He turned his head so he was directly facing her, his expression sardonic. ‘And you could’ve also scrubbed my back in the shower, but I don’t think that would have been a good idea, do you?’
The mocking edge to his tone did nothing to slow her pulse. And, while she knew he could only see the outline of her face, surely he could feel the searing heat coming off her cheeks? Her brain exploded with images of him naked in the shower. Images of her touching him intimately with her lips and her tongue, the steam coming off the water nothing to the sensual heat coming off their bodies.
A tiny inner demon in Ruby decided to fight back...to make him admit he was as attracted to her as she was to him. ‘Because of our kiss? The kiss you say you won’t let happen again even though I know you want it to?’
His hands gripped the edge of the counter, his knuckles showing white. ‘You should know better than to get involved with me. I’m not your knight in shining armour.’
‘Maybe not—but that’s not to say we can’t have a little...flirtation.’
He curled his top lip, and his pupils turned as dark and wide as black holes in space. ‘A “flirtation”?’
The pitch of his voice lowered to a rough burr that sent a shiver across the floor of her belly.
‘Believe me, Ruby, you don’t know what you’re getting yourself in to. You’d be wise to step back right now.’
‘What if I don’t want to step back?’ Ruby stroked her fingers down the front of his muscular chest with just enough pressure for him to feel the scrape of her nails through the light cotton of his shirt. ‘What if I want to get closer? What if I want what you want?’
He sucked in a breath but didn’t move away. ‘I only have flings. I don’t do relationships. Ever.’
Ruby sent her fingers on another exploration, this time along the strongly corded muscles of his right arm. His casual shirt was rolled back at the cuffs, revealing hair-roughened forearms. His breathing rate increased, his nostrils flaring like those of a wild stallion scenting his mate.
‘So we could have a fling. While we’re here on the island.’
She was a little shocked at her forthrightness. Shocked and yet secretly delighted at her brazenness. Whyshouldn’tshe be honest and up-front about what she wanted? She might be an old-fashioned girl at heart, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a little fun before her handsome prince showed up, one day in the hopefully not too distant future.
She tiptoed her fingers over the back of his hand, where it was still gripping the counter, and lowered her voice to a throaty whisper. ‘What happens on the island, stays on the island.’
The silence stretched and stretched and stretched, like a thin cord pulled almost to snapping point.
Then Lucas removed his hands from where they were gripping the counter and grasped her by the upper arms. His touch was electric, sending arrows of liquid heat straight to her core. He released a rush of air, as if something tightly bound inside him had suddenly given way.
‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you when the week comes to an end.’
Then his mouth came crashing down on hers in an explosive kiss, his lips setting fire to hers. The kiss deepened with a silken thrust of his tongue through the seam of her lips. She gave a breathless gasp and surrendered to his passion—a passion that more than rivalled her own.
He slid one of his hands along the side of her face, his touch sending shivers skittering across her scalp. He angled his head to reposition his mouth, his lips softening against hers, bewitching her into a trance-like state as hot delight shot through her body from her mouth to her curling toes and back again. An ache built in her feminine flesh...a clawing, desperate, primal need that sent pounding blood to her secretly moistening centre.
Lucas dragged his mouth off hers, his chest rising and falling against her. ‘Are you sure about this? Once we do this, we can’t undo it.’
His voice was rough and thick with desire, and it made her want him all the more. Ruby linked her arms around his neck, pushing her body even closer to the potent hard heat of his.
‘I’m not a silly little starstruck teenager any more, Lucas. I’m a fully grown woman and I want you to make love to me—not because I’m in love with you, but because we’re both attracted to each other and it makes sense to make the most of it while we can. No one will ever know.’
Lucas ran his hands down the sides of her body, his hands settling on her hips. ‘As long as we’re clear on the rules.’
‘Do I need to sign something? A contract or a non-disclosure agreement?’ Her tone was lightly teasing. ‘Loosen up! I’m not going to beg you to marry me. This is just a bit of fun to pass the time.’
Lucas tugged her against him in a ruthlessly possessive fashion that sent another scalding wave of heat through her body.
‘Then if it’s fun you’re after...’
His mouth came back down on hers in a spine-tingling kiss that sent fireworks shooting through her blood. The ache between her thighs grew to a throbbing fever-pitch, and her heart was racing as his lips and tongue wreaked sensual havoc on her senses. He growled something indistinct against her lips, a primitive sound, deep in his throat, that made the blood sing in her veins.
His mouth moved from hers to explore the sensitive skin of her neck. She rolled her head to one side, delighting in the sensual glide of his lips against her skin. He moved his mouth to just below her earlobe, his teasing touch firing up the nerves of her erogenous zones like a naked flame thrown at dry tinder.
‘You smell divine...’
His voice was low and deep and thick with desire. His teeth gently closed on her earlobe and a shiver shot down her spine like greased lightning.