Page 16 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)

“Maybe I should go out and make sure Abril and Lilith are okay,” Crispin muttered, glaring out the front window. “I do not

see them and they have been out there awhile.”

“Abril and Lilith returned from their walk while you were putting the tent flap back up,” Roberts said mildly.

Crispin blinked at this news. That had happened a good fifteen minutes ago. The tent flap Roberts had thrown over the roof

of the tent so that they could watch from inside the house had slid back down. He’d made a run out to the car, found some

clips in the trunk, and gone around to the side of the house to better secure the panel up and out of the way.

“Oh,” he said finally, relieved she was okay, but wishing Roberts had said something earlier. He’d been fretting for some

time now.

“You should go kiss her again.”

Crispin’s head jerked around with shock. “What?”

“You heard me,” Roberts said calmly.

“I may have,” Crispin agreed. “But I cannot have heard correctly. It sounded like you said I should go kiss Abril again...

when you told me not an hour ago that I should avoid kissing her, lest I scare her off with life mate passion.” He paused

briefly, scowling at Roberts, and then asked irritably, “So which is it? Do I kiss her or not?”

Roberts turned from the sliding glass door he’d been staring through and said patiently, “I did tell you not to kiss her for

fear of scaring her off, but now you are not doing anything . You are not even talking to her.”

“Because I do not know what to say,” Crispin said with frustration. “I have not had the occasion to speak to women who were

not either relatives or work colleagues for ages. What do I say? How do I start a conversation? Should I begin by talking

about the weather? Or by telling her that I think her eyes are as lovely as emeralds?”

“I am not sure,” Roberts admitted apologetically. “But either is better than nothing. You two are not talking at all. You

are barely even looking at each other, just stealing glances when the other one is not looking. You are both acting like a

couple of awkward teenagers, all timid and bashful. Continue on this way and you will never win her to you. You need to make

her love you so that she will overlook what we are and agree to be your life mate. But if you cannot talk to make that happen,

then I guess you are going to have to try sexual persuasion.”

“Sexual persuasion?” Crispin asked with interest, feeling himself harden at the very thought.

“Yes. I see that has caught your attention,” Roberts said dryly, and then added, “Just do not try it in the pool. If you both pass out there, she will drown and all will be lost.”

“Pool?” Crispin asked with confusion. He knew there was one here, but had no idea why Roberts was bringing it up as if he

might drag Abril there to romance her. Chlorine and cold water did not seem a seductive scenario to him.

“The pool may not be where you would prefer to begin your seduction, but since that is where Abril is, I fear you have little

choice,” he said and pointed to the large screen of images from the security cameras that hung next to the television and

said, “She apparently felt like taking a dip when she and Lilith got back from their walk.”

Crispin peered at the monitor, quickly zeroing in on the section showing the interior of the pool room. Abril, in a rather

attractive, sleek black one-piece swimsuit, was tossing a towel onto a wicker couch as she passed it on the way to the pool.

“Perhaps it is better if you do not find the pool conducive to seduction,” Roberts said thoughtfully. “Maybe the cold water

will clear your heads and the two of you will actually be able to hold a conversation.”

Crispin was silent as he watched Abril walk down the steps into the pool. His gaze followed every curve of her body as it

slowly disappeared into the cover of the water. When she then dove under, submerging her whole body, Crispin stood abruptly,

only to immediately freeze as he realized—“I do not have a swimsuit.”

“You could try au naturel,” Roberts suggested.

Crispin’s eyes widened. He felt himself harden even further at the suggestion and then he hurried from the kitchen.

As he passed through the entry, he toed off one shoe and then the other.

Leaving them there, he continued on past the indoor garden, removing his jacket and tie as he went.

Both were lain over the end of the couch as he reached it.

His shirt with all its buttons took a little longer to remove, but he did manage the task before reaching the end of the living room and the sliding doors that waited there.

He tossed the shirt over the closest chair, and then opened the door and stepped out into the warm, sultry pool room.

That’s when Crispin realized he still had his socks on. Bracing one hand against the wall, he quickly removed them, folded

them over, and set them just inside the door.

Straightening, Crispin closed the door, and reached for his belt as he turned back to the pool room. It was L shaped, jutting

out from where he stood with a table and chairs and then a hot tub straight ahead, before turning left and stretching out

that way where the pool was.

Crispin unbuckled and removed his belt, then set it over one of the chairs at the table. His hands went to the snap of his

pants then, but he suddenly stopped. Going au naturel as Roberts had suggested just seemed one step too far. He worried Abril

would think it was presumptuous of him.

He debated the issue briefly, and decided not to take any chances.

He left his pants on, walked past the table and chairs, and around the corner.

Crispin now stood beside a wicker couch that he could imagine putting to good use.

But for now, Abril was in the pool ahead of him.

She hadn’t noticed his presence yet. She was presently swimming away from him toward the opposite end of the pool.

Crispin watched her for a minute, admiring her stroke, and then walked to the lip of the pool and dove in.

The water was surprisingly warm and silky as he moved through it. When Crispin surfaced, he found that Abril had stopped swimming

and turned to face him in the water. He also saw the fear on her face just before recognition erased it and she relaxed in

the water.

“Hi,” she said weakly.

“Hi,” he responded solemnly, and then added, “You should never swim alone. If you ran into difficulty there would be no one

here to help you. You should always have a swim buddy.”

“Lilith is here,” she pointed out.

He glanced around, surprised to see the dog lying beside the pool watching them with interest.

“And she’s actually been trained to pull people out of the water if they get into trouble.”

Crispin didn’t hide his surprise as he glanced back to her. “Really?”

She smiled faintly, but nodded. “Gina lives alone. She wanted to swim in her pool without having to worry about there being

someone with her. So, she took Lilith to a dog trainer and had him teach Lilith what to do in case somebody was drowning.

How best to hold on to them to get them to the pool steps, and then how to pull them up the steps until their head was out

of the water, and so on.”

Crispin shook his head with wonder as he eased a step closer to her in the water. “A dog as lifeguard. Amazing.”

“Yes,” she agreed. “But dogs are smart animals, they use them in war to track people, detect explosives, and patrol, as well as for search and rescue. Then there are guide dogs, diabetic alert dogs, mobility assistance dogs, seizure response and alert dogs, medical service dogs...” Her voice trailed off and she shrugged.

“Dogs are amazing animals. It’s no surprise they can act as lifeguards too. ”

Crispin just stared at her. He was listening to her, but wasn’t really taking in what she was saying other than that she was

giving a rousing speech about the awesomeness of dogs. Mostly, he was just watching her lips move and thinking he would like

to kiss her.

Abril let her voice trail off as she became aware of the way he was staring at her. She managed to meet his intense gaze briefly,

but then had to break the connection, and let her eyes drop to the water between them. She then blinked in surprise.

“Are you wearing your dress pants?” she asked with disbelief.

Crispin glanced down at himself, and then shrugged casually. “I do not have any swim trunks here.”

“Oh. Right.” Her gaze returned to his face again. It was only then that she realized he had moved a little closer. Ignoring

that, she said, “What kind of material are they? They aren’t wool or something I hope, or the chlorinated water might ruin

them.” And then her eyes widened. “You can’t sit in wet pants all night.”

“It will be fine,” he assured her.

“No,” she said at once, and decided, “We’ll have to put them in the dryer when we’re done swimming.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed, seeming suddenly amused.

“It does, does it?” she asked, arching one eyebrow.

“It does,” he confirmed, taking another step closer in the water.

Abril shrugged with feigned disinterest, and commented, “Well, if you don’t mind sitting around buck naked with nothing but

a towel on while your pants are drying, then I guess it’s all good.”

“Would you mind?” he asked, his voice softer... and deeper and a bit husky.

Abril swallowed, and found herself licking her lips. He was awfully close now. Just inches separated them in the water. They

were so close that she had to tilt her head up to meet his gaze, her body naturally arching as she did.

“Would you?” he persisted.

Abril blinked in confusion. She had already forgotten his question and was, instead, thinking about the fact that, if he moved

one inch closer, their bodies would be brushing against each other. She almost wanted to lean forward that one inch herself.

“Abril?” he whispered.

“Yes?” She was staring at his chest now. He looked like a marble sculpture, and she found her hand rising to flatten itself

on his chest to be sure he was flesh and blood.

Abril thought she heard a small groan slip from Delacort at her touch, but she wasn’t certain because she was busy struggling to suppress the moan she herself wanted to release at the rush of sensation that ran through her own body at that simple act.

The man was beautiful. He wasn’t huge or overmuscled.

He was lean with well-defined muscles and had beautiful pectorals that she just couldn’t resist brushing her hand over.

Oddly enough, her body was just responding again when Delacort’s hand closed over hers, stopping its movement. Her gaze shot up to his face.

He didn’t look angry or upset in any way. In fact, judging by his heated gaze and hungry expression, anger was definitely

not what she’d stirred in him. Even so, she offered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t—”

Her words died abruptly when his mouth closed over hers.

As had happened when he’d kissed her earlier, passion exploded between them. When he released her hand to wrap his arms around

her, Abril did the same, sliding her arms around his neck as she kissed him back. It wasn’t until her legs began to drift

a bit, rubbing against his, that she realized that she was no longer standing on her own feet. He’d raised her slightly out

of the water to claim her mouth without having to bend his head too far.

Not wanting him to think that she was deliberately rubbing herself against him, Abril wrapped her legs around his hips and

hooked her feet behind him, but that was even worse. She was no longer brushing back and forth against him under the water,

instead her position left her groin perched firmly against his. For one moment, she considered letting her legs drop from

around him again, then Delacort deepened the kiss, distracting her. She stayed where she was and responded to his hungry devouring.

Completely consumed by the heat and sensation pouring through her body, Abril made a sound between a moan and a growl of protest when Delacort broke their kiss.

“We need to get out of the water,” he muttered against her skin as he trailed his lips down her throat.

“Okay,” Abril gasped, letting her hands wander over his back, feeling the hard muscles shifting as he began to caress her

too. The hand he’d placed on her bottom to lift her slightly out of the water began to squeeze and knead the flesh while his

other hand moved to her breast and began to do the same. The excitement those caresses sent charging through her body had

her unconsciously arching and shifting her hips against him, grinding herself against the hardness she felt there. She then

threw her head back on a cry at the surge of excitement it sent through her.

“Out,” Delacort moaned against the skin of her throat as he buried his face there, his lips and tongue sending more tingles

through her as he lathed and then suckled at her skin.

“Yes,” Abril groaned, although it wasn’t to the word he’d spoken so much as the way his body shifted against hers as he began

to walk through the water. Wrapped around him as she was, every step was a caress across her entire body, his chest moving

against her very erect and tender nipples, and his groin rubbing on her extremely excited core.

Mounting the steps, however, took it to another level.

Perhaps it was because he’d tightened his hold on her, presumably to prevent dropping her, or perhaps so he could look over her shoulder and down her back to the steps he was ascending to avoid tripping.

Whatever the case, the fine cord of tension that had been tightening with each kiss and caress snapped on perhaps the second or third step.

Abril wasn’t sure which, and didn’t really care as her orgasm overtook her.

She didn’t even really notice when Delacort stumbled and started to fall forward with her, his own roar of release filling her ears as he too came.

She was so wrapped up in the sensations charging over her, that she simply tightened her arms around his shoulders and her legs around his waist when he released her to reach out to break their fall.