“I will swim later. Right now, I am enjoying how the water laps over your lovely naked body.”
She shifted her attention from the sky to him. His gaze sent her own to her body. Her breasts rose above the water. Other bits did too. The water reached above his waist, but she knew what she would see if it did not. His expression said it all.
She pulled her legs down so she stood. She walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cool, wet chest. She flicked her tongue at a salty droplet. “I do not think I will be so afraid of the sea in the future.”
He embraced and kissed her. She knew he wanted her, so it surprised her when he set her away from him. “Go ashore and let the sun dry you. I will join you soon.”
She pushed through the water to the shore and sat on the wet, packed sand near the water. She saw him near where the waves broke. His head disappeared for one heart-stopping moment, then showed again beyond that point, swimming out to sea as the waves crashed against him. He did not appear to fear the sea at all. She still did enough to worry about how far out he seemed.
He disappeared again. She looked for him, narrowing her eyes against the glare of the sun. Just as worry set in, he appeared again, his body atop a wave that now bore him toward land. He rode that wave until it broke at the edge of the cove’s pool.
He walked toward her, rising out of the water like a naked sea god, his chest expanding with deep breaths, the water revealing him inch by inch. He shook his head and a spray of water flew from his damp curls.
She wanted to kiss him again. All of him, from the hollows beneath his neck to the knees of his well-formed legs. She wanted to lick his cool skin, then lick again as he warmed.
“The tide is coming in. We should go,” he said as he neared.
She sat, resting her bum on her heels. “No. Not yet.”
He looked at how the water edged right to her before retreating. “We have at most thirty minutes.”
“Then come here now so we don’t waste time.”
“It would be wiser—”
“Now, Gabriel.”
A slow smile broke while he obeyed. He stood right in front of her. “Your tone is that of a field marshal.”
She looked up at him. “You once spoke of seeing me in the clear light of day. There is no clearer light than this, and I will not be denied this rare view of you too quickly.”
“Then I am at your command.”
She raised her arms until her hands rested on his chest. She smoothed her palms down to his ribs and abdomen. She raised up on her knees and pressed her lips to his skin. So cool still. She branded her mind with the fresh taste of him. Of the feel of his muscles and frame. Of how his eyes darkened to deepest blue while he gazed down at what she was doing.
She lost herself in the sensations of touch and taste, the contrasts of soft and hard, of cool and warm. His arousal prodded her and she circled his phallus with both hands and licked there too, taking the tip into her mouth as she did so. Then she released him and embraced his hips. She laid her face against him and allowed her emotions and desire to flow freely, lapping through her like the waves eddying beneath her knees.
He bent within her embrace and kissed her head. “What do you want, Amanda?”
She rubbed her face against him. “You. Now.”Forever.
He knelt with her, then they laid together. The hot sun warmed them and the water flowed around them and they rocked together to the rhythm of the waves.
Chapter Twenty-Four
They dined at sunset on the terrace, sharing a contentment that needed no words. Gabriel thought, as he did often now, that he had never experienced such happiness as he did with Amanda.
As twilight deepened, a small frown formed on Amanda’s brow. She cocked her head slightly. Her eyes lost their brightest lights. “He has returned,” she said.
Gabriel heard what she meant. A horse neared, its sound muffled by the house and breeze. The hoofbeats grew more prominent, then stopped. Beside him, Amanda fixed her gaze on the garden.
Vincent came through the doors, onto the terrace. He stood there like the footman he was until Gabriel called him forward. “Tell us.”
Vincent looked in high spirits. He spoke quickly, punctuating his tale with gestures. “I found him in the directory as you said. The property is in the south of the county, not far from the border. The closest town is Sudlairy, but a better inn can be had at Colton and it is only five miles.”
His eyes gleamed with excitement. Gabriel waited to hear why.
“I visited the property, since I had the time.”
