Page 79 of The Souls We Claim
Ari squeals as she hits the water, and I reach for her. It’s a little messy. Flailing arms and legs that feel the need to kick the water as soon as they hit it. She splutters as I lift her head above the surface.
Once she realizes she’s safe, she wraps her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck and clings on tight. “If you let me go, I’m putting rat poison in your breakfast.”
I laugh at that, and there’s a sense of ease in my chest that I haven’t felt for a long time. “Okay, first things first, have you got any reason to be scared of the water?”
Ari leans towards Lola and tugs her closer to us. “Beyond, you know, the fear of drowning?”
I kiss her lips softly. “I won’t let you drown. I’m a Navy SEAL. I passed the swim requirements with elite times and survived all the underwater challenges, including the drowning test. I’m invincible underwater, kitten. You just have to trust me to not let that happen.”
She wiggles against me, her pussy riding right over my cock. It would take nothing to slip free of my shorts, tug her briefs to one side, and slide right into her.
As if sensing my thoughts, her cheeks turn pink. “Tempting, isn’t it?” And she wiggles her hips a second time.
My hands drop to her hips, gripping them tightly. “Brat.”
Lowering one hand, I rub my thumb over her clit.
She sticks her tongue out at me, and I squeeze the cheeks of her ass as I kiss her.
Lola squeals beside us, breaking the moment.
I walk us back to the shallow end so I can put Ari’s feet on the pool bottom.
“Are you sure this is safe?”
“Watch me,” I say, moving Lola in her float closer to Ari. And then, yeah, it’s pure ego the way I fucking show off for her. I do a handstand on the pool floor. I swim an entire length underwater. Then I get beneath her legs and stand with her on my shoulders.
She screams and grabs hold of my head. “Oh my God. Don’t drop me.”
I lower her gently and disentangle myself from her legs. “I’m a dolphin, Ari,” I say when I break the surface. “I’m not going to do anything that puts you at risk. No sink or swim, no drown proofing, and no floating tests. I want you to hold on to the edge of the pool.” There is a narrow overflow shelf, perfect for gripping. “You’re going to hold on to it, and then raise your legs and kick.”
Little wrinkle lines appear across her nose. “You just want me to kick?”
I place her hands on the edge. “Yes. Now try it.”
The look on her face is one of skepticism, but I turn her around, stand behind her, and push her slowly forward from the hips until her hands touch the ledge and her ass is up against my dick.
“Grip it, Ari.”
She glances over her shoulder at me, her eyes bright with humor. “I like it when you talk dirty to me.”
Playfully, I smack her ass, but the water takes the speed out of my stroke, making it a tap that sends water up her spine. Lola laughs, as does Ari.
Never particularly thought I deserved a medal for doing what I signed up to do in the Navy, but if the two of them are my reward, I’ll take it.
I step to the side and place my palms beneath her stomach. “Stop sassing me and kick your legs.”
She finally does as I say, first raising her butt, then her legs. I take some of her weight while she figures out how to do what I asked.
“You’re being such a good student, Ari.”
“Ahh,” she squeals as I feel her abs flex and relax, trying to find her center of gravity.
As she kicks, the water splashes Lola and I, and Lola laughs loudly, so filled with joy that she stretches out her arms to catch the drops.
And I realize I’m really fucking happy.
Nothing exists outside the three of us. It’s a respite from the chaos of the world I live in beyond the grounds of this hotel. I wonder if it’s even fair of me to expose the two of them to its dangers, but standing here right now, I struggle to see a future that doesn’t have them in it.
