I tried to think of the names of the plants maintained around the estate in an effort to thwart this obscene reaction I was having, but it didn’t help.
By the time I made my way around, Knox was holding up my towel, his jaw dusted with scruff and harder than I remembered.
I didn’t bother taking the towel because my brain wasn’t processing the commands to my body appropriately, but I did allow Knox to wrap me in it as I went up on my toes, slid my arms around his neck, and held on tightly, doing my best to keep from pressing my chest to his to avoid soaking his shirt. Granted, my good intentions went right out the window as soon as his arm banded around my back and he pulled me against his ridiculously muscled body. Knox was a good foot taller than my five foot one inch, and I was positive he’d gotten broader since I’d last seen him. He smelled good, too. Something subtle yet musky, a scent that made me tingle in inappropriate places.
“I missed you,” I blurted, not sure why I’d copped to that. It was the truth, sure. I had looked forward to Knox returning since his last visit, and the longer he stayed away, the lonelier I was. Yet I had never intended to share so much with him.
His arms tightened a little, causing me to choke down the emotions his presence instilled. Like I said, human interaction was something I was starved for. I honestly couldn’t remember the last time anyone had hugged me—not even my father or stepmother—which was the excuse I used as to why I clung to him tighter than I should have.
“I missed you, too,” he whispered near my ear, his big palm planted across my back, spanning wide. His hands were firm as they slid along my sides when he set me away from him. “Where’s Kitty and Rhett?”
“Out.” I stepped back, took the towel, and held it against my chest. “They didn’t think you’d be here until later.”
“I decided to come in early.” He took off his sunglasses, hooked them in the neck of his chest-hugging T-shirt, and I fought the urge to stare at his well-defined shoulders and the thick slab of his pectorals.
I pulled the towel open to adjust it around me, and it was then I noticed Knox’s emerald-green eyes track downward, lingering on my breasts before drifting lower.
If a man had ever looked at me with such salacious intent, I wasn’t aware. However, there was no mistaking what was going through my stepbrother’s mind at that moment. Worse was what went throughmymind. None of the thoughts were PG; I could attest to that.
As I let his gaze caress me so obscenely, those tingles returned, making my insides churn and my breaths become raspier.
“Definitely all grown up,” he mumbled under his breath.
I pretended not to hear him, hoping my cheeks weren’t bright red from the blush that stole over my entire body.
“I should change,” I told him, not wanting to risk Kitty catching me in my bikini.
His eyes shifted to my face as a muscle flexed in his jaw. “In a minute.”
The command in his tone—subtle, yet unmistakable—surprised me, but not nearly as much as his touch when he traced a finger over my shoulder then along my collarbone, his gaze tracking his movements, heating me even more than his touch.
I swallowed hard, staring up at his face, trying to figure out what was going on, why he was looking at me like that. Like I was a meal and he’d just returned from a desert island where coconuts and seaweed had been his only selection.
When his eyes lifted to meet mine, I was suspended in time, trapped in his mesmerizing gaze. It wasn’t until his gaze lowered once more, his finger skimming downward following a drop of water as it slid between my breasts, that I felt the first shudder of fear as my breath shot into my lungs on a strangled inhale.
Not fear of his touch but rather of my reaction to it, because heaven help me, his touch … it left warmth in its wake as it brought to life all the nerve endings it brushed. A soft moan escaped and as soon as I heard it, I gasped, shocked by my behavior. Shocked and embarrassed.
“Don’t move,” Knox rasped when I started to step back.
I inhaled sharply again when he closed what little gap there was, his gaze now holding mine hostage as I watched him, wanting desperately to understand what was going on.
“Are you scared of me, Em?”
A shiver danced down my spine, spurred not only by the deep resonance of his voice but also the reverent way he shortened my name, something no one else ever did.
Before I could even think about my answer, I was shaking my head to deny it.
“Do you like having my hands on you?”
This time, I managed to refrain from responding, knowing better than to tell him the truth. Something was off with Knox. Or maybe I was the one off-kilter, because as his fingertips slipped away, I found myself leaning in, not wanting to part with his warmth just yet.
“Has anyone ever touched you?”
“No,” I said, wishing I’d had the forethought to hold that one back, too. The way Knox’s green eyes flashed with what looked like desire made my insides tingle more than they already were, and we both knew this absurd reaction I was having to my freaking stepbrother was highly inappropriate, not to mention … just plain wrong.
“Knox?”
His eyes lifted to my face, his hand dropping but not before the backs of his fingers grazed my nipple over the cold, wet bathing suit covering it.
