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‘Now,’ she whispered first softly and then impatiently but he resisted with painful restraint, pulling back to cup her face and kiss her with a melting slowness that almost undid him.
‘Clem,’ he murmured against her mouth. ‘We need to return to the boat. I didn’t get a chance to bring any protection.’
For one millisecond, Clem didn’t care. For one moment she understood for the first time how desire and sensation could overwhelm common sense, but before she had time to act upon her instincts reality reasserted itself and she sat up, reluctantly, almost embarrassed by the abandon she’d displayed just moments before. ‘Oh.’
‘Oh, indeed. But I’ve seen you swim. I think we can be back on board in less than five minutes and carry on where we left off. What do you think?’
Again he was giving her the control, even though the evidence of his desire was all too visible, and that control only solidified her need. ‘I think the quicker we get back, the better.’ She allowed herself the luxury of running her eyes over him slowly and with intent, taking in every plane and hollow, every piece of hard sculpted flesh, and she could see him visibly shake with the effort of standing still as she caressed him with her gaze.
This time it was no mad dash, instead they kept pace with each other, knowing what awaited them at the return to the boat. Clem reached the ladder first and climbed, Akil right behind her. As soon as she was on the boat she turned, needing to kiss him, to hold him, to be held in turn. The water hadn’t quenched her desire, instead the wait, the anticipation, had only stoked it and she pulled him close, entwining herself around him, until, with a muttered curse, he swept her up, laying her on the double sun lounger. She stayed still, drinking him in as he loomed above her.
‘Don’t move,’ he ordered, and she obeyed, unable to do anything but wait, every nerve quivering, every sense greedily needy until he returned, tall and powerful and gloriously nude, a packet in his hands. He paused despite her whimpering protest and she felt his gaze wander over her as if he were touching her, her flesh goosepimpling under his study. ‘You are beautiful,’ he breathed. ‘A sea goddess.’
‘No more talking,’ she managed and he laughed softly, sitting beside her.
‘No? But I could write a poem to your eyes...’ his finger brushed over them ‘...a sonnet to your mouth...’ it moved lower still ‘...and a haiku about your neck. Your breasts deserve an ode.’ She sucked in a breath as he lazily circled a nipple, replacing his finger with a tongue. ‘Your stomach an elegy. And as for the soft skin here.’ He moved his hand down to the tenderness of her inner thigh. ‘Oh, I could write an epic poem about the way you feel here.’
She was panting now, her breasts rising and falling as need built inside her higher and higher, hotter and hotter. She’d never felt so wanted before, so desirable, so tempting. But then again no man had ever looked at her as if she were the answer to all his prayers.
And she had never wanted a man so fiercely either. The play of his muscles under her eager hands, the strength in his arms and chest, the tautness of his stomach. The way he hissed as her hand moved lower as he fought fire with fire, moving lower until he was kissing her stomach, her hips, her thighs, her inner thighs, his hand moving further up, knowing and sure.
‘And here,’ he whispered. ‘Only a ballad would do for here.’ Clem cried out, she couldn’t fight back now, all thought disappearing under almost unbearable sensation until at last she broke, riding the wave again and again, exultant as he joined her, as if he were made for her, as if she were made for him.
Time ceased to have any meaning until she came to, wrapped around him, limp and sated, the stars shining down on them. Clem lay there, not knowing what to say or do. It had never felt like that before, never been as intense, as overwhelming. Part of her wanted to shout out in happiness, some part of her wanted to cry and, as if he understood, Akil rolled over to pull her closer, to envelop her in his arms.
‘Are you okay?’
‘Better than okay,’ she reassured him, then, worried, ‘You?’
His laugh rumbled through her. ‘Better than okay.’
‘Good, that’s good.’
‘It is.’
They lay there breathing in time until Akil sat up. ‘I promised you champagne.’
‘It’s fine,’ she reassured him, just wanting him back next to her but he was already on his feet.
‘No, you should have champagne. We have the sound of the sea, we have the stars, we shouldn’t waste it.’
‘Well, if you insist.’
It took him less than two minutes to return with the chilled champagne and a bowl of the raspberries they’d bought earlier and, completely unselfconsciously, they stayed on deck, sipping and nibbling on the raspberries and talking nonsense as they gazed up at the stars. At some point, most of the champagne drunk, Akil kissed her once again and desire sprang back up as if they hadn’t made love earlier, Clem responding with an ardency and urgency that would have surprised her if she’d had any room to think.
Later, much later, still under the stars but under a blanket Akil had brought up from the cabin, she began to fall asleep, safe in Akil’s arms.
‘I love you,’ she murmured, so almost asleep she wasn’t sure if she was imagining saying the words or not. Nor did she know if she imagined the pause that followed or the almost breathed response.
‘Je t’aime, Clemence Beaumont.Je t’aime.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CLEMLAYBACKon the sunbed and breathed in. It was another hot, sunny day, the kind where she was glad to have little to do but swim and sleep. And she knew she needed to make the most of it, she wouldn’t be able to stay in this idyll for much longer, nor enjoy almost guaranteed sun once she was back in the uncertainty of a UK summer.
Not that there was much summer left. She couldn’t believe how quickly time had flown, but here she was facing the end of her stay. In less than a week she’d be returning to Cornwall and Arrosa would come home and start preparing for the ratification. She hadn’t spoken to her sister for a couple of weeks, they’d just hurriedly exchanged a few messages, and she had no idea how she felt about returning to her normal life. Clem wasn’t sure how she felt about her return to normality either.
On one hand, fun as being a tourist and enjoying the benefits of living in Arrosa’s house were, she didn’t think she was suited for a life without purpose. Sunbathing and swimming were fun, but she got just as much enjoyment out of the sessions at the hospital, more in fact, looking forward to the moment she sat down and transported the children away. After discussing it with Akil she’d started to do some research into what she’d need to do to qualify in occupational therapy and dramatherapy and had contacted a friend who worked in a theatre company that specialised in working with children in hospital and other non-home settings. She still had no concrete plans, but just having an idea of a path was a huge step forward.
