He stepped into the shallow end of the pool and walked toward her like a man in a trance. The water lapped at his knees and then his thighs. She started toward him, at first moving slowly against the thrust of the water and then faster as she moved toward the shallow end. And then they were face to face.

The water enveloped him. He was hot and hard, throbbing with desire, and knew there was no danger of losing that overwhelming feeling. Not when his lady was coming toward him wearing nothing but diamond droplets of H2O. They ran in pearlized perfection down her body, illuminated by the faint lights that penetrated the shrubs and trees surrounding the backyard.

The water rested at the boundary just below his navel. Debbie stopped, suddenly a bit wary, a bit afraid of what she’d unleashed with her invitation. This man wore many faces. But the face of a lover was one with which she was not yet familiar. Her breath caught in the back of her throat as his hand reached out and caressed the nearly faded bruise on her shoulder.

“I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.” His voice was harsh and needy.

Debbie lifted her arms. “Only if you stop.”

With a groan, he caught her up, lifting her high, nearly out of the water, and then let her down, sliding her cool, wet body against him, and tried not to shake from the emotions that overwhelmed him.

She was tiny, but so perfect. Her breasts cushioned against his chest as his hands spanned her waist. The curvaceous flare of her hips fit his ache as she wrapped her legs around his middle and let him walk them both into deeper waters.

And then her mouth tilted and caught his next moan, slipping across his lips with wet precision.

“I’ve never wanted or needed anyone in my life the way I want you, lady.”

Cole’s voice was harsh and aching. His hands slid around her, tracing the path of her spine as the water enveloped them. Cupping her hips, he let the water rock her against him. He shuddered, wanting to thrust now. Needing to disappear into the woman beneath him. And yet he waited.

Debbie was lost beneath the spell of the night and the man above her. His hands did things of which she’d never dreamed. His mouth wove magic into the act of love. She needed to belong to him wholly, to take the man inside her and feel his heat and his strength. But he resisted the final motion that would complete the thought. Instead, he continued to investigate her body with a mind-bending thoroughness.

“Come here, sweetheart,” Cole whispered. He walked them both toward the side of the pool.