Claiming His Wedding Night

He shook his head again and laughed. ‘No. Turtles like to nest near open water, so their babies can reach the ocean real quick.’ As though sensing her disappointment, he smiled. ‘But they do nest on Finlay’s Island. You won’t have seen it from the boat, but it’s only thirty minutes away. I keep an eye out at this time of year, so I’ll let you know if I see any sign of them. Now, is there anything else I can do?’

Addie nodded. An idea had just occurred to her. ‘Actually,’ she began tentatively, ‘there is

one thing...’

Ten minutes later, Addie was relaxing on a sun lounger, a glass of iced tea in her hand, thoroughly enjoying a celebrity gossip magazine. Having arranged for Terry to take them on a tour of the island, she felt calmer—more in control.

More like herself.

She took a sip of her tea. It wasn’t that she didn’t have a sexy side, but she wasn’t comfortable about it being her defining quality. And now it wouldn’t be.

A shadow fell across her face and her thought jammed inside her head as, looking up sharply, her eyes collided with Malachi’s cool, assessing grey gaze.

‘Good morning,’ he said slowly, his eyes roaming over her in a way that made her whole body twitch restlessly.

Dressed in a pair of linen trousers and a navy polo shirt that clung to the muscular outline of his chest and arms, he looked relaxed and cool despite the heat of the morning.

‘Morning!’ Putting her glass down on the table beside her, she gave him what she hoped was a casual smile. ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I did have some breakfast.’

‘Not at all.’ He glanced back into the villa. ‘I might just grab some fruit. Can I tempt you with anything else?’

‘Like what?’ Her eyes flicked up and he smiled at her mockingly.

‘I meant some more iced tea, or something else to eat.’

Licking her lips, wondering how he managed to make such a mundane suggestion sound so enticing and decadent, she shook her head. ‘No, thank you. I had a...thing...you know...’ Her mind was suddenly a total blank, his proximity playing havoc with her brain. ‘A pastry—almond—almond croissant,’ she managed finally.

‘Then I’ll be right back!’ he said softly, his clear, teasing gaze leaving her in no doubt that he knew the effect he was having on her.

Gritting her teeth, heart pounding, she watched his broad retreating back with a mixture of longing and relief. Moments later her breath seemed to punch out of her lungs as he dropped down lightly beside her on the lounger, the warm length of his thigh pressing against her naked leg.

‘Why does everything taste so much better here than it does back on the mainland?’ he murmured as he licked juice from his fingers. ‘I know sugar’s bad for you, but sometimes there’s nothing better than that rush.’ His eyes slid slowly over her face, fixing on her mouth. ‘Almost nothing anyway.’

Addie felt her stomach drop, and then a slow, prickling tension crept up her spine as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her softly. Helplessly she arched against his body, feeling a quivering, featherlight pleasure steal over her skin, and then she breathed in sharply as Malachi lifted his head.

‘Now, that is the correct way to say good morning!’

Staring down into Addie’s dazed blue eyes, Malachi forced himself to blank off his mind to the clamouring of his body. His pulse was racing, and a fierce hot pressure was building in his groin. He had planned simply to kiss her, thereby reminding her of why she was sitting there, on his lounger, by his lagoon, looking so damn tempting. But now, with that red hair tumbling across her shoulders, her lips parted invitingly, it took every ounce of willpower he had not to scoop her up into his arms and take her right there and then.

Looking past her, he gritted his teeth, hating how stirred up she made him feel. He wanted her badly—so badly it felt like a toothache. But taking her now would only demonstrate that fact, and he’d arranged a little surprise for her that would be far more effective at enticing her into his arms.

He breathed out. Yesterday, after she had gone upstairs to lie down, he had fully intended to follow her. To give in finally to the hunger that had been growing inside him since the moment he’d heard her voice again.

Only he hadn’t.

Oh, he’d wanted to. But he couldn’t. His legs simply wouldn’t move; it had been as if he was trapped inside his own body as once upon a time he’d been trapped as a unwilling onlooker at his parents’ parties. How could he possibly have gone upstairs to Addie with that thought uppermost in his mind?

As for mentioning his parents to Addie—what had he been thinking? He shifted uncomfortably on the lounger. He’d worked so hard to suppress the hurt, to bury the memories. Now wasn’t the time to let that darkness seep back into his life.

‘Are you okay?’ Looking up, he found Addie watching him warily.

He smiled, instantly back in control, and ran his fingers slowly down her arm, feeling her skin shiver beneath his touch. ‘Of course. And you? Did you sleep okay?’

Her face stiffened. ‘Yes. I did.’ She hesitated. ‘I’m sorry about falling asleep. I suppose I was more tired than I thought.’ She frowned, not wanting to ask where he’d slept. Instead she said quickly. ‘How did you sleep? Did you have a good night?’

It was not a night he would care to repeat, he thought grimly. And sleep had played a very small part in it. Having finally managed to clear his head enough to go and look for her, his erotic imaginings had turned increasingly feverish with every step, so that by the time he’d walked into the bedroom his body had been pulsing with desire.

Only of course she’d been fast asleep, her curled-up body seeming to emphasise her vulnerability and innocence. And, gazing down at her, he had cursed his timing. Waking a sleeping woman simply to gratify his sexual appetites was not something he could ever contemplate. But nor was lying next to that body when his mind was little more than a white-hot mass of sexually charged fantasies.