"Oh?" I didn't like how breathy my tone sounded, but I couldn't control the spike of lust racing through my veins. Knowing Kai had been watching had been hot. It had been the hottest, most depraved, most debauched thing I'd ever done in my life.
Some men might enjoy their slaves performing in public, but our master had always jealously guarded our time together. Not a passing guard or even the mistress had ever seen us being anything other than absolutely proper around one another, no matter the entire household knew my purpose. I had assumed him-not shy, exactly, but possessed of a certain sense of propriety. Perhaps all he'd been missing was the right audience all along.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The next morning found us in the pool barely past second sunrise. I had gained some confidence in the water, and while I doubted I would ever be as strong or fearless a swimmer as Kai, I could at least get my face wet without flying into a panic. We stripped and Kai dived in, surfacing in a burst of spray, the water droplets shining in his short hair like diamonds. He shook his head, sending a rainbow of splashes outward, and I smiled to see him so carefree.
I took a seat on the stone flags, my feet in the water, content for the moment to watch him swim. Once I got in, he would become too engrossed with my lesson to enjoy himself, and we had the whole day ahead of us to spend on furthering my education. I hoped a little time fooling around would show Kai it was possible to be a slave and still be happy, that the two states weren't mutually exclusive.
"What have we here?"
I started at the sound of Master's deep voice, but before I had half-risen to greet him, he sat beside me, pulling the wide legs of his trousers up above his knees and putting his feet in the water.
"Does he do this every day?" Master asked, nodding at Kai, who was completing an underwater lap and didn't yet realise we were no longer alone.
I nodded. "He enjoys it. I think it reminds him of being free."
Kai surfaced with a triumphant shout, cut off in the middle when he saw Master sitting beside me. He swam over to us with swift, efficient strokes, and I envied him his confidence almost as much as I appreciated the view.
He came to a rest in the water before us, one hand on the ledge between my knees, kicking his legs slowly to keep himself upright and above the surface.
"Don't stop on my account," Master said, smiling at him. "I was enjoying watching you."
"I need to start on Tam's lessons anyway."
"Let's see how you're coming along, then," Master prompted, and I obediently slid into the water.
At first I was conscious of having an audience, but Kai was patient with me, and Master remained silent at the side of the pool. Indeed, he hardly seemed to be watching us at all: as often as not when I glanced in his direction, he had his eyes closed and his face tilted towards the suns, his robes open and his long hair cascading around his shoulders. He was nearing his fortieth year, and yet he was every bit as handsome as I recalled him being in his twenties-if anything, even more so. The touches of grey in his hair suited his serious demeanour, but the laughter lines crinkled around his eyes showed he still had light-hearted moments.
"You're doing well," he called, opening his eyes and seeing me watching.
I waved to him and promptly sank as I stopped paddling. Kai was hauling me up again in an instant, scolding me for not paying attention.
"I didn't panic," I pointed out, wrapping my arms around him, and he smiled in wonder.
"I'd rather you didn't drown," Master said dryly, and we laughed and released each other to swim over to where he was sitting.
"Are you coming in?" I asked expectantly.
"Maybe later." Master smiled at me, his expression soft with fondness. "You two continue the lesson for now. I'm going to be decadent and sunbathe."
I raised my eyebrows in surprise but offered no further comment. I couldn't recall the last time Master had taken a day off from his duties, and certainly not to laze around the pool. As Kai and I returned to the shallow end to work on my technique, I snuck a last glance in time to see Master doff his robes and recline naked on a low chaise, eyes closed and hair spilling down around his shoulders.
The rest would do him good, I decided. He carried the burden of too much responsibility, and over the years I had seen it take its toll on the carefree nature of the man I once knew. I knew little of what his duties entailed, but war raged in all corners of our kingdom, and Master was often called to the more treacherous lands surrounding our peaceful little outpost.
We swam for another hour, until the first sun was almost at its zenith and my limbs were weary. I wasn't accustomed to regular exercise, and despite having thought myself healthy, I found I was exhausted. Kai teased me gently as I declared myself done, and I climbed out of the pool, leaving him to swim strong laps up and down.
The water running down my legs provided a welcome balm against the hot stone flags as I approached Master, walking on my toes to minimise the contact between my bare feet and the burning ground. The trail of damp toeprints I left in my wake dried quickly, and even in the space of a few moments, my skin had dried, the flesh across my shoulders feeling too tight in the aftermath. Master's nose was pink, and I was glad to see he had taken the precaution of covering his genitals with his hand before he fell asleep. As my shadow crossed his face, his eyes opened, he squinted in the glare surrounding us, and smiled at me.
"You should cover up," I said reproachfully. "I would hate for you to be burnt."
"My skin's darker than yours."
"Still."
He chuckled throatily. "If you're so worried, do something about it."
I took the challenge for what it was, smirking as I fetched a large parasol and erected it beside him, blocking the sunlight from hitting him directly. The day was more than warm enough he'd be comfortable in the shade. All his admonishments for caution aside, I had inadvertently caught the suns on more than one occasion and knew all too well the discomfort associated with raw and peeling skin.
Master watched, amused, as I fussed around him, setting the parasol so it wouldn't block his view of the pool, where Kai was still swimming up and down. I entered the house, taking a moment to let my eyes adjust to the relative darkness after the blinding light outside, collected supplies from his bedroom, and asked Sasha to bring iced water to the poolside, which she did immediately. If she was surprised to see Master lounging so decadently on the chaise instead of working, she didn't show it.
Kai emerged from the pool at the promise of a cool drink, water cascading down his body in a glorious shower, making his tanned skin shimmer with movement. The outline of his army fatigues, once so visible around his neck and biceps, had faded as his shoulders and chest turned golden brown from being outside naked every day, although below his waist he was still almost as pale as me.
He pulled another chaise into the shade alongside Master's and threw himself down on the cushions. Master and I exchanged amused glances at the transparency of his challenge to authority, but no admonishment was forthcoming. Master sipped his iced water, placed the glass beside his chair, and reclined again, looking for all the world like he hadn't a single care in it.
I was pleased to note Kai's lack of self-consciousness in being naked. It was not so long ago he would have refused to exit the pool with Master looking on, yet now he lay not three feet from him, his limbs lax and splayed lazily.
They both opened their eyes as I popped the cork in the bottle I held, Kai's widening a little as he saw what it contained, Master closing his again calmly. The oil was not of the sort Master kept for our intimate use, but thinner, and it smelt strongly of coconut. I poured a little onto my palm, warmed it by rubbing my hands together and, kneeling, commenced at Master's feet.
He had large, slim feet. I couldn't say they were my favourite part of his body, but they were nice, as feet went. I massaged the oil between his toes, pressed hard into the arch, and smiled as he flexed, a contented rumble rising in his throat. I moved on to his ankles, through the line where the leg hairs began, over the little bones sticking out in angular bumps on the sides. His calves were thick, the muscles in them heavy, and I revelled in the way they moved under my firm hands as I manipulated his flesh. The hairs looked blacker with the sheen of oil, and I smoothed my palms over his shins to line them uniformly straight. I dug my fingertips into the backs of his knees and massaged the taut tendons there.
Kai was watching me. He pretended he wasn't, his eyes barely open, but I could see the green moving behind his long lashes, his attention fixed on me as I took care of Master. A quiver in his forearm told me he was tense, although whether from fear or arousal, or some heady combination of both, I didn't know and didn't ask. I pretended I couldn't see him and continued up Master's meaty thighs, so thick I couldn't circle them with both hands, the hair on them fuzzier, shorter, and lighter than those on his shins.