“No!” she yelped, pulling herself into the rocks.
He rolled his eyes. “You’re overthinking, Matilda. I realize that’s your nature, but when it comes to swimming, just… do it.”
“I do notoverthink,” she shot back, wrinkling her sweet nose. “I think as much as is appropriate, and I am not ashamed of that.”
He dipped under the water for a moment, needing the quiet and peace of being submerged before he broke the surface once more.
“As we have learned, teaching by demonstration does not seem to work for me when it comes to swimming,” she muttered, turning her gaze elsewhere. “I am very glad that you are such a fish, Albion, but disappearing under the water every few minutes is not helpful.”
He brushed the seawater out of his face. “Ifyouwould just dip your head under, maybe you’d feel brave enough to let go of the rocks. Anyone would think you hadn’t realized that swimming involved being in the water. Why won’t you just put your head under?”
“I might drown.”
“You won’t drown. That’s what I’m here for,” he insisted, certain that she was the most stubborn woman he had ever met.
Matilda shook her head. “You need to be patient. I will let go of the rocks in my own time, in my own way.”
“Yes, well, I can’t wait that long. You wanted to learn how to swim—that means listening to the tutor, no matter what.” He waded toward her and grabbed her under the arms, pulling her away from the safety of the rocky ledge.
She yelped and kicked out, trying to wrestle free, but she was no match for him… and if she did not want to learn how to duck her head under the water sooner than expected, she would calm down.
She did to an extent, wrapping her arms so tightly around his neck that his eyes bulged, but she did not kick him or hit him as he waded further out though the water stayed level with his chest. He needed to be able to stand on his two feet to ensure she did not drown, but she needed the illusion of having to sink or swim and for it to have some consequence if it happened to be the former.
“If you could stop strangling me, we can start properly,” he croaked.
She loosened her grip ever so slightly. “If you dare let me drown, I shall come back and haunt you.”
“You’re in safe hands, Matilda,” he promised, catching his breath.
Using just enough force, he pried her fingers off him, and holding her under the arms once more, he pushed her away from him. Panic rippled across her beautiful face, making her seem younger for a moment, her legs frantically kicking out like an injured frog.
He resisted the urge to laugh and took a step forward, maneuvering her in such a way that within two seconds, she was lying on her back on the surface of the water, gazing up at a cloudless blue sky. His strong, deft hands rested beneath the nape of her neck and the base of her spine, respectively, keeping her afloat.
“Do you see how that works?” he asked, relieved to see her arms and legs floating as they were supposed to.
Although, he made sure not to look too closely, for the masculine garments she had chosen to wear clung tighter to her body than was, perhaps, appropriate. Theywerearguably better for swimming, however, and he approved of the choice though he had no intention of saying so.
Excitement replaced the panic on her face, her eyes gleaming. “I am doing it!”
“Almost,” he said, hiding a smile. “To truly succeed, you have to do it without me holding you. But this is a fine start. You should be able to gauge the shape your body needs to be in and how to hold certain muscles to keep this position.”
Her eyes flitted to him. “I am not afraid, Albion, but please do not let go of me without telling me you are going to.”
“I wouldn’t be so cruel,” he told her though that was precisely what he had been about to do, very slowly, just to see if she could float by herself.
Instead, he began to drift her around in a circle, his thumb and forefinger cradling the back of her neck while his hand splayed across her lower back. That gentle touch made him glad of the cold water to cool the unfamiliar warmth that tingled through him, his heart beating faster than usual.
She could not know that he had been nervous about the morning’s lesson and that his nerves had not relented. She could not know that touching her made him feel suddenly unsteady, even with his feet planted firmly in the seabed. She could not know that this was the closest he had been to a woman in two-and-thirty years. They had been close in the gardens the previous morning, but this was more prolonged, and with her life literally in his hands, it felt altogether more intimate.
“This is wonderful,” she sighed, closing her eyes to the warming sunshine. “Can we just do this instead?”
He smiled. “You’re the one who insisted on learning to swim, but if you’d prefer to merely float, I don’t mind.”
“I feel as light as a feather.” Her features softened with a wide, almost sleepy smile, and as he stared down at her, he wondered if he was dreaming.
Sparkles from the sunlight catching the water danced across her skin as if there were tiny lights glowing from within her. Her limbs had relaxed, and while he could not see into her mind, he could tell she had ceased overthinking. She looked like an ethereal being that the tide had carried in to shore, and he was the confused human who had found her.
“Let us stay like this,” she whispered.
