Only One Bed

“I’ve been thinking,” Etienne murmured, his eyes closed. He sat in only a towel, his worn robe hanging off the bench beside him.

“Yeah?” I failed pathetically at sounding casual. I knew he’d heard what I’d told him last night, so I hadn’t brought it up again today. It was his decision in the end.

“I’m thinking about bending you over this bench and eating your ass.”

I just about hit the ceiling. My towel tenting, I suddenly found it hard to breathe. “That sounds… Um. I’m not mad at it.”

Eyebrow arched, Etienne cut a glance down at me. “Evidently.”

“Like you’re not hard under that robe that is suddenly over your lap?”

“Oh, I am. Very hard. Thinking about how good I’ll make you feel. What kind of noises you might make when I lick right inside you.”

I shuddered in anticipation. “We can’t. Someone could walk in any second.”

Etienne sighed. “Sadly. It would be irresponsible. I have a reputation to maintain. Sauna sex scandals do not play well with Olympic judges.”

My heart skipped. “You’re worried about Olympic judges in particular? Are you and Bree going to go for it?”

Etienne exhaled. Sweat dripped down his temple, and I wanted to lick it. “What would you think if we kept training and tried for that spot next season? Assuming we still want to after the rest of this season. If Bree’s well enough and we’re not miserable.”

“If that’s what you want to do, I’m with you all the way.” I hated to think of him slogging through another year plus at Hackensack since he was so unhappy there, but of course I’d support him. No matter what.

He snagged my hand, pressing his bare knee into mine. “What would you think if Bree and I moved back to Vancouver to train?”

Again with the hitting the roof. I bolted straight up, gripping his fingers. “Seriously? You want to come back? To train with Laura?”

Etienne nodded, his breathing shallow. “We want to love skating again. We want to be happy at the rink every day. Laura said she’ll take us. Bree can move in with Tim, and you and I can—” He broke off. “If you wanted? Unless it’s too fast. Is it too fast?”

I yanked him into a kiss, sweeping my tongue into his mouth and swallowing his yelp. He kissed me back, and we didn’t need words since our mouths were too busy. And kissing in a sauna wouldn’t be a scandal if someone caught us, right?

Okay, by the time I was straddling his lap, rocking against him with my towel falling off, we were definitely in scandal territory even if his tongue wasn’t in my ass.

Breaking the kiss, I gasped for air in the thick heat. We were slick with sweat, and I did lick the side of his face before kissing down to his throat. I sucked his fevered skin as he dug his fingers into my spine.

“For. The. Record,” I bit out between kisses. “It’s not too fast. We had years of foreplay. We should have done this ages ago. What were we waiting for?”

“Can’t remember now. Stupid, huh?” He grabbed my ass, grinding me down against him, only terrycloth in our way.

Laughter echoed outside, and I ended up on the sauna floor. By the time my towel was knotted shut and Etienne was checking me for injuries, the voices had faded.

It was our turn to laugh as we opened the sauna, yelping at the freezing air and jamming our feet in our boots to run back through the snow to our cabin and warm up again.

And get Etienne’s tongue in my ass. And look up apartments in Vancouver. And laugh.

Eyeing the ice trail in the dusk, the colored fairy lights strung along it ready for Instagram, I shook my head. “Is this the best way to spend New Year’s Eve?”

Etienne waved an arm as he spun in a circle, his blades skimming the ice so smoothly he could have been levitating. “Mountains, ice, forest, friends. Sounds perfect to me.”

“Because you skate for a living.” I tugged down Obaachan’s borrowed toque, and Etienne bopped the pom-pom on top. His hat was red too, and I kind of loved that we matched. Were we one of those nauseating couples?

I sure hoped so.

“See?” Etienne said. “You’re smiling now. Come on. Skate the trail with me. I’ll warm you up after.”

Desire tugged low in my belly. It had only been a few days, and I knew we’d get tired of fucking like bunnies, but… Not yet. I faked nonchalance. “We’re eating a late dinner with my family later.”

He sighed dramatically, dropping his arms to his sides. “True. I guess we’ll be too tired to do more than kiss at midnight.” His shoulders stiffened, and he seemed suddenly nervous. “Not that you have to. In front of so many people, I mean.”