Page 58 of Dagger in the Sea

A jet ski roared past and another and another swiped through the dark blue water even closer to theAllegra. Two men on each jet ski, the ones seated in the rear with cameras in their hands focused on us.

“Sto thiálo!”Adriana spit out.

Pulling her back from the railing and into the dining room, I wrapped my arms around her and held her. “They were just taking pictures. It’s okay,” I murmured, brushing my lips against her temple.

She shivered. I held her tighter, rubbing her back, but her shivering wouldn’t stop.

“Is it always like this?” I asked.

“Always.”

17

Adriana

Turo usheredme inside the boat, his arm around me.

“You okay?” He searched my face.

“Fine.” I pushed his hands away, and he released me. “I’m fine.”

His jaw tightened even more. “Adri.”

I brushed my hair behind my ears. “I’m going to take a shower and—”

“Get some rest.” He glanced at his watch. “We have about three hours before we need to leave for the club.”

“Right.” I headed down the corridor toward my cabin, a hand trailing the wall.

“Adriana.”

His heavy voice stopped me in my tracks, and I turned back toward him. Turo’s brow was pulled together forming a stiff ridge over his eyes. “I’m sorry—I should have been more careful.”

“It’s not your fault, Turo. It’s the way things are.”

The way things had always been.

I went to my cabin and curled up on the bed. I didn’t want another private moment stolen from me. I gave them enough, all the time, but it didn’t matter, did it? Now they’d try to find out who Turo was and whip up some steamy “Adriana and her sexy bodyguard” story.

Something to look forward to.

I rolled over onto my back and replayed the memory of Turo’s firm grip on my flesh—I could still feel it. His throwing our wine glasses into the sea, kissing me, demanding from me. His biting looks, his deep kisses. I curled up on the bed. I hadn’t given myself over toitin a very long time. Giving myself over to Turo wouldn’t be difficult. From the moment I met him I could feel the earth under me giving way. A wild landslide. A landslide I was powerless to stop.

His kiss had dared me to kiss him back, a kiss that said he wanted to consume me, conquer me. And a piece of me wanted to be his captive. Last night at the club, I’d given in to the overwhelming urge to experience that dare blazing in his eyes. For once, I’d taken the chance and leapt. This was no ordinary attraction. A kind of high, a jolt, a shock that pulled my insides tight with a searing heat the moment he’d gripped me just now, his taste becoming mine.

My fingers went to my lips. I could still feel his possessive ferocity. ‘Kiss’ was such a sweet, charming, even simple word, but Turo’s version was anything but. His kiss was a portal to a shrouded mystery that called to something brutal, something volatile inside me, inside both of us. This was no kiss performance to impress or dazzle me, win me over like it had been with so many others. There was a connection, I’d felt it shudder through me. I saw it in his eyes, a moment of surprise then it had darkened.

I slid a hand over a breast and stroked, kneaded. What would his hand on my body feel like? I closed my eyes and saw his face, felt the heavy heat of those eyes on me, his touch. It had been so long, so long since…

My nipples hardened, my skin heated. I ached. That loneliness coiled inside me.

My hand traveled down my middle to between my legs.Bloody hell.His burning mouth on mine had lit a fire in me only moments ago. A fire that still blazed, and I didn’t want to let it die. My breathing deepened as my fingers slid under the waistband of my bikini bottom.

Yes,there. Like that. If he touched me here, would he be workmanlike or sensual and possessive? I was positive it was the latter; he would listen to my body, he would answer its call. My fingers moved faster. Was he hard right now? Was he relieving himself of that arousal in the shower at this very moment, water streaming over the muscles of his body?

His deep voice murmured in my ear, his eyes seared over me. His fingers dragged over my skin, his mouth. I stroked harder, a cry with his name on it escaped my lips, and I buried my face in the pillow.

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