22. Wyatt

Chapter 22

Wyatt

When I finally tuck Fern into a fluffy towel and tug her out back to the hot tub, a bottle of white wine and two glasses between the fingers of my left hand, she's already sex-drunk and utterly relaxed.

And then she sees the sky full of stars, away from the lights of the city, sparkling above the treeline as the steam from the hot tub swirls upward. "Climb on in," I tell her, gesturing for her towel, which I hang on a peg by the hot tub along with my own. I've never been naked in my family's hot tub before, never brought a woman here to curl against my chest with a drink under the stars. "This is amazing," I whisper.

Fern turns her head, incredulous. "Wyatt. I know. But surely you're used to it by now?"

I shake my head. "How could I ever get used to this? Look at you." I squeeze her waist before turning to open the wine and pour us each a glass. I set the bottle on the shelf behind the headrest in the corner of the hot tub, where the jets are cranking.

"Well," she blows her hair away from her face and accepts a glass of wine. "Look at you. And look around."

I nod. "We are both incredible, and the scenery is pretty okay." Fern throws her head back, laughing, and takes a sip of her drink.

She rests her head sleepily against my shoulder. "I don't think I'm going to be able to do much else tonight after all that."

"You don't want to do all that again?" Just the thought of it has my dick twitching against her back, but I guess she doesn't notice it with the water jets because Fern sighs into her wine glass.

"I really don't think I can handle that again."

"I'm up for the challenge if you are." I grin and squeeze her hand, and we both sip and stare at the stars.

Fern turns to me, arms around my neck, facing me in the dark water. "I should tell you something."

I nod. "I've told you plenty of things."

Fern smiles and runs her fingers through my hair in that way I love so much. "You're the only person I've been with. Like that I mean."

I frown. "Like what?"

She shrugs. "Like, put their penis inside my vagina." Another smile, and she presses a kiss on my forehead. "It was something I really really wanted to do on New Year's, and I'm glad it was you because it was incredible."

I'm not sure what to say in response to that, so I just stare at her a few beats. I set my wine glass on the shelf and pull her tighter against me. "Thank you," I whisper. "For trusting me with that. I'm … touched? I don't know what word to use."

"Don't let it go to your head," she says with a laugh, reaching past me to get my wine glass and handing it to me again. "I just didn't want you to be the only one confessing things about your identity."

"I appreciate that." I settle back against the headrest, appreciating how intimate it is here with her, curled up like this, but also so natural and really fucking nice.

The jets shut off after twenty minutes, reminding me that I need to keep Fern hydrated and probably fed if I want to make good on my promise to ply her with orgasms. I hop out of the tub and quickly wrap my towel around my waist, opening hers up for her to step in as she gingerly climbs down the steps.

"It's a lot nicer getting in than getting out." Her teeth chatter as I grab the wine, flip the lid back on the hot tub, and run inside, where I grab a container from the cooler and slide it into the oven.

By the time I've heated up our meal, I've thoroughly warmed Fern up by the fireplace. After we eat, I warm her up again in bed and we fall asleep in each other's arms, as if we can stay this way.

As if we're both not on the brink of leaving the country, facing potential scandal, or technically forbidden from being together. None of that seems to matter as I pull her tighter against my chest, one palm on her butt and her palm above my heart.