Page 16 of Voyage with the Reclusive Billionaire

“Corvan?” I try to struggle against his grip, but it’s useless. His hold on me is just as gentle as it is firm. “Where are we going? We’re supposed to stay with the group.”

“We can’t talk if we’re with the group, can we?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“A sentiment you and I do not share, unfortunately.”

“We’re going to get lost.”

“We won’t. Trust me, I’m good with directions.”

I’m scrambling now. Anything to not be alone with Corvan and my embarrassing confession to him. “And what if we miss the boat?”

“You mean the boat that leaves in five hours? I think we’ll make it, Eliza.”

God, my name on his lips is… it’s an aphrodisiac.

He tucks us behind a large, moss covered rock, my back to it as he looks down at me with that same unreadable expression from before. Our hands are still linked together. His face glows from so much time spent in the sun, his hair falling forward. I want to brush it back, but I force myself to clench my free hand into a fist.

“You said you know what you feel.”

“Did we come all the way out here just so you could prove that you don’t forget what I say? Feels a little dramatic, Cor.” The joke falls flat. He’s never stood so close to me. We’ve never been so close, with our hands knotted together, all alone.

“I don’t know what you feel, Eliza. And I want to.”

“I don’t know what you feel, either.”

He lets out a low laugh. “I find that surprising.”

“I don’t know how to read you,” I continue, shaking my head. I can’t pull my eyes away from his. “Nobody has ever looked at me the way you do. I don’t know what it means.”

“It means that nobody has ever felt for you what I do, Eliza.” His voice is low, almost pained. As if he can’t believe that he has to explain this to me. “And I’m so fucking lucky for that.”

My free hand unclenches. Slowly, waiting for him to pull back, I bring it to his other hand. Wind our fingers together. “What do you feel, Corvan?”

“I feel as if that’s the same question you avoided answering earlier.”

“You never asked. Not explicitly.”

A broad smile from him. “I feel like that is one of the reasons I like you so much, Eliza. The way you talk to me. The easy back and forth we have. The things you say, the way you say them, that soft look in your eyes when you’re eating something you enjoy. The gentle way you hold yourself and how unconcerned you are with what I am because you know who I am. I like you so much, Eliza, and I don’t know how I’ll be able to let you go when this cruise is over. I don’t know what I’ll do if you make me.” He swallows thickly, eyes searching mine. “And I don’t know what I’ll do if you tell me that you don’t feel the same way.”

“Corvan.” His name leaves my lips in a whisper. Like a prayer.

“Eliza.” Mine comes from him like he’s pleading with me.

“I do feel the same way.” I nod as I speak. My knees feel weak and I know my hands would be shaking if he wasn’t still holding them. “I’ve never felt like this for someone before. Not this strongly, Cor. And I don’t know what it means.”

“I do,” he says. Something like clarity shines in his eyes, but he shakes his head as he smiles again, the expression laced with relief. His fingers unlace from mine, and then his hands slide up my body, like he’s relishing the feel of me against his skin. I shudder, but don’t pull my gaze from his, even as his hands cup my face between them. Like I’m something precious. Something to protect.

The question in his eyes is underscored with vulnerability. He’s asking dozens of questions with one look.

And I nod.

And his lips are on mine. Molded to mine, as if we aren’t close enough. One of his hands slides to the small of my back and he arches my spine to press along his front. I feel his hardness there already, and I gasp, throwing my arms around his shoulders, trying to be closer, closer, closer.

We break away for breath. My eyes open, desperate to see the look on his face, to know how he’s feeling.

Corvan smiles at me.

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