Page 28 of The Princess Sister Swap

CHAPTER TEN

‘THATWASAridiculously delicious picnic.’ Clem took another longing look at the leftovers before pushing her plate away with a groan. ‘No. Don’t let me eat any more. You might need to lose some ballast to get us back at the rate I’ve been consuming.’

She repressed a sigh at the thought ofback. How she wished they could just sail on for ever. No worries about tomorrow, no family expectations—or in her case lack of family expectations—just the sea, a fair wind and each other. Because with Akil she was completely herself. Her hair was windblown, her skirt watermarked and her make-up non-existent and he didn’t notice, didn’t care. It was intoxicating.

‘No more food. Got it. But we’re now respectably heading towards evening so I could open the champagne and we can toast the view?’

It was a view worth toasting. Clem had kept hold of the tiller and taken them twenty miles up the rocky, dramatic coast where they’d moored up just inside a wide, deserted bay. They’d deliberated taking the tender in to picnic on the sandy beach but in the end elected to stay here on deck, the boat rocking gently with the tide.

‘Champagne? Sounds good but should we drink and boat? I guess we could get Henri to pick us up at the other end.’

Akil leaned back in his seat and stretched and she did her best not to look at the tantalising glimpse of bared, muscled stomach. ‘Of course, the best thing about a boat is that you don’t have to worry about sailing under the influence, you can just stay where you are.’

Her whole body tingled at the thought. ‘You mean just stay here? Overnight?’

‘Here or further up the coast.’ His eyes gleamed. ‘There are many possibilities.’

‘I see, so was this trip just a ruse, a plan to spirit me away like a pirate and sail away on the seven seas?’ She was a very modern woman but she couldn’t help but thrill at the thought. Therewassomething piratical about Akil. He was usually so well put together, but here on the boat, the top few buttons of his shirt undone showcasing a tanned, muscular vee of chest, shirt sleeves rolled up to expose strong corded wrists, hair ruffled by the breeze, she could see traces of his warrior ancestors. Ancestors who might whisk an enemy princess away on their boat.

‘Tempting.’ His voice was husky, and it trembled through her, setting every nerve vibrating. ‘But nothing so uncivilised.’

She held his gaze. ‘Pity,’ she said, and her stomach tumbled at his wolfish smile.

‘You see,’ he said, and it was as if he were undressing her with his eyes, ‘I wouldn’t want any woman who didn’t want me with every part of her. Who I didn’t want with every atom in me. And I do want you, Clem. So, what shall we do? It’s up to you, it’s always been up to you. Maybe you’re the pirate...the pirate princess seducing the warrior into doing her bidding.’

His voice was hypnotic, low and mesmerising and she couldn’t have moved if she’d tried. And she wasn’t trying. Not when Akil was so close, the scent of him wrapping around her senses, making her dizzy with that intoxicating mix of salt and sandalwood. Not when her whole body buzzed with his proximity, her nerves alight, her legs weak and her breasts full, aching for a release so tantalisingly close.

She couldn’t even speak, just quivered as he drew one finger along her cheek, brushing the tender outline of her mouth. ‘Your move, Clem.’

No, she wanted to cry out. It wasn’t fair, he couldn’t leave this decision solely up to her, not when she instinctively knew that making love with Akil would make her more vulnerable than she had ever been before. Not when she needed reassurances and promises that this was right, that she was right. Thattheywere right. That they had a future, even if that reassurance could only be a lie.

For a moment she desperately thought about changing the subject, backing away, even as her body cried out for her to just get on with it already. She was so close, so close to getting in too deep. Surely making love with Akil would tip her over the edge. If she wasn’t there already and, oh, how she feared she might be.

But if she didn’t she knew she would regret this moment of cowardice for the rest of her life. She wanted to know him fully, for him to know her. And besides, wasn’t this where they had been heading since the day of the tour? More, since that very first meeting? Wasn’t this what she craved, what she wanted more than air or water? If so, then how could she not?

More importantly, how could she not when he was allowing her to set the parameters, when he was putting her first? For a woman so often left in the shadows, that power was the most seductive thing of all.

‘I have decided.’ She stood up and faced him. No more thought. No more fears or doubts. Suddenly it was all very clear. She wanted Akil and he wanted her and that was all that mattered. ‘I do want you. Here, tonight.’

It was his turn to stand, one hand on the boat rail, his gaze locked on her, his mouth curved into a wicked smile, one that sent shivers trembling through her. ‘In that case, come here.’

He was now supremely arrogant, no longer the suave suitor or the sweet-tongued seducer. He was a man who knew what he wanted—her—and knew his goal was within reach. But she could match him, in desire, in need and in confidence that she was desired and needed in turn. The ultimate aphrodisiac. And, chin tilted, a sway in her step, fire consuming her, she stepped forward. Just one step.

‘Now you.’

He raised an eyebrow, laughter lighting the darkness of his gaze as he casually stepped forward. But she wasn’t fooled; for all his amusement there was a predatory air as he moved that showed his blood was up and he was fully focused on moving in for the finish. There was still space between them and he stared at her, daring her to complete it. Instead, Clem reached for her top button and, eyes fixed on him, flicked it open. She watched him swallow and allowed herself a feline grin.

‘It’s a little hot, don’t you think?’ Another button and then a third. ‘Maybe we should cool off.’ Another two and she slipped the blouse off her shoulders, her hands moving to the zip on her skirt. ‘You did say this was a good swimming spot?’ She stepped out of the skirt, leaving it pooled on the floor and, without looking away, undid the snap of her bra and let it fall away, feeling as much as hearing Akil’s intake of breath as she did so. ‘So, let’s swim.’ She kept her pants on, not quite ready to lose that last layer of protection as she stepped onto the swimming platform and pushed her hair back, looking back at him challengingly. ‘Race you to the beach.’

It took Akil all of two seconds to react. He’d frozen in place while Clem discarded her clothes, unable to move a muscle as inch after delicious inch was bared, brown and lithe and delectable and—so it seemed—his. And then, just as he managed to wake up enough to reach for her she was gone, diving with clean precision into the sea and striking out for the beach. He allowed himself one lingering moment to take in the lines of her body forging through the water before tearing off his shirt and trousers and following her in.

The water was perfect, cool and refreshing, calm enough to make swimming a pleasure as Akil followed Clem, his blood up, closing in on his prey. Clem was a good swimmer, but he was better and he caught up with her with ease, then keeping pace alongside her until the water reached his chest at which point he stopped, reaching out to hook her and pull her close. Her hair, sleek with water, fell heavily around her shoulders, her chest rising and falling with exertion, water drying on her shoulders. She was all sea nymph, salt and water and flesh in a package he wanted to consume, like Poseidon claiming his prize. The water was deep enough to hide the rest of her body, but he knew just what was concealed, the high round breasts, a lighter shade than the rest of her olive body, the planes of her stomach and long, long legs, the triangle of silk that revealed as much as it concealed, now wet and translucent. Heat flooded him despite the chill of the water as he finally, finally, crushed her to him and took her mouth with his, not gently or sweetly but with a fierce possessiveness. A possessiveness she reciprocated. This was no coy naiad, rather a fierce and wild goddess as she wound her hands in his hair to pull him closer, her tongue entwined in his, hot and sweet, her breasts soft against his chest as he pulled her closer still.

Akil couldn’t have said how long they stood, chest high in the waves, all he knew was that at some point he wanted, needed more, needed to touch as well as taste, needed to explore every inch of bared flesh. Slowly, unable to break the embrace, as if by doing so he might break the spell, he inched her back, back until the water receded, the sand soft under his feet, the early evening sun hot on his shoulders. But not as hot as the trail her hands blazed across his neck and down his back, not as hot as the flesh he skimmed as he finally, finally palmed one perfect breast, her damp skin silk under his touch. She inhaled sharply as his thumb reached her nipple, and he circled the tight bud slowly and with intent as he kissed his way down her jaw, down the proud slim column of her neck until he could replace his thumb with his mouth, cupping her other breast as he did so.

Blood surged triumphantly through his whole body, pooling at his groin, the urge to take her there and then almost overwhelming.Steady, he told himself.Not yet.He sank to his knees, pulling her with him, until she was supine on the sand beneath him, her beautiful body laid out like an offering, returning to her mouth as he straddled her.

Impatient, Clem pulled at him but Akil resisted with a low laugh, refusing to rush now that he had her here beneath him. Instead he concentrated on discovering every previously hidden inch, the places that made her gasp and buck and reach for him, holding onto his control with everything he had as his body clamoured for release.

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