‘You remained frozen for five minutes,’ he countered.
‘Just time enough for anyone who’d been dozing off to wake up,’ she responded, wide-eyed.
The tension slowly eased out of his body and his crooked smile returned. Relief poured through her and she fell into the punishing kiss he delivered to assert his displeasure at her hesitation.
She was clinging to him by the time he pulled away, and Eva was ready to protest when he swung out of bed. Her protest died when she got her first glimpse of his impressive manhood, and the full effect of the man attached to it.
Dry-mouthed and heart racing, she stared. And curled her fingers into the sheets to keep from reaching for him.
‘If you keep looking at me like that, our shower will have to be postponed. And our lunch will go cold.’
A blush stormed up her face.
He laughed and scooped her up. ‘But I’m glad that my body is not displeasing to you.’
She rolled her eyes. As if. ‘False humility isn’t an attractive trait, Zaccheo,’ she chided as he walked them through a wide door and onto an outdoor bamboo-floored shower. Despite the rustic effects, the amenities were of the highest quality, an extra-wide marble bath sitting opposite a multi-jet shower, with a shelf holding rows upon rows of luxury bath oils and gels.
Above their heads, a group of macaws warbled throatily, then flew from one tree to the next, their stunning colours streaking through the branches.
As tropical paradises went, Eva was already sure this couldn’t be topped, and she had yet to see the rest of it.
Zaccheo set her down and grabbed a soft washcloth. ‘Complete compatibility in bed isn’t a common thing, despite what magazines would have you believe,’ he said.
‘I wouldn’t know.’ There was no point pretending otherwise. He had first-hand knowledge of her innocence.
His eyes flared with possession as he turned on the jets and pulled her close.
‘No, you wouldn’t. And if that knowledge pleases me to the point of being labelled a caveman, then so be it.’
* * *
They ate a sumptuous lunch of locally caught fish served with pine-nut sauce and avocado salad followed by a serving of fruit and cheeses.
After lunch, Zaccheo showed her the rest of the house and the three-square-kilometre island. They finished the trek on the white sandy beach where a picnic had been laid out with champagne chilling in a silver bucket.
Eva popped a piece of papaya in her mouth and sighed at the beauty of the setting sun casting orange and purple streaks across the aquamarine water. ‘I don’t know how you can ever bear to leave this place.’
‘I learned not to grow attached to things at an early age.’
The crisp reply had her glancing over at him. His shades were back in place so she couldn’t read his eyes, but his body showed no signs of the usual forbidding do not disturb signs so she braved the question. ‘Why?’
‘Because it was better that way.’
She toyed with the stem of her champagne flute. ‘But it’s also a lonely existence.’
Broad shoulders lifted in an easy shrug. ‘I had a choice of being lonely or just...solitary. I chose the latter.’
Her heart lurched at the deliberate absence of emotion from his voice. ‘Zaccheo—’
He reared up from where he’d been lounging on his elbows, his mouth set in a grim line. ‘Don’t waste your time feeling sorry for me, dolcezza,’ he said, his voice a hard snap that would’ve intimidated her, had she allowed it.
‘I wasn’t,’ she replied. ‘I’m not naive enough to imagine everyone has a rosy childhood. I know I didn’t.’
‘You mean the exclusive country-club memberships, the top boarding schools, the winters in Verbier weren’t enough?’ Despite the lack of contempt in his voice this time round, Eva felt sad that they were back in this place again.
‘Don’t twist my words. Those were just things, Zaccheo. And before you accuse me of being privileged, yes, I was. My childhood was hard, too, but I couldn’t help the family I was born into any more than you could.’
‘Was that why you moved out of Pennington Manor?’
‘After my mother died, yes. Two against one became unbearable.’
‘And the father-daughter moment you spoke of? Did that help?’ he asked, watching her with a probing look.
A tiny bit of hope blossomed. ‘Time will tell, I guess. Will you try the same with your mother and stepfather?’
‘No. My mother didn’t think I was worth anything. My stepfather agreed.’