Just when she was ready to wrap herself fully around him, he pulled back, his dark eyes black with hunger. “Until tonight,” he whispered before turning and walking down the beach.
Unable to move, Rachel stood, shivering on the warm sand. There was nothing cold about her; she was just in terrible need of what she knew he could give. OK, maybe she didn’t know, but from that kiss, she was pretty dang sure.
When he was out of sight, Rachel was finally able to pull herself together. Desperate to expend some of the energy built up inside her, she began jogging toward the trail that led to her rented home.
The jog didn’t help. She was still agitated as she threw off her skimpy bikini and jumped into the shower. Only then did she realize that they’d never set a time for dinner. Well, she didn’t want to wait too long.
Even knowing a lady should make a man wait didn’t help her to slow down. They both knew how this night would end, and she was in a hurry to get it started.
Chapter Nine
Lia
It was just too hot.
Lia nearly panicked as she woke, burning up. She started moving around, her hands flinging the covers away, when she came into contact with virtually smoldering flesh. Her legs were wrapped around solid calf muscles that were lighting her toes on fire. Her stomach trembled, and her body turned stiff as reality came crashing into her conscious brain.
“Good morning.”
She froze once her hand came into contact with something delectably hard. Only her neck moved, barely, and she found herself looking into Shane’s dark chocolate eyes.
With a gasp she realized she was holding onto his thick manhood, and it took a second before she was able to get her fist to unclench and then she released him while she quickly tried to scoot backward.
“Where are you going? I thought things were just starting to heat up,” he said lazily as he turned, not releasing her from his arms.
“Uh, sorry about that,” she muttered, not daring to connect their eyes again. It wouldn’t take much to send her over the ledge she was on. They were lying nearly na**d together and she was one second away from saying to hell with it and climbing on top of him.
She couldn’t do that.
They’d never crawl from the tent if that were to happen.
“No need to apologize. I love your hands on me. I can remember your touch like it was yesterday,” he said in a low, smooth voice that was melting her from the inside out.
“I need to go outside.”
“No need. We have all we could ever want right in here,” he told her as his lips nuzzled her neck. Oh, that was good, very, very good.
“No. I really need to go outside,” she said and wiggled uncomfortably.
Shane finally realized what she needed and chuckled.
“Well, that will dampen the mood. I guess I need to find a bush myself, now that you’ve put the thought in my mind.”
Lia was horrified that he would say such a thing. It was just something you didn’t talk about — not ever.
Shane lay back and looked at her; she clutched the thin blanket to her chest and wondered how the heck it had not only kept them warm, but also overheated her. Well, it wasn’t the blanket; it was his scorching body that was turning up the temperature in the tiny tent.
“You can at least be a gentleman and turn around,” she snapped when he didn’t appear to have the slightest inclination to do so.
“Nah. I’m comfortable just as I am,” he answered with a wicked grin — the same grin that had made her chase after him for so long.
“Fine,” she huffed. If he wanted a show, then he was going to get one. He’d better enjoy it because looking was all he was going to do.
Seeing her clothes lying in the corner, she sat up, exposing her backside to him as she snatched up her own shirt, which was thankfully dry. She pulled off the borrowed shirt from him, giving him a nice long glimpse of her smooth back. Right before she got it over her head, Shane’s finger trailed from her neck, all the way down the length of her spine, then slid over the curve of her soft derrière.
A chill rushed through her as she moved away, unzipping the tent with one hand and grabbing her pants with the other. She darted out, no thought crossing her mind that someone might be out there. They were on a deserted island, after all.
Luck was with her when no one spotted her streaking outside. That was a good thing, since she was half naked. Struggling into her still damp pants, she moved into the trees a short way and made sure not to be gone too long.
The area creeped her out. She’d never been anywhere where she was this alone. As much as she was afraid of her reaction to Shane, she was glad he was there. She wouldn’t do well by herself — she was terrified of the slightest sound.
When she heard the bushes move near her, she let out a loud gasp, and went running back toward the tent.
“It’s only me, Lia. Don’t worry,” Shane called.
It still took several moments before her heart slowed its frantic beating.
Shane returned and climbed back into the tent. Lia decided it wouldn’t be wise to go back inside with him. The space was just too small. Besides, they should be looking for a way out of this mess. Maybe they’d build one of those rafts like the one Tom Hanks had made in the film Cast Away, and someone would rescue them in the middle of the ocean.
OK, that wasn’t the brightest idea, but she was desperate here.
“Are you hungry?” Shane asked as he stepped back outside, the sight of him in his low-slung pants and nothing else causing near cardiac arrest. He was muscled and dark and beyond scrumptious looking. She could seriously dine off his abs alone. Chomp.
“Yes,” she replied, hoping he had something and wasn’t just taunting her.
“We have a few supplies, but they will only last a couple of days. We need to conserve what we can. There should be fruit and possibly nuts on this island, so we’ll have to go on a hunt,” he said as he cut open a bag and passed it to her.
Lia was elated when she looked inside and found a large amount of trail mix. This would be plenty for the both of them for a good breakfast. Next he pulled out a water bottle. Water had never looked more beautiful.
“We only have three bottles, but I have water purification tablets, so this isn’t our limit. Still, we need to take it easy. Hopefully, we can find a fresh-water supply deeper inside the island. I don’t want to go too far and risk getting lost, though. We also need to keep our belongings with us. This tent is the only thing that will keep us protected from the weather at night.”