I pluck at the band of my boxers and pause. The icy autumn air swirls around me with its arctic blast.
“If you’re going to do it, I think you should commit.” Baya pulls them down until they slide off on their own.
“I think maybe you should consider doing the same.” I give a crooked smile as I unhook her bra. I slip her panties past her waist, and she wriggles out of them. “Last one in is a rotten egg.”
Baya slips by me, and glides in, slick as a ninja.
“No fair,” I say, lowering myself into the boiling water. “Your brother disabled me last night.” I melt into the spring, and the heat calms my aching muscles.
“Sorry about that.” Baya moans into me with a sexier-than-hell grin plastered to her face. “Let me kiss all your boo-boos. I want to make everything better.” She runs her fingers up my thigh nice and slow.
“Permission granted.” I lift my arms and push my chest into hers. Baya presses smooth, easy kisses over my neck, my shoulders, the underbelly of my arm before bouncing back up to my lips. I sear my tongue over hers while digging my fingers into the back of her moist hair. “God, I love you.” I pant over her ear while my hard-on nestles itself perfectly between her legs as if it belonged there, and I very much think it does.
Baya pulls back and examines me. Her lawn green eyes stand out against the backdrop of the storm clouds brewing up above.
“I love you, too, Bryson.”
There’s a sadness in her eyes that I’ve never seen before, and a part of me wants to ask if I’ve caused this grief—if this has anything to do with the fact I haven’t opened up to her entirely—yet, deep, down I know it is. I’m almost ready to crack open the painful vault of the past and let Baya in, let her see the carnage I’m responsible for, and maybe that will explain why I wanted nothing to do with love, until now.
“I cleaned my room for you,” I say, sheepishly. “If you want, you can take all the drawers, I don’t need them. I know Cole suggested we kept it chaste around him, so I’ll take the couch.”
Baya twists her lips a moment. “I might have a place to stay after the weekend. That way you and Cole can maintain your man-cave, and you won’t get sick of having me around.”
“Trust me, I will never tire of you, Baya.” I spin her in the water. “I promise you this.”
“That’s funny”—she whispers the words over my cheek, and it cools me—“I feel the exact same way.”
“I want to make love to you,” I say it pleadingly into her eyes. “I want to do it over and over and over again, and then I’m probably going to fuck you just to round out the evening.”
Baya belts out a laugh, and her voice rises to the top of the pines, before spiraling off to heaven.
“I double dog dare you.” She tilts her head. Her lips look soft—red as cherries, so I lean in and take a quick bite.
I cup my hands over her soft tits and dip my head down until I’m covering her nipple with my mouth—exactly how I wanted to do it that first day in Founder’s Square. My lips move up her neck, and I lick a line straight up to her ear before running my tongue inside it, and she squirms with a laugh. My mouth melts over her for a small eternity. I could easily spend hours doing just this. I roll my tongue over her and memorize the way she feels in my mouth, over my teeth.
I swipe another quick kiss off her lips, already lightheaded from Baya’s special brand of magic. “Maybe I’ll just fuck you right now,” I whisper it low.
“Oh yeah?” She bats those long lashes at me, and my dick ticks under her. “I think you’re all talk and no action, Edwards.”
My head dips back as I give a dark laugh. “It’s on, girl.” I reach over to my jeans and dig out a condom. I’ve never put one on under water before, but I’m hoping it’s just as useful as it is on dry land.
Baya watches as I submerge it and roll it over myself under the vaporous steam.
“It takes a talent,” she muses.
“I’ve got plenty of talent.” I give a devilish grin. “In fact, I’m about to show you just where my talent lies.” I dip my hand between her thighs and rub my thumb over the softest part of her. My finger glides back slipping deep inside her, careful and slow.
Baya closes her eyes and lets out a breath. “Yes,” she whispers, biting down on her strawberry-colored lip. “You are quite talented.”
Baya wraps her legs around my waist and guides me in. I take it slow and easy, pushing in inch by inch, watching her face to see if I’m hurting her. I press her in by the small of her back, and she takes in a quick breath.
“Okay”—I glide out—“we don’t have to do this.” I might die, but that’s not important.
“No, it’s fine.” Baya bats her lashes at me. “It didn’t hurt at all, I swear. Besides, rumor has it, we have to do it”—she gives an impish grin—“a lot. And if we don’t, my body starts from scratch.” Her dimple goes off as if it were winking at me.
“That’s one rumor I like.”
“So put it back.” Her eyes widen with the command. “Now.”
