“My mother would have a stroke, knowing I was doing this much in the lake. Ladies don’t skinny dip, and we most certainly don’t do it in broad daylight,” she said, her southern accent strong as she spoke.
“Don’t you ever want to break the perfect southern rules once in a while?” I asked, following her deeper into the water.
“All the time,” she answered. “But it’s best you see the good side of me. No one needs to see me without makeup. It’s not a pretty sight.”
Though she had a smile on as she said the words and seemed as if she was joking, I found sadness in the words.
“I disagree,” I replied, taking hold of her arm and stopping her from her swim, with her head bobbing out of the water. “I don’t think you need all that makeup to be pretty. You’re naturally beautiful.”
She huffed. “I was taught at a very young age that natural beauty does not exist without assistance. I think I’ve worn lipstick since I was ten, when my mother told me I was cursed with thin lips.”
We both stood in the water, looking at each other. She was smiling, but I wasn’t.
“That’s a shame, Bellamy. Your mother should have never made you feel like you aren’t perfect in every way.”
“No one’s perfect.” She darted her eyes away from me as she said the words. “But that’s what smoke and mirrors are for. We can make anyone pretty with enough blush and eyeshadow.”
I took a step closer to her and said, “Dive under the water with me.”
Her eyes widened. “Have you not heard a word I said? I’m not going to mess up—”
“I’ve heard every single thing you’ve said, and I want to prove you wrong. Dive under the water with me.”
“No.”
“Don’t make me dunk you.”
“You better not.”
“Or what?” I teased.
“Emmett!” she squealed when I took hold of her tightly.
“I’m not going to force you. But come on, Bellamy. Let loose. Stop letting your mother stand here in the lake with us. Break the rules for once in your life. Stop listening to your mom. Come swim with me.”
I could actually see her considering my words, and then finally, without warning, she dove into the water—hair and all.
I hooted in excitement as I too dove in and swam with her deeper, untethered by the rules of an old-fashioned society.
After several moments, we both emerged from the water, breathless and feeling more alive than we both had since arriving at the Oleander. Freedom.
Her wet hair clung to her face, her makeup mostly gone other than a few smears of black around her eyes.
“I’ve never seen anyone prettier than you right now,” I complimented, and I meant every word.
I captured Bellamy’s mouth with mine, demanding more of her taste with every caress of my tongue. I couldn’t get enough of this woman. She was like a fucking drug, and she already had me addicted. I didn’t think it was possible for her to get any more beautiful than I already found her, but with the water streaming down her perfect skin and her hair hanging wildly around her face, I didn’t want to ever see her any other way.
I wanted to be inside her, a hunger I could barely control. And then again after that. There weren’t enough hours in the day for how much I wanted to continue fucking her. Claiming her. Making her mine. The primal side took over, but there was something more…
Something deep inside that scared me if I thought too much about it.
Bellamy broke away from the kiss and stared up at me with her big blue eyes. “I must look like a mess right now.”
“You’re beautiful. So much more beautiful than words can describe. It’s such a shame that your mother and our society have made you doubt that. You don’t need fakeness to be gorgeous, because you are, all on your own.”
She pressed her naked body against mine, and I became completely undone. Any control I had vanished the minute her thighs touched mine.
I spun her around and pressed my chest against her back. I cupped her breasts with each of my hands and nestled my hard cock against the seam of her ass. Nibbling her ear, I whispered, “You do something to me. You bring out this animal need inside to claim you as mine.”
As I nibbled on the column of her throat, the memory of the Trials and all our sex flashed before me, but something felt different this time.
I didn’t have to fuck her.
And she didn’t have to let me.
“You make me feel… different. Free to be me,” she said as she tilted her head more to the side, giving me better access to bite at and kiss on her neck. Her tiny whimper of lust had my cock twitching.