Now she was in the water.
Frowning, he took a step forward. ‘But you told me you couldn’t swim.’
The water was up to her shoulders. ‘I can’t. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m here...going for a swim.’
He was already running into the waves as she disappeared beneath the surface, and then suddenly she was in his arms, her hair slick against her head, her eyelashes splayed like starfishes.
Swearing loudly, he hauled her against him. ‘What the hell are you playing at?’
Her hands gripped his shoulders and her beautiful eyes locked onto his. ‘I just wanted to prove to you that when things can’t be changed, you can accept them and adapt.’
‘By drowning?’
She bit into her lip. ‘I wasn’t drowning. I was waving, so you knew where to find me.’
‘I know where to find you, Effie. You’re by my side.’
The truth in those words tore him in two. He had imagined a woman who would be able to fake a marriage with him, but Effie was so much more than that. She would risk her life for him. Only what about now? Now that she knew the truth?
He might not know about love, but he knew Effie. He knew how much it hurt her to lie, and that she had only done so because she’d thought his motives were good. Something twisted inside him. If this arrangement was going to continue it would have to be her choice.
‘But maybe that needs to change,’ he said slowly. ‘Because I can’t. I can’t adapt or accept what Andreas did to me. To my mother. I need to do this. I need to win.’
His need for revenge was like a living, breathing shadow—always at his heels, night, and day. And nothing could change that.
There was no sound except their breathing. Around them the universe was silent, as if shocked by his words.
‘I know that’s how you feel.’
Her face was pale, but her voice was grave and certain, and he felt a rush of relief that he hadn’t managed to push her away like everyone else.
‘I know why you feel that way. And that’s enough for me. Nothing’s changed.’
‘You still want to do this?’ He’d been so scared she would quietly refuse to go any further.
For a moment she didn’t reply and then her eyes found his. ‘We still have a deal, don’t we?’
The sudden reminder of the reason Effie was there was like a physical blow. But he knew it was irrational to feel that sting beneath his ribs.
He nodded. ‘Yes, we do, but—’
‘Okay, then.’
Glancing down, he caught sight of her bare breasts and their rosy-tipped nipples. Instantly the sting beneath his ribs was forgotten as heat rushed through him.
‘How did you know where to find me?’ he asked.
Her lashes flickered up. ‘I saw you the other morning...swimming.’ A pulse began to beat wildly in her throat. ‘You were naked.’
There was a moment of sharpening silence and then he drew her against him, his body tensing as he felt her bare, wet skin slide over his soaked clothes.
‘And now you are,’ he said softly.
Their eyes locked for a full sixty seconds and then he jerked her against him, taking her mouth as if he owned it, parting her lips and kissing her hungrily. She moaned softly, curling her hands around his neck, wrapping her legs around his waist, and he lifted her again, pushing forward through the water.
Reaching the sand, he laid her down, kissing her high on her neck, then low on her jawbone, feeling her body shudder.
‘Wait a minute.’