“Tell me if it’s too cold,” he said when her feet and hips were submerged.
“Take me under, Drake. Take me all the way.” Her teeth nipped at his earlobe. “A little cold water isn’t going to break me. Nothing can anymore. Not now that I’ve found you...and you helped me find myself again.”
He took her mouth in a savage kiss, one that captivated.
Enthralled.
Consumed.
All his life Drake had held a part of himself back to make sure that he wouldn’t end up following in his father’s footsteps. But he didn’t need to hold back with Rosa. Not when he knew she wouldn’t break.
And neither would he.
They were only partially submerged when he lifted her hips, then plunged her down onto him, hard and deep. She gasped into his mouth as her inner muscles gripped him in a hot, wet, perfect clasp.
“Drake.” Nothing had ever sounded as good as his name on her lips. Nothing but, “I love you.”
Wet and wild together, they tumbled in the water, their mouths fused even as they momentarily went under. They came apart just long enough to catch their footing and reach for each other again, her arms around his back, her legs around his hips as he braced himself above her, then drove deep again.
On the shore, with the water lapping over their naked bodies, they were shameless in their passion for one other. Reckless in their quest for pleasure beyond anything either of them had ever known. Utterly abandoned and unrestrained as their sounds of bliss rose in the darkness.
And as they gave each other everything, Drake knew that no matter what happened with Rosa’s mother or his father or her TV show—or any other hurdles that might come up in the future—they already had everything that mattered.
Each other.
*
Rosa wanted to stay there forever in the lake wrapped all around Drake. Still, she knew he was right to get them out and dressed before a chill could set in. And it felt so intimate, zipping and buttoning him into his clothes, then letting him do the same with hers.
What had begun as a terrible week had ended with such beauty. And more love than she’d ever thought possible.
Rosa suddenly remembered her mother’s email: We can turn something terrible into something amazing.
Earlier that week, when she’d read those words on the burner phone in her Montauk motel room, she’d been sickened at the thought of exploiting the nude photos—and people’s pity—to make more money with their family brand or to build up her fan base.
Tonight, she saw things differently. Clearly.
“I know what I need to do.” To turn terrible into amazing. “I know what to say to all the women who think they need to run and hide.”
The moonlight illuminated Drake’s smile as he paused while finger-combing sand from her tangled hair. “Of course you do.”
“But I need to talk with my mom before I do anything else.” She looked out at the lake, breathed in the fresh scent of the mountains. “I just wish I didn’t have to go back to Miami so soon. I really love it here. I don’t want to leave.”
“You don’t need to. Alec can fly her in—tomorrow, if she can come that fast. There’s a private landing strip a couple of miles away. And we’ll make sure the press doesn’t follow her here if you don’t want them to.”
A zing of nerves hit Rosa, twisting together in the pit of her stomach. She honestly didn’t know how her mother would react to anything she was planning to say. Then again, after sitting at William’s table tonight and seeing what was possible when family wasn’t afraid to open up to each other, she felt hopeful that she and her mother might be able to find their way too.
Still, she needed Drake to know something. “While Alec and I talked, and he did apologize, he warned me not to hurt you. I’m not sure that means he’s ready to lend me a plane for my mom.”
“He’s the oldest, so that’s his standard speech.” He brushed sand from her neck and made her shiver at how good his touch felt. Always. “Trust me, he’s on your side. We’ll call him to make the arrangements as soon as we get back to the house. What else do you need?”
Rosa’s head was still spinning from their extraordinary lovemaking. She’d never given her entire self to anyone before, nor had she ever taken all a man had to give. Her body, her heart, were both still so full. And growing fuller by the second as Drake offered her more and more.
“I’m going to need somewhere big enough to fit a film crew.”
“My father’s house is big enough.”
“He’s a private man, and my staying with him is already potentially invasive for the quiet life he’s tried to build here. I can’t bring a film crew in too. Besides, you don’t even know what I want to film yet.”
“I don’t have to know to be certain that it’s going to be great.”
She threw her arms around him and kissed him. “If I could feel my feet, I’d drag you back into the lake and jump you again.”