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‘Cassandra...’ Jack had already lost sight of all the reasons why he shouldn’t do this. All the things that stood between them seemed to have melted away.
‘Jack...?’ There were so many questions in the dark shadows of her eyes and he couldn’t answer any of them.
‘Yes?’
‘... Nothing.’ She whispered the word, her lips curving into a tantalising smile.
He was confused, torn apart by two equal forces pulling in opposite directions. Cass was the only thing that seemed real, the only thing he could take hold of and hang on to. He pulled her close, hearing the soft thud as the flashlight hit the grass at their feet.
CHAPTER NINE
HIS BODY WAS as strong, as delicious as she’d imagined it. When he held her there was no possibility of escape, unless he decided to free her. But Cass didn’t want to be free of him.
Still he seemed to hesitate. Going slow, waiting for her to stop him. That wasn’t going to happen. She pulled his hood back, laying her hands on either side of his face.
She could feel him breathe. Then he said her name again.
‘Cassandra.’
‘I’m right here, Jack.’
He touched his lips against hers, soft and gentle. That wasn’t what she wanted and he knew it. When he came back for more, the sudden intensity made her legs wobble. Pinpricks of cool water on her face and the raging heat of his kiss. It was almost too much, but at the same time she didn’t want it to end.
Layers of heavy-duty, high-performance waterproofing scraped together as he lifted her off her feet. Cass wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders, looking down into his eyes now. His hand on the back of her head brought her lips to his, their kiss annihilating her.
He could lay her on the grass... Suddenly the rain and layers of clothing meant nothing. The possibility that they might be discovered meant nothing. Nothing meant anything as long as he could find a way to touch her, in all the places that she wanted him to.
‘Jack...’ She moved against him so desperately that he almost lost his footing.
‘Careful.’ He nuzzled against her neck, the warmth of his lips against the cold rivulets of water that trickled from her wet hair. One hand cupped her bottom, supporting her, and the other seemed to be burrowing inside her jacket. Then she felt his fingers, cool on her spine, just above the waistband of her jeans.
His touch made her breath catch in her throat. Caressing, tantalising. If he could do that with one square inch of naked skin to work with, then goodness only knew what he might do with more.
Then, suddenly, he stopped. ‘Cass... Cass, we have company...’
‘Uh?’ No!
‘Feet on the ground, honey.’ His voice was gentle, holding all the promise of what might have been if fantasy had any power to hold off reality. She slowly planted her boots back down on to the grass, feeling his body against hers, supporting her until she felt able to stand. When she turned, she saw lights tracing a path down towards where the dinghy was kept.
‘Too bad...’ She picked up the flashlight and switched it on, signalling to the group on the other side of the water.
His fingers found hers, curling around them. ‘Yeah. I can’t imagine...’
‘Can’t you?’ She smiled up at him.
‘Actually, I can. I’m imagining it right now.’ He bent towards her slightly. ‘What I’d do...’
‘Don’t. Jack...’ Her skin suddenly seemed to have developed a mind of its own and was tingling, as if responding to his touch.
‘What you’d do.’
‘Jack, I’m warning you...’
‘Yeah. I’ll consider myself well and truly warned.’ He squeezed her hand and then let it go, one last brush of his finger against her palm making her shiver. Lights shone across the dark water and the sound of the dinghy’s motor reached her ears. And Jack’s smile beside her, indicating that in his mind he was still touching her.
* * *
It was easy to tell himself that it had been a delicious one-off moment in time that wasn’t going to happen again, when there was so little chance of he and Cass being left alone for long. They’d missed supper and ate in a corner of the kitchen, the bustle of clearing up after the evening meal going on around them. And afterwards there were people waiting to see Cass, to discuss plans for shoring up the makeshift dams which were keeping the water away from a number of houses in the village.
