Chapter Four
By the time I finished a quick shower and came downstairs, Chrishelle was knocking on the rear glass door.
Apparently she’d meant it when she said she was coming back.
I’d changed into athletic shorts and a T-shirt. She’d traded her dinner clothes for soft drawstring shorts, a tank, and a lightweight hoodie. Her hair was damp again and loose around her shoulders.
I opened the door.
Chrishelle lifted both hands. “Notice anything missing?”
My gaze moved over her slowly enough to make her smile.
“No apron.”
“Exactly. I wanted to be very clear about my intentions.”
She stepped inside before I could answer, caught the front of my shirt, and kissed me.
That clarified things nicely.
I put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Chrishelle laughed softly against my mouth, then kissed me again before easing back far enough to look toward the deck.
“The hot tub appears to be sitting out there unsupervised.”
“It does that.”
She gave me a pointed look. “I’m trying this new thing where I ask permission before getting naked on other people’s property.”
I laughed and reached past her to open the glass door.
“Then yes. You can use the hot tub.”
Chrishelle walked onto the deck with the satisfaction of someone who’d followed every rule.
“I even brought a swimsuit this time.”
I stopped behind her.
She made it three steps before she glanced back, saw my expression, and started laughing.
I followed her toward the tub. “You’re enjoying this too much.”
“A little.”
The cover was already folded back from earlier, steam lifting into the cool night air. Chrishelle set her hoodie on one of the chairs and reached for the hem of her tank.
I leaned against the railing.
“Leave the swimsuit here.”
Her hands paused.
The teasing disappeared from her smile, replaced by something warmer.
“That,” she said, “was a much better invitation.”
And this time, when she started taking off her clothes beside my hot tub, neither of us had anything to apologize for.
Black swimsuit straps appeared beneath her tank. She pulled the shirt over her head, stepped out of her shorts, and stood there for a second in a simple black one-piece that covered considerably more than the water had the day before.
It still did nothing useful for me.
Chrishelle hooked her thumbs under the straps. “Last chance to reconsider your generous access policy.”
“I’m comfortable with the risk.”
She pushed the suit down over her curves and stepped out of it.
I’d spent enough time thinking about her naked since yesterday that I should’ve been prepared, but I wasn’t.
The low deck lights caught the pale sweep of her skin and the darker pink of her nipples. She didn’t cover herself or wait for me to decide what happened next. She walked straight to the steps and sank into the water with a pleased sigh.
“You were right about one thing,” I said.
Chrishelle settled onto the bench and looked up at me. “Only one?”
“You should’ve asked sooner.”
Her laugh followed me while I stripped.
The air had cooled sharply after dark. I left my clothes with hers, grabbed two towels from the storage bench, and set them near the wide cushioned chaise along the wall before getting in.
Hot water closed around me.
Chrishelle had taken the corner seat with the best view through the trees. Beyond the deck, there was almost no light except a thin wash over the distant ridge and the stars above it.
“You really did build this place to disappear,” she said.
I took the seat beside her instead of across from her. “That was the idea.”
“Was Redmont always the plan?”
“Not specifically. I wanted mountains, trees, and enough distance from the road that nobody could wander up by accident.” I glanced at her. “That part of the plan had mixed results.”
She nudged my leg beneath the water. “I didn’t wander. I trespassed with purpose.”
“That is not the defense you think it is.”
Chrishelle smiled and tipped her head back against the edge of the tub.
For a minute we listened to the jets and the wind moving through the evergreens.
“Where I grew up was different,” I said. “Less second-home money, more people who knew how to fix whatever broke because paying somebody else wasn’t always an option.”
“That explains the knife skills.”
I shifted deeper into the corner seat before answering.
“Weekends outside were normal too—fixing things, camping, fishing. I always figured if I ever had the money, I’d come back to this part of Colorado and build something the way I wanted it.”
Chrishelle turned her head toward me. “And then barely live in it.”
“Hockey has inconvenient scheduling.”
“That does seem like a flaw in the profession.”
I smiled.
She stretched one leg through the water until her foot brushed mine.
“So you’ll spend the season in New York and come back here when you can?” she asked.
“That’s the plan.”
She considered that, then pointed a finger at me. “In that case, your grocery habits need improvement in both states. Food standards don’t stop at state lines.”
I laughed. “I assumed the arrangement only covered Colorado.”
I let my fingers settle lightly around her ankle beneath the water.
“You told me New York is home.”
She nodded. “It is.”
“And you’re between kitchens.”
Her foot went still in my hand.
“I’m not asking you to explain it tonight,” I said. “Whatever’s going on with work or your family, you can tell me when you want to.”
Chrishelle studied me for a moment, then looked out toward the dark trees.
“Most people hear ‘I don’t want to talk about it’ and immediately develop a passionate interest in talking about it.”
“I’ve noticed that.”
She laughed under her breath. “You also notice everything else.”
“Call it an occupational hazard.”
“That is very defenseman of you.” Chrishelle’s foot slid free of my hand as she moved beside me. “I know I used that one yesterday, and I’m still right.”
She angled toward me until her thigh touched mine beneath the water.
“Thank you for not pushing.”
“You don’t have to thank me for listening to you.”
Chrishelle’s smile softened. “I’m doing it anyway.”
She leaned in and kissed me.
I let her set the pace for a few seconds. Chrishelle’s lips were warm from the water, her body slick when she pressed into me. Then she climbed onto my lap without waiting for an invitation, straddling my thighs.
My erection pressed between us.
She smiled into the kiss. “There you are.”
“You sound pleased with yourself.”
“Very pleased with myself.” She rocked over me once, then settled against my chest.
I slid one arm around her waist and drew her tighter. Chrishelle’s breasts brushed my chest when she moved, and her breathing changed as the kiss deepened.
She rocked again.
I caught her at the waist.
“Do that again.”
Chrishelle did it slowly, dragging herself over me with enough friction to make me fight back a groan.
“That what you meant?”
“That’s exactly what I meant.”
She repeated the motion, then dragged her lips along my jaw.
I let her tease me until she was moving more for herself than for me.
Then I reached between us.
Chrishelle went still for a beat.
My fingers found her clit under the water, and Chrishelle lifted her head.
“Oh, that’s better.”
She lifted into my touch.
“I thought you were doing fine.”
“I’m willing to accept assistance when the assistance is this good.”
I rubbed her slowly, keeping the pressure steady while she moved over me. Her palms settled on my shoulders, then slid behind my neck as she drew me in.
“Tell me if you want something different.”
“I want more pressure.”
I gave it to her.
Chrishelle made a soft, broken sound and tightened her legs around mine. She was usually quick with an answer, but now her focus narrowed to the movement of my fingers and the rhythm she set against them.
I bent to her throat.
“Keep moving just like that.”
Chrishelle followed the command, rocking against my touch while the water shifted around us. Soft sounds broke from her as she stopped teasing and started chasing the pleasure.
“Dane, I’m close.”
“I’ve got you.”
Her forehead dropped to my shoulder. I kept the same pressure, refusing to speed up when her body went tense.
“Right there,” she said. “Don’t change it.”
I held the same rhythm.
A few seconds later, she came with my name against my skin. Her hips jerked once, then again, before she pressed her face into my neck and held on.
I held her until the tension eased out of her shoulders.
When she finally lifted her head, she looked satisfied enough to be dangerous.
“That might be the first time this hot tub has been used correctly,” she said.
“I’m not giving you credit for the previous visits.”
Chrishelle laughed and kissed me. “You should. They established a baseline.”
Chrishelle reached between us and wrapped her hand around my cock under the water.
I caught her wrist before she could do much with it.
Her eyebrows rose.
“If you keep that up, I’m going to forget I have one responsible thought left.”
Chrishelle stopped moving her hand, but the interest in her face sharpened. “I’m listening.”
“I’m not fucking you in the water.”
Her smile came back. “That is disappointingly sensible.”
“Wait until we get somewhere dry before you complain.”
“I didn’t say I was complaining.”
I stood with her still close enough to kiss, then helped her to the steps.
Cold air hit my wet skin the second I climbed out.
Chrishelle followed, laughing when she sucked in a breath at the temperature. I handed her a towel, took the other for myself, and dried off enough not to soak the chaise.
The covered section of the deck blocked most of the breeze. I spread one towel across the cushion and turned to find Chrishelle watching me.
“You planned ahead.”
“I put towels out. I’m not claiming genius.”
Chrishelle smiled as she dropped her towel over the back of a chair. “Still. Strong improvement over yesterday’s hospitality.”
“Yesterday you were trespassing.”
She dismissed that with a flick of her fingers and came to me naked.
I expected her to kiss me.
Instead, Chrishelle put both hands on my chest and guided me backward until the backs of my legs touched the chaise.
“Sit down for me.”