Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
The opening was so small I couldn’t imagine sitting on one of the row boats I read tour guides brought people in with. And once we made it inside the cave, there was a split second where I wondered how more than just a few people fit inside.
Of course, that thought vanished in the next second, because I lost my breath at the grand wonder of it all.
The closer we got to the cave opening, the bluer the water seemed to get, and once we passed through and inside, it was as if the water was glowing from underneath us. It was crystal clear, a shade of blue so illustrious I couldn’t quite put a name to it. It was turquoise, but also robin’s egg, and perhaps a sky at dawn or a fresh fountain in the sun. The limestone stretched up and over us, and it was as if the ceiling was dripping down but had been frozen, the jagged edges caught mid-drip.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, because speaking at a normal level inside that beautiful cave seemed rude and uncalled for. “This is… I can’t believe this is real.”
Theo smiled, swimming deeper into the cave and pulling me along with him. “It’s even brighter when it’s midday and the sun comes in full force, but of course, you have to battle row boats full of tourists if you come then,” he said. He paused when we were in the middle of the cave, turning to face me. “I’ve always come here after hours. Shhh… don’t tell on me.”
I smirked, but something in my chest tightened at the thought. “I’m sure every girl you bring here just swoons right into your arms.”
Theo cocked a brow. “I wouldn’t know,” he said, smiling at my confused expression. “I’ve always come alone.”
My heart tha-dumped in my chest, a quick beat and then pitter-patters that left me feeling dizzy and short of breath.
“Does that surprise you?”
“Yes,” I confessed.
Theo smiled, leaning back to float in the water. “Oh, that’s right. You think I’m a big playboy, huh?”
“Are you not? I mean, I saw you with those French girls that first night I worked for you on the boat.”
Theo arched a brow. “You were watching me?”
“No,” I said quickly, cheeks hot again. “Well… I mean, I just saw you with them all night, the way they were hanging all over you. And then you all went up to your room…”
“And were you in there, to see what happened after?”
I looked away, not willing to admit that I had seen them through the windows before he drew the curtains closed.
Then again… what had I seen, exactly?
“Audrey and Nicolette were both very drunk that evening, as was I,” Theo said, floating on his back with his eyes cast toward the cave ceiling. “I kissed them both, sure, but then I put them to bed and I slept in a different room.”
“You did?”
Theo smiled. “I did.”
“You didn’t want to… to…”
“Have sex with two beautiful women?” Theo answered for me, glancing at me with a grin. “On a normal occasion, yes. But let’s just say my mind was a little… pre-occupied.”
I frowned, tilting my head to the side. Theo waited for me to connect the dots, but I didn’t see the dots at all. And so he sighed, blowing out all the air in his chest until he slipped under the water. When he re-emerged, he swam toward me with his mouth under the water, his nose and eyes over it, gliding through the blue mirror like a predator.
My breath hitched in my throat, and he didn’t stop until the warmth of his body struck me through the icy cold water. He didn’t touch me, but was close enough that everything inside me buzzed to life with the desire that he would.
“I’m growing tired of this game, Aspen.”
“What game?” I asked on a breath, one that was met with his, and the cave seemed to quiet, as if it was closing its doors to all others and locking us inside.
“The one where you pretend like you don’t want me,” he husked, and under the water, a warm palm wrapped around my waist.
I inhaled a stiff breath, shaking violently at the touch, my eyelids fluttering as he slipped that hand around to my lower back and pulled me closer, into him, until we were flush against each other and I could feel his desire pressed against my core that ached for him in return.
“And I pretend like you’re not already mine.”
My next breath shuddered out of me, and I clung to his arms. “But I’m not yours,” I reminded him, but the whisper was so faint, so shaky from the cold and my nerves that I wondered if I truly believed what I’d said at all.
Theo swallowed, and I traced the water as it dripped from his hair and down the bridge of his nose, down the edges of his jaw, over his lips that were rolling together as he watched me in return.