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Romy sat back, gasping at her brazenness. She’d never done that with anyone, let alone kiss Stone like that. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.’

Especially when he didn’t move. He didn’t react. And he never kissed her back.

She’d just embarrassed the hell out of herself.

How dare she let her emotions get the better of her like this—when she was so used to observing and not getting involved. What was she thinking?

She rushed to the door.

‘Oi.’ Stone grabbed her arm at the doorway. ‘Where are you going?’

‘To my room.’ To hide and find somewhere else to stay. ‘I shouldn’t have…’

‘Kissed me?’

‘I’m sure I’m not the first one.’ But she was probably the first to not have him kiss her back. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what possessed me to do that.’

‘Now I get why you kept filming my arse. You like me.’ Stone gave her that cheeky know-it-all, smart-arse grin. It was infuriating.

She narrowed her eyes at him. ‘Are you going to be a dick about it?’

‘Yes, and no.’

‘Huh?’

He pulled her close and his lips clashed with hers, his hand sliding through her hair to cradle her head. He kissed her longer and deeper than any man had ever kissed her before in her entire life. She was completely swept away.

The skill of his tongue, his flavour and his aroma had her drowning. She had no choice but to grip his strong shoulders and hold on for the ride of her life.

Only he picked her up. Her. All of her. Effortlessly, lifting her up, to wrap her legs around his hips and press her back to the wall beside the open doorway and kiss her some more.

Not once did he break from her lips, making her realise she may have bitten off more than she could handle from this smouldering-hot man.

Then Stone surprised her by slowing down, to kiss her in a more measured and controlled way. It completely loosened her up, revealing a ravenous hunger that made her thighs grip his sides tighter, as her fingers began clawing through his messy hair.

His hands shifted from her hip bones to cup her butt, as their kissing fell into a spectacularly enriching rhythm. Teeth, lips, tongues, stopping her ability to think, she barely remembered to breathe, forgetting she could even see or hear.

Stone stood straighter, pulling his lips free from hers, and all she saw were his dark and dangerous eyes, barely an inch away from hers. The depth of desire he had in them made the air slip free from her lungs, as the body heat poured out between them.

Thump. Thump. Thump… It wasn’t just her heart, but his too.

Stone, with his messy hair, looked perfect. While she was the girl who’d worn hives last night, who now sported swollen lips from his kisses.

Yet he kissed her back.

Oh boy, did this man kiss her back!

But then he lowered her back to the ground.

Confusion filled her. They were kissing, and it had been some really good kissing—the best kind of kissing. She could feel his arousal, like she couldn’t hide the arousal in her shirt with her nipples peaking. ‘Why are we stopping?’

With his eyes roaming over her face, he slowly brushed at her hair, tenderly tucking it behind one ear.

She wanted to keep kissing him. Surely, he wanted to keep kissing her, too?

‘Stone? No commitment.’ Was that what he was worried about? It had to be.

Stone’s eyes dropped to her mouth, the gaze lingering there for one extremely long moment, until his thumb pressed on her bottom lip, making her mouth open for him. ‘What if I say I want more?’

He never gave her a chance to answer. Not when he grabbed the back of her head, pulling her closer to meld his lips to hers with such power it was like they’d become permanently connected.

This deliciously tempting man was tearing down her shields, the same way he peeled back her clothes, with quick fingers, and an eager, hot mouth.

She groaned so loud as he fondled her breasts, the sound echoed around the tropical garden. Yet hearing it come back only excited her more. No one could hear her, only Stone, who again crushed his lips over hers, his tongue sweeping inside, forcing her to let out a hum.

He replied with a growl that was so sexy she reacted by dragging him closer, desperate to be with him.

As their bare chests pressed against each other, she savoured the way his tongue tangled with hers, exploring her mouth as she explored his. Who knew kissing could be so magically mind-blowing.

‘Time for a swim.’ Stone scooped her up and carried her into the pond. The water was so refreshingly cool she laughed at the shock.

He carried her all the way in, then held her in his arms as if made of delicate porcelain, with her legs floating and her toes poking out of the water.

The tender way he held her there, looking over her skin, her curves, made her feel truly beautiful, and she wasn’t afraid to show herself to him.

He kissed her again, until she whimpered, and her pulse pounded through her veins.

Her limbs trembled as his fingers explored her wet skin, the same way she explored his.

The smooth warm muscles over his shoulders, his powerful arms, that chest, those perfect abs, yet keeping her eyes on the prize that was perfectly poised and erect for her.

Her hand looked so tiny, as she wrapped her fingers around his swollen member and started stroking him, as he groaned. The power she felt was such a turn-on, but that groan of his and his lean lines and hard ridges of muscle only made her thirst for more.

Romy bucked at the touch of his fingers.

Not expecting them to be so eager, so large, and yet so well-tuned to her needs.

She’d forgotten she was supposed to be pleasing him, when she was gripping his arm while moaning out a cry that echoed off the water to the towering palm trees, where a hint of stars shone like a distant spark that crackled underneath her skin.

Again, he captured her lips, kissing her deeply until she clung to his shoulders with her nails digging into his skin.

Her body rocked against him, searching for that incredible friction that made her excitement climb higher, as his fingers circled the bundle of nerves faster and faster, until her neck arched back, forcing her breasts clear out of the water where his eager mouth worked on them.

Suddenly she completely shattered, the way ice cracks across a frozen lake.

Pulse after hot pulse, as she trembled through the release, with every nerve ending buzzing, until she loosely hooked her arms around his shoulders to stop herself from sinking beneath the water.

‘My turn, shortcake.’