She gave her head a haughty little toss. ‘No.’
He laughed and slipped into the water beside her, cupping the back of her head with one of his hands as he pressed a hot kiss to her tight mouth. It didn’t stay tight for long, however. All it took was one erotic sweep of his tongue for her to open to him with a sigh of bliss. He tasted salty and male with a hint of mint. It was ambrosia to her. She responded greedily, giving back as good as he gave, her tongue tangling, duelling and seducing just as his was doing to hers. Her breasts were jammed up against his chest, the water-soaked fabric abrading her already erect nipples.
His other hand ruthlessly undid the strings of her bikini top and it floated away from her body like a four-legged octopus. He cupped her free breasts with his hands, caressing her, teasing her with his warm, wet touch. He took his mouth off hers to feast on each breast in turn. Eliza arched back in pleasure as his teeth and his tongue grazed and salved in turn. Her nerves went into a sensual riot beneath her skin. They jumped and danced and flickered with longing. That deepest, most feminine ache of all pulsed relentlessly between her legs. She could feel his hard erection pressing against the softness of her belly. It awoke everything that was female in her. She rubbed against him to get more of that wonderful friction.
He made a guttural sound in his throat as he undid the strings of her bikini bottoms at her hips. The scanty fabric fell away and his fingers went to her, delving deep.
It wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted all of him.
She pulled at his underwear to free him to her touch. She wrapped her hand around him, rubbing him, teasing him, and pleasuring him as his mouth came back to hers in a passionately hot kiss that had undercurrents of desperation.
He suddenly pulled back from her, breathing hard, his eyes glazed with desire. ‘I haven’t got a condom.’
‘Oh…’ Disappointment was like an enervating drug that made her sag as if all of her muscles were weighted by anvils.
His eyes gleamed at her as he backed her against the side of the pool. ‘Why the long face, tesoro mio? We can be creative, sì?’
Her body tingled at the thought of just how creative his lovemaking could be. But then, she too could be innovative when it came to giving him pleasure. She slithered against him, from chest to thigh, ramping up his need for her with the same merciless intent he had been using on her.
He took her by the waist and lifted her up to a sitting position on the edge of the pool. It was shamelessly wanton to open her legs in full view of the villa but she was beyond caring.
The first stroke of his masterful tongue made her shudder, the second made her gasp, and the third made her cry out loud as the ripples started to roll through her. ‘Don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop…’ She clung to his hair for purchase as her body shattered around her.
He gave her a sexy smile as she came back to her senses. ‘Good?’
She gave a little shrug that belied everything she had just felt. ‘OK, I guess.’
‘Minx.’ He pulled her back into the water to hold her against him. ‘I should punish you for lying. What do you think would be a suitable penance?’
Send me back to my old life. Eliza gave herself a mental shake and forced a smile to her lips. ‘I don’t know…I’m sure you’ll think of something.’
His brows moved together. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing.’
He cupped her cheek, holding her gaze with his. ‘Are you still angry with me?’
Eliza was starting to wonder where her anger had gone. As soon as he had appeared on the pool deck she had forgotten all about their tense little battle of wills the day he had left to go to Paris. Her feelings about him now were much more confusing…terrifying, actually. She couldn’t afford to examine them too closely.
‘Does it matter to you what I feel?’ she asked. ‘I’m just an employee. I’m not supposed to feel anything but gratitude for having a job.’
His expression became brooding as his hand dropped away from her face. ‘So we’re back to that, are we?’
‘You’re the one who engineered this,’ she said, struggling to keep her emotions in check. ‘You come marching back in my life and issue orders and stipulations and conditions. I don’t know what you want from me. You keep changing the goalposts. I just don’t know who I’m supposed to be when I’m with you.’
He looked at her for a lengthy moment. ‘Why not just be yourself?’
She gave a little cough of despair. ‘I don’t even know who that is any more.’
His hands came down on the tops of her shoulders, a gentle but firm hold. His eyes were very dark as they meshed with hers, but not with anger this time. ‘Who was that girl in the bar four years ago?’