SECRET PLACE

Annabelle took Albert to the edge of the waterfall. The water was very heavy, even Albert hesitated with Annabelle's decision to jump from a height that could not be underestimated. The sound of the falling waterfall makes an echoing sound and makes anyone who hears it shudder. The torrential water that fell collided with the water below, causing white foam and dew to rise back up to where Albert and Annabelle were standing. Make their clothes a little wet.

"Can you swim and dive, Albert?" Annabelle asked.

"Dive? What are we diving for?" Albert asked back in surprise.

"You'll find out later. If you can't dive, let's just cancel our plans to dive from here."

"I can dive and survive a few minutes in the water," Albert answered quickly.

"Good, my husband really is a knight," Anabelle teased.

Annabelle took off her riding clothes, took off her shoes and outerwear. Albert's eyes looked at his wife who was taking off her clothes one by one, leaving the first layer of white clothes, which stuck directly to her body. Annabelle's beautiful body was clearly printed from under the wet white clothes. Her flat stomach and slender waist looks very seductive.

Albert's hand was itching to reach for it. As her hand reached out to touch him, Annabelle's eyes fixed on her husband. Made Albert laugh and retract his hand.

"Take off your shirt, if you don't want to come home wet," Annabelle said. Albert also took off his top shirt, revealing his broad chest and looking very masculine. Annabelle's eyes stared at him without blinking. He immediately looked away, when Albert caught him staring at his body passionately.

Albert left only his pantyhose before finally getting ready to jump. Annabelle's hand reached out to take Albert's shirt and put them both near their tied horse. After that, Annabelle found her husband again.

"Remember what I said. To jump here, don't just jump. If you jump in carelessly, your head will be smashed against a rock, the rock below is big and ready to accept your body. In the middle of this waterfall, there are two large rocks that split open, that's where you have to stand and jump. Your body will feel a little hot when you collide with the rushing water, then you will fall into deep and calm water with no rocks at all."

"Why does that look terrible to me?" asked Albert.

"If you've done it, all of this, is not as scary as imagined. Trust me, everything is safe. The only condition is that it takes courage and can swim. If you're going to explore something even more beautiful, then you need to dive into it."

"I can't wait to get a feel for what you have to say, My Lady."

"Then follow me, My Lord."

Without another word, Annabelle immediately slid from the place she described earlier. Albert's eyes just widened in disbelief, seeing his wife fall into the pounding of the waterfall. Albert cursed loudly, he did not want to lose to his wife.

Following what Annabelle explained earlier, Albert slid and entered the waterfall. His breath hitched because of the water that had entered his nose, the surface of the skin on his chest was hot from the impact of the rushing water.

Albert was prepared to imagine that he would fall to the bottom of a waterfall with thousands of liters of water falling on his head. How could he survive the fierce pounding of the water?

But what he imagined did not happen, before his body slid down the bottom of the waterfall, an invisible hollow, caught him. His body slid into the deep and calm water. The basin is not visible from the outside because it is behind a waterfall. Of course, in order to fall right into the hollow, he would have to stand on a boulder that was split open, just as Annabelle had said earlier.

The basin behind the waterfall is not rocky at all, shaped like a large swimming pool with stone walls on either side, while in front of it like a white curtain that protects and closes it, the white curtain is a waterfall that Albert has often seen so far. Albert's mouth fell open as he stared at the waterfall in front of him. Where could there be a place like this? In all his life, he had not known there was a hidden place like this.

"Isn't this a beautiful place?" asked Annabelle from behind Albert's back.

Albert immediately turned around and swam to his wife. "How did you find this hidden place? It was like entering another world."

"I'll tell you later, it's too cold in here. I don't want to freeze to death from soaking in here."

"Where are we going?"

"To a warm place," whispered Annabelle who then swam away from her husband.

Albert, too, followed his wife from behind, until Annabelle finally stopped in the middle of another, smaller basin. "Come with me, we'll dive for a bit," Annabelle said.

Albert nodded in agreement. He took as many breaths as he could, as Annabelle did, then plunged into the water. There was a small stone tunnel that could only fit one person in and out. Annabelle entered the tunnel.

Albert was surprised because after passing through the tunnel in the water, the water turned warm. They also swam up and appeared on a different surface of the water from the previous one. Albert was speechless seeing what he saw.

A very beautiful cave, protecting them, the water is so warm that the surface of the water is covered with a white mist formed from the warm steam from the water where they swim. When Albert looked up, he could see stalactites with a sharp tip that formed very beautiful water droplets and strokes.

"This is what keeps me coming to the forest. This is where I hide from the outside world. This is my secret place," Annabelle said.

"How did you find a place as beautiful as this?" asked Albert.

"When I was 12 years old, there were people in big hoods and galloping horses approaching the estate. Dad said they were robbers who would rob our estate and kill our family. Dad hid mom underground, but he grabbed me and took me on his horse, into the woods. I was really scared at the time, but dad said I had to trust him. If I'm a coward, then I'm not dad's daughter."

Annabelle also remembers that moment, a gripping moment in her life.

"Then what happen?"

"Dad brought me here."

Albert's eyes widened in disbelief. "You were 12 years old when you launched from that height?"

"Yes, even my body felt like hitting a very hard rock, as it burst out of that waterfall. I thought that I would die. When my body sank, dad pulled me."

"Then what happen?"

"What happened, I'm fine. I can get out of here safely and return to the estate."

"Then this cave? How did you find it?"

"I accidentally found it. After the incident with my dad, I ended up coming here often and diving in the first basin we were in. Suddenly my eyes caught something strange, as if there were two different kinds of water in this basin. That's when I found out there was a tunnel that led us here."

"You are indeed wonderful, Annabelle. No Lady has had an adventure as bold as this. Even now, I can't believe that if I marry a Lady, you are the forest girl I saw a few months ago."

"What? Forest girl?" Annabelle laughed at the mention.

His laughter suddenly stopped as Albert swam quickly and caught his body, Albert's lips smothered the laughter. Albert's hand went to Annabelle's nape, stroked it briefly and pulled Annabelle's hair gently, causing Annabelle to tilt her head. That's when Albert's lips, greedily crushed his wife's warm lips. Tasted it and tried to open his wife's mouth. Annabelle was still silent, not wanting to make Albert's passion explode here. Unfortunately it had happened, something hardened there, awe and passion mixed into one.

"It seems I already know what I want to do to you, My Lady. I will take my present now," said Albert who then kissed his wife's lips again, before Annabelle could refuse.

***