Cassie raised a brow. ‘Did you now?’
He grinned and handed her a white string bikini. His grin distracted her from pointing out that he could have chosen the white one-piece she’d also bought in Mykonos. She took a towel too, and used it to change into the bikini. When she was dressed she jogged towards the water, not able to resist the lure.
She turned back to face Ares, jogging backwards, and almost tripped over her feet when she saw him pulling up a black pair of swim shorts that hugged his muscular physique and left little to the imagination. Not that she needed any help picturing what he looked like naked.
He jogged towards her, easily catching up, and she saw the mischievous glint in his eye and put out her hands. ‘Ares…don’t you even dare to—’ but it was too late. Before she knew what was happening, the world was upended when he threw her over his shoulder and brought her into the water, ignoring her squeals and protests, dunking them both beneath the foaming waves.
When Cassie surfaced, gasping and blinking seawater from her eyes, she felt so full of gratitude for Ares giving her this experience that she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him before he could see the emotions that were bubbling ever closer to the surface with every passing minute.
Later that day when the intense heat had gone out of the sun, belly full and skin sandblasted and sunblasted, Ares sat by Cassie, knees drawn up. She’d fallen asleep under the shade and his avid gaze tracked over her golden curves. Her hair was spread out, wild and tangled from the sea. Blonde streaks highlighted in the sun.
She’d been so delighted with the bike, and then the impromptu picnic. It had been rustic and basic, but she’d fallen on it like someone who’d just been handed a ten-course tasting menu in one of the world’s top restaurants.
The fact that she would be at home in either scenario was not something Ares had ever expected when he’d seen her that first night on the dance floor in the tacky bar.
She’d admitted to him that she’d felt out of her depth and lonely that night. Then she’d asked, ‘Are you really here with me because you want to be?’ His insides had seized at the thought that she suspected he was only with her out of a sense of responsibility. She truly had no idea of the depth of his desire for her. A desire that wasn’t waning. It was growing.
He’d pushed that disconcerting thought aside and said, ‘If I didn’t want to be with you, Cass, I’d have handed you over to one of my team days ago. I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want you.’
Ares would never usually be so honest with a lover but Cassie knew where they stood. They were both on very different trajectories. This was just a…moment.
He knew he was playing with fire indulging in this rare chemistry with her. She’d been innocent. She’d had a pretty sheltered upbringing. She might be displaying her sense of insecurity, but he had an uneasy suspicion that it wasn’t her he should be worried about protecting, it was himself.
As if hearing his thoughts she stirred and cracked open one eye and smiled. He knew now which smiles were genuine, and which ones were the ones she pulled up out of habit, to project that sunny nature. To defend and protect herself.
In a bid to try and regain a sense of control, Ares came down over Cassie on his two hands and bent his head to hers, hovering over her mouth for a moment, prolonging the delicious feeling of anticipation, and then she wound her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his and Ares fell headlong into the kiss, pushing aside all niggles and reservations and a growing uneasy feeling that he’d lost control a long time ago.
The next day…
‘Go on, hit me, show me your moves.’
Cassie smiled sweetly at Ares as she moved around him on nimble feet. ‘You think I can’t take you?’
Ares let out a huff of laughter. ‘Oh, don’t worry, I’ve learned that you are not to be underestimated.’
Cassie’s smile got sweeter and then she aimed a few jabs at Ares’s midriff area and when he looked down she pushed her palm up to connect with his chin. If any force had been behind it his head would have snapped back.
He looked at her. ‘Not bad.’
Cassie—still moving—gave a modest shrug. They were in the gym of the villa, and Ares had put mats down on the ground. After a leisurely breakfast he’d said, ‘Get your workout gear on—now’s as good a time as any to prove to me you could have taken care of yourself with those guys.
‘OK,’ Ares said now, walking her back towards a corner of the room, ‘say I’ve got you boxed in like those guys had in the bar. What do you do?’
He crowded her, putting his hands up over her head, caging her in. Cassie wanted to scowl. He had an unfair advantage of being far too distracting in a sleeveless T-shirt and shorts. All she could see were muscles.
‘What if I told you I’m a lover, not a fighter?’ she said, hoping to divert him. Not because she couldn’t take him but because she’d prefer to lick his muscles than pummel them.
‘Nope. Not going to work.’
Cassie rolled her eyes and as quick as lightning ducked out under Ares’s arm and was standing behind him tapping him on the shoulder. He sighed and turned around, and Cassie lifted a knee as if to aim a kick at Ares’s groin area but he caught her leg. Cassie twisted to dislodge his hold and feinted away.
She went back into the centre of the room and Ares came towards her, not smiling. It reminded her of how he’d been and how different he was now. It was enough to distract her so she wasn’t ready when he quickly sidestepped her and caught her in a choke-hold against his chest, a strong arm across her neck.
She wriggled her behind against a strategic part of his anatomy and when he relaxed infinitesimally, she aimed a sharp elbow at his ribs and used his arm as leverage to get free, while hooking her foot behind one of his legs to send him sprawling to the ground.
Instantly she was down beside him, concerned. ‘Ares? Are you OK? To be honest I didn’t even think I’d be able to budge you.’
He looked up at her and then, capitalising onherdistraction, executed a move that had her under him in seconds. He commented, ‘You little minx, you knew exactly what you were doing distracting me.’
