“I doubt that is your only reason.”
“Oh?”
“I think you are afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you could never live up to the lover of my dreams. You are afraid to even try.”
That amused, tender look was back in his eyes. “I am not afraid.”
She arched a challenging brow at him. “Then prove it.”
After a moment he murmured two words that made her pulse race. “Come closer.”
Setting her glass in the sand, she obeyed, inching her way nearer until he could touch her.
Holding her gaze, he lifted a finger and stroked lightly, masterfully, down the column of her throat, then lower, to her right nipple. Even that barest contact sent a jolt of awareness shivering along her skin, a feminine reaction that heightened all of her senses.
But again, he was only teasing her, for he soon dropped his hand.
Kate let out an exasperated sigh. “You delight in vexing me, don’t you?”
“Quite.”
The laughter in his voice made her want to laugh and grind her teeth in return, but she managed to calm herself in favor of plotting her revenge. Raising an eyebrow, she contemplated him. “If I really set my mind to it, I doubt you could resist me.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
Deliberately, she reached out to brush his flat belly just above his loins. The instant she touched his skin, his stomach muscles clenched.
He stared at her with that knowing look, comprehension gleaming in his eyes. “You’re a handful, aren’t you?” he accused, his voice deep and amused.
“I intend to be.”
At his chuckle, Kate took heart. She was no femme fatale who could bring a man to his knees—at least not yet. But she was eager to learn. Admittedly the prospect of having Deverill on his knees, pleading for release, was a delicious thought.
“Do your worst, then,” he invited.
She took his glass from him and set it aside but kept her gaze focused solely on him. “Lie back,” she ordered.
“No, you will have to make me.”
Easing closer, she knelt directly beside him. Then leaning forward, she pressed her hands against his shoulders. Surprisingly, her effort was met with only token resistance. Deverill rolled onto both elbows and lounged back against the blanket, letting her look her fill.
Kate spent another moment admiring his physique. She had never been so keenly aware of his body, so hard and strong, of the virility in his broad shoulders.
With her palms, she urged him to lie fully on his back. He offered greater resistance this time, but she pushed harder, until she was pinning him down. The coiled strength beneath her palms was unmistakable. He could shake her off with barely a flex of his muscles, she knew. But for now he indulged the pretense that she was in complete control. Lightly she ran her hands over the expanse of his chest, feeling smooth, hot flesh over corded muscles, dusted with silken hair.
Then her gaze drifted lower, to his taut belly, the powerful sprawl of his thighs, the swollen, jutting erection that reached almost to his navel. Her breathing turned shallow.
“If I knew what to do, the contest would be more fair,” she murmured. “You need to tutor me….Teach me how to pleasure you.”
“I suppose I could do that much.”
Reaching up, he cupped her breasts, using his thumbs to prod her nipples. Excitement swept over her, but she tamped it down.