That they had a chance for a bright future.
But now wasn’t the time to discuss it. The day had exhausted her and strained his patience.
Tomorrow. She’d deal with all this then.
Her arms sliced the water with precision, her shoulders burning from the exertion, her thighs growing tighter, her lungs starting to burn.
The intricate mosaic design on the tile edging the far end of the pool became clearer, the bright red, blue and yellow more intense. Almost there. Almost.
She felt the pressure of water pushing at her from below. Panic nipped at her, for she knew he was a heartbeat away from colliding with her.
A great white shark chasing her, poised to attack. She chanced a look down, faltering when she saw him.
His long powerful body surged upward to meld with hers, his hands on her waist anchoring her to him. Before she could think to fight him, he broke the water and shot upward, taking her with him.
The night breeze whispered over her body, pebbling her skin. She slammed both palms on his wet chest to push him away, but the raw hunger in his eyes paralyzed her.
He smiled, arrogant and potently sexy. Then his mouth captured hers and she surrendered with a whimper.
They fell back into the water, the splash noisy and ungraceful. Her hands slipped around his neck, her fingers memorizing the play of muscle flexing beneath warm smooth skin.
She’d missed this connection to him so much.
The water lapped over them as they sank in the pool, and she clung to him. The kiss deepened, breathing life into her.
He was her anchor and her damnation. As before, his kiss was unlike any she’d experienced. Deep, wild, intoxicating, dragging her through hell to glimpse heaven.
Each glide of skin against skin sent shockwaves of need vibrating through her, crumbling the walls of restraint she’d hastily erected. Just like that and she capitulated to him.
There was no reason to continue fighting when he’d won this battle. She wanted him, and she hated herself for being so weak around him, hated this intense need that coursed in her for him.
With just a kiss he’d reduced her world to her and him and the child in her womb, nestled between them. But he didn’t know that, or realize her concern at holding her breath too long.
He pushed off the bottom of the pool and propelled them upward. Toward air.
And another confrontation with André.
He held majority shares in her hotel as tightly as he held her life in his hands. She should fear him. But she believed that he’d protect her, even though her intuition warned she’d come out the loser in any personal war with him. Even knowing the danger ahead of her, she let him woo her heart without effort.
They broke the surface, each dragging in air—another form of torture, for her breasts rubbed his chest with each indrawn breath, teasing the nipples into aching peaks. And lower his sex pressed against her belly, separated only by her swimsuit.
A languid heat coiled in her at knowing he was naked. Knowing that it would be so simple to reach down and stroke his exquisite length, to guide him where she ached for him.
“You’re an expert swimmer,” he said, forcing her mind from sex—a blessing that part of her cursed.
“It’s good exercise.” No longer a passion.
Her dream to compete in watersports had died long ago, derailed by an injury, then later crushed beneath Edouard’s plans for her.
She’d not relinquish another dream to please a man, no matter how much she ached for his touch, his possession. Yet even as the thought crossed her mind she admitted that was a lie. She ached to have a family. To be wanted. Loved.
He moved, lifting her to nuzzle her breasts through the thin Spandex of her swimsuit. Fire shot through her. She dug her fingers into his strong wet shoulders, trembling and arching her back to press her bosom closer to his mouth.
“I want you,” he said, his teeth grazing one sensitized nipple before moving to the other. “You want me.”
She moaned, awash in need, refusing to fight what they both wanted. “That’s obvious.”
He scowled, as if angered by her admission. “I won’t take you now.”
Had she heard him wrong? No, even as he spoke with biting conviction he pulled away from her, putting her at arm’s length, slamming the door on the hot emotions she’d seen flickering in his eyes.
“Then why the foreplay?” she asked, disgusted that her face was flushed and her body trembled with desire.
“I was ravenous for an appetizer.” He left her standing in the water and strode to the edge. “We will indulge in the sensual entrée later.”
He hoisted himself from the pool, water sluicing down his naked and aroused body. He was tanned all over, though a slightly lighter hue banded his groin and his firm, sexy behind, indicating he wore a brief swimsuit on occasion.
The sight of his magnificent body intensified the ache in her. “I won’t have sex with you.”
“Oui, you will. But tonight I need rest and I need food.” His gaze slid over her with a hunger that made her breath catch. “When we make love it will be leisurely and very thorough.”
She trembled at the promise, at a loss as to what to say that wouldn’t betray her wants, her needs.
“Dinner will be served in fifteen minutes,” he said. “We’ll dine casually tonight.”
He stepped into his cutoff jean shorts, but left them unbuttoned, clinging to him like she longed to do. Then he walked away, his long strides taking him further from her. Just like that he could shut off his need for her, while she still quivered with want.
Damn him!
Kira slapped both palms on the calm water as anger danced up her limbs. He didn’t look back once, didn’t pause. He stepped onto the terrace and into the house.
Frustrated beyond words, she launched into a breaststroke that took her the length of the pool and back. Yet even though her muscles screamed for rest as she climbed from the water, a part of her was still ravenous for André’s touch.
She had to gain control of her emotions and her libido. For if she wasn’t very careful her weakness for him would be the downfall from which she’d never recover.
After a quick shower, Kira donned a simple sundress patterned in aqua and a rich brown the color of André’s eyes. That she could make the comparison confirmed she was still on dangerous ground around him. It didn’t help that her emotions swung wildly due to her pregnancy.
One moment she hated him, the next she craved his touch, his kiss. She’d even pondered engaging him in a debate, but quelled the urge. Their first and last verbal clash had led them straight to the bedroom.
Considering how she’d melted
