by Aimee Duffy
‘I’m serious! Can you help me look for it please?’ She spun around again, hoping to see a scrap of pink glinting on the surface. No such luck. It was only water all around and if it slipped under the boat she was in trouble.
Zack pulled her to the back end of the yacht and she kept a look-out, hoping he’d seen something she hadn’t.
‘Here will do,’ he said, then pulled her against his chest.
He was strong enough to keep them both above water, and that distracted her a little as she wrapped her legs around his torso to stay afloat. Then she noticed the sexy grin he sported and realised he’d dragged her back here for another reason.
‘Zack! I need to find it,’ she whispered.
‘You’re looking at this all wrong, Ireland,’ he said with a grin. ‘It’s just one less thing I’ll need to take off.’
‘We can’t do that here!’ But when his hands cupped her bare breasts she lost her train of thought.
‘Can’t isn’t a word I have in my vocabulary,’ he said, then kissed her slowly, smoulderingly.
Feck it! She held onto his neck, upping the intensity of the salty kiss and before she knew it Zack had shoved her bikini bottoms to the side and was rubbing her in a way that should be illegal.
Moaning ‘more’ seemed all she could manage and his groan sounded like sweet surrender. He freed himself from his shorts and pulled her down until she was filled by him. The stab of heat was instant and she knew it wouldn’t be long until she was coming hard. Using her hold on him, she tilted her hips and rode him until she was biting her lip to hold in the cries of relief.
Someone screamed and both she and Zack froze. She could see the lust haze faze from his eyes until they became sharp and more aware.
‘Get out of there!’ Elle shrieked.
They looked up to see her at the ladder. For the second time in forever, Elle looked scared but now it was closer to terror.
Ciara was glad the water wasn’t as clear out here because Elle would have seen a lot more than she bargained for beneath the waves.
‘What’s up, Elle?’ he asked, discreetly unjoining them.
That was until her red hot cheeks gave them away.
‘Sharks! You’re going to be dinner if you don’t move now!’ Elle shouted, pointing across to the front of the boat.
Ciara knew she should be swimming for that drop down ladder as fast as she could, feck the bikini top she’d lost. But she couldn’t move. Even her legs were frozen in a vice grip around Zack’s waist.
Four or five dark grey fins protruded from the water up ahead, but they were closing in fast and then they disappeared below the surface.
She started to tremble.
‘It’s okay,’ Zack said, cupping her cheek. ‘There aren’t sharks out here. It’s probably dolphins.’
‘Have you lost it? Zack get my best friend out of there now!’
But he didn’t and all Ciara could do was imagine a sharp, incomprehensible pain in her thighs as the sharks took chunks out of her and dragged her under.
‘Don’t panic, they won’t hurt us. They’re probably just curious.’ He didn’t look scared at all, in fact the excited glint in his eyes made him look younger.
Just then one of the creatures broke the surface and the sound of dolphins singing stunned her. She’d heard it before on Elle’s silly relaxing nature tapes and from the beak on the animals that popped out around them she knew they weren’t sharks.
‘Elle, they’re dolphins.’ She reached out to one but it backed away, opening its mouth to yatter something.
‘Look at those teeth! That’s no dolphin,’ Elle shouted from the deck.
Gem and Milo laughed so hard they had to hold their stomach’s for support.
‘I’m positive it is. Now stop freaking out or they’re going to swim away,’ Zack said.
Elle fisted her hands and glared, but since they were relaxed now the potential danger was over, she aimed her anger at Gem and Milo then stormed away out of sight.
‘I suppose I should give you this back now,’ Zack said, pulling something out of his back pocket.
Not something. The missing part of her bikini! She snatched it out of his hand. ‘That was mean.’
His grin was wicked. ‘I’d say I more than made up for it.’
Her cheeks flared again, but the heat spread to other parts too. She tied the bikini on then went in for a quick kiss. ‘You did. But I don’t think we both finished.’
He laughed a little. ‘I think the dolphins are a bit young to see that.’ More seriously, he added, ‘And we don’t have any protection. Later, I promise.’
What a thing to forget! Still, he hadn’t finished. And she was on the mini pill to regulate her periods so the risk was minimal. ‘I’ll hold you to that.’
***
After swimming with the dolphins they’d gone back to the boat in time for lunch. Drying off in the sun next to Zack was the perfect way to spend a lazy afternoon as far as she was concerned. As they all listened to Elle and her cousin try to top each other with the most embarrassing stories, Ciara felt at peace, like that antsy need to get up and do something had completely deserted her.
She couldn’t hold out hope that it would last. The restlessness was buried too deep inside. She’d even debated with Gem that it could be hereditary and her friend, though not quite an expert in the gene field, had been swayed a little by that argument.
But now she could pretend for a while that she was different and being held by Zack certainly helped. This close to him she almost felt normal. Like a woman experiencing what it was like to be happy, carefree and without a tenth of the worries she had.
Until Elle went and ruined it.
‘Zack, did you manage to book a seat on our flight?’ Elle asked.
Since Ciara was leaning on his chest, she could feel every muscle go rigid. Oh God, he wasn’t coming and now Elle was going to make him say it and ruin her perfect day.
‘I’ve got a meeting in Munich first,’ he said.
She didn’t understand why the vein at the side of Elle’s head became pronounced like it did when she was mad, or why her friend’s eyes became icy cold chips that looked sharp enough to cut through leather.
‘You’re. Going. To. Munich?’
Okay, mad was an understatement. Elle was using her livid-disbelief tone.
She looked to Gem for some kind of hint at why that was a bad thing, but Gem just shrugged.
‘Careful, Elle. I’m not in the mood. We have a meeting there with one of the buyers.’ Zack didn’t sound so pleased either, but when she tried to pull away so she could turn round and see him, he held her so close she struggled to breathe.
‘We?’ Elle asked through clenched teeth.
‘I’m going with Granddad. After that I’ll be straight on a plane to Ibiza,’ he said.
She relaxed back into him, closing her eyes with relief. Elle was probably pissed that she was missing out on some deal, even though for a second she’d been worried it might have more to do with the things Zack refused to tell her. Again, not her problem and definitely not worth worrying about after a day like today.
‘I’ll miss you,’ she said, linking her fingers through his.
He turned her around and his easy smile knocked the breath out of her. ‘You too. Make sure my cousin doesn’t get you into any more trouble.’
‘I thought you were only going to be gone for a day?’ Elle bitched.
His eyes tightened a little. ‘I will.’
She couldn’t be sure whether it was the sibling rivalry these two seemed to have acquired over the years or something else, but she wasn’t going to dwell on it since now she knew for sure she’d see him again.
Instead she kissed him like they were alone and thanked her lucky stars that this part of her holiday didn’t have to end just yet.
The fun continues…
Join the girls on the next stop of their round-the-world trip!
Ibiza Insanity
Ai
mée Duffy
All my life I’ve been dreaming up stories. My mum said when I was little I used to make all the My Little Pony figurines talk to each other and even fall in love. Later, it was Barbie and Ken. In my teens, I played matchmaker with my friends at school.
When I wasn’t creating imaginary scenarios, I had my nose stuck in books, reading across genres and there was one thing I loved more than the escapism—the fact a story could touch me so deeply, like I was experiencing everything along with my characters. I knew from early on this was something I wanted to do for others.
Fast forward a few years and the dream almost got lost in real life, but I still couldn’t shake it completely. Now I write sizzling romance with the hope of making my readers’ hearts race as if they are falling in love for the first time.
You can follow me on Twitter @AimeeDuffyx.
About HarperImpulse
HarperImpulse is an exciting new range of romance fiction brought to you from the women’s fiction team at HarperCollins. Our aim is to break new talent from debut authors and import the hottest trends from the US, bringing you the very best in romance. Whether that is through short reads for your mobile phone or epic sagas that span the generations we want to proudly publish romance fiction that gets everybody talking.
Romance readers, come and meet the team at our website www.harperimpulseromance.com, our Facebook page www.facebook.com/HarperImpulse or follow us @HarperImpulse!
Writers, we are simply looking for good stories! So, what are you waiting for? To submit, e-mail us at [email protected].
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