And Ian, of course, had been exactly right in his assessment of Colin. Over dinner last night, the first time Tessa had actually been able to spend with Colin and Selina, he’d flirted with her rather outrageously. Tessa had been startled at this overt behavior, but she’d apparently been the only one at the table to express surprise. Selina had merely rolled her eyes at her husband, and once or twice had admonished him for making Tessa uncomfortable. It seemed as though she didn’t take his flirting seriously at all, and was very confident that he wouldn’t dare take it beyond some harmless teasing. Ian, meanwhile, had scowled darkly at his younger brother at frequent intervals, which had only made Colin’s eyes twinkle anew with mischief. Edward and Joanna had rather tactfully changed the subject at frequent intervals.

But Colin’s - voyeurism, for lack of a better word, out at the pool had crossed a line for Tessa. She cringed to recall how loudly she’d been moaning in response to Ian’s torrid kisses, how closely their bodies had been entwined, and that if Colin hadn’t finally alerted them to his presence, how her entire breast would have been exposed to his lascivious gaze.

She shuddered in reaction as she stepped beneath the warm spray of the shower, rinsing off the chlorine from the pool. When she and Ian had headed out an hour ago for an early morning swim, it hadn’t been with the intention of also having a passionate interlude in the pool. As usual, though, it was nearly impossible for them to keep their hands off each other for very long, and at the mere touch of Ian’s hand on her waist she’d flung herself into his arms, pulling his head down to meet her eager kiss.

Tessa groaned, resting her forehead against the blue and green mosaic tiles of the shower, and willed her still-aroused body into some semblance of control. She was rather sheepishly aware that all these months of sharing Ian’s bed had most definitely awakened her sexually, to a point where she physically ached for his touch when they were apart, and where she feared she was starting to become something of a nymphomaniac, considering how frequently she craved making love with him.

Ian had laughed heartily when she’d haltingly confessed her fears to him, sweeping her around in a circle and kissing her soundly. “Do you hear me complaining, love?” he’d teased her. “I doubt you’d find a heterosexual man alive who’d think that was any sort of a problem, and especially not with someone as beautiful as you. And,” he’d added in a more serious tone, “you are not a nymphomaniac, Tessa. You’re simply a normal, healthy young woman with an equally healthy sex drive. A drive that I’m more than capable of satisfying on a regular basis, love.”

But any sort of satisfaction she might have hoped to achieve a little while ago had been rudely interrupted by Colin’s intrusion. Tessa scowled darkly as she reached for the scented body wash, and tried in vain to think up a suitable means of revenge on Ian’s brother for depriving her of what would have definitely been a very, very pleasurable orgasm.

She gasped, startled out of her dark thoughts as the door to the shower slid open, and a smiling - and very naked - Ian stepped inside the rather narrow confines of the shower.

“Now, where were we before my annoying brother’s very rude interruption?” he whispered in her ear, pulling her wet body against his.

Her good humor instantly restored, she laughed, nuzzling her nose into the base of his throat. “Hmm, I really can’t recall,” she teased, her arms clasping around his neck. “Guess that means we’re going to have to start all over.”

Ian grinned down at her. “Well, that’s a damned shame, isn’t it?” he drawled lazily. “But if you insist.”

He tunneled his hands into her wet hair, holding her head still for his kiss. As usual, Tessa was putty in his hands, surrendering herself completely to his control. He kissed her as though he was starved for the taste of her, and even with the pounding spray of the water she could hear the little moans that rose up from her throat, growing progressively louder as his kisses became more aggressive.

She gasped as his mouth moved to the side of her neck, his nose nuzzling a particularly sensitive spot behind her ear, while one of his big, capable hands slid down the side of her rib cage to cup a breast.

“God, that’s good,” she whispered as his long fingers tugged at her nipple.

Tessa had literally ached for him to touch her breasts when they’d been entwined out in the pool, had been panting in anticipation of this very moment, her nipples already hard and incredibly sensitive. And given the position they’d been in - Tessa sitting on the edge of the pool, her thighs parted just wide enough for Ian to grind his erection against her cleft - it wouldn’t have taken very long at all for her to have climaxed, even through the thin layers of their swimsuits. She’d been both frustrated and furious at Colin for his very untimely interruption, heaping silent curses on his head as she’d stalked back inside the villa.

But her earlier anger was all forgotten now, as Ian stroked, kissed, caressed her until she was quivering in reaction. And when his hand slid over her stomach, and then lower, his fingers teasing the blonde curls at the apex of her thighs, she gripped his wrist, holding it in place.

“Please,” she whimpered. “I - I need..”

“Shh,” soothed Ian, giving her a soft kiss. “I know just what you need, love. I always do, don’t I?”

Tessa cried out as his fingers thrust up inside of her tight core, pumping in and out in a steady rhythm, until she was grinding herself almost frantically against his hand. He hooked the tips of his fingers against the front of her pubic bone, pressing down on the spot he knew was ultra sensitive, and then whisking his thumb over her clit. It was all she needed to come long and hard, his lips claiming hers in another devouring kiss as she did so.

She was still shaking in reaction as Ian backed her up against the tiled wall of the shower stall, lifting her right leg to wrap around his waist.

“Ohhh.”

“Christ, that feels so fucking good.”

Tessa’s moan of rapture mingled with Ian’s harshly muttered curse as he thrust his massively aroused cock deep inside of her pussy, where she was still quivering from the orgasm he’d brought her to mere seconds ago.

His hands slid to her buttocks, lifting her easily as she wrapped both legs around his hips, her arms clasped about his neck as he began to fuck her with slow, deep strokes. He held her up as though she weighed nothing, and she marveled somewhat dazedly at how strong he was, how powerful, but how he could also be the most tender of lovers. At this particular moment, though, she didn’t want tenderness or finesse. She just wanted him, wanted his wildness and lustiness and his overwhelming hunger for her.