“Oh!” Did that mean he would finally let her see him naked? She traced his tattoo with a forefinger then dared to lean in and lick the skin there, collecting the last few droplets of water on her tongue. The earthy tastes of water and man came away on her palate. “Is he on his way?”
“I don’t doubt it. When I left to come out here, he was finishing a couple of letters. And he adores swimming, especially when the day is as warm as today.”
“Then later again will kiss me you?” She was beyond caring about her out-of-order words, for in his arms, they didn’t matter.
“Of that you can be certain.”
“Good.” A thrill moved through her insides to lodge between her thighs. “You like swimming.”
“I do.” He resumed his quest to nibble his way down the column of her throat.
Caroline shivered. His touch and attention were slowly hardening her nipples. Her breasts ached with need, perhaps his mouth on them. “As much as kissing?” Did she sound like a simpleton asking all these questions on a subject she had no knowledge about?
“My girl, I will always enjoy kissing you better than anything life has to offer.” And then he pressed his lips to hers in a series of feather-weighted kisses that made her think of faraway castles and knights in shining armor.
“John?”
“Yes?” His breath steamed the shell of her ear. That part of him which was so large and alive that afternoon he’d made her fly was hard against her hip.
“Pick me up in your arms.”
“Why?” His perfect mouth curved downward in a frown.
“Makes me feel pretty, like a princess in a book.” She swept her fingers over his tattoo then down his chest. “Protected.” When she met his gaze, she tumbled into those depths with a sigh. “Safe.” For the moment, the chaos inside her mind quieted to a dull roar. The tension in her chest eased. This man had changed everything when he’d come along.
Did he realize how much she appreciated that? How grateful she was for him?
“It would be my honor.” He hooked one arm beneath her knees and wrapped the other about her back as he stood up from the tree stump. “Would my lady enjoy a toss into the pond?”
Tendrils of fear seeped into the thin cocoon she’d woven around herself while in his company. “Will you be there too?”
“You have my word that I’ll never leave you.” His expression sobered. “And for as long as you need me, I will always come to your rescue.”
He was everything perfect in a world that oftentimes didn’t make sense or seemed a difficult challenge. With tears in her eyes, she nodded and then buried her head against his shoulder so he wouldn’t see her weakness. “Will I like it?”
“That remains to be seen.” Humor wove through his voice, and he tightened his hold on her as he carried her toward the pond.
“Later, will we go to the sea?”
“Ipswich?” He nodded. “I would like that very much, but only when you’re ready.”
It sounded like an adventure. “Will we swim there?”
“If you wish it.”
Caroline nodded. “With you.” She glanced at the water with its concentric circular ripples from where a duck bobbed his head beneath the surface. “And perhaps Cousin Brand. He has been nice to me.”
“He’s trying, dear heart. Give your family time. Let Brand show them how.”
Despite the glorious afternoon she’d already passed with John, the slow simmer of anger in the pit of her belly flared. “They don’t care.”
“Perhaps they can’t find the words to express how they feel. Just like you.” He paused at the edge of the pond. “But don’t count them out yet. Before we leave for Ipswich, perhaps they can figure out how to build a bridge between you and them. But if that doesn’t happen, remember you are a Storme, Caroline. You need the approval of no one in order to clear your own path.”
“I am trying to figure out how to be me.” The words were slow and precise, yet her anger receded to a point. “Now I am not alone.”
“You are not.” His eyes shone with emotion she couldn’t read let alone understand. “Ready to learn how to swim?”
“Yes.”
“Here we go.” The muscles in his arms tightened and then suddenly she was weightless, arcing into the air, flying briefly over the pond’s surface before she hit the water and sank beneath with a half-terrified scream.
But she shouldn’t have worried. John was there not a second behind. He wrapped her in his arms and pulled her upward into the sunlight, holding her dripping self to his chest as if she were the most fragile flower.
“Now that you’ve gotten your head and feet wet, let’s begin to expand your horizons, hmm?”
Caroline lost a piece of her heart to him in that moment. Though she knew he would fight fiercely for her, he also wanted her to do that for herself as well. He didn’t think her incapable; he merely encouraged her to do things her own way. There was no coddling or suffocating her, no doing things for her on the assumption she’d couldn’t figure them out for herself. In that, there was an independence she’d never known before, and it threatened to render her drunk on it.
And oh, how she wanted to discover everything about him, to help him as he was her. Then perhaps he wouldn’t feel so angry either.