"I don't want to stop," I confess.
The last thread of his control snaps. His mouth claims mine with a hunger that steals my breath. This isn't the tentative kiss we shared in the butterfly house. This is raw, primal need, a dam breaking after holding back for too long.
I respond with equal fervor, my hands gripping his shoulders, feeling the play of muscle beneath wet skin. His tongue sweeps into my mouth, and I welcome the invasion, pressing closer until there's not a whisper of space between us.
Water laps around us, no longer a source of fear but a cocoon, isolating us from the world. His hands roam my back, my sides, learning the shape of me through the clinging fabric of my swimsuit. When his fingers brush the underside of my breast, I gasp into his mouth.
He breaks the kiss only to trail his lips along my jaw, my neck, finding a pulse point that makes me shudder. "We should stop," he mumbles against my skin, even as his actions contradict his words.
"Why?" I manage to ask, my head falling back to give him better access.
His teeth graze my collarbone, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through me. "Because once I start," he says, his voice a low growl that vibrates against my throat, "I don't think I'll be able to stop."
I pull back just enough to look at him, to see the raw hunger in his eyes, the struggle for control etched in the tense lines of his face. My heart pounds not with fear now, but with anticipation. With need.
"Then don't stop," I whisper, running my fingers down his chest, feeling him shudder beneath my touch. "Don't stop, Declan."
His eyes darken to midnight, pupils blown wide with desire. His hands tighten on my waist, lifting me slightly in the water, bringing our bodies even closer together.
"Not here," he says, his voice strained with the effort of restraint. "Not like this."
But even as he says it, his mouth finds mine again, devouring, possessing. I can feel him hard against my stomach, feel the tremor that runs through him when I press closer.
In this moment, surrounded by the water I've feared for so long, I've never felt more alive. More free. More certain of what I want.
And what I want is him.
29
JADE
"Not here," Declan had said.
But his mouth is still on mine, hot and insistent, as I wrap my legs around his waist. The water makes me weightless, buoyant, as he carries me up the pool steps like I'm nothing. His powerful hands grip my thighs, fingers digging into flesh still slick from the pool.
We break the surface, water sluicing off our bodies in silvery rivulets. The air is cool against my wet skin, raising goosebumps that have nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with the way Declan looks at me. Like I'm something to be devoured.
He walks with purpose toward the pool house, his strides long and sure despite my weight. I cling to him, my arms around his neck, my mouth finding the pulse point beneath his jaw. When I let my teeth graze the spot, a shudder runs through his massive frame.
"Dangerous game, princess," he growls, the nickname new and thrilling on his lips.
Inside the pool house, the air is warm and still, heavy with anticipation. Declan kicks the door shut behind us, pressing me against the nearest wall. The impact forces a gasp from my lungs, a sound that disappears into his mouth as he claims me again.
His hands are everywhere. My waist, my hips, sliding up my sides to cup my breasts through the wet fabric of my swimsuit. When his thumbs brush across my nipples, already hard peaks straining against the black material, I arch into his touch, desperate for more.
Realizing that we are at the pool house, the shared pool house, I gasp, half out of breath, half out of conscience. "Mateo?"
His eyes, dark with need, focus on me with visible effort. "Main house," he says, voice rough. "Going through security system updates."
He dips his head, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down my neck. "He can join us next time," he adds, the words vibrating against my collarbone.
It takes a moment for the implication to register through the fog of lust. "Join us?"
Declan pauses, raising his head to meet my gaze. Despite the desire clouding his features, there's a seriousness in his eyes. "I know what's happening between the four of us, Jade. It was inevitable from thestart."
Before I can respond, before I can fully process that he knows... and accepts, he's already carrying me toward the bedroom.
He sets me down at the foot of the bed, his hands reluctantly leaving my body. In the sudden absence of his touch, I feel cold despite the warmth of the room. I watch as he retrieves a towel from a hook on the wall and approaches me again, his movements careful, controlled.
