He chuckled and took her hand, pulling her close. “I think we should give them a show.”

“You could butterfly across the pool. I’m sure they would love every second.”

“Sweetheart, butterflying wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“Oh, what did you have in mind?” she questioned, all sass.

His eyes dropped to her bra straps and followed them down to the lush fullness of her breasts, bobbing slightly in the water. Her pert nipples were taut beneath the wet fabric. And incredibly erotic.

“You know what I have in mind.”

He ran his fingers through the silky strands of wet hair pushed back from her face. The eyes staring up at him were charged with emotion. He knew she wanted him, could feel it, but he didn’t expect her to admit a thing. Wounds from the past were still too fresh, and even though they were joking around, he knew she was unsure of herself.

Whitney turned her head to kiss the inside of his wrist. Her lips were as soft as the balmy air and just as tender. He drew her closer. She tilted her head upward to invite him to kiss her.

His mouth met hers and he reveled in the taste of her lips. He traced the moist interior, his tongue mating with hers. The water was warm but her body, flush against his, was hot. Its heat enthralled him, coiling around his thighs and sending a carnal charge through his lower body. Her nipples were thrust against his bare torso. An urge too powerful to deny filled him, the urge to mark every inch of her sexy bod with his mouth. Taste every inch. He didn’t believe he could ever get enough of touching her, kissing her.

Don’t rush it, he reminded himself.

His hands coasted over her back, slowly roaming lower and lower until he reached the gentle curve of her bottom. He eased his hand right, then left as he continued to kiss her. She was wearing a thong, a strand of butt floss forming the rear portion of her panties.

Works for me.

He used both hands to press her against his aching erection. With a startled gasp, she pulled back and stared up at him with wide, glistening eyes. Her lower lip trembled just slightly.

“I’m crazy about you,” he heard himself confess.

“Adam, I-”

He had the feeling he wasn’t going to like what she planned to say so he cut her off with another kiss. She didn’t pull away-hardly-instead she wound her legs around his. Blood throbbed through his veins and breathing evenly became impossible.

Whitney moved against his jutting erection. His pulse skyrocketed; he groaned deep in his throat. He was tempted to take her standing up-right here in the water. But he knew better than to succumb to instant gratification.

When was the last time he’d desired a woman this much? He honestly couldn’t remember and didn’t have the willpower to give it more than a passing thought. She was special, and he’d known it from their first strange meeting on the floor of his uncle’s living room.

Whitney shuddered, her fingers digging into his shoulders. He wedged one hand between their bodies and captured a breast. Some of its fullness escaped his fingers, but he savored the tightly spiraled nipple tickling the center of his palm. He pulled back a little so he could stroke the taut nubbin with his thumb.

“You were saying?” he managed to ask.

She gazed up at him with a dazed expression, her eyes smoldering with desire. “Saying?”

“I think we’re waaay past talking, don’t you?”

Her response was a moan of pleasure that made something catch inside him. Do this right, he warned himself. He allowed the moment to lengthen. The slow undulation of the water around them lulled him. Accompanying it, the sultry embrace of the night.

This was a special time, a special moment. Whatever the future held-he’d learned not to think about it-they would never be the same. He wanted them to be closer and…And?

He didn’t have the inclination to go beyond that thought. For now this moment, this woman were all he needed from the world.

One of her hands dropped from his shoulders and wiggled its way between them. In a heartbeat, her hand was under the waistband of his swim trunks, nudging through the springy hair and coiling around him. I’ll be a sonofabitch, he thought. He was close to losing it.

Already.

Aw, hell. What did he expect? He’d spent nearly three years in hell without a woman. Why wouldn’t he go off when he was with someone so special?

“Hey, watch it,” he warned, the words coming from deep in his throat.

Her hand clutched him tighter, then moved back and forth. A debilitating heat invaded every pore of his body. Christ almighty. What she could do to him without half trying. The sensation was so arousing he couldn’t keep from moaning out loud.

“I need you,” she half whispered, half moaned into his ear.

Adam lifted her into his arms, her head nestling between his head and shoulders. He plowed through the pool to the steps. The dogs jumped to their feet, tails wagging. He emerged and water cascaded off them. He walked toward one of the cushy chaise lounges nearby. Water sluiced off them now in small streams.

He lowered Whitney to the chaise. The dogs circled his feet and he nearly stumbled. “Sit! Stay!” He didn’t spare the time to check to see if they all obeyed.

He carefully angled himself across her body to spare her the full impact of his weight. Stretched out, the full length of his body against hers, Adam didn’t move for a second. He permitted himself a moment to enjoy the exquisite sensation of her warm, soft skin against his. In the dim light, her pupils were dilated and her long lashes dewy with water.

Sexy as hell.

The fragrant scent of her shampoo wafted up from her damp hair. One bra strap had slipped off her shoulder, and he pulled it down. With the black silk strap came the sheer fabric that almost concealed her full breast. Exposed to the soft moonlight, her skin took on a pearly sheen. He lowered his head and gently kissed her soft skin.

Whitney’s hands found his butt and urged him closer and closer as she moved provocatively beneath him. “Yes, oh, yes.”

He bit back the impulse to rip off the flimsy thong and bury himself to the hilt inside her sexy body. “Hold on,” he told her, his voice rough with pent-up desire. “Let’s make this special.”

She ran the tip of her tongue across the skin along the curve of his neck, promising delights he could only imagine-if his brain could focus. A bolt of primitive heat lanced his groin. He’d told her to hold on, but it was all he could do to keep himself in check.

He lifted his head from the one breast he’d already exposed. He found the hook in the center of the bra and unfastened it. “Nothing like a front-loader.”

Whitney might have tried to laugh. He couldn’t be sure as he gazed down on her breasts, bared to the starlit sky. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the garment over his shoulder. He was vaguely aware of the dogs scuffling for the bra as if it were some chew toy.

She arched under him, and the searing pressure of her body against his erection nearly sent him over the top. Every muscle in his body taut with need, he forced himself to concentrate on the breast he’d just uncovered. His lips circled the erect nipple, and he sucked hard, drawing it deep into his mouth.

“You’re really good at this.” She emitted a breathless sigh, her nails digging into his bare buttocks.

“I’m out of practice.”

“Could have fooled me.”

When had she shoved down his swim trunks? He managed to find the strength to stand up. His butt was half-exposed while the front of his suit looked like a tepee. He yanked down his trunks and kicked them aside. Then he bent over and eased off the barely-there thong Whitney was still wearing.

For a moment, he stood there admiring her. Her glorious body fairly glowed in the light of the most amazing moon he’d ever seen. A lover’s moon.