She couldn’t miss his artistry as she looked down at the structure built in such a way she couldn’t distinguish the old from the new.
“The resort is set to open in another month once the decorators have finished their gig inside. Working this place landed me a contract in Peru to pull off something similar with a nineteenth-century structure. It’ll need expansion as well as renovation.” He shook his head. “Enough about work. We’re here to relax, alone up here where no one can see us and no one will dare interrupt. Now it’s time for the real reason I brought you.”
Jonah turned her to the right along the corner for even more canyon panorama and, just to her side…
Rippling water slipped off the edge of the building, somehow disappearing. She pivoted to find a rooftop pool, but unlike any she’d ever seen before. It stretched off the end of the building and seemed to blend into the horizon.
“Jonah?”
“It’s an infinity pool,” he announced.
It was magnificent. “Infinity pool. That makes sense in theory—” given the way it blended into the canyon view “—but I don’t understand how.”
Her feet drew her closer to the clear waters swirling over the blue tiles, sunlight sparkling diamondlike dots along the surface. The romanticism reached to her heart already softened by a night spent in Jonah’s arms.
Even now, she could feel her body reacting to just his presence, the knowledge that she could have him right now and indulge herself in everything he had to offer. And he did offer her so very much on so many levels.
Eloisa reached for his hand, listening to his explanation and letting herself dream. Maybe, just maybe her instincts had been right that all they needed was more time.
Jonah linked his fingers more firmly in hers. “The pool is architecturally designed with the edge smoothed out until it seems to extend forever, blending into the horizon. Some call it a negative edge. A side is built slightly lower with a catch basin that pumps water back into the pool.”
“That sounds extremely complicated.” She didn’t have to be an architect to tell this required incredible talent and expertise. She imagined the least miscalculation during construction could crumble the cliff. Much like the delicate balance and attention to detail needed in building a relationship. “Tell me more.”
“An infinity pool can be built on a rooftop or into the side of a mountain or right against a larger body of water.” He stretched a hand toward the horizon. “The effect is the same. While you float and stare out, boundaries disappear.”
“Possibilities are limitless.” That sounded good in theory, but felt scary for a woman who found comfort and safety in the cool confines of her dimly lit library stacks. She would take it one deep breath at a time, because the thought of turning back scared her even more than standing here at the precipice.
His arm dropped to his side. “There’s an infinity pool in Hong Kong on the roof of a hotel that’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” He squeezed her fingers. “Wanna go?”
“What? Now?” Startled by his abrupt offer, she backed away a step, instinctively craving the safety of even a few inches away from wide-open abandon. “We just got to Texas. I’m still soaking everything in.”
“But you want to go.”
Did she? Could she just drop everything at his whim and see the world?
“I think so, maybe,” she said to the adventure. To him. This didn’t seem the place for stark realities and secrets. It was the ultimate place to lose yourself. Here, she didn’t have to worry about what it meant to be a Medina or a Landis. “For a short time perhaps, but—”
“Quit thinking about afterward. Enjoy the now, here at the edge of a canyon. Take a risk, librarian lady.”
She bristled instinctively. “Who says there’s anything wrong with being a librarian in Pensacola, Florida?”
He tugged her closer to him, his hand soothing along her waist. “I never said there was anything wrong with your profession. I’m just offering you the chance to experience the books. You can have it all.”
Stark realities intruded all the same, memories of her mother, memories of her own, even glimpses of her father’s pain-filled eyes. Consequences for stepping out of her safety zone could be huge. “They killed my father’s wife, you know. They assassinated her while trying to get to him.” She looked into his eyes for answers, for reassurance. “Doesn’t your family worry about that kind of lurking threat? Your father may have died in a car wreck, but you had to be aware of danger at an early age.”
God knows, she had worried for her mother. And in the darkest, quietest times of night, she even worried for herself.
The wind lifted Jonah’s hair and flapped the edges of his sports coat. “I hear you, and yes, my family has lived with the reality of possible kidnappings and bribes and threats because of political stands. It’s not fair, but that's how things are even if we gave away the money and left the public scene tomorrow. No one would believe we didn’t have something hidden somewhere. The influence remains and we have a responsibility to use it wisely.” He cupped her face in his sun-warmed hands. “You can’t live your life dictated by fears.”
She pulled out of his arms. Leaning against, leaning on him would be too easy.
“Tell that to Enrique Medina.” Her chest went tight. How much longer did her father have left? “He’s spent nearly three decades hidden away from the world, living out his life.”
“If I knew where he was, I would tell him face-to-face.”
“I thought you would have learned that when you found me.” Maybe she’d hoped he knew so she wouldn’t have to make the choice to search. Jonah would know, blindfold her and take her there. And only now did she realize she’d hoped he would do just that today. Good Lord, she was a coward.
“Medina keeps his secrets well.”
“I guess he does.” As did his daughter. Guilt pinched over what she should explain to Jonah.
He drew her to his side again. “What do you think he wants to talk to you about?”
“I have absolutely no idea. Probably just to say goodbye, which I should probably go along with. It sounds simple enough. Except I have this sense that if I step into his world, I will have made an irrevocable change.” She blinked back tears until they welled back up inside her soul. She tipped her head up to look at him. “Jonah, we should talk.”
He thumbed under her eye, swiping away dampness that must have leaked anyway. “I think we’ve done enough talking for one day.”
She wanted to agree, reminding herself of her resolve to wait until she was sure he would stay before risking the pain that would come from sharing all. Still, her conscience whispered. “Seriously, Jonah, I need to tell you—”
“Seriously, stop arguing. We can talk about whatever you want later.” He slid his other arm around her and pulled her flush against him again, rekindling the desire that had been barely banked all afternoon. “Right now, I want to make love with you in this pool while we look out at infinity.”
Infinity.
Forever.
They could have it all. She could have the time to tell him the things that needed explaining. The possibilities truly seemed as limitless of the edge of that pool reclaiming and holding everything in an endless cycle.
Jonah kissed her and she allowed herself to hope.
Jonah hauled Eloisa closer, sensing something shifting inside her, tension flowing from her in a tide as tangible as the infinity pool streaming away. He didn’t know what exactly brought about the change, but he wasn’t one to argue when it brought her warm and willing into his arms.
“Inside,” she whispered, “to your suite.”
“Here,” he answered. “We’re alone. No one can see us, of that I’m certain. I designed this patio with complete privacy in mind.”
Over the past few months, he’d tortured himself with fantasies of bringing her up here and baring her body to the sun. “Do you trust me?”
“I can’t think of anything more exciting than making love to you out here in the open.” Her arms slid around his neck, her fingers in his hair. “I want to trust you.”
He noticed wanting to trust wasn’t the same as giving trust, but still a step in the right direction. And since he had her in his arms, ready to have sex outdoors? No way in hell did he intend to dwell on semantics.
Eloisa slid his sports coat from his shoulders, his shirt open at the collar, no tie to bother with removing. Backing him toward the double lounger beside the pool, she toyed with one button at a time, unveiling his chest until the shirt whipped behind him in the wind.
Smiling, Jonah shook his head no and danced her toward the pool instead. Her eyes widened momentarily before she grinned in return. Eloisa kicked off her sandals and trailed a toe in the water.
Her sigh of pleasure left him throbbing against his zipper damn near painfully. But soon…so soon…
He toyed with the tie behind her neck holding her halter dress in place. A simple tug set it free and falling away to reveal her br**sts to the sun. He nudged the fabric down around and past her waist to pool at her feet. She kicked it away behind her, their clothes littering the stone tiles, lifting on the wind and catching on the furniture.
Eloisa glanced over her shoulder with a flicker of concern. He guided her face back toward him again. “To hell with the clothes. We brought suitcases. I’ll buy you more.”
“In that case…” She unbuckled his belt, slipped it free and flung it out into the canyon, with a flick and a snap.
Her uninhibited laughter rode the wind along with the rest of their clothes and his shoes until they stood bare in the open together. Her br**sts brushed his chest as she took him in her hand and stroked until he worked to keep his feet steady under him.
He clasped her wrist and draped her arm back over his shoulder. Leaning, he scooped her up against his chest and started down the stone steps, the sun-warmed water churning around his legs, his hips, around his waist and higher until he slid her to her feet again. The light waves lapped around her shoulders and she leaned into him with buoyancy.
He slid his hand between her legs, the essence of her arousal mixing with the water, leaving her slick to his touch. He tucked two fingers into her warm silken grip, stroking inside, his thumb teasing outside. Sighing, she pressed closer to him just as she’d done in the library, so hot, so responsive. So damn perfect he almost came undone from just the feel of her on his hand.
She sprinkled frenetic kisses over his face, working her way to his ear. “I want you inside me, totally, I want it all here. Now,” she demanded.
“More than willing to accommodate,” he growled.
Jonah cupped her bottom and lifted. She wrapped her slick wet legs around his waist, the core of her pressing closer to him, her damp heat against him. He throbbed from wanting to be inside her again. And again. How often would be enough?
She slid down on the length of him.
“Birth control,” he groaned into her ear. Only now did he realize they’d forgotten and he wanted to kick himself off the damn cliff for being so reckless with her. He never, never forgot. He always protected.