Charmed Life

I wake up, curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed.

An empty bed, except for me.

Flashes of last night play through my mind like an old-fashioned film reel. His skin on mine, his lips on me, our limbs entangled. Uneven breathing, a hunger that can never be satisfied.

Even though I’m alone, I feel overexposed. Where is he, and what am I supposed to do when I see him?

Crap. What if he regrets what we did and just left me here to fend for myself? Would I have to find a way back to the U.S. by myself? What a rude one-night stand! You can’t just leave someone across the border like this!

Wait. Stop. Breathe.

I’d been in this situation only once before, but that time, we were both inexperienced and clumsy and the morning after was like the night before. Shy and awkward.

This time, there was nothing awkward or shy about it.

I throw on the tee James had been wearing last night (the one that I took off) and pad my way downstairs. I hear sounds in the kitchen, and I enter to find James in only shorts, bent over a pan at the stove, scrambling eggs like he did it every morning.

Oh. So he didn’t leave the country without me.

Immediately, any doubts I have are gone.

He looks magnificent, his bed head worse than usual, probably from all the times I ran my hands through his hair. I can’t imagine what I look like, but I don’t care.

He hears me and turns around, smiling so beautifully it takes my breath away. My own lips spread wide and mirror his smile. He takes two full strides and his lips are on mine again, familiar yet uncharted at the same time. His arms surround me, and I wrap mine around his neck.

“Morning,” he says, our lips parted but arms still around each other. “We need to get going.”

“Where?” I’m not really paying attention, but instead am running my hands through his hair again.

“We were supposed to meet Rebecca and her boyfriend an hour ago at the slopes.”

I reel back in horror. “An hour ago?!”

“It’s fine. I called. We’ll eat and be on our way.”

I shake my head. “No, I need to shower. We can eat later.”

He shrugs. “Fine,” he agrees, taking my hand and pulling me towards the stairs. “We’ll shower together. It’ll save time.”
…..

The second Rebecca lays eyes on us, she knows. And I know she knows.

I blush, but smile at the couple as they lead us through the cabin and into the large, oak paneled living room. We’re at some ski resort in the middle of nowhere. It reminds me of Cabin In the Woods and I’m a little freaked out, but James assures me no one has been murdered here.

“Trust me, that first apartment of yours?” James whispers as we follow Rebecca. “Has a higher crime rate than all of Whitby.”

I punch him with the hand that he isn’t holding. “Okay, way rude,” I hiss at him, although he’s probably right.

“Just relax, no one’s going to murder anyone.”

I do, and take in the high ceiling, the gleaming wood paneling, and extravagant furnishings.

Oh, the life of the wealthy.

I will never get used to it. This is a perfectly livable place, yet they have a ton of other places.

I don’t understand it, but I don’t really dwell on that. Instead, I take comfort in the feel of James’ hand over mine.

“Sorry we’re so late,” I apologize, although I have a feeling Rebecca doesn’t care. We could have been a day late, and I doubt she would have given a crap from the look on her face.

“That’s okay.” Rebecca gives me a knowing smile and throws a mischievous, “I know what you did last night” look towards James. He rolls his eyes, finally letting go of my hand to follow Rebecca into the kitchen.

Cory, Rebecca’s boyfriend, and I make small talk. He seems nice, but we don’t get a chance to delve any deeper into our history, as James and Rebecca comes back into the living room, tray and glasses in hand.

After a drink, Rebecca declares separate activities for us and the guys, pushing them to hit the slopes while we soak in the hot tub outside.

“But the reason Alayna is here is so she can ski,” James protest, looking annoyed with his little sister.

“She can ski tomorrow,” Rebecca retorts, grabbing my hand and leading me towards the deck. “Bye.”

I think James is going to say something else, but he knows he can’t win. I have a feeling this happens a lot, and the next thing I know, I’m in the hot tub with Rebecca, wine glass in hand.

I’m expecting the Spanish Inquisition, but instead, she looks at me seriously and says “Thank you.”

“For what?” I ask, confused.

“For whatever it is you’re doing. He’s happy. So thank you.”

I take a sip of wine, not sure what to say or how to respond. I go with the obvious. “You’re welcome.”
…..

After the guys get back, we head over to the café located at the bottom of the slopes where are all the shops and restaurants are. When we're done, instead of everyone heading back, Rebecca announced a massive headache that would require her and Cory leaving early, to which James responded with a huge eye roll.

“Sorry about all that,” James says, slipping into the tub opposite me. A bench runs around the entire tub, immersed in the water. My eyes roam over his torso. His perfect, sculpted and chiseled torso, before it disappears under the water, leaving his shoulders and neck exposed.

My eyes widen when I realize that I’ve seen this man naked. Naked. Yet I’m still in awe of his half nakedness.

My eyes widen even more when I realize that he’s seen me naked.

Oh, shit.

I’m scared he’ll be less than impressed with what he’s seeing now. Thank God I’m already in the water. It was dark then. It’s dark now, but the dim lights around the patio aren’t helping. I probably should have skipped the burger at lunch. But it was delicious, and I was starving. So was the ice cream and cake and all those cookies. But who’s keeping track?

“What?” James asks.

Shit.

I shake my head, coming out of my thoughts. “Nothing.”

“I hope Rebecca didn’t give you a hard time,” James says, moving closer through the hot, bubbling water.

I shake my head again, remembering the conversation I had with Rebecca. After I told her she was welcomed, we chatted about other things. School, clothes, plans for the future. “She didn’t,” I tell him honestly. He’s right next of me, sitting so close but not touching me.

I’m not exactly sure how to do this, and I don’t think he does either.

“I’m sorry if I suck at this,” I admit. I down the last of my wine, hoping it’ll help. I put the glass down on the edge of the tub.

Crap.

Now I don’t know what to do with my hands. I wave them around lamely for a second, then settle for putting them on my lap underwater.

Ugh.

I probably look super stupid right now.

He shakes his head. “I don’t… I’m no expert either.”

“We made this awkward, didn’t we?” I groan. “This sucks. I knew we never should have done anything. Except you were always walking around half naked, practically inviting me to do something. I mean, who does that?”

“Alayna – ”

“Seriously, you can’t go around just flashing people, James, it’s not cool. I know I acted like I didn’t care, but I did. I’m only human. I couldn’t take all that tempting and teasing. And then it leads to this?” I wave my hands back and forth between us, splashing water everywhere.

“Alayna!” James takes my hands in both of his, blinking away the water I’d gotten into his eyes. “No one ruined anything. We’re fine.”

I stop and breathe. “We are?”

“Yeah, we are,” He answers, and then leans in and kisses me softly, and I lose my breath again. “Okay?”

“Yeah,” I barely get the word out before his lips are on mine again, insistent this time. I feel his tongue slide against mine, and I part my lips hungrily.

Slipping my hands from his, I encircle them around his neck before climbing on top of his lap. His hands wrapped around my waist, pulling me close and pressing our bodies together.

His lips leave mine and travel down my neck, slipping easily against my skin, which is wet from the tub.

“And let’s not talk about tempting and teasing,” he mumbles into my neck, causing me to shiver. “Because that was all you.”

His lips slip lower as his hands come up my back, finding the ties on my bikini top. He tugs gently at the knot behind my neck until the strings come loose and fall away before moving down to the bottom tie and repeating the process.

“Me?”

Instinctively, I arch my back, giving him all the access he needs. He kisses my collarbone before moving down, working his way from one breast to the other.

“Like you didn’t know what you were doing.”

“I didn’t,” I say, pausing to look at him as he looks at me, surprised by my point blank response. I shrug. “Still don’t.”

He just stares at me for a long time, not sure how to react. I smile at his hesitation before dipping down to kiss his neck and nibble on his ear. He takes a sharp breath in, and I can feel him smile as I kiss his jaw.

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“Maybe I know a little bit.”

“Show me.”

I stand up, water rushing down my half naked body. No longer feeling self conscious, I untie the knots on the sides of my bikini bottoms, letting the small piece of fabric fall into the bubbling water. I motion for him to stand, and he does. I watch in wonder as streams of water slip from his hard body, and I don’t waste a second stripping him down so that both of us are naked.

I put a hand on his chest, pushing him back into a sitting position. I turn, giving him a second to take in the view. Slowly, I ease myself down into his lap, using my hands to guide him inside me until I am sitting with my back pressed against his chest.

He groans, placing a hand on each side of my waist, pulling me back, hard, against him.

We move, quickly finding a rhythm. The breathing and panting are mixed with the sounds of the bubbling and sloshing water, but it doesn’t do much to cover the sounds we make when it all ends as I cry out his name and he cries out mine.

It’s even more perfect than the first time, and when I wake up tomorrow, I know there won’t be any doubts.

“Let’s get to bed,” James says, getting us both gently to our feet. He kisses me on the forehead before wrapping me up in a towel. Suddenly exhausted, we make our way to one of the massive rooms in the cabin.

I snuggle into him as soon as my body hits the soft surface, eyes already starting to close. He wraps his strong arms around me, pulling the covers over us.

“Hey, Alayna?”

“Hm?” I bury myself closer to him, reveling in the intense amount of body heat he is giving off.

“I’m glad this happened,” he whispers into my hair. “I’m glad you broke into my house all those months ago.”

I can tell he’s smiling as he says this, and the memory makes me smile.

“Me, too. I’m glad, too.”

“And Alayna?” He says, nuzzling into my hair.

“Yeah?”

“I care about you. A lot.”

I’m awake. I’m wide awake. And for a second, I’m in full on panic mode. James just waits it out, because he knows me, and knowing that he knows me, well, it calms me down, and I tilt my head up on the pillow so that I’m looking up at him.

“Me, too. I care about you, too. More than a lot.”

He smiles that beautiful smile at me, and I grin back.

“Don’t run away again, okay?”

“I won't. I promise.”