Keeping his bride

Selina

I VENTURE OUTSIDE in the early afternoon, wanting to escape the confines of my room and any reminders of bad dreams. The sun is shining brightly, not a cloud in sight. The sun glinting off the water in the pool blinds me for a second as I hear a voice call out, “Hey, Selina!”

I put my hand up to shield my eyes from the glare as I see Aria in a bikini sitting at the edge of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. Her skin is perfect, tan and smooth, and her long, chestnut brown hair cascades down her back, looking like perfect beach waves even though I doubt she even took the time to fix it today. She’s just one of those natural beauties. She was beautiful as a child too. I can remember seeing her for the first time and wondering how someone could be so perfect in real life. If anything, her beauty only magnified as she aged.

Even though I’ve only seen her around her compound on a few occasions and we haven’t spoken much other than to say hello and goodbye, I would love to spend some time with her. We got along great when we were kids. Aria was like the little sister I never had and would lways tag along with Nico and I wherever we went, wanting to be with us no matter what we were doing or where we were going.

Aria flashes me a warm smile and says, “Water feels great. Want to join me?”

Suddenly, the baggy clothes I’m wearing feel out of place and strange. Nervously, I pull at the cuff of one of my long sleeves.

“I probably have a bathing suit you could borrow,” she offers, standing up and walking towards me. “Come on. Let’s go see.” She grabs a towel on the way, drying her legs and feet off quickly before we walk to her room.

I follow her even though I never technically agreed to get in the pool. I haven’t been swimming in a long time; but on an unseasonably hot day like today, it would be almost a sin not to enjoy the water.

Aria digs in the back of her walk-in closet before she finds a bathing suit. It’s a two-piece, not terribly revealing, but not something I would pick out for myself to wear around the Vitale home.

I change in her bathroom and step out, shyly covering my midsection with my hands. “Do you have anything less…” I pause, trying to find the right word.

“Less revealing?” she suggests.

“Yeah,” I say with a soft chuckle.

“I think I may have a one piece in here somewhere, but I haven’t worn one since I was, like, twelve.” Her voice trails off as she roots around in her closet.

I remove my hands from my stomach and stare at my reflection in the mirror. My stomach is flat and toned, but there are numerous visible scars. Most of my body is covered in scars, and it makes me sick to look at the reminders of my days being held captive and the horrific tortures I had to endure. There’s a roadmap right on my skin of what I went through. There’s no hiding, no denying it.

Suddenly, Aria appears at my side. She stares at the marks on my body, and I watch her face with bated breath, waiting for it to morph into disgust. But instead of the reaction I’m fearful of, she locks eyes with me in the mirror and…smiles. “You look like a fucking warrior, Selina. You survived hell and back, and you lived to tell the tale. Not many can say that. Wear those battle scars with pride, girl. You’re absolutely killing it,” she says, shocking me to my very soul.

I’ve never had a female figure in my life ever praise me or lift me up before. My bitch of a mother was always worried I was eating too much, getting too fat or that I wasn’t pretty enough. And then when I was sold, I always felt wanted for all the wrong reasons.

“Thank you, Aria,” I tell her, my voice unsteady. Tears burn the back of my eyes before I quickly blink them away.

“Anytime,” she responds with a smile. “Now, let’s go swimming before the clouds decide to make an appearance and ruin our day.”

We go back downstairs and out to the patio. Aria perches on the edge again, and I get in, enjoying the warm water. When we lived on Constantine’s yacht, I used to go swimming in the ocean whenever I got the chance. I felt a sense of freedom, even if it was short-lived. Sometimes I would find myself wishing that I wasn’t such a strong swimmer and that the ocean would swallow me up and take me away from that life.

But today, I don’t feel that overwhelming sense of dread at all.

“Cannonball!” someone yells before I hear a huge splash at the other end of the pool by Aria.

A huge wave of water crashes over Aria, soaking her from top to bottom. “You’re a jerk, Renato!” Aria yells as she flips him off.

He laughs heartily and begins to swim laps around the pool. I make my way over to Aria in the water and stare back at Renato. He’s around my age and h ndsome enough with light brown hair, green eyes and more muscles than I can count – I swear he has an eight-pack instead of a sixpack.

The way they interact with each other every time I see them together makes them appear as more than friends, but I could be totally wrong. Looks can be deceiving. But curiosity gets the better of me, and I just have to ask, “So, what’s up with you and Renato? Is he your boyfriend?”

“He wishes,” Aria scoffs as she wrings water out of her wet hair. “He pines over me, and I let him,” she says with a shrug and a sassy grin. “Besides, my father would murder him if he touched me,” she confesses, her smile faltering a bit.

I frown at that. So, maybe Aria likes Renato more than she’s letting on, but she keeps her distance because her parents wouldn’t approve. That would be a tough spot to be in. Pining over someone and never being able to actually have them. I can tell Renato really likes Aria. Maybe even loves her.

“If it’s meant to be, it will be,” I tell her.

She hums in agreement and nods. “I think I’m going to go get something to eat. I’m starving.” She pulls herself out of the pool and stands up, her wet feet padding along the patio while she goes to a chair with a big, fluffy towel. “You know, we should go shopping sometime,” she throws over her shoulder.

“I would like that,” I tell her sincerely.

She flashes me a toothy grin and then disappears into the house. A few seconds later, I see Renato climbing out of the water and running after her, and I can only laugh. He’s like a lost puppy when it comes to that girl.

I stay in the pool for another hour, enjoying the hot sun and warm water until my skin starts to turn a bright shade of pink. Not wanting to get sunburnt, I climb out of the pool, water sluicing down my body as I walk over to where the towels are. Quickly, I dry off my legs and arms before using the towel to get the excess water out of my long hair. My swimsuit is still pretty wet when I walk inside the house, but I plan on hanging it up and jumping in the shower anyway when I get back to my room. As soon as I turn the corner, I run smackdab into what can only be described as the hardest chest in the history of chests.

Firm, gentle hands catch my arms, holding my elbows before I go stumbling backwards. And then I look up into the familiar, steel gray eyes I’ve grown so accustomed to.

When I glance down, I realize I’ve soaked the front of Nico’s white t-shirt with my wet bathing suit. My eyes roam over his muscular pecs and rock-hard abs, which are now visible through the damp material, and I swallow hard.Property © NôvelDrama.Org.

“I’m guessing you were just in the pool,” Nico muses as his lips tilt up into a strained smirk.

“Sorry,” I manage to whisper.

After my nightmare last night, Nico stayed with me. He slept on top of the blankets, never once trying to cross any boundaries. He was there to help me, to comfort me. Just as a friend…

But the heat I’m feeling from his body now and the way his hands are gripping my arms makes my heart skip a beat. Something deep inside of me awakens, and it’s hard to place the exact emotion since I’ve never felt it before in my entire life.

When I woke up this morning, Nico was gone, and I half wondered if I dreamt about him too after the nightmare. However, when I rolled over, I could smell him on the pillow; his scent of citrus and sandalwood warming my soul.

I didn’t leave my room this morning, too embarrassed to run into him at breakfast and reliving the way that I asked him to stay with me last night like a desperate child afraid of the monster under her bed.

“Is everything okay?” his deep voice snaps me back to the present, and I stare up at him.

My lips suddenly feel dry, and my tongue darts out to lick them. Nico’s eyes darken as he watches the movement. My stomach clenches as warmth races down to my core, and I suddenly feel too close, too hot, too…I don’t know. Stepping back suddenly, I pull out of his grasp. “I-I’m fine. I’m sorry again about your shirt,” I tell him as I wrap the oversized towel around me and cinch it tight, desperately needing the barrier between us.

“It’s fine. I’m on the way to the gym to work out with Renato anyway,” he explains.

I simply give him a nod, unable to speak with the words sticking in my dry throat.

“I’ll see you later, Lina,” Nico promises.

And as he walks away, I know what the foreign emotion is now that I was feeling. It’s desire.