She put her arms around him, exploring the muscles of his body through his wet shirt, before pushing the material out of the way, so she could feel the texture and heat of his skin directly against her own skin. Her mind drifted into a sensory heaven that held only their mouths and bodies. There was no longer any thought of who they were, of what they were doing there—there was only feeling. And it was a feeling she wanted to intensify. He groaned and for one instant she pressed her hips close to his and felt his hardness, before he pulled away.
“Lucy.” His voice was husky with desire.
“Umm…” She sought his lips again, not wanting to surrender that sense of completeness. His hands felt like bliss against her starved skin. She held her face close to his, her lips a kiss away from his own, inviting him, enticing him.
“Lucy.” Her name sounded like a caress against her mouth. But slowly, he let his hands fall from her back until they rested loosely around her waist. He shook his head and moved away until he was no longer touching her.
She gazed into his dark eyes, eyes that reflected the myriad lights from around the cave. “What is it?” She hardly recognized the low, husky voice as her own.
“This isn’t right.” He shook his head. “Look at you. I would be taking complete advantage of you here, alone, wearing so little.”
“But—”
His finger touched her lips briefly. “No. It’s not right.”
Slowly the beat of her heart settled and the truth of his words sunk in. She closed her eyes tight at the thought of how the kiss might have progressed.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.” She bit her lip. She hadn’t behaved so rashly since she was a teenager when she’d been full of rage and desperate for affection. Nothing good could come from it. She knew that for a fact.
“Neither of us were thinking straight. I’m a stranger to you now. But I don’t intend to be one. I’ll see you again.”
“You sound so sure.”
“I am. I will see you again and we will take up from where we left off tonight. But here, now, we must leave it.”
Razeen was like no man she’d ever met before—so caring, so intent on doing the right thing. Lucy frowned and turned away uncertainly.
“Are you sure you like me?”
That laugh again. “Quite sure. But now isn’t the right time.”
She smiled and her fingers found their way to his chest. “You’re right. Thank you.”
“I don’t want you to have any doubts; I don’t want you to regret this.” Her smile faded. She knew she wouldn’t regret it but she also knew that she wouldn’t be seeing him again. She’d be gone from the bay in the morning. “Come, it’ll soon be dawn.” He lifted her onto the ledge of the pool and pushed himself back out after her. He took her hands and rose, lifting her to her feet at the same time. “You should be getting back to the boat.”
She looked around, forcing herself to re-focus, to pull away from the intensity she’d experienced with this stranger. “Yes, of course.” She glanced down at her bikini-clad body and then back at him. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t usually do this sort of thing.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “There must be something in the air here in Sitra.”
“Maybe. Or perhaps it’s us. I’ll see you again, Lucy and then we’ll find out whether it’s the night air, or us.”
She shook her head slightly, so slightly that he wouldn’t know she was declining. It had to have been here and now or nothing. Lucy Gee didn’t do relationships. She wouldn’t be seeing him again. Once she reached the city of Sitra she’d be leaving the team. She had a mission of her own to accomplish in that city.
He took her hand and they made their way through the dark tunnel, back to the beach once more. The soft, filmy light of dawn filled the sky. She scanned the beach and could now see what she hadn’t seen in the darkness of the night—a lone vehicle parked beyond the trees that fringed the beach.
“Your car.”
“Yes.” In the pale peachy light he seemed less real to her than he had in the dark, when sight was the least of the senses that had drawn her to him. He was a stranger now. She let her hand slip from his. He must have felt some of what passed through her because the expression in his eyes appeared to harden a little as he stepped away from her.
“Your boat,” he glanced toward the Explorer, now also clearly visible.
She nodded. “They’ll be waking soon and will want their breakfast.” She couldn’t drag her eyes away from him, his damp clothes clinging to every contour of his muscled body. She could see he was still thinking of her, that his body still wanted her. “Thank you for tonight. It was beautiful.”