She slipped on the flip-flops and moseyed to the atrium—and found her sunbeam.
Sunlight poured through the glass-vaulted ceiling, casting a rainbow on the tiles below. The stream bubbled and rushed to a waterfall next to her, and chimes danced somewhere on an artificial wind.
Alec reclined on a chaise, wearing a black robe. He smiled when he saw her and stood as she approached. “Here you are.” His black robe parted at his chest, showing hard pec muscles and dark hair that trailed down to his chest. Something twisted below her own navel, tight and needy. “How do you like the spa so far?”
“It’s good.” Lucy swallowed, dear Lord help her. The tingling in her belly was not letting up. He was oh-so fabuloso. Uncertainty flooded her with a feeling akin to shyness. What did one do when spending the day with an uber-hot gazillionaire you had plotted to steal from? She laced her hands in front of her robe, feeling like an uncertain sightseer landed in Oz.
“Are you sure?” Alec stepped closer. His hand lifted her chin with warm fingers.
Lucy stared into his navy eyes. In the sunlight, they were multi-faceted sapphires with hints of gold circling the pupils. He shut his eyes and leaned down to kiss her.
The gentle kiss hit her with the force of a cherry bomb exploding underwater. The vibration ran from her lips, to her stomach, and down her shaky legs. Alec deepened the kiss, his tongue coaxing her mouth open. The tension in her groin began to pulse in time with her heartbeat, loud in her ears. Alec snaked his hand into her robe, his palm rubbing the curve of her hip. She wanted to pull him inside the beat of her body.
“Come on, we’ll start in the private sauna area.” Alec threaded his fingers through hers and led her to a glass door.
“What about the masseuses?”
“They’ll join us afterward.” He untied his robe.
Lucy held her breath. Was he naked under the robe? Her mind filled in the blanks: tapered shoulders, taut butt, powerful legs…
Alec smiled wider, showing even white teeth. His eyes watched her face, as if he knew what she was thinking. Slowly, he pulled the lapels of his robe to the side, displaying his chest and modest blue bathing shorts.
“Nice…shorts,” she managed. Her mind was melting down with her body. Get a grip.
She unbelted her robe and handed it to him matter-of-factly, feeling self-conscious about her own body. She was fit and toned, but she wasn’t like the models he was probably used to seducing.
“You look lovely.” Alec hung her robe beside his and placed a gentle hand under her forearm before opening the glass door. Wet steam scented with eucalyptus gushed out. Lucy followed beside him, trying to get her bearings. She held up her forearms, surprised to find her skin already wet.
“I know you’re just checking out the goods.” The wet stream billowed through the space so that her voice sounded muffled inside a rainforest cloud.
“Your goods look especially good in that suit.” His smile was pure seduction, salted with good-natured lechery. The compliment spread happiness through her chest and a spark of abandon. She had already decided to enjoy herself, why not really enjoy herself?
Why not have a fling?
Alec eased her into the steam room until wet tiles touched her back, cold and slick in comparison to the moist heat. Water dripped into her mouth, salty and organic. Through the steam, his eyes where dark and intent.
“I’m going to kiss you again.” He kept his hands on the tile wall and leaned his head close, his body surrounding her. The kiss hit her hot and open and pulled the turmoil of the past few days from her mind so that all she could think of was that she wanted this. She wanted him.
For once in her life she wanted to do something selfish, impractical and utterly decadent.
“Tell me you want this,” he whispered.
“I want this.”
“Good. That is good.” Lifting her right leg, Alec ran his hand up her slick calf to her knee, and then wrapped her leg around his hip. He steadied her with his hand and body, and his erection pushed against the soft skin at her belly. Hard and throbbing, it made her inner core clench and tremble. Her raised leg contracted and brought him closer into the space between them, until she was surrounded by his wet, hard warmth.
Alec ran his hand up the curve of her bottom and slipped his fingers under her suit, until his wandering fingers found the seam of her desire. Lucy’s insides burned in response, but Alec removed his hand and ran it up the side of her breast. “You’re important to me. I want you to know that.”
His words were a splash of cold water in the face, and Lucy pulled back. She didn’t believe him. She wished he had said nothing rather than ruin the moment.
“You don’t have to lie to me. We’re both adults here.”
“It’s true.” Through the haze, Alec frowned. “This is important to me.”
“Please.” Lucy shook her head. “Let’s pretend I’m one of your typical women—just shorter and brainier, maybe less tan.”
Alec laughed and set his hand on her shoulder. “Shorter and brainier, eh?” He moved his hand up her neck and brushed his thumb over her lip. “You’re so much more than just that.”
A hiss of scalding water echoed around the room, and Lucy crossed her arms between them. He could seduce her body in a hot second, but her head and heart were off limits.
“All right. Peace, Lucy.” Alec shook his head. “Let’s go to the dry saunas. You’ll start to prune if we stay in here.” When she didn’t move, Alec waited until she met his gaze. “Okay?”
“Okay.” She exhaled her frustration and followed him into a corridor tiled from floor to ceiling.
“This way.” He put a wet hand on her lower back. Sweat slid under her bathing suit top and trickled down her stomach. Alec opened another glass door. The dry sauna rooms surrounded a foyer with a round pool, inlaid with turquoise and cobalt blue tiles that reminded Lucy of a Mediterranean tide pool.
Alec walked to the pool and stepped off the edge. His large body disappeared under the water for a few seconds, then he came to the surface in rush. “Wooaawo,” he said, treading water and flipping black, wet hair off his face. His blue eyes were lighter in the pool, his expression playful. “Come on. It feels great.”
Lucy went to the side, feeling the air temperature drop dramatically against her slick skin. She hesitated.
“Don’t think about it,” Alec coaxed. “Just jump in. You’ll love it.”
“I’ve been in the baths in Turkey and Japan. I know what I’m doing.”
“But you’ve never been in them with me.”
“True, but I managed to enjoy them all the same.” Lucy jumped in. Shards of freezing water enveloped her body. All sound disappeared in a whirling vortex of icy sensation. Nerve endings made sluggish in the moist heat jumped to the surface of her skin, and tiny hair follicles puckered to sharp attention.
“Ahh,” she said when her head broke the surface.
“Just not as much.” Alec smiled a cocky smile. At her confused look, he continued. “You enjoyed your previous experiences without me, just not as much as you will with me.” He rested with his elbows on the ledge of the pool.
“You are the most confident man I have ever met.” Sharp metallic clarity followed the rush of cold sensation in her body. “You know, I don’t usually have flings with men I barely know.”
“That’s good.”
“So could we tone things down a bit between us?”
“Absolutely.” Alec hulled himself out of the pool with enviable strength. Water cascaded off his body and puddled around his bare feet. He walked to her side of the pool and reached for her hand, pulling her out beside him. Her body swayed toward him, and her heightened senses clamored at his touch. He held her a moment too long before turning to open one of the dry sauna doors.