And then, at the speed of light, she swipes her arm out to send another wave of water all over my bottom half.
“Don’t say you didn’t ask for it.”
Her eyes widen, and the laughter freezes on her face when I peel my white T-shirt over my head. Then I toss it to one side and shoot her a devilish wink before diving into the water.
ELODIE
My jaw unhingesas Rafe disappears beneath the water, still clad in his sodden chinos, and I quickly propel myself toward the edge of the pool.
I loosen a shriek when his hand snakes around my ankle, tugging me back toward him, and I spin about to be met with a wall of water. It fills my mouth as Rafe’s deep chuckle fills my ears.
I waste no time splashing him right back, and within seconds, pool water is flying everywhere as our joint laughter surrounds us. My heart feels light, and I embrace the feeling, half afraid it will disappear as quickly as it formed.
Rafe grins wickedly before ducking down beneath the water, and I squeal in protest when his palms enfold my stomach, yanking me beneath the surface. I gasp a deep breath right before I go under.
It takes a second to adjust, and when I do, my inhaled breath stutters in my chest.
Rafe’s inky hair surrounds his head, swirling softly on either side of his beautiful face. Jet-black eyes focus solely on me with a depth I feel in my bones, and I feel an almost frightening sense of relief that this man has come into my life.
When I’d woken this morning, finding him gone, I’d been genuinely lost. Last night spent in the safety of his warm embrace was the best night’s sleep I can ever recall in my entire life.
Having shared my past with him, and him believing me without question, had lightened a burden I didn’t realize I had been carrying.
In the silence beneath the water, he palms my right cheek, eyes fixed on mine as though he can see right down into the deepest parts of me. Down into the fiber of my very being. Into the parts that make up who I am.
And he likes what he sees.
I’m consumed with a warmth that heats me from the inside out, replenishing the parts of me that have been empty for so long. Hope swells within me even as I try to beat it down, afraid to lean into how this man makes me feel, until I kick off the bottom of the pool, and crest the surface to inhale deeply.
Rafe follows, and the laughter from before returns to his eyes as he narrows them playfully. “I’ll give you a five-second head start before I dunk you again,Stellina.”
Maria glancesback at me with a small smile as she leads me through the darkened house. I smooth my hands down the silky white slip dress she’d given me to wear as I nibble my bottom lip, anxiously wondering where she’s taking me.
Following a gloriously misspent afternoon by the pool with Rafe, he’d been called away on business, and I’d been left to my own devices. Time had passed quickly as I’d wandered through the gardens, and explored the sprawling labyrinth, squealing excitedly when I’d come across a rose-endowed pavilion at the center.
I’d whiled away an hour or more simply soaking in the silence and the sunshine before returning to the house. It was then Maria knocked on the door of my suite, announcing that Rafe had requested my presence at dinner.
My stomach dances with nervous excitement when Maria slips outside and leads me onto a deck-type area that I haven’t seen before.
There’s a wide-open space, lit up with twinkling lights, as soft classical music plays over a speaker. A round white cloth-covered table is at the center of the space with a chair on either side.
My eyes immediately land on Rafe as he rises from his seat. He watches me as I cross the space, extending a hand when I’m within his reach. I take it instantly, and the touch of his skin on mine sends a now-familiar tingle along my arm, settling firmly in my chest.
One side of his mouth lifts in a smile as he draws me closer until our faces are mere inches apart. I inhale a shuddery breath, my eyelids flickering as his bergamot scent fills my nostrils.
He tilts his head to one side, sliding his stubbled jaw against mine to press a kiss to my left cheek. Then he pulls back, lazily meeting my eyes before leaning closer to kiss my right cheek.
This time, rather than pull back, he rests his mouth by my ear, and when he speaks, his words send that lightning lingering in my chest to race through my veins.
“Since the first time I laid eyes upon you,Stellina, you enrapture me.”
Then he pulls back enough to find my eyes, palming one cheek in his large hand. “You may be my captive, but you’re the one who’s taken me prisoner.”
CHAPTER 12
RAFE
“So baking is your stress reliever?”
