She slid into the pool, and he watched her curves disappear into the water. Then she turned back, looking at him from over her shoulder, her hair just touching the lip of water, her form outlined blue in the starlight. “What are you waiting for,camarade?” she teased.
He tried to speak but couldn’t. No words came to his lips and even if he had a thought, he didn’t think his tongue could get it out. So instead, he took a few steps towards her in a daze. His feet were heavy and his balancewas off. When he stepped into the water he misjudged the depth, tripped, and with a great splash, he tumbled into the pool.
When he came back up, he shook the hair and water out of his face and heard something that shot a spark of happiness through him.
Alex was laughing.
The music of her laugh brought him back to his body, and he smiled at her. He flushed in the hot water, unsure if it was his want causing it to bubble with heat. But perhaps the warmth came from her voice or the flood of relief that broke inside him once he realized he’d given her a reason to smile. He looked down at the water, momentarily overwhelmed by the wish that he hadn’t behaved so badly in the past. His eyes couldn’t stay idle for long, though. The trails of her hair reached out into the water, and he found himself following them back to her body. The chemise did little in the way of modesty, and he saw the swell of her breast just hidden by her long hair. She dipped herself deeper into the pool and then rose again, the water slick and glistening against her skin. Despite his best intentions, he was enthralled and couldn’t help moving towards her.
“I should have liked to have this pool to myself,” she said with a purr, a smile still on her lips. “It seems too small for two.”
Her teasing allowed him to find his words again. “When in truth it is far too big,” he drawled, his voice deep in his throat. He pursued her, moving closer as she inched back around the edge of the spring. He had tried so hard to manage his desire for her. He had promised to keep things professional during this trip; God knew how many times his attraction for this woman had turned so terribly wrong, but it was so deep-seated in him by now that he could no longer fight it.
Alex stretched her arms out in front of her. “You stay back,” she said, that smile still in her eyes.
“I shall try,” he said. “But you have left your sword on the bank, so you have no means by which to protect yourself.”
“Well,Monsieur,” she purred again, “I am much better at grappling than I used to be.”
He groaned and fell back into the water, the words having knocked him clean over. “Now you are just teasing me,” he said when he emerged.
“I am sorry,” she said coyly, “but I don’t know what you mean.”
“You are not so naïve that you don’t know what you are saying.” Shesmiled at that and continued slipping through the warm water. He was helpless to resist the pull and he continued his slow pursuit of her. “In fact,” he continued. “You are far too alluring to be so innocent.”
Her eyes opened wide as his comment put a blush in her cheeks. She looked down and drew a circle in the water. “You still don’t believe my innocence?” She asked, looking back at him, her eyes glimmering with playfulness once more.
“I do. But I don’t understand it.” He paused. “May I ask you a question?” he said.
“Aye,” she replied.
“There is something I wonder about you.”
“Aye,” she repeated.
“You shun the traditions of womanhood, but why have you not shunned…” he hesitated. “All of them?”
She looked at him quietly. “You mean to ask why I have not taken a lover?”
“Well, you have taken on the life of a man. But none of the fun.”
“Ah,” she said, tucking her chin down to her chest and looking up at him blithely. “It is very fun to take a man down with my sword.”
He moved around her, still searching for a way to get closer. “Answer my question,” he pressed.
“I will,” she said, his boldness seeming to shake her. “But then you will answer one for me?”
“I agree,” he said and took the liberty to run his eyes over her body once more.
She dipped again into the water, a slick stream licking her skin and changing the pattern of her hair across her breasts. “Well,My Lord,” she began. She was sarcastic at first, but then her face changed. She looked away, and when she looked back to him, her eyes were full of inexperience, and it was the first time he had seen this face on her since she was young. It roused intense feelings inside of him.
“Philippe,” she corrected herself, using a smile to hide her nerves and giving him the rare gift of his name. “I don’t trust myself,” she said. She lowered her gaze. “I am weak. I fear I would get attached. To someone who isn’t as attached to me.” She brought her hands up to follow the ripples in the water. “And besides, it could never be what I hope for.”
“What do you hope for?”
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “To feel special, I suppose.”
He said nothing for a moment, her words having struck him deeply. He wanted to take her in his arms, to hold her body close in the hot water, but he feared she would run like a wild animal if he tried. Instead, he spoke softly, earnestly. “Alex.” He made sure to look deep into her eyes and hold her gaze. He wanted her to know he was sincere. “You are special. Don’t you know?”
