Chapter Twenty-Three

Georgina

 

 

It was over a week without any contact from Blake. My back had been itching like crazy. The yearning to scratch it raw was almost as strong as the yearning to see Blake again, despite what had to be done when I did see him. The weather had become muggy and oppressive, heavy around my body and heart. Even as much as I hated the cold, I started to crave it. Cool showers got me by, but I longed to be immersed in cold water, to float away in it as it chilled me to the bone. Throwing all caution and my tattoo aftercare instructions to the wind, I’d put my swimmers on and headed out.

I caught the bus in to town. My head felt too clogged up and messy to drive. The air in the bus hung thick with the haze of sweaty humans, but to me, it smelled of life. I pressed my head to the window and watched the world go by, trying to glimpse into every house we passed, every balcony of every apartment block, every tucked away playground. I was playing voyeur to life, snatching up moments of other people’s lives with my greedy eyes, but unable to live my own.

I’d lost all my courage and fire again. As much as I told myself the care and longevity of my tattoo didn’t matter in the scheme of things, I just walked around the surrounding shops all afternoon, unable to go into the swim center as I’d planned.

Open hours for public swimming came and went. I hovered, aimlessly, until the shops started closing around me, and had to head back out onto the street to make my way home.

Then I saw Blake.

He walked up the footpath as I walked down, and there was no avoiding him, not when he spotted me too.

Then this is it.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“How’s things?”

“How are—oh, good. How are you?”

“Good. Yeah. Good.”

“Um, so …”

“Yeah, uh.”

“I thought—"

“I was—”

“Sorry, you first.”

“No, you.”

“Really.”

“Oh, I just, I need …”

The bumbling mumble of our conversation halted, and we both seemed to be very concerned about our feet, what with how carefully we scrutinized them.

I can’t do it.

I couldn’t look at that gorgeous face, so full of determination and fear and conflict and cause any more pain. I didn’t know what I was going to do. All I could do was ignore everything and go on like nothing was the matter.

I was the walking embodiment of denial.

The air had become soupy around us until I could barely breathe, and dark clouds drooped low, grumbling with the threat of thunder.

“You going for a swim?” Blake finally said.

I glanced at my shoulder, and could see the edges of my red bathing suit showing under the light gray dress. The towel poking out of my tote bag was another giveaway.

“I was. But the indoor pool by the mall is closed now. I really, really could have done with a good swim. I don’t know why I didn’t go.”

“Yeah, I could go for a swim too.” Blake pinched the front of his shirt and wafted it. His eyebrows dropped, and his eyes looked as stormy as the clouds above us. “I know another place. If you want to come with?”

No. NO. Say you can’t see him again. NO.

“Yeah, that sounds great. Let’s go.”

Blake led me back to his bike, and this time I insisted he take the only helmet since he hadn’t brought a second one. I thought he would fight me on it, but he was only silent for a second, then put it on.

It was a ten-minute ride back to his place, which we managed in five. The clouds above us rumbled, but held steady, refusing to spill cooling rain. I expected Blake to change, which he did. But not only did he emerge with swimming trunks on, but also with a hefty-sized pair of pliers in his hand. Bolt cutters? I wasn’t sure. I didn’t question it.

He also brought out his spare helmet. I put it on, and within two minutes we pulled up out the front of an old-fashioned outdoor pool. It was big and rectangular, all blocky concrete and chipped lane markers, wrapped around with a high chain-link fence and a faded building with locked turnstiles at the front.

“It’s closed, too.” I don’t know why I pointed it out. I knew exactly what the bolt cutters were for now.

Blake took them in one hand and me in the other, and we dashed around the edge of the chain-link barrier to a small side gate. We crouched slightly, but weren’t making a huge effort to be discreet. There was no one around, and the thick clouds made the early dusk as dark as night.

I jiggled nervously on the spot, acting as lookout while Blake flexed his muscles and clipped right through the basic padlock that chained the gate closed.

This has got to be breaking and entering, a helpful little voice in my head pointed out. That was definitely breaking.

I entered anyway.

I glanced around, but couldn’t see any obvious cameras. I wasn’t even sure the pool was still in use, but the faint smell of chlorine as I drew closer told me it was at least being maintained. A few dead leaves floated on the surface, but the water was otherwise clean, and when I dipped a toe in, the chill of the unheated water raced a shiver from my feet to the crown of my head. It was perfect.

I dumped my tote bag and pulled my dress off over my head, kicking my shoes onto the still warm concrete. I was about to dive in when I remembered Blake next to me.

The way he watched me then made me catch my breath.

I’d bought a new, retro-style bikini with big red polka-dots that seemed cute and daring—for me at least. I suddenly felt naked, and my hands automatically moved to adjust the bottoms and cover my stomach.

“You’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen.” His voice sounded so sad.

He turned away before I could react and removed his T-shirt. I wanted to echo his compliment, but my voice caught in my throat, and before I could speak, I turned away as well.

“You got a tattoo?”

I suddenly wished I could cover my back as well as my front. I fought off my self-consciousness and lifted my long hair away and twisted it into a bun so Blake could see the tattoo fully. “Do you like it?”

“It’s perfect for you.”

Before I could ask why he seemed so sad, he took my hand again and pulled me into the water with him.

It splashed around us as we fell in, inelegantly. It was cool enough to make me gasp, and then sigh happily. It was exactly what I needed.

I surfaced with a laugh, and even Blake’s stunning face lit up with a smile that broke my heart. His body brushed against mine, seal-slick and firm.

Soon, I forgot any thought that we may be caught out here, breaking the law. For a little while, we forgot we were grownups at all.

We circled each other, splashed, shrieked, and laughed. We played Marco Polo and Blake pretended to be Poseidon, chasing a wanton mermaid. Blake grabbed my foot after I kicked water at him, and dragged me deeper into the pool. We ducked under the tiny rope with its floating blue and white baubles and floated underwater together, pulling funny faces at each other.

Lightning struck nearby, illuminating the whole pool. A huge rumble of thunder shook the chain fence, and the temperature dropped at least ten degrees. A slight steam rolled off our shoulders and I huddled next to Blake shivering and giggling. The damp air grew more humid, more chlorinated, filling my nose.

Blake took my arms and placed them around his neck, then held me by the waist, floating me within his arms. I wrapped my legs around his hips and we bobbed along through the refreshing water. Goosebumps covered my skin, and I clung to Blake’s warmth. I pressed my mouth to his neck in light, nibbling kisses.

Blake shivered against me. I tightened the grip of my legs and could feel him firm under his trunks. My body wanted to take over, and I let it. I wanted to exist in moments of only action and no thought. Only sensation and no consequence.

I tucked my fingers and then toes into the band of Blake’s shorts, and then pushed them right down off his legs. He leaned in and kissed me, overtaking my mouth with his. I could have drowned, right there and then, in that water, in his kiss.

I settled my legs around him again, feeling his hardness against me, only the bikini bottoms separating us. With an arm still around his neck, I reached the other down and held aside the fabric. Blake groaned, pulling back.

“It’s okay. I’m on contraception,” I lied. I didn’t care. There were no consequences tonight. I’d deal with it the morning after.

Blake’s kiss deepened, and he pressed up. The sticky pool water created a friction between us, and I could feel every movement heightened as he worked his way slowly inside me.

Every motion was deliberate and soft. I wanted to feel each shift of our bodies, to be in that moment, joined together as the water embraced us both. Soon, the friction eased, and we glided against each other.

Blake bit down on my shoulder and cupped my ass with strong fingers. He controlled my rise and fall with his hands, my body floating feather-light in the water. I lay back, letting him slide me over him as I watched his chest muscles roll, glistening in the water and lightning.

Lust consumed me, and I reached down to touch myself. I hesitated at first, seeing how Blake watched me. Testing, I rolled a finger against my sensitive flesh as he pumped into me, and Blake grunted loudly. “Fuck yes.”

His speed built, and mine matched it, the water swirling and splashing as pleasure built in even larger waves. Then the sky opened up, fast, fat drops of icy rain colliding with us.

My whole being was caught, trapped in the sensations, in how good Blake felt, how firmly he fitted inside me, how intensely he looked at me.

I tipped over the edge of pleasure, falling into an ocean of release. I cried out, just as Blake’s own orgasm hit.

My head rolled back, and I saw a pair of feet clad in ugly, official-looking black shoes stopped right beside us at the edge of the pool.

“You two are in a hell of a lot of trouble,” the uniformed security guard said.