"I thought about it. I didn't want to."
She frowns, then turns and swims away. I join her. She's fast but I have to slow my natural pace to stay alongside her.
We swim in silence for a while. It's the closest we've been in eight days and neither of us acknowledges it. I'm aware of her the whole time, the breaths she takes, the grace with which she tucks into a turn, the way she moves through the water with the ease of someone who mastered this when she was young.
After several laps, I get out and sit on the edge of the pool, my feet in the water.
Violetta stops after her next lap. She treads water and studies my face.
"You had no right to keep that from me. I was scared."
"I know."
Her eyes widen. "Are you sorry?"
"About that? Yes."
She looks at me for a moment as if deciding whether that's enough. I'm not sure it is. I'm not sure anything I could say would be enough right now.
She comes to the edge and starts to pull herself out. I reach down and help her. We sit next to each other in silence until she begins to shiver. I get up and fetch her a robe. She stands and I wrap it around her shoulders.
"You're a controlling asshole."
"I am."
She looks at me for a long moment, then turns to walk away. I let her go. It’s all I can do.
Violetta reaches the door and stops. She turns and walks back to me.
Even in her bare feet, with wet hair hanging loose around her face, in a fluffy white bathrobe, she looks regal.
When she reaches me, she raises her hand and I think she's going to slap me. I'll let her if that's what she needs.
She doesn't. Instead she curves her hand around my cheek. Then she pushes up onto her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. I go completely still and let her.
Violetta
I don't planto kiss him. It just happens. But the moment my lips touch his I know I want to see this through, to go wherever it takes us. Whatever else I've felt about Damiano over the last few days, I've missed his closeness, his touch, the pleasure he gives so freely.
This kiss feels different. Damiano isn’t the one in charge. He holds back. His restraint is for my sake, not his.
He lets me kiss him on my terms for a moment. Though there's a certain satisfaction in being in control it doesn't offer the thrill I need. Pressing myself against him I whine in the way that always gets him going.
Immediately, Damiano takes control, kissing me harder, his tongue probing my mouth as he stakes his claim. Without breaking the kiss, he walks me backward until I hit the wall. Then he steps back.
"You want this?"
I nod and he waits for verbal confirmation. There's no room for misunderstanding.
"Yes, I want this."
A wicked gleam brightens his eyes. "Then strip."
I work my arms out of the thick fluffy bathrobe and let it drop to the floor. Then I lower the straps of my swimsuit. It clings to my skin but I quickly struggle out of it. Damiano lowers his swim shorts and tosses them away.
I reach for him but he steps back.
"Uh-uh,volpina. On your knees."
