“Good.”
The cool water lapped against my skin as I rested my head against Gavin’s shoulder. All around us, the night air was warm and intoxicating, as if it were keeping our secrets.
I knew the morning would come fast, dawn breaking before I was ready. A part of me wanted this all to be over, for us to win, and find our happily ever after. Another part wanted to stay here in this crystal pool forever.
Because the only thing certain wasthismoment. And I wanted it to last. To sear it into my mind for the cold climb down. Just in case it was the last perfect one I’d ever have.
My fingers trailed along the smooth edge of his collarbone and down the ridges of his stomach. I felt the breath rise sharply in his chest, his fingers tightening around my waist.
“It’s your turn to tell me a story,” I murmured, unknotting the linen wrap at my shoulder and letting it sink into the pool.Leaning in, I glided my lips softly against his neck.
“You know all my stories.”
His thumb tilted my chin back, his gaze dipping to my mouth before something hungry flashed in his eyes.
“Actually, that’s not true. Have I ever told you the one about the masterful thief and his jewel?”
“No.”
A beat of silence passed before Gavin’s thumb ghosted over my cheek. His voice was husky, a quiet rasp in the darkness.
“There once was a thief who was ruggedly handsome, charming… truly magnificent.”
“A marvel without a shirt.”
He pressed a smirk against my temple. “I’m telling it, but yes.”
“Modest too.”
“The whole package.” Gavin’s fingers slipped lower, tracing the line of my neck. “But he was adrift. Wandering from kingdom to kingdom. Searching.”
He wrapped his hand around the compass resting against my heart.
“Until one day, he stumbled upon a precious jewel.”
I shivered, shifting my body closer. “And did the jewel like being stumbled upon?”
“Not in the slightest.” His mouth found my shoulder, warm and lingering. “It was elusive.” His lips skimmed down my arm. “Unamused by his charms.”
A soft laugh escaped me, my head tipping back. “Sounds like a fool.”
“No. It was just wary.”
Gavin’s hands slipped under my thighs, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me from the pool. Waterdripped down our skin, the air now chilled. He ducked under a heavy canopy and lowered me to a cushioned lounge.
His gaze was riveted, sweeping over me in the faint moonlight. My pulse pounded, every inch of me tuned to the way he looked at me—like the jewel was flawless.
“What happened next?” I asked, barely recognizing my own voice.
Gavin’s gaze traveled over the curve of my breasts, then his hands followed, palms rough as they slid down my stomach.
“The thief tried to claim it once, but it slipped through his fingers and fell into the sea.”
A shadow flickered over his features, his gaze holding mine as his lips brushed over my navel.
“And it darkened his soul because he knew he’d never find another.
My heart stumbled. “Gavin—”
