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“You look like you might be more part fish than wolf.” He grinned, and his pupils twinkled.
“I’m not sure you’re a wolf at all.” I gripped the side with both hands, allowing myself to just hang in the water as I looked up at him, drops of water on my lashes. “Maybe a mole or something. You seem far too timid for a guy who lives the way you do in a place like this.”
He barked out a sudden laugh and opened his mouth in mock shock as he rubbed his chest like he had a sudden pain. “Laughing on the outside, crying on the inside,” he said, and I laughed in response.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to make you cry,” I murmured. “I’d have to revise my opinion from mole to some sort of really sad animal. I don’t know…like Eeyore, or something.”
He set his glass down and laughed, exposing his strong neck. Then he focused on me, the twinkle in his eyes now more dangerous as he stepped forward. “Take that back.”
I shook my head. “Nope. Which other animals are really sad? Like hound dogs, all droopy ears and sad mouths? Wooly mammoths?”
He laughed again, the sound carefree and genuine, and I smiled to hear it. “I’m a wooly mammoth?”
I nodded as I splashed water toward him. Not a whole wave, but enough to sprinkle droplets of water across the bottom of his pants. “Sounds like it could be a thing.”
“You should definitely takethatback.”
“Oh yeah?” I tapped my chin with my forefinger like it was something I needed to think about for a while first.
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“Make me.” I swam into the middle of the pool and faced him, my challenge clear.
I was never usually this bold, but something about being around Patrick gave me the confidence to be authentically me. That, and I didn’t need to ever see him again if I didn’t want to. I could be anyone I wanted tonight.
He smirked, but stayed still for long enough that I wasn’t sure if I’d pushed him too far. Had I asked too much? Teased more than was seemly?
But still.
The idea of him shifting into a lumbering, morose wooly mammoth hit me all over again, and I laughed.
“What are you laughing at?” He started to unbutton his shirt, and my throat seized, trapping my next laugh inside me.
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“Oh?” He tilted his head as he shrugged the shirt to the floor and reached for his belt.
“Nothing at all,” I breathed as I watched his nimble fingers buckle the belt and make quick work of his buttons and zipper.
As he slipped his pants off, he revealed chiseled abs and firm thighs, suggesting whatever he did in the pool was far more likely to be strenuous workouts than floating around on an inflatable lounger, drink at hand.
“A mammoth, was it?” His lip quirked as he asked the question.
I kept my eyes trained on his boxer briefs. Wasn’t he going to remove them?
“Well?” he prompted.
“Yeah.” I flicked my tongue over my lips. “Yeah, it’s a mammoth. A really wooly, sad one. With a sad voice and really sad eyes.”
“I disagree,” he said. “I’m far more like a shark.” Without another word, he dove into the pool, and I gave a mock squeal and swam away from the muscular arms already reaching for me from beneath the water. My heart pounded at the idea he’d chase me.
And it pounded harder at the idea of letting him catch me.
Then I turned, blinking water out of my eyes. He wasn’t where I’d expected him to be. I glanced down at the movement around my legs, catching sight of his powerful body zooming by.
He emerged at the other side of me before I had time to turn around, a total wall of muscle and strength. His raw energy surrounded and consumed me as he tugged me against his naked skin, his lips against mine while he supported us with strong downward strokes from his legs.
Even with the strength that must have taken, he made it seem effortless.
