Flames leapt in his bloodstream when he saw that she’d more than just taken a look. Her T-shirt and shorts were neatly folded on the grass near the water’s edge and Violet was submerged up to her neck, her body turned from him as she performed unhurried breaststroke.
Without stopping to debate the wisdom of it, Zak tugged off his clothes and slipped into the water. The fresh water did nothing to cool the pounding in his groin as she sent him another glare over her shoulder, then purposefully increased the distance between them.
He wanted to breach it, wanted to truly explore why this woman got beneath his skin so effortlessly when every woman before her had failed to even crack his veneer.
He managed to resist the urge for as long as it took her to swim within metres of the waterfall.
‘Are you going to avoid me all night?’
She gave a rich chuckle. ‘Now, there’s a thought worth serious consideration.’
Laughter spilled from his throat, surprising them both, if the slight widening of her eyes was an indication. ‘Have I really been so fearsome?’
‘Don’t flatter yourself. You’ve been disagreeable, discourteous and downright rude, but you’ll have to go a long way to be fearsome. To me at least. Can’t speak for the masses.’
He raised his eyebrow at her list. ‘I’ve been all of those things? How very trying for you.’
‘Like I said, don’t flatter yourself. I can more than handle you.’
The flames leapt higher. ‘Can you really?’
She hesitated, her gaze meeting his for one bold moment before sliding away.
‘How about we make a deal? For tonight only, you have my word that I’ll be more...accommodating.’
That regained her attention. ‘And what does that entail, pray tell, seeing as it’ll be a complete novelty to me?’
He shrugged. ‘I’ll leave the testing of it up to you. But if you intend to interrogate me, I suggest you come closer. I don’t wish to compete with the mighty waterfall for conversation.’
She glanced from him to the thundering waterfall, then swam in lazy, graceful strokes towards him until she was just beyond arm’s length.
His fingers vibrated with the strongest urge to snatch her, plaster the body that had shattered every night’s sleep since their arrival against his.
It took a monumental effort to resist the urge, to stay put as she eyed him with thinly veiled suspicion. His poker face must have passed muster because she ventured a shade closer. Until he could count every moonlit pearl-shaped drop on her flawless skin. Trace the fullness of her lower lip and watch the sensual sweep of her tongue lick away the droplets that clung to her soft flesh.
His fist bunched as need climbed higher. She saw his reaction and for a moment triumph flashed through her eyes. The foolish little witch... ‘Has no one taught you it’s unwise to play with fire?’
One shapely eyebrow lifted. ‘All I’m doing is swimming, Zak. You’re the one who seems to be...disturbed.’
Even as she said the word her nostrils fluttered, and he was willing to bet the moonlight hid her blush. That innocent reaction triggered an even more urgent question.
‘Do you have a boyfriend, Violet?’ He suspected not, considering her mother’s end goal, and the certainty that if mother and daughter’s goals were aligned, they would be circumspect about publicising such a relationship. But that wasn’t to say Violet, like any other matrimonially ambitious socialite, wouldn’t seek to amuse herself along the way to landing herself a rich husband. The sudden need for confirmation intensified the longer she hesitated. She opened her mouth and he interrupted the heated rebuttal. ‘Or a conveniently clandestine lover, willing to keep your bed warm until he’s no longer of use to you?’
Expecting anger or even a heated denial, all he received was a withering look. ‘This is you on your accommodating behaviour? What is it about me that chafes at you so badly you feel the need to keep picking at my character?’
For the first time in his life, Zak suffered the sting of...shame. He refused to give it another name, refused to consider that this form of attack spoke to a vulnerability in his own character.
‘Or is it because you’re unwilling to admit you’re stumped when it comes to me?’
‘Hardly.’ He infused his tone with as much boredom as he could muster.
Head tilted, she regarded him with something close to...enlightenment. ‘That’s it, isn’t it? All these weeks you’ve been expecting me to behave a certain way, confirm all your suspicions. And I’m not, am I?’
Those last words were uttered so softly the thunder of the waterfall almost snatched them away. But he heard them. Heard and refused to acknowledge even a fraction of them held any truth. He wasn’t stumped. He simply needed more proof.
The last time he’d accepted anyone or anything at face value, he and his family had paid a steep price. Shattered trust was a difficult thing to regain.
While Violet Barringhall may not represent a toppling of his family’s throne or epitomise his personal anguish, Zak had learned not to give any quarter.