A Dangerous Dance

Chapter 23 pt. 2

Sexual content ahead, feel free to skip to the next part if that's not your cup of tea!

Anne-Eli

__________________

Ethan

I'm at a loss. How did things get so bad? How do I begin to fix what I've broken, when all I want is shake her and tell her to come back to me like she was.

Her pain runs so deep and I know I'm the reason for it. I don't know how to take it away.

I look down at her, with her swollen lips and frantic eyes. She holds onto my hands like they are her lifeline, waiting for me to tell her how to please me.

I want to punch something.

I want to take her, and erase all the bad memories and poisonous thoughts she's formed in her head.

She lets go of my hands, taking a step backward and looking away. She rubs at her arm.

"I'll just go," she says, putting more distance between us. Now she can't even look me in the eyes. "I'm sorry."

I want to rip those words from her mouth and prevent her from ever saying them again. She goes to the floor and gathers her dress, but I pull her back.

"Don't leave," I say, taking her chin and pulling her face upward so she has no choice but to look at me. The last thing I want is for her to go away, especially not like this. "I shouldn't have yelled like that. None of this is your fault."

She pushes away from me. "I think I want to be alone right now."

I go into full damage-control. I need to keep her here, figure this out. If she leaves now, she'll beat herself up for what just happened and that's not fair, because she didn't do anything wrong. I can't let her think that.

I come up of the perfect way to get her to loosen up, take her mind off of what's eating away at her.

"They have a pool here. There's never anyone in it."

She crosses her arms in front of her, hiding herself. It's a shame, because she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

"I don't have a bathing suit."

"You can borrow one of my t-shirts and some boxers."

She teases her bottom lip, looking at the ground.

"Evangeline."

She looks up, and I see the hesitation written all over her face.

"I'm not going anywhere," I say.

"You can do whatever you want. You don't owe me anything," she replies with a little more assertion. "But I'll go to the pool with you."

Before she can change her mind, I walk to the dresser and pull out some clothes. I throw her a clean white tee, because apparently I like to torture myself, and a pair of blue boxers. We get dressed in awkward silence, but I have a plan.

I lead her down to the pool, trying not to focus on her bare legs, or the way her nipples peak through my shirt whenever she moves.

She opens the door for me, which is a little bizarre, but I don't say anything. Warm air greets us inside, along with the smell of chlorine. The lights in here are dim, allowing the blue pool to shine from the fluorescents at the bottom of it. Just as I expected, there isn't anyone here.

I watch as she dips her toe in first, holding onto the silver stair-rail. My shirt goes down to her knees, so it isn't long before it begins to ride up, floating all around her and giving me a glimpse of what's underneath. She pushes it down and sinks deeper into the pool. I follow her in, thankful for the cool water. It could be a few degrees colder, but this does the job. I'm still into that mindset, where all I want it to bury myself inside her as she says my name, but it wouldn't have been right to keep going. I'm not an idiot, I knew exactly what was going on in her head.