Page 152 of Plunge into Obsession

She walked over to me and squeezed my hand. “Okay.”

When I looked up, her brown eyes were soft. I offered her a small smile before I walked out of the house and into the blaring heat of the sun.

I squinted a little.

Finding the swimming pool took me a while, and the guards Gabriel had posted throughout the property didn’t help. I would have asked one of them if it didn’t seem like they were all avoiding looking directly at me.

It wasn’t like I was walking around with the swimsuit on display. Geez.

Finally, I passed through a luscious flower garden and saw the gym first before the water in the pool beckoned.

I didn’t wait. I took off the shirt and jumped into the pool right away, letting the cool water surround me, keeping myself immersed in the water until my lungs started to hurt, and I pushed through the surface for air.

That was nice.

I floated about a bit before I took off and swam laps.

I didn’t stop until my limbs hurt, and there was no more thinking.

No more anything.

Just the physical act of pushing through the water.

I was so lost in it all, it took me a moment to realize I wasn’t alone.

A dark figure above me caught my attention, and I swam toward it.

When I surfaced, I couldn’t hide my surprise at Gabriel standing there, holding a plate of fruit in one hand and a bottle of sunscreen in the other, and dressed in a black shirt and black swim trunks.

We said nothing for a few moments.

I was breathing hard from the exertion, and the small flush on my face could have been from that, the sun, or the sight of Gabriel.

Probably a combination of the three.

“Come out,mi tesoro. You’re burning.”

Wordlessly, I did as he asked. He led me to one of the dark navy blue lounge chairs and sat before guiding me to sit in front of him, almost between his legs.

He set the plate of fruit down in front of me—cut-up strawberries, apples, and oranges, along with a few grapes. A simple snack, but I really liked it.

I took a strawberry just as Gabriel unhooked the top of my swimsuit.

I tensed. “Gabriel. We’re outside.”

“I told everyone not to come near the pool. If they value their lives, they will do as I ask,” he said darkly, running his calloused hand over my back, his fingers strumming over the column of my spine.

I shivered.

“Eat, baby. I’ll put sunscreen on you.”

I paused for a short moment before I picked a grape and plopped it into my mouth. He squirted a generous amount of sunscreen on my back, and I flinched at the cool cream until he started rubbing it over my skin.

Then I was just hot.

So hot.

How could something as simple as putting on sunscreen be so fucking sensual?

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