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Something about his voice was so...reassuring. So implacable. Sasha literally had no choice but to do as he said. She leant forward, putting her chest in the water, and suddenly her feet were off the bottom and she was floating and being pulled along, on the surface of the water, by Apollo.
When she realised she was no longer touching the bottom she panicked, her fingers tightening around his. ‘Don’t let me go.’
‘I won’t. Just keep looking at me and kick your legs.’
She kept her eyes on his, and did as he asked, tentatively kicking her legs. She
could feel herself being propelled forward. Apollo leant back. ‘Keep going, that’s it.’
They went around and around the pool while Sasha got used to the sensation of being in the water, kicking her legs. It moved like silk along her body. No longer cold. Pleasantly warm.
After a while, Apollo stopped in the middle of the pool. He said, ‘I’m going to let your hands go now. But I’ll be right here. Just keep kicking your legs and use your hands and arms like this to move through the water.’
He mimed doing the doggy paddle.
Before she could protest, or say anything, Apollo was letting go and moving backwards, away from her. Sheer instinct kicked in and Sasha’s arms moved of their own volition in a sloppy kind of movement, along with her legs. It was several seconds before she realised that she was following Apollo as he trod water on his back, moving away from her all the time.
She stopped and promptly started to sink once she’d stopped using her arms and legs. She couldn’t touch the bottom here and her head went under the water. Immediately she felt strong hands under her arms, hauling her up before she could start panicking. She broke the surface, spluttering and coughing. ‘You tricked me!’
He held her securely as her heart beat frantically. ‘You were swimming, Sasha, and you didn’t even notice.’
Her legs were scissoring back and forth as she took that in. Impulsively she said, ‘Let me go again, I want to check something.’
‘Are you sure?’
She nodded. He let her go and she moved her arms and legs frantically. Euphoria gripped her. ‘I’m not sinking!’ She had to be making the most graceless fool of herself but she was elated with this tiny success.
Then Apollo smiled. And suddenly Sasha’s body stopped functioning and she slipped beneath the surface again.
When Apollo pulled her up this time she was choking with embarrassment, not water. The effect of his smile had almost drowned her. He was frowning now. ‘Okay?’
She nodded, just then realising that his hands were under her arms, brushing the sides of her breasts. The corded muscles of his arms were like steel under her palms.
They were very close. So close that Sasha could see the darker flecks of green in Apollo’s eyes. The start of fresh stubble on his jaw. Droplets of water clung to his skin. The dark curling hair lightly dusted his chest.
The air between them became charged. And she watched as his gaze seemed to fixate on her mouth and then drop, colour flaring across his cheeks. He muttered one word: ‘Theos.’
Sasha looked down too, and saw what he was looking at. The swimsuit had turned translucent in the water and she could see the pink buds of her nipples and the pebbled areolae as clearly as if she were naked.
Her entire body flooded with heat and she became all too aware of Apollo’s naked flesh. All she’d have to do was bend her head forward and press her mouth to his chest. She wanted to taste his skin.
He muttered something else in Greek and started to tug Sasha back towards the steps. Her body felt like jelly. She wasn’t sure if she could ever stand again. Apollo still had his hands under her arms and he moved her so that she was sitting on the steps leading down into the water.
He loomed over her, hands either side of her body. She was half in, half out of the water.
‘What are you doing to me, witch? All I can think about is having you again.’
Sasha struggled to make her brain work but it wouldn’t form coherent thoughts. All she could see was him and that sculpted mouth. She wanted it on hers. She was jealous of her body because it knew how it had felt to make love to him. But she didn’t.
‘Please, Apollo.’
‘What is it, little flame? What do you want?’
Little flame.
It echoed in her head. He’d called her that before. He’d been lying beside her on a bed and her hair had been in his hand and he’d said, ‘It’s like a living flame...’
She forced her mouth to work. ‘You... I want you.’
