over her like a silken caress, and her knees almost buckled right then and there.
As if on cue, the ship’s horn blasted as the massive vessel pulled away from the dock. Suva’s lights twinkled like a fairyland as the ship sailed up the channel, and a gentle breeze fanned her face—a welcome relief for her fiery cheeks.
She was no good at this. Even with him being so nice this afternoon, even with her defences lowered, she still couldn’t throw herself into flirting unreservedly.
Hiding away was a habit of a lifetime. She’d done it as a child, leaving her dad to work through his grief, and she’d done it as a teenager, flying under the radar of her father’s countless girlfriends who had waltzed in and out of a revolving door.
No prizes for guessing where her abhorrence of casual sex came from. Her folks had had the perfect relationship, with their love for each other radiating out to include her. They’d been the epitome of the happy family before that car accident had ripped their lives apart.
Her dad had always assured her she’d come first in his life and she had. He’d mourned her mum for seven long years before dating again. But she had never understood the women who could jump into bed so quickly when her dad made it perfectly clear he wasn’t interested in a relationship—never understood what motivated them to be so free and easy with something she considered a gift.
‘Well, what do you think?’
Her gaze swept the horizon, the sea. Eventually she raised her eyes to meet his, which were firmly fixed on her rather than the view. ‘You’re right. It’s magical.’
His eyes glittered in the moonlight, a sexy smile curved his lips, and the skin behind her ears gave an alarming prickle.
‘You’re not looking at the view,’ she said.
‘I prefer this one.’
She tensed as he lowered his head, barely grazing her lips, and the feather-light kiss sabotaged her initial determination to pull away, rendering her resolve to keep her distance useless.
He kissed her again and again and again, gently increasing the pressure with each kiss as a languorous heat stole from her lips to her fingertips—a heat she’d never experienced, a heat that stole through her body and into her heart.
He hadn’t laid a hand on her, yet every inch of her skin tingled as if he’d caressed it, and their lack of contact only served to increase the pleasure of their lips locked together, tasting, sampling, searching in an endless quest for satisfaction.
But she couldn’t give him satisfaction—at least not the kind a virile man like him wanted, deserved. She pulled away, wishing she was another type of woman, wishing she had the courage to let go of her reservations all at once, throw caution to the wind and see what happened.
‘Definitely magical.’ He touched her lips, still quivering from the impact of his kisses, with a reverent fingertip, gently tracing the contours, undoing her one little stroke at a time.
She needed to reassemble her wits, to say something, but her mind wouldn’t co-operate while her body was still in shock.
‘I take it this is part of your plan to get to know me better?’
As if she’d tripped a silent trigger, the shutters descended over his eyes and his smile faded. ‘Plan?’
She shrugged and wrapped her arms around her middle, suddenly chilled despite the balmy breeze. She had to say this—had to be bluntly honest. It was the only way she knew. ‘You’re trying to seduce me.’
‘Am I?’
His sombre expression, the way his voice tightened, the distance he’d established between them by taking a step back, all indicated one thing: she’d insulted him.
Tugging on the end of her ponytail, matted by the wind, she met his bitter gaze head-on.
‘Come on—level with me. I may be some naïve recluse who hasn’t been on a date in far too long, but I’m not stupid. You said you like me. A guy like you has needs. So what I want to know is this. Why are you going through this game of charming me, kissing me, when there isn’t a hope in hell I’ll sleep with you?’
There—she’d said it. And while her gut churned with trepidation, her hands were surprisingly steady as she folded them in front of her, before realising she probably looked like a prim and proper nun and promptly released them.
A vein pulsed at his temple as he raked a hand through his hair, dishevelled and spiked and thoroughly tempting. Then he met her gaze, his clouded with disappointment, hers wary yet relieved that she’d asked what had been bugging her since that afternoon.
She’d had the guts to speak her mind, and he had no idea what a big deal that was.
‘This isn’t just about sex.’
‘Oh, really?’
He jammed his hands in his pockets, shoulders squared, back rigid. ‘I meant what I said this afternoon. I want to spend time with you, get to know you. But I’ll be damned if I stand here and lie about wanting to drag you back to my cabin right this very minute and have amazing sex with you all night long.’
Her mouth dropped open, a squeaky ‘oh’ escaping before she shut it.
His eyes flashed blue fire as he fixed her with a steely gaze. ‘There. Is that what you wanted to hear? Do I want to have sex with you? Hell, yeah. But I’m not going to push you. If you want me half as much as I want you, you’ll have to show me.’
She bit her tongue, biding her time, trying to unscramble her brain long enough to answer, to give him a response halfway decipherable that didn’t consist of another scintillating ‘oh’.
Her hands trembled and her belly rolled in time with the ship as it headed out to the open sea. She searched for the words to make him understand half of what she was feeling: confused, scared, excited, a mish-mash of emotions that terrified her as much as falling for this incredible man who pulled no punches and spoke the truth without flinching.
Honesty was all-important to her—one of her top criteria in her perfect man, courtesy of the elaborate lies Jax had told to manipulate her. She’d never trust a liar again, and here was a guy who was dead-set honest about what he wanted. She admired him for it, even though the blunt truth of exactly what he wanted from her scared her beyond belief.
After a drawn-out silence, he reached out and she let him take her hand.
‘Look, I’m sorry for laying all that on you. But you have to know you’re driving me crazy.’
‘Totally unintentional, I can assure you.’
His mouth kicked up at her wry answer and hers twitched in response.
‘Do you want me to back off? Slow down? Just say the word.’
Oh-oh. It was like being given a choice between a decadent double choc fudge sundae—something wickedly indulgent she knew she’d end up regretting later—and a single scoop of vanilla—plain, boring. She knew exactly what she’d get if she took the safe option.
Did she want him to back off? Really?
