Author's note -

As always, thank you so much to everyone who has read/followed/reviewed/favourited the story so far! I love to hear from you.

OK, as I mentioned last time, this chapter is rated M for sexytimes. I've put them between the divides below in case that isn't your thing. There is a bit of plot too, but this is more of a reflective chapter, particularly for Sybil, as she and Tom head for a long weekend in the Algarve, on the south coast of Portugal...

Chapter 7 - Lost weekend

Sybil sometimes felt as if she had two lives since she met Tom. There was her outer life - work, family, friends - which also included dates with Tom where they went for a meal or for drinks, saw a movie or walked by the river, laughed and joked with each other and shared their hopes and dreams about their lives. Then, there was her secret, inner life, which she shared only with Tom and which was known only to the two of them, a life of shared glances, unexpected touches, desire that lay just below the surface, always ready to flare up and burn out of control.

Before she met Tom, her sex life had been in a neat compartment of her life - doing it in a bed, with the lights off, once or twice a week with a boyfriend who rolled over and went to sleep afterwards. Now, the boundaries were blurred - this secret, inner life could escape at any moment, anywhere. It could happen in the middle of a crowded pub, when their eyes would meet and lock, and the rest of the world would disappear as they made excuses to leave early. It could happen walking down the street, when Sybil tripped and Tom caught her, and his intimate touch at her waist sent her senses reeling. It could happen at work, when she found herself drifting off into a daydream so hot she had to go outside and walk around the block to cool her heated blood.

As soon as she and Tom left for their long weekend in the Algarve, they both felt as if they were being given a time out from their outer life, freeing them to live their secret, inner life for the whole three days.

On the plane, Tom leaned over to Sybil and, running his finger gently along her jawline to the hollow under her ear, whispered something that made her blush - "Maybe when we aren't going Easyjet, Tom! They'd be bound to come knocking on the door."

When they arrived at the airport at Faro, they were hit by the warm sun, surprisingly strong for late April, and the glare temporarily blinded both of them as they headed to the shuttle bus for their hotel at Praia de Rocha, hand in hand. Sybil leaned her head on Tom's shoulder as they travelled along the coast, and the sun sparkling on the ocean gave her such a feeling of happiness she turned his face around to hers for a kiss, which he immediately deepened, pushing his tongue into her mouth and cupping the back of her head with his hand to pull her even closer. Sybil felt that ever present desire rising up in both of them so strongly that they could hardly wait to get to the hotel room before tearing off each others' clothes and falling onto the floor in a pool of sunlight - they didn't even make it to the bed.

Later on that evening, they wandered along to the marina for a meal and a few drinks - the evening light caught the dark red highlights in Sybil's long curls, and to Tom's eyes it made her look even more beautiful than usual. By the time they were onto their second drink at the taverna by the beach, Tom was pulling Sybil onto his lap and slipping his hand openly inside the neck of her dress to caress her soft skin as he kissed her. The owners smiled indulgently at the lovers - these warm climes were conducive to behaviour like this, they knew, especially for those from more northerly latitudes, although they did raise an eyebrow when they saw where Tom was putting his hands.

Later still, they walked back along the promenade to their hotel, stopping to look at the moonlight that was shining on the ocean like a ladder which those with an eye to see it could climb into the night sky.

Sybil wrapped her arms around Tom's neck and as he leaned down to kiss her again, she said - "Tom, love, thank you for bringing me here to this beautiful place, it really is just what I needed."

Tom whispered back - "A stór, I would do anything for you. Let's go home so I can show you."

Sybil smiled and nodded - she was as eager as he was to continue their earlier activities...

They woke up the next morning and Sybil insisted on going to the beach. However, one look at her in her grey-blue halter neck bikini, that highlighted her beautiful curves in all the right places, and her long hair twisted up into a top knot with loose tendrils spiralling down her neck, and Tom pulled her straight back into bed with him - "Oh no you don't - I'm not going to let you go just yet."

He took his time taking her swim suit off, slowly untying the straps and enjoying the chance to kiss every inch of skin as it was exposed, until by the time Sybil was naked she was aching for more of his touch. He began to move down her body, stopping for several minutes at her breasts, kissing and stroking them and sucking on her nipples until they were fully erect in his mouth. Then, he began dropping a trail of kisses down her stomach and running his hand slowly up her inner thigh.

His lips travelled ever lower until they found her hot, wet core and his tongue began to tease her clit, flicking it back and forth to generate that friction he knew she adored. He heard her gasp and felt her hands come down to tangle themselves in his hair, pulling him further into her body and guiding him to where she wanted most to be touched by him. He slipped a finger inside her and began moving it in and out, slowly at first and then gradually increasing his speed as he added a second finger to the first and his tongue kept teasing her.

He heard her moan "Oh GOD, Tom darling, YES, just there..." and he knew she wasn't far away. He held her at the apex for just a moment longer, knowing this would make her orgasm all the more intense when he finally let her tumble over the edge. Once he released her, she screamed his name and bucked her hips off the bed as she came, her hands clutching the sheets.

But he wasn't done with her yet. Moving up towards her, he put his arm around her waist and pulled her up on her hands and knees, into one of their favourite positions. Quickly rolling on a condom, he slipped his cock easily inside her and started to move. He felt her arse pushing back against his stomach as he pushed even deeper into her, loving how tight she felt from this angle.

His hand slid around the top of her thigh and found her clit again, still swollen from her last orgasm, and as he began to stroke it gently he could see and feel her whole body trembling. His pace increased and it did not take long until he could feel he was almost at the point of oblivion, but he wanted her to come again before he would let himself go.

"Sybil, do you know how good you feel to me, do you know what your beautiful body does to me, I'm crazy for you," he murmured.

As he felt her start to tense and tighten around him, he kept steadily stroking her faster and faster, inside and out, his cock and his fingers working in perfect rhythm until she came completely undone, just as he had known she would. The force of her orgasm brought him to his as well, and they collapsed onto the bed together.

Sybil rolled out from under Tom as he turned over, and he pulled her into his arms, running one hand up and down her back as he sought her lips for a long, deep kiss.

Eventually they did make it to the beach, and Sybil spent an hour or so lounging in the sun pretending to read a book but really just dozing behind her sunglasses.

Tom loved swimming in the ocean so he bodysurfed for a while, and when he ran back he shook his dripping hair over her, making her giggle - "Tom, now I'm all wet!"

He gave her a wicked grin - "You weren't complaining about that an hour ago!"

The rest of their weekend was pretty much like that - one or two more visits to the beach, another couple of dinners down at the marina, but the rest of the time they hardly left their room, completely lost in their secret, inner life where there was nothing but soft skin, warm mouths, teasing fingers and longing looks. They made love over and over again - on the bed, on the floor, in the small shower cubicle (with Tom trying not to overbalance as he held Sybil up against the wall and she wrapped her legs around his waist), and memorably outside on their balcony just as the sun was coming up...

When the time came for them to leave, both of them felt completely sated. Dreamy and smiling, with Tom's arm around Sybil's waist, they climbed back into the shuttle bus. When they were on the plane home again, Sybil pulled Tom's face to hers and kissed him for what felt like the millionth time that weekend, saying "Oh no, now we have to go back to our other life," and it was a measure of their closeness that Tom knew exactly what she meant. He put his arm around her shoulder and she snuggled into him, soon falling asleep.

He loved to see her like that - as trusting and innocent as a child, with her long eyelashes fluttering on her cheeks. His love for her was so strong in these moments, he almost felt afraid, as if he was tempting fate by being so happy...

A/N -

"a stór" - "my darling" in Irish Gaelic, per Google Translate. Back to their outer life for the next chapter - Sybil and Gwen team up to throw a surprise birthday party for Tom...