AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t let you do that, darlin’.”
A ghost of a smile played on her lips when she turned back to me from the view out the windshield, the threatening tears still shining in her eyes. “Oh, yeah, the tree.”
“No, Alina. I let it happen once, and it will not happen again.” I gently tugged her hand, thankful she didn’t resist.
She didn’t complain when I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the passenger side of my car. After juggling her tiny, delicate body in my arms, I pulled open the door and gently placed her on the seat.
Her eyes followed me as I walked around to my side of the car. They didn’t leave mine as I climbed in, slow and careful like she was a newborn fawn, and I was frightened I’d startle her. She was shivering even with the blasting of the heater.
“Alina?”
Understanding my invitation, she scooted closer as I lifted my arm and pressed her body to my side. Like that, we rode back to her house with her in the crook of my arm. I held her, keeping her still while I concentrated on navigating the driveway ahead.
As if in reverse of just a moment ago, taking her from my car and up the stairs, I carried her into the house,
Inside, her feet hit the floor with a soft thud, water pooling at our feet as it still ran down our bodies. Cupping her face in my hands, she captured me in her sad regard.
“Alina, we will talk later. For now, let’s get you in the shower and out of these sodden clothes.”
“What about you?”
My concern was only for her. “I’ll be okay.” My hands swung back to my side, letting her step back.
“No, Callum, I won’t have your death from pneumonia on my conscience.”
Her eyes brightened, causing my heart to squeeze, and the smile she gave me almost dropped me dead quicker than pneumonia ever could.
“I’ve seen you naked before, remember?”
How could I forget? She’d not only seen me, but I had also caught a glimpse of her naked body in all its gloriousness.
* * *
“Turn around, you perve,” Alina stated in an order.
On her instruction, I’d left the river first, so I wouldn’t see her practically naked. I tried to be a gentleman and turn away, but my cheeks burned, and I was cemented to the spot.
“Callum!” she shrieked at me. “You’re such a pervert, McArthur.” She splashed me with water as she emerged from the water.
It had been her idea to go swimming without our suits. The lace of her bra had practically turned transparent upon contact with the water, not that I mentioned it as she drifted in the cool water on her back. I’d watched her, carefree and floating, trying to distract myself from the hard-on I was hiding below the water's surface. The cold water did nothing to help subdue it.
I turned away from her, more for my concealment and less for hers, and called back, “You have nothing to be shy about, Alina. You know I think you’re beautiful.”
“Whatever, Callum, you’re still a dirty perve.” Alina hustled past me, ducking behind the privacy of the bush we’d used many times before as a dressing room.
Today was different, though. Today, I could clearly see Alina as she unclipped her bra and the swell of her creamy, beautifully formed breast when it sprung free.
I muffled the groan as I watched her wring out her hair and pull her T-shirt on, effectively obscuring my delicious view of her.
“Are you dressed?” she called back to me, alerting me she was about to come out.
I hadn’t changed into my jeans, not while I had been more fixated on her than getting myself dry. Wasting no time, I stripped down. Standing completely naked, I hunted around for my jeans.
Alina had taken my non-response as confirmation I was dressed and the coast was clear for her to come out. She’d been wrong.
She froze.
I stood bare in all my mother had given me on my day of birth.
