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Jack raised his arms in practiced precision as he propelled himself across the length of the pool. He kicked his legs for added strength to the movement, ducking his head into the water, and then taking a breath when it was necessary, every few strokes. The exercise had been so welcome to his antsy sort of boredom as Aunt Prudence's house guest on yet another strange case of homicide, but the swim also felt business-like in the sense that it was a duty. A duty he owed his body.
Phryne had walked very quietly with all of her sleuthing prowess once she'd heard of the inspector's whereabouts. She had every intention of admiring his body and teasing him while he frolicked and played in the water, but she was surprised at the sight of his endurance. There before her in her aunt's pool was a fit and avid swimmer, shed of his gentleman's suit. Bare arms blazed through the reflective surface to cut in and force him all that closer to his destination. Phryne found herself stunned into silence at the sight, clenching the scarf that had blown so appreciatively in the wind on her way out. In a closed fist, the material of her scarf heated with the grasp of her hand - as affected as the rest of her - while she watched Detective Inspector Jack Robinson reach the other end of the pool.
When Jack reached the edge that time around, he didn't simply push himself off as he had with the first pause Phryne had watched - he stopped and clung onto the side, wiping the water from his eyes.
"Something tells me," Jack panted, slowly taking in a few more thoughtful breaths as he observed the somewhat nervous posture of the lady detective staring back at him. "You're not here to swim ... I should think it unwise to swim in that outfit."
"Yes," Phryne answered with a blush that reminded her of feelings as a younger woman, when she could be embarrassed more easily. However, it seemed as though Jack was more than capable of bringing the rosy flush to her cheeks. She looked down at her blue heels - perfectly set with an embellishing, sweeping coil at the top of her foot - and smiled.
For the time being, Jack ignored her reaction. Instead of pointing out the glaringly obvious, he decided on the more gentlemanly route: "Out for a walk, then?"
"I umm ... I thought you might be drowning out here ..." Phryne teased, taking some meandering steps to the width of the pool opposite Jack. She quite excitedly allowed her eyes to trace over the musculature available to her prying eyes.
Given the deep, intimate sensation of those eyes hooking into him, Jack was suddenly regretting his gentler approach. With his breath steady at last, he hooked his whole arm over the concrete edge of the pool and smirked at the straightened, painted lips staring back at him.
"Or are we out for the view?" Jack teased in kind, his bicep on full display as he used the arm to keep himself hoisted in place. The very ghosted lust dancing behind his partner's eyes had him quite excited, too, if he could admit that to himself. And did he really see Phryne as his partner? Just then, he realized that he did. He smiled at the very real and vulnerable way she stood, admiring his body. Appreciating him physically.
When he heard nothing in response, Jack let himself slip back into the pool, treading water with mostly his legs. He knew with that look on Phryne's face it would be wise to keep his arms in full view - was he trying to lure her closer? Did he even know how? With a flashing grin that tugged at his lips, he realized he did. He wanted her near, even under such inappropriate circumstances. Everyone else had busied themselves with other things when Phryne had snuck away to stare at him in the pool. Just how occupied were the others, Jack wondered, then admitting to himself he wouldn't mind a playful swimming race or two with Phryne. Racing a woman so competitive as Phryne would be much easier with her so rightfully distracted.
"How about ..." Jack offered in his work tone of voice, swimming languidly toward Phryne, but not close enough for her to reach. "You find your bathing suit ... and we see just who drowns."
My my. He really hadn't meant that to sound quite to morbid or somehow sexually insinuating. Well, definitely not morbid, at least. Either way, his grin tightened, and he had to bring his hand over his face to wipe away the cheeky smile.
As Jack was still treading water carefully in place, Phryne found it wisest to turn away if she was to make any sort of decision - or rebuttal, for that matter.
Jack silently appreciated the view.
"I ... don't think I packed one," Phryne finally answered to her view of the remarkable home her aunt ran independently. At the insistence, Phryne swiftly turned to catch Jack staring at her only to find that his eyes were either too swift, or not as interested as she might have thought. But then with that smile of his returning, she had her answer. "Jack ... are you flirting with me?" Her guffaw of mock surprise had them both enjoying the repartee for the intimacy it was.
"I wouldn't dream of it, Miss Fisher," he assured with a playful sarcasm.
"Mmm hmm ..." Phryne smiled, a slender eyebrow lifting into her neatly-combed fringe.
When Jack laughed in subtle tone of interest, Phryne moved over to one of the poolside lounging chairs fitted with cushions and canopies. Teasing with a smile, Phryne peeled off her expensively embroidered coat and laid it onto the striped cushion.
"Is that right?" she asked, turning to face him while reaching behind her dress with a smile so taunting, it was clear what she meant to do.
With the shift came the drop of Jack's smile - realizing that perhaps Phryne intended to shed even more than her first layer. What would that mean for them? What would it mean for HIM? Suddenly he became self conscious that his bathing suit allowed for very little added volume. He prayed that any bulging outline might become obscured by the sloshing of the water.
When Phryne wriggled out of her frock, Jack abruptly turned his head and stared in shock at the detailed contour of the pool's edge. He forced himself to wonder how to keep calm in such a situation as his arms were put to work keeping him afloat when his legs forgot their rhythm. His heart beat wildly at the very thought of Phryne joining him in that pool. The fancy, well-dressed lady detective that went nowhere without a hat or an elegant pair of shoes was about to join him in a pool in nothing more than her undergarments. Jack blinked and shook the water from his hair to try and keep himself distracted. Maybe if he just kept his eyes on the concrete, he would forget what agony was to come in the form of a petite and yet powerful tease headed his way.
With the swishing sound of water lapping over itself, Jack heard a chuckling gasp of which he assumed was Phryne's reaction to dabbing her toe into the pool. The cold, he found, he was quite grateful for just then.
"Oh, to hell with it," he heard next, followed by a scream, a loud splash, and a wave of water that poured over him. In as playful a way as she had ever done it, Phryne Fisher brought a smile to Jack's lips.
When Phryne surfaced again, her childish giggle had Jack admiring her all the more for her sense of adventure and fearlessness. Had he been a different sort of man, he might have stopped the teasing then and there and insisted she dress herself as a woman ought to do, but Jack was his own sort of man, and he welcomed her act of spontaneity with a laugh of his own: "A woman of many talents, Miss Fisher."
"Jumping into water is now considered a talent?" Phryne laughed, already swimming to the side of the pool that sat just a few strokes away. "I'm afraid I'm not as strong a swimmer as you, Jack."
"Well, you can't very well beat me at absolutely EVERYTHING, now, can you?" he chided easily, following her to the side of the pool with every intention of wading there for a while in conversation. What he got, however, was something else entirely.
"No, but-" Phryne started, pushing off from her spot to collide her back quite accidentally into Jack's front. In an attempt to try and prove to Jack she could tread water for at least some period of time, she had backed right into him and knocked the back of her head with the side of his face - the curve of her back to his chest. She had formed a collision so unexpected that she blushed again - ten shades of red. "I'm ... I'm sorry, Jack," she mumbled, grabbing onto the side of the pool again to speak so closely to the side of the pool that it felt as though her lips were pressed directly to the decorated concrete. She caught her breath with both arms pulled up, onto the surface of the concrete - one arm folded over the other.
Jack took a moment to respond, not bothering himself to force his eyes off of the sight before him. With Phryne turned shyly - shyly?! - away from him, it became painfully clear that her undergarments were just that. Clear. Surely there would be details left to the imagination, but the silky material was certainly thin and soft enough to cling to Phryne's impressive back, and slip down to her hips. Jack felt as though he couldn't breathe. He forced himself to take a breath in, if only to respond and reassure Phryne he wasn't as offended as she imagined.
"No harm done, Miss Fisher."
Phryne closed her eyes, and then slowly dipped herself deeper into the water again - knowing full well that her small, fitted garments wouldn't leave much to the imagination. She turned when she was somewhat confident that the moving water would disguise her breasts necessarily for Jack's gentlemanly benefit.
"Maybe this was silly ... jumping in here when you were on your own ... intruding like this on you," Phryne started thoughtfully, her hair wet and matted mostly to the right side of her face - her fringe an absolute mess.
Jack would have swooned at the sight if his willpower had been any weaker, but instead, he swam to Phryne's side - keeping some distance between them - and took a quite moment to share there, with his partner. "It can't be a mistake if I'm glad you're here."
The way Phryne cut her stare into him in return had him wondering if it might be the moment for the prized kiss they had both always desired. Jack wished he had been a more liberal man indeed, but he still felt somehow restrained. And for once, instead of wondering in silence, he voiced his doubts with a softer tone.
"Phryne ..." he started, noting that it got her attention the moment he used her given name. He moved effortlessly closer, dropping HIS eyes to her lips for once. "I ... find myself hesitant here in this pool ... in perhaps ... not the best circumstances ..."
"We can tell them I took it upon myself ...?" Phryne responded hotly, her entire body aflame with the very idea that Jack might encompass her waist with those big, strong hands of his. Kissing her.
"It might be all the more romantic if we wouldn't be thrashing in this deep water, though," Jack smiled, taking Phryne's hand to tug her toward the shallow end of the pool. There at the other width of the pool was a section of semi-circle form that decreased in depth as one neared the steps that led to the outdoor lounging chairs.
Not one to squander such possibilities with Jack, Phryne started her way through the water - stroking as best she could with her limited practice. It was only when she saw Jack from the corner of her eye, showing off with a cocky, playful grin that she fuelled herself to move a little quicker to catch onto him.
Jack put his toes to the bottom of the pool - raking his hands through his mussed hair - only to feel two smaller hands on his shoulders and irresistible laughter at his back. Knocked off balance, he was just nearly dunked underwater, and only just managed to pull himself a little shallower with Phryne mischievously wrapping those hands around him. Feminine arms looped gently around his neck with Phryne's petite form pressed to his back, and Jack found himself laughing at her audacity to do so.
"Got tired of the swim?" he chuckled, wading easily through the water with a buoyant woman attaching herself with a very playful intent. It was just then that Jack realized he had never spent much time with such a playful woman, and that he enjoyed it. He found, in fact, that he didn't know what he would do without it. Phryne's energy was contagious, and he felt his heart lift at the possibilities of holding her a little more intimately.
Phryne brought her head daringly to the side of Jack's - her chin to his shoulder with a grin. Her reaction spoke of both her impish guilt and the lust that stirred unmistakably inside of her at the proximity of the lovely Detective Inspector Jack Robinson. She let out a little humming moan at just that, only to feel Jack tense a little at the sound. She smiled when she realized why.
"Always giving me grief, Woman," Jack muttered with feigned frustration under his breath, forcing himself to relax should Phryne worry and remove herself. At the very thought of such a vacancy, Jack lifted his hand and held the slender arms at the base of his neck as he walked another few steps so that the water level rested more comfortably at his abdomen.
"Yes, it must bother you that I'm the sleuth between the two of us," Phryne jested, only pulling herself closer to Jack when he stopped in place - allowing her front to press into his back. It was in that position that she could feel both her heart and his increase in pace.
Instead of shying away, Phryne found the anxious excitement to be the push she needed - pressing a very soft kiss to the jaw she had always imagined paying the dearest attention.
Jack froze at the fragile kiss lingering just beneath his ear, with Phryne wrapped around him from behind. He felt as though he had forgotten how to breathe altogether. His resolve crumbled at the soft way Phryne expressed her desire with him, and his eyes closed with the finality of their exchange: he was no longer afraid of broaching a subject she had clearly indicated herself. He was at last unafraid of wanting MORE with Phryne. So much more.
Before Phryne could tease he had turned into the world's most handsome statue, Jack was twisting to catch her in his arms. He held both arms in his hands as he pulled her around so they came face-to-face, and appreciated the bewildered and dreamy gaze in her eyes. He admired that it was still there, even after the many others who had kissed her before. The fact that Jack was about to do so gave her shivers that motivated Jack to act with a more brazen sense of play.
With Phryne struck completely speechless, Jack bent his legs, wrapped his arms at the backs of her thighs, and lifted with her chest just nearly at his lips. Jack thought he had never seen such an appetizing look on a woman's face.
Taken by complete surprise, Phryne steadied herself with her hands on Jack's shoulders, trusting him. And she DID trust him, she recognized in that moment, staring down at him with the simplest of smiles. With the tips of her hair matted to her cheeks and her neck, she breathed, grazed her thumbs over his shoulders, and smiled.
Then Jack's eyes lowered to her chest. The situation allowed him at long last to enjoy the sight of her, unafraid that she might notice. In fact, he encouraged her attentions with another lock of their eyes - wordlessly telling her he needed her. He was telling her that he wanted to be inside of her. He was thinking about a very sensual union.
"Let me down," Phryne moaned erotically, as if she wanted any space between them. "Let me down this very instant, Inspector ..." she continued with a very telling smirk on her red lips, unmoving from her lovely position with her hips to Jack's chest.
Phryne could sense Jack would understand the tease and play along. She blinked down to him the way she had taken to staring at the one man she had ever fully loved. Never before in her life had she waited so long to make a move on a man, and never had she waited until her heart had been struck with love - powerful and real.
"Not a chance, Miss Fisher," he played just as easily, offering up a smile of his own. Lovingly, he eased her down a little until her nose and his were only a breath apart. Phryne's undergarments clung to her and rode up at her stomach - her bottom somewhat exposed to any onlookers - should they intrude. She was dripping from the fabric still hanging to her curves, and from the hair that so genuinely framed her smiling face.
Jack's arms gave way somewhat as she spoke, then, being sure not to rudely grab at her backside - a difficult feat when she was putty in his wanting arms. She slid so lovingly against his wanton body.
"Jack ... don't make me distract you to escape ..." she teased with her own wanton expression of lust. At the warning, Phryne positioned herself impossibly closer, only to be interrupted by a hand that combed up, into her hair.
"Allow me."
As the words were spoken, Jack pulled Phryne to his lips, kissing her.
For Phryne, there had never been as romantic a gesture in all her time with past lovers. He was reaching to her - kissing her - because he trusted her enough to make the desire entirely clear.
Phryne pressed more purposefully against his body as she kissed him deeper - neither spending much effort in keeping her heat from his any longer. When Phryne mindlessly wrapped her legs around him, she moaned into their kiss. Jack was hard. He was ready for her for once in all of their mischievous partnership. Never before had she been so certain of his very real need until that moment, with her arms wrapped around his neck. With her hands in his hair, keeping his lips with hers.
Rocking her hips against him, Phryne moaned again at the sensation of him between her legs - glad that for once, her family planning cautionary measures had become completely necessary. She moaned at the thought that he might just have her there in the pool. She pulled him excitedly against her with desperation to feel the wet straps of his bathing suit against her fingers.
"Jack ..." she moaned quietly when both of his hands moved down to cup her backside after all. She had never felt anything so sexual in her life as his hands on her. It was the touch of a loving, stirring ache that overwhelmed them both.
Jack smiled at the way Phryne came undone in his hands, able to finally imagine how he might please her. It seemed that any touch sent her into a frenzy. Perhaps pleasing Phryne wouldn't be as difficult as he had imagined, he considered, squeezing her for good measure.
When Phryne moaned raggedly once again, and ground her hips against him, Jack faltered. It was all so much at once, to have her in his arms. They had danced around it for so long, and yet there she was melting in his arms - in his very hands - aching for more.
Phryne was enjoying the smaller kisses she stole from his lips until she felt something against her back, and pulled away to find that he had guided them to the side of the pool. Another shiver gave Phryne away - she was aching indeed.
Jack touched her hair and moved his left hand down her chin as if to express that he wasn't about to take her without asking about protection. Interrupting his attempts, Phryne tilted her chin down to take two of his fingers into her mouth.
So hard he ached, Jack focused on keeping control of his body while he watched and felt the wonder that was Phryne Fisher. She was experienced, talented, and yet so gentle with him. She was willing to teach him all the things she had kept from him, and that very thought had him vibrating with need. Oh, the things she could teach him.
It was just after Phryne had reunited with Jack's lips that they heard something - or someONE, rather - in the distance.
They both froze at the very familiar voice.
"Phryne? ... Where are you, my dear girl?" Aunt Prudence bellowed from inside the dining hall, much to the disappointment of both swimmers.
"You have got to be kidding me," Jack muttered, releasing Phryne to let free those hips he had so passionately cradled. He sighed when Phryne found her balance again, eyeing him. "... We can't ..."
"I know," Phryne smirked, despite the aggravating circumstances. "But you just look so ... ready." With the flirtation, Phryne reached for Jack's hips underneath the water, and pulled him back to her. She gasped instinctively at the feel of him there, so close to her - allowing him to press suggestively against her. Watching his satisfaction, she enjoyed the proximity they shared. "Just for another moment, Jack ..."
Finding some kind of power to maintain what little control he had left over his body, Jack bowed his head to do the gentlemanly thing. The right thing. "Phryne ... you need to get yourself out of this pool before she sees you this way."
"And what way is that?" she asked with a familiar, sassy bob of her head.
Jack disengaged himself to swim somewhat awkwardly to the corner of the pool where he thought he could hoist Phryne out of the water. He figured that at least in that position, should Prudence Stanley come out looking for her niece, Jack could remain hidden behind the concrete ledge.
Phryne followed after him, not bothering to tease until they had both reached the corner with flushed faces and disgruntled hair.
"Jack-"
"Come here," he interrupted, grabbing hold of her waist, but only - much to Phryne's chagrin - so he could fix the smudges of lipstick all around her mouth. He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of Aunt Prudence scolding Phryne about some lover when in actuality, Phryne had been kissing HIM.
"What on earth is so funny after Aunt P's interrupted everything?" Phryne grouchily snapped, pouting which only served to deepen Jack's chuckling. She did look awfully irresistible with a pouted lip.
"Nothing ... just that she would never think me to do a thing like this."
Then it was Phryne's turn for a chuckle: "You've got that right. Now hoist me-"
They both went silent as they heard footsteps just outside of the back door.
"Oh, Phryne?!" Prudence wailed out toward the woods, imagining that her adventurous niece may very well have stuck herself in a tree. Prudence sighed with exasperation as she tried again and stepped out a little further: "PHRYN-Oh! Oh my!"
Prudence stood with a hand to her chest at the sight of her niece in for a dip at the corner of her pool.
"Phryne?! What in heaven's name are you doing in there?" Prudence scolded, noting that Phryne hadn't worn a bathing suit, but her undergarments. "And where are your CLOTHES, dear child?!"
"On the chair," Phryne answered, trying with all her might to conceal the man she was hunched over in that corner. Trying, also, to conceal the desire she felt at the hands wrapped around her sides to keep Jack afloat. Phryne smiled, trying not to think what Jack's reaction might be to the cover she had created for them both - draped over him with those stoic breath on her lower abdomen. Phryne cleared her throat when Prudence arched a disbelieving eyebrow.
"Phryne ... What are you doing out here all alone?"
"I'm out for a swim, Aunt P!" Phryne insisted with a childish smile that had Prudence rolling her eyes at one of Phryne's many shenanigans.
"Well, get out of that water and get changed. Everyone will be back shortly."
Jack's hand squeezed her hip, and Phryne choked on her own breath, feeling his nose tickle her stomach with a tightening need forming between her legs.
"Umm ... yes. Yes, I'll get ready. I'll meet you in the dining hall, then?"
"I suppose," Aunt Prudence answered, tossing a haphazard wave over her shoulder as she took the effort to spin back around toward the house. "And no more dips in such indecent dress!"
"Yes, Aunt P," Phryne called out as the older woman finally disappeared inside again.
Once the detectives were alone, Phryne pulled back from those entrancing hands to slap him on the shoulder.
"How dare you," she laughed, watching him playfully swim to the other end of the pool. "Jack! I'm going to get you for that!" she whispered, taking chase through the rippling water and catching up to his longer strokes only at the shallower end - where he slowed purposefully. She jumped to land her hands on his back only for Jack to turn and lift her with relative ease. His arm closed around the backs of her thighs, and Phryne found herself hoisted outrageously over Jack's shoulder.
"You put me down this instant!" Phryne laughed hysterically, with a very different mood behind the demand than only minutes before. "Jack!"
Aunt Prudence frowned in the kitchen at the noise she heard coming from the pool before she decided it best to check on Phryne again. If the sound had travelled through the closed doors and windows of the house and across the stone and brick, then she figured that something must have been amiss.
When Prudence stepped out to find the one and only Detective Inspector Jack Robinson with Phryne squirming up on his shoulder, she froze. Prudence's eyes widened impossibly so, throwing a hand up to her mouth. She couldn't believe what she was seeing - taking a step back in hiding when the duo thrashed again and turned with more fluid laughter.
"I'm sorry - wasn't there a revenge you promised me?" Jack teased, admiring Phryne's ability to take such things lightly when he himself often took them too hard. Phryne balanced him out, and he felt the shift there, in that pool with his silliness.
"Let me down or I'll-"
"You'll what? Investigate me to death?" Jack smiled. Phryne could hear it in his voice, even in her strangely pleasant position draped over his shoulder. It was surely one of those very subtle, sly smiles that melted her heart, and she faltered for a moment up on his shoulder at the very memory of his charm.
Aunt Prudence watched the sight with both intrigue and affection for her lonely niece. Phryne had never been a woman to commit herself to one man before, but where Jack was involved, it seemed to be another story entirely. Prudence knew things were different with Jack when she saw Phryne allowed the teasing, lifting, and tickling. Yes, tickling. Aunt Prudence turned away with a sad sort of smile at the thought of interrupting Jack and Phryne.
"Shhh!" sounded from the pool, and Prudence reasoned that she couldn't very well embarrass Phryne in front of the one man who promised a lasting bond for her niece. With a very traditional mindset, Prudence found it hard to turn away, but the thought of intruding on the playful moment was ghastly. Shaking her head with many thoughts ruminating, Aunt Prudence snuck back inside, and away from the echoes of laughter that escaped her dear niece.
Phryne had never remembered laughing so much at once. She gripped her sides again, and curled to the sensation of those long, tickling fingers - laughing naturally. She had thrashed her way off of his shoulder, and found herself instead with Jack at her back, tickling her.
"You'd better keep it down or she'll come out to join us," Jack teased, holding Phryne by her waist at last. He smirked over her shoulder to imply his pleasure at holding her so close. A part of him worried terribly that she would get out from the pool and move right along on her way to find pleasure, but another larger part realized that Phryne wanted HIM. Something told Jack that some other lover would not be to Phryne what he was to her. In fact, he couldn't imagine another man tickling her in such a playful respect. It made him wonder if he could TELL her what to do. No one told Phryne Fisher what to do and lived to tell the tale, so with a sense of curiosity and affection, Jack tried an experiment of his own. His lips turned up into a grin at the very thought of telling Phryne what to do. And yet, would she let him get away with it? Might she even enjoy his bold assertions?
"Turn around."
Very pleased with the feel of him pressing into her from behind, Phryne hesitated, but only for a moment. She turned with the powerless need to feel him close again - no witty line or joke. She just wanted to have him closer.
Jack was more than surprised at Phryne's reaction. He rewarded her with his hands moving down, over her hips. The trust she showed to him with those piercing eyes gave him all the answers he would ever need, but he suddenly found it painful. If they were each ready for more, Jack feared that the rest of the weekend sleeping just down the hall might prove to be too much entirely.
"Phryne ... I don't think I can stay here with things ... well ... with a house full of other visitors ... and with you just a few doors away," he explained with a lump forming anxiously in his throat. Was he really about to tell her that he wanted to make love to her? Could he?
Phryne's finger came up to silence him, blinking at the way it felt to have his hands delicately trace over her silky garment to find the expanse of naked flesh at the back of her thighs. "Jack ... I want you to touch me."
"Not here-"
"I know not here," Phryne insisted, placing a single, chaste kiss on his lips only to pull away and leave HIM wanting for once. "I just wanted you to know."
Just that quickly, Phryne was climbing up the stairs of the pool to send a little enticing smile over her bare shoulder, drawing the strap back up with a giggling hop. Jack stared after her, not opting to turn around to watch her grab her things. He thought that one glimpse of her bent over might just keep him hard despite his greater efforts to gather himself for propriety's sake.
Jack stood staring at the cold slab stairs, trying to forget the addictive feel of that woman in his hands. It would take some great effort on his behalf, but containing his reactions to Phryne Fisher was one of Jack Robinson's many special talents.