Chapter 4
RIVER
Nadine has both hands on her hips, facing the French doors, wearing one of my shirts. She's looking at something in the courtyard that I know for a fact is just more terracotta and a potted fern.
She's been standing there for a few minutes.
Before that, she reorganized the complimentary toiletries by size, and before that, she stood in front of the dresser, running her fingers along the edge, looking for a hidden camera.
She tried watching something on TV, but ultimately gave up because nothing held her attention.
She also tried scrolling through her phone, but declared she was on vacation; therefore, the only time she'd take her phone out was to take photos.
I'm on the bed, watching the ceiling fan wobble and finding it all extremely entertaining. After an eventful day or night, Nadine is almost always guaranteed zero sleep.
Back in college, after a successful presentation, she repainted her room in black. Two hours later, she scrubbed it clean.
"That fern's probably been there since Tuesday," I say, interlocking my fingers behind my head and crossing my legs.
She turns. "What?"
"The fern. You've been staring at it for a while. Are you planning on stealing it?"
"Steal a fern? No! Why would I do that?"
"I don't know. You've been ogling it for quite a while. Either you like it, or you don't like where it is and want to put it somewhere else."
"You mean redecorate at 2 AM? Who does that?"
I zero in on the ceiling, the side of my mouth twitching. "Oh, I don't know, probably the same woman who debated whether to file chickpeas under C or B for beans."
Nadine rolls her eyes, but she chuckles. "It should be under C. If I just classify it as B, then the fact that the chickpeas, kidney beans, and lentils sit next to each other would tickle my brain."
"I know. You forgot I was there the whole time you debated with yourself. Hearing both sides of the conversation was more entertaining than any TV drama."
"River."
"Nadine."
She exhales through her nose and goes back to the doors. I give her ten more seconds before I make the suggestion that's going to solve her current problem: she's trying very hard not to think about what happened an hour ago, and her body has not received that memo.
"Pool's probably empty," I say.
She turns so fast that she has to catch herself on the doorframe. "The pool?"
"Yeah. It's two in the morning. No one's going to be there."
"Oh, that's … yeah. That sounds good."
We need to leave now, because if I spend another second watching her wearing my shirt, we might not make it to the pool. We might not make it anywhere except back to the bed.
The resort's quiet in the way places get after midnight when the staff has clocked out, and the guests have made their decisions about the night. String lights still on. Restaurant dark.
Nadine's three steps ahead of me on the stone stairs, wearing a bikini that looks suspiciously like dental floss. It barely covers anything. Normally, I'd be wary about her looking like this in full view of other men, but it's just us, so it's fine.
"Did you know bougainvillea isn't actually just a flower?" she says halfway down.
I look at the back of her head. "Nad."
"What people think are petals are modified leaves called bracts. The actual flowers are so tiny, people don't even notice them."
"Is there a reason you're telling me this right now?"
She casts me a glance over her shoulder. "You said you wanted to know about the landscaping."
I didn't say that. She knows I didn't say that. Even the petal on the ground knows that.
She reaches the pool and sits at the edge before I'm at the bottom step, feet in the water, looking at the infinity line where the pool meets the dark.
"Did you know that Mosasaurus isn't actually a dinosaur? It's a massive marine lizard."
"So why was he named Mosasaurus?"
"No idea, but I'll read up on that. But it was an apex predator, obviously. It also had a double-hinged jaw and over a hundred teeth."
"So it ate pretty much everything in the ocean?"
"Yup! Including sharks."
I'm listening to Nadine talk about Mosasaurus at two in the morning, and I'm going to remember this night for the rest of my life.
She turns to me and splashes me with her feet. "Am I being weird?"
"No. You always talk about random things all the time."
"So, it's a no?"
"You're being your usual brand of weird."
"What does that even mean?"
"You're being Nadine."
She kicks more water at me, and it lands on my shin, warm from the heat still sitting in the pool.
"What was that for?"
"Making a point."
"What point?"
She lifts one shoulder. "That I could."
Nadine's toes skim the surface, making lazy ripples. I'm stretched out beside her, palms braced on the warm stone. In one smooth motion, she slides into the water. Water swallows her with a splash.
She disappears for a second, arms reaching up, and my legs vanish from under me. Cold water grips my calves as she tugs with both hands, laughing. It’s a ridiculous attempt. I outweigh her by a lot. I’m stronger. I could easily anchor myself, keep her there, drag her back up instead.
But she’s looking at me like that again—grinning, determined, hair already slicked back from her face.
I let out a dramatic sigh. “You’re lucky I’m generous.”
With zero real effort, I let myself slide forward.
The water rushes up my back, soaking my shirt as I fall into it. The shock of cold hits my skin, but her arms are still around my legs. Nadine surfaces properly now, eyes bright, laughter echoing across the pool.
"You know, you have similarities to that Mosasaurus."
Nadine beams. "Why? Because I'm like an apex predator?"
"No, because you have the strength of a lizard, on a minor scale."
She shoves my shoulder. I don't move. She tries again, harder, and I catch her wrist.
"You remember the day we moved Rachel's couch?" I ask.
She blinks at the shift. "The one from the alley?"
"The one you said was structurally compromised."
"It was structurally compromised. The frame was split."
"You made me check every joint before we brought it up."
"Because if it collapsed in the stairwell, we'd be liable for damages."
"You wanted to leave it on the curb, so you spent twenty minutes explaining why it was a bad idea."
Nadine's quiet for a second. "You remember that?"
"You were wearing my jacket because you forgot yours. It was November. You had your hair up, and you kept pushing your glasses up your nose while you argued about a couch."
"I don't remember the jacket."
"I do."
The humor in her eyes is gone, replaced by something darker. "Why are you bringing this up?"
"Because you've been noticing things wrong with the world for as long as I've known you, and I've never once wanted you to stop. I will always let myself fall into your trap."
Nadine laughs and tilts her head back to look at the sky.
I'm looking at the line of her throat and the pool light catching the side of her face, and the words are right there. Three of them. Short. True for nine years and counting.
I know what they are, but I also know tonight's not the night, because Nadine's still figuring out what the last hour meant, and I'm not going to hand her something that big while she's still processing. I've waited nine years. A few more weeks is nothing.
But…
Fuck, she's beautiful. The day I met her, while I was carrying Rachel's things to her dorm, my brain stopped functioning, and my body went into overdrive.
In three seconds flat, I went from wanting to fuck her to wanting to marry her.
It was disorienting, especially for someone who had never felt that kind of attraction in like … ever.
Now, she's here. Pretending to be my wife, sure, but after what happened earlier, I think it's safe to assume I have now successfully crossed the friendzone.
She sees me as a man, I've tasted her pussy, and she's sucked me off. It's a start.
It's a beat too late when I realize I should not have been thinking about that because now, my cock roars to attention. If I step out of the pool, there will be no mistaking what's going on with me.
I try to think of non-sexual and non-Nadine things, but she wraps her arms around my neck and presses her body against mine. From the widening of her eyes and the undeniably sexy smirk she gives me, there's no doubt she just felt all of me … and likes it.
"Looks like someone's excited to spend time alone with me."
"I've been excited since we hatched this plan, Nadine."
"Hmm. Show me."
She kisses me hard, so hard my entire body bursts into flames. I wrap a hand around her jaw and pull her closer as I suck her bottom lip between my teeth. I don't know if she's fully aware, but she moves her hips, rubbing her pussy against the trunk of my erection.
We're on the dim side of the pool, wrapped in shadows, but anyone can still pass by and see us.
Frankly, my fucks to give are in short supply. I've waited so long to have her, and I'd be a fool to let the opportunity pass.
Still, I won't fuck her here with my cock, but I can do something else.
I break the kiss and trail kisses along her jaw, then the side of her neck, sucking on a spot by her collarbone. Nadine's fingers thread into my hair as I lift the bikini top upward, exposing her beautiful tits to me.
"River, someone might see us."
"Do you want me to stop?"
"N-no."
"Good girl."
My tongue circles her nipple as my hand wraps around the other, kneading and squeezing. I suck the nipple and roll it between my lips, backing Nadine to the edge. I switch places and give the other tit the same treatment, delighting in the way she bites her lip to stop her moans.
I don't stop ravishing her tits, my free hand slithering between us and dipping inside her bikini bottom.
Nadine gasps and tosses her head back. My middle finger finds her sensitive nub and circles it. Her breath hitches, but she continues to pull me to her breasts.
My greedy good girl.
Her wish is my command.
I lick and suck her tits while my finger runs down her wet, sticky slit, and when I slip it inside her pussy, Nadine lets out a long moan that I swallow with a kiss.
I fuck her with my finger, then add another, and another, until her eyes go glassy and unfocused.
My mouth on her tit, my fingers in her pussy.
Nadine tightens her thighs around my hand and moves her hips, her clit rubbing against my palm. God, this is so fucking hot.
"You like this, Nad?"
"Y-yes, but I'd like your cock more."
"Later." I shove my tongue into her mouth and curl my fingers. "Come for me, baby girl."
Nadine sucks in a sharp breath, her eyes rolling to the back of her head, as she bites hard on my shoulder. Her body shakes, and her cunt coats my fingers. I work her through it until her trembling ceases, and she rests her head on my chest.
I'm about to tease her and tell her she must like the possibility of being caught when I spot a shadow on the second floor. A man in black silk pajamas, sipping on what looks like whiskey.
It's Derek.
I can't see him that well, but even all the way from here, I can feel some kind of fury radiating off him.
Without taking my eyes off the asshole, I capture Nadine's mouth in another kiss while I slide back her bikini.
She's mine now, Derek. And I won't make the same mistake you did because she's enough. Nadine is more than enough.
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