A grin tugged at his mouth. Without thinking, he dove after her.
The underwater world enveloped them in cool silence. Bars of sunlight cut through the murk, illuminating her pale form as she arrowed toward the rock. She was fast, her movements efficient and graceful. Just as his fingers brushed her ankle—
She twisted away with a powerful kick, surfacing near the rock’s base with a gasp.
By the time he came up for air, she’d hauled herself onto a low ledge behind a young willow, only her head and shoulders visible above the foliage.
“You are quite swift in the water,” he called, treading lazily. “Color me impressed.”
“I had excellent motivation.” Her chin lifted. “Given that you are the sort of man who ducks underwater to catch glimpses of a woman’s nakedness.”
“Can you blame me?” He began to circle, languidly. “You are my wife, after all.”
“Awifeis still entitled to choose when and how she reveals herself.”
“Legally speaking, I disagree,” he drawled.
“And morally speaking?” She shifted position as he moved, keeping the willow firmly between them. “The contract youinsisted I sign explicitly forbids marital relations. I intend to honor it.”
He circled closer, drinking in the teasing glimpses the willow’s branches allowed. An alabaster shoulder, pale and perfect. The upper swell of a breast. The elegant column of her spine. Her feet were visible in the clear shallow water around the rock’s base—small, neat, surprisingly erotic. Occasionally, his manhood throbbed as a thigh was glimpsed.
She is lovely. Damn you, Aaron, that she came from you. If she had not known you, then I would not need to care about what I say. Lord, but I want to just say dash it all!
“I am a duke,” he replied, injecting lightness into his voice. “Contracts are malleable to my whim. It is simply a matter of finding a… sufficiently talented solicitor.”
“Or,” she countered, “you could honor your word like a gentleman.”
The words struck home harder than she could possibly know.
Honor. The one thing Gideon Tarnley had left after everything else had been stripped away. His birthright, his name, his childhood—all gone. But honor? That remained. That was his.
Honor can go hang too!
He knew the feeling to be dangerous. It had to be ruthlessly throttled. Throwing caution to the wind for the sake of a dalliance with a beautiful woman would cause bitter regret sooner than later. He dipped his face into the water to hide his chagrin. When he resurfaced, Catherine was diving for the lake. He received a maddeningly fleeting glimpse of a sleek body, pert breasts, and pale, feminine skin—before the water swallowed her whole.
He ducked under, but she was too nimble, darting around him.
“I thought dukes were supposed to be dignified!” she called from over his shoulder.
“Impossible when you look like that.”If she caught any word of that, she didn’t let up.
He whirled to face her again, but she squealed and dove. He followed, eyes open despite the sting. The underwater world was dim and distorted, but he could make out her seraphic silhouette. She twisted like an eel, darting left when he expected right. His fingers brushed her calf. Close enough to see goosebumps rising on her wet skin despite the warm water.
They both surfaced, gasping.
“You’re relentless,” she accused breathlessly, treading water, while hiding her femininity with her other hand.
“Darling, you havenoidea.”
Her chestnut hair was slicked back, droplets clinging to her lashes. She laughed, and it transformed her face, made her look younger.Happier.
He reached her in a single, graceful stroke. “Caught you,” he murmured.
“Only because I let you.”
“Liar.”
Her breath hitched. He drew her closer, slowly, his hand slid down from her elbow to the back of her knee. She could have pulled away. Kicked free. Instead, she let him reel her in until only inches of water separated them.
