Couldn’t.
Not with the press watching. Not with the photographers waiting to snap photographs. Not with the audience’s eyes fixed on her.
This was her triumph. Her success. Not his.
So he stood off to the side as she posed for the lenses trained on her. Unlike him, Mattie seemed to absorb energy from the camera clicks and the flurry of questions. She relished the spotlight, and he loved watching her enjoy it. She grinned naturally, waving and winking. This was Mattie amplified. Leo had never seen her so free, so confident, so utterly comfortable with herself.
When Mattie finished posing by her Jenny, she walked his way. She stopped a few feet from him—close enough for colleagues but far enough not to raise suspicions.
“You stopped my heart several times, Mattie,” Leo admitted. “But you were right. You had the skills to pull it off magnificently. If I ever need to jump on a moving plane, I want you piloting it.”
Mattie glanced surreptitiously around. She must have decided that they were far back enough from the crowd to speak freely. “I really, really want to kiss you right now.”
He laughed. Truly laughed. “Tonight.”
“Tonight,” Mattie said, her words a promise.
Chapter Fourteen
“I cannot believe that Vera arranged this for us. It feels positively decadent.” Mattie leaned back against the whitewashed walls of the cave. The hot vapor from the bubbling natural spring in the center of the small cavern had plastered her short red curls to her forehead. Her brilliant locks had always reminded Leo of a sunrise, but they positively glowed in the small vapor-filled room—a splash of vibrant color in an otherwise muted space.
“Vera’s a generous person,” Leo said, “and more of a romantic than she’ll ever admit.”
“Mmm.” Mattie’s eyes fluttered shut. Blindly, she reached out and captured Leo’s hand in hers.
He also pressed his back against the rough stone wall. The coolness contrasted with the humid warmth enveloping them like layers and layers of wool blankets. The owners of the Geyser View Sanitarium had blasted out a small alcove in the mountainside, creating an intimate space. A fountain of hot water gurgled pleasantly. Wrought iron fencing had been placed around the source, but white mineral deposits had formed on the leafy-patterned metals. The whole thing looked a bit like an otherworldly garden grown from rocks instead of plants.
Languid pleasure seeped through Leo, but unlike Mattie he didn’t allow his eyelids to drift shut. If he did, he wouldn’t be able to watch her. The humidity had caused not only her curls to cling but her ribbedbathing suit as well. The wet navy-blue fabric melded to every curve, every swell... every dip. He’d mostly seen Mattie in loose-fitting clothing, often her brothers’ castoffs, which had been cut for male bodies. Even the evening dresses she’d borrowed from Vera had either no waist or a dropped one, creating a drape-like effect that fluttered around her calves. Leo loved her in all those clothes—the boyish ones, the girlish ones; it didn’t matter. Because Mattie was Mattie. But he sure was enjoying the tight little swimming outfit.
The bottom of her suit ended midthigh. It was like a combination of cutoff pants that seemed painted to her skin and a verysmalland verytightskirt. The deep-blue fabric contrasted with the pale, creamy smoothness of her complexion. A thin sheen of sweat covered her body, giving her skin an almost pearly luminescence under the electric lights of the cave.
And Leo wanted to touch... and taste every tantalizing part.
“You can.” Her closed eyelids hadn’t even flickered, yet somehow it appeared that she had divined his thoughts. A teasing smile curled the edges of her lips. “I can sense your gaze on me, Leo. As much as I like it, I’d rather feel your hands.”
She paused, and one brilliant gold-green eye popped open. “And your mouth and tongue. I wouldn’t mind a scrape or two of your teeth, either, as long as you’re gentle.”
He swallowed, the sound so audible that he swore it echoed off the curved stone walls. When he spoke, his voice spluttered like a flooded engine.
“After those words, I’m not sure if I can manage gentle.”
She shut her eyes again and tilted her neck invitingly. “I’ll risk it.”
“I feel like a male version of Alice Eis’s monster in the ‘Vampire Dance.’”
“Hmm. I’m all for the seduction part, but the bloodletting, not so much.”
“I promise not to drain you,” Leo teased. Then he brushed the lightest of kisses against her neck.
“Hmm.” She sighed, adjusting her body to allow more access. “I’ve always found it irritating that women are portrayed as oversexed vamps who are financially and emotionally draining to men. A woman who is confident in her own sexuality is far from villainous.”
Leo eased a few inches back from Mattie. What he was about to say was important—veryimportant. As much as he was looking forward to nibbling on her neck, he wanted to look into her eyes when he said this.
“Your boldness, your kindness, your incredibly wonderful spirit—they all fuel me, Mattie. Being near you is like being hooked up to a dynamo. I’ve never felt more alive, more filled with life. I would never call you a vamp. If anything, you are an amp, a bolt of raw energy. You charge me, Mattie McAdams.”
Her eyes flashed gold before she planted an unforgettable kiss on his mouth. Current surged through him, electrifying every inch of his already primed body. Her hands dug into his hair, and he loved the feel of her fingers pressing against his scalp—the demand in them, the explosive need. Their tongues tangled. Their breathing deepened. Their already sweat-slicked bodies pressed closer.
Leo caught on fire like a long-dried-out piece of driftwood. He kissed his way toward Mattie’s ear, taking time to thoroughly explore her cheek and temple. Then he whispered, low and soft, “I’m going to take you up on your offer of touching you now.”
