he joined her on the sand. ‘What’s the problem?’
‘Nothing.’
He grazed her cheek with the back of his fingers. ‘Look at me, Amelia.’
She met his dark gaze and suddenly found herself confessing, ‘I…I can’t swim.’
His eyes softened like melted chocolate. ‘That’s nothing to be ashamed of. It can take a long time to learn to swim properly.’
She chewed at her lip. ‘I’ve never had lessons.’
‘Well, then, now’s a perfect time to start. I can teach you. It’s like riding a bike—once you learn, you learn for life.’
He got to his feet and hauled her upright before she could protest. ‘Take off your dress and let’s go in to our knees.’
Amelia self-consciously wriggled out of her cotton dress and followed him to the water’s edge, stepping into the water tentatively, her toes looking for stability in the shifting sand. After a moment or two she felt more secure and went in a little farther, this time up to her thighs as she held tightly to Alex’s hand.
‘That’s great. Now let’s go to your waist,’ he said.
She took a deep breath and walked in a little farther, wincing as the water swirled around her middle and almost made her lose her balance.
‘Easy does it,’ he said, holding her waist with his hands from behind.
Amelia could feel his body behind her like a strong wall of muscle, his legs braced against the frothing surf. It was the most erotic sensation having his hard body so close to hers. She could even feel the beginnings of his arousal, the gradual thickening of his body, a heady reminder of all that set them apart as man and woman. Her breasts felt tight and heavy, her legs felt insecure and weak and her heart began to race.
They were totally alone on the beach.
They were practically skin on skin.
All she had to do was turn around and his mouth would find hers….
She turned around and met his glittering gaze, her throat locking up at the desire she could see reflected there. He brought her closer so there was no room, not even for water to separate them.
His head came down, his mouth capturing hers in a searing kiss that swept her away on a rushing tide of rapture. It felt so good to be crushed against him, his tongue swooping and meeting hers, his body pressing urgently against her.
She felt his hands leave her hips to explore the curves of her breasts, his thumbs rolling over each tight nipple until she was mindless with sensation. Without taking his mouth off hers, he pushed the straps of her bathing costume aside to access her naked breasts with the warmth of his palms. The feel of his hands caressing her stole her breath and made her legs wobble beneath her.
The pulse of the ocean around them only added to the swirl of sensual feelings swamping her; no part of her was unaffected by his touch. With her bathers practically around her waist she knew she should be calling some sort of halt to this onslaught of sensuality, but there was nothing she could do to pull away.
His mouth left hers and began to kiss its way down the side of her neck on a slow but steady passage towards her aching, swollen breasts. She could feel her skin tightening all over in tiny goose-bumps at the erotic press of his lips as they made their way down…down…
‘Oh…’ She let out a hoarse gasp as his hot mouth closed over her engorged nipple, the rasp of his tongue turning her insides to liquid. She clutched at his head to hold herself upright, her breath coming in stunted little bursts as he suckled on each of her breasts in turn.
He brought his mouth back to hers and her loose bathers slipped even farther so that she could feel his erection on the bare skin of her quivering stomach. It was shockingly intimate, but she couldn’t stop herself from reaching down and tracing his rigid contours with the tips of her fingers, tentatively at first and then with increasing boldness as his throaty groans filled her mouth.
His kiss became more urgent, the mastery of his tongue leaving her in no doubt of his expertise as a lover. She could almost feel him inside her again as she stood there in the rocking ocean with him, his body burning into hers with unmistakable purpose. She had never felt anything like the passion filling her; it consumed her totally, leaving no room for common sense.
Alex tore his mouth off hers and looked down at her with passion-glazed eyes, his chest rising and falling as he struggled to regain control. ‘I guess I’m not the world’s best swimming teacher, huh?’
She gave him a shy smile and covered her naked breasts with her hands. ‘I don’t know about that—I certainly felt like I was floating there for a while.’
He smiled. ‘Me too, especially when you did that little thing with your fingers.’
She felt her colour rise and bit her bottom lip in embarrassment. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’
‘Hey, do you hear me complaining?’ He removed her hands from her breasts, running his dark gaze over her hungrily.
‘Alex…’
‘Mmm?’ He pressed a burning kiss to the top of her right breast, so close to her aching nipple she could barely think.
She squirmed and tried again. ‘My…er…bathers are slipping.’
She felt his smile on the side of her other breast. ‘Want a hand to take them off?’ he asked.
She clutched at his head again, her voice totally breathless as his tongue rasped over her puckered nipple. ‘N-no….no….someone might see us.’
He lifted his head and glanced around them. ‘There’s no one around for miles. Come on, if you take yours off, I’ll take off mine.’
She stared at him in alarm. ‘You’re surely not serious?’
He gave her a stomach-flipping smile. ‘As your very own personal swimming coach I insist you get a feel for the water. Believe me, it makes the world of difference. Besides, that costume of yours is like a diving weight belt. You’d sink to the bottom in two strokes.’
Amelia hesitated for a moment. What harm would it do? she wondered. Wasn’t it about time she learned to put the past aside and enjoy life for once? Lucia was right: Alex was a man and she was a woman. This was the twenty-first century; women were entitled to have temporary lovers. It didn’t mean they were promiscuous or bad people. It was natural to feel desire; it was even healthy.
She took an unsteady breath and pushed the bathers down with her hands and stepped out of them. She felt Alex’s gaze sweeping over her and her heart kicked in response to the almost palpable desire she could feel coming off him.
‘Now it’s your turn,’ she said huskily.
His gaze locked down on hers challengingly. ‘You do it.’
She swallowed and squeaked, ‘Me?’
He nodded.
She moistened her mouth and reached blindly with unsteady hands for the waist
