Chapter 35
ARI
“Put me down.” I slap his ass, hard. It’s a nice ass, and I much prefer this view than the one from the kitchen window, but what the hell is he doing?
It’s so out of character for him.
I can’t deny I love it though. I love how relaxed he seems today.
“No.” He slaps my denim-covered ass in return. “And be quiet, or you’ll upset the snakes.”
“Snakes?” I shriek, looking around the grassland.
“Shush, no screaming. We’re going for a swim whether you like it or not.”
“I’m not swimming, I don’t have my swimsuit on.” I puff and pant even though I’m not the one running. “I didn’t bring one with me.”
Also, snakes!
“We’re going skinny-dipping.” He continues down the embankment.
“What?” I shout in astonishment, making my voice echo around the valley. “What if someone sees us?” Panic crawls up my throat.
“There is no one around for miles. Relax, baby,” he says, barely out of breath, which is ridiculous. He must be as strong as a bull if he can carry me and run at the same time.
“Have fun.” I hear Eli shouting after us.
I push my hair off my face and lift my head to find them watching us with amusement.
“Your mother’s going to kill us for not being there for dinner,” I huff, struggling to get any words out because I’m folded in half.
“She won’t care. Trust me.” Nathan’s steps become slower as he makes his way down the steep hill, and I throw my arms around his waist to stop me from bumping around.
“Nathan, put me down.” Using all my strength, I squeeze my arms which are wrapped around him, causing him to let out a humpf noise as I try to push the air out of his lungs and get him to do as I ask.
“Fuck, you’re strong. We’re here.” He comes to a standstill, then pries my fingers open before laying my feet on the ground.
“Oh my God, what the hell do you think you’re doing?
” I smack his shoulder playfully as I try to compose myself from his unexpected kidnapping, but he doesn’t care; instead, he proceeds to toe-off his sneakers, before removing his immaculate white tennis shorts and boxers that highlight his deep tan.
“Strip,” he orders confidently, walking toward the slow-moving stream below.
What the hell? He’s serious about skinny-dipping. “Nathan,” I call out, my hands on my hips, on the verge of having a tantrum, but he steps into the water.
“I’ll come back there and strip you naked myself if I have to.” He raises his voice above the steady sound of the moving water. “Get in, Arianna.” Spinning around, he beckons me to him before dunking his head below the surface and reappearing again, pushing his wet hair off his forehead.
Biting my lower lip, I consider my options. Run back to the house, jump in his car, and head back to the city—but then I’ll get arrested for stealing his car—or go skinny-dipping and have some fun with a man I didn’t think knew the meaning of the word.
“Oh, screw it.” I borrow Nathan’s slogan he uses when he takes a blind gamble and remove my clothes quicker than a blink.
“I’m difficult to resist, right?” Nathan says, sounding cocky and looking smug as hell.
I step into the much warmer than expected water, still wearing my bra and panties.
“I’m not happy about this.” I only brought a few sets of underwear.
“I never would have worked that out,” he replies deadpan, joking with me. “This might make you happy. Come with me.” Standing up in the waist-deep water, he urges me to take his hand, which I do, never able to resist him.
It’s like something weird happens when I’m around him. I just can’t say no anymore.
I’m dick drunk, I’m sure I am.
I follow his lead up stream.
“Here.” He points to a wall of stones that have been made into the perfect circular shape, holding in water that looks like it’s steaming. “It’s a natural hot spring,” he says, sharing one of the hidden treasures around the peaceful ranch.
Nathan steps over the small wall and I copy him, dipping my foot in to test the water first to discover it’s warm, really warm. “This is amazing,” I say, the corners of my mouth lifting with happiness.
“I thought you’d like it, but you have too many clothes on.” A small bump forms between his eyebrows in confusion. “And as you can see, it’s a clothes-free spring.”
I play along. “There isn’t a sign up stating the rules.”
“It’s invisible. Only people with the surname Hart can see it.”
“That right?”
“Yes. It’s right there.” Using his pointer finger, he gestures to the grassy riverbank.
“Oh, yeah, I think I see it, now that you come to mention it.” I stare into the void and play his stupid game.
“That sign must also be visible for people with the surname Donovan because if I’m reading that correctly, it also says no grumpy bastards allowed, which means you gotta leave.
” Very slowly, to tease him, I undo my front-fastening bra, removing it completely.
I drape it over the stone wall of the natural Jacuzzi before sliding my panties down my legs and placing them next to my bra.
He licks his lips, watching my every move. His jaw tics as if he’s trying to contain himself and not jump my bones, which I sort of wish he would.
“At least I can remove my clothes, but you can’t shed that grumpy ass of yours, so I’ll meet you back at the house,” I say, keeping a straight face as I lower myself into the water and take a seat on one of the large stones beneath.
Sliding myself further into the water all the way up to my neck, I close my eyes and my muscles sigh with relief.
It feels like I’m in a warm bath, which is much needed after our all-night sex marathon.
“You’re a fucking tease,” he mutters.
I open one eye and smile. “Takes one to know one, Mr. Hart.” I splash water at him. “Get in. Your dick is very distracting.” I dip my gaze to his thick length hanging heavy between his thighs and lick my lips. That man sure does have a mighty fine-looking cock.
Nathan eases himself into the hot water then glides over to me slowly like a wolf stalking its prey.
“You good?”
“Better than good.” I let out a dreamy breath.
“It’s what you needed; you’ve been working too hard.”
“So have you.”
“We both have,” he counters, staring me down. “This is the first day off I’ve had in months.”
“Did you check your emails this morning?” He’s like a teenager obsessed with social media, but his obsession is email checking.
His fingertips tickle my thighs as he moves up my body. “No.” He doesn’t blink, and I know he’s telling the truth.
Just when I think he’s going to touch my hips, his hands disappear from my body. Instead, he sits next to me then spreads his arms out on either side of him around the edge of circular wall.
If he falls asleep, I’m going to let him. His sleep pattern is much better, but he needs more. I copy him when he closes his eyes and use the sounds of the open space, the birds, the water, the wind, to help me zone out.
We sit in comfortable silence for a while, letting the healing power of the water soothe our muscles.
“Do you like it here?” His question breaks my meditative state, causing me to open my eyes, and I look around.
“I love it here,” I admit. “I can see why your parents rent this place out for weddings throughout the summer.”
“It hasn’t been a working cattle ranch for years and Mom wanted to do something to keep herself busy once we left for college and while she waited for dad to retire. Weddings seemed like a great idea and she’s booked pretty much all summer, except for this weekend.”
I shoot my shot.
“I’m guessing that since your dad’s diagnosis, your mom is spending retirement on her own instead of enjoying it together with him.”
The silence stretches between us again before he asks in a low tone, “Did she tell you about Dad?”
“Yeah.” My voice is quiet too, and full of sincerity. “I’m sorry, Nathan.”
Time passes before he responds.
“Somedays, he doesn’t recognize any of us, which is harder on Mom.
She visits him every day at the memory care home.
Some days he’s great and some days are not so good.
” It’s a long time before he starts talking again.
“Me and my brothers see each other every day and have that built-in support, but Mom is here all by herself most of the time and I know she loves organizing the weddings with all the staff she hires, and she keeps herself busy, but it’s not the same as having your soulmate by your side. ”
My chest grows heavy with sadness for the family as tears prick my eyes.
Nathan keeps opening up. “It seems so unfair, unjust almost. My mom and dad had plans to travel the world together once he retired. They had their flights booked to Singapore, but his decline was fast, and they never did make their first trip.” As he runs his hands down his face, I can tell he’s struggling with his father’s demise.
“I feel sorry for Mom more than anyone. She raised us single-handedly, drove us to every after-school club there was, spent almost every weekend alone or with friends while my dad worked long hours, and yet still she waited for him. She was always waiting. And now”—he looks off into the distance—“she’s still alone, still looking after us and just waiting for him and his symptoms to worsen, which they seem to do with every week that passes. And she never complains.”
“She’s a remarkable woman.” I’ve only met her a handful of times, and already I know she’s made from resilience and strength and does everything with determination and grace.
“I never wanted that for my own family,” he admits.
“Is that why you never got married?” I think the way Nathan lives his life is all starting to make sense.
Him showing me this vulnerable side no one else gets to see makes me feel special.
The hard exterior he wears every day is to protect himself, I know this all too well, because I wear one myself.
Around him, though, I’ve been slowly shedding it and letting him into my life, something I’m not particularly good at because I’m always waiting for the ball to drop, a moment when the tide turns.
That’s what makes what is happening between us scary, because I’m falling so fast and hard but what if I end up alone again?
And while I want to still pursue the truth for my family, part of me doesn’t want to know now, because I’ll lose him if I do and I think Nathan might be the one .
He keeps sharing his innermost fears. “I didn’t want anyone resenting me or waiting around like my mom has her entire life, and even now, fifty years later, she’s still alone.” He lets out a long exhalation. “The life I have”—he stalls again—“is not an easy one. It takes up all my time.”
My heart aches for him. And why can’t he see that he’s the one who can break the chain? His future doesn’t have to follow the same path as his father’s.
I climb into his lap, straddling him, and clasp his face with both hands.
“Your life is not defined by someone else’s expectations.
” The weight of it must be crippling, but I know how much he loves his job.
“You are the one in control of your life, only you.” I give it to him in the simplest of terms. “Continue to do the job you love, but you don’t have to take so many cases on.
You don’t have to take any cases on at all for the rest of the year if you don’t want to.
Work, yes, and assist other cases, but don’t dig yourself an early grave trying to maintain what your father did.
You don’t have anything to prove to anyone.
You have three other brothers to carry the burden.
What your father did to build the reputation of the firm and make the Hart name everyone’s first choice for a lawyer is incredible, but you don’t have to run at the same pace he did and then regret it for the rest of your life.
Bring in more support if you need to, or implement an executive management team, because I don’t want you waking up one day in thirty years’ time regretting that you didn’t take that trip to see the Taj Mahal or sleep under the stars by campfire or learn Spanish.
If you don’t take your foot off the gas now, before you know what’s happened, you’ll be ninety years old, alone, moaning about taxes and wearing incontinence underwear. ”
“Incontinence underwear?” His features screw up in disgust.
“Yes, it happens to the best of us, Nathan, and while you’re wearing them, you’ll still be bossing everyone around and telling yet another secretary of yours she’ll never last the week.” I try lightening the tense mood.
“God, you made my future sound fucking terrible.”
“You need to slow down. Or that will be your life.” My green eyes hold his blue ones.
I rest my hands on top of his shoulders and wiggle in his lap, causing his dick to bounce to life. I glide his thickening length between my pussy lips to distract us from the heaviness of our conversation.
“You’re annoyingly right sometimes, has anyone ever told you that?” he asks with a hint of mockery in his tone.
“Many times,” I reply with a broad smile, and I move my hips back and forth, his cock now as hard as a rock.
“Will you look after me in my old age?”
“You’re already old,” I say, messing with him.
“Just the way you like me, right?”
I told him that one night and I think he loved it when I confessed that. “Yes.” My reply comes out as a moan when the head of his cock rubs my clit.
“I’m still young enough to fuck that smartass mouth of yours out of your system though.”
I rise up on my knees, repositioning myself, getting ready to take him. All of him, not caring that the rocks beneath are most likely scratching the skin on my knees.
He pumps his cock with his fist under the water a few times before lining up the tip to the entrance of my aching pussy, and I lower myself down onto him slowly as he holds the root of his shaft firmly.
“Prove it,” I tease.