‘It was not doing any public harm and I was prepared to take the personal risk,’ he mocked straight back.
‘You’re not risking anything.’
‘Do not speak for me, Emily. Speak for yourself. Make your choice. Do you wish me to call the captain and change our destination or do you wish to dive with me at Pemba Island? I might add that your professional referees are out of contact so there is no quick way of checking your story today. That has already been tried.’
Her long lashes dropped but not before he glimpsed a look of helpless confusion in her eyes. She heaved a long ragged sigh. ‘Okay,’ she finally said in a tone of reluctant resignation. ‘I’ll need a wetsuit. And I’ll want to check the diving equipment.’
‘There is a Diving Centre at Fundu Lagoon where we will drop anchor. I have directed that a diving specialist be on hand to outfit us correctly and guide us to the best viewing places around the reef.’
She nodded distractedly, her gaze flitting around the saloon and fastening on the staircase. ‘Does that lead down to a…a powder room?’
‘To the staterooms, each of which has an ensuite bathroom.’ Aware that she was emitting frantic vibrations in a pressing need to escape him, he waved her off on her own. ‘Just go down and open the first door you come to, Emily.’
‘Thank you.’
She shot him a look of almost anguished relief which Zageo pondered as she hurried to the staircase and disappeared below deck.
Was it a desperate call of nature that had to be answered or a desperate need to get away by herself to reassess her position?
Zageo had to concede feeling a considerable amount of confusion himself. He’d kissed and been kissed by many women in his time. None had ever transmitted the sense of being inexperienced, innocent, virginal. It had been strangely fascinating to feel Emily Ross focusing an intense awareness on the touch and taste of his mouth, as though she’d never been kissed before, or it had been so long since she’d had the experience, she’d forgotten what it was like.
Needing to clear his own head of that tantalising impression, Zageo left the saloon and moved out to the rear deck where he could feel the sea breeze in his hair and the light spray from the boat’s wake on his face. It was good to cool off. He hadn’t anticipated the swift fuelling of his own desire for her. Giving in to temptation often proved a disappointment—the experience not living up to the promise. But Emily Ross…the way she’d responded…it had been without any artfulness!
Unless she was an unbelievably good actress, so steeped in deception it came naturally to her, Zageo could not see her fitting the frame of a belly-dancer with patrons on the side. It was far more likely that she had only known one lover—a young husband who had not been well skilled in the erotic arts. How else could those quite electric moments of stillness from her be explained? Stillness followed by a flood of chaotic excitement. It was definitely not a knowing response to him, more instinctive, primal, and so strong it frightened her.
It made her even more attractive.
More desirable.
Zageo decided he would pursue a relationship with her, regardless of whether it was an appropriate move for him or not. It had been a long time since he felt so vibrantly alive with a woman.
CHAPTER EIGHT
EMILY clasped her cheeks, willing the heat in them to recede. She’d splashed cold water on her face over and over again, but still it burned, her blood temperature at an all-time high from a chaotic mix of anger and fear.
She was furious with herself for succumbing to the stupid urge to discover what it might be like to be kissed by such a total foreigner, who just happened to be powerfully charged with sex appeal. Now he’d think she was a belly-dancing bedhopper. Besides which, it hadn’t just been a kiss!
That man had to have the most wickedly exciting tongue in the world, not to mention knowing how to incite such a flood of passionate need, her breasts were still aching from it, her thighs felt like jelly, and the moist heat still lingering at their apex demonstrated an appalling carnal desire for a more intimate connection with him. She’d never felt like this with Brian!
And that thought made her feel even more uncomfortable. Disloyal. Brian had been her mate in every sense. She’d loved him. There’d never been anyone else. She’d never wanted anyone else. The sex they’d had together had seemed natural, good, answering their emotional needs at the time. It felt wrong to look back now and think it hadn’t really been a potent force between them, not a nerve-shaking, mind-bending, stomach-twisting, overwhelmingly dominant force!
Though exploring these feelings further with a man who was forcibly holding her under his protection went totally against her grain. It was all very well for him to claim he was saving her from a nasty situation by not handing her over to local authorities. She still had no real freedom of movement. No free choices, either. And knowing herself innocent of any wrong-doing, she hated being a victim of circumstances.
It wasn’t fair.
Being hugely attracted to a man who was so completely outside her possible relationship zone wasn’t fair, either.
So what was she to do now?
Emily doused her face in cold water once again, wiped it dry, took several deep breaths, rolled her shoulders, then concentrated her mind on making a plan.
Until more checks into her background yielded the information which would be consistent with her account of herself, she might as well resign herself to being Zageo’s guest, so why not pretend to be one? A guest would be sociable. A guest would show pleasurable anticipation in the exploration of the pristine coral reef around Pemba Island. More importantly, a guest’s wishes should be taken into consideration and she could certainly challenge Zageo on that point.
Emily mentally girded her guest loins and set off to not only face the devil and the deep blue sea, but smile at both of them!
Amazingly, once she had accepted the idea of being taken on a delightful adventure, she really did enjoy herself. Fundu Lagoon looked like a great holiday retreat with its beach lodge and bungalows built from mangrove poles and palm thatch, giving the place a sense of fitting perfectly into the beautiful island environment, while still providing every modern convenience and equipment for all watersports.
The reefs around the island were fantastic; great, plunging walls of coral with all the colourful Indian Ocean marine life swimming and hunting in the wondrous playground. Distractions were plentiful, making Emily less conscious of how Zageo looked in a sleek black wetsuit and less sensitive about how she herself looked in the second-skin garment.