Kissing Cousins
Pushing back from the table, Twyla mumbled to Vanessa that she was going to their room, and then carried her empty plate into the kitchen.
She got to their room and immediately changed into a swimsuit and headed to the hot tub that had been calling her name since they'd arrived.
The hot tub was set on a platform and had a wide wooden shelf built onto the back that was likely for holding drinks.
Dutifully, Twyla sent her friend a text with her updated location, and then set her phone on the shelf and sank down into the water.
Her eyes fluttered closed as the warmth of the water and vibration from the bubbles engulfed her.
Leaning her head back against the curved lip of the hot tub, she sighed.
She didn't know what she had expected from Arturo, but it wasn't for him to show up and have eyes for only her.
How was she supposed to survive the next ten days with him with they both probably knew that if her mama hadn't walked up on them that day they would more than likely have been on this trip as a couple?
Twyla sighed. If she continued on with that line of thinking all she would do was make herself sick.
Opening her eyes, she observed her surroundings.
The view from the back of the three-story cabin was so amazing.
Straight ahead was the beginning of a trail that led through the forest and ended on the side of the house.
To the left of that was a large, man-made lake with a short beach that went right up to the trees.
The lake was large enough for jet skiing and paddleboats, and to the right of the trail was a veritable forest of tall local trees.
Sitting in the hot tub while she took it all in was the best decision Twyla had made all day.
Vanessa came around the corner wearing a different bikini than the one she had interrupted Twyla's spell for.
Not too far behind her was Rafael, Arturo's cousin.
The two of them had talked and flirted during dinner and Twyla was happy for her friend.
Rafael was fine. With toasted walnut skin, golden-brown eyes, and well-shaped, kinky coils that tapered into a crisp fade around his neck, he actually looked a lot like Arturo.
It was clear that they were relatives, and Twyla began to wonder what the other people in his life looked like and if those features would be dominate in his future children.
Blinking rapidly, Twyla shook her head and put that thought out of her mind. It was the wrong line of thinking. Instead, she sat up and smiled at Vanessa and Rafael, spreading her arms to welcome them into the hot tub that could easily fit ten people comfortably.
It was when Arturo came trailing behind them, shirtless and wearing a pair of low-slung swim shorts that Twyla dropped her head back and groaned loudly.
She should have known that he wouldn't be far behind once Rafael showed up.
Foolishly, she'd thought that she might be able to keep her sanity and her distance but that was easier said than done when Arturo wasn't half naked with several inches of cinnamon-toned skin on display for her always-greedy eyes.
She had a very real fear that she wouldn't be able to keep a tight rein on her still-present feelings for him, and if being outwardly annoyed made him go away then she'd lean heavily on it.
"Girl, stop it." Vanessa scolded as she held Rafael's hand for support as she climbed the short steps on side of the jacuzzi. "It's a beautiful evening and we are in a gorgeous place. We can all be adults and chill without the drama."
"That's easy for you to say," Twyla muttered, annoyed that her friend was trying to chastise her as if she wasn't experiencing a crisis.
"You're right," Vanessa chirped as she sank into the water next to Twyla.
She sighed contentedly and then said, "I'm on the outside looking in so it is easy for me to say.
We're gonna be here for ten days, y'all.
Ten whole days in this amazing place; I just want y'all to call a truce during this trip. "
Twyla frowned. Had Vanessa always been so damn selfish? Twyla invited her on this trip and Vanessa had the nerve to act like Twyla was ruining it six hours in just by being—rightly—upset about a situation out of her control? Wow.
Until then, Arturo had been quietly staring at Twyla from the seat he'd claimed just a few feet to her right. Finally, his eyes shifted from Twyla to Vanessa.
"You say call a truce as if Twyla and I were ever at odds with one another. As her friend, you know that's not true. It's unfair for you to try and make her feel bad for being dealt a bad hand."
Damn. Twyla was a mess. All Arturo had done was take up for her and it sent tingles down her spine.
"That's not what I was trying to do," Vanessa grumbled. She turned to Twyla, a full pout on her face. "You know that's not what I was trying to do, right?"
Twyla pursed her lips before answering. "I don't know what your intention was, but that is definitely what it sounded like."
Vanessa threw her arms around Twyla's neck and squeezed her in a tight hug. "I'm sorry, friend."
Twyla laughed. "Yeah, you are, but I love you anyway."
Gasping, Vanessa released Twyla and slapped the water between them to splash Twyla's face. "I got your sorry!"
With a shriek of laughter, Twyla tried to duck away from the spray and tripped on the slippery bottom of the hot tub. Certain that she was going to go underwater, Twyla held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut. When she fell into a pair of strong arms instead, she burst out laughing.
Her relieved laughter stopped abruptly when she opened her eyes and turned to her savior with gratitude on her lips.
Her eyes collided with Arturo's and, instead of setting her on her feet, he sat down and settled her on his lap.
The water came up to their chests and when one of his arms draped over her lap the breath froze in her lungs.
She tried to scoot to the edge of his knees and place her feet on the floor of the jacuzzi, but his arm moved to her waist, halting her movements.
Curving her neck to give him an exasperated look, she said, "I don't have to sit in your lap. I can sit on the seat."
"Where at?" Arturo questioned directly into Twyla's ear in a low voice. "The jacuzzi is full. Everybody is lapped up."
"Arturo," she groaned. "Stop looking at me like that."
His expression didn't change, but his fingers tightened on her thigh. "How am I looking at you, Twyla?"
He was fucking her up two-fold. His hands on her brought her back to that day at the restaurant when he'd made her come in just a few minutes.
The way he said her name always did something to her but now her reaction—a shiver of appreciation and tightened nipples—made her guilty.
Instead of answering, she rose from his lap, pulling from his grasp to walk to the short steps and climb out of the hot tub. She'd had enough for the night.
Ignoring Vanessa's and Arturo's call, she yanked a towel out of the covered basket against the wall and hastily wrapped it around herself and stomped around the corner and down the patio until she reached one of the entrances into the house.
This one led to the stairs that would take her to the bedroom that she and Vanessa were sharing.
She reached the landing and started down the hallway when she heard her name called.
Unlike down on the patio, she was unable to ignore him this time.
An exasperated sound fell loudly from her mouth as she turned. "What do you—"
The words were barely out of her mouth when suddenly Arturo grabbed her by the bicep and dragged her into the alcove up ahead, turning her to face him and crowding her up against the wall with a hand on either side of her head.
In ten seconds flat she'd gone from walking away from him as quickly as her unsteady legs could carry her, to being caged by his arms in a dark corner of the cabin.
More aroused than annoyed by his handling of her, she stared up at him with wide eyes.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?
" She whisper-yelled, determined to keep her voice low in case anyone would walk by this area and hear them.
It had been her intention to sound angry with him, but her heart was racing so quickly, and she was breathing too heavily to maintain it.
She ended up sounding breathless and needy.
"I can't have you angry with me," he said in a low voice that shouldn't have had her as hot as it did.
"I'm not angry with you," she responded honestly.
"I'm angry with the situation—I'm angry with my mama—but I'm not angry with you.
I could never be angry with you." She hadn't meant to add that last part, but it was true and she didn't regret saying it.
They might not be the same as they were before, but she never wanted him to think she blamed him or turned her anger on him.
He leaned in closer to her and she had to close her eyes against the want she saw in them. "If you're not angry with me," he murmured softly, "then be nice to me." His lips just barely brushed her own, and a shiver wracked her body from her head down to her toes.
"I can't." I can't she cried desperately. "I don't know how."
"Try," he commanded.
Then he slid a hand from the wall to palm the back of her neck.
He closed the minute space between them, using his grip on her to tilt her head back so that she was angled for his lips to meet hers perfectly.
He licked along the seam of her mouth, searching for entry and groaning his pleasure when she opened for him without hesitation.
Her hands gripped his waist in desperation as he claimed her with his mouth.
When his free hand clutched a handful of her ass, she whimpered into his mouth and wrapped both arms around his waist. A dozen thoughts were floating around her head, each more dangerous than the last, but the only thing she could focus on was how good he tasted and how horny he made her and how thick his dick felt pressed against her abdomen.
Arturo tapered the kiss with soft smacks and nips to her bottom lip and then he released her neck and gripped her chin. After a moment, her eyes fluttered open and she stared up into the molten lava that were his golden-brown orbs.
"I want you," he declared making her pussy contract as if it was answering that it wanted him too.
She shook her head and dropped her eyes to his chest. "Why are you making this so difficult?"
"Because I want you too much to care about the other stuff."
"That other stuff is our family."
His lip curled. "The only family I have here is back in that hot tub with your friend."
Her eyes widened at the vitriol in his voice. "If they aren't your family then why did you come on this trip with them?"
"I came because I knew you would be here."
His confession slammed into her and her heart squeezed with both joy and sorrow. Life was so cruel.
"Arturo—"
She started to say something, anything to discourage him and maybe he knew that because he cut her off by sealing his mouth over hers.
She allowed him to swallow her protest as she wrapped her arms around his neck and moaned into his mouth.
Both of his hands dropped to her ass and he massaged her cheeks before lifting Twyla up and pulling her thighs to his waist. The moment his fingers slipped beneath the wet Lycra that covered her pussy her eyes flew open.
What the hell was she doing?
She yanked her arms from around his neck and pushed at his chest.
"Stop, Arturo. Stop."
He snatched his hand back from her core that was wet for reasons that had nothing to do with the hot tub and set her on her feet.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out as they stared at each other in silence that was peppered with their heavy breaths.
Before he could say anything, Twyla snatched her towel up from where it had fell by their feet and quickly ducked out of the alcove, reaching her initial destination a few seconds later and closing the door behind her.
She showered and climbed into bed, falling asleep quickly with Arturo on her mind.