He understood why.The moment she realized the Donatis might want her returned because of what she had overheard, the implications had become impossible to ignore.
“No,” he said at last. “You clarified something I needed to know.”
That didn’t appear to reassure her.Her gaze drifted to the water, then back to him. The tension that had filled the room during their discussion still hung between them, thick and unresolved.Without another word she stepped past him and descended the pool steps again.The water closed around her as she moved deeper, as though she needed the buoyancy of it to steady herself.
For a moment he remained where he was, considering the implications of everything she had just revealed. Then he pushed away from the edge and slipped back into the pool afterher.
The water encompassed them again, warm and silky, carrying the lingering tension of their conversation. For several seconds neither of them spoke. They simply faced one another,suspended in the buoyancy of the pool.This time they didn’t keep their distance. Elia moved toward him without thinking, drawn by the pull building betweenthem.
Magnus reached out and brushed a wet strand of hair away from her cheek.Her gaze lifted to his.“You keep looking at me like that,” shesaid.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re trying to decide something.”
Magnus didn’t answer.He pulled her against him instead and her hands settled against his chest.
The contact sent a hard pulse of awareness through him. The water made every line of her body impossible to ignore, the thin fabric between them clinging and drifting in ways that revealed far more than it concealed. He knew exactly how easily he could close his arms around her and take everything she was offering. One shift of his hands, one step closer, and the careful control he had held since bringing her here would disappear.
And she was watching him, waiting to see what he would choose.For a long moment they simply stood there, taking in the same air.Then Elia leaned up and kissedhim.
Her mouth touched his, tentative at first.It didn’t stay that way.Magnus gathered her against him, one hand sliding to the back of her neck as the contact deepened. The thin shirt between them had become almost transparent beneath the water, leaving little to the imagination as her body pressed againsthis.
Elia clung to him as though the world beyond the pool had disappeared. Helifted her slightly,guiding her toward the tiled wall.The shift pressed her body more firmly againsthis.
Her breath trembled against his mouth. “Magnus,” she whispered. “Please...”
He knew that tone.Knew exactly where it led.He should stop.Instead he kissed her again.
The tension coiled tighter instead of easing and he experienced every small movement she made. The press of her body against his. The quick rhythm of her pulse. The way her fingers curled into his hair as if she had forgotten the world outside the pool existed.
His hand eased along her back, gathering the soaked fabric of her shirt. The thin material clung to her curves beneath the water, leaving almost nothing to the imagination. When his palm moved upward the shirt lifted with it, exposing warm skin beneath the cool surface of thepool.
Elia gasped against his mouth.
Magnus broke the kiss only long enough to look at her. The early light caught in her eyes, brilliant with want and uncertainty at the same time. Her hands tightened on his shoulders as though she might pull him back down if he moved too faraway.
“Magnus…” she said again.
The sound of his name in that tone nearly unraveled the discipline he had been holding since the moment she stepped into the water.His fingers traced the curve of her waist beneath the lifted fabric, exploring the shape of her with a patience that made her shiver. Every reactionshe gave him only fed the heat coiling through hisbody.
Elia’s head tipped back slightly when his mouth returned to hers. The kiss deepened again, no longer hesitant, the tension between them finally breaking into something far more dangerous.Her hands slid from his shoulders to his chest, her touch tentative at first and then bolder as she realized he wasn’t stoppingher.
Magnus drew her tighter against him, the solid line of his body braced between her and the tiled wall of the pool. His body pressed firmly against her through the water, the unmistakable evidence of his desire filling her with desire. The water shifted around them with each movement, the sound filling the room while their breathing grew uneven.
Instead of pulling away, her body pressed into his, instinct guiding her closer as the tension between them sharpened into something undeniable.
Magnus felt the shift immediately. The arch of her body against his. The way she held on as though letting go would break whatever had begun between them. His hand shifted along her hip beneath the water, testing the fragile boundary between restraint and surrender.
His mouth hovered at the curve of her throat for a brief, unsteady second as he fought for control.He knew exactly where this would lead if he allowed it to continue.And for one reckless moment he almost did.Everything about the moment burned with dangerous promise.
Then a voice carried across the room.“CaptainSeverin.”
Magnus froze.
Elia’s eyes opened slowly.
A servant stood near the doorway holding a sealed envelope.
