She made a low sound at the back of her throat that could have been either an agreement or a rebuttal, with neither of them daring to move. Echoes of the way she’d come apart in his arms, only days ago, seemed to swirl on the light breeze around them.
He could still remember her intoxicating taste, and the heady way her eyes had widened, and darkened, when he’d lifted his fingers to his mouth.
All he could think of now was crushing his mouth to hers, and then pulling aside each of those scrappy triangles in turn to take each of those dark, pert nipples that the bright green and yellow dye did nothing to disguise, and lick them and suck on them until she was moving against him, crying out his name.
Just like she’d done countless times in the past.
‘It makes no sense to muddy things between us.’
His mouth was millimetres from hers, her hot, sweet breath skating over his lips. Seducing him.
‘None,’ she murmured.
And still they stood there—perfectly still. Yet whole currents of attraction arced between them, neither of them daring to speak again.
Liam wasn’t even certain that he hadn’t stopped breathing.
Faintly, so very faintly, the sound of voices finally began to penetrate his consciousness, and he slowly remembered they weren’t alone. Against the objections of every fibre of his being, he leisurely peeled his hand from the perfection of the small of Talia’s back and took a small step away from her.
The slight downturn of her mouth was nothing in comparison to the howling going on inside his body.
He made himself take another step, though he had no idea how he managed it.
‘I think your surf mates were getting ready to close up their cabin,’ he managed to bite out. ‘We should take the gear back to them.’
‘Right.’ She sounded as dazed as he felt, though he wasn’t sure if that was a comfort. ‘I’ll take the boards back now. Do you want to gather up our other stuff?’
He bobbed his head, suddenly aware that he was in no position to go anywhere. His body was still hard, ready. For Talia. Torpedoing every lie he was trying to tell himself about their relationship. Proving that the chemistry was as dangerous as ever.
He headed for the water before he broadcast to Talia just what power she still had over him. This non-date had already stirred too much in him. He couldn’t tell whether it was the holiday-style destination or the reunion with Talia, but this didn’t feel like just a medical trip any more.
Perhaps it never had. Either way, something seemed to have shifted inside him. And he couldn’t afford that.
He needed to get back to his hotel room and regroup before he lost control as he had done back in his office. Perhaps spending time with the woman he’d once cared so deeply for wasn’t the best option after all. It seemed it was making him lose his mind.
Why else would he have to keep reminding himself how she had walked out on him without a word? Without even the slightest indication. Just like everyone else in his life had done.
But that time—with Talia—it had more than hurt. The pain had turned him inside out. Until he’d barely been able to tell who he was any longer.
It had taken him a shamefully long time to resurface. To stop feeling as though everything he did was a battle through some dense, suffocating fug. To feel vaguely human again. Or perhaps it was more that he’d managed to stop himself feeling at all.
He’d even tried dating. Doomed, painful occasions that he could count on one hand—not that his dates had given any indication that they’d found it equally as laboured. They’d even hinted at second dates, which he’d been compelled to studiously avoid, without causing offence.
Because what was the point? None of them had quite been...her. None of them had even come close to getting under his skin the way that Talia had.
And even though he’d told himself that was exactly what he wanted—someone who was nothing li
ke her—none of those other, perfectly lovely, women had been enough to arrest him the way that Talia had.
‘What is this? A final swim?’
He swung around as he heard her splashing through the waves behind him; graceful strokes that once again put her elegant body on display. Precisely the opposite of what he was trying to achieve right now.
‘Something like that,’ he answered, launching himself into the waves and setting off on a freestyle across the section from one rocky breakwater to the next.
A punishing pace designed to occupy his body and mind.
Everything had changed since he’d come to St Victoria—Talia’s home island. Her presence was threatening to turn everything upside down again and he couldn’t seem to stop her because, despite everything, God help him, it seemed he wanted her as much as ever.