I could have stopped the backward momentum, but instead I grabbed her waist as I stumbled backward over the edge of the pool—and took her with me.

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” I SPUTTERED AS I broke the surface. Reaching out blindly, I shoved at anything I could reach, which happened to be hot, solid muscle. I yanked my hands back like I’d been burned and swiped the water out of my eyes. “You’re such a dick.”

Titan threw his head back and his laughter echoed through the room. I’d never seen a smile on his face like this one. Ever. In fact, I didn’t think I’d really seen him smile. Smirk like an asshole? Sure. But smile? No.

Since when did I start keeping track of the man’s facial expressions? Didn’t matter.

“I’ve never pretended to be anything else,” he said.

I fought the urge to scream. My dress was soaked—and it was white. I was wearing a very sheer white bra, and my nipples were now hard as pebbles and completely visible.

I moved to cover my chest with my arms, but Titan backed me into the corner of the pool. My fight-or-flight instincts should have been waging an epic battle, but I was too pissed to be scared. He wasn’t going to hurt me. I, however, might hurt him.

The skirt of my dress floated up in the pool around me, and I shoved it down.

“Fuck, you’re gorgeous, Yve.”

I jerked my head up to meet his eyes as Titan reached out to brush a wet curl away from my face.

I pressed both hands to his chest one more time, ready to push him away, but froze . . . because his head was lowering to mine.

“Wha—what are you doing?” I said breathlessly.

“Kissing you.”

“I told you not to.” His mouth was so close to mine, I was sure he felt the words on his lips.

“You didn’t stop me last time. And I take what I want—which is you.”

The burn of my anger morphed into flames of heat and need. My hands turned traitor and slid up to grip his shoulder and the back of his neck. Apparently my better judgment had left the building, along with my self-imposed rules.

For some reason only God himself knew, I wanted to kiss this man.

So I did.

Titan’s firm lips landed on mine, and his tongue wasted no time delving inside. He pressed a palm to my face to tilt my head as he deepened the kiss. I had no idea why I let him lead; probably because he was so damn good at it.

It had been too long since I’d been kissed like I was the air someone needed to breathe, and that was exactly how Titan kissed. It was all consuming.

I squeezed my thighs together as my mind immediately went to how all consuming he’d been when he’d taken me in the kitchen. I shouldn’t want him this much, especially since he was a shining example of everything I despised. But I kissed him anyway.

Titan’s other hand slid from my waist down to my bare thigh and then upward. My high-cut panties didn’t provide any protection from his questing fingers as they gripped my ass. He lifted and pulled me against him. That rock-hard erection pressed exactly where I needed it. My clit came to life at the pressure and friction.

It didn’t take long. Hell. I was going to come.

I should have been horrified that he could cause such a reaction from me, but all I did was rock against him harder and faster.

He lifted his mouth a fraction of an inch. “I want you to come for me. Right now. Can you get there?”

“Shut up. Kiss me,” I mumbled against his lips.

His mouth crushed against mine again, and the hand previously guiding my face dropped to free my breast from the soaked fabric of my dress. My moans were lost in the kiss, but I could feel the orgasm rising in me. Just a few more—

I stiffened, letting it wash over me and vibrate out through my limbs. I rocked against him, not as hard this time, to keep the waves rolling through me.

Oh. My. God. I needed that.

I broke my mouth away from his as I drooped against him.

“Jesus Christ, that was hot.”

It was his voice. Lucas Titan’s voice. In my ear. After I’d just come. It should have ruined everything, but it just made me hotter.

I hated myself for liking it. I shoved away from him as self-loathing slid over me like the chlorinated water.

“Let go.” I turned in the circle of his arms and tried to push out of the pool.

His hands wrapped around my waist and held me firmly, bringing me back against his chest. “Oh no. You’re not going to run this time.”

“Let go of me. Now.” My tone meant business. Serious business.

Surprisingly, he listened, even backing up so I could scramble out of the pool. I lunged for the towel he’d used earlier and pulled it around my body.

I have to get out of here.

“Yve, wait.”

I didn’t know where my sandals were, probably somewhere at the bottom of the pool. Fuck it. I’d walked barefoot before. I dashed to the door and pulled it open.

I needed to get the hell away from Titan. He was dangerous.

WELL, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY.

Fuck. I dove under, grabbed Yve’s sandals off the bottom of the pool, and climbed out. If she was going to run from me, I’d at least make sure she wasn’t doing it barefoot.

I wasn’t done with her yet. She could deny it all she wanted, but she craved this as much as I did.

I grabbed another towel off the stack on the table and dried off as I hustled out of the pool room. In the hallway, I could hear Jerome—God bless the man—talking to Yve.

“I’m fine,” she was telling him. “I just need to go.”

“But you’re soaking wet, my dear.”

“Well, that’s what happens when an asshole pulls you into the pool.”

“I think you’re missing an important detail,” I drawled, interrupting them. “Because you pushed me first.”

Yve’s head swiveled around, her cheeks deeply flushed with what I wanted to believe was lust, but was more than likely embarrassment. I tied the towel around my waist, because my dick still hadn’t calmed down, and I didn’t need Jerome seeing that.

“Yve, we need to talk,” I said.

Her eyes hardened. “I need to go. I have shit to do. And I also have nothing to say to you.”

“Yve—”

Jerome interrupted. “My dear, how about I find you something dry to put on. You don’t want to run off like that.”

She looked at Jerome, then me. “You keep a lot of women’s clothes in your house? You know, for occasions like this when you dunk them in the pool.”