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  I wonder what she was really thinking about when she was standing there, staring out at the pool? It sure as hell wasn’t the idea of swimming that was making her so hot. He had an idea that if he concentrated he might be able to hear what she was thinking but he didn’t want to do that—it would be an invasion of her privacy. He hadn’t been able to help hearing her when things had gotten sexual between them but at least while they were keeping their respective distances he could stop himself from eavesdropping on her secret thoughts.

  Speaking of hearing someone’s innermost thoughts, he was glad Lauren couldn’t hear his. All he seemed able to think about lately was how much he wanted her. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to fantasize what he would do if only he could trust himself…

  She would be lying on the bed, wearing nothing but a short skirt and panties, her beautiful breasts bare. I would pin her hands above her head and order her not to move. Tell her she couldn’t stir no matter what I did.

  He imagined her full, thrusting breasts, her nipples like dark, succulent berries at their tips. He wanted to tease those nipples, to suck them long and hard in the way that made Lauren hot and slippery between her thighs. She loved it when he sucked her nipples—it never failed to make her pussy wet and ready. Of course, she wouldn’t be able to help squirming with pleasure as he worked on her, disobeying him despite his orders. Such willful misbehavior would call for a punishment, but he could deal with that later, after he finished tasting her.

  After teasing her ripe peaks with his tongue, he would move down her body and pull off her white lace panties very, very slowly with his teeth. He could imagine the look on Lauren’s face once her pussy was bare—uncertainty and a little fear mixed with desire. But she would submit to him without question when he told her to spread her legs, he was sure of that. And once she was open to him…

  I would get on my knees before her and press my face to her hot, wet slit. Breathe in her warm, feminine fragrance and rub my cheeks against the tender skin of her thighs. Gods, he was achingly hard just thinking of it. But the fantasy didn’t end there.

  I would part her pussy lips and lap her cunt, long and slow and hot. I would taste her sweet juices until she moaned and writhed under my tongue, until she bucked her hips up to meet me and called my name, begging me to make her come, to fill her. To fuck her…

  A sudden splash and a muffled shriek from the direction of the pool shredded the fantasy to bits. In a flash Xairn was on his feet with Little One deposited safely on the couch. “Stay,” he told the startled puppy and ran out the door as fast as he could.

  He rounded the corner and pushed through the white metal fence that surrounded the pool to see Lauren’s slender arms groping just above the surface of the water. The pink inflatable float she’d been resting on had drifted away and she was flailing helplessly right in the middle of the deep end.

  Memories of the drowning tanks flashed through Xairn’s head. The scent of corruption and rot heavy in the stagnant air, the thick black slime sliding over his head, filling his mouth as he gasped for breath… The boney hands throwing him back again and again as he struggled to find his way out of the dark waters… The high, evil laughter of his father as he told his only son to sink or swim… Since that moment he had never swum again—had told himself he would rather die than submerse himself in water over his head.

  The memories and horror all passed through his mind in a fraction of a second.

  And then he dove into the cold water and stroked toward Lauren, pushing himself as hard as he could, praying he would be in time.

  * * * * *

  Lauren really wasn’t sure what had happened. One minute she was lying peacefully on the pink rubber raft, wearing her favorite white bikini and trying to clear her mind and the next minute she was smack in the middle of the pool, going down like a stone.

  Oh my God, swim, float…something! she mentally yelled at herself, trying not to panic. Her mother was an excellent swimmer and had tried to teach her many times but somehow Lauren just never got the hang of it. She couldn’t even learn to tread water, which her mom had sworn would save her life if she could just master it. Should have tried harder, she thought as the chilly water closed over her head. Should have—

  And then strong arms were folding around her, pulling her back to the surface in a rush of sunlight and blessed, life giving air. Xairn? she thought dizzily as she was towed across the pool to the side. But he can’t swim, can he? I thought he said he couldn’t. I thought—

  “Here.” He pushed her up over the lip of the pool and leapt out of the water to kneel beside her. “Breathe!” he gasped, crouching over her, his eyes wide with fear. “Lauren, breathe!”

  “I…I’m okay,” she tried to say but it came out in a low, choking voice that was barely understandable.

  “I’ll take you to where all the healers stay. What is it called? The hospital—I’ll take you there.” He swung her up into his arms and Lauren thought she had never seen him looking so wild.

  “No, no!” She struggled in his arms as he carried her swiftly from the pool. Spitting out some water, she shook her head. “I’m fine, Xairn. Fine,” she gasped, still catching her breath. “You got…got to me almost before I was in trouble.”

  They were in the condo by this time, standing in the middle of the living room floor, both of them dripping. Xairn was still holding her, a look of uncertainty and fear on his face.

  “You’re all right? You’re really all right?”

  Lauren cleared her throat so her voice came out sounding less like a croak. “I am, honestly.”

  “Thank the Gods.” Still holding her tightly, Xairn fell to his knees and buried his face in her neck. “I thought…thought I would be too late. That I would lose you.”

  “No, baby, no. Of course not.” Lauren slid out of his lap and somehow found herself standing in front of him. Xairn was still kneeling. His arms wrapped around her waist and he pressed his face to her abdomen. “It’s okay, I’m okay,” she said over and over, stroking the broad, muscular shoulders soothingly. “Honestly, it’s all right.”

  “I know,” he whispered in a low, choked voice. “I know.” But still he trembled and his skin, pressed against her bare stomach, felt feverish with heat.

  “I don’t understand how you did it though,” she said, stroking the damp black hair away from his forehead. “You told me you couldn’t swim.”

  “I choose not to swim. But I can when I have to.” He looked up at her at last and Lauren saw that his eyes had gone a solid red-on-black. “My father taught me,” he whispered and there were depths of unspoken pain in his words that wrung her heart.

  The sight of those eyes in a face that had gone suddenly pale and those softly whispered words filled Lauren with concern. “Hey,” she murmured, looking down at him anxiously. “This is about more than me falling overboard, isn’t it?”

  Xairn shook his head and looked away. “It’s nothing. I was fearful for your safety, that’s all.”

  “No, that’s not all,” Lauren said firmly. “That’s not the whole story by a long shot. And you’re going to tell me all of it. But first we need to get out of these wet clothes. Come on.”

  She helped him to his feet and at first it seemed like he could barely move. Lauren’s concern grew as she watched how stiffly he walked, how unsteady he was on his feet. It was almost like he was the one who had nearly drowned. What was going on with him?

  She stripped him out of his wet jeans and t-shirt while Little One barked urgently on the couch. “Quiet, Little One,” she ordered, shaking a finger at the puppy. “Settle down now.” For a wonder, the puppy did as she was told, curling up in a corner of the couch and watching the proceedings with wide, worried eyes. “It’s all right,” Lauren told her, though by now she was beginning to be really worried about Xairn herself. “He’s going to be fine. He’s just…just upset.” But upset about what?

  Finally she had him completely nude and began rubbing him down with tow