twenty seven
Inside, it was all low lighting and polished concrete floors. Quiet in a way that felt intentional.
Brooks keyed in a code by the pool entrance. A soft beep, a lock disengaging.
Warm air spilled out to meet us, thick with eucalyptus and chlorine.
"You sure this is okay?" I asked, though I wasn't really expecting him to say no.
He glanced back over his shoulder. "It's a Tuesday night. This entire floor is closed to members. We're fine don't worry."
The pool stretched long and rectangular under the lights, water glowing blue. I stopped by a row of lounge chairs, watching him pull his sweater over his head in one smooth motion.
My gaze snagged on the lines of his stomach before I could help it.
He caught me looking and raised an eyebrow. "Do you wanna gonna go in?"
"Maybe," I muttered, trying to sound unaffected.
He was already stepping out of his slacks. "Don't overthink it. No one's coming in here."
Easy for him to say.
I peeled off my own sweater, shivering a little in the draft. Brooks had seen me naked on many occasions yet the simple black bikini suddenly felt too small. Too revealing.
He was in the water by the time I looked up, elbows propped on the tile edge. His hair was slicked back, drops of water clinging to his jaw.
He didn't say anything-just watched me.
It felt like a dare.
I slipped in before I could change my mind.
The heat hit first, swirling up over my hips and chest. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding.
Brooks stayed where he was, arms folded over the edge, gaze tracking me as I drifted closer.
"Can I have my face back?" I asked, trying for teasing.
He tilted his head, one corner of his mouth tugging up. "No."
I swam forward until I was close enough that our knees bumped under the water. He didn't move.
"Since when do you enjoy going to the pool?" I asked, softer now.
He shrugged, the movement slow. "I just thought about it today. Thought you could use a break."
My hand found the wall beside his head. "And you?"
"What about me?"
"Don't you have about a thousand things to do?"
He didn't answer right away. Just reached out, fingertips brushing my hip under the water.
"Figured they could wait," he said.
It should've sounded casual, but it didn't.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.
Then his hand slid higher, tracing the line of my bikini top. "You're tense," he murmured.
"Not tense," I lied, wrapping my arms around his neck burying my face in his chest.
"You sure?"
I wasn't.
His thumb brushed the knot at my shoulder, testing. I shivered.
His fingers tugged, and the tie came undone, the fabric loosening in the water.
I looked up, locking eyes with him.
He didn't look away. Just set both hands on my hips and pulled me forward until my legs slid around his waist.
"Brooks-"
"Yeah?" His voice had dropped, lower, rougher.
My hands found his shoulders, trying to steady myself.
"You-"
"Me," he agreed, leaning in until his mouth brushed my throat.
I let out a shaky exhale.
His hand slid up my spine, warm even in the water. "Relax."
"Easy for you to say," I managed.
He laughed once-low and quiet. "You'd be surprised."
Then he shifted his hips, and the hard line of him pressed against me through my bikini bottoms.
I gasped, nails digging into his skin.
"Amira." His voice was rough now.
I forced my eyes open.
His mouth curved-more a promise than a smile.
"You're so fucking pretty when you get like this," he murmured against my throat, his tongue dragging slow, open-mouthed kisses over my skin. "All worked up for me".
I swallowed hard, my hands flexing where they gripped his shoulders.
"Hmm?" He didn't lift his head. Just kept tracing slow, wet circles over the curve of my throat, like he had nowhere better to be.
"You're...doing that on purpose," I managed.
His teeth grazed my pulse. "Doing what?"
I tipped my head back, letting the water lap up over my shoulders. "You know what."
"Reminding you who you belong to?" he murmured.
My stomach dropped. Heat flickered low and deep.
My breath caught. The loose triangle of fabric covering me was doing nothing to hide how hard my nipples had gone.
He glanced down, the corners of his mouth tugging up. "You're shaking."
"Because you're-"
"Because I'm what?" His thumbs swept over my nipples, teasing. "Tell me."
I dug my nails into his shoulders. "Because you're an asshole."
He laughed-quiet, dark. "Probably."
Then his mouth was on mine, hot and certain. His tongue slid over mine in a kiss that felt more like a claim.
I kissed him back hard, trying to anchor myself in something that wasn't just the steady ache building between my hips.
His hand dipped below the water, cupping me over the thin scrap of fabric. I jerked in his hold, breaking the kiss on a gasp.
"Brooks."
"Shh." His free hand found the back of my neck, thumb stroking under my ear. "Just let me."
He hooked a finger in the side of my bottoms and tugged them to the side. The water moved around us, warm and rippling against my skin.
"Wait," I whispered, but I didn't stop him.
"Relax," he said against my cheek. "No one's coming."
He made a low sound, and shifted his hips until the blunt head of him was pressing against me.
I bit my lip, my forehead falling to his.
"Look at me," he ordered softly.
I did.
His gaze held mine as he pushed into me, slow enough that my breath caught in my throat.
I tightened my legs around his waist, nails digging crescent moons into his shoulders.
"Fuck," he muttered when he was fully seated. His eyes fluttered shut for a beat before he opened them again.
My whole body felt stretched tight, every nerve ending alive.
"You know how good you look like this?" he groaned. "Taking all of me."
I nodded, too wrecked to speak.
He waited, just long enough for me to adjust, before he started moving.
The water lapped between us, warm and slick. His hands gripped my hips, guiding me as I rocked against him.
My breath broke on a soft sound I didn't recognize as my own.
"Don't hold back," he murmured, kissing the corner of my mouth. "I want to hear you."
I buried my face in his neck, lips brushing his pulse. He was so warm, so solid, it almost hurt.
He pulled back enough to look at me again. "Amira."
I lifted my head.
His eyes were dark and sure. "Let go."
I rode the edge of it, pulse hammering, heat curling low in my belly until it was too much. My body locked down around him, a shudder tearing through me.
His mouth found mine, swallowing my cry as he thrust harder, deeper, chasing his own release.
When he came, it was with a rough groan against my skin. He held me there, breathing ragged, arms locked tight around my back.
For a long moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he pressed his forehead to mine, eyes closed.
"You okay?" he asked again, voice hoarse.
I nodded, feeling the aftershocks still rippling through me.
"Good." He kissed me once, slow and deep. "Because I'm not done with you yet."
He lifted a hand to cup my breast, thumb brushing over the peaked center in a touch that made my hips rock against him before I could stop them.
His breath caught. "Fuck, Amira."
My hands slid into his wet hair, tugging until he lifted his head. I kissed him, slow and searching, because I needed something to hold onto. Some anchor.
He let me set the pace, at first. His mouth moving against mine with a sweetness that only made it worse-made me ache deeper.
But then he shifted, pinning my hips tighter to his. His tongue slipped past my lips, claiming and coaxing at once, until the heat low in my belly turned molten.
When I pulled back, I was gasping. My forehead rested against his.
He shifted, pressing my back to the warm tile of the pool wall. One hand braced beside my head, the other trailing down to cup me between my thighs. His fingers found me slick and ready, and he let out a low curse.
"You feel how much you want this?" His thumb circled once, slow enough to make my hips buck.
"Please," I gasped, my nails digging into his shoulders.
"Let me see that pretty face."
I forced my eyes open.
"Keep looking at me," he ordered.
I didn't look away, even when he lined himself back up, the thick head of him nudging where I was already aching.
He didn't push in right away. Just stayed there, watching my face, like he needed to see the exact moment I fell apart for him.
And when he did start to slide into me, it was slow-inch by devastating inch-until I was full, until I couldn't think past the stretch of him.
I tried to move, but his hands locked around my hips, holding me still.
"Let me," he murmured, and then he drew back and thrust in again-deeper, harder.
A broken sound tore out of me.
"Yeah," he growled, breath ragged. "Just like that. Let me hear you."
Heat pooled low in my belly, coiling tighter with every steady thrust. My hands slid up to cup his face, needing something to hold onto.
His gaze locked on mine. "You're mine," he said, voice rough and certain. "Say it."
I didn't think-I just let the truth fall out.
"I'm yours."
His mouth crashed into mine, swallowing my gasp as he drove into me again.
The water sloshed around us, warm and heavy, but I barely felt it. All I could feel was him-every inch, every slow, relentless thrust that dragged me closer to the edge.
When he felt me start to tighten around him, his hand slid between us, thumb finding that spot that made everything shatter.
"Come for me," he ordered, voice breaking.
I did.
The pleasure tore through me in a hot, blinding wave, my body locking tight around him. My cry echoed off the tile, shameless and raw.
He followed with a groan, hips grinding into mine as he came, the sound of it so wrecked it made me shiver all over again.
For a moment, neither of us moved.
His forehead dropped to my shoulder, our breathing ragged and uneven.