Nails in his back were his reward.
He found the curve of her hip, traveled lower until he met the hem of her dress.
He was lost . . . knew control wasn’t a part of his soul at that moment when he searched her thigh to simply learn her body, learn what she desired.
Meg’s head snapped back and hit the wall with a tiny crack.
“Crap.”
Her expletive stopped the movement of his hand, made him remember how public they were.
Val pulled her away from the wall, ran a hand to the back of her head. “Are you OK?”
She graced him with a lick of her lips. “A little warning, Masini.” Her breaths were short pants that lifted her full breasts closer to him with every inhale.
Meg took a slow breath. He didn’t hear a wheeze as he had the night before.
Confident that she wasn’t in danger of suffocating or needing medical attention for a concussion, he eased his grip and placed a hand to the side of her face. “You sing like an angel, bella.”
“You liked?”
He placed a quick kiss to her lips, pressed the full length of his body against hers. “You made love to the room with your voice. I was jealous of everyone there.”
She lifted her knee against his leg and slowly slid it back down.
They stared into each other’s eyes until their breathing eased and a few seconds of time passed.
He knew it wasn’t the right time, felt it in his bones . . . but couldn’t let the moment go without a confession. “I want you in my bed, cara.”
Meg lifted her chin with a sharp breath. “Val . . .”
“I know . . .” he placed a soft kiss on her lips and drew back. “I want you there and I’m willing to wait.”
A wide-eyed look of surprise filled her eyes before she pulled in her bottom lip. “We have too much at stake right now.”
Val smiled and placed a finger over her lips to silence her. “I know.”
With reluctance, he placed air between their bodies by moving away. He missed her, every soft curve, instantly.
Meg tugged at her dress, fixed the neckline.
Her fingertips brushed the edges of her breasts . . . a place he had yet to feel himself.
“You’re staring, Val.”
“Sei bellissima.”
He moved his gaze to her eyes, felt her smiling at him. “It means, you’re beautiful, cara.”
“I’m sure there have been many beautiful women on this island.”
He loved her moment of insecurity, relished in it until she looked away.
With one finger, he lifted her gaze back to his. “None as beautiful as you,” he whispered. “None as beautiful as you.”
Sleep was impossible. Meg, Michael, and Ryder laughed and played all the way back to the villa and closed all the blinds. They’d made more noise than necessary until Michael and Ryder called it a night.
She flipped her pillow over for the fifth time in an hour, couldn’t find a cool side or a comfortable position to let her head rest. Thoughts of Val kissing her, the ruse they were all trying to play on whoever was taking the pictures, swirled like tornados inside her brain.
Meg snatched her charging cell phone off the bedside table. She keyed up Val’s cell number and let her fingers do the talking. I’ve been thinking . . . how did this guy print a picture here on the island? She hit send without looking at the time.
If her kiss didn’t key the man up as much as his did to her, then maybe she shouldn’t let him near her again.
She started to think maybe he was asleep. Then three tiny dots at the bottom of her screen let her know that he was texting her back.
I thought about that. Must be one of the printers on the island.
Do you have a lot of them?
I don’t know. I’ll have Carol check in the morning.
Meg rolled to her side. Not sure how the information will help.
Narrow down the departments to search further. General housekeeping staff would stand out hovering over a printer.
Doesn’t housekeeping leave daily? Could they have brought the pictures from home?
The three dots started to blink, hesitated, and blinked again. Do you really believe my housekeepers want pictures of us?
If a letter of extortion comes next, then yes. If not, then no.
If our man needs to print tonight’s images . . . Maybe we can catch him.
Meg smiled, felt her eyes growing heavy. Let’s hope he does, she replied.
I’m sorry the stress of this is keeping you up.
She considered her reply and decided there wasn’t any harm in a little honesty. Seduction is outweighing the stress, Masini.
There wasn’t a reply before her phone buzzed in her hand. She answered it with a soft voice.
“Put the phone away and get some sleep, cara.” His voice was a low purr and the closest she’d come to pillow talk in a long time.
“So demanding,” she whispered.
“You’ve seen nothing . . . yet.”
Meg shivered with his intent. “Statements like that aren’t going to help me sleep.”
His low laugh kept her smiling.
“Good night, bella.”
“Night, Val.”
Her dreams were less of pictures and printers, and more about smoky kisses that stole her breath.
“I don’t know what’s worse, pictures or nothing.”
Mike agreed with Meg’s words, but kept silent.
Val had called first thing that morning to tell them that nothing had shown up in his in-box. No one delivered any mail.
“Maybe yesterday’s interrogation spooked this guy and he didn’t risk taking more shots,” Ryder said.
They were sitting on the veranda eating breakfast. They’d opted for room service, in hopes of giving an opportunity for their photographer to send another photo. All they ended up with was fresh fruit and muffins.