Page 137 of Whirlwind

“Yes, of course, as you wish,” the woman replied.

“Thank you.”

Later, I woke up Beck with my tongue trailing up his middle and over to his side. His body jerked, spasmed. He was ticklish.

“What are you doing?” Laughing, he pulled me up along his body and took my mouth in a long, lazy kiss.

I pointed to the cup of hot chamomile tea with honey I’d placed at the small, low table at our side.

“What’s this?” He sat up and took the cup.

“Drink your tea, take a pee, and get your shorts and flip-flops on. I have a surprise for you.”

He ruffled his fingers through his hair. “What are you up to?”

Within fifteen minutes we were at the hotel spa, a stone cavern that was filled with low lights, aromatherapy scents, and calming music, a Mediterranean vibe with an Asian twist. We floated in water pods with a combination of sound and heat therapy, we sat in a steam room, and then laying out side by side, we were lavished in a his and hers massage using beach sand, hot stones, and fragrant warm essential oils. Somewhere along the line we were infused with pure oxygen as our feet delighted in reflexology and pedicures. A facial and a manicure for me rounded out the menu.

We were returned to our villa limp, unable to form words, only emitting sighs and small moans, soft laughs. We tossed ourselves back on the floating mattresses just in time for the sunset. Purple pink watercolors seeped over the sky, our own private spectacle rose over us, filling our senses with a soft delight.

Beck took my hand in his warm one and squeezed. I squeezed back.

We woke up some time later under a dark sky lit up with stars, still holding hands.

“Violet—” He turned over, a dreamy look on his gorgeous face.How did I get so lucky?I swallowed hard as his large hand swept up my thigh and pressed into my hip. “How are you feeling?”

“Divine jello.”

He laughed, his hand roaming up to my waist and settling there. “I loved my surprise. It was perfect. Loved doing it together.”

“Me too.” I wiped a lock of hair off the side of his face, his expression, gentle. “You needed it. You deserved it. It was my treat.”

“Violet—”

“Don’t argue with me.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. I wanted to do something for you.”

His forehead slid to mine. “Thank you,” he breathed. His arms went around me, holding me tight. “Today was the best. The best.”

I curled in his embrace, planting a kiss on his chest. The two of us lay still in the wind, in the darkness. Beck’s chest rose and fell deeply underneath me. He slept. I took in the scent of his fragrant warm skin.

Something curled slowly, tightly, deep inside my heart and I prayed it would never leave.

51

Violet

A tall,muscular man with swirling tattoos up and down his bulky arms in a tight T-shirt and jeans unloaded a carry-on suitcase from the trunk of a taxi in front of our taxi at the airport. I knew those arms, that man. Montana Boy.

“Walker?”

His massive body rigid, he turned, an icy-hard glare entrenched on his face that melted into a smile. “Oh, hey, you guys. How’s it going?”

I gestured at the suitcase. “Are you off?”

“Yep. This was definitely the place to end the trip. The past few days the winds have been brutal, and the water got real choppy, right?”

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