33. Winter
WINTER
I can’t hold back my laugh, breathless and giddy. “I can’t wait to find out,” I tease.
Tristan’s grin is wicked as he scoops me up, my legs wrapping tight around his waist on instinct. The cold air bites at my cheeks, but all I feel is him, his strength, his heat, the solid way he holds me.
“Do you want us to wait?” Madi yells, because they’re all piling in and ready to leave.
“No, we’re right behind you guys!” I yell to her, and she smiles before Hayden snatches her up and pulls her inside the SUV.
Tristan pushes off across the ice, gliding smooth and effortless with me clinging to him. I squeal, my voice carrying over the frozen pond. “They’re pulling out now!” I twist to catch a glimpse of headlights to make sure we’re alone.
Tristan dips his head, his mouth brushing mine in a quick, rough kiss. His lips curve against mine when he mutters, “Something I will never, ever do.”
The words hit low in my stomach, heat coiling there, and I bury my face against his neck to hide my smile, because of course he won’t pull out.
Tristan’s mouth drags over mine again, the kiss way deeper this time, his voice rough between kisses. “I promise I’ll worship you from head to toe as soon as we get back to the cabin, but I need to be inside you right now.”
The words shiver down my spine because they’re so him …
blunt, demanding, desperate. We’ve been surrounded by everyone all day, no alone time, no touches that weren’t quick or hidden.
And Tristan doesn’t hide how much he needs me, and I embrace the frequency wholeheartedly.
Sometimes it’s two, three times a day. Sometimes it’s in the middle of the night, when he wakes up already hard, already reaching for me like I’m the only thing that can settle him.
And God, I love that. I look forward to it. His hunger, the way he always craves me, like it’s never enough. Even now, my body aches with the same need, the same anticipation, because I’ve missed him too.
I smile against his lips, breathless. “I’ll hold you to that.”
Because I will. I plan on keeping him up all night, giving him every part of me again and again until neither of us can move.
I can feel how much he wants me by the way he moves, so quick and certain, like he’s been holding back all day and finally can’t anymore.
He sets me down on the bench, his hands firm as he guides me to my knees, bending me forward so I’m braced against the cold wood.
Snow falls heavier, flakes clinging to my hair, my lashes, but all I notice is him.
My breath catches when he yanks my leggings down, and then his fingers are inside me. There’s no warning, just the stretch of him pushing deep, sliding slowly in and out.
“Tristan—” The moan rips out of me, high and so raw. His touch is icy, his skin chilled from the air, and the contrast makes me shudder, my warm, aching body clutching around his fingers.
“My God, baby…” His voice is wrecked, right at my ear. “So perfect. So tight for me. You take me so well. You’re always so fucking good.”
He presses his palm harder against me, thumb dragging over my clit in circles that make my knees tremble. “That’s it. Let me feel you, baby. Come for me. I’ve got you.”
We’ve both been edged all day, unable to get the relief that we’re used to. The pleasure builds fast, sharp and unrelenting, and when it breaks, I cry out, my body clenching around his fingers, every nerve lit up like fire against the cold.
Tristan groans low, kissing the side of my neck as he keeps me steady through it. “That’s my girl. So beautiful when you fall apart for me. I’ll never get over how you sound, how pretty you look.”
The sound of his zipper is drowned out by the rush of blood in my ears, and then Tristan is there, deep inside me in one hard thrust, filling me until I gasp. My palms press against the bench, my body arching as he seats himself fully, groaning like I’m the only thing he’s ever needed.
“Fuck,” he growls, already moving, every stroke dragging me tighter against him. “I need you. I’ll always need you.”
The words splinter through me, heat tearing low in my belly. His hand slips around my front, fingers finding my clit, rubbing in sync with his thrusts. My head tips back, a cry spilling from my throat.
I’m close again, too close, too fast, and he knows it. His mouth brushes my cheek, his lips hot against my skin. “Come for me, baby. Come around my cock another time as I stretch you out.”
My body obeys, shattering around him as he pounds into me harder, hips slamming against mine, hitting that perfect spot until my legs shake. I squeeze tight, clenching around him, and he groans, breaking apart right after me like my release drags his out of him.
“If we were home right now, I’d stay buried inside you,” he rasps, thrusts slowing as he comes, “and play with your sweet pussy while I watch it leak out of you. Then I’d push it right back in, making sure you keep every drop.”
The thought makes me whimper, but the snow is coming down heavier now, cold seeping through me.
He pulls out reluctantly, helping me tug my leggings back up with hands that linger in a way that makes me feel so cherished.
He fixes himself quickly, zipping his jeans, before he’s lifting me again, my shaky legs wrapping tight around his waist.
His mouth finds my neck as he skates us across the pond, steady and sure with me clinging to him. “I’m taking you home,” he murmurs, his breath hot against my skin, “where I can do that to you over and over again until we both pass out.”
Tristan doesn’t let me down until we’re at the edge of the pond, only setting me on my feet long enough to switch his skates for his boots. My legs are still shaky, my body humming from what we just did, so I lean into him, letting him carry most of my weight.
By the time we reach his bike, the snow’s coming down in thick flakes. He tugs the cover up just enough to grab our helmets, but instead of handing mine over right away, he glances at me with that crooked grin that always makes my stomach flip.
“It’s Christmas,” he says, voice low, like it’s a secret meant just for me. “Do you want your present now?”
I giggle, cheeks heating as I bump my shoulder into his. “Didn’t you just give me my present?”
His grin deepens, wicked and sweet all at once, and he reaches into his jeans pocket. When he pulls his hand out, he’s holding a gold key, a tiny pink ribbon tied carefully through the hole at the top.
“What is this?” I whisper, staring at the little gold key.
“The key to our cabin.”
My mouth falls open. I’m smiling, excitement bubbling up before I can stop it, but confusion lingers as I brush a snowflake from my lashes. “You rented a separate one?”
Tristan shakes his head, eyes bright, snow caught in his dark hair. He reaches out, brushing the powder from the end of my braid where it sticks out from under my hat, his touch so gentle it makes my chest ache.
“The guys and I bought the whole community on our street. All three cabins. My only stipulation was that we don’t live directly next to Hayden…” His voice trails off.
But I don’t let him finish.
A squeal bursts out of me as I launch myself into his arms, wrapping around him tight, legs cinched at his waist. I’m laughing and breathless as I pepper kisses all over his face, my lips catching his jaw, his cheek, the corner of his mouth.
“Ours is the one furthest inside the community, Callum and Lilac are in the middle one, and Hayden and Madi are on the other side of him,” Tristan tells me, but I’m having a hard time focusing on his words.
All I can feel is him and the wild, impossible fact that he just gave me forever and made my Christmas wish come true.
“How did you manage to do all this?” My voice is still breathless, my hands gripping the back of his neck.
Tristan just shrugs casually, like it wasn’t the biggest surprise of my life.
“Callum and I started negotiations with the man who owns them. He didn’t want to sell because he makes a heavy profit renting them out.
So we sent Hayden to talk to him, and he agreed almost immediately.
We think he just wanted to make Hayden go away. ”
I burst out laughing, my nose and lips freezing in the night air, but none of it matters because my chest feels so warm it could melt the snow around us. The excitement in me swells until it’s all I can feel…the future we’re about to build, the life waiting for us just beyond graduation.
“After graduation, can we live here full time?” I ask, hope tangled in every word.
He nods, “Before that if you want. Whatever you want is what I want.”
Something in me cracks open, too big for words. “I love you,” I whisper.
“I love you more,” he answers, his forehead pressed to mine, his breath a promise against my lips.
And in this moment, I realize that I have everything that I could ever want because of the only man I’ll ever love. I feel whole, so complete, because there’s nothing left to wish for.