"No, I'd rather you do it."
The husky tone of her voice makes me want to shag her right here, right now. But I can't. Not having sex for a while was my idea and reversing that decision would be…impolite. Or something like that.
"Keep going," she murmurs in that arousing tone. "Please."
I wonder if she could climax from a massage. Well, it probably depends on which parts of her I rub. My brother would know the perfect spots and the perfect ways to work them. No wonder women love him. Maybe that's why I haven't told Maddie about Nick yet. She wouldn't be the first woman to throw me over for my brother.
While I spread the sunscreen over her shoulders, I savor the sensation of her skin under my palms and the tendons I can feel when I knead her flesh with my fingers. She moans when I glide my hands down her back, skimming them over her arse on my way to her legs. I drizzle sunscreen onto her thighs and start rubbing, my fingers slick and my thoughts anything but chaste. To have my hands on her luscious body but not make love to her is sheer torture—but the best sort.
"Mm, Rick, talk to me. I love your voice."
"Thank you?" No one has ever complimented the way I speak. Is it a compliment? Yes, it must be.
She peeks at me over her shoulder, eyes half-closed. "Once, I tasted hot cocoa flavored with dark chocolate, caramel, and cayenne. Your voice is like that. Rich, smooth, decadent, and spicy."
I freeze with my hands on her thighs. What am I meant to say to that? She loves my voice, and it's like spicy hot cocoa. I have never heard that from any other woman.
Maddie smiles and wiggles her arse. "Are you done with my legs?"
"Not quite." I smooth the lotion onto her calves. "There. It's done."
"Time to turn over." She flips onto her back, clasping her hands behind her head. "I'm ready to get sunscreened up on the front side."
I can't resist doing what she wants, not when I'm enraptured by the sight of her breasts and her flat belly, with that sweet little navel that I'd love to tease with my tongue. Since I can't say no to this woman, I squeeze more lotion from the sunscreen bottle.
"Come on, Rick, please. Talk to me."
"All right." What should I say? While I slather the lotion over her skin, rubbing as I go, I realize I want to talk to her. Words tumble out of me, things I've never said to a woman before. "You are so fucking beautiful, Madeleine. I love touching you, and I love the look on your face when I'm touching your body. Christ, you're perfect. I want to tear off your bikini and devour every inch of you, starting with your breasts and moving lower and lower until I push my head between your thighs and feast on all that rich, luscious cream."
"Oh God, yes." Her chest rises and falls with every labored breath, hoisting those succulent tits. She drags her fingers down her throat and chest until she reaches her breasts. Then with only her fingertips, she toys with her nipples through her bikini top. "Keep talking."
If I do that, I know I'll wind up breaking my vow to not fuck her. Since my brain is on holiday, I can't quite remember why I shouldn't rip that bikini to shreds. But no sex was my idea. What sort of arse would I be if I changed my mind the day after making that vow?
I quickly finish applying the sunscreen, then I get up and rush to cover myself with it too—before she can offer to do it for me. My willpower will crumble to dust if she does that. But we can still have fun together, even without sex.
"Let's go snorkeling in the nude," she says. "I memorized all the fish and stuff that we might see down there so I'll know what to look for."
"You memorized the fish?"
Maddie hunches her shoulders, shifting her gaze downward. "I'm a scientist. Data is what I live for. So I bought books about Caribbean wildlife and sea life before I got on the plane. The long flight from the UK gave me plenty of time to commit all that info to memory."
"That's impressive. You're the cleverest woman I've ever met." I offer her my hands to help her up. "If we use the earpieces, you can tell me all about the fish we see."
She grins and claps her hands.
And my pulse speeds up. Maddie Solberg makes me feel… I don't know. Something good but indescribable. Maybe I'll figure out what it is later. For now, I want to watch her experience a coral-reef ecosystem, because I'm certain she will light up when she swims with all those underwater creatures.
"I love your enthusiasm," I say. "But you're not at all what I thought a scientist would be like."
"How are we eggheads supposed to behave?"
"Serious and pragmatic, I suppose."
"That's how I am at work, but this is a vacation." She tickles my belly. "I'm serious about wanting to snorkel with you and doing it in the nude is very pragmatic."
"I don't see how."
"Hydrodynamics. It's like aerodynamics but in the water. I briefly dated a guy who specializes in that field, so I learned a few things about it. Swimming nude is practical because it means we'll have no clothes to slow down our hydrokinetic motion."