‘Erm... I was actually looking at you.’
One side of his mouth lifted at the corner. ‘And what do you see?’
She licked her dry lips and put her glass down on the table between them, the shade and the light sea breeze doing little to cool the heat in her cheeks. ‘You seem a little more relaxed now you’re here. You’ve even smiled, which you don’t often do.’
A frown carved into his forehead. ‘You find that a fault? That I don’t find life all that amusing at present?’
‘It’s understandable that you’d be feeling frustrated and annoyed at losing your eyesight. I can only imagine how hard it must be.’
‘Close your eyes and imagine it now. Go on. Sit with me here and experience it like I do.’
‘Okay...’
Ruby closed her eyes and listened to the sound of the birds twittering in the nearby shrubbery. The sound of the gentle lapping of the ocean in the distance was soothing, mesmerising, and even the light dance of the breeze amongst the leaves of the shrubbery had a calming effect on her senses.
‘It’s amazing what you can hear when you can only hear and not see. It’s like every sound is magnified.’
‘Keep your eyes closed and come over to me. Don’t cheat. Find your way by touch.’
Ruby found herself taking up his challenge, wanting to prove to him that she was prepared to put herself in his situation in order to better understand his experience of the world at this point. She had an advantage, though, because she had already seen the table between them, and the general layout of the terrace and the dimensions of the pool.
She walked with slow, cautious steps towards him, sidestepping the table and coming to within touching distance of his legs.
‘Now take my glass off me and put it on the table.’
Ruby reached out her hand and finally located the glass in his hand, briefly encountering his fingers as she took it from him. She half turned and placed it on the table behind her, making sure first that the surface was clear and the glass would be not too close to the edge. The amount of concentration it took was a revelation to her, and the dangers of breaking a glass or misjudging where a piece of hard furniture might be placed only added to the stress.
‘Gosh, this is a lot harder than I thought.’
‘Take my hand.’
His voice had a note of command to it that was strangely compelling. Ruby kept her eyes closed and searched for his hand, finally finding it resting on his thigh.
She curled her fingers around his and lifted his hand. ‘Now what?’
Lucas rose in one agile movement, standing so close to her she could feel his knees against hers. ‘Are your eyes still closed?’
His tone had a husky edge that sent a shiver racing down her spine.
‘Yes...’ Her voice was as whisper-soft as the breeze teasing the leaves of the shrubbery.
Her heart beat a staccato rhythm that made her feel light-headed and unsteady on her feet. She could feel herself swaying towards him, the magnetic pull of his male body calling out to everything that was female in hers. It was an irresistible forcefield of longing that made a mockery of her determination to keep her distance.
One of his hands cupped the left side of her face, his fingers splaying across her cheek. Tingling sensations rippled through her body and spot fires of need burned in her female flesh. His other hand tipped up her chin, his thumbpad stroking over the fullness of her lower lip.
‘You have a beautiful mouth.’
His tone was still pitched low and deep, with a rough edge that set her pulse racing all over again.
‘But you can’t see it...or at least not clearly.’ Ruby couldn’t get her voice above a thready whisper, or her heartrate to settle into a more normal rhythm.
‘But I can feel it.’
She snatched in a wobbly breath, her heart skipping all over the place. ‘What does it feel like?’
‘Soft, sensual, sexy...’
His voice went down even lower, to a deep rumbling burr that made heat flow down her spine like warmed honey.