Luke had a floor plan in the folder he had been given by the boat operator, but Abby was too impatient for that. She went on her own tour of discovery, calling out to him when she found another delightful room or stunning angle of the house.
‘Look at this, Luke.’ She pointed to the well-appointed kitchen and the breakfast room that opened on to a terrace where jasmine hung in a scented arras from the side of the villa. ‘I can’t wait to cook in there. And we can eat outside whenever we want.’
‘It’s a holiday. You’re not meant to cook.’
‘But I want to cook.’ Abby all but drooled at the luxury appliances and the acres of marble workspaces, which made her cramped kitchenette look like a shoebox. A baby’s shoebox. She opened a butler’s pantry. ‘Goodness me, you could park a car in here it’s so big.’ She closed the door and grinned at him. ‘Am I gushing too much?’
His slow smile made something in her stomach drop. ‘Come here.’
Abby walked across the kitchen to where he was standing, her breath snaring in her throat when he slipped a hand to the nape of her neck. His eyes were so dark a blue his pupils almost disappeared. ‘I don’t want to waste a second of this holiday with you slaving over a hot oven.’
She linked her arms around his neck and leaned into his hard frame, her body tingling at the erotic contact. ‘So you’d prefer me slaving over your hot body instead?’
The glint in his eyes intensified. ‘I couldn’t have put it better myself.’ His hands settled on her hips, holding her against the pulse of his body. His mouth came down and covered hers in a long, drugging kiss that made the backs of her knees feel fizzy. A hot pool of longing opened up inside her, creating a whirlpool deep in her core.
Abby sighed against his mouth, weaving her tongue with his, her body tingling with the need to get closer. Luke’s hands were already working on her clothes, peeling them from her body as if he was unwrapping a present he had been waiting to open for a long time.
‘I want you,’ he said, moving his mouth against the sensitive skin of her neck, the caress of his warm breath sending shivers down her spine.
Abby was suddenly conscious of how hot and sticky she was from their travel. ‘Maybe I should shower first…’
‘I have an even better idea.’ He took her hand and led her out to the sun-dappled infinity pool on the terrace.
There were towels in a hamper under a shelter and he took two out and laid them on two sun loungers. There was even sunscreen in a spray bottle thoughtfully placed nearby.
Then he undid the rest of his shirt buttons, looking at her with such explosive erotic intent her legs threatened to give way. ‘Ever skinny-dipped before?’
Abby shook her head. ‘I’ve always been too shy to do something like that.’ Not to mention she was a hopeless swimmer. She only ever stayed in the shallow end because she hadn’t learnt to swim with anything remotely near proficiency.
He stepped out of his trousers and shoes and socks and underwear before he came back to help her with the rest of her clothes. With each article he removed, he left a kiss in its place, his lips and tongue moving over her flesh in little nudges and licks that made her desire for him swarm through her body in a hot wave.
The sensation of the sun on her naked skin was so sensually arousing but, teamed with Luke’s kisses and skilled caresses, she was breathless and aching with need within seconds. ‘Are you sure no one can see us?’ she said, sliding her hands down his muscular chest.
‘We’re totally alone.’
Abby glanced nervously towards the ocean in the distance. ‘What about on the water? Maybe there’s a yacht with a stonking big telescope that will—’
‘Abby.’ Luke’s voice had a soothing quality to it that was like a caress in itself. ‘You’re safe with me. I wouldn’t bring you out here if I didn’t think it was private.’
Was she safe?
Safe emotionally?
Abby brushed aside the thought. She wasn’t falling in love with Luke. That wasn’t part of the deal. How could she fall in love so quickly anyway? She was confusing phenomenal sex with love. Hadn’t she written a column about that once? It was a classic mistake people made, especially women, confusing great sex with love, often being disappointed when the novelty wore off, to find there was nothing underpinning the relationship but physical lust.
Luke picked up the sunscreen and sprayed her back and shoulders and then handed her the bottle to do his. Once they were safely covered with sunscreen, he brought her back to the cradle of his body, his hands sliding down to cup her behind, his mouth fusing to hers in a searing kiss that made her toes curl against the sun-warmed flagstones. Then he lifted his mouth off hers to blaze a trail of kisses down to her breasts, subjecting each one to licks and sucks and gentle nips that made her gasp with delight.