Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26645 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 133(@200wpm)___ 107(@250wpm)___ 89(@300wpm)
It’s been years since I’ve been swimming. A hotel in Traverse City where I stayed with Jess on our skydiving outing.
I have that same feeling now. Like I’m weightless, and nothing exists besides me and the bubbles that surround me, and the way Erik reminds me of what it would be like to have a father that makes you the center of his world.
I squeeze my eyes shut as I release my legs, kicking and stretching my arms toward the surface, opening my eyes just as I break through the water into the warm air of the natatorium with a gasp.
“What the hell are you doing?” Erik’s voice echoes in the tall ceiling as I bob in the water, laying out, so I’m floating on my back, before treading water and turning to see him swimming my way with a cinch of anger in his brow.
“A cannonball?” I answer as I realize he’s standing in the center of the pool where his feet still touch the bottom, only his shoulders and head above the water.
And he’s fully dressed.
“Don’t ever do that.”
“Do what?” I churn my arms and legs, keeping myself bobbing above the water, my swimming skills coming back to me like riding a bike.
“Jump like that again, and you’ll be over my knee. Daddy will not allow you to put yourself in danger.”
All of the air is sucked out of the world.
Our eyes are connected, and I feel them reaching down into my soul.
There’s fury in his eyes. Veins stand out on his forehead, while thick tendons push through the flesh on his neck.
He’s terrified.
All my feminine parts clench in unison.
“Come here.”
Something inside me tells me I should swim away from the angry man that’s part of the group that is set to destroy part of my family legacy.
But, instead, my legs are kicking, my arms swinging as I swim toward him, stopping just short of where he’s standing. “You come to me,” I challenge, a hint of defiance lacing the words.
I’ve never complied with a man’s order in my life. But I have a sense, with this man, I should do just that. Still, old habits are hard to break, and offering him my body was one thing, but I can see in his eyes he wants more.
“Andrea…” He says it so softly I almost miss it. The tension shows in his jaw and his shoulders, broad as they are in his soaking wet suit. I can still see the hardness of the muscle underneath.
His demeanor changes. There’s still some fear in his eyes, but now they are softened by something else… For one disquieting moment, his confidence wavers as his hand rises from under the water, outstretched between us.
“Take my hand. Come here.”
I tilt my head, kicking in a fury under the cool surface of the water, the chlorine stinging my eyes, making my skin feel dry.
“What’s wrong, Daddy?” I allow that word to drift between us like bait on a hook.
A hook we are both tempted to bite, knowing once the barb finds its place, we will forever be slaves to its power.
Erik’s dark eyes light as though there is a fire behind them. He looks strange standing there to his chest in the water in his suit, his hair still dry, his hand hanging between us.
“I can’t swim, babygirl. If you were sinking to the bottom of the pool, I would dive in and try to save you, but I’d likely die with you. Don’t ever do that again. Don’t scare me like that.”
His voice is thick with sincerity and truth, and the rawness of his admission makes my clit throb.
I find myself swimming his way, closing the space between us in two long breast strokes.
I slip my wet hand into his and his fingers immediately clench around mine, tugging me the rest of the way toward him until I’m pressed against his chest, my body buoyant, my legs finding their place around his waist as his slide down my back, locking me against him.
My barely-there wet bra has turned translucent, my nipples clearly visible through the damp flesh-colored fabric, like deep pink pebbles demanding attention.
“I'm beginning to wonder if you’re a dream, Tootsie Pop,” he grumbles, his lips finding the sweet spot on my neck, making me shiver and press my sex against him as he bobs my body up and down while walking us toward the stairs.
“I hope you don’t think it’s a nightmare,” I counter on a tense smile.
I’ve not been this close to him before. The lines at the corners of his eyes are deeper than I noticed before. There’s a ruddiness about his skin and the unruliness of his beard that makes that Viking part of him come alive right in front of me.
This is not a game anymore, and part of me wants to retreat back to the toying text messages and the feeling I had that this man was unattainable. Untameable.