He and his brothers took turns climbing anything they could find from a stone wall to the third-story balcony that Greer had been uncertain was a smart move. They tucked their legs up and didn’t hit the bottom of the pool too hard. They also covered Melene with water from their cannonballs. She cautioned them to be careful until Thor started calling her “Mom,” then she switched to rating their cannonballs, flips, or dives from a nearby lounge chair.
The afternoon wore into evening as they played as only brothers could do, Melene’s presence making everything sparkle and more fun. Aiden noticed his brothers’ occasional surveillance of their surroundings and they all listened for any beep from their phones, but all was quiet. It was nice to let down his guard, knowing Thor and Greer were here to help.
Sunset came really early with the tall mountains surrounding them. It wasn’t dark, but dim, and the mountains and a low fog made it ethereal and romantic. Aiden wondered if he’d ever thought a setting was romantic before. With Melene around, he couldn’t stop those thoughts. He propelled himself out of the pool, walked to her lounge chair, scooped her into his arms, and smiled at her little cry of surprise.
“It’s time for you to swim, not just judge our performance,” he told her.
Melene smiled. “I’d say I don’t want to wash my hair again, but you three have soaked me so many times that argument is a little lame.”
She slid her arms around his neck and leaned into him. Aiden’s heart sped triple time.
“I wouldn’t listen to it anyway,” he told her. He noticed his brothers were strangely silent in the pool. They’d been taking turns seeing who could swim more lengths of it. Of course he’d blown past anything they could do, and he hadn’t even been trying that hard. Put him on a horse and these two could desecrate him, but water was his home.
She gave a mock cry of outrage. “I’ll have you know a woman’s hair is extremely important.”
He walked to the side of the pool, holding her tightly against him, the warm skin of her legs and abdomen under his palms making his thoughts scatter. “You don’t seem the type to waste much time worrying about your hair.”
She glanced coyly up at him. “Only when you’re around to impress.”
He grinned. “I’m impressed.”
She returned his smile.
He jumped to the side, and she clung tighter to him and gasped as they plunged into the warm water of the deep end. They surfaced and water glistened off her beautiful face. He treaded water with only his legs, refusing to relinquish his hold on her now that he had her exactly where he wanted her.
“I think that’s our cue to go shower our handsome selves and cook a gourmet dinner for you slaps while you swim … or whatever it is you’re doing,” Thor said from behind Aiden.
“Thanks, bro.” Aiden was so taken by Melene he couldn’t even come up with a proper rebuttal.
Thor laughed heartily at Aiden’s expense, but Aiden completely ignored him, his gaze focused where he wanted it to be. On Melene. Here in this beautiful remote spot, with Greer and Thor having set up and now monitoring the security, he could hold and kiss her without the safety concerns.
Only the guilt of knowing someday soon he’d leave her behind should hold him back.
He hid a frown at that nagging thought.
He heard footsteps, Thor’s voice prattling on, and finally the back door slid closed behind them. He kicked them toward the shallow end where he could plant his feet and easily hold her close.
Melene blinked prettily up at him. “Thor’s hilarious,” she said.
“He is.”
“Your brothers are both great guys. Well, all of them, really.”
“They are.” He did not want to talk about his brothers right now.
She tilted her head slightly and her gaze trailed over his face and his shoulders. “But I have to admit that Thor’s wrong.”
“About what?” He licked his lips, the pressure of her body against him making him far too warm and a little cloudy in the head. Self-control was essential for him as a Delta and a SEAL. But right now, he was going to let it go and not worry about the fear of the future. He loved the idea.
“You’re definitely the most handsome Delta.”
He grinned at that. “I’ll tell him you said so.”
“Don’t. He’ll spend hours trying to convince me otherwise.”
“True.” He shrugged. “But I bet we’ll have hours waiting here.”
“We might.” She trailed her fingers through his short hair and made his scalp tingle with a delicious pressure. “But there’s something else I’d rather do for hours than listen to Thor claim he’s more handsome than you.”