“I think I’ll swim at your side to make sure you’re safe.”
Dipping his head, Alexei kissed her again, and then he helped her to put on her bikini.When she was ready, he urged her in front of him.“I’ve got something to show you on the boat.”
“Something else?”She turned in the water, smiling, to say this.For a moment, their stares met and held in a complete oneness, and then she splashed him, he laughed, and they swam away.
Alexei liftedher out of the water onto the swim deck of the yacht.“You look like a mermaid,” he remarked as she wrung the water from her hair.“Except for the great legs,” he conceded, thumbing his stubble as he picked up one of the fluffy blue-and-white-striped deck towels to swaddle her in.
“What’s this?”she said, feeling something in the folds and picking it out.
“It’s just a small gift that caught my eye as I was walking past one of the hawkers in the dock.No expense spared,” he teased as she pulled out the small felt mouse.
“For me?”Amber’s face was wreathed in smiles.“You bought this for me?”
“It is Christmas.”
“I didn’t expect anything.”
That was just the point, he thought.And now he felt bad, because anyone would think the small gift had come from Tiffany’s.
“I love it,” she assured him, hugging it close.
He frowned.“Do you?”
“Yes, I do,” she said fiercely.
She had that same look again on her face, the look that saidI trust you.If nothing else, they would have Christmas together, he determined.
“I’m supposed to be making Christmas special for you,” she reminded him, “and now you’re buying me presents?”
“One small and very insignificant gift,” he pointed out.
“Don’t you dare call Mr.Mouse insignificant.”She clutched it close.“He’ll be spending Christmas with us, as our guest.”
“As long as I spend it with you.”Using the towel, he bound her tightly against him.“I love that you’re a cheap date, by the way.”
“Because I love Mouse?”
“Because you’re you.”
He kissed her, and they were instantly on fire for each other, but this time, he held back.“There is something else I want to show you—something I think you’ll like.”He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so excited at the thought of sharing his very private life.
“What is it?”Amber demanded, staring up at him.
Linking fingers with her, he walked to the elevator.There were seven decks on his yacht.Amber’s suite was located on deck three.His was on deck two.He brushed his fingertips across the elevator’s digital controls…
“Deck nine?”she exclaimed.“I didn’t even know there was a deck nine…”
Seeing everything through Amber’s eyes was like seeing it for the first time, and he was as blown away as she was when the elevator door slid open.
Chapter Seven
“And I thought I’d seen it all,” Amber breathed as they stepped out of the elevator into the underwater observatory.
This was the sort of wonder his money could buy, and he’d never had anyone to share it with.Because they were moored offshore in deep water, the sea life beyond the toughened glass was extraordinary.All shapes and sizes, multicolored and varied, it was an incredible sight.Amber leaned her head against his chest.He looped his arms around her waist.It was one of those rare moments when nothing needed to be said.
But of course, it couldn’t last.He couldn’t allow it to last, not with the closeness between them growing all the time.
“You can only ever pay a fleeting visit to something that soothes you, can’t you?”she said as he nuzzled her neck and moved away.
