Three Sweet Nothings (Blindfold Club 5)

hurried and excited. “Oh, fuck yes, Kyle.”

The orgasm tore through me, a hot torrent of pleasure, and I slowed to a jerky stop, buried deep. I panted for air, strangling off a moan. Goddamn, it was amazing. The pleasure continued to roll through my body and left me shaky as it went.

It might have been the best orgasm of my life.

My heart went from pounding, to speeding along, and then finally slowed to a normal tempo, and I held on to her hips as I caught my breath. Now that my body was satisfied, my brain fired back online.

Ruby collapsed forward on the steps, and she was shivering. First order of business was getting her out of the pool and warm again. I could handle that, and I did up my pants. She didn’t fight me as I tugged the dress slowly down, and slipped it off her.

She rested naked on the steps, not looking at me, which was a very bad sign. I set her dress up on the deck so it was a puddle of wet fabric, and took her by the arm, turning her to face me.

Her gaze focused on my chest, not meeting my eyes until I slipped my hands under her and lifted her into my arms. That certainly got her attention.

“What are you doing? Put me down.”

“I will,” I said, clambering up the stairs. Water ran off us and dripped with every step I took. I bypassed the lounge chair closest, and went to the one at the end that had a thick, striped cushion. I deposited her there, sat down beside her, and grabbed a handful of plush towels from the stack on the table beside it.

She shivered once more as I unfurled and laid it over her, and I watched as she tucked her bottom lip between her teeth. A nervous, unsure Ruby wasn’t my favorite version, but I’d take it. At least she hadn’t fled. I might have taken off her dress to prevent that.

I hadn’t fled either. There was no desire to do so. I stared at my shirt floating in the water and her high heels resting at the bottom of the pool. So the second order of business would be getting stuff as dry as possible. She curled up under the makeshift blanket of towels and watched me wordlessly as I got back into the pool and fished everything out.

“Roll it up in a towel,” she said quietly, gesturing to the dress in my hands, “then wring it out that way.” When it was done, I hung it on the back of a chair. Not sure how dry it would get, but it was better than nothing. I did the same with the rest of our clothes, feeling her heavy gaze on me.

My shoes squished with water. That should make walking outside later in the snow fun. I sat down on the lounge chair beside her and tugged off my shoes. The longer we went without speaking, the more the tension grew. It was already as thick and overpowering as the humidity in the room.

At least she wasn’t shivering anymore. I pulled off my socks and wrung them out, and when it was done, I suddenly wished I had something else to do. Ruby seemed to be waiting for me to finish moving and start talking, but for once in my life, I hadn’t the faintest idea what to say.

“Thanks,” she said over the edge of the towel draped on her body. “I mean, for hanging my stuff out to dry.”

“Sure.”

My brain knew what I was supposed do. I should peel back the long towel hiding her body from me, and slide in beside her on the narrow chair where there’d be barely any room for both of us. We’d burrow under the towels and drink warm champagne, and try to fix this space between us.

I wanted that.

I wanted her in my arms, yet I couldn’t seem to move. I lied to myself and said it was indecision, and wasn’t fear she’d reject me.

This was stupid. We’d just had sex. Mind-blowing sex. Get off your ass and get over there.

Ruby’s gaze lingered on mine, and slowly she withdrew. The longer I sat motionless, the further away she felt.

“It stopped snowing,” she said, gazing at the windows.

“Yeah.”

The silence was painfully taut, weighed down with all the things we weren’t saying.

“It’s getting late,” she added.

I pressed my lips into a line and nodded. Warning lights were flashing in my head, alerting me that this was going south and I needed to correct course immediately. But I didn’t know how.

“I think, uh . . .” she said, shifting to sit up, “I should get dressed.”

I blew out a breath and my eyebrows tugged together. “Okay.”

Goddamnit. What was wrong with me? I didn’t want that to happen.

Ruby wrapped the towel tightly around her and padded on her bare feet over to the dress that was still dripping onto the textured floor. She moved slowly, as if giving me every opportunity to stop her. Instead, I sat hunched over with my elbows on my knees, staring at the ground while I listened to the sounds of fabric swishing and rustling.