Page 10 of Dirty Desires
Chapter Five
Nina
Artimus’ game night proved to be fun for all. I wasn’t any good at playing poker, so I was the one who lost that game. I was thankful for the many layers of clothing Artimus provided for us, or I would’ve been bare-assed right in front of all of them.
Saturday morning had me waking up in the bedroom next to Ashton’s. It was a little awkward when the other couples headed off to bed and he and I walked down the long hallway to our separate bedrooms.
I thought he was about to kiss me the night before, but in the end, he merely pulled my hand to his lips and kissed the top of it before telling me he had a great time and wishing me a good night.
My sleep was pretty good. I dreamt about him, and that was almost as good as getting to be with the real man. After a couple of years of dreams and fantasies about Ashton, I’d resigned myself to the fact that that was likely as much as I’d ever have.
But now I had a perfect opportunity right in front of me, and I was going to make something happen. I wanted a real kiss from him. And I was going to do my best to entice him into giving me that kiss in any way I could.
We passed a pleasant morning together, taking a leisurely breakfast and lingering over our coffees before parting ways and then reconvening for lunch. I’d headed up to my bedroom to freshen up after lunch when I heard a knock at my door. Ashton called out through the closed door, “Hey, we’re all going down to the pool. Put on your bathing suit and meet us down there, Nina.”
“Okay. Give me a minute.” I went to get my suit out of my suitcase.
“Sure thing. I’ll see you down there.” He left my door, and I looked at the two piece I’d pulled out.
It wasn’t daring or especially sexy. Just a regular royal blue bikini, but it was all I had. “Why haven’t I ever invested in a sexy swimsuit?” I muttered to myself with regret.
Here it was—my time to shine and show off my body for Ashton, and all I had was a humdrum bathing suit. I knew Lila and Julia would both be wearing something hot and sexy.
With no other choice, I put the thing on and wrapped myself in a white towel before heading downstairs to the indoor pool room. I heard splashing and laughing as I got closer.
When I stepped inside, I saw there was a volleyball net strung up, separating the two halves of the pool. They were playing girls against boys.
Ashton was sitting on the edge, waiting for me to arrive so we could join them together. “Great, you’re here, Nina. Come on.” He jumped into the pool, and I walked gracefully down the steps and into the water.
Julia and Lila had chosen the shallower water near the steps, which I was glad for. “Okay, so what’s the score so far?” I asked them.
“Boys three, girls one,” Lila said. “I hope you can bring some heat, Nina.”
Cracking my knuckles, I informed them, “I was on the high school volleyball team. I was dubbed the spike queen.” I looked at the three men on the other side of the net. “I hope you guys are ready to get your butts kicked.”
They laughed as we all got into position, then Ashton served the ball over to us. Lila made a successful volley back to them, and Artimus sent it back our way. Julia managed to hit it back over, then Ashton came splashing forward, hitting it back, making it just over the net.
I saw my shot. “Lila, set.”
She hit the ball up high into the air, and I jumped up, spiking it over the net with my fist.
SMACK!
“Shit!” Ashton shouted. “Ow!”
“Nina?” Artimus yelled.
The glory was all gone as I saw blood in the water. The ball had hit Ashton right in the nose. “God! Ashton, I’m so sorry!” I swam under the net to get to him. Blood was running in rivers out from under his hand, which was covering his nose.
“It’s okay,” he said with a high, nasally tone to his normally deep voice.
“No, it’s not.” I felt terrible. No, worse than terrible. I felt sick that I had done that to him. “Come on. This is my fault; I’ll take care of you.”
Julia handed me a dark red towel as we all got out of the pool. “Here, use this to put pressure on his nose. That should stop the bleeding.”
The guys helped Ashton to a lounge chair and laid him back, and I took a seat next to him. “Move your hands and I’ll use this towel to stop the bleeding.”
When he pulled his hands away, I gasped.
