Vistaria Has Fallen (The Vistaria Affair/Vistaria Has Fallen #1)(53)

“You swim in it?”

“Often.” He smiled. “Though it’s not good for laps.”

“Don’t care,” Calli said, pushing off her sandals. She reached for her top and paused, for Nick still watched her. “You’re coming in, aren’t you?”

“In a minute,” he promised.

She hesitated, wondering why he waited. “Why in a minute?” she asked.

He seemed awkward as he answered. “I like watching how you move. Especially when you’re not hidden behind cloth.”

There were a dozen things he might have said that would have been more intimate—that he liked her naked body, that he liked watching a woman taking off her clothes—none of them would have made her blush as deeply as his simple, unexpected answer. She couldn’t think of a response that wouldn’t sound inane, so she took off her top instead. With another small hesitation, she undid her skirt and slipped out of it. She was naked beneath and wondered if he would realize she was bare beneath her clothes to give him easier access.

Her cheeks burning even more, she stepped into the pool. Her foot didn’t meet the bottom when she thought she would and she plunged in up to her neck. She gave a gasping shriek and struggled to find her footing.

“It’s ice water!” she cried.

“Of course. It comes from a glacier.”

She glared at him. “That’s what you were waiting for.”

“Yes. The rest of it is true, though. I swear.” He laughed.

She splashed at him. “Come and join me,” she said softly.

His laughter was replaced by a smoldering, knowing expression. He understood.

He stripped and walked to the edge. Excitement spilled through her. Calli let herself float, studying him as he paused on the brink. He was tanned all over, proof that he had not lied about swimming here often. His well-muscled body gleamed with a slight sweat from his exertion climbing the slopes. The sweat emphasized each dip and swell. His eyes were a mesmerizing dark blue in the direct light.

She shivered, from more than the chill of the water.

Nick stepped off the edge, judging his footfall, so he stood thigh deep, then pushed off into a glide through the water towards her. The water lapped about his shoulders as he stopped in front of her. He pulled her into his arms and she came willingly. His hand slid around her waist and held her against him.

“Gracias, Calli,” he said.

“For what?”

“For forcing the issue. For insisting on this pocket of time. For knowing I didn’t have the courage to take it for myself.”

Tears gathered in her eyes, the pressure of them painful. She was glad they stood in water and her face was wet, hiding them.

She had to swallow hard to clear her throat enough to talk. The need to speak her heart and mind pushed at her. Her time with Nick was nearly over. Even Nick sensed the end drew near and wanted to tie up loose ends and finish things off properly.

“I was just being selfish,” she said at last. Her voice was thick with the dammed tears. She hoped he would assume it was the touch of his hands and body that caused her thick voice. Before she gave away more than she intended or her voice or face betrayed her, she lifted herself up and kissed him. His arms tightened, holding her in place as his mouth opened beneath her lips.

She thrust her tongue inside, tasting him, exploring the even edges of his teeth, the sweetness of his mouth. She licked his damp cheek, then slid up to his ear and flicked her tongue around the curves and ridges before probing inside.

He groaned and his hand on her buttock pressed her harder against him.

The little movement sent water that hadn’t been warmed by their bodies eddying around them and she shivered violently.

Nick chuckled. The sound reverberated against her.

“We need to get you warm,” he said.

“I’m all for that,” she agreed. “It’s so nice here, though.”

“I’m not taking you far.” He stepped back, bringing her with him through the water. He was heading for the little cascade on the far edge of the pool. Now she was closer she could see why the spill seemed so clear and soundless. The edge was made of a flat, wide rock, four feet across. The water slithered noiselessly across the flat top and rippled down the sloping side to the streambed two feet below.

The floor of the pool sloped up to the rock edging. When they reached it, the water was only hip deep. Calli was more than grateful for the touch of the sun and the ambient warmth.

Nick helped her sit on the rock, which had worn smooth from eons of water eroding the surface. Water pushed at her left hip and thigh, a cool caress that passed around her buttocks. She shivered again.

“Let me do something about that shiver,” Nick murmured, kissing her. His lips moved down to her throat, then lower. Calli propped herself on her hands, her head falling back, as Nick made love to her with his lips and tongue and his hands.

The distracted leader of last night was gone. He played with her, bringing her to peaks of pleasure over and over again, using his whole body to drive her mindless with the rich sultry bombardment.

Until finally, they were replete. Nick lay beside her, his thigh resting over her hip and between her thighs in an agreeably possessive way. He propped his head up on one arm and smiled at her.

“I will never look at this pool the same way again,” he told her and kissed her forehead.