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"Yes," she said with compensatory exuberance that probably sounded more insane than enthusiastic.
"Is" — he pushed a palm into his hair, irritation rolling off him in waves — "that what you're wearing?"
In anticipation of the lesson, she'd removed her bra and stuffed it under her pillow back in the cabin, but she'd left on the clothes she'd worn that day. Zorah looked down at her T-shirt and homely, mid-length skirt. Probably not ideal for swimming, but she had precious little else to wear for this activity. As Omegas in River Bend didn't wear pants or shorts like the ones in Morris Hill, her wardrobe consisted of calf- and ankle-length skirts and long shirts or sweaters. Grace had offered to sew her a pair of shorts for the summer, but she'd declined, not sure how she'd feel running around the village so exposed after a lifetime of covering up.
Even bras were unusual here. In Morris Hill, the Omegas felt free to be a bit more... well...freerwith their bosoms. However, given the size of her chest and the amount ofau naturalemovement that caused, going without left her feeling naked. That being said, she had precious few support garments in her possession and didn't want to dirty one in the lake unnecessarily. Another reason she clutched her towel to her torso like a child's stuffed animal, it obscured the swaying heaviness of her chest.
"This is all I have," Zorah explained hesitantly.
A breath whooshed out of him like he'd been kicked in the gut. Impatience stormed across his face. "You need to freely move your legs in the water to swim. They'll get all tangled up in a long skirt like that."
Zorah shifted miserably from one foot to the other, feeling silly she'd not considered this in her preparation. "Oh. Well. I'll figure something out for next time. I'm sorry, I should've —"
"It's fine. Come on." Turning on his heel, he strode into the water, not looking back.
Well, they were certainly off to a good start.
Zorah tossed the towel a few feet from the water and, not giving herself time to dwell on her insecurities, hurried to wade in after him. The temperature had dropped, but she welcomed the cool touch of water. It gave her something to think about other than how disconcerting it felt to be with him, alone, in the quiet of the night, now that she knew what he'd done to Kess and what promise he'd made as a result.
Zorah was too preoccupied with these considerations, so she didn't notice when a steep drop-off took the water level from hip height to chest height with a single, slippery step.
"Oh!"
Jake whirled, erasing the space between them to cup her elbow in stabilizing support. Her entire attention reoriented to this new sensation. The searing grip, bare skin meeting bare skin, at once so nominal yet so profound. It was like she'd never been touched before, or that every touch that preceded this one was in preparation for this single, earth-quaking caress.
She stood stock-still in the water, the feeling reverberating through all her cells at once.
Jake dropped her elbow and backed away like she had a contagious skin condition. A blank expression blanketed his face, not giving her any clues. Had he felt that as well? The shocking and strange enormity of the incidental touch?
"You okay?" he asked in his impatient voice, as if his entire world hadn't been turned on its axis.
Maybe it hadn't.
"I'm fine." She added as much confidence as she could while flailing in the confusion of the moment. Determined to get her lessons, Zorah awkwardly stuck her arms out to her sides. "So, do I start with the arms or...?"
"No. Start with breathing."
"I'm already breathing."
"Breathinginthe water." He scowled. "Or, no, not breathing itin, don't do that." He sounded as flustered as she felt, and that made her shoulders drop an inch or so from her earlobes. Maybe the touch had affected him.
"Learning to take breaths while you're swimming," he explained with deliberate patience. "Let's start by blowing bubbles."
Zorah focused on the task at hand. She was here to learn to swim, not act like a silly Omega tittering about the barest of Alpha attention. Plenty of Alphas would touch her elbow anytime she wanted, but only this one could teach her to swim.
She firmed her chin, looked him square in the eye, and said, "Show me."
CHAPTER 10
Jake
The early-morning creatures waking up to start their day serenaded them on their return walk to the village. The entire way, Jake strained his senses for any sounds or smells of an Alpha on patrol or anyone else who might be out and about. The sooner he got her back, the better. He was more than ready to get Zorah on her way and out of his sight.
Jake stared at the curling tips of her dark hair and the growing wet spot where they rested against the towel she'd slung over her soaking wet clothes. His anxiety refreshed anew. How would she explain her wet head? Or her soggy clothes? Or her absence? Or her fatigue from lack of sleep?
Just swim lessons, she'd argued. Simple enough, in theory, yet he'd failed to appreciate how much of his participation the subversion required. Only one lesson and he was already so fucking deep in this; it was absurd to tell himself otherwise.
On the other hand, he welcomed this highly practical problem to solve. It distracted him from the rest of the problems stampeding through his mind, especially the one walking right in front of him.
