Page 54 of Modern Romance Collection May 2024 Books 1-4

She wouldn’t meet his eye, though, and for the first time since he’d known her he suspected she was lying.

When they got back to the villa, Erin moved down through the garden towards the pool.

Ajax stopped. ‘Where are you going?’

She turned around, but kept walking backwards. ‘For a swim.’

Ajax shook his head and followed her through the gap in the bushes. The pool was visible under the moonlight, but Ajax went and turned on the low pool lights.

Erin pointed. ‘This is the deep end, right?’

‘Yes...’ Ajax said, wondering what she was thinking.

But before he could wonder for too long she’d kicked off her sandals, stepped up to the side and executed a graceful dive into the water, fully clothed.

She swam underwater the entire length of the pool, a shimmering elongated shape, before emerging at the other end. She stood up and pushed back her hair with both hands.

Ajax nearly lost control of his legs and had to lock his knees. The water had made her dress completely translucent. He could see the curves of her breasts and the pebbling of her nipples. And down between her legs he could see the darker shadow of the hair that covered her sex, where he imagined her slick and ready.

He dragged his gaze back up. She was just looking at him.

For some reason he felt it was important to resist the almost overwhelming urge to join her. ‘Why do I have the feeling that you’re trying to distract me?’ he asked.

She arched a brow. ‘Because you have a suspicious mind?’

That was it.

Ajax’s control dissolved in a rush of lust.

He pulled and tore off as many clothes as he could and dived into the water, barely making a ripple. He swam to Erin’s legs, under the water, and put his hands around her calves, tugging her under.

They looked at one another under the water, the world blocked out. Ajax had the impression that she was a siren, a mermaid, and that he would never really know her.

He put his mouth over hers and she wrapped her arms around him. There was something fierce about the urgency that gripped them as he surged up out of the water with her. They gasped for air.

He pulled her dress apart and it came away from her body. He threw it to the side. Her bra was transparent. He didn’t even bother taking it off. He cupped a breast and covered the pouting flesh with his mouth, sucking and nipping at her, making the nipple harder.

He was barely aware of her breathless entreaties and moans. He reached under the water and pulled her underwear down. And his own. He lifted her and instructed her roughly to wrap her legs around his waist.

She did. She lay back against the side of the pool, the water lapping around her.

Ajax’s body was so hard it hurt, but he delayed the gratification, spreading his hand up over her belly to her breasts, exploring the plump flesh, and then moving up higher, tracing the elegant line of her neck and jaw.

Her eyes were huge, bright with desire. ‘Please, Ajax...’

He looked at her. In this moment everything was stripped away. He still didn’t know her secrets—but he would.

He hitched her a little higher and then with one movement entered her slick body. She threw her head back, the sinews in her neck standing out.

He moved in and out slowly, and then gathered pace, driving into her body harder, faster. She lifted her head. She was biting her lip and Ajax covered her mouth with his, just as the storm gripped her and her inner muscles clamped down so hard on his body that he couldn’t breathe for a second.

He exploded deep inside her, felt her muscles gripping him and milking him of everything. Every last piece of strength.

In the aftermath, as the world returned around them and the laboured sounds of their breathing diminished, Ajax was aware of something niggling at the edge of his mind. Something urgent. But he couldn’t focus on it.

He pulled free of Erin’s body and levered himself out of the pool with effort. He reached down and helped her out, trying not to let her body enflame him again.

He took her hand and led her over to the changing area, fetching a couple of robes. He helped her put one on. Her eyes were half closed and she looked flushed and languorous. He belted the robe tightly around her waist, as if that might help him maintain control.

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