She whirled around, one hand holding that rope of hair I wanted to wrap around my own wrist.
‘Neo! I... I thought you were...’
‘Asleep?’ Hell, was that growly mess my voice?
She nodded a little jerkily, her gaze running over my body as I approached. Did her gaze linger below my belt? The throb there grew more insistent, propelling me even closer to the edge of the pool.
‘Did I disturb you?’ she asked.
‘I couldn’t sleep. And from the looks of it neither could you.’
A pulse leapt at her throat as her gaze travelled over me once more, her lips parting as she saw the unmistakable evidence of my arousal.
‘Was I right? Does this night feel too...extraordinary to waste on sleep?’
Her head tilted up, her smooth throat bared to my hungry gaze as she swallowed. ‘I don’t know about extraordinary, but it’s not every day a woman gets married. Or it could be I’m just getting used to this place—’
‘It’s not that and we both know it,’ I interrupted, almost too keen to have her acknowledge what was happening.
She stared up at me, her breathing beautifully erratic, her face worshipped by moonbeams. Her fingers continued to twist that rope of hair. The whole picture of potent wantonness shattered another layer of my control.
I wanted to grab. To devour. To claim with a thoroughness that guaranteed we’d taste blissful insanity.
‘Are you going to stay in there all night or are you done, Sadie?’
She shrugged lazily, drawing my attention to those decadent drops of water on her shoulder.
Two steps back and I snagged a warm towel. Held it out. ‘Come out, Sadie.’
Exquisite defiance tilted her chin, long enough for me to feel the weight of her mutiny.
‘Is that an order? Because, newsflash, I’m not in a mood to obey.’
We stayed like that, her gaze daring me. Then she turned her back, dived back under the water and swam two more lengths. Only then did she get out and approach me. Eyes on mine, she placed one foot on the shallow step. Then another.
Her full breasts swayed with her movement, her hips sashaying in hypnotic motions that drove spikes of lust deeper. With every inch of the body she exposed, my hunger trebled.
Wrapping the towel around her was a perfunctory move to enfold her within my arms. The smile tilting her lips screamed her triumph, stated she was in my arms because she wanted it.
When she wrapped her slim arms around my neck, I barely stopped myself from growling again. ‘You want to know why I’m not in my bed? Why I’m out here, shattering my concentration even further and seeking peace of mind I know I won’t find?’
Her gaze dropped from mine to lock on my lips.
‘Because I do this to you,’ she stated sultrily, rocking herself against my hardness in a way that left no doubt as to my state.
‘Because you tempt me more than I’ve ever been tempted in my life.’ I laughed, despite myself. Or perhaps because of the singular thought that it was no use fighting this. That I didn’t even want to. ‘Despite my every reserve, I hunger for you.’
She inhaled, sharp and sweet, her pink tongue flicking out to swipe across her lower lip.
I captured it, bit her sensitive flesh in punishment for the cyclone of need it had created in me. When she moaned, I deepened the caress, slanted my lips over hers, claimed that mouth and satisfied a fraction of that hunger, even while it continued to rage out of control.
Tentatively, her tongue darted out to meet mine, and I took possession of it, gliding and tasting in an erotic dance I wanted to repeat all over her naked body. Especially that snug, glorious place between her legs.
Finally, I speared my fingers into the heavy mass of her damp hair to tilt her face higher, drive my kiss deeper. When she opened wider for me I couldn’t stop my groan of pure satisfaction.
‘Your hair is a work of art, pethi mou. Simply exquisite.’
‘Neo...’