by Zoe York
He handed her the glass and put his own on the water’s edge. He didn’t know about detoxify, but hopefully the magical water could help him stay in control, because being so close to Kari, knowing what she wore—or in this case, didn’t wear—under that robe, he needed all the self-control he could find.
“Are you ready to get in?” He moved to the edge of the water, and when Kari nodded, still nervous, he decided to go first.
For some reason he was nervous too, which was ridiculous since only the night before they’d been skinny-dipping together. Not skinny-dipping, he reminded himself, the detail suddenly important, but there was a layer of clothing between them, and the lake was much bigger than the tiny pool he stood in front of.
With a shake of his head for being an idiot, he quickly untied the robe and let it fall behind him. Rhys could feel Kari’s eyes on his back as he stepped down into the water.
After the first step, he paused, letting his body acclimatize to the heat. The water was definitely hot, but his muscles instantly relaxed into the water, and he stepped the rest of the way in, turning to look at Kari, who watched him intently.
The shyness she’d worn on her face earlier was gone, replaced by pure want and need. His body reacted to the knowledge that he’d done that to her.
“Come in.” He needed her closer.
She nodded and to Rhys’ surprise, didn’t hesitate. He was about to turn around, give her some privacy, but something in her eyes stopped him. Kari untied her robe, and with a torturously slow hand, she slid her robe first over her shoulders to expose the creamy white skin, before it fell lower, allowing him access to her breasts. She didn’t try to cover herself with her hands, but instead stood proudly, letting his eyes drink in every inch of her. She was amazing.
The robe slipped the rest of the way to the ground, and Kari stood there in the middle of the fabric for a moment and he greedily took in every bit of her. His eyes traveled down to her tiny waist, the midriff he’d seen exposed a few days previously, soft, round hips leading down to a valley, that given half a chance, he would happily bury himself in.
With more control than he felt, he took a deep breath and looked back up to her eyes, which watched him intently. So much sexiness in such a small package. Rhys had to fight back the guttural urge to leap from the water and take her in his hands, and explore every inch of her body with his mouth.
With a deep breath, he waited and when she finally made a move, Rhys rose out of the water, until he was only chest deep and offered her his hand. She took it with a smile and stepped down into the pool.
“Oh.” Kari closed her eyes. Her face twisted into a mask of pleasure. “This feels nice.”
Rhys didn’t let go of her hand as she continued to take the steps. Once she was waist deep, he drew her to him. With his free hand, he smoothed it over her shoulder and let the water coat her soft skin before he slid it up to her jaw and cupped her face gently. Her eyes were open again, looking him in the eye. There was no mistaking the need in her; it matched his own. Their kiss was hungry and demanding. The heat from the water fueled their passion as Rhys pressed his body closer to hers. He slid one hand down her spine to rest on her buttocks and hold her in place. A low moan escaped her lips, and Rhys deepened the kiss.
Now that he had her, he wasn’t going to let her go.
She couldn’t explain it, but she hadn’t felt any hesitation when it came to baring herself and slipping into the hot spring with Rhys. In her old life, Karina would never have behaved so brazenly. Maybe that’s why it came so easily to her now? She didn’t know, and she no longer cared. She was tired of pretending she was something she wasn’t. She’d done it for too long with Brice, and now, unknowingly, she’d done it with Rhys, too. But no more. She was done.
As if to prove it, she lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist. The man was solid muscle. No doubt the product of hours in the gym, but also, Kari knew, Rhys’ body was formed from hours outside, living. Which was part of the reason it was so damn irresistible to her.
There was no mistaking his excitement, the way it was pressed up against her belly. The idea that she’d done that to him fueled her own passion, letting it build into a hard knot of desire deep inside.
It had been so long since she’d been with a man. Things with Brice had cooled off almost before they’d begun, and even when their relationship was physical, he never made her feel the way Rhys made her feel at that moment.
The water tickled her skin, and she released another groan. She pulled her head away from him, long enough to look at his face. “Damn it, Rhys.”
His eyes popped open, filled with immediate concern but before he could say anything, she dropped a soft kiss on his lips.
“My first time in the hot springs, and you’re going to make me overheat before the water can.”
He laughed and reluctantly pulled away from her. She felt his absence, but knew it wouldn’t last long.
“We can’t have that.” He reached for the water glass she’d left on the edge of the pool and handed it to her before he moved across from her and sat down. “We should probably soak up the therapeutic effects of the hot springs since we’re here.”
Kari sipped her water, letting the combination of mint and citrus cool her from the inside. As long as Rhys, with his hard, naked body was in such close proximity, she would need all the cooling off she could get. “Yes,” she agreed after a moment. “That would be the responsible thing to do.”
“I’m nothing if not responsible.” He winked at her and Kari giggled. They sat in easy silence for a few minutes. That was one of the things Kari liked and appreciated so much about Rhys. There was no need to fill every second of silence with chatter and nonsense. Sometimes, silence could say so much more than words could.
“Tell me why you came back to Cedar Springs,” she blurted out, ruining the silence she was enjoying so much. He looked at her strangely, but then smiled.
“You want to know about me?”
“Why is that so hard to believe?”
“It’s not,” he said slowly. She could tell there was more he wanted to say. Instead, he smiled and started talking. “Like a lot of kids, I thought success meant growing up and moving away. So the first chance I got, I left.”
“It was that easy? To leave everything behind?”
He laughed. “At the time it was. Beth had broken up with me a few months before. But I hadn’t given up hope.” Her gut clenched at the mention of him caring about another woman. When had she become so possessive about his affection? “And when she announced she was pregnant,” he continued, “I needed to get away. I was heartbroken. Or at least I thought I was. Looking back, it was a convenient excuse for me to get out.” Kari nodded, feeling a bit of relief at the idea that things really were over with Beth. “Anyway, I went to the city and was lucky enough to get accepted to the police academy. After I graduated, I stayed on. I’d made it. Everything I’d wanted when I was a kid had happened.”
“Were you lonely?” The question popped into her head.
“No. I had a girlfriend.” The flare of jealousy returned. “And I thought I was in love.”
“What happened?” She forced herself to ask.
He was silent for a moment. His eyes took on a faraway look and when he spoke again, Kari knew he was divulging something he hadn’t in a long time. “I thought she was cheating on me.”
“Oh no.”
“She wasn’t.” He looked up, his eyes full of the memories. “At least, not at first. I don’t know why, but I always felt like there was something she was hiding from me. And it drove me crazy that she couldn’t be totally honest with me.” This time, it was guilt, not jealousy, that flared up within Kari.
“So what happened?” She needed to know. Did his girlfriend’s deception, or perceived deception, ruin everything between them? Was she going to do the exact same thing by keeping the truth hidden?
“I used my resources and did some digging.”
&n
bsp; “Digging?” She knew even without asking what he meant.
“I found out everything I could about her. I was so convinced that she wasn’t telling me something that I looked into every area of her life.”
“Rhys.” Kari put a hand over her mouth. “You didn’t.”
“I’m not proud of it. That’s why I’m telling you. Honesty is important to me.”
Another flare of guilt threatened to consume her.
“Of course she found out, which ironically drove her to cheat on me, just adding fuel to the fire. But I’d already ruined whatever chance we had. It was over.”
“I’m sorry.” She reached out, needing to touch him. To feel him beneath her hands.
“I’m not.” His smile didn’t contain any trace of sadness. “That’s why I came home. I didn’t like who I’d become in the city. So distrusting, suspicious.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Kari closed the distance between them so she was straddling his lap. ““But I’m glad you came back to Cedar Springs.” She placed a small kiss on his lips, a touch so soft she wasn’t sure if he’d even noticed.
But when his arms came up and held her to him, she knew he had. She also knew in that moment, being held by him, she felt safe. She could trust this man with her secrets, and she would.
“Rhys?”
He lifted a hand from the water and smoothed back her hair from her face in answer.
“There are some things I want to tell you, too.” And she did. In that moment she knew it would all be okay, because despite the complete and total improbability of falling for someone so quickly and so completely, she had. She told him as much. “I’m totally and completely falling for you, Officer Anderson.”
The corners of his mouth lifted up into a smile so sexy she almost forgot what else she was going to say. “I’ve been waiting to hear that. Because I am absolutely falling in love with you.” His kiss consumed her, and when he finally pulled away, he said, “I want to hear everything else you want to tell me, babe.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek, and then moved his lips to her neck and gently sucked her earlobe between his teeth, giving it a gentle nibble. A sigh escaped her mouth.
“But first,” he kissed her neck again, this time lower, “I want to take you upstairs. Because if I have to endure the torture of your naked body on top of mine without being inside you for one more minute, I won’t be able to be held responsible for my actions.”
Chapter 10
He didn’t waste any more time. There would be plenty of time for talking later. For the moment, Rhys’d had enough of soaking in the hot springs, no matter how healing the waters were supposed to be. The only type of healing he needed was only going to be achieved by getting the incredibly sexy, totally naked woman in his arms, upstairs to their room.
The ride in the elevator was excruciating.
“I don’t remember it being so slow on the way down,” he said in an effort to diffuse some of the tension between them. “You know, Kari...we don’t have to...”
She crossed the space and slid her hands into his robe in response to his unanswered question. Oh, there was no doubt she was feeling exactly the same way he was about how their date was going to end.
When the elevator finally stopped on their floor, it was Kari who took his hand and led him down the hall to their room, where he inserted the key card. She’d barely said a word since they left the pool area, but the second the door shut behind them, leaving them alone, finally, there was no more need for words.
Rhys spun her around before she could take two steps in to the room. With a quick flick of his wrist, he released the tie that kept her robe shut and exposed her still damp, perfectly soft and curvy body to him. The groan he heard came from deep within his own body, thick with need for her; he couldn’t wait one more minute.
“You’re sure?” His words were barely more than a whisper, but she nodded in response and shrugged out of the robe. It pooled at her feet.
“Oh.” She looked at him from lowered lids, her eyes smoldering with barely leashed sex appeal. “I’m totally sure.”
When her lips met his, they were hot and hungry, and Rhys was done talking. He slid his hands under her ass and lifted her easily, so her mouth was level with his. They kissed, each of them greedy for more.
Kari locked her legs around his waist, and pressed herself up against him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so damn aroused with a layer of fluffy cotton in his way. Probably never. It didn’t matter because that’s what he had now, and damn it, that wasn’t going to last long, not if he had anything to say about it.
As it turned out, he didn’t have anything to say about it; she did. Her mouth dipped to his neck; she nibbled, kissed, and tasted him as she traveled down to his chest. Her hands slipped under the fluffy cotton and roamed his bare skin, leaving trails of heat everywhere she touched.
“This,” she breathed between kisses, “has got to go.”
With a hunger he didn’t know was possible from such a small woman, she tore his robe from him and let it fall to the floor with hers.
With a growl, he pushed her against the wall. It took every shred of self-control he had to take it slow with her, if you could call what he was doing taking it slow. It was definitely a whole lot slower than what his body yearned for. Every fiber of his being strained toward Kari.
Using the wall for support, his hands were freed to explore the amazing body he had wrapped around him. Everything about her was perfect. Her breasts filled his hand and her response when he squeezed gently urged him to tighten his grip. The moan she released from deep within her when he took one nipple between his teeth and bit down, with just enough pressure, nearly undid him.
“Jesus, Kari.”
In response, she shifted her body so his hard, hot length was pressed against her heat. She was wet and more than ready for him. Somehow he managed to slide a few inches down the wall and reach over to the side table where he’d placed his wallet. He couldn’t wait.
“Babe, I—” He slid the condom on.
“Neither can I.”
They were the hottest words he could have imagined coming out of her mouth. And coupled with the passion clouded in her eyes, there was no resistance.
With one solid thrust, he pushed into her. Rhys couldn’t be sure whether it was her or him who let out the deep moan, but it didn’t matter; they joined together perfectly. Rhys closed his eyes and gave himself over completely to the perfection that was Kari.
It took everything she had in her to keep her eyes open, when all Kari wanted to do was close them and take in every bit of passion Rhys gave her. Their bodies moved in unison, as if they were always meant to be together. The thought was so cliché and corny, Kari tried to push it out of her mind, but there was no other way to explain the way she felt about Rhys and having him inside her...it was like nothing she’d ever experienced.
Needing him closer, she clawed her fingers into his shoulder to bring him impossibly close. With every thrust, her body tightened and quivered in anticipation of release until finally, Kari bit down on Rhys’ shoulder to keep from crying out.
“Let it out, babe.” His voice was rough, barely constrained.
She did as he said, and threw her head back, letting her cry of passion carry her orgasm to total shattering completion.
Kari was pretty sure she would’ve slumped to the floor if Rhys didn’t have his strong arms around her, holding her body to his. His kiss was gentle as he placed it on her forehead. “You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”
She didn’t even bother being embarrassed the way she normally might be. After what they’d just done, there was nothing else to hide. A sliver of a thought invaded her consciousness. Something she should tell him. Something she should say. But her head was so cloudy with the aftereffects of what they’d just done, she couldn’t think of it.
With him still inside her, somehow he made his way to the bed and deposited them on the pillowy so
ftness, finally leaving her. Immediately, she felt as if something was missing. She wanted the closeness of him back.
With a mewl, she rolled over so she was facing him.
“Are you okay?” He stroked a hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear the way he’d taken to doing.
“I’ve never been better.” It was the truth. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so completely satisfied. A thought crashed through her bliss, and the smile fell from her face. “Are you?” she asked. “Did you...I mean...was it...” She just realized she’d been so preoccupied with herself, she had no idea whether he’d climaxed with her, or if he had, whether it was as completely mind blowing for him as it was for her.
She propped up on one elbow and stared at him. “Rhys, I’m so sorry, I don’t know—”
He placed one finger on her lips to silence her. “What on earth are you sorry for?” He rose up on one arm as well and loomed over her. “I’m the one who should be sorry,” he said. “I couldn’t help myself. You had me so...the next time, I mean....if there is…I—what?”
She couldn’t help herself. He looked so sincere and concerned about her pleasure, when it was her who was worried about him. The giggles started deep within her and erupted before she could stop them. Rhys still hovered over her and stared at her with a look of total bewilderment.
“What?” she managed after a moment, the laughter subsiding.
Rhys shook his head, a smile on his face, and flopped down to the pillow next to her.
But oh no, she wasn’t going to let him off so easy. With a renewed sense of energy, Kari hoisted herself up and with a quick flip, straddled his large chest. The look of shock and reignited passion was totally worth it.
“What the—”
“What were you saying about next time?”
The look in Rhys’ eye faded from worry to humor. His hands trailed up her hips and held her in place. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about?”
