“Okay.” I study him closely and he studies me studying him.
“Go on, beautiful girl. Spit it out.” He’s smiling a little.
“They’re withdrawing their memberships because you’re no longer available to fu—” I bite my tongue. “To have sex with.” That makes me immensely happy and it’s obvious.
“It would seem so, wouldn’t it?” He narrows his eyes on me. “I can see this pleases my wife.”
I shrug, but I can’t hide my pleasure at this news. “What’s the ratio of women to men?”
“Members?” he asks.
“Yes.”
“Seventy thirty.”
My mouth drops open. I remember Jesse saying there were roughly fifteen hundred members. That’s a thousand women who are potentially after my Lord. “Well,” I say, brushing off my shock. “You might have to turn The Manor into a gay club.”
He laughs and dangles my feet back off the desk. “Go take a swim.”
The changing rooms are empty. I wriggle into my bikini, remove my diamond, retie my hair high on my head, and stuff my things in one of the wooden lockers. In all of the time I’ve been with Jesse, I’ve never used the spa and sports facilities, but I’m reliably informed that there’s no skinny-dipping allowed, so I’ll brave it and put Jesse to the test at the same time. I wander through the area, looking for any sign of life, but it’s completely deserted. It’s lunchtime on a Sunday. I would have thought it would be a peak time for members to utilize this part of The Manor.
Stepping into the huge glass building, I scan the area, finding all of the Jacuzzis, the huge pool, and the sun loungers are empty. It’s eerily quiet, the only sound a distant hum of water pumps. Laying my towel on a wooden sun lounger, I gingerly take the first step into the water and sigh. It’s tepid. Lovely. I wade down the rest of the steps, push myself into the water, and start a breast stroke to the other end of the pool.
I’m relishing in the calmness and quiet as I swim length after length, no one joining me, no one venturing in to use the Jacuzzis, and no one coming to relax on a sun lounger. But then I hear movement, and I stop midlength to see who appears from the entrance that leads to the changing areas. Jesse emerges, wearing a loose pair of black swimming shorts. I sigh in appreciation, and he blasts me with his smile, before diving straight in, his body stretching out, making minimal noise or splashing as he slips below the surface. I float in the middle of the pool and watch the shadow of his tall body approaching me under the water until he’s right in front of me, but he remains submerged beneath me.
Then I feel his palm wrap around my ankle, and I squeal as I’m yanked under the water, just catching a lungful of air before I disappear, my eyes naturally clenching shut. His lips meet mine, his arms surround me, and he rolls us around under the water, our skin slipping all over each other, our tongues dancing wildly.
My lungs scream a thank-you when we surface, my legs clenching around his waist and my arms around his shoulders. I try to grab ahold of my bearings and attempt to open my eyes, and when I do, I’m greeted by a dirty great big grin. I know he can’t touch the bottom himself, so he must be treading water frantically with my dead weight clinging to him. You would never know it, though. He looks like he’s just floating effortlessly in front of me.
I push his wet hair from his face and match his grin. “You closed the pool, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He shifts me around to his back and starts swimming to the side.
“I don’t believe you.” I rest my chin on his shoulder. “You couldn’t stand the thought of me in a bikini and others seeing. Admit I’m right.” I’ve got my Lord worked out.
He reaches the edge of the pool and pulls me from his back, pushing me up against the side. “I love the thought of you in a bikini.”
“But for your eyes only?”
“I’ve told you before, Ava. I don’t share you with anyone or anything, not even their eyes.” He slides his hands down my sides and onto my thighs. “Just for my touch,” he whispers. It makes me immediately clench my thighs as he leans in and kisses me gently before scanning my face. “Just for my eyes.” His finger slips into the side of my bikini bottoms, and I hold my breath as he strokes me softly. “Just for my pleasure, baby. I know you understand me, don’t you?”
“I do.” I shift in front of him and drape my arms over his shoulders.
“Good. Kiss me.”
I dive right in and show my appreciation with a long, hot, passionate kiss that draws a low moan from each of us. His hands shift to my waist, his big hands circling me completely as he holds me tight, and we kiss for the longest time—there in the middle of the pool, just me and him, drowning in each other, consuming each other, loving each other.