Page 38 of Fangs for the Memories (Budapest Bites #1)
F erenc’s big car whisks us through the snowy streets of Budapest. For the time being, the sky is clear, a faint watery blue, and the ice glitters around us.
Of all the things which were planned before I left the UK, a trip to the famous Seycheni baths was the only thing I was looking forward to. While I am a little disappointed we can’t go, I’m excited for any form of naturally occurring hot spring.
The car executes a couple of swift turns before it ends up in front of a set of innocuous looking wooden gates. Ferenc’s driver gets out and pushes them open, revealing what seems to be a small yard in between two buildings, with a brick wall and rough cliff dead ahead.
It isn’t looking very promising so far, but I tamp down my concerns and resolve to be more patient. The car moves through the gates and the engine is stopped.
“We’re here?” I ask Ferenc.
He nods, hopping out of the car and coming round my side to open the door in an exhibition of old-fashioned manners which means I’m halfway out of it before he arrives. Still, he takes my hand and helps me down with a smile.
Out of the car, the place looks no less nondescript. Save for a large metal door, which looks like it was fashioned in the thirties. It’s this door Ferenc leads me to.
“It’s not more caves, is it?”
“Would I do that to you? I’ve seen enough of them myself to last me a lifetime.” Ferenc grins before fixing his driver with an impressive glare. “Viktor is nearby. Any issues, you know how to contact me.”
He places his hand on a flat pad, and I watch as it’s scanned, the door lock clicking and the entire thing swinging slightly open.
“You take your bathing seriously.”
“I don’t want just anyone using my private baths.” Ferenc chuckles, pushing the heavy door open and ushering me inside.
There is a short passage, hewn out of the rock, but light floods in from the far, end and the sour scent of sulfur hits me.
“Rotten eggs!” I cover my mouth and nose.
“It gets a bit better once we’re out in the courtyard,” Ferenc says, his voice slightly strangled.
I hurry down the passage and out into the bright light caused by the snow all around. It is a courtyard, filled with virgin snow, save for the three large rock pools which steam in the frigid air, the area around them also free of snow and ice.
On three sides, the pools are hemmed in by vertical cliffs, but the fourth is open with a view from the Buda side, across the Danube to Pest. In the weak sun, it’s still magnificent.
“Wow,” I say, mesmerized.
Ferenc stands alongside me.
“I had forgotten how good the view is from here,” he says quietly before looking down at the snow.
“We can get undressed over there.” He points past the first pool to where there is an alcove and a carved stone bench.
He goes first, making a track through the knee deep snow, and I follow, my heart beating with excitement as we pass the first stinky pool. The water inside is crystal clear, and I see how the rock has been smoothed to provide a number of underwater shelves to sit on.
At the alcove, Ferenc takes my bag from me and looks inside.
“What do we have here?”
“Towels and snacks,” I respond. “I’m wearing my swimsuit.”
The look I get from him is one of complete feral hunger.
“Snacks? I’m not sure I’m going to need those,” he rasps. “Not when I have you to snack on.”
I stare at him for a beat, shrug off my coat, and pull my dress over my head before kicking off my boots.
“Last one in is a rotten egg!” I shout at him, racing through the snow to the nearest pool, ready to take a jump into it.
But my progress is caught very short by a strong arm around my waist.
“Wait, kedves,” Ferenc murmurs in my ear. “The pools are supposed to stay the same temperature all year round, but I need to check as occasionally the temperature increases due to what is going on beneath our feet.”
He releases me and stands me in the area which is clear of snow and, as I discover, warm underfoot as he stalks past, completely naked and completely delectable, to the pool, crouching down and slowly putting his hand in the water.
Then he topples forwards into it, making me yelp in surprise before I wade in after him.
The water stings me as I go. It’s hot, hot as bathwater, and to my chilled skin, it feels like needles. As soon as I’m deep enough, I duck my entire body down under the surface, and Ferenc pops up next to me, with a huge grin on his face.
“Miss me?” he asks.
I slide my hand over his chest, up his neck, and onto his cheek, gazing into his eyes. Those beautiful dark orbs which soften at my touch.
Then I continue at lighting speed onto the top of his head, pushing him down hard under the water again with a laugh.
It is, however, no laughing matter when, rather than surfacing, he instead pushes his head between my thighs and nuzzles at my pussy, albeit covered by my swimming gear.
When he comes up again, he breaches the water like the predator he is, making me release a short pant of breath.
“These pools were used for mating, many decades ago.”
“In the water?”
Ferenc’s nostrils flare.
“Everywhere,” he rasps. “And as we’re alone, you can take off your swimwear.”
“And what if someone in Pest has a pair of binoculars?” I laugh.
“I will tear their eyes out for looking,” Ferenc says.
I don’t think he’s joking.