Island Affair (Keys to Love #1)(70)

“We’re playing with fire here,” he warned.

“Good thing I know a hunky firefighter with a big—”

He ducked down to capture her lips in a searing kiss silencing her smartass comeback.

She opened for him, kissing him with equal fervor. Their tongues brushed. Sweeping, savoring, tangling in a swirl of hunger.

The intensity of emotion buckled her knees. Luis’s strong arms wrapped her in his tight embrace and together they sank lower in the salty water. The cold caught her by surprise and she gasped. His lips tore from hers, tracing a delicious trail of hot kisses up her jaw, to the sensitive spot under her ear.

“Bella sirena,” he whispered, his heated breath raising goose bumps on her flesh.

“This beautiful mermaid’s caught herself a hunky sailor,” she murmured.

A raspy chuckle shook his chest, rubbing her nipples through her suit top. Like a fiery line of lit gasoline, lust shot straight down to the spot she yearned for him to touch.

As if he sensed her need to be closer, to feel him in her most intimate place, Luis cupped her butt and lifted her off her feet, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist. She willingly obliged. Beneath the water, their bodies melded, her hips cradled in his lap. His erection prodded at her core through her suit bottom. Firm, insistent.

It wasn’t enough. She bucked her hips against him, and he groaned, tightening his hold on her.

“Ah, dios, you’re driving me crazy,” he murmured.

His teeth nibbled on her earlobe; then he laved the tender spot with his tongue.

“Crazy in a good way?”

“The best way.”

Their lips met in another salty-sweet kiss that had her heart soaring like the seagulls overhead. Elbows bent, she pressed her forearms up his back, her hands cradling his shoulder blades as she hugged him tightly. He suckled her lower lip, then sealed his mouth over hers for a deep, toe-curling kiss.

Another beachgoer splashed by. Laughter and chatter from others filtered through Sara’s desire-hazed senses, reminding her of their very public location. She broke their kiss and dropped a chaste peck to the corner of his mouth, his chin.

“This is not what I had in mind when I invited you to come in the water with me,” she said.

Betraying her own words, she licked the scruff on his chin, the saltwater tangy on her tongue. His hands tightened on her butt, his erection straining into her.

“Talking’s overrated.” He ducked his head to nuzzle his nose along her ear with a lusty grumble.

“Mmmm,” she murmured. “I’d love to take this further, but my offer involved something a little different.”

He paused, his mouth at her temple. “You drive a hard bargain.”

“That’s not all that’s hard. But . . . I digress.”

His chuckle tickled her ear. Made her fall a little deeper.

Luis leaned back a little to look down at her, his hold on her butt still secure. His smile faded at her seriousness.

Afraid he’d pull away from her, put up that emotional wall he was adept at erecting, Sara reached up to slide his sunglasses on top of his head.

“Hey—!”

“I wanna look in your eyes. Nothing hidden between us. Truth,” she told him, staring in the mahogany depths of his eyes.

His throat worked. But he didn’t argue. Didn’t look away.

Progress.

The ocean lapped at their shoulders, a piece of leafy seaweed floating by on the surface. She pushed it away, then cupped Luis’s cheek with her palm. “As long as we allow the past to negatively affect our present, it’s impossible to build a positive future.”

He rolled his lips together as if trapping a response in his mouth.

Gently she brushed her thumb over his mouth. “It’s not easy facing our fears.”

He shifted uncomfortably, turning his head to stare at the dock off to his right. Either because of the noon sun or the memories she was asking him to confront, he squinted at the distance. His jaw muscle tightened, evidence of an inner battle she had fought in the past herself. To reveal her most sacred secrets, trust another person with information that could wound her. Or remain silent, alone, hurting.

“Look, I’m not a therapist.” She paused, frowning at her ineptitude, desperately wanting to say the right thing.

“But you did dress up as one for another Halloween party?”

Her lips quirked at his lame joke. “No, you dork.” She swatted him with water, succeeding in splashing some in her own face.

Laughing at the situation could be a good sign. Or a deflection.

The faint smile curving the edges of his mouth calmed her unease. This was an important conversation for the two of them. Without it, they’d never get to a place of true intimacy. Even if this could only be a one-week interlude that served to help them smooth past hurts. She’d take it.

Seeking to soothe his obvious discomfort, she rubbed her palms over his shoulders, slowly drawing her hands up to support his neck. “No, I’m not a clinician. But I’ve had plenty of experience with therapists, and both in-and outpatient therapy.”

His face sobered.

“So talk to me, please.”

A heavy sigh pushed through his lips. He closed his eyes for several dull heartbeats before meeting her gaze, resignation haunting his face. “I was engaged once. About six years ago.”