Page 11 of Beloved Sacrifice

Chapter Three

Thirteen Years Ago

Rose was here—there were jeweled flip-flops by the door. Rose was the only one who could get away with leaving shoes out like that. And the only one who wore jeweled flip-flops.

Weston dropped his bag and raced up the stairs. He checked her room—no Rose. The bed was perfectly made, as if she hadn’t slept in it. The maid must have come in today—Rose was not an accomplished bed maker. He dashed back down the stairs, keeping an eye out for his parents. The door to their wing of the house was closed, and the main living rooms were all empty. If she wasn’t in her room or the TV room, she’d be swimming laps in the grotto.

The grotto at his parents’ house was totally ridiculous—three glass walls and a glass ceiling. One wall could be opened when the weather was warm enough, connecting it to the large redwood deck out back. There was a lounge pool with a swim-up bar and a beach entrance, a separate twenty-five meter two-lane lap pool, and a massive hot tub. Everything was made to look as if it was natural—edged in gray rocks, rather than flat concrete. There were ferns everywhere, thriving in the greenhouse-like atmosphere.

Since his parents were in a trinity, Barton’s job as head of an import/export empire and Victoria’s charity work meant they had to hide their relationship with their third, Elroy, so the three of them spent a lot of the time at home. The massive, contemporary-style abode had been custom built for them just before Caden was born. Weston had only vague memories of the house they’d lived in before this one.

Rose was, as he’d predicted, swimming laps. Her feet kicked up small splashes as she swam freestyle, moving faster than most, but not at her fastest. When she was trying she could really move.

He waited for her to reach the end of the lane and start her turn, then reached down and grabbed one ankle, grinning as she thrashed.

She flipped around, jerking her ankle out of his hold and came up sputtering. He was already dancing back, his heart thumping happily in his chest. The splash she sent his way got his pants below the knee.

“I could have drowned, you know.” She pulled off her goggles and wiped her face.

“Maybe you’re not that good a swimmer.”

“Wanna race, college boy?” She made a pathetic face at him. “I’m sure you’d beat me, I’m just a high school girl.”

Damn, he wished she’d stop reminding him of that. He knew he was too old for her. She was seventeen and he’d be 21 in a few months. But that didn’t stop him from loving her.

He smiled, then came to the side of the pool, kneeling carefully on the artistically natural stone edging.

“Hi.”

She swam up. He could see the lines around her eyes from the goggles. With her hair under the tight swim cap, she looked different, but no less beautiful.

“Hi,” she replied. She tugged off her swim cap then dunked under the water, wetting her hair. When she surfaced, she looked like a beautiful, dark-eyed mermaid. Not the Disney-princess kind. No, she was the kind of mermaid who lured men to their deaths in the depths of the sea.

She glanced around.

“I think they’re in their suite,” he said.

At that, she planted her hands on the rock and, with a few kicks, popped out of the water high enough to kiss him.

Weston was ready for it. He grabbed her by the waist, and lifted her straight up out of the pool, standing even as he lifted her. She squeaked in surprise.

“Wes!”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist.

“Impressed?” he asked. He’d been lifting weights all semester, and had imagined this very scenario—lifting her dramatically out of the pool—a thousand times. It was even more amazing in person.

“I am impressed.” She leaned in and kissed him again, more aggressively than he was used to.

Weston cupped her ass with his hands, fingers slightly tentative. He was touching her butt. It wasn’t like he wasn’t familiar with female bodies, but this was Rose.

He started to end the kiss, but she kept her lips pressed to his. Okay then. Her tongue slid into his mouth, tasting him. He returned the motion, instinctively taking control of the kiss, battling her for dominance.

She pulled back, lips pink. She unhooked her legs, wet body sliding down his now soaked front. Weston held still when he realized his erection was pressing against her stomach. Rose was a virgin. Would she even know that’s what she was feeling?

Her eyes widened and she took a half step back.

She knew.

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