"I didn't bring a swimsuit."

A slow, wicked smile creased his handsome face as he continued to stare at the water.

"Forget what you're thinking, Dr. Evans."

His eyes flicked to her. "Would you go in if I told you I would give you an interview?"

"Certainly not!"

"Don't be offended; I'm just checking your moral fiber, Ms. Masterson." His gaze ran the length of her, from her sleeveless shirt to her shorts, lingering over her bare legs and feet. "It seems to be a tight weave."

Shameless. Absolutely shameless. Zanita shook her head and sighed. A small chair cushion sailed by Tyber's head. He grinned at her.

"You'll never make the majors, Ms. Masterson."

"Oh, I don't know." She flexed her fingers. "If I hang around you long enough, I'm sure I'll get in plenty of practice."

He turned on his side to face her. "I'll have to see to it then, won't I?"

The intimacy of the situation did not escape her. They were lying side by side, practically touching each other. It wouldn't be so bad if Zanita didn't know for a fact that Tyber was purposely baiting her for a reason known only to him. That he might be seriously interested in her did not occur to her for one minute.

She ignored him to turn on her side away from him. So far, he had not budged an inch on the subject of the interview. It was time to face the fact that he was not a man to be easily swayed. She had given it her best shot. He was not going to relent.

Zanita lay on her back again, watching the sun sink in the western sky. She was not going to get the interview; Tyber was teasing her; and she had eaten way too much for dinner. She yawned sleepily as she stretched in the wide lounge chair.

"I really should be going soon, Tyber."

"You can't go yet, Zanita. Blooey's made a great dessert, and The Curse Of The Mummy's Finger is on TV later." Tyber stopped because she had fallen fast asleep. If it were anyone else but Zanita, he might have been insulted. This was the second time the woman had fallen asleep on him! Shaking his head, he padded into the house to get her a blanket. With the sun going down, it was getting chilly.

Chapter Four.

Zanita opened her eyes to a full moon in the night sky.

"Good evening."

Tyber was sitting on the edge of her lounge chair, one corner of his sensuous mouth lifted in a faint smile. A light breeze caressed the free-flowing strands of his long chestnut hair, moonlight silvering the golden highlights.

What a sight to wake up to.

The dreamy thought flitted through her sleep-clogged brain. She smiled back, cuddling deeper into the lightweight blanket, still too hazy to wonder how she had come to be covered.

She bunched the blanket up under her chin with her fists, while her luminous eyes continued to drink in the sight of him leaning over her, barefoot and now shirtless in the night wind. Against the darkness of his skin, his washed-out denims looked white in the night light.

Realizing she must be staring, she hastily lowered her eyes, suddenly embarrassed. What was she thinking of-staring at the man like that?

"I fell asleep." Her voice came out a thin sound.

"Yes." His clear eyes wandered over her features, lingering for a moment on the baby-fine curls framing her face. Without thinking, he reached out, fingering a downy lock.

As he did, his scent tickled her senses; a tantalizing mixture of after-shave and something else that was uniquely Tyber- an elusive, heady, sizzling thing, which made her briefly close her eyes to delicately inhale more. The man could make a woman his captive with that scent.

She could feel the heat emanating from his bare skin as the cool night breeze washed over them both. For a moment, a strand of his silk hair feathered her cheek as the wind wafted through the evergreens surrounding the pool area. The scent of pine trailed behind like night incense.

A fire now crackled in the fireplace; warm lights danced across the rippling water.

His voice penetrated her hazy state, a low, mellow tone which was somehow both soothing and stimulating.

"I've been thinking about you...."

The soft words echoed the gentle play of his fingers threading through her hair. She warily opened her eyes. She had never thought of herself as particularly thinkable.

"What's to think about?"

He tenderly smoothed the hair off her face, seemingly fascinated when the curls bounced right back.

"I can't seem to anticipate you."

She furrowed her brows. "What do you mean?"

"I can't quite figure out how your mind works. You're unpredictable." He flashed her an engaging look. "Not unlike Chaos."

She surprised him?

So, the great Tyberius Augustus Evans was stumped, was he? Would wonders never cease. Good for me?

She grinned impishly up at him. "You never will, you know."

It seemed she had confused him yet again. Better and better. By his expression, he hadn't a clue as to what she meant. "You'll never classify me," she clarified.

Smiling cryptically, he leaned forward, placing his hands on the flat surface of the chair on either side on her head. "I'm counting on it."

Before she could guess his intentions, his sexy mouth had already brushed across her own, taking a light skipping path across her face to nuzzle warmly at her neck.

The sudden, unexpected touch of his firm lips on the tender skin of her throat sent a frisson right down to her toes and back up again. The man was nibbling at her! Who ever thought Tyber would- His teeth scraped a pulse point. A soft moan echoed in the night.

Was that me making that sound?

Her eyes opened wide in shock. She stared mutely up at him. Tyber's silvery blue eyes were glittering with... amusement? Interest? Passion.

He continued to gaze at her as he reached over to release the bunched-up blanket from her nerveless fingers. Taking her small hands in his, he skillfully brought them around his neck to engineer her embrace of him.

Their eyes met. Her breathing stopped.

He's going to kiss me.

The silky strands of his hair slid through her fingers as they glided forward with the slow descent of his head. Taking his time, he lowered himself to her, bringing his mouth over hers in a seamless move.

His lips were velvety slick and heated. So sensuous was the touch of his skillful mouth that this time she wasn't even aware of the little moans that escaped her throat.

Tyber was.

He kept his hands resting flat on the lounge chair beside her head as he deepened the kiss. He skimmed the tip of his tongue lightly along her slightly parted lips before gently suckling her bottom lip.

"Oh! That-"

"Do you like that?" he drawled, repeating the action.

An understatement. Her mouth opened for him.

Tyber had a sudden revelation; he wanted much more from her. Again he ran the tip of his tongue along her parted lips, inserting it just slightly into her mouth. Then he kissed her slowly, sweetly, as if he was content to go on whiling away his life forever kissing her.

Zanita had never been kissed like this; Tyber was... like a little taste of heaven. Enticing. Luscious. Damp.

A languid warmth spread through her.

He kept repeating his torturous routine-a touch of the tongue, the press of his lips, each repetition slightly more intense than the last.

Every time his dewy tongue touched her, she shivered and he entered her waiting mouth a little more.

Every time he kissed her, she moaned and he pressed a little harder.

The tempo of her breathing increased, but he did not increase his tempo.

He was deliberate and pulsating and utterly intoxicating.

Zanita quivered in his embrace. The obvious response Tyber was producing in her was making him tremble. Without warning, he felt raw and dangerous. He was more than just physically moved.

He wanted inside.

In every way.

But only his mouth touched her. Only his mouth captured her.

The next time he dipped into her, Zanita wasn't even aware of her fingers splaying through his long hair, pressing the back of his head closer, closer, hungry for the sensual pleasure of his creative lips and tongue.

At the feel of the insistent pressure to the back of his head, Tyber paused. His thick lashes flicked up as he examined her face. Her eyes were closed, her breathing ragged, her mouth still slightly parted for him. The gentle lips were moist and swollen from his kisses.

Something leaped in him and through him. A flash arcing through every pulse point. Searing. Pounding.

Suddenly he could not bear to be separated from the haven of those luscious lips. He had never experienced anything so... intense. At that moment he wanted her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life.

This woman did something to him he could not explain.

For a man who was dedicated to explaining anything and everything in his universe, this was a disconcerting experience.

He pressed his thumb purposefully along her moist lower lip, completely opening her for him.

No sense overanalyzing. Some things were better to accept in life, he briefly thought before he seized her mouth in a piercingly sweet invasion. His tongue swirled fully inside, gliding back and forth in a devastatingly thorough foray. In ardent ownership.

Zanita clung to him, overwhelmed by his sense of purpose. His taste was pure and sweet and as rich as cream. Unconsciously, Zanita's fingers clenched in his hair as he managed the firm, seductive onslaught of her senses. She felt dazed. And crazy for the feel of him.

He might not know how to classify her, but he certainly knew what to do with her.

Zanita was barely aware of him lifting the blanket that still covered her to get underneath it himself. Powerful arms surrounded her, drawing her close. She could feel him now all around her, enveloping her, his taut skin as smooth as velvet over rock-hard muscles. And hot. Very hot.

His fierce heat brought her temporarily to her senses.

She needed to slow down here. She needed to understand what was happening. Her palms brushed against his sleek chest hair; she placed them flat against his bare skin in an effort to stem the sensual onslaught. She looked up at him in confusion, meeting his scalding gaze.

"Wh-what are you doing, Tyber?" she barely managed to stutter as his arms locked her to him.

His eyes were definitely not clear ice now. They were smoky with desire. She had never seen a man's eyes look so... smoldering. He lowered his head to her, an intense, incredibly erotic look on his face.

"I believe I am about to claim you, Ms. Masterson." The heated, implacable words were breathed just against her lips.

"Oh, but I don't think-"

"Good. Don't think." His hot mouth closed firmly over her own.

Something happened when they came together.

Something beyond reason; something primitive and erotically wild. What started out as steady heat quickly escalated to an intense, untamable, unstoppable maelstrom of passion.

She didn't remember her shorts coming off. Or her top. Or her bra and panties, for that matter. She certainly couldn't recall Tyber slipping out of his jeans and underwear.

She was aware of the first time his powerful leg brushed against hers. And of his naked thigh inserting itself between her own. She remembered the feel of the hair on his leg gliding against the smooth skin of her inner thigh.

The touch of his hands, large and warm against the bare skin of her back.

The sultry caress of his long hair across her chest as his unyielding mouth took hers once again.

The commanding way he turned her to maximize the pleasure.

It seemed as if Tyber could not get enough of her. He massaged his palms ardently over her body as they lay facing each other, his untamed yet sensitive touch arousing nerve endings she didn't even know she had. He caressed and stroked as if she were his personal pagan sacrifice. His to do with as he wished. His to consume.

She would never forget the sultry, sizzling expression on his wildly handsome face as he lost himself in sensual pleasures the depth of which she had never experienced before.

Like hot, wet silk, his mouth fastened on the curve of her neck as he cupped her bottom to press her tight against him. He was throbbing. Incredibly hard.

Incredibly endowed.

In a feminine action as old as time, Zanita moved slightly away from him. What am I doing?