“Actually, yes I did.” She smiled sweetly—well, as sweetly as she could manage under the circumstances.
“You have to admit, given our short acquaintance, that I do it extremely well.”
Trouble was, she couldn’t feel annoyed right now with the sun so warm on her skin. She sighed and lay back, ignoring the man at her side and enjoying the moment. Closing her eyes, she allowed the tension to drain away. She’d been so on edge, so worried for the future. But here in this beautiful place, overlooking the sea, she felt almost as if it were a timeout from real life.
As if in a dream, his shadow blocked out the sun. She kept her eyes closed, maintaining the pretense, as his lips came down softly on her own.
The moment had a feeling of inevitability, the sensations all mingled, the warmth of the sun, the residual caress on the sensitive skin of her thigh, those firm, sure lips moving purposefully against her own.
She’d been waiting for this since the last time he’d touched her. Now she relaxed, opened her eyes and her lips at the same time, and stared up at him as his hot, wet tongue slowly penetrated her. He deepened the kiss, stroking the inside of her mouth as the hard length of his body ground her own into the lounger and she gasped.
Zach stilled instantly. “Sorry,” he muttered. “You’re too small. I’ll squash you.”
He pushed himself up onto his elbows, then onto his feet, and Dani bit back a groan of dismay. She didn’t want him to stop. She wanted him to keep going, to carry her away in a sensual haze, so she wouldn’t have to think about the rights and wrongs. Wouldn’t have to consider that she was very likely making a huge mistake that she would regret forever.
Her thoughts were cut off as he picked her up easily and held her cradled against his chest, much as he had after she’d fallen. But now they were both nearly naked and the heat of his skin burned through the thin material of her swimsuit.
He stared down at her, a reckless shimmer in his eyes. “I’ve spent the last five days persuading myself that this is a really bad idea.” His lips curved into a slow smile. “To hell with that.”
He carried her through the doors and into the house and sank down onto the scarlet sofa with her still in his arms. After settling her in his lap, he pressed her down so she could feel the hardness of his erection against her bottom. The sensation shocked her. This was really going to happen.
Should she tell him she’d never actually done it before? No. It was no big deal and would spoil the mood. She had an inkling that he wouldn’t be pleased by the idea of her innocence. Though maybe “innocence” wasn’t the right word.
Besides, she didn’t want to stop.
Her breasts felt heavy, heat curled in her belly, and a little pulse throbbed between her thighs. She might never again get the chance to experience this. A once-in-a-lifetime encounter. Something to remember when she returned to real life.
His hands rubbed lazy circles on her back as though to soothe her, but she didn’t want to be soothed, and she turned her head and kissed the hot skin of his chest, flicked him with her tongue, tasting the tang of salt on his skin.
Zach groaned then lay back against the cushions, dragging her with him, so she sprawled across the lean length of him. Her face rested in the curve where the satin skin of his shoulder met his throat, and she inhaled deeply, filling her nostrils with his warm, masculine scent. She wriggled against him, loving the sensation of the friction against the tips of her breasts. They seemed to swell, become even more sensitive, and she wriggled some more.
Zach went still beneath her. She put her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself up to gaze down into his face, into those amber eyes, which were hooded and for once serious.
“You want to do this?” he asked.
Did she? But before her mind could rationalize the whole thing, her head was nodding.
His hands stroked down the length of her back, coming to rest on her buttocks. He squeezed and heat flooded between her thighs. She pressed against his hands, not knowing what she wanted but that she definitely wanted something, and he returned the pressure, pulling her down against the hot, hard length of him.
“And I guess it’s clear I want you,” Zach murmured.
A feeling of almost unbearable excitement filled her, as though her skin would burst. She shifted her hips to better feel the size of him, which seemed pretty impressive, and he groaned.
“Don’t do that, honey.”
She wouldn’t back down from a challenge; she did it again and watched the reaction flash across his face. Staring at that beautiful mouth, she slowly leaned down and licked her tongue along the sensual lower lip. She explored his face with her lips and tongue, scattering butterfly kisses across the hard line of his cheekbones. She licked the salty skin of his throat and then back to his lips. His mouth opened beneath hers, and he finally took control, his hands sliding back up her body to cup her face and hold her still, while his tongue thrust into her mouth, kissing her until she was boneless and mindless.
After long minutes, he pulled away. “Just lift up a minute, sweetheart.”
He lifted her off him so she knelt on the sofa at his side, then reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small foil packet. Dani shook her head, trying to get her brain to function. What sort of man carried a condom in his pocket? Easy question. One who had come out with the intention of having sex.
“Are you always this prepared?” she asked. “Or were you so sure of me?”
He glanced at her, the corner of his mouth quirked. “Hopeful rather than sure.”
As he pushed his pants down over his lean hips, she couldn’t resist glancing down. Then she stared. He was big, bigger than she’d expected, bigger than she’d imagined when she’d moved on him only minutes ago. When had it gotten that big?
Rock hard, it stood to attention flat against his lean, muscular belly, the skin taut with a satin sheen, the head blushed with blood. The thing pulsated under her stare.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
He flashed her a devastating smile. “Well, I sincerely hope so now that we’ve gotten this far.”
She sat back on her heels while he rolled the condom down over his erection. Then swallowed. A warm, heavy weight built inside her at the thought of all that pushing into her. Her sex felt hot and swollen, and her swimsuit chafed against her nipples. But not for long.
“There. Done,” he murmured, reaching for her. “Now to unwrap you.” His hands moved to her shoulders and he slipped his fingers under the straps and peeled the damp material from her breasts, then down over her hips. She wriggled out of it, and he tossed the scrap on the floor.