Page 41 of A Wanton Adventure
He grimaced. The water was higher than he guessed, and his pants were wet up to almost his thighs. Still, he would be damned before he would allow himself to be carried about. The sailor asked Diana to scoot closer to the edge of the rowboat.
“I will assist her,” Sebastian said, wanting, he supposed, to torture himself more.
“Oh, no, you don’t have to,” Diana said, blushing.
He waded over to the side she was on and slid his arms under her legs. “Ready?”
“Yes, she is,” her aunt said.
Diana frowned at Lady Clark before turning back to Devons. “Are you sure?”
“Wrap one of your arms around my neck,” he said.
She leaned forward and did as he asked while her other hand held tightly to his watch. He should have left the damn thing on the ship but hadn’t considered it. The gift from his father was always with him. He lifted Diana, pulling her towards him. Her body pushed up against his chest and stomach.
The woman in his arms felt like a perfection he didn’t want or need. He could deny it or continue to insist his previous actions with Diana were caused by his attempts to mend his broken heart, but he knew what attraction was and his desire for the lady was real. The thought disconcerted him, and he clenched his jaw as he moved to the shore.
“Am I too heavy?” she asked before biting her lip.
He looked at her startled. “Of course not.”
“You appear to be struggling.”
He couldn’t very well tell her he enjoyed her in his arms a little too much and was envisioning her legs wrapped around his body. His shaft came to life at the thought. As if she intentionally meant to torture him, though he knew she didn’t, Diana wiggled up against him.
“I’m fine,” he said through gritted teeth as they reached the shore.
They turned their heads at the same time and their lips were mere inches apart. A memory of their previous kiss flashed in his mind. He heard a hitch in her breath. He leaned forward but was brought back to the present when Lady Clark yelled, “I’m next Devons.”
Diana blinked, startled. He laughed, releasing her so she stood on the beach. They glanced back to see Mr. Spoor being carried on the sailor’s back. Laughter erupted from both of them.
He smiled wryly. “I’m a much bigger man than Mr. Spoor. Can you imagine that boy carrying me?”
She laughed more. “No.”
Another sailor tried to assist Lady Clark, and she motioned to Devons. The sailor attempted again, and she batted at his hands, causing the young man to turn bright red.
“I have her,” Sebastian said, wading back into the cold water. Assisting Lady Clark was what he needed right now. He needed space from Diana. He couldn’t keep fantasizing about her legs wrapped around him.
Later in the day, Devons sat with Diana on a blanket, watching the men swim in the turquoise ocean. They swam in their pants and shirts, foregoing formality for a moment. He glanced at Diana who wistfully watched others splash in the ocean.
“Would you like to go in?”
Her eyes flicked down to her dress and she laughed. “I will sink to the bottom. The water is so beautiful. I have never seen a blue like this before. I may be a smidge envious that men can frolic in it.”
He didn’t know how he would do it but at some point, he would find somewhere for Diana to swim. She sighed and the yearning on her face disappeared. Sebastian, out of habit, snapped his pocket watch open and closed. Diana said, “Your watch is lovely.”
He studied his timepiece with all of its ornate carvings, knowing none of that mattered to him. “It could be the ugliest of watches and it would still be special to me. My father gave it to me.”
“Were you close?”
Sebastian raised a brow at her personal question. She smiled at him. “Are we not friends?”
Not many people asked him about his family. One didn’t broach such topics when they were born out of wedlock and their father was a well-known marquess. Even more scandalous, Sebastian’s father and his marchioness, Malcolm’s mother,chose love over societal rules. The marquess moved Sebastian and his mother into his country estate with him and Malcolm, while his wife lived abroad with her companion.
“We were. I grew up at Derry Hall with my father, mother, and half-brother for most of my life. Well besides when we were away at school.”
They were quiet for a moment, and he added, “The hall was like a sanctuary from the rest of society for my family. A place where my father openly loved my mother and where my brother and I were always treated as equals. It is still one of my favorite places to be.”
