Was the ship swaying more than usual?
"Are you okay?" Edgar steadied her with a hand on her hip.
"Yeah. I've never been bespelled by a kiss before." She licked her lips. "You didn't slip something into my water, did you?"
The horrified look on his face was the best answer he could have given her. "I would never do something like that." He reached for his jacket. "If you think I'm capable of such a despicable act, I'd better leave."
"Relax. I was just joking." She took the jacket from him and draped it over the back of the chair. "You are taking everything much too seriously."
"How can you say that? You were a victim of such a travesty only a few days ago."
Jasmine grimaced. "You are nothing like Alberto. I know that you would have never taken advantage of me." She reached for the hem of her top. "Let's play a game to lighten the mood. For every piece of clothing I take off, you have to take one off too. Deal?"
Edgar nodded, a sly smile making his handsome face look boyish.
"I'll go first." Jasmine pulled her top over her head in one smooth motion and tossed it over the desk.
Left with her lacy black bra on, she waved a hand at him. "Your turn."
"You are breathtakingly beautiful," he murmured as his eyes roamed over her exposed skin.
"I'm waiting." She playfully tapped her foot on the floor. "I'm not getting any younger here."
The dizziness had passed by now, and she was enjoying the game she'd come up with, even though it was tormenting them both by prolonging the anticipation.
Edgar started on the buttons of his shirt, going slowly and dragging it out as she looked on with fire burning in her eyes.
When he finally shrugged the shirt off, she sucked in a breath. "How many hours a day do you spend in the gym to look like that?"
The look of smug satisfaction on his face was priceless. "None. I spend a few minutes every day training at home."
"I hate you." When the horrified look returned to his eyes, she lifted her hand and laughed. "You are so literal. I'm just envious, that's all."
"Why?" He closed the distance between them with one step, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her to his bare chest. The feeling of skin on skin was incredible. "You are perfect." He kissed her.
When he let her up for air, she pushed on his chest. "Next item."
They continued their seductive game of strip poker, each revealing more and more skin until they were both completely naked.
Edgar seemed to have trouble breathing. "You are a goddess." The reverence in his voice did something to her chest.
Something eased inside.
Why had she allowed Alberto to erode her self-confidence with his snide comments about her hips being too fleshy, her stomach too rounded, and her nipples too big and too dark?
As always, she had shoved those uncomfortable thoughts into a corner of her mind where all the dark moments of her life were imprisoned, but Edgar's appreciative gaze had released them and then pulverized them.
He made her feel beautiful.
"You are not so bad yourself." She let her eyes roam over his body, stopping at the enormous erection jutting from between his hips.
Thankfully, she wasn't a dainty woman, and the size of him titillated her rather than worried her.
Edgar's skin was so much lighter than hers, and other than his head, he was almost hairless. If she hadn't gotten all of her body hair removed with laser treatments, she would have been more hairy than him.
Stop it. No self-deprecating remarks from you today. Or ever.
She walked into his arms, his skin hot and smooth against hers, and as their mouths met in another searing kiss, passion rose swiftly and sharply between them.