Storm (Ashes & Embers 1)

I swallow and continue to pet Niko between us. “You’ve mentioned hiding and wanting privacy a few times. What does that mean?”

He doesn’t answer me and his silence says volumes. I am treading on delicate ground here. I can feel it seeping out of him.

“Do you not want me to know?” I ask him.

He shakes his head slowly, his fingers still playing with my hair and gently brushes across my cheek. “No,” he says. “I don’t. But let’s just say sometimes, I just want to be me, and the only way I can do that is to be alone.”

I reach up and grab his hand, gently pulling it away from my hair. “Have you been ‘you’ while we’ve been stuck together?”

“Mostly.”

“Is that good or bad?”

“It’s enlightening.”

Enlightening? What does that mean?

He stands up and pulls me up with him. “Come on, I want to go in the hot tub. I shoveled the deck while you were in the shower.” He starts to pull me across the room by my hand. I tug back.

“Wait, what?” Hot tub? No.

He continues to tug me across the room to sliding glass doors he unlocks, which leads us to a wooden deck off the back of the house. He flips a switch and a bunch of small Christmas lights that are strewn about glow in blue. The cover is already off the hot tub situated in the corner, steam rising from the bubbling water.

“Storm, it’s freezing out here...”

“I know, but it’s awesome hot in there. I got it ready earlier while you were in the shower. I love being in the hot tub in the middle of winter when it’s cold and dark out here.”

He’s out of his mind if he thinks I’m going to get into a hot tub with him in the dark while we’re out in the woods surrounded by snow.

He lets go of my hand and pulls his sweats down until he’s standing there in just boxer shorts. I look away, but not before noticing his legs are also extremely muscular and covered in tattoos.

He climbs into the tub and slowly sinks into the water. “Whooo!” he yells. “This feels fucking awesome. Get your ass in here, Evelyn.”

“I don’t even have a bathing suit,” I say stupidly. A part of me does want to go in. The heat would feel amazing right now.

“Just come in with your bra and panties then. I won’t touch you. I won’t even look while you get in. See?”

He turns around and faces the other direction.

When would I have a chance again to be in a hot tub in the middle of the woods under a black sky littered with stars? Probably never. This kind of thing doesn’t happen to me.

Damn it to hell. I pull off the hoodie and slip out of the sweatpants. “Don’t you dare turn around,” I say as I climb into the tub. I wasn’t expecting the water to be so hot. “Holy shit,” I say, sucking in a breath and slowly sinking into the churning water. I feel like I’m going to cook in here.

“Can I turn around now?”

“I guess. But stay over there.”

He has a big grin on his face when he turns to face me. “It feels great, doesn’t it?”

I keep my body as low as possible under the water so he can’t see me. “It does feel good. I shouldn’t be in here, though.”

“Why? I won’t let you drown.”

“I just feel like I shouldn’t be doing things like this with you.”

He flicks some water into my face. “Stop thinking everything you do is wrong, Evelyn. Fuck. No wonder you have panic attacks. You’re so hard on yourself. Just let yourself have fun and stop thinking it’s wrong.”

“It is wrong, Storm.”

“Evelyn, if you want to do these things, and you enjoy it, maybe that should tell you something, ya know?”

“Really? What should it tell me, Storm? That I should just do all sorts of things I want to do, just to have fun, regardless of the consequences or who I hurt?”

“No, I don’t think you should hurt anyone. But if doing things that make you happy hurts someone else, then maybe you shouldn’t be with them. Right? It’s your life. You gotta make yourself happy.”

“I don’t want to talk about this. I just want to relax in here, okay? Isn’t that why we’re in here? To relax?”

“Yes. And to be warm after freezing our asses off for two days.”

Being outside in the dark, with just the dim glow of the Christmas lights and the stars above is simply beautiful. Off in the distance, I can see the light of another home, but it’s pretty far. I can see why Storm likes it here. It’s so peaceful. No traffic, no houses on top of each other, no nosey neighbors. I’ve always wanted to live in a place like this, far away from people and surrounded by nature. If I lived in a place like this, on a huge piece of property in the woods, I’d have a few dogs, and some chickens, maybe even a miniature goat or pony.

I feel guilty sitting in a hot tub while Michael is home alone worrying about me. I hope John called him and told him I was okay. I have no idea what he told him or how he explained the situation, but I hope he didn’t spin it like I was spending the night with some random stranger enjoying myself.

Aren’t I, though?

“Evelyn, I can see the little crazy hamster in your head spinning in circles. Stop worrying.”

I splash water into his face. “Stop analyzing me.”

“You’re going to regret that.” His wicked smirk is back. Within seconds, he is across the tub and is right in front of me. “Turn around,” he says.

“What? Why?”

He puts his hands on my shoulders and turns me around, positioning me right in front of one of the jets. And when I say right in front of one of the jets, I mean its jetting right between my legs. Yes. There.

“Storm—” I try to back away, but his chest is right up against my back and I can’t move.

“Shh...” he whispers against my ear. His hands slide down my arms, all the way to my hands, splaying my arms out and pressing my hands against the rim of the tub, holding me there. The pulsing water against my clit is amazing. As much as I want to get away from it, it feels so good I just can’t. My body wants to stay right where it is.

“Shut your mind off and just let go,” he whispers.

I lean back a

gainst him, my back flush against his chest, and my head on his shoulder, and the erotic pulse of the water takes me into a euphoric trance. Once again, I can feel his hard cock pressing against my ass. Only this time with just a thin, wet material between us, the feeling is amplified. It’s almost flesh on flesh. He doesn’t move or touch me at all as I writhe against the water. He just holds my hands against the edge of the tub so I can’t move away. Being held there by him, trapped by his body is only arousing me even more. I could turn around right now, wrap my legs around that muscled body of his, and feel him slide into me. Never have I been more turned on or in such a frenzy to have an orgasm. I feel like every part of my body is aching to be touched, to be filled. My entire body begins to tremble and thrash as multiple orgasms quake through me, finally leaving me limp as a ragdoll. He releases my hands and slowly turns me around.

“Feel better?” he asks his voice husky and low.

I can barely even open my eyes. The heat of the water coupled with all the orgasms has utterly exhausted me mentally and physically. “I hate you. Why do you keep doing that to me?”

“What? Orgasm assistance?”

My eyes snap open. “Seriously? Did you just say that? I don’t need assistance.”

“I think you do. Tell me if you’ve ever felt like that before.”

I push him away. “Leave me alone, Storm. I don’t need your help to get off.”

Lies, lies, lies. I can’t remember the last time I had an orgasm prior to this weekend. It’s been a while. I fake it with Michael most of the time because I just can’t get there, and he won’t stop until he thinks I have. It’s easier to just fake it and move on. As long as he has one, I’m happy. I don’t need to have an orgasm to be happy and satisfied.

Or at least I didn’t think so. Until Storm made me hump a water jet. Wow. That felt good.

“We should go inside. I don’t want you passing out in here.”

I am too jelly-like to argue with him. I let him help me out of the tub, and I sit on a chair while he gets us towels out of a wooden cabinet off to the side of the deck. My entire body feels like mush. I dry off in silence and slowly pull my clothes back on, avoiding eye contact with him. When I’m dressed, I go back inside and leave him outside to close up the tub and turn the lights off.