Love Me to Death (35 page)

“Do you feel that?” I ask. She nods. “Good, don’t open your eyes until I tell you. I need you to focus on everything that you feel, ok?”

“Ok,” she whispers.

I bring my lips up to her mouth and press them gently against hers. I slip my hand to her back and slowly pull at the string that is holding her bikini top together while walking us deeper into the pool. When the water is just covering her breasts I stop moving. I watch as the material falls apart before pulling it away from her skin and watching it float on the surface of the water. She gasps as the water touches her bare breasts. I slowly slip the edges of her bikini bottoms down and watch her face as her breath hitches.
She is so damn beautiful.
I slip my tongue inside of her mouth and explore every inch of it. My touch glides and slips in every gap until I pull away to give us some air. I let my head lean against hers. “Step out of them,” I whisper. I look down — through the water — as she steps out of her bikini bottoms. They sit somewhere at the bottom of the pool but my attention is back on her face.

“Still trust me?” I ask.

“With my life,” she whispers.

That’s all the encouragement I need. I tighten the hold I have around her waist and pull her closer to me if that’s even possible. I slip my free hand under the water and down between her thighs. Her lips part in a gasp. I stand still in the silence and just watch her as the anticipation drives her crazy. Her tongue darts out to wet her lips slightly and then I start moving my fingers.
Slowly. Agonizingly slow.
Her thighs tighten around my hand but that doesn’t stop me. She bites down on her lip as slow pants leave her mouth. I don’t say a word and I don’t move a muscle other than the hand between her thighs. Moments pass as her gasps and moans fill the room. She is gripping the arm that is holding her up. Her nails are digging into the flesh but none of it matters.

Her head falls into the dip of my neck and as my hand moves faster her breaths come out quicker and raspy. I feel the heat from her mouth against my skin as her body tries to sink deeper into the water. But I never let it. I hold her up, never letting her sink below the surface.

“Cole …” She whispers my name and it is almost my undoing. I want to tear my hand away and sink myself deep inside her but this moment isn’t about me. This isn’t about my pleasure. This is about her.
Everything is about her.

Her voice gets louder as she repeats my name into the empty air over and over again. Her head falls back in pleasure and I cover her mouth with mine, muffling the sounds coming from deep within her. My hand moves faster and I feel the exact moment when she loses all control. She pulls away from my mouth and screams my name. Her legs become jelly and she starts shaking involuntarily. I slip my hand from between her thighs and wrap it around her waist. I hold her up, never letting her go. Her head rests on my chest as she gets her breath back. When her breathing has slowed down and she is standing up again, I rest my lips against her ear.

“Open your eyes,” I whisper as I move back slightly so I can see her face. She does. “Look around you.”

I see the shock on her face as she sees how much water surrounds us. She holds me tighter but I feel her relax slightly.

“Every time you get into the water, I want you to remember that moment. Remember the moment where you lost complete control but still didn’t go under. I held you up and I will
never
let you sink.
Ever.
You’re safe, Ned. You’re ok, baby.”

“I did it,” she whispers with a smile. “Thank you,” she breathes as she falls against me and cries. “Thank you so much.”

We stand in the middle of the pool for countless minutes and then we spend the next hour making sure she can check off another point on her bucket list. Ned learns how to swim.

2 Weeks Later

I am awoken by the sound of Ned choking. I blink my eyes a couple of times to wake up. I flick on the lamp next to the bed and pat her back.

“Hey, it’s ok, just breathe.”

She is sitting up on the bed holding her chest. Her face is red and she is gasping for air. I jump to my feet and head straight for the kitchen in her penthouse. I grab a glass out of one of the cabinets and fill it with water. Running back into the room, I flick the light on and hand her the glass. She grabs it out of my hand desperately and swallows nearly half of it. When the cool liquid has filled her throat she closes her eyes and just sits there in silence. I watch her cautiously waiting for her to finally speak.

“Thanks,” she whispers as soon as she has fully caught her breath. I sit down beside her and take the glass from her hand. Placing it down on the nightstand. I turn back to her and move her hair out of her face and tuck it behind her ear.

“Babe, we’ve been back in New York for two weeks now and you still have that nasty cough. I know you hate going to the doctors and taking medicine but I really think you need to get it checked out.”

“I know, I just need some cough syrup, I’ve just been lazy. Plus it’s your fault I am coughing like a crazy person every day.”

“My fault?” I chuckle.

“Yes, that pool in Paris was freezing cold. One of us was bound to get ill. I could barely feel my fingers when we came out.”

“Your fingers were working pretty well from what I can remember,” I tease. She hits me in the head with her pillow and I fall back. I grab onto her waist as I go down and she falls back with me. I pull her into my arms and smile.

“What time is it?” she whispers as her hand strokes my face.

I turn and grab my phone. “Nearly nine a.m., I need to get up in a minute anyway.”

“What time’s the interview?”

“Eleven thirty.”

“Nervous?”

I shake my head. “This is my sixth interview in two weeks; I’ve had too many rejections to feel nervous anymore. I figure that I don’t really have much to lose.”

“Well, I’ve got a good feeling about this one and I’m very proud of you.”

“Mmm, how proud are you exactly?” I wiggle my eyebrows suggestively.

“You have a one track mind, Mr. Cole.”

“Only when it comes to you, Miss Waters,” I say before pressing my lips against hers.

“You’re going to get ill if you keep doing that.”

I shake my head. “I don’t care. I’ll take anything you’re giving.”

“That’s gross.”

“No, that’s love. It makes you lose your balls and get all poetic.” She falls back and laughs.

“I’m pretty sure your balls are still intact actually.”

“Been spying have we?”

“No need, you have them out more than they are in,” she says.

“Can’t argue with that.” I smirk.

“And I have never heard anything poetic come out of your mouth.”

“Seriously? I am very poetic, you are clearly not listening to me, babe.”

“Go ahead then, give me some poetry.” She leans up on her side and grins at me.

“I can’t just be put on the spot; a true artist needs time to prepare.”

“Not true, poetry is like rapping; you should be able to freestyle or are you too chicken?”

“Pfft, please I’m not scared. I can freestyle,” I say rolling my eyes.

“Be my guest,” she says with a smirk. Ok, if she wants poetry then poetry is what she’ll get. I sit staring at her for a moment before clearing my throat.

“Right here we go … I love your thighs and I love your knees, open your legs so I can enter, please.”

She howls with laughter and covers her face.

“Oh my gosh, my boyfriend literally has no filter,” she says as she giggles.

“Babe, you asked for poetry,” I grin.

“
That
was not poetry.”

“Of course it was! It even rhymed. I’m pretty impressed, I might write some more.”

“Please don’t. I think you should probably go and get ready for your interview.”

“If I didn’t know any better I’d think you were trying to get rid of me.” I grin.

“Whatever has given you that impression?” she asks, feigning innocence.

“I wonder,” I say before giving her a quick kiss and then jumping out of bed. “And stop staring at my ass,” I say as I walk into the bathroom. I hear her laughter filling the room and it brings a smile to my face. I turn the shower on, strip out of my boxers and get in. I close my eyes as the hot beads of water run down my back.

Things have been so good since we returned from Paris. We’ve fallen into our own little routine and even though technically our worlds are far apart, they fit together perfectly. We actually don’t see each other as much as I would like. Ned landed that big deal in Paris and until she got ill she was working pretty hard on setting everything up for the new factory there. I, on the other hand, have been job hunting like crazy every day. If I am not lining up for an acting audition then I am either handing out my résumé or interviewing for any job I can get. I was serious when I said my life needed to change. I want more for myself but I know I have to work hard to get it.

Ned has no idea how much she inspires me. She has achieved so much at such a young age and yet she keeps going. She makes me want to be a better man just for her. What’s really crazy is that I actually find something new that I love about her every day. Like yesterday when I realized that she only eats yellow or green candy and the day before when I found out that she never eats the first cookie in the pack. She’s so weird yet that’s what I love about her. Just thinking about her makes me smile.

And when she talks I genuinely want to listen which is something that has never happened to me with another woman before. I actually find myself asking questions just so I can hear her voice some more. And I hate the fact that she is ill. I know she is in pain as well, yet she pretends she isn’t but every now and then I catch her clutching her chest. She always brushes it off like it is nothing but it has made me suspicious lately.

It still kills me when I see her shoving another unopened letter into her top drawer or ignoring a call from an unknown number. It’s like a dark cloud is looming over us just waiting to rain but we are both just pretending it isn’t there, yet the reminders never go away. We don’t talk about the fact that she is ill anymore. There’s no point. I just want to enjoy every minute I have left with her now.

I jump when I feel hands slip around my waist from behind.

“Hey,” I whisper once I realize it’s just Ned. She doesn’t say a word but her hands run all the way up my body until they rest on my shoulders. Her hands start massaging. I let out a little groan as her fingers dig deeper into my back. I’m tense. Maybe all of the interviews and auditions are getting to me more than I thought.

“That feels good,” I whisper.

“You’re tense.” I nod. She kneads harder and deeper. I close my eyes and lean back a little into her touch. “I like taking care of you,” she says softly.

“I love it when you take care of me but I like taking care of you more.”

“I know.” I can hear the smile in her voice.

“You should be resting anyway.”

“I just have a little cough and I’m a bit exhausted, people are a lot worse off.”

“True, but isn’t it better to take it easy and get well faster?”

“I guess. I don’t have much to do today, just a bit of paperwork. I can do most of it from my bed anyway. I just hate lying around. I feel useless.”

I turn around and her hands fall to her sides.

“You are far from useless, I can assure you.” I lift her bottle of shampoo from the shelf and pull her closer before turning her around so that her head is under the water. I move us a little out of the sprays of water and then squirt some shampoo into the palm of my hand and start massaging it into her scalp. The smell of strawberries and cream fills my nose. It’s a scent that I’ve grown to love, one I will forever associate with Ned. The shampoo starts to lather up and her head falls back as she enjoys the feel of my hands. I step back until the water is covering her head again. She squeezes her eyes closed as I wash her hair clean. I repeat the routine three more times before we both wash and then get out.

We begin drying ourselves with our towels and Ned starts coughing again. “Do you want me to bring you some cough syrup on my way home?” I ask.