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He couldn’t want her any more. Surely his desire was well and truly eclipsed by disgust for what her sister, and she, however unwittingly, had done to him?
Sophy shut down her circling thoughts. Torturing herself like this was getting her nowhere. Apollo was keeping her here to protect himself as much as her from the adverse press attention.
The water was lapping at her feet now, refreshingly cool. She was about to move back but she was too slow as another wave on the incoming tide rushed in faster, soaking her bottom. She jumped up with a little squeal.
She was about to step back out of the way but another wave broke over her bare feet. Suddenly she was filled with a sense of longing to feel the water on her body. Even though the thought of walking into the sea terrified her. She remembered now why she couldn’t swim and with a kind of sickening predictability it came back to Sasha.
They’d been very little and she and Sasha had been playing in a pool while on holiday. When their parents had been momentarily diverted, Sasha had taken the opportunity to dunk Sophy’s head under the water, holding it there until Sophy had panicked and taken in a lungful of water, nearly drowning.
She’d been too terrified to swim after that, refusing to take lessons. Until Apollo had taken her into the pool that day.
Something defiant rose up inside Sophy. Anger and an impotent sense of rage at her sister—for all that she had done, for all that Sophy had allowed her to do, and for dying, before Sophy had got to tell her that she loved her one more time.
Tears were sliding down Sophy’s cheeks before she could stop them, emotions overflowing. Obeying an urge she couldn’t ignore, she stripped down to her underwear, pulling the sundress she was wearing over her head.
She wanted to feel a wave breaking over her head, as much to prove to herself that she wasn’t scared as to cleanse something inside herself. Something she couldn’t even really articulate.
At the last moment she looked around. The beach was entirely empty and private. Not another soul.
She could almost hear her sister’s voice in her head. ‘Go on, Soph, don’t be such a scaredy-cat.’ It spurred her on.
She stripped off her knickers and bra and threw all her clothes to a safe distance from the incoming tide and took a step into the water.
It felt glorious—the cool water on her sun-warmed skin. She took another step and the waves crashed around her knees. Another step. She gasped as the water reached her hips and lower belly.
Another wave was approaching, bigger, and taking a deep breath, heart pounding, she ducked down, letting it break over her head. Instantly she sprang back up, sucking in deep breaths, skin tingling all over from the cold and exhilaration, and the decadence of being naked in the water.
Another wave was coming, and she ducked down for that one too, spluttering a little as she came back up, but suddenly she realised she was in deeper water that came almost up to her breasts and another wave was coming, breaking over her head. When she emerged again there was another wave almost immediately and suddenly she couldn’t get her breath.
Before panic could set in, a strong pair of hands was under her arms, lifting her out of the oncoming wave. She blinked and spluttered, hands going out and landing on a wall of muscle.
‘What do you think you’re doing, you little fool? You don’t know how to swim, you’re not ready for the sea yet. You could drown out here.’
Apollo.
Waves were breaking around them now. Apollo’s hair was slicked back from the sea. His face stark. He looked down and she saw his cheeks flush. ‘You’re naked.’
Sophy was gasping. ‘I...didn’t bring a swimsuit... I wasn’t going to get into the water...but I just...wanted to feel it against my skin.’
Her teeth started chattering, as much in reaction to Apollo as because the water was cold.
Apollo was grim. ‘There’s a storm coming, this tide is coming in fast.’
He swung her effortlessly into his arms and carried her out of the water. It was only then she realised how far in she’d wandered. Her arms were around Apollo’s neck, her bare breasts pressing against his chest.
She burned with mortification but also something stronger.
When they reached the shallows she said, ‘You can put me down, I’m okay now.’
He ignored her, long legs striding back up the beach. She could see a towel on the ground, near her discarded clothes. Apollo put her down and picked up the towel, wrapping it around her shoulders. He caught the ends and pulled her towards him.
She was very aware that he was naked too, apart from swimming shorts that hugged his body, leaving little to the imagination.
‘What were you thinking? You could have drowned.’
Sophy blinked up at him. ‘I wasn’t thinking... I didn’t expect it to get rough so quickly.’
She didn’t even realise she was still trembling until Apollo cursed and started rubbing her skin with the towel. She wanted to say she wasn’t cold—it was his effect on her. His eyes dropped and his hands stopped moving. She didn’t have to follow his gaze to feel its effect on her breasts, nipples tight and sensitive after brushing against his chest.
