“We’re leaving tonight,” he said, his voice husky.
“I know.” She didn’t look at him.
“Do you still want to end things when we leave Thailand?”
“It’s for the best. We had a four-day fling, and it’s over now. When we get back to San Diego it will be business as usual. And that’s how it has to be, especially with everything going on concerning Maddy. I can’t afford to be distracted, and neither can you.”
“I do find you very distracting,” he said. He leaned over her, brushed her hair from her face. “You’re beautiful. I like the way you dress for work, but I like you like this, too. I especially like your freckles.” He ran his finger lightly along the trail of dots that were sprinkled across the bridge of her nose.
She felt her cheeks heat. “I’ve never liked them.”
“They’re a part of your beauty.” He brushed her cheek with the back of his hand and continued on, moving his knuckles lightly over her cleavage, barely hidden by the skimpy bathing suit. Her nipples puckered against the damp fabric, the slight chill created by the breeze not to blame for her response.
When he reached behind her and undid the knot on the halter top of the bikini she clamped her hands to her chest. “What are you doing?”
“Lily, I want to see you.” His blue eyes were intense, compelling, his square jaw set.
She lowered her hands and let the fabric fall slightly, the lingering wetness keeping it from falling completely away.
“You don’t need anything to be beautiful, sweetheart. All you need is to be you. You’re the single most gorgeous woman I’ve ever seen.”
His words were so sincere, and she felt them hit her straight in her heart, right at the source of the unbearable ache that had claimed her body for its own, reminding her that this was likely her last time with him.
The other times she’d been timid. She’d tried to hide behind darkness, behind her makeup, behind her business suits. But she wasn’t going to hide anymore. She didn’t need to. She was going to take this moment with Gage, this last moment, and she was going to simply feel all of the pleasure he could make her feel.
She pulled her top down the rest of the way and reached around behind herself, releasing the last knot holding the swimsuit on, the last thing keeping her from revealing her breasts.
Gage sucked in a sharp breath, his jaw clenched tight, his eyes hot on her, making her nipples ache for his touch. She hadn’t realized how she would feel. She’d thought she would be relinquishing power by being naked, being so vulnerable in front of him. But instead, she just felt an incredible rush of power. The same way she had felt when she’d first realized how much he really wanted her.
He flexed his hands, tightened them into fists, and she knew that it was taking all of his restraint not to touch her, not to rush her. She met his gaze, arousal streaking through her, the abject desire so obvious in Gage’s eyes, in every tense line of his magnificent body, making her bold.
She moved so that she was on her knees and pressed her palms on his chest, still slick with water, hot from the sun, his heartbeat raging against her hand. “Take those off,” she said, looking down at his shorts, at his erection, straining against the wet fabric.
He grinned at her, the wicked smile spreading slowly across his face as he moved his hands to the top of his shorts and pushed them down his spare hips, revealing his body fully to her for the first time.
She reached out and circled his shaft with her hand. “You’re beautiful,” she said.
“Now you,” he said roughly.
She abandoned her hold on his body, gripped the sides of her bikini bottoms and dragged them down her legs, leaving them in the sand, any embarrassment she might have felt earlier completely absent now. She was lost, in the moment, in her feelings. In Gage.
She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him, leading the kiss for the first time, adrenaline and desire pumping through her. “You have a condom, right?” she asked, panting heavily when she abandoned his mouth.
He chuckled and bent down, retrieving his shorts and producing a thin, plastic packet. “I wasn’t a Boy Scout, but I take the motto very seriously.”
“I’m glad.”
He gave the condom packet to her and she tore it open without hesitation, hoping that the sense of confidence she was feeling would help where her inexperience might make things awkward. She was able to roll it onto his thick member without too much effort, the feeling of his hard flesh beneath her hand a thrill that she knew she could never tire of.
She kissed him, keeping her hand on his erection, squeezing him gently. He moaned into her mouth, his obvious appreciation more than enough to fuel the flame of her growing need.