The warm water rushed up around me, causing the sounds outside of the water to blur and become a mumble. Ringing echoed in my ears, making me cringe from the sharp sound.Time felt like it had slowed down before I suddenly realized I was sinking. I began to panic, flailing my arms around beneath the water and hoping to rise up. I foolishly gasped for air beneath the waves, thinking that would save me.Water filled my nose and lungs, causing my heart to race harder and me to panic more. I kicked and choked on the intrusive chlorinated water when I heard a loud splash beside me.I tried to swim to the surface, but I was disoriented and scared. It wasn't long before a pair of strong arms wrapped around me and pulled me up to the surface while I was kicking and gasping for air, unable to make a sound.I clawed at muscular pecs, panicking, coughing up water, and gasping for air."You're alright," a low voice spoke as if to console me. It was then I realized who had jumped in to sa
**Olivia POVCarl finally came back with my sister the next day, making me super excited to see him. I ran towards him with a giggle, jumping into his arms. He wrapped his arms around me and pressed a kiss to my lips. However, the sparks still didn't quite fly despite the fact that I was so thrilled to see him."Hey, honey. You look beautiful today." He pushed me away and took my hand to spin me around, causing my pink dress to flair out around my thighs. He pulled me in and touched my cheek with his hand, "I missed you.""I missed you too! How was your business meeting?" I was excited to hear how it had gone."It was great! We talked over a few drinks at a local bar. Bethany really knows how to capture a room and reel them in. She has great assets to bring to the table." Carl went on about how amazing my sister was. "I'm glad she helped you," I commented, even though I was still a bit upset that he didn't come check with me before he took my sister on the trip. But, I
It was almost evening. I understood Carl was tired, but he had an entire day to rest. It was dinner time and I figured that he would need to eat something. Maybe we could catch up during dinner.I raised my hand to knock on his door when I seemed to hear some strange sound from behind it. Somehow it sounded like a female moaning followed by some low voice. What was going on with Carl? There couldn't be some other woman in his room, right? I must have misheard it. It must be just me imagining things....However, what Jenny told me as well as Ellis' warning invaded my thoughts and took over. Their words danced in my head like a haunting macabre echo. I knew I had to do something, or I'd be driven mad. "Carl?" I knocked on the door. The lock clicked and the door opened to reveal Carl's face. His hair was a little messy, but I figured that was just because he had laid down for a nap earlier."I was wondering whether you want to have dinner together?" He seemed normal.
I suddenly realized that it was a bad decision to come here tonight. I watched him continue to lean in, and my heart raced. For a moment, I panicked and didn't know what to do. I couldn't be unfaithful to Carl! I tried to shove him away by his chest, but he was too strong for me. However, he didn't kiss me. His lips were next to my ears, and his breaths were warm. "Now, you may ask your question," he said in his deep, low voice.I felt as if electricity ran down my spine. I was stunned for a moment. Ellis chuckled in my ear, stopped and pulled away from me with a playful expression, "Or did you just want to have another dance?""No, of course not." I shook my head, "Let's… let's talk about Carl." "Alright then, please take a seat," Ellis led me to the couch and poured himself a drink. "Why were you so negative about him?"He sat down next to me and replied, "Carl is... a womanizer. He often has more than one girlfriend at a time."My eyes widened. I gripped my
He stood there staring at me, eyes narrowed. I could smell a faint scent of alcohol. It wasn't too strong, and mixed with his cologne, it was actually…intoxicating."Mr. Peterson?" I gently called him. But he didn't answer, and shoved me away. "Mr. Peterson!"I stood by the door, and was stunned watching him find his way directly to my bed and collapsed on it.My eyes widened. Now what?Then I realized that I was in my pajamas. It was a lavender button down silk top, and a pair of matching silk bottoms with my initials hand-stitched into them–a gift from Bethany. I didn't want him to see me in my eveningwear, nor did I want him inebriated in my bed.He could have chosen to sit or lay anywhere. The Peterson vacation home had so many rooms, yet he chose mine to take over and claim.My guest room wasn't too far away from his. Did he think this was his room, somehow? Well, I meant, technically, every room in this mansion was his…I figured I should call for some help
Hearing Carl's name from Ellis' lips and tongue brought me back to reality and I realized this wasn't okay. This was wrong and against everything that I believed in. This wasn't faithful to Carl, despite what he might or might not have done to me. My parents would be disappointed at me, but even more so, I was disappointed in myself.Tears fell down my cheeks as I began to struggle beneath him, "Mr. Peterson… please stop!" I grabbed at any part of him to stop him from going further. I didn't want this. I couldn't want this. Ellis quickly came to his senses and moved away from me with a fast movement, sitting beside me on the bed and raising his hands in the air to show he was listening to me. "I'm sorry."His apology shot from his mouth like I had stung him. I stared at him and my brain was in a haze. How could this have happened?How could he have kissed me knowing I was his son's fiancee?! I grabbed the pillow from behind me and in anger, smacking him on the side
Carl's words made me freeze. "Carl, I didn't—"He pointed at me, "I love you, Olivia! I love you so much that I worked hard to give you a better future! I've worked hard to be a worthy fiance to you and your family, but you betrayed me!"He shouted and placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head and taking a deep breath.I swallowed hard and tried to keep my tears from falling. My eyes widened in panic, and I felt the need to grab my throat as my chest tightened. My stomach flipped and twisted and I felt filthy and immoral. "That's not," my voice came out small. "That's not what happened—"He swung around and glared at me. "Tell me what happened then?" he scoffed. "He didn't enter your room or you guys didn't kiss? Olivia, tell me the truth!" My lips opened and closed but I couldn't make out a word. How was I going to explain what had happened in reality to Carl after that accusation? I didn't know what to tell him.I realized that whatever I said would sound lik
**Ellis POVI hadn't been in the best mood the last couple of nights. At least, not since I had kissed Olivia. Damn, I couldn't get the way her soft lips felt on mine off my mind, or the way her body felt beneath my fingertips. The way she had given me the gift of her kiss and touch made me feel more spoiled than I had in a long time. Not to mention the memory of that night wouldn't stop haunting me, teasing me, and making me crave more.I needed to get my head on straight and the best remedy for trying to solve that was walking through my garden. I had paid good money to make it look as gorgeous as it did.The shouts and hushed whispers from nearby echoed in my ears and drew my interest. I had no f*cking clue who was meeting in secret in my garden to shoot sh*t, but clearly someone was.Turning a corner around a wall of roses, I found Carl and Bethany talking about something that seemed unimportant. Honestly, I had no f*cking interest in what Carl was doing. That was unt