her flimsy top…
“Thanks,” she said softly, giving him a coy look over her shoulder. As if she knew what was going through his mind, she smiled shyly, but before he could respond, she was sprinting away from him, kicking up sand. He watched as she darted into the water and was soon splashing headlong into the clear waves of the Mediterranean, the sun sprinkling a trail of glitter along the lapping tide.
Chapter 10
S oon , she emerged from the frothy surf, water drops clinging to her fair skin and glittering like a liquid coat of Swarovski diamonds. Stuart was painfully aware of his straining erection as her breasts jiggled as she walked toward him, her red hair like a wet curtain framing her smiling face, her sparkling eyes mirroring the water whence she rose like a nymph and her smile tugging at something deep inside him that had lain dormant for as long as he could remember. Something unfathomable was happening to him, something catching at his heart, snapping free of a tightness he hadn’t even been aware of.
“The water is great!” she gushed as she stood basking in the sun to air-dry.
He nodded and stayed right where he was, his eyes still feasting on her naturally curvy frame. He marveled at the way the droplets of water on her skin reflected the sunlight and turned her luminous, as if touched by magic—nature itself clothing her in a mantle of iridescence and luminescence, like a rare gem.
“Aren’t you going in?” she asked, still panting slightly, licking her lips.
He would go in, but the hard press of his erection gave him pause, as did the feast to his eyes represented by Kirsty standing not a foot away from him. Then he caught sight of the outline of the outer lips of her sex, clearly visible beneath the wet material of her bikini bottoms, and his heart pounded against his breastbone like a hammer. With a growl, he dragged off shirt and Bermudas, and broke into a sprint for the water. He needed to cool off. If he stayed with Kirsty for one second longer he’d either spontaneously self-combust or his hands would develop a mind of their own and drag her down on top of him.
He plunged into the waves headfirst and was swimming away from the beach and from the object of his sweet torment with powerful strokes of his muscular arms, trying to rid himself of the sneaking suspicion he was falling for her and falling fast.
Kirsty sat down, chin on her knees, and watched as Stuart plunged deeper into the glittering waters, moving further and further away from shore. Soon, his dark head was a mere dot on the horizon, and she felt a twinge of worry that he wouldn’t make it back. But then she told herself that was simply nonsense. Stuart was a seasoned vet, after all, who’d braved the seething cauldron of war. The calm waters of the Mediterranean posed no threat or challenge to him.
She found her heart beating a steady drum at the memory of Stuart gazing at her as intently as he had, his eyes positively devouring her with an intensity that took her breath away. And as she watched him turn back and swim toward her, she felt the tightness in her breasts increasing, just like it had before. Her chest quickly rising and falling with quickening arousal, she happened to look down at her breasts, and saw to her surprise that her bikini top wasn’t as concealing as she’d thought it was. In fact the dark poke of her nipples was clearly visible through the wet material. Then she looked up and saw that Stuart was walking from the surf, navigating the sandy stretch separating them, his eyes hot on her.
She understood instinctively the scene was one two lovers would share. One beach towel for two, shared by two people intensely in love. Only they weren’t in love, were they? They weren’t even lovers. Did she want them to be? She couldn’t deny that she did, and marveled once more at the miraculous absence from her thoughts of Geoffrey, the man she’d pined for for so long.
She had to suppress a gasp as