Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Patrick and Julien looked at the strange American girl with shock. She didn’t swim towards them, but out into the open water. 

“Is that girl wearing any clothes?” Patrick was flabbergasted, but Julien flashed a big smile. He hadn’t come in contact with a girl that had thrown modesty out the window like that in a really long time, since the last time he was stateside. 

“If she is, she isn’t wearing much. She’s pretty ballsy. Maybe she isn’t that bad.” Patrick rolled his eyes at his friend. He wasn’t attracted to girls like that. He preferred women that were modest, but open about who they were underneath. Not physically open like this girl, but more on an emotional level. 

“I’m pretty sure Thomas has his eye on that one, Julien.” He wasn’t an idiot. He already knew this, but he also knew that Thomas had his duties and this girl was an American. She wasn’t from Cordova, and she wasn’t a noble. Yeah, there was no way that she and Thomas would happen. 

This girl was pretty. She had a nice face, big brown eyes, a cute button nose, and pouty pink lips. She could have a nice body, but she didn’t flaunt it. She hid it under clothes that were too big for her, so maybe she did have a sense of modesty. 

“Too bad for him that she’s not a noblewoman then.” Julien wasn’t going to say more than that. He wasn’t about to let Patrick know that he had a bit of an interest in bedding this girl.

He wasn’t a skirt chaser by any means, but he could feel something about this girl. There was just something that made him gravitate towards her. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew he couldn’t have any sort of relationship with this woman. He knew better than to give someone some type of false hope for the future. He lived in another country from her, thousands of miles away. 

Yeah, the only type of connection he could form with this girl was sex-based. He definitely wouldn’t deny something like that. 

Suddenly she broke the surface in front of them, gasping in horror.

“No, no, no!” She freaked out as she squinted her eyes, swimming in a frantic circle.

“What’s the matter?” Julien asked as he swam over to her. 

“My glasses. I lost them! I can’t see without them!” He took a deep breath and dove down to the bottom of the lake and quickly found them amongst all the darkness that enveloped him. He was sure she could have found them on her own, but she was probably just too freaked out to try. 

He swam back to the surface and handed her the bifocals.

“There you go.” She slipped them back on with a sigh of relief.

“Thank you. I’d be lost without them,” she said as she swam over to the deck and held onto the steps behind her back as she softly kicked in the water. 

“No problem.” She was a little surprised when she realized it was Ass-A-Lot that had dove down for her glasses. That was sweet for someone who was such an asshole earlier. 

“Well, I’m gonna get a drink from the car.” Cat watched as Patrick pulled himself out of the water on the deck and sprinted towards the car. She turned her eyes back to Julien nervously as he sent her a casual smirk.

“Skinny dip often?” She snickered at this and shook her head. 

“Technically, it’s not skinny dipping. I have some clothes on.” He could see that. Her bra could barely be considered clothing. The flesh at the top was falling out, but the water probably wasn’t helping with that. Her breasts kept bouncing with the movement of the water. 

“That is true.” She was curious about his accent. She hadn’t noticed it before. It wasn’t thick like Edward’s and Jasper’s, but it was there. 

“Your accent is different from theirs?” she questioned, and he chuckled softly with a small smirk.

“Yeah, well, I didn’t grow up in Cordova until I was already ten years old. I was raised mostly in Virginia.” She was surprised by this.

“You’re an American?” He nodded. 

“Yeah. You seemed surprised.” She blushed a bit as she hid her face for a moment in her hair before looking back up at him. 

“Well, you did walk into my bar with two foreigners complaining about whiskey.” She threw it in his face with a tease lingering in her voice. 

“Yeah, sorry about that. Actually, nope, not sorry. I take whiskey very seriously,” he teased her back, and she snickered.

“Well, at least you’re honest. I can’t bellyache too much. I’d probably be the same way about the liquor my bar sells. It’s way overpriced for the quality. The only thing good there is the Jack, and even that can be questionable from time to time.” He was shocked by her honesty.

“Really?” She nodded.

“My boss is a cheapskate, so he does whatever he can to cut costs. Even keeping an open bottle way longer than you ever should.” Still, he was surprised by her truthfulness.

“You are very honest.” He liked this about her.

“Yes, I am. I have been called brutally blunt. Some people like it. Some people hate it, but I wasn’t put on this Earth to be liked. I was put here to be me and honesty is very important to me. Why expect people to be truthful with you if you sugarcoat or exaggerate everything?” She shrugged a little nonchalantly which earned her a smirk. 

“You aren’t half bad, bartender.” She smirked at this. She didn’t expect him to remember her name. She was, after all, just their bartender when she told them her name. 

“Same to you, Ass-A-Lot.” His eyes widened before he busted out laughing.

“What did you call me?” She snickered to herself.

“I make up nicknames for people in my head based off first impressions. You were a real dick, so I have been calling you Ass-A-Lot in my head.” Most would have found it offensive, but he thought this little query of hers was adorable.

“Oh, yeah? What nickname did you give Patrick?” he asked curiously, and she bit her lip to stop from laughing.

“Frat Boy. He acted like he was a big partier at the bar, so that’s what I came up with.” 

“What about Thomas?” 

“I didn’t really get a chance to come up with one for him. He introduced himself too quickly.” She retorted quickly. She didn’t want to think about Thomas when she was talking to Julien. It seemed strange. Almost like she was being unfaithful one way or another. 

Julien quickly glanced around the deck to see Patrick and Thomas locked in a discussion. They could be stuck like that for a long time. He had plenty of time left with this girl. 

“So, what’s your actual name, bartender? I can’t just keep calling you that now, can I?” She blushed a bit as he tucked a stray hair of hers behind her ear. 

“Catalina Graham. People just call me Cat though.” He looked at her perplexed for a minute.

“With a name like that, I figured people would just call you Lina.” 

“Yeah, well, only my grand-Papi called me Lina. My mom started calling me Cat as a baby, and it just continued on from there, so it still remains that people call me Cat.” She could see the pensive look in his eyes as the wheels turned in his mind, thoughts spinning like crazy. 

“Well, in that case, I’ll just call you something no one else does.” She was confused by this and watched the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“And what would that be?” She inquired as he cupped her cheek in his hand.

“Why Graham of course.” Then his mouth was on hers. 

Shock filled her as his hands stayed in neutral territory; on the steps, she was also holding onto. His lips moved fluidly against hers, and hers instinctively followed his lead, a soft moan leaving her lips. 

He was glad that she wasn’t pushing him away. He expected a slap or a kick from her because of his forwardness, but she kissed him back. 

After a moment, he released the kiss and obsessively ran his thumb over her bottom lip as her eyes slowly opened. She was in a daze. She had never been kissed like that before. All the kisses she had before were either soft and sweet or hard and out of step, the kind where the other person was just hoping for sex. Her mind was blown away by the passion and how intuned he was with her. 

For a moment there, it was like he was one with her. She liked that a lot.

“Definitely wasn’t expecting that,” she whispered as both of them struggled to catch their breath.

“I wasn’t expecting you to not push me away, Graham.” Her eyes searched his before she bit her lip.

“I strive to exceed expectations.” He smirked at this before he kissed her again. She mewled from the passion he once again gave to her. 

“You aren’t half bad, Graham...for a bartender from New York.” He was being sweet there for a moment until he added on the last bit.

“Oh, be still my beating heart,” she teased, and he chuckled. 

“Are you from around here or did you move to New York?” he asked curiously.

“Born and raised. My mom wasn’t born in this country, but she spent most of her life here, and so have I. I’ve actually never been outside of the country. We traveled a lot when I was a kid, but always within the states.” She never divulged much about her upbringing to people she didn’t know well, but something told her that she could tell Julien. 

“Truck driver?” He questioned her mother’s profession, and she snickered.

“No, actually, my mom was a singer slash dancer, so we traveled a lot for her gigs.” He was surprised by this.

“Really?” She nodded, and he smirked. “That’s actually pretty cool.” She rolled her eyes at this.

“Please, don’t say that. Anytime people hear about what my mom did they fangirl, and it’s irritating.” He understood that.

“I’m not going to 'fangirl', and I don’t mean your mom being a singer slash dancer. I meant getting to travel a lot as a kid is pretty cool. Not many kids get to unless they are military brats.” That did not seem cool at all to him. 

“Oh, yeah, it was pretty fun. I got to meet a lot of cool people, learned a lot of stuff along the way.” She tried to shrug it off, but the truth was she had a lot of fun on the road with her mom. “I’m sorry about crashing the party,” she apologized, hoping to get off the subject of her mom. It always brought her down. 

“It’s cool. I was a bit of a dick about it.” It sounded like an apology, but the words never made it out. 

“No, I didn’t know that this was that kind of bachelor party or else I wouldn’t have tagged along. I was just trying to be helpful.” He thought it was cute, how she was jumbling over her words about it. He pressed his body against hers with an aroused look on his face.

“Well, if it will make you feel any better about it, you could let me kiss you again then we would be even.” That had to be the corniest come on she had ever heard, but she wouldn’t deny him that.

He may have been an ass, but he was honest, funny, and sweet. She could deal with the asshole part.

“I think I could manage that.” His mouth met hers in a searing kiss, soft moans leaving her lips, as his hands moved along her hips, squeezing her rump suggestively. His mouth then moved along her jaw, down her neck. Her breath came out heavily as he pulled her closer to his throbbing erection. 

Oh, my! She thought as she whimpered against his drenched hair. “Are you expecting something from that?” She whined into his hair, and he groaned, pressing a hand against the steps.

“Expecting? No. Hoping? Hell, yes. Graham, you are so hot. You’ve got me so hard.” She bit her lip to hold in the loud moan that wanted to come out.

“Hey, guys!” They heard the voice of Patrick approaching, and they instantly pulled apart, Julien struggling to get himself together. He knew if he got out of that water with his massive boner, the others would know something had happened there and he didn’t think he could stand the talking-to he would get from either of his friends. All he cared about right then was getting back to where they had left off.

Cat hadn’t realized that her breasts had started to fall out of her bra from what had happened and fixed herself before Patrick got to the dock.

“Yeah?” Cat and Julien swam out from behind the dock to see Patrick and Thomas standing there with perplexed looks on their faces.

“Come on. It’s getting late. Our flight leaves first thing in the morning.” Cat was sad about this. 

She was hoping for a little more time with Julien before he had to go back home.

She climbed out of the water, shook off the excess water, and struggled to pull on her clothes over her soaked bra and panties. Meanwhile, Julien was still struggling to dull down his hormones. He had to push the image into his mind of Thomas going at it with the very girl he wanted beneath him. That image was enough to make him gag, and it served its purpose. 

He got out of the water and dressed before all of them piled in the car. Cat still sat upfront with Thomas, but she kept glancing in the mirror at Julien who was sending her a seductive smile which made her blush and avert her eyes.

She really was in trouble.

~~~~~

She was a little sad when the car pulled up to her apartment doorstep, and she and the others got out. 

She stole glances at Julien as Thomas walked her up the steps.

“You didn’t have to bring me back to my apartment. I could have walked from the bar,” she protested a bit.

“It’s quite alright. It’s a little dangerous for a woman of your stature to be strolling the streets of such a big and dangerous city by herself.” This right here was irritating. Just because she was small and a woman didn’t mean she couldn’t take care of herself. She had grown up in that city. She knew how to stay safe at night. 

“Still, you didn’t have to.” He nodded knowing he wasn’t going to win this battle.

“Well, I should be thanking you for the wonderful visit to that lake. That was really something else.” 

You’re telling me! She thought before stealing a look at Julien who smirked at her from the car. Her eyes quickly went back to Thomas who squeezed her hand sweetly. 

“You’re welcome. It’s not very often nice people come into that bar,” she teased a bit, and he chuckled.

“You are something else, Miss Catalina.” She blushed a bit before she gave him a friendly hug which shocked him. He wasn’t used to much physical contact. His family was pretty unaffectionate. 

“Safe travels, Thomas.” He sent her a big smile as she retreated into her home with one last glance at Jake.

As she stood in her apartment, she hoped the dark stranger would come knocking, hoping to extend their evening, but after a minute, she slumped her shoulders in defeat and went to her living room to get a drink. 

Patrick and Thomas moved to get into the car, but Julien staggered back, looking for some reason to stay behind. 

“Man, come on,” Patrick called to Julien before he shot out a lie.

“You guys head to the hotel without me.” Thomas looked at him confused.

“Why?”

“I’d like some more fresh air. I think I’ll take a walk. It’s not often I’m back in America, you know.” They were confused by this, but shrugged it off and jumped in the car, zooming towards the east to their hotel.

Finally, they were gone, and he didn’t have to worry about them knowing about his little indiscretion with the American girl.

He jogged up the steps and took a deep breath before knocking gently on her door.

Cat jumped up from her place on the couch, setting down her drink, and raced to the door.

Please, let it be Julien! She prayed before looking in the peephole to see him waiting for her. She cheered to herself silently before she got herself under control and slowly opened the door, their eyes meeting.

“Hello, stranger,” she teased him, and he smirked. 

“Hey.” He leaned against her door frame as she opened her door wider. 

“Would you like to come in? I just opened a fine bottle of whiskey, aged to perfection.” She egged him on, and he smirked appropriately.

“You just spoke to my heart, woman.” She snickered as she let him in and closed the door behind him. 

She led him into the living room and straight to her liquor cabinet where she pulled out her bottle of Russell’s Reserve which he gasped at.

“Woman, that stuff is expensive.” She flashed a big smile before grabbing a glass.

“Not for a bartender, it isn’t. I have my ways of getting high-quality whiskey at ass-end of the barrel prices.” He gave her a look that said he didn’t believe her at all and she rolled her eyes. “Don’t complain. Just drink it.” He put up his hands defensively and took the glass, taking a sip. He let out a relieved breath before smirking.

“Now that is some good whiskey.” She nodded before they took a seat on her couch where she grabbed her glass.

“I know how to pick them.” He had to agree. That was some good Russell whiskey. 

“True. They don’t even make it this good in Cordova, and they make some good whiskey there.” She was surprised by this.

“They do?” He nodded.

“Yeah. The only event they host that I actually enjoy is to celebrate the Cordovan Distillery. Everyone gets to taste all of the different whiskeys from the country. It’s awesome.” This actually did sound pretty cool to her, but what did she know, she was a bartender. Alcohol was her life so to speak. 

“That does sound fun. Maybe I’ll have to find the time to attend some time.” He smirked at this before he chugged down the rest of his drink. He sat his glass on the table before moving closer to her, putting his arm around her. She blushed before smirking shyly up at him. 

“That drink was good, but I didn’t come here for a drink.” His other hand stroked up her jean-clad thigh which made her eyes move down to his hand. Her palm moved over his as she took a shallow breath. 

“Well, what did you come here for?” she whispered, and he softly kissed along her sweet neck. 

“You.” She moaned softly as he turned her face to him and he kissed passionately again. “Would you object to taking this to the bedroom?” She shook her head as she pulled away and stood to her feet. 

“Follow me if you really want it.” He growled as he quickly moved to his feet.

“Fuck, yes, I want it.” He pinned her body to the wall and devoured her mouth with his own.

~~~~~

She shrieked as he tossed her onto her bed, just in her still wet bra and panties. She noticed the pure lust in his eyes as he gazed at her. She watched from her spot on the bed as he pulled off each layer of his wet clothes. His eyes never left hers as he worked on his jeans, pushing them down. 

She gawked as he reached into his soaked, skin-tight boxers and started stroking his stiff erection. She whimpered as he did this.

“Do you want it, Graham?” He pressed as she rubbed her thighs together. She wasn’t sure if that was a rhetorical question or not. It should have been obvious, right? 

“I want you,” she confessed, and he crawled over her, pressing his mouth to hers. Bodies pressing together, his hands sought out hers, his fingers lacing with hers. She pressed her lady bits against his erection right before he pushed down his boxers, a sudden sobering thought occurring to him.

He pulled his mouth back before gazing down past her glasses into her lusting eyes. 

“I don’t have a condom. Are you on the pill?” His mouth was barely not touching hers as she bit her lip.

“I have some in the drawer.” She nodded to the drawer behind her head in her headboard. He quickly fished in the drawer and came back with a silver package before shutting the drawer back. 

“Thank God.” She snickered before he ripped the package open with his teeth and slipped on the rubber over his swollen member. He gripped onto her panties and pulled them down her slender thighs before tossing them to the floor.

His eyes moved to her and saw her eyes on his face almost as if she was trying to search him for some type of answers. He caressed his hands up her body sensually until he made it to her hands, taking them again. 

“I got you.” The words slipped easily from his lips before they met hers in a searing kiss of desire and reassurance. 

She relaxed from her worries of what the morning would bring for them and put that to the back of her mind to focus on what was to happen between them right then. 

Then she felt him invade her body, filling her with rapture, pleasure, and ecstasy. The words slipped from their lips, but she couldn’t focus on them, just on the act.

“Yes, yes, yes! Don’t stop! Please, god, yes!” She called out unintentionally as he did the same.