She laughed—the most delicious, sensuous laugh he had ever heard.

He splashed her again, getting water all over her face. It lodged in her eyelashes and dripped down onto her flushed cheeks. It gathered in beads on her chin and in that sensuous divot just above her lip.

And in that moment she was no longer Roman. She was like Aphrodite’s own nymph standing there, anxiously awaiting her pleasure.

And by the gods he was going to give it to her.

He slid his hand beneath her hair and gripped the back of her neck. Slowly, he bent and sucked the water from her cheeks, her chin, even her lashes. Finally, he bent to her lips and kissed her.