“Yeah, just this heat is getting to me a little bit,” I say wiping away the perspiration I feel forming against my forehead.
“You should come in the water.”
“I don’t have my bikini on.”
“So?” He wiggles his eyebrows and I shift away from his hold with a shriek of laughter, knowing from the wicked glint in his eyes what he’s moments away from doing.
“Don’t you dare. My phone is in my pocket.”
He laughs holding his hands out in surrender. “Okay, I promise not to drag you in the pool. So …” he begins, resting his arms on the side of the pool, slanting his head to the side. “How many times have you spoken to Sebastian today?”
I try to mask my sheepish smile, but fail miserably when his eyes wrinkle with the widening of his full-blown grin.
“Um … four times.”
Ashton’s head falls back in amusement. “You’re getting worse,” he sputters through his laughter.
“Well in my defense he didn’t answer the first three times.”
He shakes his head with disbelief, his wide smile still in place. “What am I going to do with you?” I match his grin as my fingers run through the thick tendrils of his wet hair. “Is Lily okay?” he asks seriously a few moments later.
“Yeah. She’s perfect. Although I should feel jealous of you since the first words out of her mouth when I spoke to her were ‘Where’s Ashton?’ not ‘Hi, Mommy’ or ‘I miss you, Mommy’.”
More laughter howls from his mouth and I can’t help the pout that forms on my lips, my arms crossing defensively over my chest, especially when he says, “That’s my girl.”
When he locks onto my unimpressed glare, he moves closer until both his arms are placed on either side of my thighs. “You don’t need to be jealous, baby,” he says with a hint of amusement, amusement that has my lips curling up in a smile. “But what can I say … I’m obviously more missed than you.” The pad of my feet make contact with his chest and in one smooth movement I push him away from me, splashing him in the face, causing him to cough-choke on his laughter.
“You’re such an ass!” I exclaim, staring daggers at him with a full-blown smile, noticing how his eyes still crinkle with merriment, along with the signature smirk that I see slanted to the side of his mouth.
“Your ass,” he affirms with a raised eyebrow.
I roll my eyes and say, “Yes, my ass.” Just as I say this I happen to take a glance in Riley’s direction, my eyes locking on hers with a look that says ‘stay the hell away’. She seems to understand my warning perfectly as she slides off the inflatable lounger and makes her way out of the pool with a soured pout. Just as she grabs a towel and walks into the house, I hear Jo shout out from the veranda, “Junior, babe … that’s enough. Come and get dry please!”
Junior’s little feet climb the steps, and a little frown appears on his cute face. “Just five more minutes, please!” he begs, his green doe-eyes widening.
“Now, Junior,” she says in a stern tone that clearly tells him that she’s not to be argued with. He looks in our direction, his puppy dog eyes still in place. Ashton chuckles under his breath. “Do as your momma says, bud.”
He rolls his eyes with an over exaggerated sigh before stomping towards the house, complaining how unfair it is that Uncle Ashton can stay in the pool and he can’t. His armbands squeak with every move he makes.
Once alone, I lean back on my elbows, watching as Ashton takes hold of my left foot in the water and begins massaging it with his fingertips. An involuntary moan escapes my parted lips, loving the way his masterful fingers feel against my delicate foot. He also notices my slight wince when his thumb moves over one of my newly formed blisters. He looks at me questioningly, with one eyebrow raised. “You okay?”
“Yeah … it’s just my feet are a little sore from all the walking around today, but that’s nice. Continue,” I say with a playful smile, one that he reciprocates.
“I’ll be gentle,” he says before continuing with his wonderful massage. We’re silent for a while and I feel myself becoming engrossed and, quite frankly, a little turned on as I watch the way his masculine thumbs knead the arch of my foot. I’m amazed at how a simple touch from his fingers can incite such an electrifying current; one that travels from the tips of my toes to the fine strands of hair on my head. I watch intently as his hands move to my other foot, continuing their caress along my highly sensitized skin now tingling from his touch. I finally slide my eyes over to his face, noticing a ghost of a smile on his lips, almost like he’s reminiscing.
“What?” I ask, my lips curling into a contagious smile, trying to figure out what he’s thinking. His eyes meet mine and his smile widens.
“I’m just thinking about the first time I did this.” He pivots his head to my feet and I immediately know what he’s recalling. It was after my sister’s funeral in Miami, and to help me relax after one of the worst days of my life, he offered to give me a foot massage. It might seem like an innocent gesture between two friends yet it was anything but innocent …
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so turned on in my life,” he says bringing me out of my thoughts. “You were just laying there in that fluffy robe, with nothing else on underneath and … God, the things I wanted to do to you,” he almost growls. I sit up straight and smile down at him.
“What kind of things?” I ask with a flirtatious tone to my voice.
His pupils dilate at my question, his emerald eyes turning a lustful shade darker. “Well, I imagined myself running my fingers over these like this,” he begins, his hands smoothing over my ankles, his thumbs caressing the skin just above my feet. “Then massaging my way up your calves…” His hands continue their journey up my legs, his fingers kneading the muscles, causing my breath to falter at the slightest touch. “Then … after a little while of concentrating on your calves, I’d continue upwards, past your knees until I reached your thighs, just under the hem of your robe.” I bite down on my bottom lip while my insides violently throb. I can feel a bead of sweat beginning to roll down the center of my chest towards my cleavage, and it isn’t because of the sun beaming down on me. “Then, I’d move a little higher, running my fingers along the tops of your thighs like this …” His hands smooth along my thighs, gradually moving upwards until his fingers begin to trace the edge of my denim shorts, while his thumbs stroke my inner thighs in a circular motion. He keeps his hands in place as he continues and my legs involuntarily open on their own accord. “Until my fingers were inches away from your pussy which I would have had full view of since your robe would have opened and gathered at the side of your legs.” He pauses for a brief moment, staring up at me with hooded eyes before proceeding.
“I remember thinking how much I craved to taste you, and how, if I had the courage, I would have pressed my finger against your pussy, to find it soaked and ready for me before sliding along the slickness, leaving you breathless.” I look down at my thighs and notice they are trembling under his slow, precise touch. My eyes flicker back to his, my heart rate picking up speed at the intensity from his lustful eyes.
“Then I would have crawled onto my knees until my face was inches away from your pussy, so close I could smell the enticing aroma. Slowly, I would have pressed a single kiss against your flesh, feeling the way the moisture tingled against my lips before sliding my tongue against your clit.”
A low groan escapes my mouth along with a lungful of air that whooshes from me. He pulls his upper body out of the water and I feel his fingers fiddling with my phone in my pocket, but I hardly register the movement when his lips touch mine with the barest of kisses.
“And the image of my face being buried in that pretty pussy of yours had me fighting off my erection for an hour straight. And I had no idea that I would in fact get to taste you, to feel you … to make love to you that very same night.” He misses out the bit about my running off into the bathroom and breaking down because I cheated on the person whom I thought I was destined to spend the rest of my life with—before I met Ashton, that is.