“Shhh,” he reminded and then he emitted a deep groan, shuddering as he came. His fingers reached round, found her sensitive nub, and quickly brought her to a tumultuous climax. Then her legs gave out beneath her.
Leah lay curled up in a ball, almost dozing and quite blissfully unaware of her surrounds. She leaked a little onto the sand and she could feel Rick mop her dry with his handkerchief.
“You need to get dressed,” he hissed at her.
“What?” she mumbled. In the distance, she could hear a dog barking. “Oh, shit.”
She scrambled to dress, hoicking up her shorts and shaking the sand out of her hair. Picking up her hat and sunglasses from where she had discarded them, she put them on, hoping they would hide her flushed features. Only then did she remember to thank Rick.
“My pleasure. I think we both enjoyed your little naughty girl spanking,” he said, smirking.
The Labrador bounded over to them, his mouth slobbering over a tennis ball, and he dropped the toy at Rick’s feet. Children could be heard shouting in the distance, calling the dog’s name. Realising he didn’t have the company of his owners, the dog picked up the ball and charged off in the direction of the voices. Rick and Leah burst out laughing. In the end, they didn’t see anyone until they nearly reached the wooded area to the north of the dunes.
Leah pulled on his hand. “Come on, let’s see if we can find them.”
“Find what?” he asked, confused.
“The red squirrels. They’re very rare and this is one place in the country you can see them.”
They searched with their eyes along branches and trunks, but the little creatures refused to put in an appearance. Rick decided it was getting late, so they began to follow the path back to the dunes.
“There!” said Leah, pointing at a nearby tree. “See it?”
Rick looked up at the trees, shading his eyes from the sun as it peeped between the leaves. “Yes. I see it.”
The little squirrel twitched its tail, then ran alon
g a branch before climbing higher and out of sight.
“Well, that’s a turn-up,” said Rick.
“Your first red squirrel?”
“Actually, I was thinking that I’ve managed to see two red bottoms in one day!”
“Rick!”
* * *
“We’re being followed,” said Rick. His eyes darted between his wing mirror and rear-view mirror.
He was driving her back home after a Tuesday session at her tennis club. She still had on her white skirt and t-shirt, the sweat under her armpits from her exertions. A hot June had chased away a warm May.
“Followed?” said Leah, peering over her shoulder. “Another car?”
“Three back. Been going the same roads, same speed and now when I went to turn and changed my mind, his indicator did the same thing.”
Leah rarely saw Rick looking anxious. His hazel eyes had narrowed as he tried to concentrate on the road ahead while watching the car behind them.
“Are you sure? It’s a busy road.”
The road up the coast, connecting Liverpool to the towns of Southport and Ormskirk, was rarely quiet.
“I can’t see the driver. The car has the sun reflecting off the windows and bonnet. It’s dazzling,” said Rick, shifting down a gear.
“We’re slowing up,” noticed Leah, gripping the seat.
“I just want to get a better view.”