Page 28 of Mister Stark

I glared back at him with determination and wanted to tease him a little. “What are you going to do about it, daddy?”

Daxon came up so close that his cologne filled my nose and his hot breath moved my wispy hair pieces. My eyes darted to his full lips and my tongue begged to lick him. He was too close and my body was crumbling at his feet.

“If you don’t come back to the table and please our latest business deal, I’m going to take you over my knee and show you what daddy can do to a naughty girl like you.” Daxon whispered as he licked and bit his bottom lip. “Come on, Celeste, you’re used to pleasing men for money.”

And I lost it.

I raised my hand with rage to slap him straight across his smudge face, but he stepped out of the way in time for me to miss. I lost my footing and fell forward. My hands reached out for something to grasp, but all I felt was air. I tried, and it was no use as a splash filled my ears.

A cold wetness consumed my body, and I knew I had fallen overboard. My eyes blinked underwater as my arms thrashed and pushed me towards the top. I broke the surface for a quick moment and shouted out, but water filled my mouth.

I pumped my legs as fast as I could and reached the surface again to cry out. “Help! I can’t swim!”

My face dipped under the water again, and I couldn’t keep my body up. The surface of the ocean was in sight, but drifted further away. My arms and legs worked, but all I did was fall down under. All I could see was the blue ocean as my lungs closed in and I was almost out of air.

Death creeped up on me and there was no one to save me. No one to pull me out of this ocean that wrapped its waves around me and wouldn’t let go. It pulled me under and clenched my body as my lungs burned. The pain was unbearable, and I knew this was the end. The end of my fight left my body and I no longer tried.

I went limp as my body floated to the way of the water and my eyes blinked. The sunlight above me looked like a small tunnel surrounded by darkness. A darkness I wasn’t ready to give myself to, but I had no choice. I wasn’t ready to die, but death’s door was wide open.

Suddenly, powerful arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me towards the light. My lungs were on their last bit of air and my mouth was ready to greet the water. Someone pulled me closer to the surface as the sunlight grew wider and the yacht came back into view. The surrounding strength tugged me towards the surface and was ready to break over the edge.

Just as we broke the ocean’s deadly grasp, my mouth opened up and gasped for relief. My lungs screamed their welcome at the fresh ocean air. The powerful body that saved me held me close and swam me towards a ledge on the side of the yacht. Muscles flexed with each stroke along the water’s surface, and I coughed to catch my breath.

“Grab onto the ledge, Celeste.” Daxon breathed heavily and there was no mistaking his stern tone.

I was weak from the fight with water and didn’t want to argue. I did as he instructed and held on with what little strength I had left. Daxon effortlessly heaved himself onto the yacht and reached out for my hand. I took it immediately as he pulled me up with him and I fell into his arms. I was too tired to complain.

I almost drowned. Daxon had saved me. He could’ve let me die, but he jumped in and rescued me.

The reality of it hit me hard, and I couldn’t think straight. He could’ve had all his problems washed away with the ocean and never had to deal with me again. But here I was in his trembling arms with our wet bodies connected as one.

“Celeste? Are you alright?” Daxon asked with panic in his voice.

He brushed my wet hair from my face that had fallen out of the bun and tilted my chin. His eyes seared into my soul as I laid on the yacht floor and his warmth surrounded me, but I still felt the chill. His thumb shook as he stroked my cheek and his eyes searched mine.

“I-I’m okay, just shaken up.” I stammered as my teeth chattered together from the chill and everything trembled.

I expected to see his usual annoyance with me, but it was the complete opposite. All I saw was the same fear I had felt within his deep brown depths. The fear that I almost lost my life.

“Come on, let’s get you warmed up.” He breathed as he didn’t waste a moment and stood with me in his embrace.

He carried me back onto the lower level of the yacht and I let my body lean into his warmth. I let him consume me because I wanted to feel whole again. And I knew when I was in his arms, he could make me feel like me again.

Suddenly, I heard Dylan’s voice. “What the hell happened?”

Daxon peered down at me in his arms and repeatedly blinked his eyes. They narrowed and the look of his worst nightmare disappeared from them as he set me back on my feet. Dylan rushed to my side and covered me with his jacket.

“T-there was a misunderstanding and...” I tried to explain as my teeth chattered and my body vibrated. “I-I was clumsy and fell into the water, but your father rescued me. I-I can’t swim.”

“Oh, my god, are you okay?” Dylan asked with concern as he held me close and tried to warm me up.

Everything was a blur because I got lost in his father. I couldn’t stop looking at him with my harsh new reality. Something had shifted between us and it would never be the same.

Daxon Stark had saved me. I thought he wanted nothing to do with me. And all we needed was a near death experience to reveal the truth.

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