I rolled onto my side on the bed. He spooned up behind me and cradled me against him. I scrubbed at my tearstained face stubbornly, not wanting him to see how affected I’d been by our coupling. It had felt so intimate, so fierce and essential, romantic in a real and earthy way. He just gathered me against him and held me, kissing my temple and my hair.
“You are so beautiful. I can’t get over it,” he murmured, lacing his fingers through mine, holding my hand sweetly.
“You’re not so bad yourself, O’Shea,” I said, trying to be flirty and flippant, not to reveal how stark y need was, how clearly I’d started to fall for him.
“I mean it, Morgan,” he said huskily, lifting my hand to his lips and kissing it. “There’s nobody like you. I meant what I said. I’m not one of those guys who says things in the heat of the moment and then takes them back. You are simply amazing.
You’ve ruined me,” he said wryly.
“I have. You’re ruined. We’ll have to cancel the calendar and your nationwide striptease tour.”
“Yeah, I probably wouldn’t be any good now that I’m wrecked by you,” he teased.
I rolled onto my back and looked up at him. He was so damn gorgeous, and his energy, the flirtatious and potent energy that rolled off him, was practically making me drunk. I breathed him in, luxuriating in this moment, the intimacy and thrill of it. When I inhaled, I caught that whiff of spice that I’d noticed the second I landed on the island. No plumeria or floral scents here, just the saltwater and spice of Billy’s skin. Was it possible that what I’d breathed in when I arrived had been a hint of his pheromones? I laughed a little at myself for thinking it, but I knew something about him on a chemical, primal level called to me. He thrilled me, enticed me, and gave me ecstasy. And then he brought a kind of complete relaxation that came with surrender. I was an independent woman, and I didn’t need anyone. But I wouldn’t mind surrendering to Billy from time to time, I thought with a wicked grin that matched his.
“I feel like I’ve finally got you in my clutches,” he said, arching an eyebrow.
“That makes you sound like a villain.”
“I don’t care,” he said, sounding more serious than I expected. “I’ve got you right where I want you.”
His piercing eyes, the tense set of his jaw—how matter-of-fact he was, made it clear he wasn’t joking. A spark ran through me, both challenged and awed that he didn’t care how far he had to go to get me. I was his, whether I could say it out loud or not. I was definitely falling for him. And when he looked at me with that intensity and said things like that, I didn’t have a chance of resisting.
As long as I didn’t make a fool of myself over him, I decided there were worse things than falling for an incredible guy and having a vacation fling. As long as I knew what this was, that it was temporary, that it was for fun, I’d be fine. I could get out of this with some great memories and no harm done. If I could travel on my own, work on starting my own business, I was sure as hell strong enough to get over him when this was done. I was almost certain of it.
He pulled me closer, crushed me in his arms for a moment, territorial and possessive. I reveled in it. Slowly I drifted onto that plane between waking and sleep, the blissful, hazy rest that feels like floating. I jolted awake when I heard a roll of thunder in the distance. I gripped Billy’s arm, and his eyes flew open.
“Bad dream?” he asked. I shook my head.
“How often do you get bad storms here?” I said, my voice low as if I didn’t want to be detected.
“Not too often. It’s not the season for it, but I should check the weather. I thought I heard thunder earlier. But my ears were still ringing from the way you were screaming my name, so I couldn’t be sure,” he teased. His lips brushed my forehead. I snuggled into his broad chest for a moment and let myself feel that deceptive safety. Like if I kept my face nestled between his pecks, his strong arms around me, that no harm could ever come to me.