachel smiled lazily as his finger began to trace small circles of the curve of her ass. “Mmmm, that’s true.”

“But since you woke me up……”

When his finger suddenly dipped between her thighs, Rachel’s eyes flew open and she twisted to jump out of reach of his prying hands. Grabbing her robe, she twirled back and wagged a finger at him. “Oh HELL NO! You are not getting your horny self near me again until I have a shower and at least one cup of coffee!”

Narrowing her eyes, she smirked down at him as she firmly tied a knot in the belt of her robe.

“I’ll have you know I have sand right now in the most unimaginable places!”

Jon chuckled at her outburst, grinning up at her like a fool from his outstretched position amongst the sheets.

“Aw…..come on Rach!! – just a quickie?”

Ignoring his plaintive pleas, Rachel shook her head and looked down her nose at him.

“You don’t do quickies – and I need caffeine!”

Turning away to look for a band to tie up her hair, she squealed when quick as lighting Jon sat up and grabbed her waist, playfully pulling her back onto the bouncy mattress. Straddling her and pinning her arms above her head in one fluid motion, he grinned down at the shocked delight on her face.

“If you’d still rather have coffee – just say the word little girl!”

A feverish excitement danced in Rachel’s narrowed eyed and she fought to keep a little grin from forming as she squirmed uselessly beneath his strong grip. When she stayed quiet, Jon nodded triumphantly.

“That’s what I thought!”

Dropping his head to nuzzle his nose in between the folds of her robe, his tongue latched onto a nipple, the moist tip swirling around the pebbled bud still faintly salted from their night swim. Gasping, Rachel arched beneath him, her arms upstretched above her head still pinned to the pillows by Jon’s firm hands. Bumping her hips underneath him as he sat astride her, she groaned when his teeth nipped at the gentle swell of her breast. The man was evil – pure evil!

Chuckling Jon continued his slow examination of her chest, his tongue deliberately sweeping in torturously slow circles from the soft mound of one breast to the other. Releasing her hands he sat up briefly to push the silk robe off her shoulders, raising one wicked brow in a question as his fingers returned to cheekily tweak her stiff nipples.

“So – you still want this to be a quickie?”

Giggling, Rachel shook her head happily and reached up to pull him down, their lips crashing together in a heated kiss, sated only by the shifting of Jon’s body to settle eagerly between her open legs. She watched his sandy hair nuzzle at her neck from beneath her rapidly flicking eyelashes as he alternated between kissing, sucking and nipping his way down her body until she felt a delicious finger slip inside her, slowly stretching and teasing her more than ready insides. Groaning again when a second finger joined the first, she gasped in pleasure as the familiar zing of excitement shot up through her body from his touch, a wet heat flooding between her legs.

Giving up the chase, Jon smirked in ready anticipation and removing his fingers, gently eased himself home until he was buried inside her, her slick walls eagerly accepting him. Slowly rocking into an easy rhythm, they moved together as one, the room silent apart from Rachel’s gasps as the momentum built and some occasional grunts from Jon as the exertion mounted. Each delicious thrust sent them both higher and higher until hovering on the brink, Rachel cried out her release, her nerve endings shattering in an ecstatic explosion as Jon followed close behind and collapsed in sweaty mess on top of her as the convulsion of her walls milked him dry.

Chest heaving for breath, Rachel blinked down at the tousled nest of Jon’s hair that lay underneath her chin, his hot breath dampening down her already flushed skin. Tingling aftershocks rippled through her abdomen, each one a sweet reminder of a union that she was becoming so blissfully familiar with. With her heart beat pounding through her veins a myriad of post coital emotions flew through her brain and try as she might, each one ended in the same disconcerting question as she lay tangled underneath Jon’s still quivering body.

‘How soon does the bubble burst?’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometime later, after a much needed shower followed by a breakfast of several cups of strong coffee and croissants, they had headed back down to the beach for a few hours to get some sun bathing in before Jon’s meeting. The heat of the sun combined with their late night and early morning activities had easily lulled them both into a lazy sleep as they lay side by side on their towels. A nearby dog barked loudly as it scampered past and showered Jon in a light dusting of sand, jolting him from his comfortable snooze. Stretching out, he frowned when his hand patted the empty towel beside him, Rachel’s smooth body mysteriously absent. A quick glance down the shoreline when he heaved himself upright found her wading knee deep in the waves, her blonde waves tied up in a loose pony tail and sunglasses hiding her eyes as she gazed out across the Atlantic, seemingly lost in thought. A ripple of appreciation rolled through his mind as his eyes travelled over her lean body, glowing against the cool backdrop of the ocean. Summer suited her – her sun kissed skin looked good enough to eat.

Checking his watch, Jon reluctantly got to his feet and wandered down the hot sand to join her, lightly placing his hands around her waist and kissing the nape of her neck above her bikini tie.

“Hey – you disappeared.”

Smiling Rachel leaned contentedly against him, wrapping her fingers around his arms that encircled her.
 

“You were snoring – I was embarrassed to be seen with you!”

Jon snorted in amusement; “I know for a fact I do NOT snore!”

“Tell that to the three families that got up and left the minute you started deep sea diving in your sleep!”

Chuckling Jon thought about dunking her in the water there and then until the beeping of his watch signalled his next engagement. Dropping another kiss on her warm shoulders, he reluctantly released his hold from around her waist.

“I need to head up to the house and shower again – do you wanna stay on the beach or come into town for a look around the stores?”

Rachel shook her head; “No thanks, I think I’ll just stay here if that’s okay.”

A niggling thought lodged in the back of Jon’s mind that there was something different about her, but her face was unreadable as always. Shrugging it off, he grinned and turned to head back up the beach, teasing her over his shoulder as he went.

“Sure! You just lounge here in the sun while I go off to work – somebody’s gotta earn a living around here!”

Leaving her in the breaking waters, Jon trudged through the grainy sand to retrieve his book and towel, nodding and smiling at the various groups of beach goers spread out around him. As he shook out the towel, he turned to gaze back down at Rachel and watched as she resumed her knee high stance in the water, her stare locked onto some invisible object across the horizon as her fingers trailed through the frothy waves at her knees. There was something not quite right but for the life of him he couldn’t think what. Giving up, he turned and headed back to the path leading off the beach – he needed to focus on his meeting, figuring out what was going on with Rachel would have to wait until dinner.

After whiling away the better part of the afternoon in the sun, Rachel eventually returned to the beach house to take a shower and finally return her sister’s call. Settling herself in the comfortable wicker couch on the balcony of the master suite, she took a deep breath and hit Robin’s number on her cell. It was time to face the music.

“Way to leave me hangin’ sis!”

Rachel rolled her eyes dramatically at the typically smart ass greeting but couldn’t help the little smirk that formed as she thought back to what had distracted her from returning the call.

“Yeah well, I got busy! Sorry about that.”

Robin’s voice was teasing and light. “Ohhhh I’m sure you did! Now how’s about you fill me in and explain why you’re suddenly the hot topic in tinsel town?”

Frowning, Rachel straightened up in the chair. “What?! Really??”

“Relax Rach! I’m just kiddin with you – I haven’t seen anything else in the papers but you ARE the hot topic in the family – there’s just no way you’re gonna get away with that!”

Rachel breathed out a sigh of relief and settled back into the cushions. She supposed life with Jon was going to have aspects to it that she just hadn’t given much thought to yet and the past few days in the Hamptons weren’t really bringing her any closer to having to deal with them – which suited her just fine.

“Oh I’m quite sure you’ve adequately filled them in on my activities over here – of that I have no doubt! By the time I next get home I’ll be old news!”

Robin snorted down the phone at her. “Well I WOULD if my sister ever CALLED me anymore!”

Rachel knew she was just joking but it didn't stop the little threads of guilt creeping into the back of her mind. These past few weeks had been such a whirlwind she’d neglected her family back home, something she’d never slacked on before. They were after all her nearest and dearest.

“I know and I’m sorry about that – I’ve just been finding my feet over here you know? Life has been pretty hectic to say the least.”

With her bare feet tucked underneath her and the phone nestled comfortably under her ear, Rachel spent the next half hour bringing her sister up to speed on everything that had been going on since she’d made the big move. When she moved on to how she’d met Jon on her first day and how they’d just been hanging out for the first few weeks before actually ‘exclusively dating’, Robin became surprisingly quiet apart from the occasional ‘hmm’ and ‘ohhh’.

“Hey – you still listening??”

“Of course I am……..it’s just a lot to take in you know?”

Rachel laughed at the absurdity of it all. “Now do you understand why I haven’t been touching base with you guys?”

Just talking it out over the phone brought it home to her exactly how much had been going on, and more importantly how little time she’d had to process everything. She briefly wondered if Jon was thinking the same thing until Robin’s voice broke through her distracted thoughts.

“Yeah I kinda do….. Geez my sister dating a rock star – who’d have thought it?!”

After a quiet chuckle, Robin’s voice dropped to the one Rachel had grown up loving, the caring and supportive big sister role.

“Seriously though honey – what’s important is that you’ve found something that resembles happiness again and that’s all we’ve been waiting for..........we don’t want to see you wasting your life away hiding behind work no matter how lucrative it may be!”

Rachel swallowed hard and nodded, not trusting her voice not to crack with underlying emotion. She suddenly realised how much she actually missed hanging out with her big sister. Robin’s voice was slightly cautious as she asked her next question.

“I assume he’s good to you right? I mean putting all the rock star stuff aside – he’s an okay guy?”

With a smile as she remembered Jon clumsily stomping all over her freshly varnished deck and how decidedly un-rock God that particular move had been, Rachel shook her head laughing.

“I haven’t met the rock star yet I don’t think – he has more than his fair share of complete and total nerdiness! But….he makes me feel………”

Pausing she searched for the right word to adequately describe what he did make her feel.

“………he makes me feel ‘light’ if that makes sense? And he makes me laugh – a lot!” Giggling she shifted in her seat and switched the phone to her other ear. “Of course sometimes I’m just laughing ‘at’ him!”

Robin sounded genuinely relieved. “Good – sooooooo?”

“Soooooo what?” Smirking, Rachel threw her eyes up to the light blue sky above her. 

“Oh c’mon sis! Now we’ve got all that other stuff outta the way I wanna know the rest – the kind of stuff I CAN’T read in the papers!”

Grinning Rachel shook her head. “NuUH! I don’t kiss and tell – not even for you!”

“RACHEL!! Come ON!!”

“Let’s just say there are no problems in that particular department!” Giggling, she snuggled deeper into the cushions of the chair as if to hide her embarrassment from the rest of the world. “He’s umm….more than adequate!”

“Oh honey!” Robin laughed loudly down the line. “I can practically HEAR you blushing all the way to California girl! That must mean you’re ….. How should I put it? Satisfied??”

“Worn out is more like it!” With a happy sigh Rachel watched the shadows of a nearby tree dance across the balcony railings as a warm breeze rippled through her towel dried hair.

“Well, if he’s good to you in bed AND out – I guess we’ll overlook the fact that he’s a nerdy rock star! Enjoy this babe – if anybody deserves to find happiness it’s you.”

“Thanks sweetie and I promise I’ll try call more often – I miss you.”

“Me too – talk soon, love you!”

Hanging up, Rachel let the cell drop to her lap and stretched her toes out to the fading rays of sunshine. It was amazing how a simple phone call could iron out her mind without even realising it. All morning she’d had this uneasy feeling that she just couldn’t put a finger on, panic ….guilt….maybe a combination of both. It was clear as crystal now and the relief was immeasurable.

“Hey is this a private party or can anybody crash?”

The sound of Jon’s voice only just reached her ears before she felt his hands slide gently across her shoulders, his fingers gently massaging and kneading. Smiling she craned her neck to gaze up at him as he bent down to kiss her lips.

“You’re always welcome to crash any party of mine! How was your meeting?”

Straightening up, Jon nodded and smiled. “Fine, looks like there’s an opportunity there – we’ll have to see how things work out. How was the beach after I left?”

Scooting over to make space, Rachel patted the empty cushion beside her and curled herself against his chest when he flopped down into the creaky furniture.

“Glorious! I just love it here – it’s so……..relaxing!”

“Good – so everything’s okay? I thought this morning you seemed…..quiet.”

Rachel’s heart melted when she saw the worry that clouded his beautiful blue eyes. She hadn’t realised her distracted thoughts had been that obvious. Reaching up she wrapped each arm around his neck and sidled closer to him. “I’m on the beach in a beautiful home with a gorgeous man – what could possibly be bothering me?”

Jon brushed his lips against her forehead and shrugged. “I dunno – you just seemed different.”

Sitting up, Rachel let her fingers curl up to frame his slightly stubbled cheeks and with a soft smile, gazed directly into his eyes. “I am different – I’m content. I guess you just haven’t really seen this side of me until now – Hell I haven’t seen this side of me for a long time!”

Grinning she moved closer to murmur against his lips. “Get used to it – I kinda like this feeling!”