Page 65 of Taming Her Temptations

“Levi,” I gasp. “Let me out.”

I hear Dean and Asher laughing from the hot tub, a place I’d much rather be right now.

“Shh,” he says, wrapping his arms around me, our goose bumped skin presses against each other. I wrap my legs around his waist, mostly to get as much warmth from contact as possible. He brings me to the edge of the pool and presses his body against mine. “Just take deep breaths. Overcome the feeling of panic. You’re in no danger.”

I do as he tells me and I feel my heart calm. His warm breath on my neck matches the rhythm of my breathing.

And he might be right about this whole thing. Because as the late spring sun shines on my face and Levi pulls me tighter in his arm, euphoria spreads through me and calms my heart rate down.

“Mm,” I finally say, my eyes closed and angled up to the sun. “This is kind of nice.”

He peppers kisses up my neck and onto my jaw, and my happiness swells.

“So what you’re trying to say,” he says in between kisses, “is you won’t withhold sex after all?”

I laugh and he slips his arms under my legs and carries me over to the hot tub.

We slip in together and I settle on his lap. The warm water stings at first, but then settles into my bones and feels as satisfying as a warm blanket after spending a snowy day outside.

“Satisfying right?” Levi grins at me.

I nod, my lips too busy to speak as I lean in to give him a kiss. Dean comes up behind me and begins to massage my shoulders. I groan in pleasure at the sensation, my shoulders needing it more than I realized.

I’m ready to rip my bathing suit off. I’m the only one who even wears one. These three love doing their swimming nude. But I guess that’s the benefit of having your own pool and hot tub, so I don’t blame them. And I’m not complaining.

“What the hell is going on here?” A voice stops my wandering hands cold.

I whip around and my mouth hangs open at what I see.

Steven.

The guys don’t even flinch.

“What does it look like is going on?” Levi shrugs.

Shit.

I scramble to get off of Levi and jump out of the hot tub. Dean looks at me with knitted eyebrows, trying to understand my reaction, but I don’t even understand my reaction, to be honest.

I cover myself up while I look for a towel.

“What are you even doing here, Steven?” I say, scrambling.

“I need to talk to Levi about something that is of no concern to you.” He says condescendingly.

I stop sharply, suddenly feeling entirely exposed and raw. Why did I jump up like that when I saw it was Steven?

Dean lifts himself out of the hot tub, his bare muscled ass on full display.

Steven averts his gaze, his eyes scanning the place until they stop on my stomach.

“A bellybutton ring, Ruby? Really? Are you going through some kind of midlife crisis or something?”

I swallow hard, suddenly feeling ridiculous about the gaudy pink gemstone.

Dean comes up behind me and places a towel over my shoulders, clearly sensing it’s what I was looking for. Gratitude waves through me.

“Well, then I must be going through a midlife crisis, too,” Dean says loudly, and gestures to his pierced nipple, which still matches my bellybutton ring.

---