The Camp (Chateau 2)

Raven looked at me, bursting with emotion. “I think she recognizes me.” She faced forward again. “Rose, I’m so happy to see you!”

Rose started to run, crossing the grass and coming close to Raven. She released a loud neigh as she approached. Then she dropped her neck so her nose could rub up against Raven’s face.

I almost couldn’t believe it.

Raven wrapped her arms around the horse and hugged her, chuckling but also crying in her emotional state. “You remember me…” She rubbed her behind the ears and moved her hand down the bridge of the horse’s nose before she placed a kiss there. “You look so good. Have you been eating a lot of oats?” She laughed, like it was an inside joke between the two of them. “I wish I could bring you inside to sleep with me, but we both know how mad Magnus will get.” She moved into the horse’s chest and wrapped her arms around her neck, standing underneath her while rubbing her hands over her muscular shoulders. “Girl, I missed you…” She stood there with Rose, hugging her horse like she’d been the one to take care of her for years. There was a bond so strong that the horse could still recognize her even after months of no contact.

I’d never seen anything like it.

I watched their tender exchange and felt like I was in the presence of something truly special. It wasn’t the relationship. It wasn’t the horse.

It was Raven.

She was the special one.

After dinner, we took a walk outside across the estate, moving down the path between the flowers and bushes until we came back around and stopped at the pool.

“This thing is huge.” She stood at the edge and looked down at the water. “Is this an Olympic-size pool?”

I shrugged.

“Do you wanna go for a swim?” She kicked off her sandal and stuck her toe inside to feel the temperature. “It feels really nice.”

“You don’t have a suit.” It was something I hadn’t mentioned to Miranda. I didn’t know we would take a trip up here, and even if I had, I hadn’t expected her to want to take a late-night swim.

“So?” She unzipped the back of her dress and let it come loose. “Don’t the French like nude beaches?” She wiggled out of her dress until she was in just her strapless bra and thong.

“Ramon is probably in the kitchen right now…”

She dropped the rest of her clothing until she was in the nude. “He brings me wine and cheese…he can look all he wants.” She jumped into the pool and disappeared under the water.

My gaze moved up to the windows to see if Ramon was looking.

He was.

Ashamed that he’d been caught, he quickly looked away.

I chuckled then looked down at the water again.

Her head broke the surface, her wet hair sticking to the back of her neck. She moved her hands to her face and wiped the water from her eyes. “Come on, get in.” She lay back on the surface of the water then stuck her legs into the air so her head and torso were submerged in the water. When she came back up for air, she wiped her face again.

With my hands in my pockets, I just stared at her. “I’m not gonna walk up two flights of stairs to grab my suit.”

“Then don’t.” She smiled at me before doing a flip in the water.

I smirked before I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it onto one of the lounge chairs. My jeans, shoes, and boxers came next. When I was naked, I stood at the edge of the pool.

She came up for air and looked up at me. “Damn…” Her eyes were on my dick. “You aren’t cold at all…”

I jumped into the water beside her and fell under the surface, bubbles surrounding me, the cool water comfortable against my warm skin. I saw her silhouette in the water as I rose up to breach the surface.

“See? Isn’t this nice?” Her arms moved forward and back across the surface of the water as she stood in front of me, her chin at the waterline. “I always wanted to have a pool when I was little.”

“You can use mine anytime you want.”

“That sounds nice.” She moved toward me then kicked from the bottom so she could hook her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. Her naked body pressed against mine, her nipples cold and hard. She smiled as she brought her face close to mine, like she was happy to be with me, to be spontaneous with the one person she could be completely herself with.

My hands rested on her ass, and I lowered myself farther into the water so just our heads were above the surface. I hadn’t used this pool for years, but it was always immaculately clean, like I could jump in at any moment. I didn’t come to this estate often at all, and when I did, using the pool was not on my mind. The landscape lighting gave us enough visibility to see each other, but it was also dark enough that Ramon wouldn’t be able to see our bodies under the surface. It was a clear night with a blanket of stars up above. It was just us…like there was no one else in the world.