And all because of Luke.
She smiled now, taking the flute he was handing her, drinking him in. He was looking lean and relaxed, in an open-necked pale blue shirt, cuffs turned back, and tan chinos with deck shoes. He was elegant and absolutely edible.
She felt her stomach curl, knowing how much she wanted him, how much she needed him, how much she wished she could stay with him for ever.
A tiny flicker of uncertainty plucked at her. It had been nearly a week since they’d arrived on the island—nearly a week since Luke had claimed her for his own again. It had been the most blissful week in her entire life. But into her head came an echo of what he’d said to her back in his office in Lucerne, that day she’d had to seek him out and beg him for forbearance on evicting them straight away.
He wanted her to be here in the Caribbean for a fortnight. But what then? She didn’t know. Could only hope. Hope against hope that being with her was as wonderful for him as being with him was to her. That with nothing to keep them apart now they could stay together...
She felt a longing surge within her—a longing never to be without him. Did he feel it, too? Did he want her in his life as she wanted him? She could only hope—hope with all her being.
‘We need to celebrate.’ Luke was raising his champagne flute.
Talia looked at him questioningly. He nodded across to the shoreline they were gliding past, and as they rounded a small cape a beach opened up before them, a crescent of silver sand littered with fallen palms, and at the far end were the wrecked remains of the building she had last seen from the land.
‘Oh, it’s the hotel site!’ she exclaimed. ‘There it is!’
‘Indeed it is,’ Luke said beside her. He raised his flute to hers. ‘And now,’ he said, and there was open satisfaction in his voice, ‘it is my hotel site!’
She whipped her head round, her face lighting up. ‘Oh, Luke, that’s wonderful! You’ve actually bought it!’
‘I drove a hard bargain,’ he said, ‘but, yes, it’s mine now.’ He glanced down at her. ‘Are you glad?’
‘Yes! I’m so, so pleased! It needed rescuing!’
He gave a laugh. ‘You sound very sentimental about it.’
‘And why not?’ she countered. ‘If you hadn’t bought it what would have happened to it?’
‘It would have been demolished, probably. Or left to rot totally.’
‘Oh, that’s awful. It deserves much better.’
He was silent a moment. Then, ‘Yes, it does.’
There was something in his voice she hadn’t heard before, and she looked at him curiously.
Then, abruptly, he clinked his glass against hers. ‘So, drink up. Celebrate my latest acquisition.’ His long lashes dropped over his dark, expressive eyes. ‘It’s almost as good as the first one I made earlier this week.’
She looked at him, not understanding.
He dipped his head and kissed her in a leisurely fashion. ‘You’ve been a wonderful acquisition,’ he said softly.
She looked at him uncertainly. ‘Is that what I am?’ she asked. There was something in her voice and she wasn’t sure what it was, knew only that she didn’t want it to be there. Her eyes searched his but he was simply smiling down at her, appreciation in his open gaze.
‘Drink up,’ he said again, in a low voice. ‘There’s plenty more in the bottle. They’ll be serving our sunset supper at any moment.’ His voice changed, grew husky. ‘And after that I have every intention of testing out the bed in the stateroom down below.’
And he kissed her again, in that leisurely, casually possessive fashion...
* * *
It was good to kiss her. So very good to feel that velvet mouth of hers open to his, to taste its sweetness, savour its honey. To arouse the passion that came as he deepened his kiss.
But not right now. That was for later. For now he drew back, taking another draught of champagne, gazing out in a proprietorial fashion over the property he’d signed the purchase contract for that afternoon. For now he wanted to savour the moment. He wanted to savour everything.
He had bought the ruined hotel at the price he had wanted to pay—not the one that had been anticipated from him. It had been a fair pric
e—but a keen one. Restoration would be expensive, as he had told Talia, and it would be years before he would see payback on the investment. But it would be worth it—and not just from a financial point of view.