I watched him as he stiffly scrubbed the rock against his skin, then I glanced away because I didn’t want him to feel uncomfortable. But I couldn’t resist taking peeks at his smooth, muscular body from the corner of my eye.
I sighed and leaned against the large rocks that lined the pool. “This place is nice. I can’t believe I’ve never been allowed to come here before.”
Lorenzo hummed in agreement. “You live somewhere so beautiful, yet you’re allowed no freedom to experience it. It is strange.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “Twenty damn years of it.”
“Right, that reminds me… Don’t your parents mind that I’m quite a bit older than you?” Lorenzo asked, then paused. “Don’tyoumind?”
“Me? Hell no. What do I care?” I said, shrugging. “And all my parents care about is that you look after me, and that you’re not some kind of freak trying to kill me.” I raised a brow. “You’re not, are you?”
He smiled dryly. “I can assure you, I certainly am not.”
“Didn’t think so,” I said, closing my eyes and sliding down on the rock. It was surprisingly comfortable sitting in the water naked with a man I barely knew. Although at this point, Lorenzo didn’t seem like a stranger anymore. Despite only meeting recently, he felt like someone I’d known my entire life.
“Raja,” Lorenzo began after a moment. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
He paused and fiddled with the rock in his hand. “Does the wedding situation bother you at all?”
I didn’t open my eyes. “What do you mean?”
“Well, your parents seemed quite excited about the whole thing. Almost to the point where I felt uncomfortable lying to them about it.”
My eyes shot open. I sat up in the water, staring at Lorenzo. “Are you having second thoughts?” I asked sharply. “Because if you want to leave, you should do it now.”
The harsh tone in my voice took him aback. He raised his palms. “No, I don’t want to leave. I still plan on going through with this, ifyouwant to.”
“I do want to, and I will,” I said firmly. “I have no other choice. You’re my one ticket out of here, but if you don’t want to lie to my parents, that’s fine. You can leave whenever you want, if you feel guilty.”
Complex emotions stirred in Lorenzo’s expression, but he made no move to get up and leave. Instead, he reached over and put his hand on my shoulder, looking me in the eye. The warmth of his skin against mine surprised me.
“Raja, I already told you that I’ll stay for the wedding if you want me to,” Lorenzo said, slowly and seriously. “I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”
“Good,” I replied. “Then stay.”
“I will.”
A small fire flickered in my chest as our eyes locked. Neither of us blinked. I was the one who finally broke first. I glanced off to the side and licked my lips.
“Anyway, you should go stand under the waterfall, if you can handle it,” I said. “It’ll clean your hair.”
He stood. I made a point tonotstare at his crotch.
“Will you accompany me?” he asked, holding out a hand. I took it without even thinking and grunted a reply.
We strode through the water together. Our movements synced, and the water curved and flowed around us as if we were a single entity, like a rock cutting through a river. The waterfall crashed down before us, the falls becoming one with the pool below. I guided Lorenzo into the streaming water, urging him to stand beneath it. He closed his eyes and let the cold water flow over his face. Like a statue, he stood frozen in the spot. The glinting reflection of the water gave him the appearance of being sculpted out of pale marble.
For what happened next, I couldn’t help myself. My hands drifted on their own. I placed my palms firmly against his pecs. Lorenzo didn’t flinch under the touch. His skin was warm beneath the cool waters. My body wanted to press against his, to absorb his body heat, but the wall of rushing water stopped me.
I’m touching him. Intimately. In the middle of the waterfall. And he’s not telling me to stop.
When I realized what I was doing, I withdrew my hands somewhat awkwardly. Lorenzo opened his eyes when there was no more contact, but didn’t comment.
A strange feeling fluttered in my chest, like a caged butterfly. My eyes longed to linger on Lorenzo’s form, standing there like a beautiful statue. But why? I had never been as physically attracted to someone as I was to Lorenzo, that was for sure. The urge to press my skin against his was definitely something new, though. It wasn’t like I didn’t have previous sexual urges, but I’d only ever dealt with those things myself - never with a partner. For the first time, Iwantedto try something with another person. Withhim.
Lorenzo stared into my eyes. The fluttering feeling returned with an intense vengeance. His gaze smoldered and my heart leaped into my tightened throat.
