Page 70 of Obsession Under the Southern Stars

We stay in the water for over an hour. It’s incredibly clear here, perfect for snorkeling. We see huge schools of Blue Maomao fish, slow-moving John Dory, and large, silver Parore.We spot a couple of eagle rays, several octopus, and moray eels tucked up between the rocks. We see various crustaceans and soft corals, and large, brown kelp forests that make it feel as if we’re swimming through a fantasy landscape. Everything is bright and colorful, and we swim together, constantly gesturing and pointing out different things to one another.

Eventually, though, I get hungry, and so we swim back to the boat, climb aboard, and dry ourselves off. The boat has a simple bimini top or retractable canopy, and I pull it across to give us some shade as it’s getting close to midday, while Zoe opens up the small fold-up table, retrieves the chilly bin, and starts lifting food out.

“Oh my God,” she says, “look at these.” She puts a dish of various tiny pies on the table. I take one and eat it in one mouthful.

“Steak and ale. That’s amazing. I’m so hungry.”

“Yeah, me too. Talk about work up an appetite.”

I sit on the bench next to her. While she spreads thick butter onto the homemade bread, I pile food onto the plates—cold meat and cheese, more pies and one of the frittatas, a big dollop of hummus with the crackers, and bits and pieces of fresh and dried fruit. I open the bottle of white wine and pour out two small glasses, and we sit back and eat our lunch looking out at the amazing view of the Pacific Ocean.

“It feels like Paradise,” Zoe says, leaning on the side of the boat and looking at the island. “All that white sand… the deserted beach… the turquoise water… hot sun…” She turns her head and rests it on her hand as she looks at me and smiles. “And a gorgeous guy. Talk about icing on the cake.”

“You’re trying to make me blush again.”

“Maybe.”

I pick up a strawberry and hold it out to her. She closes her lips around it and bites it near the stalk, then eats it dreamily.It’s similar to the expression she had on her face when she came, and it makes me shift closer to her on the seat, then lower my lips to hers for a passionate kiss. As I sweep my tongue into her mouth, I can taste the strawberry, making her seem like the personification of summer.

I lift my head, and her lips curve up as she says, “What was that for?”

I tuck a strand of her damp hair behind her ear. “You’re like Hineraumati, the Maori goddess of summer, one of the two wives of the sun.”

“Who was his other wife?”

“Hinetakurua, goddess of winter.”

“Are you thinking about taking two wives? I don’t think that’s legal in New Zealand these days. Plus, I don’t do well with competition.”

My heart skips a beat at the implication that there’s even a small chance that she might consider marriage in the future. But I don’t want to spoil the moment by getting deep and meaningful—it’s not the day for that.

“I have needs,” I tease. “I don’t know that one woman would be able to cope with them all.”

“Ooh.” She moves a little closer. “Tell me about these needs.”

I chuckle and kiss up her cheek. “I’m very demanding,” I whisper before tracing the tip of my tongue around her ear.

She sucks her bottom lip, and when I move back, her eyes have turned sultry. “Mmm. Joel.” She studies my mouth, then takes a sip of wine. Sliding her free hand to the back of my neck, she pulls my head down for a kiss. When I open my mouth to her tongue, I feel the cool sweetness of the wine flood my mouth, making me instantly hard.

With a guttural growl, I crush my lips to hers, and we indulge in a steamy, sensual kiss that leaves us both panting and breathless.

“Ooh,” she says when we eventually part. She glances at the bottom of the boat. “We could always spread out a blanket…”

“Absolutely not,” I scold. “I want our first time to be much more comfortable and romantic than this.”

“It’s pretty romantic, having your first fuck in paradise.”

I frown at her. “Don’t say that.”

She laughs. “Are you going all prudish on me?”

“No. But that’s not how I feel about you and it’s not what I want from you, so I’d rather you didn’t describe it that way.”

She looks a tad surprised, and I assume she’s going to mock me, but she just says, “Okay, sorry.”

I look away, at the white sand and turquoise water. “How about we swim to shore and have a doze under one of those trees?”

“That would be lovely.”

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