Listed: Volume I by Noelle Adams Page A

amusement. “No. I won’t watch.” He turned his back to her and
the lake, facing toward the car instead. “Is this okay? Nothing is likely to
happen, but I’d rather not be too far away.”
    “That’s
fine,” she told him, taking off her sandals and then pulling off her little
dress and dropping it on the sand.
    It
was a lovely, clear night with a mostly full moon. But there was a slight nip in
the air, and Emily felt it as she started to pull off the top of her tankini.
Her breasts jiggled from the motion, and her nipples immediately tightened in
the air.
    She
couldn’t help but feel rather self-conscious, stripping with Paul standing only
a few feet away. His back was to her, though, and he wasn’t going to look.
    She
had the bottom of her swimsuit halfway down her legs when Paul began to speak,
startling her so much she gave a little squeak.
    Paul
had been starting to say, “Is it—” But at her squeak, he broke off his words
and asked, “Everything all right?”
    “Yes,”
she said, yanking her suit off her ankles, “You scared me. I’m naked. Don’t
turn around.”
    “I’m
not going to turn around,” he assured her, laughing low in his throat. “I was
just going to ask if it was too cold for this tonight.”
    “No,
it’s fine. I’m not going to swim for hours, anyway.” She faced the water of the
lake and took a deep breath, the breeze blowing against her bare skin and
making her feel oddly vulnerable. “Okay. I’m going in.”
    “Have
fun.”
    She
walked to the water and started to wade in. She squeaked again as her ankles
were sloshed with cold water.
    “Cold?”
Paul asked.
    She
sucked in a breath and shot a look over her shoulder, but he was still facing
away from her. “Yes. A little. Not too bad.”
    She
walked in deeper, bracing herself against the cold. When she got deep enough,
she dove under all the way.
    After
just a minute, her body adjusted to the temperature, and she started to enjoy
it. She swam underwater some, and then splashed around, reveling in the way the
water rippled along her naked skin.
    The
moon and stars were bright in the dark sky, and she did a length of backstroke
so she could gaze up at them. Then she just floated on her back for a few
minutes, breathing the fresh air and staring up at the night sky.
    She
felt almost free.
    “How
is it?” Paul called from the shore, reminding her of his presence.
    She
looked over at him. He still stood with his back to the lake. He wore the white
dress shirt and gray trousers from the suit he’d had on all day, and the breeze
blew the fabric against his strong, lean body.
    “It’s
great!” she called, laughing out of pure joie de vivre . “I swam in this
lake all the time when I was a kid, but it was never quite like this.”
    “I
wouldn’t imagine so. Don’t get too cold.”
    “I’m
fine. Just a few more minutes.”
    She
dolphin-kicked her way farther out into the lake and then treaded water,
enjoying the sight of the wooded areas and grassy lawns around the lake, all
glazed in the moonlight.
    Then
she realized her teeth were chattering so she started back toward the shore.
She swam slowly, extending the experience for as long as she could. Her breasts
jiggled strangely in the water, without any sort of support from a suit, and
her hair hung wetly around her face, since she hadn’t thought to pull it back
in a ponytail. She felt absolutely wonderful, just the same.
    She
reached the point where the lake bottom got shallow enough for her to stand up,
and she half-walked, half-swam her way toward the beach.
    She
was about hip-deep in the water when something brushed against her leg, startling
her so much she squealed.
    “What
happened?” Paul demanded, turning around in what was almost certainly an
automatic impulse.
    She
squeaked again and ducked down into the water to hide her breasts from him,
more from instinct than from any conscious belief that Paul wanted to leer at
her body. “Nothing,” she explained