Page 111 of Billionaire Romance

Because I do. Whatever’s between us, whatever attraction we’ve both been struggling to fight, beyond all that, I’ve come to trust him. His presence relaxes me, reassures me in a way that he has no right to do, but there it is. I trust him. Without answering aloud, I just take a deep breath, lower my head beneath the water, and kick off the wall.

The first few strokes are easy. It’s the same feeling as when I swim back and forth across the shallow end. I stretch out my arms when my head dips beneath the water, spreading them in the breast stroke, and then pop my head back up for air as I speed forward.

But then I look down. I notice the bottom of the pool dropping away beneath me, the light blue color turning darker, and I know I’m already past the point where my feet could touch the ground. I freeze mid-water, my legs kicking frantically to keep my head above the water as I stare down into that abyss.

“Sinclair.” Ankor’s voice is gentle, coaxing. He’s not going to rush me. But he’s not going to let me sit here treading water, either.

With one last nervous glance at the distant bottom, I resume swimming, in broad strokes. I lift my gaze to Ankor, and keep it fixed there, instead of on what’s below me.

The pool feels longer when I’m swimming across it than it did when I was walking around it up on dry land. But before I know it, I’m nearing the wall. Ankor doesn’t move, doesn’t reach out a hand to grab me. He lets me finish myself. I stretch my hands out the way I’ve seen him do in practice swims, and my palm goes flat against the tile wall of the deep end. Only then do I reach up to catch the edge, holding onto it, even as I let out a laugh of pleasure.

“You did it.” Ankor swims up to me, so close I can feel the heat radiating from his body through the water.

“I did it,” I agree, breathless, beaming with pleasure. My eyes latch onto his. I can’t stop smiling. Because I did it. I swam all the way out here, even when it got scary, even when I thought it’d be too much. I overcame my fear.

Because he was here. Because he talked me through it, and because I trusted him not to let me get hurt, no matter what happened.

“Ankor…” I don’t know when it happened, but there’s barely an inch between us. I lift my face to his, and I feel like I’m falling into those dark brown eyes of his, searching out the little flecks of gold near the center that I love so much.

“Sinclair,” he murmurs, and his breath ghosts across my lips. “You’re so damn brave.” He smiles at me. He smells like mint, and something else. That heady scent I remember in my dreams. The one I couldn’t get enough of. “You can do anything, you know that? You warrior.”

I grin, tempted to laugh, but I don’t. And I crave him. Suddenly and fiercely, I want to taste his mouth on mine, feel his body against me. Feeling bolder than I ever have thanks to that swim, I let go of the wall. Instead of hanging onto it, I reach out and wrap both arms around his neck.

My body slides into his under the water. I can feel his chest against mine, and the hard bulge of his cock against my belly. He still wants me. I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. It sends a thrill of pleasure through my veins, to know that he craves me just as much as I crave him.

I raise my eyes to his and find him watching me, one arm wrapped around my waist, the other holding us both against the wall. It’s still early. There won’t be anyone else in the pool for a while yet, at least half an hour. I can’t resist. Not when he’s so close, his body so warm and strong and muscular against mine.

I tilt my face up and kiss him. Tentatively, softly at first, because I’m still hesitant. But that’s all it takes. His arm tightens around my waist, crushing my body against his, and his lips part mine, his tongue twining with mine as he deepens the kiss, claiming me as his once more.

He flips us so he has me pinned against the wall of the deep end, still holding us upright with one arm. I hold myself to him with both of mine, and arch my hips against him, feeling the press of his cock between us. I let out a faint groan against his mouth, and he kisses me harder, inhaling sharply in a way that sounds almost pained with want.

His free hand slides down my waist. His fingers grip my ass once, tightly, hard enough to make me gasp against his lips again. Then he grins and traces his fingers over the arch of my hipbone, before he slides his palm between my legs.

A shiver runs all the way through me, from the top of my head all the way down to my toes, which curl tightly under the water. His hands aren’t even inside, just over the top of my bathing suit. But he starts to stroke me slowly, and I’m already so fucking turned on, my clit swollen and throbbing with want, that it doesn’t take long before I’m bucking against his hand, clinging to him like my last lifeline in a deep ocean, as his fingers rub against me, harder, faster. My whole body trembles in anticipation. Just before I hit the peak, he kisses me again, hard and deep. I cry out into his mouth, the sound muffled by his kiss, and he grins as I come, shaking, my pussy tightening and releasing compulsively as his fingers slow their pace, and he slides his arm back around my waist instead.

When I finally stop quivering, he draws back just far enough to gaze down at me, heat evident in his eyes. “I’ve missed you, Sinclair,” he whispers.

I kiss him to avoid answering. I’ve missed you too, I think. I hope the kiss says what I can’t force myself to speak. When we break apart, he starts to kiss his way down my neck, clearly intent on carrying things forward.

But with the orgasm still racing through my nervous system, and my heart slowing a little, my reason is starting to return. My head clears from the rush of lust, and I remember why I stopped all of this in the first place.

“Ankor.” I press my palms against his chest. When he doesn’t stop kissing me, I sink under the water, ducking under his arm to swim free a few paces.

He stares after me, hurt evident on his face.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, my voice so low it’s barely a whisper. “We can’t do this. I’m sorry. I’ve missed you too, and I really…” My voice hitches. “I really like you, Ankor. But there are things about me you don’t know. Things that would…” My voice breaks this time. He just watches me, not interrupting. Waiting for me to recover enough to explain. I hitch in a deep, steadying breath. “My past is a mess. And it’s the kind of past that won’t stay buried. It’ll come for me, and when it does, I don’t want to get you involved. You don’t deserve that. Not when you’ve been nothing but kind to me, nothing but helpful and kind and…” And hot as hell in bed. Not to mention more attentive and caring than anyone I’ve ever dated.

I stop myself before I talk my way out of resisting him again.

I swim toward the shallow end. It doesn’t seem as far this time. But when my feet touch ground, I hear splashes. I turn to find Ankor next to me, chest glistening as he stands partway out of the water.

“I have secrets too, Sinclair,” he says, his own voice tight with emotion. “I understand what it’s like to have a bad past. Trust me. And it’s probably stupid to risk everything on a girl I barely know, but I want to. I promised myself I wouldn’t reveal my past, not here. This was supposed to be my fresh start. But I won’t throw away a chance at something special, Sinclair, and you are. This, whatever we have, it’s special. I’ve never felt this way before. Being with you is worth any risk.”

I stare, my lips parting with surprise. Whatever I expected him to say in the face of my admitting to a terrible past, it wasn’t this. I expected curiosity, maybe concern about where I come from. Not compassion. Not an offer of trust. I swallow hard and take a glance around the pool. The resort in the distance had begun to wake up, lights flicking on in the windows as people start to go about their daily business.

Pretty soon, we won’t be alone here anymore. Ankor must sense that, too.

“Not here,” he says. “But let’s talk this afternoon, okay? And I’ll tell you the truth.” He offers me a hand, like we’re making a deal.

I guess we are. I place my palm in his and squeeze, trying not to think about what I’ve just agreed to. “This afternoon,” I say. But I already worry I won’t be able to give him what he wants.

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