‘Hell, Flora…’ This time his mouth came down hard, his kiss sending bolts of electricity through her body, and she clutched at him for support as he drew the fire from deep inside her with the skilled, sensual stroke of his tongue. And she kissed him back, her tongue toying with his in a kiss that was both intimate and erotic. His hands dropped from her face and slid down her back, pulling her against him in a movement that was unmistakably possessive.

It was a kiss with promise and purpose but before she had the chance to discover where it was leading, there was a shout.

With a groan of frustration and anger Conner dragged his mouth from hers and Flora clutched at him for support, dizzy and disoriented from the kiss. It took her a moment to realise that the sound was coming from the beach behind them.

‘Conner? Conner MacNeil, is that you? It’s Jim—Jim from the ferry and a few of the lads. We wanted to buy you a drink.’

‘Oh, my goodness.’ Flora shrank with embarrassment. ‘They can’t possibly see us, can they? It’s too dark.’

Conner stared down at her for a moment, his lashes lowered, his eyes as cool and defiant as ever. ‘Do you care?’

Flora didn’t answer because she genuinely didn’t know the answer to that. This was her island. And it was her reputation on the line. She should care, she knew she should. But his kiss had changed everything. It was as if her life had reached a crossroads and she didn’t know which path to take—the safe one was back on the shore and the dangerous one was here, in the sea, with Conner’s hard male body pressed against hers.

‘Flora?’ His voice was even and she wondered how he could sound so normal after what they’d shared. She felt far from normal. She felt churned up, confused—different.

She breathed in and out. She knew that it was too dark for them to have recognised her, but if she walked out of the water with Conner…

She wanted to say, Damn the lot of them, and carry on kissing him, but something held her back. ‘I—I don’t know, Conner.’ Her fingers tightened on his arms. ‘I suppose I do care. I have to work with these people. I’ll still be living on this island long after you’ve left.’

He released her abruptly. ‘Of course you will. Stay here. I’ll get them away from you and you can get home before anyone is any the wiser. I guess that’s more chivalrous than escorting you home.’ He spoke with a careless indifference and she felt a flash of desperation as she sensed his withdrawal and felt her new self slipping away.

Suddenly she wished desperately that she hadn’t spoken.