Just Once Read online




  Just Once

  Just Friends Book 1

  L.M. Mountford

  Copyright © 2022 by The Lord of Lust Publications

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  L.M. Mountford

  United Kingdom

  Just Once

  Just Friends

  Book 1

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Edited by readabit: Copy Editing and Proofreading Services Est 2018

  L.M. Mountford – 2nd Ed.

  ISBN: 978-1-913945-72-5

  Contents

  About the Author

  Bibliography

  Title

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Preview

  Also by the Author

  Sign up for VIP newsletter below to enjoy free books, new releases, discounts, ARC opportunities AND receive a FREE steamy read -

  Sign Up Here

  A self-confessed Tiger fanatic, L.M. Mountford was born and raised in England, first in the town of Bridgewater, Somerset, before later moving to the city of Gloucester. He lives with his fiancé and their two fur babies. A fully qualified Scuba Diver, he has travelled the globe diving wrecks and seeing the wonders of the world.

  Facebook

  Twitter

  Bookbub

  Newsletter Sign up

  Goodreads

  Website

  FREE

  Collections

  Deliciously Sinful Liaisons

  Sweet Temptations Box Set

  Romancing the Tropics

  Just a Number

  Alpha Men of the Otherworld

  The Sweet Temptations Series

  The Babysitter

  The Boss’s Daughter

  The Wolves of Lupus Latr

  Alpha Heat

  Just Friends Series

  Just Once

  Broken Heart Series

  Broken

  Tropical Cocktail Romance

  Tequila Sunset

  Beneath the Sheets

  Confessions of a Trophy Wife

  Forbidden Desire

  Thirst

  Blood Lust

  Stand-alone Titles

  Uncovered

  Serving the Senator

  Reckless

  Training Tracey

  Daddy’s Christmas Surprise

  It was maddening. Infuriating. How could someone so drop dead sexy be so oblivious?

  Exasperated, Faye forced herself to look away, searching for something, anything, to distract her from the oh-so-delectable source of her frustrations. Seated at her desk as they were, the adjacent window would serve her needs perfectly, but she had to drag her eyes up to it under the guise of dropping her pen and running a hand through her hair.

  It was only seven, but the sky was dark, and the moon was full, shining high above, its radiance illuminating the long skeletal fingers of the only tree in her student shared accommodation’s back garden. She could remember planting a very similar tree in her parent’s garden on a bright summer’s day when she was just a little kid in playschool. Every year, on the anniversary of that planting, he would come round to her parent’s house and they’d play around it until they got so tired, they couldn’t move and would stretch out and lie in the shade.

  The memory made her heart hurt with longing.

  Damn it. Why did she ever agree to this? It was New Year’s Eve and such a beautiful evening. She could have been doing anything. Washing her hair. Shopping online. Browsing the Amazon indie selection for some new, struggling, and overlooked author’s tall, dark, and surly Book Boyfriend to go with the B.O.B hiding away in her bedside drawer. Instead, she was stuck in her bedroom, all alone, with...him.

  With all the subtlety her frazzled neurons could muster, she pivoted ever so slightly, drawn inexplicably, and fixed her gaze on Terry.

  The image of him reclining in his chair, fingering through the pages of a textbook, his tight-fitting white shirt and tan chinos teasing at the broad, chiselled physique hiding just beneath the surface, set the butterflies in her stomach to flight. His face, those cheekbones and marble jaw, rough with a neatly trimmed goatee that was in such contrast to his shoulder-length mane of near-black hair that was always ruffled and just that bit too long; and begged for her to run her fingers through. And those eyes. Those dark chocolate eyes, piercing and knowing, as if he could see through her with a look and know all her secrets and make her feel like a little girl all over again.

  He was a feast to behold, the very symbol of power and masculinity. Her saviour. Her protector. Her knight in shining armour. And still as completely and utterly clueless as the day they’d first met, back when they were just little kids, standing alone on the outskirts of the playground on the first day of school.

  They’d been the very poster children for the boy and girl next door; if a couple of streets apart. Friends for longer than forever. They’d walked to school together. He’d protected her from the bullies when they teased her about her glasses. She’d tended to his cuts and bruises when he fell. He pushed her to try new things. She snuck looks at him when he wasn’t looking.

  Wherever he led, she’d follow. And she’d cried like a baby for three days after he began to notice girls. Or rather, other girls. Blondes. Brunettes. Redheads. Actresses. Models. Pornstars. Cheerleaders. Girls with big tits, small tits, long legs, big butts. Just about every type of girl but her.

  She’d done everything she could think of to try and get him to notice her. Cut her hair. Changed her fashion choices. Showed some skin. Even swapped her glasses for contacts. That at least had provoked something in him, as a few weeks later he’d commented that he preferred her with glasses. Not exactly the reaction she’d been hoping for, and she’d never felt more self-conscious than when she was fishing in her bag for her emergency spectacles five minutes later.

  Finally, she’d done the unthinkable. To try and make Terry jealous, she’d started dating Harry Toogood. Never was anyone so aptly named.

  Just the thought of him sent a shudder down her spine.

  Faye had not been overly attracted to Harry. Though good-looking, he was also a rich toff whose sizeable ego made it a wonder there was room for anyone else in his immediate vicinity. But he was one of those boys. So, when he asked her out one Friday as they were coming out of class, with Terry just three steps behind, she saw her chance. She accepted, just loud enough for Terry to overhear while he was chatting animatedly with Neve Gibson.

  From the start, the date had been a disaster, but it had ended in a nightmare. She couldn’t remember it clearly. It was more than just a group of hazy thoughts, jumbled and chaotic, with no sense of time.

  She’d woken up in A&E the next afternoon. The duty nurse had been very kind and assured her she’d be fine with time. No lasting damage. What the fuck did she know?

  The same, however, couldn’t be said for Harry after Terry had learned what happened.

  He’d been the first to come to visit her, he’d walked her home, and after that he’d always been by her
side, even waiting until she’d got her university acceptance letter before making his applications. That is, until she came along.

  “Hey, Faye, hello? You okay over there?”

  She nearly jumped out of her skin at his question and looked up to find him watching her from behind his book, his brow furrowed with concern. Embarrassed at having been caught daydreaming, she felt her face burn scarlet and hurriedly replied in a manner that she could only pray sounded nonchalant. “Y-yeah I’m fi-fine! I’m fine. Just... thinking. Yeah, I’m thinking.” She gave him a broad smile.

  Terry laid his book down on the desk, clearly not believing a word of it. “Faye...” he warned, trying to look stern, but the edge to his voice just sent a rush of heat straight down to the pit of her belly.

  Resigned to her fate, she sighed and dropped her gaze back down to her own textbook. He was right, of course. Her scholarship depended on her keeping her grades up. Her last report, however, had shown her GPA on a steady decline. She needed to spend this bit of downtime between terms to get her head down and study. But how was she ever supposed to concentrate with such an edible distraction?

  Ever since he’d first come into her life, from the very moment she first laid eyes on him, he’d been a distraction. Her distraction.

  She’d tried telling herself it was just a crush, that she’d grow out of it, but it did no good. Terry was her addiction, and the more he came into her world, the more she longed for him. By the time she learned the true depth of her feelings for him, however, it was too late.

  Terry had fallen in love.

  Fallen in love with Elsa, a business management student who, like them, was also minoring in English Lit and had happened to of chose the seat next to Terry’s. A random act of chance that had turned Faye’s world upside down and inside out. Now he belonged to her. Now, he was forbidden fruit, and that was always the sweetest.

  It just wasn’t fair. That bitch doesn’t deserve him!

  These were dangerous thoughts, but she couldn’t help it. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Elsa. In fact, if they’d met under any other circumstances, she was sure they could have been the very best of friends. It was just-

  “Faye? Are you sure you’re alright?” Terry was openly watching her, his eyes furrowed with concern, making her realise she’d been caught staring again. “Do you want me to get you a glass of water or something?”

  Or something, definitely. “No... I’m fine.” Yet opportunity had knocked and in what she hoped was a casual manner, she swept a hand across her forehead, brushing her fringe from her eyes before blowing an overly exaggerated breath and saying “but could we please stop for a few minutes and take a break? This room’s just way too small for the both of us to be cooped inside all night.”

  For a moment, she feared Terry might protest further, but then he seemed to have second thoughts and gave in.

  “Alright Faye, you win.” He gave a defeated shrug, causing her to all but squeal with delight as she jumped out of her chair. However, Terry moved with a measured slowness and though he too was secretly glad for the reprieve, he did his best not to appear too eager before joining her at the door.

  Like a good host, Faye escorted Terry down the winding stairs that led into the modest communal living room. A stark but comfortable room. It was loosely furnished with a coffee table, bookcase, sofas and a T.V..

  “Just make yourself at home,” she said, gesturing lazily towards one sofa before reclining back on its sister on the opposite side of the table. Grabbing the remote off the coffee table, she turned on the television and began to avidly flick through the channels. She might as well enjoy the moment. It was a rare thing for her to have control of the telly. Her housemates all had their own specific shows they just couldn’t miss, but they were all out, celebrating the dawn of a new year and wouldn’t be back until morning...

  Not sure of what else to do, Terry followed her instructions and sat down stiffly on the edge of the seat. Faye had a point. That room was too bloody small.

  However, there was nothing on T.V. that interested him.

  Despite all of his convictions, he couldn’t help watching the vision of loveliness across from him.

  Still flicking through the channels, Faye had adopted a less than ladylike pose, with one of her exquisitely long legs dangling over the sofa’s arm while the other stretched across the table. It was entirely innocent of course yet dressed as she was in that all too short white skirt, he couldn’t help letting his eyes glide over her perfect milky skin, greedily admiring her smooth waist and voluptuous curves before noticing the way her head was tilted back to expose her long neck. Why does she always have to be so beautiful?

  And he couldn’t help himself. In his mind’s eye, he watched that long neck arching, those full lips panting out hot moans as he climbed onto the sofa and ravaged her, her enticing form squirming and writhing beneath him. The idea was as delicious as it was inappropriate, and he knew he would have taken her right there if he only had the balls to risk ruining their friendship.

  Ruining their friendship and having his said bollocks clipped.

  Fuck, what’s wrong with me? He loved Elsa, didn’t he? He certainly thought he did. She was kind, intelligent and when they were together, it was like every day couldn’t be more perfect. So why was he still thinking about Faye that way?

  It was wrong, immoral even. She was his best friend, but he just couldn’t help himself.

  Suddenly, he felt very warm and was all too aware of how tight his trousers were becoming. Yet, before he could stop himself, his eyes moved up to Faye’s breasts. Her white cotton cardigan stretched across her bosom and left nothing to the imagination. Captivated, he never noticed Faye watching him out of the corner of her eyes.

  She gave an exaggerated cough that had Terry quickly coming back to his senses and looking away as Faye slid those long legs off the furniture before pushing up and walking slowly around his sofa. Being as quiet as a mouse, she leant over the back and stared down at the man beneath her, causing his dark eyes to snap upward.

  Almost nose to nose with her, Terry swallowed. He was acutely aware of her closeness and when she shifted, eyes twinkling with mischief, he was presented with a close-up view of her plunging neckline.

  Mouth dry and cock harder than steel, he had to fight the sudden urge to reach up and touch her before forcing himself to meet her eyes.

  “Break over? That was fast...”

  Scarcely able to keep her smirk at bay, Faye nodded before turning to walk up the stairs, fully aware that his eyes were on her.

  Terry couldn’t tear his eyes away. He watched her like a hawk, noticing every curve and shake of her delectable rump while his feet carried him up the stairs of their own accord. He wanted to touch her, to feel the heat of her skin and the curve of her arse, to taste the sweetness of her flavour as he devoured her before he bent her over and buried himself in that inviting rump. It took all his fortitude to look away before they entered her room.

  Silently, he begged all the world’s deities for every book ever printed to spontaneously burst into flames.

  It didn’t matter that the thought bordered National Socialism, just so long as he could get the hell out of there before he jumped on Faye, ravaged her, shagged her, or just made a complete and utter arse of himself.

  His pleas fell on deaf ears.

  She was trying to kill him. It was the only explanation. Faye was trying to kill him, slowly and painfully.

  Despite his best efforts to the contrary, he noticed everything. Every little move she made. How she would occasionally lick her lips then tilt her head, exposing the long slope of her neck, or bite her lips whenever she was concentrating. His heart all but burst when she needed to stretch and would cross her hands behind her head and arch, slowly, oh so slowly, so that her breasts were all but bursting from her sweater and the hem rose up to show off her flat milky navel. But his favourite was when she started to make notes and would every now and then pause, her ton
gue curling around her pencil as she considered the text. He would have given his right nut just to be that pencil for a few moments.

  It happened so slowly, he never saw it coming...

  Faye hadn’t known what else to do.

  For all her less than considerable wiles, Terry was proving about as corruptible as Jesus Christ and she was all out of ideas.

  Leaning across the desk, she presented him with her finished notes. She almost shivered with ecstasy as she felt the heat of his gaze roaming across her skin. He wanted her, she knew it; but he did nothing.

  So, instead, she made the first move.

  It was only chaste, yet Terry was too surprised to do anything but go with the flow. In one move, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her across the desk and into his lap as her tongue found his in a carnal dance that sent electricity racing down his spine. Turning in his hold, Faye straddled his waist and wantonly ground her hips onto his lap, the heat of her desire burning through the fabric of their clothes to wash over his cock.

  Desperate, almost mad with lust, he bucked against her, sliding the weight of his cock along her folds through her panties as he crushed her to him, hard. Hard enough to make her moan, a sound that was music to his ears.

  She tastes so... good.

  She did. She had the softest, sweetest lips he had ever tasted, and her mouth- it was divine. It had been made to be kissed, but he wanted more. He wanted her, all of her. He wanted... Faye!

  Reality hit.

  Releasing what he was doing, he stood up so abruptly it made Faye squeal and tumble back onto the desk.

  She looked up at him with glassy eyes.

  “Terry...?”

  “I’m sorry Faye, this... we... we need to stop,” he said, breathless and unable to meet her gaze. “T-This is... we shouldn’t... I, I mean, I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

  Faye managed to suppress her sobs. “B-but... but why? You want me, Terr. I know you do. So why, just once?”