Winter

by Reina Torres

  He closed what little distance there was between them in a heartbeat, taking both her hands in his and trapping them against his chest. “I need your help if that’s what you want to do. I have money set aside, Cel. I don’t need to run this place. If I did it, it would be because you wanted to work by my side. An adventure for the both of us. Together.

  “But if you don’t want to do it. That’s fine.” He grinned and leaned closer. “I would happily spend my days doing whatever it takes to make you happy.”

  The way he spoke. The look in his eyes. The warmth of his hands and… the rest of him, made her weak.

  “I… I’m not sure-”

  “I’m not asking for a decision now,” he explained. “I’ll show you around the next floor up so you can see some of the rooms. Then we can tour the restaurant, the ballroom-”

  “Ballroom?”

  “It’s a little too cold to show you the tennis courts and the other amenities out on the lawn, but I do need to show you the crown jewel of Mystic Mountain Resort.”

  “Well, let’s go. I think I’m in the mood to be dazzled by the crown jewels.”

  Eight

  By the time they’d finished the interior tour of Mystic Mountain Resort, Aaron knew they both needed a break. Touring the interior, hearing the soft, excited murmurs from Celeste, watching the way she lovingly touched the decorations, the thick velvet curtains in the private room of the restaurant.

  And he saw the light in her eyes.

  It had started from the moment they’d left the front entry and began their tour and the longer and further they moved within the main resort building he could feel her interest building.

  Not just in the building itself, but this connection between them.

  The way she looked at him.

  The way she touched him.

  Even the hitch of her breath when they drifted closer together, and he couldn’t ignore the changes in her scent.

  Keeping his hands to himself after enduring several hours in her presence was becoming a trial. Her scent was rich, heavy with interest and growing arousal. Every touch of her hand on his arm, the gentle stroke of her palm on his back, felt like electricity arcing through his body. A building storm of sensation.

  Even more, as she looked at their surroundings, the way she’d reach out and trail her fingers over the woodwork or the curtains, even the brass finials on a bed in one of the suites.

  He was struggling to fight off the raging arousal that came as natural to him as breathing when he was near her.

  One breath in.

  One breath out.

  He could hold himself back.

  Another breath-

  “Oh, look.”

  Aaron turned to look at Celeste as she paused by one of the tables in the bar. She smoothed two fingers around the side of the table, peering into the dark reflective surface.

  “The man who came to buy the resort, he didn’t have you buy anything new? These are all original?”

  “Yeah. When they closed, they covered over everything with thick cloths to keep the dust and grime off the surfaces.”

  “Mmm hmm.” She moved on to another table, almost humming to herself, and he could tell by the soft and breathy quality of her voice that she was focused on her thoughts rather than him.

  He was fine with that.

  If her eyes weren’t looking intently at him and focusing on the room around them, he could keep himself in check.

  “These tables are so solid.”

  His gaze lifted to watch her and saw her grip the table, one hand on each side of the tabletop, and tried to rock it hard enough to move it off its base.

  Her cheeks were pink with exertion and her breaths were deeper, faster.

  “This table could take a pounding.”

  It was an off-handed comment, but that didn’t help him.

  Thankful for the heavy work-denim of his pants, Aaron felt the hard line of his cock swell and stretch, testing the limits of his buttons.

  He even managed to meet her excited gaze when she looked up, searching for him.

  “Imagine,” she gushed, “people could dance on these tables. Whoever made these really knew what they were doing.”

  “Craftsmanship was important to the original owners.”

  “You too, Aaron.” Her voice had softened and her eyes as well. “You always do amazing work.”

  What could he say to that?

  There were any number of things that he might have said if his bear wasn’t riding his last nerve with spurs sunk deep into his sides.

  He needed a distraction in the worst way.

  “Hellooo! Knock knock!”

  Aaron heard the soft spate of laughter at the front entrance of the resort and managed not to sigh out loud in relief.

  Holding out a hand to Celeste, he felt her moving through the room in his direction, allowing him to focus on their guest. “Come in, Wren.”

  Celeste took his hand and continued walking through the bar, almost towing him behind her. He didn’t pull back or away and moved to catch up as the front door opened all the way.

  The woman that walked into the lobby was slight in form and gentle in her movements, picking her way across the marble floor with light steps. Lifting her chin, she looked up and around at the lobby, her lips parting in a soundless ‘o.’

  Aaron tried to remember the last time that Wren had seen the interior of the main resort building and realized that she probably hadn’t in decades.

  “Good to see you.”

  Her head turned and tilted as her eyes narrowed as he approached. “Of course, it’s good to see me, Aaron Winter. We’re friends. If we weren’t then a comment like that would be disingenuous. And you,” she lifted her nose, pointing to him just as well as she could have done with a finger, “are a good man. You wouldn’t treat me like that.”

  “Careful,” he cleared his throat, “Celeste might think I bribed you to say all of those nice things.”

  That caught Wren’s attention just as sure as if he’d tossed a coin into the light.

  “Celeste?”

  Wren clasped her hands together in a clap, but the sound was muted by the satchel she held in one hand.

  “You’ve finally brought her to us.”

  Aaron didn’t even have to say anything in reply. Wren was in full flight, her feet skittering across the long marble walkway until she was close enough to thrust the satchel at him.

  He had a moment to grasp the bag and hold it tight before Wren plucked Celeste’s hand from his and danced her around in a jaunty little circle.

  “You’re here!” She sang the words in several different ways as the two women turned and turned. “You’re finally here!”

  It was up to Aaron to stop them before they spun into one of the bar’s heavy tables. He wrapped an arm around each woman and drew them into his sides.

  They came to a stop with the three of them rocking back a step.

  While Celeste was still somewhat stunned, Wren was still flying high with joy.

  “Would you look at you,” Wren laughed and leaned closer, widening her eyes at Celeste, “but of course you can’t unless you can see yourself in my eyes.” With that, she opened her eyes as wide as they could possibly go and stared, unblinking. “Can you?”

  Celeste was almost breathless with laughing. “Can I see myself?”

  Wren nodded and Celeste seemed to follow along with her movements for a moment before she started to shake her head side to side before wrapping her arm around his waist. He pulled Celeste closer against his side.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t even think I can see much of anything right now.”

  Aaron looked down and saw Celeste wiping at her eyes.

  “My eyes are watering from laughing so hard.”

  Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to the top of Celeste’s head. “Then just hold onto me and I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”

  “Or walk into a wall.” It was Wren who had added in that little bit. Look
ing between Celeste and his own incredulous gaze, Wren bobbed up and down. “A wall would be bad. It’s not so much if a man breaks his nose, but a woman? It brings up all kinds of questions.”

  Aaron started to let out his breath thinking that she was done speaking.

  “Not that anyone who lives in Mystic would think you hurt her, Aaron. Why, you couldn’t do that!”

  “Of course not,” Celeste whole-heartedly agreed, “he-”

  “Anyone who knows Aaron would never think such a thing, especially because… it’s you, Celeste.”

  Aaron saw the glint in Wren’s eyes. She was moments away from blurting out the gem that he wasn’t ready to reveal yet. “I want to thank you,” he began, leaning down so that he might turn Wren’s attention on him, “for bringing lunch.”

  “Oh, lunch!”

  Wren looked down at her empty hand and gasped in surprise. “What did I do with lunch?”

  Celeste reached out and took Wren’s hand in her own. “Aaron has it. You gave it to him.”

  Wren turned to look and Aaron lifted the satchel into her line of vision. “Oh, there it is!” She looked straight into his eyes. “And I gave that to you.”

  He nodded.

  “Okay, then.” She turned back to Celeste. “And you’re Celeste.”

  Aaron watched them closely. Not everyone understood or appreciated Wren’s quixotic nature, but she was one of, if not his oldest friend in Mystic, and he wanted the two women before him to care for each other as well.

  “Yes, I’m Celeste.” She reached out and touched the side of Wren’s face in a gesture that Aaron had seen many, many times over the years. “And you and I are going to be great friends.”

  Wren nodded thoughtfully for a moment and then laid her hands over Celeste’s, cuddling it against her cheek. “We’ll be friends. That will make Aaron happy.”

  And then, as if something had flown by her nose, Wren started and smiled.

  “You have lunch and I need to go home. Lots of work to be done.”

  Giving Aaron a nod, she turned and moved toward the door.

  “Aaron?”

  He heard the breathy rush of Celeste’s voice and knew how she felt. When he was a child and met Wren in the woods one morning, she left him with the same stunned shock that was now in Celeste’s eyes.

  “She’s something.” Celeste set her free hand on her chest. “My heart is pounding like a hummingbird’s wings. I’ve never met anyone like her.”

  Aaron turned, drawing her into his gentle embrace. “She’s one of kind, just like you.”

  He saw the blush on her cheeks, but he also saw the humor sparking in her eyes.

  “Is she hungry like me? You said she brought us lunch and after all of the walking we’ve been doing up and down the halls, I really need to eat something soon.”

  “And that’s what we’re going to do, but we will need to do a little more walking first. There’s no elevator up to the conservatory on the roof.”

  “The roof?”

  “You’ll love it. Glass panels and wrought iron detailing like Victorian conservatories in old manor houses. No matter how cold it gets, I’ve never needed any kind of heat up there, but just in case I left a couple of blankets up there to keep you warm.” He adjusted the satchel in his hand so that he could reach out to her, but her bag bumped into the satchel and jostled it. As he struggled to right it, he looked over and saw Celeste watching him carefully.

  “Are you ready for me to help you now?”

  Straightening his spine, he looked down at her form his towering position and saw her staring right back at him.

  “The day I need you to help me carry two little bags-”

  “That’s the thing, Aaron.”

  He saw the determination in her eyes and recognized it as something very like his own.

  “You don’t need me to help you, but I want to. That should mean something.”

  In his life, he had been given few things, but his one want… his one need… was a mate that was his match.

  And here she was, ready to stand up to him, if only to offer her help. He knew she was fierce. He’d seen it enough over the years when she was fighting for her family. Fierce didn’t surprise him, but the way she pushed him to give her the opportunity to share responsibility did.

  “Okay.”

  His back teeth ground together as his bear glared at him from the depths of his soul. He’d have to work that out later when Celeste was asleep, but at that moment, there was something much more important that needed his attention.

  The amazing woman in front of him.

  “Would you mind carrying this for me?”

  Her smile answered his question better than any words could. Celeste took hold of the satchel in her hands and tucked it against her side, on her hip. “Okay. Now what?”

  Aaron barely resisted the urge to toss her up onto his shoulder to put to rest any question of whether or not he needed her help carrying anything, but instead, he gestured toward the center of the building where the main stairway stood. “We’ll eat in the conservatory so I can point out some of the best parts of Mystic. After we’re done, I’m going to take you to see my favorite part of the resort.”

  She narrowed her gaze at him as if she was trying to read his mind. “Why do I feel like it’s much more than that?”

  He shook his head, chuckling at his own naivete. He fought down the possessive growl in the back of his throat and leaned closer to press a kiss on her forehead “Because you’re too smart for my own good, now, come on. I thought you were starving.”

  And almost on cue, her stomach growled loud enough for his bear to lift his head in ursine approval.

  “Well,” she chuckled, “that was embarrassing.”

  His laughter mingled with hers. “It was perfect. Let’s go so I can feed you.”

  They started walking together and she let out a little dramatic sigh. “If you’re after my heart, Aaron, keep that up and it will be yours.”

  He hoped she meant those words, because he was going to hold her to them later.

  Nine

  The first thing she noticed was color. Reds, oranges, and yellows burned like fire against the cold, ever-whitening landscape. Since they’d arrived in Mystic, snow had been falling rather steadily, blanketing the world around her.

  But not here.

  Not in the back of Mystic Mountain Resort.

  A tall wood fence, lacquered in a deep red, dominated the space beyond the back doors.

  “What is this?”

  Celeste felt Aaron’s hand settle on her lower back and gently urged her forward.

  The air around her felt charged, like if she touched the wrong thing she’d be zapped with static electricity, but she moved on because the colors she saw were too incredible to ignore.

  As they moved closer to the fence the fiery foliage towered over them and that was something. Aaron was well over six feet and the lowest branches didn’t come anywhere close to even the top of his head.

  “So, is this like the secret garden of Mystic Mountain?”

  Aaron continued to walk toward the gate, urging her along, and she had to decide between digging in her heels to get an answer or to keep walking until she found out for herself.

  And a few steps away from the gate she stopped when Aaron’s fingers slipped into the back of her waistband and drew her to a stop.

  His lips touched the back of her neck. “This is far more than a secret garden, Celeste. Hold still.”

  As she stood there, he reached around her and fit the key into the lock. A quick turn of his wrist unlocked the gate and then a gentle push swung the gate open.

  The hinges didn’t squeak, opening silently.

  “Go ahead,” he whispered into her ear, “take a look.”

  The fence line fell away like a memory, revealing the cool blue waters of the paradise.

  “What is this?”

  “This,” he breathed, “is why Mystic Mountain Resort was built in the fir
st place. Hot springs. Incredible hot springs that were said to bring health and vitality to any who bathed in their waters.

  “If it reopens, I think this is going to be a big reason why people come here. What do you think?”

  She couldn’t really say much at the moment. The hot spring was surrounded by rocks and boulders of different sizes, forming a picturesque border. Along the fence line stood a forest of maple trees in full, glorious color. Everywhere outside the enclosure only the evergreens still had their foliage. Gesturing at the trees, she shook her head. “How… How…”

  “The trees?”

  She heard the soft note of laughter in Aaron’s voice. “Yes.”

  “Like I told you,” the scratch of his beard sent shivers down along her neck and even further, “magic.”

  Instead of an answer there were questions doubling and tripling in her head. “But-”

  “Later,” he brushed a kiss along the edge of her ear, “but now, you and I are going to have a private swim in the most magical place I’ve ever known.”

  She looked at the strap of her bag still visible over his shoulder. “That’s why you had Julia pack that in my bags?”

  He didn’t deny it. He just smiled down at her and the look in his eyes… eyes the same icy blue as the hot springs just a few feet away… took her breath away.

  Slipping the bag off his shoulder, he held it out to her. Lifting his chin in the direction over her shoulder, he nodded. “There’s a changing room in that direction.”

  A smile touched her lips. “Don’t you need to change too?”

  “I have to check the lights at the edge of the pool first. It’s going to get dark soon and we might need to see.”

  Taking her bag from his hand she sighed. “And here I was, thinking you were going to use this as an excuse to undress me or at least watch while I change.” The more she said, the more she realized that she was worried that she was just that wrong. “Okay, then. I’ll get changed and meet you back here.”

  She only made it a few steps before he caught her elbow in his hand and got up in front of her.

  “Cel, look at me.”