‘I can manage myself.’ Hastily Tabitha reached for the bottle, but Zavier was too quick for her.#p#分页标题#e#
‘Don’t be silly. You’re as red as a beetroot. Lie down.’
Without making a scene Tabitha was left with no choice but to do as she was told. Her eyes met his; swallowing nervously, she stared at him like a rabbit caught in headlights. He seemed to sense her fear, and the malicious glint in his eye evaporated, the dewy hues of lust softening the black weight of his stare.
‘Lie down,’ he repeated, but this time his voice came out in a husky caress.
Nervously her eyes darted to Marjory; she was sure she must surely sense the crackling sexual tension. But Marjory was dozing, soft snores coming from her slack lips, and with the tiniest nod of acceptance Tabitha rolled onto her stomach, holding her breath as he fiddled with the gold clasp of her bikini.
The oil was already warm from the hot Australian sun, and as he squeezed it onto her skin the chill she had anticipated didn’t eventuate; instead she lay there as the slippery moisture seeped onto her back, jumping only when his cool wet hands came into contact with her rosy skin, or the occasional drop of pool water dripped from his hair onto her taut back.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m a bit sore,’ she lied. She damn well wasn’t going to tell him just his mere touch had such a strong effect on her.
‘Silly girl.’ His voice was a velvet whisper. ‘With skin like yours you shouldn’t be out unprotected in the sun.’
The sun was the least of her worries at the moment! As his skilful hands massaged in the oil Tabitha had to remind herself to breathe. Her stomach knotted as they moved slowly across her shoulders. She could feel her nipples hardening, jutting into the sunbed like soldiers standing to attention; a pulse was flickering between her thighs, her blood running like mercury towards her groin. With one hand still on her back, he squeezed the bottle onto her left thigh and the oil, melting in the heat, ran like a river between her legs.
Almost faint with longing, she felt his hand touch her sun-kissed legs, his fingers working in small circular motions, moving higher, ever higher. Only a gentle snore from Marjory broke the oppressive silence, and Tabitha lay there, grinding her teeth together to hold back the groan in her throat.
Zavier might just as well have been massaging accelerant into her skin; one tiny spark and surely her body would explode in flames. It took a superhuman effort to lie there and for all the world appear detached, to pretend that it wasn’t the man she loved massaging her so skilfully.
‘That should keep the rays off.’
She felt the sunbed lift as he stood up, and she waited, waited for the sensations overpowering her to abate, for the burning, aching longing he had initiated to subside. But it didn’t.
She lay there another ten minutes or so, her eyes tightly shut, feigning sleep. But she knew Zavier wasn’t fooled, that he was more than aware of the passion he had awoken.
‘It’s too warm for me,’ Tabitha said finally, when she could take it no more. Standing, she grabbed at a towel, pulling it around her so he wouldn’t see her swollen nipples, the arousal he had instigated. ‘I’m going inside.’
‘Why?’ His voice was low but she could hear the mirth in it. ‘Things are only just starting to hot up.’
Oh, the bliss of the icy cool water as she splashed her face then rested her face against the tiles. Tabitha fought the image of his hands on her body, the sheen of lust in his expressive eyes. How could one man have such a hold on her? How could one man turn her world around like this? Why did Zavier Chambers have this effect on her?
Because she loved him.
The answer was as simple as it was complicated. Lust, passion, power—they all played their part. But this was good old-fashioned love. She had loved him from the moment she had laid eyes on him in the church. She loved everything about him.#p#分页标题#e#
But Zavier Chambers despised her; he thought she was the worst kind of woman. The pain of that thought was enough to calm her twitching body, enough to temper the wild thoughts that were cascading through her mind.
Peeling off her bikini top, she fiddled with the shower control before catching her reflection in the mirror. Tabitha gazed back at her own glittering eyes, searching for an answer to the impossible conundrum.
‘You’ve only yourself to blame,’ she said darkly to her image. ‘You’ve only got yourself to blame for all this.’
‘My thoughts exactly.’
Jumping with shock, she saw the dark brooding reflection of Zavier standing in the bathroom doorway.