"Be good," Stephen murmured. "Don''t worry. I bolted the door when I came in earlier. They won''t be able toe in."

    The door to the garden was made of solid wood. It had a bolt installed that essentially functioned as a lock. With the bolt slid into ce, Sienna and Naomi could not open the door from the other side.

    Stephen pressed close to Tessa and whispered into her ear, "Darling, they''re worried that something''s happened to you. Hurry and tell them that you''re fine."

    "I can''t... Not with my voice like this..."

    The moment she opened her mouth, the truth woulde to light.

    "If you don''t respond to them now, they''ll just get more worried. What if they call the police?"

    "Are you still in there, Tessa?" Naomi raised her voice and asked again.

    "Tessa, don''t tell me you passed out?" Sienna called, paning her words.

    Tessa closed her eyes and steeled her nerves. "I''m fine," she replied.

    Naomi and Sienna breathed a sigh of relief on the other side of the door.

    "You gave us quite a fright," Sienna said. "We thought something happened to you because you were soaking in the pool for so long."

    Meanwhile, Naomi was wearing a strange expression. She lowered her voice so that only Sienna could hear and asked, "Sienna, don''t you think that Tessa sounded a little weird just now?"

    Sienna was stunned by her question. She shook her head and replied, "No. Did she sound weird?"

    "It sounded as if..." Naomi muttered to herself. "I can''t say for sure at the moment. Let me try again."

    "Try what?" Sienna asked, bewildered.

    Naomi didn''t borate. Instead, she

    Want

    raised her voice once more and hollered, "Tessa, how much more time do you need? Sienna and to ycards with Samantha. We need four people to y, so we''re missing one person."

    Confusion was written all across Sienna''s face. Without waiting for Tessa''s response, she whispered, "When did I say that I wanted to y cards?"

    Naomi raised her index finger to her lips and shushed Sienna. She then gestured for Sienna to stay quiet.

    Tessa''s voice echoed toward them, once again sounding a little strange. "The three of you can go ahead without me," she replied.

    Sienna''s cheeks turned a bright shade of red. Although she was personally inexperienced with such things, she wasn''tpletely clueless. Tessa''sst reply had made it quite obvious what she was up to.

    Naomi giggled to herself. Her tone was knowing when she replied, "You don''t want to y cards with us? Alright, then. Sienna and I will head back first. Feel free to join us any time you''d like!"

    They didn''t receive a response from the people in the pool.

    Naomi pressed one hand over her mouth to stifle herughter while she used her other hand to take Sienna''s hand. "Let''s go, Sienna," she said. "Let''s not get in the way of Tessa having a good time."

    Once the noises from beyond the door faded away, silence was restored to the surroundings. Stephen only finished about ten minutes after Sienna and Naomi''s departure.

    Tessa was exhausted beyond words, but Stephen wasn''t tired in the slightest. His breaths were steady as he carried Tessa out of the pool and back onto drynd.

    His eyes shone with amusement as

    he gazed at tessa, whom he was cradling against his chest in a princess-carry. "Are you already tired, Tess? I was right thest time when I said you needed to improve your stamina."

    5

    Tessa leaned against Stephen. "It''s not my fault... This is all on you..." she protested weakly.

    "But I haven''t had enough." Stephen''s eyes darkened. "When we return to the roomter, I still want to-"

    "Stop! Don''t say another word!"

    Tessa''s hand shot out as she covered Stephen''s mouth. "I''m

    exhausted. I''m going to sleep thot

    moment we get back to the room, and you''re not allowed to sleep with me tonight!"

    Stephen chuckled. "Alright, if that''s what you want."

    A man who was satisfied was much easier to reason with. He was like a whole other personpared to the man in the pool earlier, who refused to stop until he got what he wanted.