Chapter Fifty

The day was a dream, after playing on the beach, Nate and Oscar paddled in the sea as she watched them from her place sat on the sand. She knew that she had to get him some swim shorts as soon as possible, there was a pool at the hotel too, and when they packed at short notice, Lizzie hadn't thought it through. She had to rectify that.

Nate was still splashing around in the shallows when Oscar came and collapsed on to the sand beside her.

"I need to get him some swim shorts, Oscar. He's like a fish."

He laughed, "very true, and now that I have no work, I can join him. We can get some swim stuff just off the beach..." Grinning he stared up at her, "I'm buying you the sexiest bikini ever too."

She blushed at that, hating that she was so predictable, "I'm not wearing a bikini."

He chuckled, rolling in close, "I'll buy it, even if you only wear it for a private show."

That made her roll her eyes, "I'm not wearing one."

"You have the sexiest body in the world, you need to know that. Own it girl!"

At that moment a wet and sandy Nate flew up the beach and launched at them, landing across their legs.

"We're going to go get you some swimmers, mate. Fancy a dip in the hotel pool?"

Nate's eyes widened as he looked up at his father, nodding.

An hour later, Lizzie was stretched out on a lounger, sipping a cocktail sat beside the pool, watching Nate dive increasing distances into his father's arms. She hadn't succumbed, she'd bought a tankini set, covering more than it revealed. Oscar had frowned, but he'd stripped down to a pair of shorts, his body tanned and ripped, then dived into the pool. When he'd surfaced, he'd played with Nate, but his eyes constantly drifted to her. She sat under her parasol, eyes hidden behind her shades, and tried to read her book. But the whoops of joy from Nate were as addictive as the glances she made to his body, all glistening in the sun.

"You haven't turned a page since you lay down," he called over as he rested his arms on the edge of the pool looking at her.

Giving an elaborate huff of indignation, she turned the page and kept her eyes trained on it, even though she couldn't focus on a word. Even with her eyes closed she was seeing him, bare, toned...beautiful

"Come join us, gorgeous."

It wasn't a question, and she didn't feel gorgeous, so she shook her head, her gaze still directed to her book. There was a patter of feet next to her, and she turned to see a soaking wet boy, dripping all over the tiles.

"Are you done?" Nate nodded as she wrapped a towel around him and pulled him into her arms. She rubbed him dry, and then made up a story about a little boy called Nathan who went on epic adventures. When Lizzie did glance up, she was mesmerised by Oscar cutting powerfully through the water. She loved to swim and was itching to dive in to the water herself.

Before she could finish the tale of Nathan the International Spy that she was making up as she went along, Nate fell fast asleep. Snoring softly, curled into her chest. Sliding out from under him, she repositioned him on the sun bed, and then shaded him from the sun with a dry towel.

When she finished, Oscar was propped on the edge of the pool again, watching her, "finally joining me?"

She wanted to say no, but she was hot and bothered, and also extremely horny having spent over an hour watching his body flex and stretch, and his eyes devour her slowly. It had been like torturous foreplay and her whole body was ready to explode. A dive into a cold pool would help her dramatically. But the source of her frustrations was lounging in the shallows watching her every move.

Oscar watched her stride past him along the pool, she was still so shy, he hoped that would change, she was amazingly unique. There was no one else at the pool to confirm his theory, and as his eyes wandered, following her, he almost gasped when she turned and executed a near perfect dive into the water beyond him. When she emerged, she broke into a strong stroke and covered the length of the pool with ease.

He gave her three lengths of the water, before he took off in hot pursuit, finally collaring her in the shadiest corner of the pool.

She gasped when his hand touched her arm, and he had smothered that sound with his own mouth, before she knew what had hit her. Wrapping his arms around her, he flipped onto his back, pulling her with him, under the water, their lips still interlocked. Being submerged under the water shocked her, she half tensed in his arms, but the natural momentum bobbed them both back to the surface.

Pulling free she swatted at his shoulder, "are you trying to kill me?"

He rolled his eyes, "hardly..."

Then he tugged her back into his arms again, sliding his lips over hers.

When he finally pulled back, he stared down at her, eyes closed, wet hair stuck to her head, water coursing over her cheeks...she'd never looked so wanton.

"If we weren't in a pool, young lady..." he left the threat in the air and watched her cheeks flush as she opened her eyes.

Giving a brief nod, she agreed, "if we weren't in a pool..." Then she placed both hands on his head, and as she shouted, "I wouldn't be able to do this..." She pushed him under the water.

He swallowed what felt like half the pool in his surprise, and was spluttering as he dragged himself back to the surface. Only to see the splash of her feet kicking as she escaped. She was a strong swimmer, but so was he. So he set off in hot pursuit.

In the middle of the large pool he managed to snag an ankle, but she kicked free of him, cutting expertly through the water. But he wasn't perturbed; he was nothing if not a predator when it came to her. Seeing that she was heading to a corner, he kicked hard and swam down to the bottom of the pool, not emerging until he knew she'd reached the side.

As he popped up beside her, she was craning the pool confused and didn't spot him for a long second, enough time for him to grab her and pull her under the water before the scream of shock left her lips. They wrestled under the water for a moment, but when they bobbed back up, he had his hands spread over her warm skin, and his rock hard erection pressed against her thigh.

Gasping for air, she looked at him suspiciously, "really, Mr Wicker, here?"

"You are referring to this?" She only rolled her eyes as a response when he pushed his pelvis into her. "That happens wherever YOU are, Miss Breen."

His hand ghosted over her hip and it was only a second before a finger was toying with the elastic of the rather conservative bottoms that matched her new tankini.

"So you are telling me, that if this hand wanders..." he nipped at her earlobe. "That I won't find similar evidence?"

She squirmed in his arms, trying to deflect his attention, but he was nothing if not persistent. As his fingers found their target, he lifted an eyebrow at her, questioningly.

"You can't do that here!" She exclaimed as his hand started to wander...to tease. Her head fell forward onto his shoulder, and he chuckled against her ear.

"There's only us here, Nate's asleep...and anyway, as long as you're a reasonable actress, no one will know." He nipped her earlobe again and was rewarded with a groan, before he added, "and I know that you can act, Miss Breen. I've seen it many times."

Moments later she was collapsed against him, putty in his arms, literally. He looked at her closed eyes, her relaxed face and loved her a little bit more. The thought of being discovered had actually turned him on, and if his son wasn't asleep a few feet away, then he'd be doing a whole lot more than holding her now. But for Lizzie, it was just another thing that she'd never have done before, and he could feel her barriers falling day by day as she trusted him more and more. He wasn't taking that lightly, he loved the fact that she put her faith in him, went along with his often crazy plans. This woman was everything to him.

"I love you, Lizzie." He placed his lips to her forehead as she opened her eyes.

"I can't believe that we..." He silenced her with a kiss

"Don't think about it, it was fun, wasn't it?"

She bit her lip for a moment, almost reluctant to admit that. Then nodded.

"Good. That's all that mattered. I can't get out of this pool for a little while...but that's a small price to pay."

Lizzie felt like jelly, she wanted to close her eyes and sleep, even though she was still in the water. Oscar's arms were around her, holding him against his warm and wet body, the sun was kissing her face. It was complete heaven...plus she was weightless after having an orgasm in the middle of the pool, where anyone could walk out and discover them. She should feel shocked, but she didn't, she felt sexy, wanted, brazen even. She didn't think she'd ever felt this way in her life before. This was Janis behaviour...she'd be shocked if she were here.

That made her smile.

"What are you thinking about?" he breathed the words into her ear.

She finally opened her eyes and turned to look into his, "I was just thinking that Janis would be proud of me, for doing that. Well she'd be shocked anyway."

His chuckle was deep and warm, "especially if she knew that you enjoyed it, and wanted to do it again."

She was tempted to protest at that...but then she just gave a knowing smile, if he wanted to give her extreme pleasure in the swimming pool, who was she to complain.

His eyes widened at that, "you really are letting go, Miss Breen."

She smiled, her eyes closing again, "you are very persistent, Mr Wicker."

Oscar's hands were running over her skin, her shoulders, her hips, her thighs that were wrapped around him, and it was hypnotic, seductive and very relaxing.

"So, Nate's still asleep, so we can talk." Her body tensed at that, and his hands pressed a little deeper. "You can't run away from it, Lizzie."

She sighed, dropping her forehead to his shoulder, "why do we have to make a fuss? Can't we just leave things as they are...?"

"What in a position where neither of us knows how the other is feeling, and we make tons of mistakes and misunderstandings like me have to date? We've got Nate to think about, and I want him to know about us. I want us to be a family. I want him AND you, I want it all, Lizzie."

These were words she wanted to hear, she'd longed to hear, but it still didn't seem enough. She still felt anxious, petrified, there was so much to lose. She wanted to be quiet, keep her eyes closed, but that wouldn't help anyone. So she lifted her head, and met his eyes, "I'm scared."

He smiled, "me too. I have never told anyone else that I love them, I've said it a few times now...I'm not expecting it back, that's not what I'm saying. It's just that this is a risk...a huge risk if we're not honest and open. You have the ability to break me, because you know how I feel."

"I wouldn't hurt you!"

He laughed, "not intentionally, not just to hurt me...but every day I'm getting deeper into this. And if you leave me, run away, reject me...I don't know how I'll deal with it."

If it was possible, he was voicing her inner fears almost exactly, she'd had her heart broken so many times, by family, friends...she didn't feel worthy of his love, and that was the crux of the matter.

"It's the same way I feel..." she took a deep breath. "I still don't think that I'm enough for you, Oscar. I still worry that someone else will come along and steal you away...and it scares me to bits."

His mouth genuinely fell open, "I've told you, and I've tried to show you. Shit, Lizzie. No one has ever affected me the way you do...since I've met you I've tried to function with a constant hard on. I've given up my home, my job, my life to date...for YOU. Not Nate, I mean I could have fought you for him. Not that I wanted to, but what I'm trying to say is that, I've done all this for you. Because I want to make you happy, I want what you want, I am happy to give up every penny I have to keep you in my life."

Tears feel from her eyes as she absorbed all that he was saying, and he took a hand from her shoulder to swipe them away, "don't cry. Please."

She shook her head, "they're not sad tears. No one has ever said anything as amazing as that to me before. I'm sorry I'm so reserved, I want to throw myself at you, lock stock and barrel..."

"I get it, babe. Just tell me that this is what you want."

Lizzie smiled a tearful smile, "I want us to be happy more than anything else in the world."

Lifting her up, so her head was higher than hers, he gave a loud, "whoo-hooo! That is all I need to hear." Then he threw himself backwards so that they both fell under the water, fully submerged.