Island Fling to Forever

‘You don’t know that for sure,’ Jude said. Although, given what he’d heard about Leo’s reputation, he could see Rosa’s point.

‘Ah, but you see, I do.’ Rosa’s smile was sad. ‘Leo and me, we’re cut from the same cloth, I reckon. Not made to stay. We have to keep moving to keep living.’

‘Like sharks,’ Jude said, absently remembering a nature documentary he’d watched on some flight to a gig, somewhere or another.

‘I bite, too,’ Rosa joked.

‘I remember.’ The words were out before he could even think about them, and instantly the image they conjured up heated his blood.

No wonder her family thought they were together. If his gaze was half as heated as the one she had trained on him, then they must look as if they’d been lovers for years.

Rosa licked her lips, and Jude felt the pressure building inside him. He had to say something. Do something.

He had to have her again—even if she left him tomorrow.

Just one more night with her, that was all he needed.

God, he sounded like Gareth, at the end.

‘Just one more hit. I’ll quit tomorrow, Jude, I promise. Just one more. One more for the road...’

Was he every bit an addict as his friend had been? And while his addiction might not be so deadly, could Jude really say it wouldn’t destroy him, all the same?

But then Rosa said, ‘Let’s go for a swim,’ and he stopped thinking altogether.

If he was an addict, maybe he didn’t care any more. He needed one more night with Rosa Gray.

* * *

She didn’t have to ask Jude twice. Whether he’d read her mind, or their mutual lust had just taken over his brain as it seemed to have taken over hers, he abandoned the wine and followed her down to the beach without question.

Rosa didn’t think too much about what she was doing. Overthinking wasn’t her style—she was more of an impulse person. She went with what her instincts told her were right and, if it went wrong, well, at least she’d been true to herself.

Tonight, she felt as if she was being true to an impulse she’d been denying for three long years. And the relief of it was almost overwhelming.

‘There’s a cove, just around here,’ she said, picking her way over the rocks and out of sight of the villa. She really didn’t want any of her family members coming looking for them tonight.

Tonight was about her and Jude. Not them.

She could feel him behind her, feel the heat of him jumping the inch or two of space between them.

Maybe this was inevitable. Maybe, from the moment she’d first seen him sitting there in the courtyard, as if he’d been waiting for her, they’d been leading to this.

Maybe this was the real closure Jude had been looking for.

One more night together. Maybe that was what they both needed to be able to move on.

All Rosa knew was she couldn’t have sat at that dinner table any longer, with everyone playing perfect happy families, when she knew what a lie it was. They were all pretending that they were settled, stable, that this was how things would be for ever. But none of that was true. Her parents hadn’t been together in ten years—and if she knew them at all, she doubted they’d even talked about why Sancia had left, all those years ago. Nothing had been resolved. Anna and Leo weren’t going to live happily ever after, whatever fairy tales Anna was telling herself. Things would get hard and Leo would run, and so would Sancia.

And as for Rosa and Jude...they weren’t even ever a couple. Not really.

And they weren’t about to start now.

But there was something between them, that much was true. And if she had to stay here on the island and witness all this hypocrisy, at least she could get to explore the fun side of it, too.

Jude knew who she was now. He wouldn’t be fooled into thinking she’d stay, this time.

This time, it was all about transient fun. About freedom and enjoyment and letting the wildness inside loose again.

And what was more wild and free than swimming naked in the ocean?

The cove was just as she remembered: tucked away at the back of the island, protected by rocks and cliffs on either side, but with a small crescent-shaped beach in the centre. Rosa hopped down onto the sand, the sea already calling her. Even in the dark, it glistened in the moonlight, open and wide and free.

Without pausing in her stride, Rosa pulled off her top, and heard a sharp intake of breath behind her.

She spun to face Jude, still walking backwards as she fumbled with the clasp of her bra, letting it fall to the sand at her feet.

‘Is this safe?’ Jude asked, his eyes nowhere near her face.

‘Do you care?’ she asked, grinning.

‘No.’

Rosa pushed her skirt and her underwear down her legs at the same time, stepped out of them and ran for the water, knowing that Jude wouldn’t be far behind her.

The sea flowed cool and fresh against her hot skin, the salt stinging and sharp. Rosa welcomed every sensation—the rocks and sand under her feet, the water lapping against her, the breeze that blew loose strands of hair around her face. She stayed, treading water, just far enough out to be out of her depth—just where she liked to be—and watched Jude as he stripped off on the shoreline.

His skin was pale in the moonlight, his hair so dark it was almost lost in the night. But his body...oh, there were those lean, strong muscles she remembered. Those powerful legs, those well-defined arms and abs. That trail of hair that led down his body...

She remembered every inch of him. And she wanted him again.

He didn’t flinch as he stepped into the cool water; she admired that. Throwing him a reckless gri

n, she flipped in the waves, diving underneath and kicking hard until she was further out. Let him chase her, the way he never had when she left.

That thought tugged at something in her mind, but she pushed it away to worry about another day.

Right now, all she wanted to do was enjoy the water on her skin, and Jude—when he caught her.

It didn’t take him long.

She surfaced, a short way from where she’d watched him enter the water, and already she could see his powerful arms scything through the waves, propelling him towards her. He was barely even out of breath when he reached her side, treading water next to her as his arms reached out to slide around her waist.

His hands glided over her skin, under the water, pulling her close against him. Her whole body vibrated with the surety that this was right. This was meant to be. Here, now, like this. Wild and free and passionate—just the way they’d been together three years before.

She knew he was going to kiss her before his lips even lowered to hers, knew the surge of need that would pulse through her at the feel of his mouth, his tongue.

‘Rosa.’ He murmured her name like a wish.

‘Let’s take this to the shallows,’ she whispered, pushing away from him and swimming for the shore.

Soon, Jude Alexander would make love to her again. And then maybe the island would feel like where she belonged.

CHAPTER EIGHT

LATER—MUCH LATER—they lay in each other’s arms on the beach and watched the stars overhead.

‘Planning on running away yet?’ Jude asked, pressing a kiss to Rosa’s bare shoulder. Her olive skin felt smooth and soft under his lips, the clothes they’d abandoned on the beach protecting them both from the sand.

‘Not just yet.’ Rosa stretched out against him, her body pressing closer to his. ‘I might need to do that a few more times first.’