Chapter 168
Portofino, Italy
Belmond Hotel Splendido
Rain smiled, pulling her fingers through Kita’s wet hair, brushing it out of his eyes. “You are even sexier when cross with me,” she reminded him.
“I should not have had to pull you off the bottom of the pool,” Kita retorted.
“You should not have thrown me in,” she teasingly reminded him.
“You would have pushed me in first given the chance,” he informed her.
She giggled. “Yes, yes I would have. Will you unlace me now? I want to go swimming.”
“It’s nearly midnight,” he informed her.
“Is there any better time?” Rain asked, batting her lashes then turned around and pulled her hair over her shoulder. “A pool is better than the bathtub like I usually use.”
Kita didn’t know what that meant, and it distracted him from the inappropriateness of her request for him to undress her, in essence. “Do you use the bathtub for a more nefarious reason than bathing?” he asked, unknotting the cords to her corset that were tucked away.
Rain giggled. “If I told you, it’d ruin the surprise,” she teased.
He chuckled, pulling the cords tight causing Rain to gasp in surprise before she softly moaned and her lashes fluttered.
That, was not the response he expected.
“You never cease to surprise me, Seon Rain,” Kita admitted, loosening the lacing he had pulled taut through the eyelets. “What do you do in the bathtub that I am unaware of?”
Rain moaned. “It isn’t anything concerning really. When I need to clear my head, I do it in the bathtub.”
The bathtub in their suite in Seoul wasn’t remotely big enough to do anything other than soak or sleep in.
“You take a bath?” Kita clarified, loosening her corset completely, exposing her entire back to him.
The corset wasn’t seasoned for her body, and it caused deep depressions in her skin that he wanted to caress and massage away before kissing each.
It wasn’t an appropriate thought.
“I fill the tub then sink into the water and hold my breath,” she said.
“Why?” he asked before he could stop himself.
Rain slipped out of her dress, pushing it down her hips. “My mother tried to drown me in the bathtub when I was little,” she said, as if it were obvious. “I was scared of deep water at first because of it, but then I read a story in a magazine at the doctor’s office about overcoming your fears by facing them. To overcome it was to face it. I can hold my breath for six minutes now,” she smugly informed him, turning to face him.
Kita struggled to maintain eye contact with her; the water distorted her nearly naked body, the only thing she wore were tiny pale pink panties.
“That is impressive,” he commented.
She shrugged; she didn’t know if it was or not since she didn’t compare with others how long they could hold their breath in the water.
“I can only hold my breath for five-minutes and thirty-two seconds,” he said, backing away from her. “I will give you privacy.”
Rain bit her bottom lip before swimming into him and stood in front of him. “You are in every aspect of my life, Kita Yasuhiro, none of which you turn away from so don’t turn away from me now. Swim with me, keep me company under the moon and in this beautiful pool, and do what every other man I’ve ever met has done, which is overlook the fact I’m a woman.”
Kita shook his head. “That is not funny,” he scolded.
“No, it isn’t. But it’s what I’m used to,” she said, offering a smile.
“You should not be, especially with me,” Kita said, looking down at her. “You are beautiful, Seon Rain. You rendered me completely speechless when I saw you tonight in that dress. And I am even more stunned by you out of it. Self-control I was unaware any man was capable of I suddenly find myself possessing-”
“Well, don’t,” Rain interrupted and started unbuttoning his dress shirt. “There’s nothing you would not do to protect me, but that goes for me as well.”
Kita shook his head. “It should not. It is not right or appropriate,” he argued, caressing the wet hair from Rain’s cheeks for her.
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, Kita Yasuhiro,” Rain reminded him, unfastening his belt. “Surely you know that, don’t you?” she asked, looking up at him through her lashes. “I took on the Imperial Family and Oni, nearly fired my Uncle and Manager even, to secure your mental and emotional well-being from the beast that has hurt you for years. If that isn’t testament to what-”
Rain’s words cut off when Kita cupped the back of her head then pulled her into him and captured her mouth with his.
Any trepidation Kita might have had, only lasted a fraction of a second before he kissed her with hungry urgency.
The taste of her mouth was like warm honey that was strangely cool and refreshing. The feel of her short, pink tongue wrapping around his was arousing in ways that had to be illegal. And the way her body effortlessly molded to his nearly pushed him over the edge of reason.
Rain’s small hands knotted in his dress shirt and pulled him into her more when she felt him start to pull away from her, and she deepened the kiss.
Never had she kissed someone like that before, and never had she wanted to until Kita walked into her life and she found herself in his arms.
But a kiss wasn’t all she wanted.
For the first time in her life, Rain wanted to be with someone completely.
Her hands went to work unfastening Kita’s pants but he angled his hips back, away from her.
“Non,” Kita growled in French against her mouth.
Rain pulled away from him. “I will not be the only one swimming in their underwear tonight,” she said breathlessly, as if that was reason enough to undress him.
He cocked an eyebrow, licking his lips.
She tasted even better than he dreamt she would, and he wanted more.
“I am not having sex with you tonight, Seon Rain,” Kita blurted out when she slid her hands up his chest to his shoulders then dropped his shirt to the water behind him.
“Technically, it is nearly morning,” she pointed out.
He gave her a look. “I am not arguing semantics with you at midnight or nearly midnight,” he snapped at her, desperately trying to regain some of his faculties so he didn’t do something they’d both regret.
Rain blushed, looking away from him. “Sorry for seeming eager to get naked with you,” she grumbled with a pout. “You are the first person to see me like this,” she whispered, suddenly losing her bravado, and she covered her breasts with her arms. “Sorry.”
Instantly Kita’s face dropped; he hurt her feelings again.
“That is their loss, Seon Rain,” he said, coaxing her by the chin to look at him. “Never compare me to them, for they will forever fall so very short in comparison.”
Rain tried not to, but she giggled; his Lula impression was eerily good, and it always made her smile.
“You are unlike any woman I have ever met, and even that first day I knew you would ruin me in ways no one ever had before,” he continued, his eyes moving over her face many times.
Her bottom lip pouted outward.
“You are adorable when you pout,” Kita said with a smile, pulling her into his arms.
“I ruined you,” Rain grumbled.
“Yes, you did,” Kita agreed. “You ruined me for every other woman out there,” he said, carrying her out of the pool and back inside their suite. “And if you must know, I am so very happy that you did.”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
