To the right there was nothing but an endless stretch of sand and surf, curving into the distance. To the left more pristine beach stretched to the northernmost tip of the island, with the mainland jutting out in a headland just beyond. The air was clean and fresh and she just wanted to drink it in. And the best thing of all was that there was absolutely nobody else there.
‘It’s magic!’
And she wasn’t only talking about the view. Something was different today. Something had changed on some indefinable level, and Alejandro was suddenly more relaxed towards her than he’d ever been—certainly since he’d walked back into her life barely a week ago. For today there was no sign of the ruthless businessman who’d demanded her return to his bed in exchange for paying off her brother’s debts. And while logic told her that it could just be his relief after a few intense days of negotiations and contracts that the casino deal was coming together, inexplicably, illogically, she wanted to believe there was more.
He smiled at her and took her hand. ‘Come on.’ They jumped down onto the beach, shrugging off their sandals and digging their toes into the warm white sand. They walked a short way down the beach until they found a grassy spot at the edge of the bush, sheltered from the sun, where he spread out a picnic blanket. Leah dropped to her knees and dug out the sunscreen.
‘Where is everybody?’ she asked, unable to believe such a beautiful beach so close to the city could be so empty. She stripped off her T-shirt to apply another layer of sunscreen.
Alejandro took the tube from her and knelt behind her, squeezing the cream into his hand and smoothing it onto her back in slow circular movements, more like a sensual massage than any casual application of cream, his fingers tracing her ribcage, caressing her shoulders. ‘Without a four-wheel drive or a boat you can’t get here.’
‘I like it,’ she said, turning towards him, placing an arm around his neck, her fingers splayed in his thick curls at the base of his neck. ‘Thank you for bringing me here.’ And she kissed him.
It was a small kiss of thanks, no more than a brief meeting of their lips that had ended almost before it had begun. She was already pulling away when he grabbed her arm, holding her there, the look of turmoil in his eyes a frightening thing.
‘Alejandro?’
He shook his head and closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, whatever she’d seen there was gone. He smiled and let her go. ‘How about a swim before lunch?’
He stood, peeling off his shirt and shorts to reveal his black swimming trunks. Leah felt a tremor of excitement. He looked magnificent in black, his lean hips and natural endowment accentuated by the band of black Lycra. But here they were on a deserted beach. And there was one thing Alejandro wore even more magnificently…
She rose to her feet, sliding her shorts down her legs, feeling his gaze sear a trail down with them. He was about to take her hand when she moved them both out of his reach, behind her.
‘What are you doing?’ he growled, as she pulled on the end of her bikini tie.
‘There’s nobody here but you and me. And there’s something I’ve always wanted to do.’
She dragged the bikini top over her head, letting it fall to the rug below. His eyes let it go, his attention riveted on her breasts.
‘I didn’t pu
t sunscreen there,’ he growled.
Then her thumbs hooked into the sides of her bikini pants and his gaze headed south.
‘If someone comes?’
She smiled wickedly across at him. ‘Bring it on.’
The band of black around his hips grew tighter as she pushed the garment down her hips, letting it slide down her legs. ‘Are you coming?’
He uttered something, a sound like gravel, but she was already running across the beach, her feet squeaking on the sand as she bolted for the surf.
It met her in a cold rush that sucked the air from her lungs as it tugged around her legs, but still she ploughed on, diving through a crashing wave that turned the water around her to foam. She jumped up high, gasping and exhilarated, her body feeling more alive than ever as the cool Pacific water discovered every part of her.
The sea erupted alongside her. Alejandro, bursting from the sea like some fabled sea creature, dark and sleek and glistening in the sunlight.
He captured her in his arms and pulled her in tight, slick skin against slick skin, his mouth hot against hers, his erection pressing into her belly. The water swirled and sucked around them, holding them in its own embrace. A wave caught them, sent them tumbling, and she spun away, diving into the foaming depths to escape him. But his hand found her ankle and he hauled her back for another heated kiss, another glimpse of paradise.
Then his mouth was on her breasts, sucking the salt from her, rolling first one nipple around his tongue then the other, heated and desperate, while she clung to him, her fingers laced in his hair as he devoured her.
‘Do you have any idea what you do to me?’ he groaned against her breast, his breathing ragged and coarse.
‘Show me,’ she said, arching her back, pushing her nipple further into his mouth, her whole body tingling, her thighs aching in anticipation.
The waves crashed around them, and the blood crashed in his ears, and somehow the two were in time, an endless symphony, spurring him on to another inevitable union.
He cast one scant look towards their clothes, to where he’d left protection, before he decided that there was no time. The moment was now. He moulded her to him, lifting her, wrapping her legs around him, feeling for her core as his mouth sucked the salt from her throat.