Page 160 of Promise of Darkness
“Good?” he asks.
“Terribly good.”
Too late, I realize he’s been circling closer. One hand locks around my calf, and he gives me a wicked grin as he hauls me into the water, clothes and all. I go under with a splash, heat enveloping me and my arms flailing.
The second I come up, I’m in his arms, and there’s no escaping.
“What are you doing?” I gasp.
“You looked dirty.” He brushes his thumb against my nose and looks at it, as if he can see dirt. A slow smile heats his face. “I thought I might be able to help you get all clean.”
I splash him in the face.
There’s an instant where he looks startled, and then a wave of water is coming in my direction.
It turns into all-out war.
I don’t know what’s taken over me, but I can’t help laughing as I splash him. Water flies back at me, almost blinding me in its intensity. I smash plumes of it directly in his face, and somehow win the first round.
Or maybe that was only a ruse, to lure me in closer, for suddenly I’m the one being drowned.
“Stop!” I yell, but there’s no surcease.
Leaping upon him, I try and shove his head under the water, but he’s so impossibly strong. So big. Too late, I realize exactly how badly I’ve erred.
Thiago captures both my hands. I lock my legs around his waist, determined to escape, but there’s no shifting him.
My back hits the edge of the pool, and its only then, when he pins my wrists there, that I realize how trapped I am.
And how naked he is.
Suddenly, I can feel him, pressed hot and hard between my legs. The thin leather leggings are no barrier. Nor is my wet shirt. My nipples press against his chest, and we both still, caught in the sudden realization that we were doomed the second he hauled me into the water.
This is the moment.
My smile dies, laughter forgotten in the wake of the sudden flare of desire I feel. I can see it in his eyes too, dangerously green beneath those thick, wet lashes.
“Vi,” he whispers, his gaze dropping to my mouth.
My heart rabbits in my chest. Every inch of me hovers in indecision. This is no mere kiss he’s asking for. Everything changes from this point on.
I know I have his heart. I know I’ve had it from the moment he first saw me, but I’ve never dared give him mine. Not this time.
“You owe me a kiss,” he whispers.
“I owe you two. I’m fairly certain its past midnight.”
His smile melts me. “Well, I wasn’t counting, but I won’t say no.”
“Liar,” I breathe. “You’ve got a tally nailed to your bedroom wall.”
His fingers curl through mine, no longer pinning me, but relentless all the same. And I can feel the hard edge of his wedding band. The one he wears for me. The one he’s worn from the moment we married.
I could tell myself a thousand times that this is dangerous, that we were never meant to be. I could use our kingdoms as an excuse, use my mother, my curse, all of it, to deny what I feel. But it’s a lie, and if there’s one thing I’ve always striven to do, it’s to tell the truth.
I can’t help myself.
I kiss him.
