Chapter 20

We walked down the beautiful winding staircase once more. "There are four floors, a basement, and a sub-basement. Where do you want to go first?", he said. I tugged at his arm, "I want you to take me to your favorite room." He chuckled at my statement, "I guess our bedroom doesn't count." I blushed and playfully swatted at his chest, "No, our bedroom doesn't count."

"I need to grab something real quick first. Do you mind waiting here for a moment?", he said. He was gone in a blur, heading back up the stairs. I stood awkwardly, waiting for him to return. He came back with a medium-sized canvas bag. "What's in there?", I inquired. He replied, "You'll just have to wait and see." 

He led me around the first floor of the mansion until we reached an elevator. Do you mean to tell me we had one of these this whole time? Why was I always taking the stairs? "Our wing is only accessible via the east staircase.", he said, reading my mind again. We entered the elevator, and he pressed the button for the basement.

"You don't have some kind of sex dungeon down here, do you?", I asked jokingly. He laughed and pulled me closer to him by my waist, "No, but that's not a bad idea. I'll talk to my father about renovating one of the rooms immediately." I blushed, "You will not." He kissed my forehead and led me out when the doors opened. 

He led me down several different corridors; he knew the layout like the back of his hand, before walking with me into a large changing room. The smell of chlorine was in the air. "Is there a pool down here?" I asked. He raised his eyebrows once as he pulled his swimming trunks out of the canvas bag before handing it over to me. "Pick a stall and get changed, Love.", he grinned devilishly. 

Once I found the swimsuit in the bag, I figured out why he had grinned like that. It might as well have been lingerie. I was still stunning. It was a lapis blue one-piece, very low cut in the front, and it had an open back with a few thin braided white straps that crisscrossed accentuating certain areas. The bottom portion was practically a thong; it showed more than my cheeky underwear and sat higher up, basically at the crest of my hips. 

I wrapped myself up in a towel, feeling slightly embarrassed; my brazenness the other night had fled my body as soon as we left the comfort of our own wing. I followed the smell of the chlorine and found James already in the pool. He was swimming laps gracefully. When he popped his head up, I said, "No fair." He swam over to the edge of the pool where I was standing.

"Why are you hiding your beautiful body, Baby?" I blushed and pulled the towel tighter around me, "I didn't want anyone else to see me." He let out a chuckle, "There's no one here. Besides, I would gouge their eyes out; you are mine." I teased, "Awe, Is my husband jealous?" "Jealous is the wrong word; territorial would be more accurate.", he retorted.

"So what wasn't fair?", he asked. "You're already in the water.", I replied, "I missed the opportunity to gaze upon your body." "Well then, I'll have to fix that", he said as he lifted his body out of the water with ease over the edge of the pool. The muscles of his arms flexed under his weight. "Your turn.", he whispered as he tugged at my towel.

His body glistened, and the water only enhanced the view of his rippling muscles. My mouth popped open, and I thought back to the shower. My chest and face flushed as my body quivered at the thought of my first orgasm. I was brought back from my memory when his lecherous eyes locked on to mine. "Where did you go just now, Love?" My blush deepened. "Oh, nowhere.", I giggled. 

James gazed at me, "Do you need help with your towel, or are you just torturing me on purpose?" I shook my head, "Sorry." I let the towel drop to my feet. "Do you like it?" I asked sheepishly. He pulled me close to him by my hips. "You tell me.", he said. I could feel his hardness pressing against me, and my core responded in kind. I rubbed against him as I stood on my tiptoes, planting a kiss on his collarbone. If he wanted more, he would have to help lift me. 

"Don't hate me.", he said. Before I could respond, we were both going into the pool, and the cool water shocked my system; my nipples hardened abruptly. "I can't believe you did that.", I yelled, splashing water at him with one hand and covering my breasts with the other. "What if I didn't know how to swim?", I glared at him. He laughed, "I'm an excellent swimmer; love, even if you couldn't swim, you would be safe with me." 

He pulled me close to him, and I tried to push away; I was still a little flustered at him. "Don't be like that", he chided. I pouted but let him have his way and rolled my eyes as he pulled me closer. "I'll make it up to you, I promise.", he said gently. "How?", I asked obdurately, still glaring at him through my eyes.

He thought for a moment, "Hmm. What if I give you a dare with a 24-hour time limit?" My eyes lit up, "Make it 48 hours, and you've got yourself a deal." He rolled his eyes playfully, "Alright, alright, a dare with a 48-hour time limit." "Pinky promise.", I said, holding out my hand with my pinky extended. He obliged. "Now seal it." I said; he cocked his head and looked at me inquisitively. I poked my thumb up and kissed it, "Now you do the same." He copied my movements, and I pressed my thumb against his once he was done.

He smiled and looked at me longingly. "What?", I asked. "I like that; it reminds me of our blood bond and our vows." I smiled, too; I hadn't thought about it like that. Layla had always pinky-promised me that way, so it just kind of stuck. Now, it had an even deeper meaning between James and I.

I kissed him fervently, running my fingers through his wet sandy blonde hair. "I guess that means I'm forgiven.", he chuckled. We splashed and played around giddily, chasing and teasing each other in the pool for so long that my fingers were beyond pruney. I was catching my breath for a moment when James said, "We had better get changed; there's still a lot to see."

A part of me didn't want to leave this moment. I enjoyed the distraction from the prophecy and our troubles, blissfully ignorant in that short time while we enjoyed each other's company. The seventeenth day was coming to an end on our countdown to the full moon.

We still had about seven hours until sunrise, which was plenty of time to view a large portion of the mansion. James climbed out of the pool and held out his hand to assist me as well. Payback is a bitch; I grabbed his wrist with both hands and pulled hard as I kicked off the wall of the pool. James came back into the pool with a large splash.

I was laughing so hysterically that I didn't notice him coming up from behind me. He wrapped his arms around my torso, pinning my arms to my side. His tone was serious. "You'll pay for that.", he uttered lowly. My eyes widened; oh god, what had I gotten myself into? I may be using that dare early. 

He pushed me up against the edge of the pool. He released my arms and allowed me to rest them on the concrete. He pinned me against the edge with his body and moved my hair to the side, exposing my neck. He gently placed kisses down the back of my neck, and my core ignited. Butterflies started to take flight from the pit of my stomach. I let out a moan, and he chuckled deviously, "Oh, Love, you won't like what I'm about to do." He whispered before tugging the bottom of my ear lobe.

Well, I wasn't complaining so far. He forced his hand through one of the legs of my swimsuit. He crawled his fingers over to my belly button and traced them down so slowly it was almost torturous. He continued to kiss my neck and shoulder while he was doing this. I simultaneously tilted my head and spread my legs, giving him easier access to both.

He found my clit and started rubbing. I could feel his arousal pressing against my ass, and I pushed my hips back into him. I started breathing heavily and waited for him to slip a finger inside my slick, greedy vagina. He obliged and found my G-spot instantly so much for paying for my impertinence. I was so close that another moan escaped my mouth, and I leaned my head back onto his shoulder.

He stopped and pulled his hand out from under my swimsuit. Fuck. I was so close, and he just stopped. I no longer felt him behind me. My eyes searched for him, but he was gone. I was alone and frustrated. How could he leave me hanging like that? He wanted me, too; I could feel his erection, and I could feel the passion behind his touch and kisses. He was right I didn't like this one bit.

He emerged fully clothed just moments later. He chuckled upon seeing the look of disbelief on my face. "Come on, Love, we need to get going.", he said. I stormed out of the pool, snatching the towel and covering myself up. I went to the dressing room, but not before voicing my discontent, "Hmpf."