‘Stand up.’
Easy for him to say—he was ten feet tall! Cautiously she put a foot down. Her toe found the bottom, and, bouncing along for another few feet, she finally risked attempting to follow his advice.
The water reached her shoulder but it only reached Kamel’s waist. He looked like a glistening statue—if cool stone had been capable of oozing the sort of restless vitality he projected. Kamel was not stone or cold. ‘You did that deliberately!’ she charged, focusing on her fury and not on his body—at least that was the aim.
When the sexiest man on the planet was standing there dripping wet and gorgeous it was hard to ignore.
He shrugged, fixing her with a gleaming amused gaze. ‘What can I say? The temptation...’ His voice trailed away as his glance dropped. The immersion had left her shirt plastered to her body; the lacy outline of her bra was clearly visible, as were the thrusting projections of her nipples. Heat pooled in his groin and the laughter faded from his heavy-lidded eyes as in his mind he saw himself drawing the ruched rosy peak into his mouth and heard her hoarse cry. He took a step towards her.
‘Get away from me!’ Refusing to recognise the heart-pounding excitement that made her feel light-headed, she banged the water with the heel of her hand in warning.
His response was a predatory smile. Holding out a hand to ward him off, she took a staggering step backwards and immediately sank beneath the surface. Floating on her back, kicking to stay afloat safely out of reach, she glared at him with eyes several shades deeper than the glittering water.
‘That was so childish!’ she accused, finding her feet again and stepping into marginally shallower water. ‘I could have drowned—you’d have liked that.’
He arched a satiric brow. ‘Me, childish?’
Hannah blinked back at him, an expression of shock filtering into her eyes as their glances connected and locked. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened as she thought, He’s right. Who was the person who had charged in all guns blazing? She turned her glance downwards over her drenched clothes, and felt the clutch of cold, horrified embarrassment in her stomach. This wasn’t her. She lifted her eyes, saw the way he was looking at her, and the cold in her belly turned hot and liquid.
‘You’re right. It is me!’ she yelled. The discovery was liberating.
Kamel didn’t have a clue what she was talking about and he didn’t ask, because she was churning the water, windmilling her hands, sending as much spray over herself as him—and he reciprocated.
Hannah threw herself into the exertion and was not even aware of the point when she began to cry. Blinded by the spray, she didn’t realise until her arms and shoulders got too tired to retaliate that Kamel had stopped splashing and he was standing right there, toe to toe with her.
The sun and the water droplets on her lashes gave a shimmering effect to his dark outline.
Everything seemed to slow, even her heartbeat. Her throat closed over, then she stopped breathing completely. She closed her eyes and felt his finger on her cheek. Leaking control from every pore, she opened her eyes. The sexual tension humming in the air had a stronger physical presence than the Mediterranean sun burning down on them.
‘Are you crying?’
She shook her head, and wondered how he could tell.
‘Come here!’ he growled.
Afterwards, Hannah had no clue whether she stepped into him or whether he pulled her into his arms. All she knew was that it felt gloriously right to be there. His dark, hot eyes made her feel light-headed but she couldn’t look away as he brushed the strands of wet hair away from her face. She couldn’t take her eyes off him.
Kamel watched through eyes narrowed against the sun as the sparkling defiance faded from her blue eyes. He saw the hot glaze of desire drift in, and heard the husky little catch as she drew in a shuddering sigh and reached for his hand—not to pull it away, but to hold it there.
Kamel felt a rise of unfamiliar emotion as he looked down at her, and his fingers tightened around the slim ones that were entwined within his. He felt her shiver and frowned.
‘You’re cold.’
She shook her head. Turning her face into his palm, she felt anything but cold—she was burning from the inside out. She let out a gasp as Kamel dragged her into his body; the hard imprint of his erection against the softness of her belly drew another gasp, this one fractured. Her hands slid around the nape of his neck into his dark hair.
‘Can I be of—?’
Kamel swore and cut across Rafiq’s enquiry. ‘No, we are fine. That will be all.’