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Unfortunately though, keeping our liaison a secret wasn’t going to work for me.
So when she went to leave, I grasped her wrist. ‘Not so fast, Edie.’
She sat down on the lounger, her hands twisting on the towel she had wrapped around that delectable body.
‘At the meeting today, and during the rest of this week,’ I said, ‘the guests and the team are going to know we have been intimate.’
She blinked, the blush exploding on her cheeks again. ‘How?’
I had to resist the urge to laugh at the gaucheness of the question. Did she have any idea how she looked right now—like a woman who had been well and truly...? I cut off the crude word before I could even think it. She wasn’t a whore, like my mother had been, like her own mother had been. In fact she was exactly the opposite. She didn’t deserve to be thought of in that way. But that didn’t mean I was going to avoid stating the obvious. If she wanted to pretend she was experienced, I was entitled to treat her as if she were.
‘Because I plan to sleep with you again. And I’m not about to keep it a secret. In fact,’ I added, thinking of the practicalities, because from the look of stunned disbelief on her face she was clearly incapable of doing so. ‘I would like to have your belongings moved into my suite of rooms. It seems pointless us staying at opposite ends of the estate. Logistically speaking. There’s going to be little enough downtime given the roster of events Evan has planned for the remainder of the week. If we’re going to make the most of the time we have available it makes sense for us to stay in the same place. And my suite is a great deal bigger than yours.’
‘But...’ she actually sputtered, her blush now radioactive, which I found ridiculously charming. It shouldn’t matter to me, but it felt oddly exhilarating knowing I was the first man, the only man, she had ever been in a relationship with. ‘Won’t that compromise my position with the team?’ she said, confirming my suspicions about her insecurities.
‘Absolutely not. What you do in your spare time... What we both do in our spare time, for that matter... With each other. Is no one else’s business. Believe me, you have more than proved yourself with every member of the team, including me, and no one is going to question that.’ A flush of pleasure lit her eyes at the praise and the strange clenching in my chest increased. I forced it down. It wasn’t as if I was complimenting her for any other reason than she had earned it. ‘Plus, I’ve seen how some of the male guests have been sniffing around you,’ I added, because now we had slept together
it didn’t seem inappropriate to admit to the jealousy that had gripped me every time one of the bastards even glanced at her. ‘I don’t like it. As long as they know you’re now with me, they’ll back off, which will save me the trouble of having to punch anyone. Which could get awkward, let’s face it, if they turn out to be one of the people we choose as an investor,’ I finished, only half joking.
‘You would punch one of the guests?’ She sounded both horrified and astonished. But the flush of colour told a slightly different story—which I suspected she was wholly unaware of—that having a man prepared to fight for her was a novel, but not entirely unwelcome, experience. I thought of the father who had refused to acknowledge her and couldn’t help the sudden desire to punch him too.
‘If a man got too familiar with you, yes, I’d punch him in a minute,’ I confirmed as I tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. I let my thumb glide down the side of her neck, to caress the pulse which hammered her collarbone. I could see the beginnings of beard burn where I had devoured the soft flesh earlier. I would have to be more careful with her, I noted; her skin was so delicate. ‘I don’t share,’ I added, which was true. I insisted all relationships I had were mutually exclusive, no matter how short. But the strange surge of possessiveness at the thought of any other man touching her, or even looking at her, was something entirely new.
I dismissed the thought. It was only because she was so young and so inexperienced, and she was also in my employ, that I felt protective towards her. It would fade, along with my hunger for her. But, until it did, I didn’t see a problem with indulging myself. And her.
‘So how do you feel about having your belongings moved into my suite?’ I asked.
She hesitated, tugging that lush bottom lip with her teeth as she considered my request, and for a split second my pulse rate sped up—at the insane thought that she might refuse me. Of course she would not; she had enjoyed the sex as much as I had after that initial discomfort, I was sure about that now. And anyway, if she refused I was more than capable of persuading her. But weirdly, despite all my qualifications, my pulse remained elevated and erratic until she stopped biting her lip and nodded.
‘Okay,’ she said, the eager smile and the flicker of excitement in her eyes captivating me as much as that damn blush. ‘If you insist,’ she said.
‘I do,’ I murmured, unable to prevent an equally eager smile—at the thought of all the pleasure we would have after hours. I gave her a friendly pat on the butt. ‘Now, you’d better go shower,’ I said. ‘Or you’ll be late for work, and I know what a hard taskmaster your boss is.’
She laughed, the sound so light and sweet and carefree, my pulse rate spiked again, for an entirely different reason. But as she stood, with the towel still wrapped tightly around her lush curves, she looked down at me, her smile turning sultry and sexy and remarkably bold for a young woman who had only just been initiated into the joys of sex. An odd sense of pride gripped me at yet more evidence that my Edie was an exceptionally fast learner.
‘Are you sure you don’t want to join me?’ she said, flicking her gaze provocatively towards the open shower used to rinse off the sea salt.
Blood surged into my groin at the image of her wet and dripping, those lush curves covered in soap suds as my hands teased her nipples and explored her warm flesh.
Whoa, ragazzo.
I shifted on the lounger, but kept the towel pressed firmly over my growing erection to hide my reaction to her bold suggestion.
As much as I would love to take her up on her offer, I knew she had to be sore and I didn’t want to risk hurting her by taking things too far. Too soon.
While her flesh might be willing, mine was far too weak. Or, rather, not nearly weak enough.
‘I think I will stay here and enjoy the view instead,’ I said, with as casual a tone as I could muster, knowing it was going to be torture. ‘You have exhausted me, bella,’ I lied, but I was glad I had when she laughed with obvious pleasure, like the fledging man-eater she was. ‘And we don’t want to both be late for work.’
She nodded, again revealing that artless smile.
I watched her walk to the shower, unable to detach my gaze as she dropped the towel and put on a display worthy of a seasoned courtesan as she washed her beautiful body—a display which was all the more arousing for being entirely unconscious.
I waved to her as she left the beach, having slipped into one of the towelling robes left for the guests. I finally managed to drag my gaze off her as she disappeared up the beach steps. I would need to get my reaction to her under ruthless control before our morning team briefing, I realised, or all the promises I’d made to maintain our professional relationship in the professional spaces we shared would be shot to hell.
I gathered the triangles of blue fabric I had ripped off her earlier, intending to dispose of them for her and order her another bikini—because I was already anticipating the sight of those lush curves so temptingly confined again. But as I climbed off the lounger I noticed the spots of blood she had also left behind. Along with her innocence.
Not that I had needed any confirmation of her virginity after our encounter, but the sight had my heartbeat stuttering. And, although I knew it was a little disingenuous, I couldn’t help making a silent vow as I stared at the evidence of her trust in me.
