Chapter Thirteen
Diana
Cold. So cold I can’t think for a moment, can only suck in a shuddering breath as my feet hit the bottom and my knees buckle. An arm of steel bands around my waist and hauls me up, keeping my head above water.
“You did it.”
Shivering, teeth chattering, I look up at Ari and manage to smile.
“I… I did it. Now what?”
“If you can manage, stay in for a minute or two.”
“You m-must be j-joking,” I stammer.
“No. But only if you’re comfortable.”
As he talks, he sinks down until his shoulders are fully submerged.
I gape at him. “Aren’t you freezing?”
“Cold, yes. But I’ve been doing this for years.”
I force myself to stand there, shivering, the water lapping gently at my skin. After what feels like the longest minute of my life, Ari stands.
“Ready?”
I frantically nod. His chuckle is deep, rolling through me a second before he leans down and scoops me into his arms. I should protest but I’ll take any warmth I can get. That and enjoying the feeling of being in his arms, even if it’s only for a moment.
I cling to him as he walks out of the water. The breeze stings as the cold air hits my wet skin. He carries me back up to the deck and over to several freestanding showers. I start to get down, but his grip on me tightens.
“Pull that one.”
I reach over and pull a chain, gasping in relief as warm water rains down on us.
“Oh, thank God.”
He chuckles again.
He shifts. Liquid fire floods my body as I slide down his, inch by torturous inch. He waits until my feet touch the deck, then steps back, the small smile on his lips.
“Now it’s time for the sauna.”
I narrow my eyes at his retreating back, but I’m still too cold to not follow. As we round the corner, I glance around, realizing we’re still alone.
“Is it always this empty in the winter?”
“No.” He grabs the handle of one door and pulls it open. “I paid for us to have the last few hours to ourselves.”
My mouth drops open.
“What?”
“I wasn’t sure if you would feel comfortable being in a swimsuit around others.”
“So you just rented out the entire hot springs? What about the people who had reservations?”
“They were contacted yesterday. Offered a variety of options, including paying their original fees as well as the fees to go to any of the other hot springs in Iceland, with transportation included.”
“But…” I try, and fail, to mentally tally the magnitude of what he’s done. “That must have cost a small fortune.”
“And?”
A gust of wind whips around the edge of the building. I shiver. Ari opens the door.
“Get inside.”
I walk in, arms wrapped tightly around my middle, trying and failing to process what he’s just told me. I don’t know which is beating louder inside my heart: my desire or my fear.
Inside, the sauna is hot, wet. A circular window curves out toward the lake. I sit on one of the wooden steps, my breath hissing out as the steaming hot wood hits my bare legs. He closes the door behind him and sits down a couple of feet away.
“What are you doing?”
He tilts his head to one side. “What do you mean?”
“You know exactly what I mean.” My hands fly up, gesturing to the room around us. “Taking me on an excursion, buying me swimsuits, paying to shut down the hot springs for just the two of us? We’re not… We can’t be…”
When he simply stares at me, I glare at him.
“Say something. If you’re trying to seduce me—”
“Stop.”
The temperature in the room drops by ten degrees with the sheer force of ice in his tone.
“This has nothing to do with seduction.”
“Doesn’t it?” My voice is desperate. I need to believe this is just about sex, because if it’s something more, anything more, I don’t know if my heart can take it.
“Am I enjoying the sight of you in that swimsuit? Yes. Did I take advantage of the situation in the lake to hold you? Yes.” He leans forward, his eyes blazing. “But I brought you up here today not to seduce you, but because I wanted to see you happy.”
My brain scatters in a thousand different directions.
“Happy,” I repeat.
“Do you have any idea how much I tortured myself with the knowledge that Liam was raised in foster care? Imagining scenarios of what I’ve heard life is like in some of those homes?” My scars start to itch. “I was grateful to find out he wasn’t abused, just neglected.
“Grateful,” he repeats. “I saw you risk your life for someone you didn’t even know. Learned how you turned one of the darkest moments in your life into something that propels you forward, even when you’re afraid. How you looked at a damn pair of shoes like I had just bought you a diamond necklace.
“So yes,” he repeats, “I wanted to do this because I wanted to see you happy.”
I’ve hurt him. Again. Why? Why can I not just accept the good things in my life? Why do I always have to look at them through the lens of suspicion and pain?
I turn to face him, forcing myself to push away all the negativity, all of the hurt, loss, and abandonment. I strip it all away, leaving myself raw, open, vulnerable.
Slowly, I reach up and place my hand against his cheek. He stills, his body frozen, even as the heat swirls around us, inside of us.
“I feel like I’m always saying sorry to you.” My thumb traces the sharp line of his cheek. “I’m sorry. I’m not used to gifts being given like this from people I barely know.”
I start to pull back, but his hand comes up and covers mine. I stare at his fingers over mine. “How do you know me so well?”
“I could ask the same.”
I blink, surprised. “What do you mean?”
“Do you realize you saw more in me in a matter of days than most have seen in my lifetime? You knew exactly what drove me, what’s making me fight for my company.” His gaze starts down to my lips, then back up to my eyes. “So I ask you, Diana North, how do you know me so well?”
I don’t know who moves first. Only that when we come together, the fire that’s been burning between us explodes. There is no seduction. No finesse. Just raw, pulsing need.
Ari drags me onto his lap and growls against my mouth before his tongue plunges inside.
I cry out, arch against him as one hand clamps down on my hip, the other pressing at the small of my back, urging me closer as I grind against him.
I murmur his name, half a dozen times, if not more, before he wrenches his mouth away and trails drugging kisses down my throat.
My head falls back as his lips tease the sensitive skin just above my breasts. My eyes fly open as his fingers slide along the neckline of my swimsuit. I look at him, see the silent question in his eyes. I should stop. Need to stop.
But God help me, I can’t.
I lean back, see the answering inferno in his eyes a moment before he yanks down my suit and bares my breasts.
The heat of the sauna kisses my skin a moment before his mouth latches onto me.
My hands grab his shoulders as I writhe, begging him for release as he licks, sucks, nibbles on me as pleasure winds me into a tight, pulsing knot of need.
I jolt as he slides one finger over the material covering my most sensitive skin. I thrust my hips toward him, a moan escaping as he pulls the fabric aside and teases me with long, slow strokes up and down my folds.
“Ari!”
When he slides one finger in, I detonate, my body clamping down around him as I thrash, writhe, cry out as pleasure spirals through me. I collapse against him, my breath coming and fast, heaving gasps.
Maybe a minute passes. Maybe ten. Dimly, I realize that Ari is stroking small circles over my back just below my neck. Soothing strokes that, combined with the aftermath of my pleasure and the heat of the sauna, leave me feeling languid.
“Are you all right?”
His question snaps me back to reality. I want to scramble off his lap, hide in a corner. Instead, I force myself to stay where I am as I raise my head to meet his gaze.
“Yes.”
My gaze starts moving down to the hardness pressed against my thighs.
“Although feeling a little guilty.”
His chuckle is low, sultry in the heat of the room. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“I know, but—”
“I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
Mortified, I start to scoot off his lap, but he anchors me in place with one muscular arm.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen, because we have a significant amount of unfinished business between us.” The heat disappears, replaced by a cold that penetrates deeper than the waters of the lake could ever reach. He smooths a strand of hair out of my face.
“You don’t have any idea what you do to me, do you?”
Before I can answer, he stands.
“We’ve been in here longer than the recommended amount of time, I’m sure.”
His slight smirk eases some of the tension inside of me.
“What about—”
“Later.” He surprises me by leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to my forehead. “I don’t regret what happened in here. But I never want you to feel like you owe me anything.”
“I don’t.”
“Good.” He squeezes my hand. “Let’s enjoy the rest of our afternoon. We can talk later.”
I ignore that last statement as we walk out of the sauna and back into the cold.
We spend another two hours in the various pools, sipping wine and champagne.
We don’t repeat our earlier interlude, but the intimacy our time together created lingers.
Brushes of our hands. Long glances. A relaxed atmosphere that reminds me of New York.
Night has encroached on the lake by the time we disappear into our respective locker rooms. I take my time with a long, leisurely shower before bundling myself into fleece-lined leggings and my favorite sweater.
I walk out of the locker room, happy, relaxed—only for every single one of those sensations to disappear when I see Ari standing out in the hallway, his face set back into that cold mask he wore when I got off the plane last week.
I still, my fingers clenching around the strap of the bag he gave me.
“What is it?”
“Malla called. Liam’s here.”