After he toed out of his shoes and removed his socks, he quickly took off his shirt, slacks and boxer briefs. Kira continued to swim laps, presumably unaware he was completely nude when he dove into the pool. He swam to the shallow end near the steps to wait for her to reach him. Once she did, he clasped her wrist and brought her into his arms.
“What are you doing?” she asked as she pushed her hair away from her face.
“I am concerned you are exerting yourself too much.”
“I’ll be the judge of that, and how did you change so fast? Were you wearing your trunks under your pants?”
“I preferred not to waste time changing.”
Awareness dawned in her expression. “You’re naked.”
He could not contain a smile. “Perhaps.”
She reached around him and ran her palm over his bare buttock. “You really enjoy being the bad boy, don’t you?”
“Perhaps,” he repeated. “I am good at it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, you are. Do you mind if I get back to swimming now?”
He brushed a kiss across her cheek. “I can think of a more enjoyable way to exert ourselves.”
When he kissed her neck, she murmured, “This isn’t fair.”
He suspected she would bring out the friendship-only argument. “It is fair because this is what we both want. I can tell by the way you are trembling.”
“It’s not fair because you’re seducing a hormone-ridden woman.”
Far be it for him to question that. He was simply thankful his theory had been wrong, encouraging him to proceed. He rimmed his tongue around the shell of her ear and whispered, “And I am a hormone-ridden man.” He then took a major chance, took her hand and pressed her palm against his erection. “I want you desperately.”
“I see your point,” she said in a breathy tone. “Or maybe I should say I feel your point.”
When Kira began to stroke him, Tarek realized he could not retain control if he did not stop her. He mustered all his strength, swept her into his arms and set her on the pool’s edge. He kissed her then, slowly yet insistently, as he untied the string around her neck and unclasped the strap at her back. He waited for her protest and when she did not, he tossed the bikini top behind him and moved his mouth to her breast. As he circled his tongue around her nipple, she clasped his head and released a soft moan. As he moved his attention to her other breasts, she uttered, “I’m going to hate myself for this in the morning.”
The comment proved as effective as frigid water on Tarek’s libido. He refused to continue foreplay with an unwilling woman.
On that thought, he stood and ascended the steps, leaving her sitting there, her mouth agape. “What are you doing?”
He grabbed the towel and tossed it to her, then began gathering his clothes. “I am retiring to bed.”
After covering herself in cloth, she climbed out of the pool and approached him. “Quite frankly, I don’t appreciate you working me into a sexual frenzy, then stopping without any explanation.”
After setting his clothing aside on the table, he pulled on his underwear to cover the fact he was not quite recovered. “As much as I would like to make love to you again, I cannot in good conscience continue and, in turn, be the reason for your regrets in the morning.”
She sighed. “It’s very difficult for me to fight this, but I don’t want to complicate our situation more by making a wrong decision.”
“Our situation does not have to be complicated. We are two vital people who enjoy intimacy.”
She sent him a frustrated look. “But what happens after we return to Bajul? Do we pretend our first night together and this trip didn’t exist?”
Truth be known, he could not tolerate the thought of not seeing her again. He found her intriguing, fascinating, and since their meeting, she had never been a thought away in his mind. Yet he feared he could never measure up to her ideal of what a man should be.
“I would be remiss if I made promises to you that I cannot keep at this point in my life. Knowing that, should you decide you would like to explore further intimacy, I would welcome that decision. Consequently, you may rest assured I will not pursue you again.”
“All right,” she said as she started away then paused to face him again. “If you’re okay with forgetting what transpired between us, so be it. But I, on the other hand, will carry the reminders with me for years.”
After Kira disappeared into the house, Tarek dropped down on a chaise to ponder the puzzling comment. He despised the thought that he had wounded her so deeply that she would forever have his careless disregard imprinted on her soul. He hated that he had not seen through her guise about accepting a casual relationship. She still retained a certain amount of innocence, whereas he had become jaded when matters of the heart were involved.