G rowing up, I'd been a little mortified to be the type of girl whose house was ostentatious enough to have fucking wings . But after a semester spent in the dorms at my school, where I was subjected round the clock to loud shouts and occasional sex noises, the quiet of my room way off in the east wing was deeply satisfying .

When my parents moved into Briscombe Hall, when Niall was a baby and before I'd been born, it had been a crumbling ruin. One of those old follies built by a Victorian shipping magnate with designs on attaining nobility. My parents were not noble however, though we certainly knew people who were. They were just, as they termed it, lucky .

And I was lucky to have them as parents, and Niall as my brother. I was lucky in a lot of ways that counted. Lucky to have enough to eat, that's for sure .

Way, way too much to eat .

I regarded myself in the floor length mirror for a moment before shrugging out of the paint splattered T-shirt I had been wearing to help my mother. I was still getting used to this new body I had acquired by complete accident. My friend Poppy claimed that my newly grown curves could only help me in my bid to finally lose my virginity, but I wasn't so sure about that. And I wasn't in nearly such a rush to lose it as Poppy was on my behalf .

I opened the suitcase I'd packed for the week and pulled out the little white bikini I had bought for a holiday this past winter, glad I'd thought to bring it. I held it out in front of me and regarded it balefully, wondering if somehow it had shrunk in the past few months it had been packed away .

It was little .

Tiny.

Almost scandalously so .

I put it up to my chest. Since being away from Briscombe, I might have gained a kilo or two. Possibly a whole stone if I was being honest. Late nights in the dormitories, sketching and studying and mindlessly snacking had turned my tall, lean figure into a tall...not-so lean one .

"Bugger me," I muttered, out of earshot of my mother and free to swear with impunity. I quickly stripped and tied the bikini top around my back

"Well, bloody hell." My cups...runneth over. Not in a terrible way, but definitely in a porn-y way. I pressed my lips together and grabbed the bottom and yanked it up my thighs .

Where it stopped .

I did a little wiggly dance and got it up another centimeter. Then the sound of popping stitches assaulted my ears .

"Well fuck," I announced to my blazing hot room. I had no other swimsuit. I might ask my mother, but she preferred the mumsy, skirted one-pieces that could do in a pinch. But as I was a whole head taller than her, I didn't relish the idea of having a too-short one-piece jamming its way into my bumcrack .

I pulled my bikini off and wiped the sweat from my forehead. The pool glinted beckoningly from the back garden, a sparkling turquoise jewel that I could just imagine enveloping me. I pulled on my panties and bra, and then glanced at myself in the mirror .

I was home. This was my house. And what's more, the bra and panties covered much more than the bikini even attempted to .

Did I dare ?

I looked at my flushed, sweaty face in the mirror. Nearly the hottest day on record in the South of England .

Yeah. I dared .

I grabbed a towel from the bathroom that my room shared with one of the guest rooms, and wrapped it around my chest. Then I scooted furtively down the back stairs of the old servants' quarters before my mother could catch me and ask if I'd lost my mind .

I went out the back entrance and through the wildly blooming rose gardens then down the path through the low labyrinth. Across the lawn, towards the front of the house, the newly arrived workers were beginning to erect the tents for the wedding that from this distance looked like giant white gulls rising over an ocean of emerald green. A couple of wood-ducks winged through the air and disappeared into the thatch of woodland that hid the small pond that huddled near the edge of our property. The sun blazed in the too-blue sky .

In one swift movement, I let the towel fall and jumped straight into the pool .

The cool water was a shock to my overheated body but I quickly acclimated to it. I dolphin kicked back up to the surface and flung my hair back out of my eyes, rubbing them against the glare. A hot breeze kissed my face and I smiled .

Last year I'd gone with Niall to California. This was almost as good, better for having the advantage of home .

I flipped up and floated on my back, gazing up at the strangely cloudless sky. No matter how much I'd professed to love the bustle of London, after a semester spent in that gray, teeming city, I was always relieved to come back to the gentle rolling hills of Briscombe. Our house was situated on a small, gentle rise and from the upper stories you could see nearly to the village that shared the same name as our house. I let my gaze trace up the softly crumbling stone, up and up ...

To a shadow that suddenly blocked my view .

"What the?" I flipped over onto my stomach and gasped, then sputtered as the water went right up my nose. I coughed then froze in shock .

And the fact that I stopped kicking meant I sank like a stone .

Sputtering and choking, I surfaced again. "What are you doing here?" I gaped even as I tried to avoid drowning a third time .

Hudson Grant stepped back quickly. "Sorry!" he cried in that unplaceable accent of his. His voice boomed off the bricks, so loud the ducks took flight again .

"Ssh!" I hissed .

His eyes widened. Same color, I thought dully, glaring at him and then the sky. "Ah, right," he said, dropping his voice and looking around to make sure we were alone. "Yeah. Sorry Tally. Niall told me there was another door round back here that went straight up to the guest rooms." He glanced down at me and gave a sheepish grin. Then immediately averted his eyes and stared up at the sky .

I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering why he wouldn't look at me. "You're early," I observed...and then a terrifying thought crossed my mind .

I looked down at myself treading water .

Soaked and submerged, my bra had gone completely translucent. The wet fabric was clinging to my breasts, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination .

I looked back up at him in horror. He was still there, still staring upward, averting his eyes but otherwise completely unbothered. I mean, why should he be? He was completely clothed, but I ?

I was basically naked .