Chapter 16 Hudson
HUDSON
While Willow clears up the dishes, I tidy up the cabin and then put in a call to Marcus. There’s nothing new to report. They’re still trying to pinpoint Tyler’s location.
The bigger problem is how to deal with the Street Kings.
If what Willow said is true, and I don’t doubt her, it sounds like they have some friends on the inside.
Local coppers on their payroll. The only way to take them down and release Willow for good is with solid evidence.
Enough evidence to attract attention at the federal level so it can’t be brushed over.
Most importantly, whatever we do needs to ensure Willow and her brother will be left alone, so it has to come from a source other than them, such as a group of ex-Navy SEALs that they won’t want to fuck with.
I’m mulling over the problem in my mind when I hear the door bang.
“Just getting some air,” Willow calls as she closes it behind her.
I already checked the sensors for the night, but I don’t like her being out there alone. I send off a final message to Marcus and then grab my jacket and head outside.
The moon is full and bright, and its light cuts through the trees straight onto Willow as she pulls her sweatpants down, exposing the white cotton panties she seems to favor.
“What are you doing?”
When she spins around, her eyes dance with mischief. “Getting in the hot tub. You want to join me?”
I swallow hard as she pulls her sweater over her head, and it drops onto the ground next to her sweatpants and shoes. My gaze travels up her bare legs, and through her white panties, I see a shadow of dark hair.
I avert my gaze, but not before I catch the smirk she gives me. “I didn’t bring my swimsuit, so…”
From the corner of my eye, I see her lifting her t-shirt and pulling it over her head. I try not to look, but I catch a flash of creamy skin, a curvy stomach, and her heavy breasts in a lacy white bra before I turn my back on her.
“Willow...” I say as a warning, because I’m growing hard just knowing she’s behind me in her panties.
If I get in that hot tub with her, there’s only one place this night will end.
Me, her, in a bed. And while that’s really fucking appealing, it’s not what I’m here for. “I can’t get in there with you.”
There are footsteps behind me, and without looking, I know exactly where she is. She’s right behind me, and with her next words, I feel her breath skim the back of her neck.
“Suit yourself, but I won’t bite.”
Her lips wrap around my finger, gently sucking.
Her footsteps move away, and I’m frozen in place. Did she mean to refer to the incident this morning? There’s no denying there’s chemistry between us, but getting in a hot tub with that woman is asking for trouble.
Then why did you turn it on?
Which is a damn good question.
I checked the hot tub this morning and added chemicals to cleanse the water. I’ve had it heating all afternoon because Willow said she wanted to go in the hot tub. I must have known I’d go in with her.
I hear the cover tear off the hot tub and the clink of her pinky ring as her hand grasps the metal ladder. A moment later, there’s a little splash and a sigh as she sinks into the water.
I dare to turn around, and she’s sitting in the water with only the top of her shoulders showing. Her hair is in a topknot, and she gives me a wide smile.
“This really is good. You should come in.”
A soak in a hot tub does sound good. It can’t hurt to relax for ten minutes. If she keeps her body under the water, I may have a chance of not mauling her.
It doesn’t take much work to convince myself or push away any concerns.
“Fine. I’ll have a quick soak.”
She splashes her arms and grins at me while I strip down to my briefs. I fold my clothes and place them on a post by the woodshed. Willow’s t-shirt is strewn on the ground, and I pick that up and fold it too.
Before getting in, I drop the phone on the table next to the tub so it’s in easy reach.
Willow hooks her elbows over the side of the pool and looks out at the valley below, which means I can climb in without having to explain my hard-on.
The cold air makes my body shake, and it warms instantly when I sink into the water.
I let out a long sigh. “This is good.”
“I told you.” She turns around and splashes some water at me. “Especially with the stars.”
I follow her gaze upward to the sprinkling of stars above us.
The moon casts everything in a soft glow, and the tension of the last few days eases from my shoulders.
Willow moves her arms in the water, and that’s when I notice there are no straps over her shoulders. She sits back on the edge of the hot tub and closes her eyes.
Below the surface, I spot two pale orbs bobbing in the water.
“You’re topless.”
She opens her eyes and smiles at me. “I only brought two bras with me. I can’t afford to get one wet.”
My gaze is transfixed on the skin under the water, the outline of her breasts and the dusty pink nipples bobbing below the surface.
It takes all the discipline I possess not to slide over to her and take those breasts in my mouth. I sit on my hands to stop myself from reaching for her.
“You can’t be topless in here with me.” My voice is strained, and she must know what effect she has on me.
She raises her eyebrows, and a smile plays on her lips. “Have you never been skinny dipping before?”
As she speaks, she reaches under the water, pulling at something.
“Whatever you’re doing, stop it.” My warning only makes her smile harder, obviously enjoying my discomfort.
“Too late.” She holds up a pair of dripping wet white panties.
I imagine the triangle of dark hair springing free, her smooth legs, and the perfect grabbable ass. My pulse quickens, and my dick lengthens. I’ve never wanted a woman as badly as I do right now.
She’s testing every part of my willpower, and she’s fucking enjoying it if the grin on her face is anything to go by.
She chucks the panties out of the hot tub, and they land with a wet thud on the ground.
“Willow.” My voice is thick. “What are you doing?”
She glides through the water until she’s before me, and I struggle to keep from reaching for her, even though every part of me wants to touch her, to take her in my hands to explore her dark places.
“I’m just a girl skinny dipping.”
She sways in the water from side to side. And I force myself to keep looking at her face and not the way her breasts sway with her, just under the surface, just in arms reach.
She’s more than just a girl skinny dipping; she’s driving me wild, and she knows it. If she was to reach out and touch me, I couldn’t resist her. But she doesn’t; she stands in front of me and sways as if she’s hypnotizing me, and I’m caught in her spell.
“I can’t.” My voice comes out croaky.
She raises an eyebrow. “Can’t what? Skinny dip with me?”
Skinny dipping is jumping in a cold lake with your buddies; it’s not being naked in a hot tub alone with a beautiful woman.
Her body moves in the water, side to side. She takes another step forward, still not touching, waiting for me to make the first move, waiting to break me.
My throat is dry, and I can’t speak. I’ve given up trying to keep my eyes on her face. My gaze darts to her lips, parted in a smirk that I’d like to kiss off her face. She’s taunting me, and I’m fucking here for it. I’m hard as a rock, and she hasn’t even touched me.
My gaze travels down her neck and to her chest, where her breasts float on the top of the water.
The jets from the tub cause tiny bubbles to swirl around her shoulders, and droplets hang on the top of her chest. One of them trickles down her skin, and I watch its progress between her breasts and into the water.
My resolve snaps. I unpin my arms and reach for her.
She gasps as I draw her to me, and my lips close around a drop of water on her throat.
The water carries her to me, and our bodies bump together, sending heat powering through my veins.
Her legs part and she slides effortlessly around me, straddling me against the side of the hot tub.
Her coarse hair brushes the top of my briefs, and my cock yearns for more.
“Fuck, Willow.” I shouldn’t be doing this with the woman I’m supposed to be protecting. But even as I think it, one hand slides to the back of her head and the other comes around her waist.
She lets out a contented sigh as I place kisses up her neck, licking water off her skin. I reach her throat, then her chin, and then her sweet mouth. Our lips collide, and there’s heat and need, and it feels so damn good.
When slides her arms around me, I pull her onto my lap, grinding my hard dick against her naked pussy.
Just one hit, one kiss, and I break away. We’re both panting, and my dick aches for her, but I draw on every last bit of discipline I possess to slide away from her.
“I can’t take advantage of you.”
She raises her eyebrows. “I think you’ll find I seduced you, and it’s not taking advantage if it’s what we both want.”
She glides forward in the water, and I hold my hand up to stop her from getting any closer. I won’t be able to pull her off me a second time.
“I’m supposed to be protecting you, keeping you safe.”
She takes my hand that I’ve put up as a barrier between us and takes hold of my finger. “I am safe with you.”
Her trust in me hits me in the chest. But she doesn’t realize how close I am to snapping.
Or maybe she does.
Willow separates my index finger and gives me a mischievous smile before sliding it into her mouth.
“Fuck.” I melt as her wet mouth closes around me.
“You’re vulnerable right now. You might not make good decisions…” My words falter as she sucks on my finger, and I almost lose it completely.
She pops my finger out of her mouth. “I could do with a distraction.”
Her eyes lock with mine as she pops another finger in her mouth, and I’m mesmerized by her lips as they glide from the knuckle to the fingertip.
She pops it out of her mouth. “But no means no, so…” She shrugs. “I won’t force you.”
When she glides away to the other side of the hot tub, it feels like my world falls apart, and as she leans back against the edge of the hot tub, I immediately regret trying to do the right thing.
We stare at each other for a long moment, and she’s still got a smile on her face. “I might get out.”
She moves to the ladder, and before I can stop her, she’s climbing out of the pool, water dripping from her ass. I catch a glimpse of dark hair and pink nipples and too much smooth skin.
“Fuck.”
I glide over to the ladder and step up behind her before she can get all the way out.
“I hope we don’t regret this,” I mutter as I grab her around the waist and pull her into the water. She lands with a splash in my arms, and I catch the triumphant look on her face before I kiss it right off.