Page 5 of Crash with Me (Seasons of Sizzle #3)

FIVE

HEIDI

For the second time today, a stranger removes a blindfold. This time, it’s to reveal, well, paradise.

“Oh my God,” I breathe. “It’s… beautiful.”

Seth squints beside me. “Where the hell are we?”

“Not hell. Heaven.” I slide my arm through his and rest my cheek against his bicep. “This, my friend, is a magical space called the day spa.”

“Day spa?” He frowns. “Don’t tell me they’re going to slather us in mud and make us drink cucumbers.”

“My kingdom for a mud wrap and cucumber water.” I hold up the certificate the bridesmaid handed us before leaving. “But unfortunately, no, that is not our journey today.”

“Then what are we doing?”

“Today, we’re getting naked.”

His eyes widen and his gaze drops briefly—if I’m not mistaken—to my chest. “We’re doing what?”

I narrowly stifle the urge to laugh. It’s not easy. The poor guy looks like he doesn’t know whether to blush or start stripping.

“We’re getting a massage.” I hand him the certificate. “A couple’s massage.”

“Oh.” He stares down at the paper. “And you have to get naked for that?”

“It’s up to you,” a masseuse says as she strides into the room carrying a small stack of towels. “But most of our guests prefer to remove their clothing to avoid the risk of staining from the oils and lotions we use.”

Seth nods slowly. “And we get naked… together?”

“Did you want individual massages?” She frowns. “Unfortunately, we don’t have any openings for those today. And your certificate is for a couple’s massage.”

“A couple’s massage is fine,” I assure her. “He’s just a little nervous. It’s his first time at a spa.”

“Oh, yes.” She nods in understanding. “We promise we’ll be gentle with you. Now, I’ll leave you two to get more comfortable. And my colleague and I will be back in about ten minutes.”

I start to thank you, but Seth rests a hand on the small of my back, sending a tingle up and down my spine.

“Excuse me, miss,” he says, his voice low and gruff. “Do you by any chance have cucumber water?”

“We do. Would you like a glass?”

“Could you please get one for the lady?”

“Of course.”

My heart skips a beat. “You listened.”

“I’ll always listen to you.” He gives my back a final rub. “So… how does this work exactly?”

“Well.” I swallow hard, my throat thicker than it was before. “It’s like I said before. We get naked. As long as you’re comfortable. With that.”

“I’m comfortable. With that.” His dark eyes become almost pitch black. “Are you? Comfortable. With that?”

I nod, clenching my thighs together to savor the warmth building between them the longer I’m the subject of his blazing hot stare.

Heart thundering, and breath coming in short gasps, I fumble for the towels our masseuse left behind.

“Here.” I thrust one at him.

“Thanks.” He takes it. His work-calloused fingers brush against mine, sending a fresh, delicious shiver through me.

Oh dear. If I’m like this now—half nerves, half anticipation—how am I going to be once we’re both, indeed, bare as the day we were born?

“Right.” Filling my lungs and straightening my shoulders, I step behind a screen. “I’ll just get changed here.”

“Changed?” He arches an eyebrow. “I thought the point was to get naked.”

“You know what I mean.”

My cheeks feel as if they’re on fire. How did this happen? When did we go from me being the one who is in control and teasing to him having the upper hand and better grip? And… Why do I kind of like it?

“Well then.” He inclines his head slightly. “I guess I’ll see you once we’re both… comfortable.”

“Yeah. Right. See you then.” Spinning on my heel, I nearly bump into a potted rubber ficus on my way around the screen.

More thumbs than fingers, I remove my clothes, carelessly tossing them into a pile on a stool. I don’t have the patience—or control—to fold them neatly now. Not when I can hear the sound of a belt unbuckling. The lowering of a zipper. The rustle of denim falling to the ground.

I clench my eyes tight, trying not to imagine the scene unfolding on the other side of the screen. It doesn’t work. It’s impossible. Eyes open or closed, I can’t seem to think about anything but the way the muscles on his shoulders and neck tighten as he moves.

Or the dark hair that smatters across Seth’s strong chest.

With a trail that leads down his six-pack abs.

To a part of him I haven’t seen.

But, oh, I can imagine how good it looks as well.

And I can practically sense how good it would feel inside of me.

More tightly coiled than I’ve ever been in my life, I wrap the towel around me and groan.

“Is everything okay back there?” Seth calls out.

“Yes. No.” I sigh. “It’s the towel.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It…” God. I’m normally so confident in the body I have. I’ve spent years working to love myself and this life I have.

And I hate—absolutely hate—that right now I feel anything less than happy in my own skin.

“The towel,” I start again, “won’t wrap around me completely.” My shoulders slump. “I don’t think it was made for girls like me.”

“What do you mean girls like you?”

I scowl at the screen. “You know what I mean. Plus size.”

“Oh.”

I cringe, hating this, and hating even more that the backs of my eyes are burning.

“Well,” Seth says, “I can turn around and give you a chance to settle on your bed first if that makes you more comfortable.”

“That… would be nice.”

Taking another breath, I hold the towel as tightly around me as I can. The edges just come together but leaving a gap exposing part of one breast and my belly. I step around the corner.

I gasp.

“What?” Seth turns from the wall. His lips part, and heat flashes in his eyes. But he shakes his head. “What’s wrong?”

“The massage beds.”

“Is something wrong with them?” He frowns and follows my stare. He sucks in a breath. “There’s…”

“There’s only one,” I finish.

“Is that… normal?”

“I’ve never seen a couple’s massage with only one bed.” I give a breathy laugh. “Trust a random resort in Alaska to be the first.”

“Is that… okay?”

“It doesn’t seem like we have another choice.”

“Well.” He swallows hard. “Then I guess we’d better get on it.”

So we do. It’s not quite comfortable, but also not completely awkward, for both of us to settle on the bed.

Still feeling some kind of way about the whole towel situation, I place my face in the headrest, determined to put it behind me.

“Heidi,” Seth whispers. “Can I say something?”

“You can say anything.”

“You have nothing to feel shy about.” At his words, I turn to face him and those dark, expressive eyes of his. “You’re gorgeous. Everything about you… gorgeous.”

“Everything about me is bigger than the rest of the world seems to think it should be.”

“Then the rest of the world is stupid.” His teeth scrape across his bottom lip. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since we met.”

“We’ve basically been together every second since we met.” I give a wry grin. “But… It's the same for me.”

“You’ve been thinking about me?” His grins at my nod. “Have you been thinking about how good it would be to kiss again?”

“Yeah.” The single word comes out breathy.

“Me too.” His head moves closer, and I lean forward too. Narrowing the distance between us. “I wonder what it would be like to kiss without any clothes on.”

I don’t speak but move toward him, my eyelids fluttering closed. His breath tickles my lips.

A loud moan rings through the air. My eyes open.

Seth’s dark brows knit together. “What the fuck was that?”

There’s another moan. This one is followed by an unmistakable. “Oh my God. Yes. YES. YEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS.”

His eyes widen. “Are they… fucking?”

A giggle bubbles out of me. “Probably not.”

“Then what the hell are they doing over there?”

“They’re getting a massage.”

“And that makes them… come?”

I laugh again. “For some people, it’s a release on that level.”

“Fucking hell.” He lifts a hand to scratch the back of his head. “Do you make noises like that when you’re getting a massage?”

“On their level? No.”

He visibly relaxes.

“But I’ve been known to make a few sounds of my own.”

He winces. “Fucking hell,” he says again. “I’m never going to survive.”

“Why’s that?”

“If you must know…”

“I think I must.”

“I’m already hard as a rock.” He clenches his jaw. “And I think I might explode if I hear you making noises like that.”

My jaw falls open. “Seriously?”

“Deathly seriously.” He reaches for my hand. “May I?”

I nod dumbly, my lips parting in anticipation. My breath catches as he turns on his side and brings my hand toward him.

My fingers brush over his cock. I gasp, even as I marvel at the smooth skin, and the rock hard steel that stands strong below inch after inch.

He’s a big boy. A thick boy. I nibble on my bottom lip as I wrap my fingers around him.

He lets out a moan of his own as I stroke him. Up and down. Pumping his already hard shaft. Letting every catch of his breath, every groan, guide me.

Turning on my own side so I can get a better grip, I slide my other hand across his chest. Tracing circles in the smattering of hair. Scraping my nails around his nipples.

Watching the pleasure play across his face. Watching his dark eyes watching me, going hazy the more I move. I’ve never felt more powerful.

Being the reason this strong, hulking man comes apart makes me feel like a queen.

“Fuck, Heidi.” His lips are parted. His breath comes in gasps. “I won’t last long.”

“Then don’t.” I give him a gentle squeeze, and he hisses. “Let go.”

“But… I should… You should get to… First.” He sucks in another breath. “I should make you come first.”

“You can owe me one.” I pump my fists a little faster. Sliding my thumb along the bulging vein of his perfect cock. “Besides. I want you to enjoy your first massage. We can’t let this guy and his needs get in the way.”

“Heidi… I… I…” I give him one more squeeze, and he shouts, “Fuck!”

Warm liquid shoots out from his cock, covering my fingers, covering my belly with the force of his release.

My own breath comes in gasps. My body is alive, electric even.

“That was…” Seth gives a shaky laugh.

He cradles the back of my head and pulls me closer, capturing my lips in a kiss. This one isn’t like the other. It isn’t searching or exploring.

It’s searing.

Branding.

Claiming, as if he’s declaring that I’m his with that one kiss.

We’re both panting when we pull apart.

“That was incredible. You’re incredible” He searches my eyes. “I want to do that for you.”

“And you can but—” The knock at our door interrupts me. I give a nod toward it. “We’re out of town.”

“I’ll tell them to go away.”

“No you won’t. I want a massage. I want you to get a massage.”

“Well, fine then.” He gives me another firm kiss as he wipes his seed from my skin with his towel. “But I’m going to make you come so hard later, you won’t see straight.”

From Seth, I know those aren’t empty words. They’re a promise.

A promise I can’t wait for him to deliver.