How shallow he’d been.
As he gazed into her eyes, he saw her beauty wasn’t just on the surface. She glowed from within her soul.
And he wanted to hold onto her, be surrounded by her light. He cupped her cheeks. The contact seemed to warm even the coldest corner of his heart. “Ginger…”
Her eyes drifted shut, the long, dark eyelashes resting on her cheeks like butterflies. He kissed her. She tasted as sweet as the ripest strawberries of the season. He deepened the kiss, flickering his tongue against hers in a sensual invitation to pleasure each other.
She moaned softly, her body relaxing like heated wax. She pressed into him, and he let her in. Her hands tunneled into his wind-mussed hair and tightened around his scalp.
Desire surged fast, his cock going rigid. The previous encounter had left him sexually frustrated, and kissing her like this under the sun only intensified his need for her.
He pulled her closer until she could feel his cock against her. “You have no idea how beautiful you are, how much I want you.”
Rose colored her cheeks, and she looked away.
“Don’t. You’re perfect. I wish I could show you what I see when I look at you.”
“There’s the camera,” she rasped.
“I can’t capture it.”
“Sure you can.” She licked the column of his throat. “You’re one of the best photographers I know.”
He dropped to his knees and buried his face in her navel, his mouth against her hot skin. “It can never properly record the way you radiate with light. Or your gentle soul.” And how much he wanted to possess and protect her. He groaned. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
“Neither do you,” she said shakily. “I know we shouldn’t, but I can’t think straight whenever you’re around.”
“Don’t pull back.” He tightened his arms around her legs. “If you want me to grovel for the shitty things I said to you in South Africa, I will. If you want me to promise to call you every day, I’ll do that too.”
“Oh, Shane.” She fell to her knees and looked into his eyes. “I don’t want you to do any of that. The situation’s just—we’re just—too complicated.”
“Why? We’re engaged. We’re sexually compatible—I don’t have to have sex with you to know that, since I can’t imagine us staying together that long if we weren’t—and we obviously care for each other. You can’t even say that money’s the problem in our relationship because I have more than plenty. What more does a relationship need?” he said.
There it was—those hints of uncertainty and apprehension crossing her face as fast as lightning before a storm. He wanted to erase them. And he knew the best way to do that.
He took her mouth, this time with an almost brutal intensity. He wanted her to forget everything and just enjoy herself and know that he’d take care of her. He used his teeth and tongue, nibbling and licking her closed lips and coaxing them for an entrance. His hands roamed over her back and sweetly curved ass and squeezed. She moaned, softening her mouth. He took advantage of the lapse and thrust his tongue inside.
Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he assaulted her mouth. She kissed him back hotly. She didn’t use just her tongue or lips or teeth. She used her entire body, pressing against him and rocking, her throat vibrating as she moaned her budding pleasure.
He slipped a hand between their torsos and weighed her plump breast. She had the most gorgeous breasts he’d ever seen—round, soft and incredibly responsive. She trembled as he massaged her breast and played with the nipple, pinching and pulling it. The sundress she wore was thin, but he didn’t want even that between them.
Before he could mo
ve, she pushed the skinny straps down. His cock twitched at the sight of her naked chest, fully revealed to him. During the storm he hadn’t been able to see her very well, not with the darkness and pelting rain. God, she was absolutely beautiful.
And she was his.
He pressed his head in her cleavage and inhaled. She smelled amazing, all orchids and butter cream. She cupped a breast in an offering. He smiled, but didn’t take the nipple into his mouth. He wanted something else instead.
He ran his callused hands over her breasts. She shivered, her white teeth sinking into her rosy lip. “Lie on your back, Ginger.”
She obeyed instantly. The bodice was bunched around her waist; the sand under her hot from the sun, but she didn’t complain. Instead she stared up at him with anticipation in her dark eyes.
He kissed along her torso. Her stomach jittered as his five o’clock shadow scraped the delicate white skin. He was certain she hadn’t put any sun block on her belly, and he didn’t want her to burn. He’d linger later—in the comfort of his bedroom.
Getting rid of her panties and pushing her skirt aside, he reached down and ran his forefinger along her folds. They were slick, and in the daylight he could see them glisten with her juices. She put a hand over his wrist. “Shane—”
“Shh…” He blew over her clit and smiled when she bucked against him. His cock was so damn hard he felt like he could use it to crack coconuts, but right now what he wanted was her against his mouth.