Hot skin lay across my chest and draped over my thigh. Morning sunlight filtered over my sealed eyelids but I didn't dare check the time in case what had happened was all in my head. It wouldn't be the first time I'd thought of sex with Noa, only to wake up without her in my arms. But my fingers gripped real flesh instead of empty sheets and my nostrils filled with her coconut body lotion and not my usual laundry detergent mixed with a hint of sweat.

All the alcohol from the night before had pretty much left my system. My head pounded and I desperately needed a piss, but the blood rushing between my legs had all my attention. Even without a gorgeous, naked woman pressed up against me I would have woken up with morning wood. I did most days, and I always woke up alone.

"Oh, hey. Morning," Noa said in between a yawn, rolling onto her back away from me. She rubbed her hand over her face and stared up towards the ceiling. "So, I'm going to grab a quick shower. Unless you want to go first?"

"No, that's okay. You go." I shuffled up the headboard and rested my arm behind my head.

"How shall we do this? I take the sheet and leave you the duvet? Or shall I grab the duvet cover?"

"It's a bit too late to worry about that, isn't it? I've seen you naked." I laughed, but stopped the moment Noa's steely glare landed on me. "Take the sheet," I mumbled in reply.

What the hell was that about? She was all over me last night and so carefree. But this morning? Well, it looked like I was back to feeling like she was minutes away from walking straight out that door.

Like with a wild animal, I figured any sudden movement would startle her and that was the last thing I wanted. Noa always felt out of reach when all I wanted to do was catch her. To gain her trust, I knew I had to leave her to decide how the day was going to play out.

She wrapped the sheet around her body, tucking it underneath her armpits and the thin fabric showed off every soft curve I had grown to adore. I couldn't get enough of her. The view definitely wasn't helping the raging boner I'd woken up with.

I wonder if she felt it against her thigh and that's why she was in such a hurry to leave the bed. Don't know why she would get all shy about that now? She wasn't shy last night when I fucked the living shit out of her.

She disappeared into the bathroom and the lock clicked after she closed it. Guess she didn't want me joining her then.

I palmed my erection but it wasn't enough. The hot flesh pulsated as I stroked down my length, making my skin taut. The tip of my dick already sensitive. I exposed more nerve endings and wrapped my hand around the head, sliding it up and down. With my grip growing tighter, I implored my climax to just hurry the fuck up. Sweat broke out on my forehead.

Shit.

After one last tug, I shut down my actions fast and prayed Noa would be in the shower long enough for my heavy breathing to calm. No way could I have her catch me in the middle of stroking one out. I wanted more than another one night stand with Noa. I knew that the moment I saw her again.

"So, what do you want to do today? Check out isn't for a few more hours." A cloud of steam followed Noa as she entered the room, towel drying her hair, and I sat up straighter, crossing my leg over my thigh to avoid any unfortunate bumps in the duvet.

I swallowed but my throat was as dry as sandpaper. The dress she wore was probably worse than the sheet. Her perfect pillowy breasts peeked over the top of a square neckline and her skirt finished just above the knee, showing off her gorgeous, shapely legs. If I had more time—and not so hell bent on letting her take the lead—I would have thrown her back onto the bed and devoured every square inch of her luscious skin.

Instead, I had to make do with a cold shower and a wank after I dropped her back to her apartment.

"What about that spa treatment? Did you look at the list they left on the desk?" I patted the floor by my side of the bed for my boxer shorts and slipped them on under the covers as soon as I found them. "We'll grab some breakfast first and can book it at the reception desk."

"Sounds great. I was hoping you remembered the spa. I would kill for a decent massage. Haven't had one of those since France."

Professional massage or personal? Because I could give her a massage if that's what she was really after.

"Great. Let me get washed and changed and we can head down." I stood in nothing but my tight, black boxer briefs and it was hard to miss her eyes dropping to my now semi hard cock.

"Great," she repeated, looking flustered.

"Yeah, great." Covering my front with my hands, I brushed past her. "Well, I'll see you in a sec."

I pushed the door closed but didn't lock it. A stupid part of me hoped Noa wasn't as cowardly as I was, and would continue what we had started last night. I should just ask her. Turning the shower dial to the coldest setting, I stepped under the spray and made sure I thought of anything but her.

***

"Two of our massage therapists will be available in an hour if you're willing to wait? Why not grab one of our antioxidant smoothies in the tranquillity lounge in the meantime? You are also free to use one of our steam rooms as part of that particular treatment."

After our breakfast, Noa and I stood at the front desk hoping to book one of the complimentary spa treatments before the long drive back to Brighton.

"I might stick to the facial, if you wanted a massage."

"No, you go for it. That's all you spoke about over breakfast. I'll find something else to do. The mud mask could be fun?"

Noa seemed to keep a two-foot distance between us. At least metaphorically, because her arm kept bumping into mine while she listened to the receptionist reel off the benefits of their clay mud mask. But I saw the face she pulled when the couples' massage was mentioned and I didn't want to scare her off.

"No, this is silly. It's your work trip. You have the massage."

With our heads down, scanning the treatment menu, neither one of us noticed Janice creep up behind us until her grating voice assaulted my ears.

"Oh, come on you two. Some of us don't have all day. What's wrong with the couple's massage if you both want one?" She pushed in between us and plucked the spa leaflet out of Noa's fingers, oblivious to the stack displayed in a clear tray on the reception desk.

"Oh, it was just the wait." She looked up and gave me a brief smile. "Daan's driving me back to Brighton because I have an early start tomorrow and he has to head back to the city so we can't stay too long," Noa casually answered, masking any signs of possible unease.

"Oh, of course. I forgot you didn't live in London. How inconvenient for you both. Don't you mind being away from each other all week?" She grimaced and tapped her nails on the marble top. "What am I saying? Daan's been down your way loads lately. So sweet."

I wrapped my arm around Noa's shoulders and tucked her into my side, putting myself between her and Janice. "Yep, we've been making the most of our weekends. Isn't that right, honey? Anyway, we'll take the couple massage." I turned my attention back to the receptionist and checked my watch, knowing only a few minutes had passed since we were told that treatment wouldn't be available for another hour. "I don't mind the late drive."

Noa could be pissed at me for taking control without checking in with her first. I'd take that over Janice, breathing down our necks. That woman's gossip often travelled through the entire office and I didn't need her over analysing each of my movements. Not when last night had gone so well as far as I was concerned.

Not just well, perfect, and I hated these galas. And any dancing, for that matter.

"Sorry about that," I whispered into Noa's ear as we rounded the corner and headed towards the tranquillity lounge. Janice luckily hadn't followed us as I made our excuses to leave.

"Don't apologise. It's a good call. She's a bit much. Is she like that at work as well?"

"I'm afraid so. Swear they only keep her on because she reports everything back to Mr Thomas." I held the door open, aware not to stand too close and invade her personal space. "We don't have to go in together. Not that I've ever had a couple's massage before so I don't know what to expect. But if you feel uncomfortable with me in there with you, I'll just stay outside and wait for you." I pointed towards the small seating area near a low wooden bar area.

Must be what the receptionist had referred to as the juice bar.

"No, that's just silly. We'll both go. It's the right way to finish the weekend. A few more hours to pretend, hey." The corners of her mouth quirked up and a deep crease appeared between her brows while she sat in one of the chairs, pulling a magazine onto her lap.

She kept bringing up the fact this was all pretend but that was not where my heart was at. No part of what I wanted with Noa felt fake.

The hour was barely up when we finished our complimentary smoothies. They handed us both a towel and dressing gown to cover ourselves up in and ushered us into separate changing rooms. With no swimwear on us, we couldn't make use of the steam room but I doubted we would have had the time, anyway.

Our massage therapists sat us back down for our personalised consultations and when everything was explained to us, we were shown to a dimly lit room. Two massage tables were waiting for us as we walked in.

Noa and I exchanged a furtive glance before she slipped her dressing gown off her shoulders. Well, hers was furtive, as I had yet to look away. The candlelight cast spellbinding shadows on the bare skin of her back and neck.

I hadn't noticed the music playing in the background until I'd been asked to lay on the waiting table. The next sixty minutes were torture. She was there but I was unable to reach out and touch her.

Throughout the session, the tension in my muscles hadn't eased while my mind barely switched off. It was no one's fault but my own. My eyes were closed but she was all I saw. My arms rested by my side but I could feel her under my skin and no prodding or kneading could release her.

Pretending I had fallen asleep, I waited for our massage therapists to exit the room and leave us alone for the first time in the last hour. The door clicked shut and I turned to watch Noa readjust her dressing gown on her shoulders and slip the towel off her front. The fabric gaped loosely over her chest, showing more than a slither of glistening skin from the aromatherapy oils.

That persistent crease between her brows reappeared and I knew she was deep in thought, no doubt unaware of how exposed she was as she slouched forward.

It was getting harder to not tell her how much I wanted her. I closed my eyes and within minutes, Noa stood and closed the short gap between us. As I sat on the massage table–a smallish white towel around my waist–she rested a palm on my shoulder.

"Daan–" her hand moved from my shoulder to my exposed chest and whether or not she meant to, moved back and forth under my collarbone– "this weekend has been amazing. Not gonna lie but I was dreading it. And you've made it a weekend to remember and for that I thank you. I think we–"

My attention was so focused on her words and touch that it took a while for my mind to register that someone had entered the room. I was only aware that a massage therapist had walked back in when Noa took a step back. Fuck it!

Noa turned her face away and chewed on her bottom lip as the person tried to discreetly rummage through a draw and just when I was about to lose all patience, they finally left.

I grabbed the collar of Noa's dressing gown and pulled her back into a space that felt right. By my side. "What were you going to say?" I lowered my voice to soften the abrupt tug on her dressing gown and shifted my hand to cup her face.

My fingers toyed with a loose strand of hair that had escaped her bun, making it seem like it was the most fascinating thing on her body.

Her eyes gradually closed but sprung open after she steadied her breathing like there was never anything between us but awkwardness. I hated being the cause for any of it and wanted nothing more than for us to finally be honest with each other. Maybe all I had to do was tell her she'd had me acting crazy from the moment I set eyes on her and that dumb freshers poster.

"It was amazing but we should leave it at that. We can't continue any of this once back home."

"Why?"

She blinked rapidly and shifted to tug on her earlobe. "What do you mean why?"

"Well, you must have a good reason if you thought it was that amazing. So what is it?"

Her cheeks reddened and the tip of her tongue darted out to moisten her Cupid's bow. "Because–It's just not a good idea."

"I hear a lot of sounds, but nothing that actually makes sense right now."

She jerked back and frowned. "Tough." She snatched the towel from where it had fallen on the floor and reached for the door handle. "It won't be any other way, Daan. I'll see you back in the room."

I chuckled to myself as I watched her go yet again. That fucking woman! She drove me insane but I was addicted to her. And this was far from over.

***