Page 31 of Sebastian

“Yesterday, you were acting like such a snob and getting all offended that I thought you could use a good fucking. Little did I know I’d get it today, and look who’s sitting on Santa Seb’s lap after all?”

He pinches one of my nipples, and when I cover it, he pinches the other until both are trapped under my hands. He continues his assault, tickling down my sides. Whenever I try to protect myself, he finds another exposed area until I’m ducking and moving so much that I fall backward into the water.

The hot liquid surges up my nose, burning my nostrils as I flail about, trying to get my footing. Unable to close my mouth in time, water floods my mouth and traps in my windpipe. I’m trying to right myself when two large hands grip me violently, sending me to the surface.

“Chloe!”

I blink in surprise, coughing up water when Sebastian plasters me to his body.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry! One minute you were laughing, and the next, you went under.”

I gasp for air and wipe my eyes, trying to get the burning mascara out of them to see him clearly. He holds me, moving us closer to his pile of clothes and using his sweater to wipe my face.

“It’s . . .”

My eyes are burning from the chlorine and mascara. My hair sticks to my face, and I probably look like a drowned rat.

“It was?—”

“Scary,” he finishes for me.

Beyond my blurry vision, I see the concern etched on his face. His touch is tender as he continues wiping my face. The black mascara is collecting on his beautiful sweater, ruining it.

“Let’s go inside. You can grab a shower. I’ll find us some food. Maybe watch a movie, or I’ll watch you in the shower. Whatever you want.”

The mood has definitely shifted between us from sexy and playful to almost couple-like. It makes me feel warm and wanted inside—a feeling I haven’t had in a very long time.

“I’d like that.”

11

SEBASTIAN

“Which part? The shower or the watching?”

“Both.”

Her tone is both light and suggestive, a blend of innocent sexuality, and I fucking love the combination. It keeps my dick hard against her lithe body. I’m hesitant to put her down, loving the feeling of her in my arms. But the fun time in the hot tub unexpectedly turned into a nightmare. I want to put it behind us as fast as possible. Her hands rest on my shoulders. I mistake her pulling me in for a hug when she’s actually using me as leverage to stand.

“I’ll get us some robes to wear.”

I’m out of the water as she sinks into one of the jetted seats. I’m still a little shaken from what just happened, even though she seems to have recovered well. One minute, she’s carefree, laughing in my lap, and the next, she’s tumbling backward. It reminded me of when I had a birthday party here, and a friend of mine got trapped under the waterfall when his swim trunk got caught in the filter. Some papas dived in to save him when we noticed he was missing.

When they pulled him to the surface, he was blue and not breathing. A papa worked on him until the ambulance came. He turned out okay, but that day changed his life forever. He’s going to med school right now to become a pediatrician. It was terrifying and still scares me to this day. When she went under, even though it was just in the hot tub, it brought back flashes of him, and an instant fear coursed through my body.

“Aren’t you freezing?” she asks when I return to the water’s edge with two white robes I retrieved from the cabinet next to the cabanas.

To be honest, I hadn’t thought about the temperature difference, too preoccupied with worrying about her and the traumatic memory that still makes me a little sick to my stomach.

“Nah.”

She still has makeup smeared across her cheek, and her hair is matted to one side of her head. This messy version of her makes me smile, but she’ll probably be horrified to see herself in a mirror. I drop my robe on the edge of the lawn chair while opening hers. She climbs out of the hot tub, the robe enveloping her as she bundles up against the cold.

“Ah, it’s so cold out here.”

She trembles while I put mine on. She quickly slips on her boots to protect her feet from the cold stonework and gathers her clothes and mine—something I would have left for Jiles to handle.

“Do you want to put on your shoes?”

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