There was a long pause and then a splashing sound which meant her husband was in the water. Allara turned slowly, crossing her arms over her bare breasts, though she knew it was foolish. He had, after all, seen her body through the thin nightgowns she wore every night—seen it and stroked it with his big, warm hands. This wouldn’t be so very different.
But still, her stomach was fluttering nervously as she stepped down into the bathing pool, feeling the warm water envelope her.
Brand was at the other end of the pool, very obviously giving her space.
“Be careful, sweetheart,” he said anxiously as Allara climbed in. “That last step is pretty slip—“
And that was the last thing Allara heard before her feet slipped on the step and she plunged down as the water closed over her head.
“Allara? Allara!”
Before she could even start to panic, big, muscular arms were scooping her out of the water and she was being pulled close to Brand’s broad chest.
“Baby?” He looked down at her anxiously. “Are you all right?”
“I think so.” Allara sputtered and pushed her wet hair out of her eyes. “Thank you for coming to save me so quickly, husband,” she said, swiping at her eyes.
“I should have been right beside you, so you didn’t go under in the first place,” Brand rumbled. He sounded upset with himself. “I was just trying to keep my distance, so you didn’t feel uncomfortable being naked around me, baby.”
His words made Allara realize all over again that she was completely bare in her husband’s arms. Looking down, she could see her full breasts bobbing just above the water, her nipples like dark, ripe berries at the tips of her breasts.
“Oh,” she murmured, biting her lip. “It was…most kind of you to try and spare my feelings, husband.”
“Do you want me to put you down?” he asked her.
“Oh, no!” Allara clutched at him. “I am afraid I am not a very good swimmer,” she admitted. “I am…much more afraid of drowning than I am of you seeing me bare, husband!”
“Okay, baby—I won’t let you go.” He pulled her a little closer to his chest. “But it’s no good, you not knowing how to swim. How about if we fix that—or at least make a start on it?”
“Fix it?” Allara frowned at him. “How?”
“I’ll give you a swimming lesson,” Brand told her. “If you’ll let me.”
“You will?” This was the last thing Allara had expected. “But how can you teach me to swim?”
“Well, first you have to learn to float. Look, what you need to remember is that the flatter you make your body, the more surface area you have spread out on the water and the easier it will be for you to stay afloat,” Brand instructed. “So what I need for you to do is let go of my neck and let yourself relax in my arms.”
Allara wasn’t certain about this at all.
“Relax?” she asked, looking suspiciously at the steaming water of the bathing pool. It had already tried to swallow her once—she didn’t like the idea of giving it a second chance.
“Sure, baby. Just relax.” He looked at her earnestly, his golden eyes serious. “Do you trust me not to let you fall?”
Allara bit her lip. A week ago she wouldn’t have trusted him for anything. But now, so much had changed.
“Yes,” she said, nodding. “Yes, husband, I trust you.”
“Good, then just relax and lie back in the water. I’m going to keep my hands under your shoulders and hips and help you float until you get the hang of it.”
Feeling a little self-conscious and a lot nervous, Allara did as he said. Slowly, she relaxed back into the water, trying to make her body go flat as Brand had said.
“That’s good.” He nodded encouragingly. “But try to relax, baby. Don’t just go flat—go limp. You’ll be surprised how well the water holds you up.”
Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, Allara did her best to obey. It helped that she could feel his big hands under her back and hips, still firmly supporting her. But it was scary to give in and surrender to the water around her.
Yet, when she was finally able to let herself go, she realized that Brand was right. The water felt like a big, warm hand holding her up. And of course, having the big Kindred so close by helped as well.
“You’re doing it baby—you’re floating!” Brand’s deep voice was somewhat muffled by the water in her ears but she could still understand him clearly. Allara smiled up at him, feeling supported and cared for and loved.
Wait a moment—who said anything about love? her aunt’s voice sneered in her head. He’s just trying to get you off your guard so that he can take you when you least expect it.
Allara told herself she didn’t believe that voice—that it was just lying to make her feel frightened. But she suddenly didn’t want to float anymore. Lifting her head out of the water, she looked up at Brand.
“Thank you for the lesson, husband,” she said. “But can we leave the pool now? I am feeling…a bit overheated.”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
Gathering her close to his chest again, he waded towards the steps and held her hips securely as she set her feet on them. When Allara was out of the pool, she went quickly for the towels, deliberately not watching as Brand got out behind her.
Allara gave him plenty of time to dry off while she wrapped herself in a towel and squeezed the water out of her long hair. When she judged he’d had time to cover up, she turned around at last.
“Well, that was quite a bath, husband,” she said, trying to smile as she looked up at him. “Remind me never to go into the bathing pool on my own.”
“Not until we finish teaching you how to swim, anyway,” he rumbled. Striding over, he cupped Allara’s cheek in his big, warm hand. “It’s up to you now, sweetheart,” he murmured, looking down into her eyes. “Do you want the first night of our Bathing Week to end now? We can simply go to bed and go to sleep if you do.”
Allara bit her lip. After a whole week of build-up, it felt cowardly to just go to bed having done nothing new to deepen their intimacy. Part of her was still frightened to death, but she was no coward.
Lifting her chin, she looked him in the eye.
“No, husband,” she said clearly. “I am not ready for bed yet. At least, not to sleep.”
A slow smile curved Brand’s sensuous mouth.
“In that case, baby, how do you feel about getting a massage?”
Twenty-Four
Brand couldn’t believe he was finally going to get to touch his bride’s beautiful, curvy, naked body with no barriers in between the two of them. Every time he had caressed her through her silky nightgown, he had dreamed of touching her bare flesh.
But now that the moment was finally here, he didn’t want to frighten her.
To that end, he kept the towel firmly wrapped around his waist as he led her back into the bedroom, where he had a folding massage table set up in the corner. He would have used the bed, but it wasn’t quite high enough and he didn’t want to be bending over awkwardly while he tried to give his bride a good massage.