“No.” I shook my head and stopped him before he dived. “Don’t even think about it. I don’t want to get hypothermia.”

“You won’t,” he said. “Just keep moving.”

I tilted my head. “Easy for you to say. You’re a man. You don’t feel the cold like I do.”

“You’re right, babe. That’s because seeing you naked always raises the temperature a few degrees.” The corners of his lips twitched.

I frowned, suddenly seeing the connection. “Is that why you asked me to get out of my dress?”

“I’m not sure. I thought it’d help.” He held up his hand in an innocent gesture. “I’m just saying it would turn every man on. It sure turns me on seeing your nipples harden.”

“Listen, Tarzan.” I poked a finger in his chest, unable to remain pissed off. “No more funny stunts.” The water barely reached my chin. I rubbed my arms to infuse some warmth into them. It didn’t help.

“It’s going to get warmer, I promise,” Jett said. “Give it a few minutes until the pool heats up.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against his chest.

Warm water began to pulsate from all directions. The knots in my muscles began to ease and I grew more relaxed with every minute. The underwater lights changed from blue to a fluorescent green—dark and shimmering beautiful like the color of emerald. Just a few shades lighter than Jett’s eyes.

“Have you ever done this before?” I asked.

Jett shot me a sideway glance. “What?”

“Breaking and entering.”

“I’m not exactly breaking in.”

“You’re right. You had a key, on both this and the previous occasion.” I put on the most serious expression I could muster. “Unlocking and entering, then?”

“The only thing I need to unlock is you.” He laughed out loud. “Honestly, it’s the first time, but you’ve got to admit Kim has a nice house.” He swam in a circle and then pulled me close again. I wrapped my legs around his waist, knowing well he couldn’t resist. “We should do it more often,” Jett whispered. “Visit properties, make sure they’re well maintained. Unlock all the places we have to see.”

He wasn’t talking about houses.

Jett grabbed my ass and I looked up into his eyes. They were glinting, full of mischief. Full of hope and promises.

With my legs wrapped around him, he carried me. I didn’t put up a fight. Even if I tried, I wouldn’t have been strong enough to push him and swim away.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“The middle is heated,” he said.

Every pool is heated, I wanted to point out.

“You know I can’t resist seeing you wet.” He gave me a sly look, and I remembered we were intruders.

“I can’t believe you jumped in naked. What if someone caught us?”

He laughed at my mortified expression. “So what? It’s worth the trouble. It’s worth everything when you’re with me. Not taking the risk is far riskier.”

We stopped at the side of the pool, right below the sculpted statue of a Greek goddess towering over us. The water was warmer here.

“Ready?” Jett winked and pressed his palm against what looked like an inconspicuous white tile. Instantly, hot water began to shoot from small openings, shifting around my thighs and lower back in a fast spiral. I had been in a Jacuzzi before, but this was different because the bubbles didn’t reach the surface. My arms went around Jett’s neck, and his eyes met mine with such intensity it took my breath away.

The lights in the pool began to change, turning darker and darker until the surface was almost black and the lights underwater twinkled like stars in the night sky. I felt as though we were floating in a galaxy amidst stars. A minute passed, then another, and the lights changed to green again.

It was out of the ordinary. Nothing I had seen before.

It was so hauntingly beautiful I wished I could take a picture and hang it on the wall in my office. In the serenity around us, I brushed my fingertips along his jawline, praying I could freeze time and hold onto this moment forever.

“It’s amazing,” I said. “I want to capture the moment of us and treasure it forever.”

“No need. Our future holds plenty more of such moments.” He traced the contours of my lips, sending a tingle down my neck, right into my heart. “You’re not just any girl for me. You’re the only one that matters, and I have no intention to ever let you go because every moment with you is a little more than amazing.”

“You’re lying.” I laughed even though I felt a little bit like crying because his words matched the way I felt about him.

His magnificent green eyes bored into me, and it took my breath away. “Why would I be? I’ve no plans to give you anything less than you deserve, and you deserve the world,” he whispered. “I wish I had met you sooner.”

I didn’t reply. I couldn’t because my heart was doing cartwheels, and my mind was spinning.

“Even knowing I might have pushed you away? Or fallen pregnant?” I asked at last.

“Especially because of that. I love a challenge, and you provide plenty of that,” he whispered. “We both know you pushed me away because you love being chased. You got pregnant because you wanted my baby.”

I slapped his arm.

“You couldn’t keep it in your pants and that’s the reason.” I returned his smile. In spite of the tranquility inside me, life tugged at me, growing, a reminder our future would bring many challenges. “I’m so afraid I’ll get huge and ugly like a walrus.”

“What?” He laughed. “You could never look ugly.”

“How do you know?” I whispered. “In a few weeks I’ll be all bloated and the size of a balloon.”

“I just know,” he replied. “Every time you tell me your hair’s a mess and how much you hate it, I find you the most beautiful. I can’t wait to see you grow, knowing that our baby is part you and part me, our best qualities merged into one being, and there’s nothing ugly about that.” He smiled gently. “I cannot promise that carrying this child will be easy, but I can promise I’ll carry you when you need me. I’ll support you all the way.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around me, drawing me close. In the silence of the room and in the stillness of the water, Jett’s presence was overpowering. He was everywhere, inside my mind, in every cell of my body, settled deep within me. He was like water, pouring into me, filling me to almost overflow, drawing me under. Soon I’d be drowning in my feelings for him. Soon our passion would become a current, drawing me into the depths to keep me with him forever, and claiming me as his.

His eyes glistened in the soft glow of the lights, and in the tranquility of this place his love for me was unmistakable, and his passion was definite. He didn’t have to ask me what I felt for him or what I wanted. He knew. I knew. The whole world did.

I could see my own feelings and lust reflected in his eyes and feel them in the way he touched me. Strange that we had voices to talk, and yet our hearts spoke louder. Asking and yet not requesting. Pleading and yet not forcing. Making us aware there was one single truth in that single moment: we were in love.

Holding onto each other. Crazy about each other. Lost in our jungle of passion and fulfillment, we were insatiable. We were two of one mind.

His eyes probed mine with a gentleness that took my breath away. Even if I wanted to talk, I couldn’t. I was afraid to break the moment because it was ours. In the solitude of the walls around us, it didn’t matter where we came from or what journey we had been on. It didn’t matter how much pain we carried or whether the world was coming to an end. All that mattered was there was still an us—after everything that happened. The future was uncertain, but his love was not.

Jett leaned in and kissed me gently, the tip of his tongue arousing me. His lips were soft, not demanding, as if he had all the time in the world. His hands touched my back, my hips, sending jolts of lust through my body. On the outside I was shaking—not from the cold but from want. On the inside I was trembling, pulsating, asking—with need. He pressed me against the wall hard, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. My hands ran through his hair and gathered at the nape of his neck as his growing erection brushed my entry.

Jett’s expression triggered a surge of arousal inside me. My core pulsated, asking for him. My whole being burned and flickered, boiling with a growing desire only he could still. He pushed me up high against the wall, and his body pressed into me, his hands cupping my ass.

I let my hand glide between our bodies to guide him, even though he didn’t need guidance.

Jett never did.

I moaned, and his hard erection entered me, filling every last corner. I shifted my hips to let him slide just a little deeper, even though he was too big to bear, his unnatural warmth searing me.

And then he began to move, the warm water rolling gently around us, just like the thick shaft inside me. My insides clenched as the thrusts became harder and deeper, stretching me. With every thrust he hit my core, sending a pleasant shot of pain through me that made me call out his name. Pressed between him and the warm wall, I rocked against him until I could feel the release, and when I came, his body became my sanctuary.

Chapter 30

MY DRESS WAS dripping wet, the thin fabric completely transparent. I had only two options: walk around the house in a wet—and transparent—dress, or stay naked. I figured there wasn’t really a difference.

“Great.” I glanced around me in the hope I might spy something suitable to protect my modesty. “You could have warned me before pushing me into the pool.”

“I told you I needed you wet.” His tone was casual, but I didn’t miss the amused flicker in his eyes. “Wet is good, baby. I like the way it feels.”

Holy mother of double meanings!

My cheeks caught fire at his insinuation and, like on cue, moisture gathered between my legs. He always got me wet, whether I wanted it or not. And, unfortunately, he knew it.

I watched him slip into his jeans, which he left unbuttoned, revealing rows of hard muscles and bronze skin. I pointed to his shirt he picked up from the floor. “Good for you. At least one of us is dry.” I caught him glancing at the watch. “What’s your next plan?”

“We’re going outside.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Where?”

He tilted his head. “To the beach.”

“No break?”

“Nope.” His gaze was relentless. “I’m not wasting one minute.”

The dress then. I bent down to pick it up and caught Jett glancing at my naked ass. No surprise to find him grinning.

“I hope you’re not going to wear that.” He pointed to the dress in my hand. “I love the way you are just now.”

“Naked?”

The corner of his lips twitched. “Yep, au natural. With no flavors, no additives, no make-up. Stripped of all the layers.” He smiled his most saccharine smile. “Just raw pureness.”