Chapter Twenty-Three
Donovan wasted no time in stripping off his clothes and diving into the pool after Ella. The long, glistening wake she left behind her as she streaked sleekly through the water was like the dotted line on a treasure map to him, and her wet and naked body was like the X that marked the spot.
He stepped to the edge of the pool, looking forward, and pushed cleanly off. As his body sliced into the dark, clear water, the cold temperature suddenly surrounding him took his breath away until his head broke the surface, and he was able to fill his lungs.
“Damn, this water is cold! Why didn’t you say something?”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Valentine. You know what they say about cold water. All it takes is a little physical activity to get your blood flowing, and you won’t feel the cold at all.”
His erection sprang forward, hard and strong under the shadowy surface of the water. His heart, already racing from the sight of her naked body in the moonlight and the bracing temperature when he dove into the pool, started to pound out of his chest. It felt out of control and wild, and he only wanted more.
He dove back under the water again, wanting to close the space between them as quickly as possible. Gliding underneath the surface was the fastest way to do that.
When he popped up at the place she’d been and wiped the water back from his face, she was gone. He looked around as quickly as he could, spinning in a circle as he tread water.
He caught sight of her about ten feet away, a gigantic and playful smile on her face.
“Oh, you want to play, huh?” he yelled across to her.
She laughed. “When I said you should catch me, I never said it was going to be easy,” she teased.
He swam to her in a mad dash, and she pushed backward in the water as he came toward her. He noticed, though, that her movements could more accurately be described as drifting as opposed to swimming. She obviously wasn’t trying very hard to get away.
When he got within a foot of her, his arm snaked out and wrapped around her waist, yanking her toward him and splashing up little waves between them. She squealed and he pressed his lips to hers.
“I caught you,” he whispered against her mouth.
She wrapped her arms around his neck as they floated in the water and kissed, then pulled back and looked into his eyes. “Yeah. You sure did,” she whispered.
Donovan felt like they were in another world there in the water, which lapped gently against their bodies as they pressed together and caressed each other’s skin. Between the moonlight casting a blue glow over Ella’s face as it reflected up from the pool water, the sounds of gentle splashing, and the hushed echo created by the cavernous building, Donovan felt like they were cocooned on some strange planet together. Alone, just the two of them, in a bubble cut off from the rest of the world as they knew it. It was a bubble he wouldn’t mind staying in.
As they drifted closer to the shallow end of the pool, Donovan made a point to gently guide their path closer to the edge. He felt a deep urgency to take this to the next level, and he needed some leverage.
When they were within grabbing distance of the smooth, round cement ledge that surrounded the pool, Donovan shot his hand out and gripped it. He pulled them over to the side and let his feet drift to the hard floor beneath. He twisted, then, so that his back was pressed up against the tile wall and Ella grinned and wrapped her legs around his waist.
Her breasts bobbed just above the water level, the small waves that their movements created splashing up against her hard nipples. He couldn’t take his eyes off of them; they were so damn beautiful.
He leaned forward and took one of the hard nubs in his mouth. He moved his tongue in small circles around the sensitive button, flicking it lightly and then nipping it with his teeth. Her fingers tangled into hard fists in his hair and she let out a guttural moan, letting him know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was on the right track.
He pulled his mouth back reluctantly, then, and moved his attention to the other gorgeous nipple. He repeated the same actions on that breast and got the same enthusiastic response.
He went back and forth like that for a while, always moving to the other nipple when he could sense in Ella’s body that her pleasure was cresting. He liked to tease her, and he didn’t want her to flame out too soon.
He spun them around, her back was against the wall. He used it to help him hold her up so that he could step back slightly, then—never breaking rhythm with his mouth on her nipples—slid his hand smoothly down her belly until it rested between her legs.
He pushed his fingers into her, amazed at how warm she was, especially compared with the water they stood in. Her velvety inner walls held his fingers, clenched tightly against them as they moved inside her.
She threw her head back and groaned, eyes tightly shut. Her moans became louder and more plaintive when he used his thumb to work her pleasure button as he kept the pressure strong with the fingers inside her.
She was just about to come. He could sense it in her body, the way that the tenor of her cries changed and the muscles of her inner walls grabbed at him more intensely.
“That’s right, baby. Let go. Let yourself go,” he whispered in her ear.
“What do you two think you’re doing?” came an authoritative voice from the far side of the building, and Donovan suddenly found himself with a face full of blinding light.
Ella screamed and curled up in a little ball, hiding her face against his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and shielded her with his body. He didn’t even think to answer the question; his only concern was protecting her.
The voice came again, less authoritative now and more shocked. “Dammit, Donovan Valentine, is that you? What the hell?”
Donovan was still blinded by the bright light shining in his face, but he did recognize the voice now. Gary Williams, another one of their classmates at Valentine Bay High School. Now married and the proud father of two…and second in command on the Valentine Bay police force.
“Hey, Williams,” Donovan said, his attempt at nonchalance falling flat. “We’re just taking a little night swim. What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here? Are you kidding me? We got a call about a break-in at the high school pool; I assumed it was two kids. And I get here to find you two, grown adults, naked as the day you were born. Yeah, that’s right, I recognize you, Ella. Don’t you two have houses you could go to?”
Ella, most likely still in shock or possibly denial, continued to silently hide her face against him. Donovan, at a loss for how to explain the situation beyond saying, I thought it would be a cool and adventurous thing to do and now it just seems stupid, simply replied, “It’s, um…complicated.”
Gary sighed and turned off the flashlight. “Well, I hate to do this, but I’m gonna have to simplify it. You two put on your clothes and meet me outside. I’m gonna have to take you to the station.”