When she drew in a long deep breath and opened her eyes, she blinked against the brightness of the sky. She and Andy had done a wonderful job and she was sure Callum would love it. Perhaps this place would now feel like a home to him. The grassed tier was complete and looked cool and fresh. The succulent garden below now had a stone path leading to the beach, and up above on the living room balcony, there were comfy chairs and three big pots. And a special surprise from her: a rectangular, black cement planter box filled with abundant and fragrant herbs for the reality TV-trained chef.
Ava looked up to the balcony. She had created a beautiful, relaxing place for Callum to sit and relax after a long day being a chief executive. She wondered if he’d notice the herb garden. She hoped he would and perhaps think of her and the dinner they’d shared. And maybe he’d remember that kiss, too.
She knew she would never forget it. She would remember the taste of his lips forever.
She felt a shiver. It was clearly time to get out and go home. Ava took a deep breath and took one last dive deep down, to run her fingers along the mosaics on the pool floor. When her lungs hurt from holding her breath, she surfaced.
To find Callum standing on the edge of the pool.
Holy fuck. Something slammed in her chest. Shock, desire and her burning, aching, all-consuming lust for this man all merged into something that felt like courage.
‘Looks good in there.’
And hot damn he looked good out there. His suit was crumpled and his tie was loose. He had a white towel draped over one shoulder. His hair was an unruly mess and there was a shadow of growth on his jaw that Ava desperately wanted to stroke. The dark and intense look on his face revealed that he’d seen her body, that he knew she was naked. It echoed his words on the phone from Singapore: I want you.
And she was naked.
And he looked so, so hot.
And this was her last chance, ever, to be with him.
The only man she had ever really loved.
The One. The only one.
‘You weren’t supposed to be back until Monday,’ Ava managed as she found her feet and crouched down a little so the waterline tickled at her neck.
He didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to.
Callum pulled his tie from his collar and dropped it on the ground. Then he slowly undid those shining pearl buttons on his shirt and, inch by inch, his chest was revealed to her. His eyes never left hers. He was putting on a show for her and it was the hottest damn thing she’d ever seen. His shirt hit the ground and he kicked off his shoes as he reached for the zip on his trousers.
He wanted her. He was coming to get her. And she didn’t want to stop him.
When he was naked, proud and magnificent, she took in every inch of him, all hard muscle and curved shoulders and flat planes and ridges. Her mouth went dry and her vagina got wet.
This was her only chance.
She was going to have this man. She was going to touch him wherever she wanted and she was pretty damn sure he was going to consume every inch of her, too. Please God, let that be his plan. He watched her watching him and that dark look became a grin. And when she looked down to his cock she realised why. It was rock hard and aiming high.
‘Well?’ She found her feet and stood in the chest-deep water, aware that her breasts were now in full view. ‘You coming in or what?’
Chapter Sixteen
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Callum dived in and emerged from the water right in front of her. He pushed his wet hair back from his forehead and moved in so close she could see the fine droplets on his long eyelashes, his wet mouth, the water slick on his neck and shoulders.
‘We filled the pool,’ she said, slicking her long hair away from her face and twisting it into a ponytail over one shoulder. It draped down over one breast and he traced the line of it with his eyes, direct to her nipple. She clenched her thighs together to contain the heat burning her up from the inside.
‘I noticed.’
‘We need to talk,’ she murmured, and she was so interested in his answer she lowered her gaze to his lips. His full, beautiful wet lips.
‘Not now, Ava.’ Callum began circling her, his arms moving back and forward in the water, so close, a ripple away, teasing her, and she held her breath. Then he was behind her and she could feel the pressure of his body through the water and then, holy God, he was whispering in her exposed ear, his breath on her neck, his lips brushing against her earlobe.
‘What we need to do is fuck before I explode.’ Callum slid his hands around her waist and then moved down, gripping her hips, and pressed his magnificent throbbing cock hard against her back.
She turned to face him and when she saw his dark eyes trained on her, she knew she wanted this, that she was ready for this. Without thinking or second-guessing, without the guilt she’d borne for years, she gave in to what was in his body and in his eyes and in his voice. She threw her arms around his neck, and held on as she lifted herself against him, spreading her legs and gripped them around his waist. She crushed her breasts up against his chest, slick and wet and so, so hot.