‘Enough.’ His voice rasped in her ear.
She stopped instantly. Realised she was panting. For a long moment they stood, him clasping her. Her heart rate didn’t slow, instead it started a less-than-steady increase. ‘What now?’
There was a silence before he answered. ‘We let it rest. Then do it again.’ He let go of her and she sensed him step back.
For a split second she felt relief and then she just felt cold. It took every ounce of inner strength not to turn around and fling herself in his arms like some desperate, clinging female.
Instead she inhaled deeply and turned, trying once more for cool confidence. But then she saw he’d only stepped a little bit away. Now he blocked her path and his eyes were burning. She didn’t know what to do or say, but the intense look was slowly killing her.
‘Let’s go back to the deck,’ he muttered, but not moving.
‘Are you going to let me past?’
‘Maybe. For a price.’ The reply dragged from him was so low she had to step closer to hear.
‘How much?’ She was willing to pay an awful lot.
‘A kiss.’
‘Just one?’ Not brave enough to admit to what she wanted the answer to be.
‘For now.’
The intensity didn’t lighten at all and there was no smile as he stepped forward. She almost stepped back but his hands went to her shoulders, stopping her flight.
Finally.
Seven long days since they’d touched and it was all she’d been able to think about in that time. At last she was going to get it again—and more. She lifted her face, lips parted, eyelids lowered to half-mast. He slid his hands down her arms, pinning them to her sides, not letting her put them round his neck the way she ached to. Encapsulating her fists in his own, he lowered his head, slowly, staring into her eyes, dropping his attention to lips that she knew would look red—every cell and nerve ending in them was begging for him.
There was no sweet exploration this time. It was straight into plunder territory, with her demanding as much from him.
She felt his grip tighten, felt him take that small step closer. She ached to press right against him. But just as she was about to sway forward he lifted his head with a groan. She blinked, opened her eyes and saw the slight uncertainty in his.
She leaned forward for more, but he gently pushed her back from him. ‘Just one, remember?’
He didn’t quite meet her eye, didn’t smile, just moved her to the side, and stepped forward to the bench. He picked up the ball of dough and placed it back into the bowl, brushed it with oil, covering it carefully with a clean cloth with all the focus and deliberation of a neurosurgeon performing the most complex procedure.
Ridiculously, she felt jealous of the time he took over it. She wanted all that care and attention for herself. He could still think about a loaf of bread after a kiss like that? Something had stopped him. What? And why?
Hell, maybe she could add premature menopause to her list of women’s problems. All this hot and cold business was sending her crazy.
CHAPTER SIX
CALLY stood along the edge of the pool and stared longingly at the water.
‘Want to swim?’
‘I don’t have a swimsuit with me.’
‘And that’s a problem because?’ Blake was back, in control and wicked with it. ‘It’s a very private pool. I don’t often bother with shorts myself.’
The flush blanketed her body from tip to toe—as if a hot red sheet had slowly been drawn over her. He watched and the wicked look widened to a smile.
‘You sure you don’t want to cool down?’
She turned, anger flaring. ‘You’re the one who needs to cool down.’ She pushed, totally catching him by surprise, and he tumbled straight in.
The satisfaction at seeing the splash was sublime. The giggles burst out. She delighted at seeing him toppled for once, watching as he stretched out under the water, turning around and heading back to the edge at which she stood.
She made sure she stepped back just far enough out of arm’s reach. She underestimated. In a move that totally surprised her he leapt from the water. Easily hooking his arm around her knees and heaving her over his shoulder so she went head first into the pool. It was not a graceful entry—her arms and legs were in all directions and she knew the splash was spectacular. She sank deep and took her time about coming up. When she surfaced he was standing, chest-deep and looking fiery.
‘You deserve a dunking for that, my sweet,’ he warned, peeling his tee shirt off his head.
The feeling of delight multiplied. ‘You’ll have to catch me first.’ With a laugh she dived away, quite happy for him to play catch.
Her jeans were heavy, weighing her down and clinging uncomfortably to her legs, but she didn’t care. His hand encircled her arm, he pulled her to her feet and within close range. Water racing down her face, she shivered, cold from the pool, hot for him.
He stared into her face, as if he was searching for an answer to a question she didn’t know had been asked.
‘Take your jeans off and swim in your undies. I’m going to do a few lengths.’ He let her go again and dived in the other direction. Mystified, she watched him escape. He was deliberately keeping his distance.
She stood up in the shallow end and dragged off her shirt. Sodden, it landed with a squelchy thud on the concrete surround. Her jeans were trickier to remove and in the end she had to float on her back as she wriggled them down. She stood on the step to throw them out of the pool, enjoying the warm beat of the sun on her wet skin. As she turned back to the water she saw he’d stopped swimming, was just treading water in the deep end and staring.
She glanced down and discovered neither her bra nor her undies remained opaque when wet—no. Both were utterly transparent.
And he was looking at her as if he’d never seen a near naked woman before.
The flush returned to her body. All the blood rushed to the surface and she felt hotter than the sun.
His answering flush was something else. She hadn’t known it was possible for a tanned man to flush like that. But the colour slashed across high cheekbones and his sea-green eyes were lit by a matching flame.
‘I thought the water was supposed to cool us off,’ she croaked.
‘Must be some sort of chemical thing.’ He coughed. ‘If you go into the pool house you’ll find towels and spare bathrobes hanging. And toiletries and stuff. Have a shower or whatever and put on a robe while your clothes dry. I’m going to do another length.’
He turned and splashed through the water again.
Uncaring about the drips, she padded through the pool house—a perfectly good home in itself. Why he lived in such a mansion all by himself puzzled her, but what puzzled her more was why he kept holding back when it was plain as day that they were both pretty eager to get close. That the effect they had on each other was undeniable. What was he waiting for?
She glanced at her watch—glad it was water resistant. She’d been here for hours and other than that one shattering kiss in the kitchen he’d made no move. What had happened to his promise of six big Os in the one night? She wanted that, damn it. Hell, even just one. OK, two. She’d be happy enough with that.
When was he going to get on with it because she didn’t know if she could wait any longer. And then it hit her—why should she wait? Maybe she should be honest, it was why she was here after all. Couldn’t she initiate? Maybe