A Facade to Shatter(55)

Zach did a great job at that, so there was nothing lacking in their self-imposed isolation. He’d been right, too, about the paparazzi. There were none on this lonely stretch of beach. They were opportunists, and opportunity was easier elsewhere.

The papers were filled at first with news of their hasty marriage and tropical honeymoon. Zach merely laughed and said it had all gone perfectly to plan. Eventually, though they were still news, they weren’t on the front pages of the gossip rags anymore. Some Hollywood starlet and her latest drunk-driving conviction were taking center stage at the moment.

Lia spoke with her grandmother. The older woman seemed happy for her, though sad as well that she hadn’t been at the wedding. Lia gave her some story about wildly beating hearts and true love being impatient, and her grandmother accepted it. Her cousin, apparently, was currently preoccupied with his own issues and wasn’t inclined to worry about her fate at all.

She’d married a rich, influential man and that was good enough for the family. As for Rosa, Lia had been emailing back and forth with her sister quite frequently. They were both still wary, but there was a budding relationship that Lia thought might eventually grow into something she cherished.

Right now, however, she cherished Zach. She looked up from her book and let her gaze slide over him where he stood in the infinity pool, having just emerged from his swim. He was so very beautiful, hard and lean and fit in ways that made her mouth water.

And virile. She couldn’t forget that one. The man did not tire out in the bedroom, or not until he’d exhausted himself pleasing her.

It was a good trait in a husband, she thought wickedly.

She was growing bolder in her experiments with his body. At first, she’d been afraid to try anything, afraid she would get it wrong and he’d not tell her because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

But if she was getting it wrong, then he was a superb actor, because his gasps and groans and urgent touches and kisses spurred her to even greater experiments.

Like last night, when she’d taken him in her mouth as they sat out here on the lanai in the dark and listened to the ocean.

“Lia,” he’d gasped as she’d freed him and then swirled her tongue around the head of his penis. And then he’d grabbed fistfuls of her hair and held her gently but firmly while she took him into her mouth. Her heart had beat so hard, so loud in her ears, but she could still hear him making those sounds of pleasure in his throat.

Before he’d orgasmed, however, he’d pulled her up and made her straddle him. She’d been wearing a silken nightie, no panties, and she’d sunk down on him while he held her hips and guided her.

She didn’t remember much after that, except for the frantic way she’d ridden him until they’d both collapsed on the chaise longue. Much later, he’d carried her to bed and repeated the performance.

“What are you reading?” he said now, arraying his splendid form on the lounge beside her.

She held up her book. “I’m learning about the flowering plants of Hawaii. And how they make leis. Quite fascinating.”

He groaned. “Please don’t let me find you out pruning the plumeria one morning, searching for the perfect blooms.”

Lia looked across at the single plumeria tree near the side of the house. It was tall, at least twenty feet, and filled with blooms whose perfume wafted over to her even now. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “It’s huge, and I’d need a ladder.”

“You are definitely not getting on a ladder,” he growled.

She laughed. “Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of it.”

His expression softened, his gaze raking over her. She got that warm glow inside that she always did. The words she’d not yet said to him welled behind her teeth, threatened to burst out into the open if she didn’t work to contain them.

How could she tell him she loved him when that would be the ultimate soul-baring act she could perform? She’d be naked before him, naked in a way she could never take back. And he would have the ability to crush her. A single word. A single look.

He could crush her beneath his well-shod heel and she’d never recover.

Dio.

His brows drew down. “Are you feeling all right?” he asked. “Do you need to see a doctor?”

Lia rolled her eyes. It was a screen to cover all her raw, exposed feelings, but it was also a true reaction. He was incessantly worried about her health, which was sweet, but also managed to exasperate her.