"Oh, I didn't know that you were there," Clarisse said as she put her free hand on the armrest and got to her feet. "I was talking to Alizée."
"Oh, I thought you were calling home?" Joseph said in surprise as Clarisse walked over to stand in front of him.
"I was and I did, and that's when Charlotte told me that she rang yesterday asking me to call her when we got home as she needed to speak to me about something," Clarisse said. "But I was worried that there was something wrong, so I called now while I was waiting for you."
"Oh, and what was it that she needed to speak to you about?" Joseph asked. "Is she well? Is she okay?"
"Yes she's well, but I don't know yet what she wanted to speak to me about as she wouldn't tell me over the phone, all I know is that it's in regards to the letter that Esmée sent me," Clarisse shrugged as she stepped closer to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, her free hand grasping hold of her wrist, while tipping her head back to look up into his eyes. "She's going to come and visit once we return home so we can talk about it then."
"Oh okay," Joseph said as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "It's all a bit ominous, though, isn't it?"
"It is, yes, but she assures me that Esmée isn't sick or dying and that she's just being her usual self, so I'm not going to think about it. And I'm certainly not going to let her ruin the rest of our honeymoon," Clarisse said as she continued to look up into her husband's eyes.
"Good," he nodded. "You know, though, I often wonder why you forgave me that day and not her. You two had a close bond. It felt a shame to throw it away over a mistake."
"We did have a close bond, yes, and it may have been a mistake on your part, but it certainly wasn't on Esmée's part. She knew what she was doing when she slept with you. She betrayed me in the worst way possible, and I can never forgive her for that." Clarisse said. "Now can we not talk about this anymore, please? I want to go relax by the pool and enjoy the rest of our honeymoon."
"Of course," Joseph nodded and lowered his head to kiss her a couple of times while moving one hand to rest against the side of her neck. His thumb resting against her jaw.
"You look incredibly sexy in those swim shorts, by the way," Clarisse smiled and bit her bottom lip as she studied her husbands face. "Like you with me, it's nice to see you in something other than black trousers and leather jackets."
"Well I aim to please," he smiled cheekily as Clarisse laughed. "Come on, let's go get a tan."
Smiling, Clarisse took hold of her husband's hand as he began to lead the way back into the bedroom and out onto the landing. "Don't forget to call Valentina about dinner tomorrow."
"Oh no I had forgotten all about that," he said as they started walking down the stairs together hand in hand, "I'll do that before I go out actually, because if I leave it I'll only forget again."
"Okay," Clarisse laughed and handed him his phone.
"Thank you," Joseph smiled up at her then down at his phone as they reached the bottom of the stairs and he turned to face her. His hand still entwined with hers. "Why don't you go on out to the pool while I call Vee, then I'll grab us a drink and come out to join you once I'm done."
"Okay," she smiled up at him and slowly stepped closer while putting her free hand up to grip hold of his jaw gently in her grasp. A move that they both knew she only made when she was feeling a bit jealous. Insecure. And she was feeling a bit of both of those things right now, especially after talking about what happened between him and Esmée. "I'll have a nice cold beer when you are finished, no glass needed."
"Oh really?" Joseph asked in surprise and raised his eyebrow with a smirk as she lowered her hand down to rest on his chest. "You're going to have a beer?"
"Yes, I am," she smiled and moved their entwined hands together behind her, to rest against her back. "That is okay, isn't it?"
"Oh absolutely, you can have any drink you so desire," Joseph smiled and watched as she tilted her head ever so slightly while reaching up to kiss him.
"Good," she whispered against his lips with a smile and kissed him again.
"I won't be too long, I promise," Joseph smiled as she pulled back a little and gazed up into his eyes.
"Okay, I'll see you outside soon then," she smiled and reached up to give him one more quick kiss before stepping back and letting go of his hand. Turning, she made her way through the hallway and into the kitchen. Her hips swayed seductively as she went, knowing his eyes would be on her as she walked away.
Smirking, Joseph's gaze remained on her until she disappeared through the door. Only then did he finally look down at his phone. Shaking his head with a small laugh, he searched through his contacts for his sisters number and pressed the call button before walking into the lounge.
Standing in the back patio doorway after his call to Valentina, Joseph looked out at the gardens to find Clarisse sitting on the edge of the pool with her sunhat and sunglasses on, her legs and feet dipped in the water and her hands down either side of her knees, her fingers resting over the top lip of the pool. Just how he imagined her to be days earlier. Minus the glass of champagne.
Smiling to himself, he quickly put his phone down and grabbed the camera from the countertop before making his way down to take a picture of her, wanting to capture the moment before she moved. But hearing footsteps coming down the few steps leading to the pool behind her, Clarisse twisted her body around to look at him. "Nooo," he laughed as he stepped from the bottom step and raised his free hand. Doing a circle motion with his forefinger, indicating for her to turn back around. "Please turn back how you were, I want to take a picture of you." He smiled.
"Okay," she laughed and turned back, just how she was before. "Is this okay?" She asked.
"Oh yes, that's perfect," Joseph smiled and crouched down, taking a couple of pictures of her sitting right where she was with the ocean in the background. "Now, you can look back this way," he said and snapped another picture of her looking over her shoulder at him.
"Are you quite finished?" She laughed, watching him look down at the camera a moment. Checking the photos he had just taken of her.
"Taking pictures of you?" He asked, looking up at her with his gorgeous smile as she nodded. "Never." He said and snapped another one of her as she put her hand up onto the top of her hat, holding it in place as she tipped her head back and laughed. The laugh he absolutely adored.
"Well don't take too many of me," Clarisse said as she removed her sunglasses and placed them down on the ground next to her before looking back over at him. "I don't want the whole of our honeymoon pictures to be of just me."
"Oh I would, I would be quite happy at that," Joseph smiled as he stood back up straight and walked over to her still sitting on the edge of the pool but twisted around a little bit more now.
"I know you would," Clarisse said, putting her hand back up onto the top of her sunhat, holding it in place as she once again tipped her head back to look up at him standing beside her. "I would love some of us together, though."
"Oh me too," Joseph smiled as he bent over and pressed his lips to hers, pushing her back just a little before pulling back just enough to look into her beautiful bright eyes. The light from the sun turning them into a lighter shade of blue. "You sitting here by the pool is everything I imagined it would be, just much much more breathtaking," he said and kissed her again before crouching down next to her and putting his free hand onto her shoulder.
"Thank you," she smiled and took her bottom lip between her teeth while putting her hand out onto his knee.
"You're welcome," he smiled and studied her face a moment before looking down at the camera in his hand. "Here, let's get a picture of us together now."
Smiling, Clarisse lifted her hand from his knee and bent her arm up, gently grazing her fingers tips along his jaw as he moved closer, snuggling close to her while extending his arm out in front of them with the camera in his hand, to take the picture of them together. "Let's have a look," Clarisse smiled up at him as he moved the camera back closer to them, "and can you show me the other ones you have already taken too."
"Of course," Joseph smiled up at her, then back down at the camera, getting the pictures up to show her. The photo he had just taken of them together, causing his tummy to flutter.
"Oh, I love that photo," Clarisse smiled, pressing a hand to her fluttering stomach when she saw the photo. "We will definitely have to frame that one."
"Yes we will," Joseph smiled as they continued to look through the other pictures he had taken already. "And this one," he said, stopping at one that he had taken of her the previous day. Standing out on the balcony with the sun setting in the background, "will be framed and placed pride of place on the mantlepiece in our new home."
"I didn't even realise you had taken a picture of me then," Clarisse said as she looked up at him with a smile. "You are very sneaky." She laughed.
"That's the best way to get photos, especially spontaneous ones," Joseph smiled up at her and gazed into her eyes. "I'll go and get our drinks now."
"Okay," Clarisse smiled and averted her gaze down to his lips as he leant in to kiss her a couple of times before standing up next to her.
"I'll be back in a minute," he smiled down at her and walked over to the table next to the sun loungers a few feet away from the pool. Putting the camera down on the table under the shade of the parasol.
"Okay, I'll be here," she smiled and watched him walk back up the steps to the house before turning to look back out at the view of the ocean with a contented sigh. This place truly was heaven. So beautiful and relaxing.
"I brought the suncream out with me, and a book that I thought we could go through together a little later," Joseph said, returning several moments later and placed them both down on the table next to his camera.
"Okay," Clarisse smiled as she turned to look over at him from where she was still sitting on the edge of the pool, and watched as he made his way over to her with their drinks in his hands. "Thank you," she said as he handed her her drink and moved to sit on the edge of the pool next to her.
"You are most welcome," he smiled and held out his bottle to her bottle. "Here's to us for finally making it further than the patio for the first time since we arrived three days ago," he said, and they both laughed.
"To us," Clarisse smiled as they clinked their bottles together and took a drink of their drinks before she watched him look down at his bottle in his hands with a small laugh. "What's so funny?" She asked as he looked back up at her.
"Well all the things that you have done this last week, all things I thought that you'd never do, and out of all the things I thought that you would do next, drinking a beer out of the bottle with me certainly wasn't one of them." He smirked while leaning closer to her and putting his hand on her back, smoothing it down slowly before resting his hand on the ground behind her, close to her bottom.
"Ahh see, you may think that you already know everything there is to know about me, but I suppose I still have some surprises left yet," she laughed as he kissed her shoulder.
"Well keep them coming, because I love learning new things about you," he smiled as they leant closer to one another, sharing a lingering kiss before sitting back up straight next to one another. "Oh, I spoke to Vee about dinner tomorrow."
"Oh yes, what did she say?" Clarisse asked as she put her free hand out onto his thigh.
"She said that it's fine for tomorrow," he smiled. "And she also asked if we would like to join her, Diego, Juana, and her husband, Pedro, out on the yacht on Sunday?"
"They have a yacht?" Clarisse asked in surprise and turned her body to him a little.
"Yes, they do. It's part of the business," Joseph nodded. "They take it out for small private parties at sunset. They don't do Sunday's however, and they wanted to know if we'd like to go out on it with them. We can go snorkelling, have a bite to eat, then watch the sunset."
"Sounds lovely," Clarisse smiled as she studied his face. "I would love to."
"Great, I'll let them know later," Joseph smiled, and they shared another quick kiss before he took a drink of his beer. "I'm sorry, but I gotta do this," he laughed while putting his beer down and quickly getting to his feet beside her.
"Do wha-," she started to say, but stopped and shook her head with a laugh when she saw him dive bombing into the pool. Splashing her a little in the process. "You are just as bad as Pierre and Philippe were when they were teenagers," she exclaimed when he came back up for air and looked down at herself.
"It was actually them I got it from," he smiled over at her as she laughed and looked back up at him. "You should come in. The water is lovely. And the view from over here is even more beautiful."
"Not yet, maybe in a little bit," she smiled and took a sip of her beer while looking out at the view.
"Okay," Joseph smiled and began to swim back towards her.
"You mentioned earlier about going for a sunset walk along the beach," Clarisse said, looking down at him resting his arms folded together on the edge of the pool next to her. "And I know that the beach is just down there, but how exactly do we get to it?"
Turning, Joseph pointed towards the corner of the gardens and looked back up at her, watching as she looked to where he was pointing. "There's a gate over there. You go through there, and it leads to a pathway. You then go down some steps, and you are there."
"Oh, it doesn't sound very private," Clarisse said as she looked back down at him. "Wouldn't people be able to get in?"
"Oh it is, it's very secure. The gate is locked and secure, you need a code to get in and out, and the beach is a private beach, so it is only accessible by the people who own the properties along this road." Joseph said and took a sip of his beer.
"Ahh okay," Clarisse nodded and put her bottle down next to her.
"Do you really think that I would bring you here if it wasn't very secure and private?" Joseph asked as their gaze met.
"No, you wouldn't," Clarisse said and shook her head as he put his bottle back down next to hers. "I'm sorry."
"I know you are worried, but honestly it's fine," he said, giving her a small smile. "The privacy is actually why I like this place so much. We can do what we want out here, and no one will never know."
"That is good to know, especially since what has already happened out here," she said while leaning forward and moving her hands to cup his chin in them. "And what could still potentially happen out here anytime over the next eleven days." She smiled mischievously.
"Oh, I know," he smirked and reached up to kiss her. "Wouldn't want anyone spying on us now, would we."
"Most certainly not," she smiled and kissed him back a couple of times.
"Anyway, are you coming in yet," he asked, smiling up at her as she lowered her hands from his face and sat back up. "I want to show you the view over there."
"Oh, alright," Clarisse smiled as she removed her sunhat, putting it down next to their drinks and her sunglasses before getting to her feet and removing her kimono, folding it down over the top of her sunhat and moving to the edge of the pool.
"If you're going to dive in then aim towards that way, it's the deeper end," Joseph said, pointing towards one end of the pool while tipping his head back to look up at her. Admiring her beautiful figure in the dark blue ruched, low leg swimsuit she was wearing, a moment.
"Okay, thank you," Clarisse smiled and dived elegantly into the water.
"You never cease to amaze me, you know that," Joseph laughed when she came up for air over the other end of the pool and turned around in the water to face him. "There's me dive bombing into the water, and then there's you, diving in so gracefully." He said, and she laughed as he began to swim over to join her.
"Opposites attract," Clarisse smiled and reached her hand out onto the edge of the pool as he swam up to her and just about managed to stand in the water in front of her, as she wrapped her free arm around his neck. "But that's why I love you so much. You're different. You're playful and so so much fun."
"Oh, and there's me thinking it was because you thought I was a sexy bad boy," Joseph laughed and gripped hold of her thighs as she locked her legs deliciously around his waist under the water.
"Oh yes, it was because of that too, of course," Clarisse said, flashing him a flirty smile and leaning in to kiss him deeply on the lips while letting go of the edge of the pool and wrapping her arm around his shoulder, her hand grasping the back of his head. "My sexy bad boy," she smiled against his lips before kissing him again.
"Mmm," Joseph smiled as she pulled her head back to look into his eyes with her gorgeous smile. "Come on, let's check out this view." He said and gave her one more quick kiss before they both turned their heads to look out at the beautiful view.