Love Islands…The Collection. Jane PorterЧитать онлайн книгу.
just have to think of another way to sweep you off your feet.’
For a moment she could think of nothing to say. Could think only of how it felt to be the focus of his attention. To feel his smile and hear his laughter. It was like the summer sun after a stormy spring.
She took a quick breath. Now who was being poetic?
Poetry was far from her mind twenty minutes later as she stood in the bedroom of the submarine’s master suite. Instead, as a dizzying heat surged over her skin, she found herself thinking of the mind-blowing number of ways that she and Malachi could amuse themselves on a bed like that.
Feeling her insides tighten, she squeezed her thighs together, the muffled thud of her heart suddenly competing with the rhythmic throb of the engine.
‘You’re shaking.’ Malachi looked down at her, frowning. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I’m fine.’ Looking up, she gave him a quick, tight smile. ‘It’s probably too much adrenaline. I can’t believe this is happening. That I’m in an actual submarine. It doesn’t feel real.’
Malachi stared down at her face. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes dazed, and he felt his groin tighten. Almost half his life had been spent chasing the next thrill, the biggest risk, pushing boundaries—breaking rules. Yet nothing he’d done had felt as intoxicating as seeing her naked, unguarded excitement. Or knowing that he had made her feel like that.
His body stilled. A prickling heat was crawling over his skin. There was nothing between them but her dress and his shirt and shorts. He wanted her more than he had ever desired any woman and she wanted him. But he held himself back; it would happen...but when it did the time would be of her choosing.
‘Oh, it’s real, all right,’ he said lightly. Loosening his grip, he held out his hand. ‘Here. Let me prove it to you.’
Addie felt her stomach flip over as, handing her a small black remote control, he gave her one of his devastating smiles.
‘See that button in the middle? The blue one? Press that.’
She pressed it. For a moment nothing happened, and then there was a whirring noise and the walls of the cabin started to move. Or rather they weren’t walls, she saw now, but huge blinds. As they rolled slowly upwards she took a step backwards, her mouth dropping open.
On the other side of the window was the bluest blue she had ever seen. Only it wasn’t just blue. It was white and gold and green and red. Stepping forward, she reached out and touched the glass with a hand that shook slightly. She had never seen colours like that. The coral was like a living rainbow. And everywhere there were fish of every shade and shape.
‘What do you think?’ Malachi was standing behind her.
She turned and shook her head. ‘It’s like another world,’ she whispered.
‘It’s our world!’
His arm brushed against her body as he pointed past her and through the glass. ‘See over there? That’s the wreck of the Creole Queen. The Captain came across her last month. She’s a three-master, sunk during a storm in 1785.’ He paused, his eyes roaming over her face. ‘If you like, we could go and check her out. You never know—we might find some treasure.’
She looked up at him, her eyes wide. ‘Is that possible?’
He grinned. ‘I can’t see why not. There are hundreds of wrecks out here. The odds are that some of them must have something of value on board.’
She nodded. ‘That’s true, I suppose.’ She looked up at him and smiled, wanting to tease. ‘But what happens if we do find some treasure? How do I know you won’t steal my share?’
‘How do I know you won’t steal mine?’ Slowly he ran a finger down her arm, making it impossible for her to concentrate.
She swallowed. ‘You don’t.’
For a moment she held her breath, mesmerised, as he stared at her thoughtfully, his face giving nothing away, his eyes revealing even less. Then slowly he smiled.
‘In that case I don’t think we have any alternative. We’re just going to have to keep a very close eye on one another.’
The dive was incredible. Addie had only ever snorkelled before, but Malachi was an experienced scuba diver and a surprisingly patient teacher. Afterwards they ate a leisurely lunch on a secluded beach on another island chosen by the captain, and it was then that a wave of tiredness hit her head-on.
‘I feel shattered,’ she said, stifling a yawn as they headed back to the submarine. ‘Is that normal?’
Malachi grinned. ‘Completely. First dives always take it out of you.’
She sighed. ‘I think I might just have a little lie-down. What are you going to do?’
His eyes gleamed. ‘I’m going to have a little play at being a submarine captain, but I promise I’ll wake you in a bit.’
After he’d left, Addie took a shower and then lay down on the bed, closing her eyes with relief. Letting the soporific hum of the engine wash over her, she breathed out softly...
Waking some time later, she picked up her phone and stared groggily at the screen, frowning as she saw the time. She had slept for three hours! Sitting up, she pushed back the sheet—and then her eyes widened. Lying across the covers at the end of the bed was the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was full-length and blue, the same blue as the centre of a flame, and beside it was a pair of slightly darker high-heeled court shoes.
Heart pounding, she scrambled off the bed and picked up the dress. Slipping it over her head, she zipped herself up. It was cut into a deep V at the front, and the slit running up the side practically reached her pelvic bone. But it felt divine on, like a second silken skin. Grabbing hold of the wardrobe to steady herself, she pushed her feet into the shoes then turning, she took a step forward and stared at herself in the full-length mirror.
Was that really her? It took her several nervous glances to accept that it was. The dress fitted beautifully, but...
She glanced doubtfully down at her plunging cleavage.
‘No, it’s not.’
Her head snapped up, her body tightening automatically at the sound of Malachi’s voice. Rooted to the floor, gripped by equal amounts of fear and longing, she stared helplessly at his reflection in the mirror. He was standing behind her in the doorway, wearing a beautifully cut dinner jacket, his white shirt unbuttoned at the neck, a bow tie hanging loose around the collar. In one hand he was holding a bottle of champagne, in the other a pair of long-stemmed glasses. He looked impossibly sexy and irresistibly glamorous.
‘It’s not too low. That’s what you were thinking, wasn’t it?’
She nodded, suddenly too shy to speak. He walked towards her slowly and her heart gave a jolt as he reached out and gently slid his palm around her waist, forcing her to face him.
His face was serious, his eyes dark and focused. ‘You look beautiful, sweetheart. Far too beautiful for a two-bit hustler like me! And that dress fits you to perfection.’
She swallowed, trying to play it cool. ‘Thank you. And thank you for getting it for me. But how did you know my size?’
He smiled—a sexy, curling smile that made her heart pound so hard she thought it would burst through her chest.
‘It wasn’t hard,’ he said softly. ‘I’ve been giving your body an awful lot of thought over the last few days.’
There was a tense, pulsing silence. Addie gazed up at him helplessly, the softness of his voice as much as the implication in his words playing havoc with her nerves.
Finally she managed to pull herself together. ‘You