Page 93 of Unmasking Love

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“There’s enough space on the board.” Felix says as Emmett stands and walks over to the line of red dots. He goes up on his tiptoes and pulls his hands over his head and spins daintily like a ballerina.

Harper laughs as she looks at the board. “It seems like half of these are oddly innocent and half are downright dirty.”

“That was the idea. You never know what you’re going to get!” Felix laughs as he spins. He steps over to green, turns away from the group, balances on one foot, and then wraps his arms around himself and pretends to engage in a sloppy makeout.

I smile at the way Harper is laughing at the six of us. She pulls out her phone and takes a picture. Duncan and Felix couldn’t see her but Bryson, Crosby, Emmett and I smiled wide for the camera. This feels like goofing off with the boys back in grade school. Except instead of being in a basement with hand-me-down furniture we’re in a luxury home in front of a sofa that feels like a freaking cloud.

Harper spins and tilts her head to the side as she reads her task. I didn’t read the different items closely enough but part of me is hoping it says “climb the first player like a tree and make him kiss your neck.”

What? A guy can dream.

She smiles at me as she walks over and stands two feet on one blue dot right in front of me. She starts to dart her hips from side to side and makes this little swish noise.

“Nice!” Bryson cheers for her and I’m still confused about what she’s doing.

“I’ve never been skiing before but somehow this just came to me,” Harper laughs. I lean a little to the side to watch her, instead of just staring at her ass swaying in front of me, and sure enough, it looks like she’s slaloming down the slopes.

I can picture her bundled up, the cold turning her cheeks pink.

And I can picture us cuddled up by the fire afterwards.

I am desperate for this woman to a depth I can barely describe. The experiences I want to have with her have me in a half dream-like state most of the time. Fantasies about apres ski moments, stolen kisses, adventures and common nights in.

It’s my turn again so I clear my head of visions of apres ski Harper. To spin again I have to step away from the board and I regret the loss of Harper's tight bottom right in front of me. I read my assignment and move next to a still squatting Crosby on the yellow dots and start to mime whisking eggs in a bowl.

The boys compliment my quick wrists and we move through the next round ending with Harper twirling on her tiptoes.

The game ends when the timer goes off in the kitchen and Felix rushes in to continue reheating the meal. It’s not too cold and the sun is just starting to set so I guide Harper out to the patio with me. It’s the same spot we stood in a month ago before I asked her out to dinner. Time doesn’t feel real knowing it’s only been a month with her. It feels like she’s always been there, or at least she should have been. And, somehow, the lifetime ahead of us doesn’t feel like enough time.

“So, Aiden, tell me about growing up as a young goalie.” She smiles at me.

“I started out playing peewee and we rotate positions. But every time I played goalie I loved it. My dad got me some pads, I never left the net.”

“Born to do it then.” She comments and turns towards me. “I can’t say the same.”

“No? You weren’t going out to open houses every weekend and practicing your sales pitches?”

She laughs at my teasing but I see that shadow cross her eyes again. She expertly blinks it away but it was there. My protective instincts rise. Harper hasn’t opened up about her mom. She told me all about the resort, how good it felt to be in the sunshine, but not much about the person she spent the week with. I don’t know why she’s not ready to trust me with that part of her but I can be patient.

This past month has moved fast. Our work and travel schedules have put a premium on time together. And, I’ll admit, I’m an impatient motherfucker for her body.

This moment alone spurs a need for her I suppressed during the party game. One that I’ll have to push down again during dinner.

“The food will probably be ready soon, do you want to come in and wash up?” When she nods I take her by the hand and pull her with me into the house. Avoiding the kitchen where the guys are arguing about the proper way to set the table, we turn down the back hallway and I pull her into the powder room.

I whip the door closed and pull her against me and we both exhale in relief. The pent up frustration we share spilling out between us. I can see in her blown pupils she’s as wound up as I am. With her jaw in my hands, we share an earth shattering kiss like we weren’t tangled up in each other just twelve hours ago.

Harper leans her body into mine and I can feel the warmth of her through our clothes. In one quick motion I pull her up onto the counter so I don’t have to bend down as far to kiss her and she locks her ankles behind my legs. I travel the length of her neck, leaving a trail of kisses and nips. She holds me around the neck and asks, breathlessly, “I thought we were going to wash up for dinner?”

“We will, but let’s get a little dirty first.”

“Oh,” she replies and her nails dig in at the back of my neck as I suck down hard at the base of her throat. “Fuck Aiden, that feels good.”

“I know it does, Sweetheart.” I whisper as I skate my hands up her thighs. “Can I keep going?”

“Yes,” she exhales and my fingers start to shake when I realize she’s in thigh high tights.

“Did you wear these for me?” I ask as my finger skates across the border between nylon and skin.