Page 109 of Obsession (Dark Revenge)
I considered her suggestion. It wasn’t a bad one, and it had already been proven that knowing how to swim could be a valuable skill. Finn, that bastard, had to save my skin once, and he now knew one of my vulnerabilities. It needed to be addressed.
“All right, then,” I agreed before heading toward the door leading to the small porch. “But you’re still getting your punishment afterward for your attitude.”
To my surprise, Alison laughed as if she welcomed that prospect. I intended to make her regret every moment of it, but for now, I would allow her to show me a few things. I set her down by the pool, and she glanced around.
“Do I not get a bathing suit?” Alison inquired.
“No,” I replied bluntly.
“Why not?”
“I don’t have one for you. I didn’t anticipate that we’d go swimming. Now, get undressed and get in.”
A glare flashed across her face, but she reluctantly complied, shedding her clothes in front of me before turning to face me with an expectant look.
“What?” I asked.
“You need to get undressed too,” she reminded me. “We’re both going in the water.”
I gazed at the moving blue water, feeling a deep-seated fear creep over me. I couldn’t quite pinpoint why water made me uneasy, aside from it being a vulnerability of mine. Nevertheless, there was a nagging sensation in my mind, as if it were attempting to remind me of something. My focus remained locked on the water as the past momentarily infiltrated my thoughts. A fleeting image appeared in my mind—an injured woman in a bathtub with a conspicuous head wound, yet her eyes were fixed on me.
“Jared?” Alison’s voice pulled me back to reality, and I turned to find her looking at me with concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” I responded, shaking off the image.
“Then get undressed.”
I no longer felt like going for a swim, but I had faced far worse demons in my life. I could overcome this too. Reluctantly, I undressed, and Alison entered the water first, the cool liquid reaching her waist.
I followed suit, keeping close to the edge where we could still touch the bottom. She smiled at me from further out, but beneath my skin, something crawled—a lingering discomfort. I needed to divert my thoughts elsewhere, so my gaze wanderedand eventually settled on Alison’s breasts, a result of the chill in the air making her nipples stiffen.
“Hey, focus!” she scolded, realizing where my attention had drifted.
“I’m very focused,” I replied smugly.
She rolled her eyes and then turned, pushing herself away from me and gliding through the water. When she reached the deeper end of the pool, she turned to face me.
“Saw that?” she asked.
“Do you want me to praise you?”
She chuckled. “No, I want you to remember that fluid motion, how my arms moved.”
“I remember.”
“Do you? Or were you staring at my ass?”
We both shared a laugh, the unexpected sound lightening the mood before we refocused on each other.
“Wanna give it a try?” she asked.
“I’m not venturing to your end,” I informed her.
“You don’t have to,” she said and swam back to me, planting her feet on the bottom again. “We all start in the shallow end.”
Her tone held a hint of playful teasing, reminding me that I didn’t know how to swim—a skill even children possessed. As I glanced at the water again, that haunting image resurfaced, sending a sickening feeling through my stomach.
“Jared?”
