The reality of place and time gradually ebbed, like sands being washed away beneath a retreating wave.
When her mouth opened in a soft sigh of acceptance and wonder, Donovan thrust his tongue between her lips, drawing forth a moan. As the kiss deepened and her body melded against his, he felt as if they were standing on the very edge of a furious volcano. Flames tore at his restraint. Heat, fire, and smoke surrounded them, threatening to sweep them into the fiery core.
Slowly, gradually, Donovan became aware of yet another sensation. “It’s raining again.” He was surprised the soft, cooling water against his heated skin didn’t create steam.
“Liquid sunshine,” she corrected against his mouth. “Oh, more,” she demanded, pressing her lips against his with renewed strength.
His body was still on fire, molten lust surging through his loins, and Donovan knew that they were reaching the point of no return.
“Lani,” he warned, “we have to stop.”
“Why?” Her lips on his throat had his blood pounding like surf in a hurricane.
“Because we’re out in the open, in public, on the edge of a cliff, but in another minute, I’m going to forget all the reasons this is a bad idea.”
“Don’t you ever give in to impulse?”
His answering laugh was rough and raw. “Sweetheart, what do you think I’ve been doing ever since I got here on the island?”
His frank response broke the sensual mood. She tossed up her chin. “I have a name, Donovan. And if you’re going to consider me some dangerous threat to your control, I’d prefer you use it, rather than a less-than-flattering generic ‘sweetheart.’”
Hell. Could he have handled this any worse? “I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t come here for a vacation fling. I’m here supposedly deciding what I’m going to do with my life and where I’m going.”
“And where you might have gone wrong?” she asked. Apparently not one to hold a grudge, she rubbed at the spot between his brows where the headache that had been threatening had hit like a damn missile.
“Now you sound like your brother.”
He was exactly where he had set out to be so many years ago when he’d first climbed into that patrol car. When he’d determined to prove his famed neurosurgeon father and equally renowned psychiatrist mother wrong when he’d chosen a career in law enforcement over medicine.
“And except for the drive out here, we haven’t exactly gone slowly.”
“True enough.” She let out a slight sigh. “Appearances to the contrary, I don’t believe in being reckless. But sometimes, in some situations, there’s a lot to be said for following your impulses. It’s like being up here on the very edge of this cliff and looking down into the water. If you allow yourself to think about it, you’d turn around and climb right back down again. But sometimes, you just have to close your eyes and dive in.”
His brows drew together. “And what if you land in dangerous waters?”
“That’s the risk you take, I suppose.”
He half smiled. “You make it sound so easy.”
“And you make it sound so difficult.” Shrugging off the impasse for now, she linked her fingers with his. “We’d better get going or we’ll hear an earful from Moby Dick for being late.”
7
Tension hummed between them like an electrical wire downed in a hurricane as Lani pointed out different scenic attractions while they drove along the coast. From time to time, she’d sneak a glance at him, finding the granite set of his jaw less than encouraging.
Men, she mused exasperatedly. They were so damnably sensitive—why did women bother to put up with them at all? As soon as Lani had asked herself that rhetorical question, the memory of Donovan’s kisses provided the definitive answer.
Lani wanted him. On the beach. In her bed. Or better yet, beneath that outdoor rain shower she’d installed.
Wherever she could get him.
“Here we are,” she said as she pulled the Jeep off the road several minutes later. “Just as a matter of idle curiosity, are you going to sulk all day?”
“Men don’t sulk.”
“Oh, that’s right. Your kind merely broods manfully.” She ran her fingers over the top of the steering wheel. Then sighed. “This situation isn’t easy for me, either, Donovan. And we are going to have to deal with it. But, at the moment, I need to call Taylor again, and Moby Dick is waiting for his breakfast.”
* * *