Connected (Connections, #1)(104)

“So are we having sex in the hot tub again tonight?” I ask, not that I really care where we have sex, but because I love thinking about her cute naked body all the time.

“River,” she says as if she’s shocked, but she’s not. “If we decide now that takes all the spontaneity out of the night,” she grins, bumping her shoulder into mine.

Pointing to the mountain I know will take us forever to get down, I say, “Sorry beautiful girl. I forgot how spontaneous you are, but I just want to know what to expect when we finally make it to the bottom.”

She laughs and pulls her goggles down, preparing herself to exit the lift. Pulling mine down as well, I adjust my hat and get ready to ski down Pinball Mountain.

After cautiously making our way down most of the mountain, we finally get to the last slope, and I ski ahead of her. Swooshing my way to the bottom, I chuckle as I watch her snow plow down the last stretch.

She catches me watching her as she makes it to the bottom and comes to a stop next to me. “Show off.”

“Well, I had to get some speed on this run so it might as well have been on the bunny slope. Had enough?”

She nods her head vigorously.

Moving around her, I put my pole into each of her rear bindings and she steps out of her skis. I do the same with mine. I lean our skis against the rack, and the valet comes over to take them. Wrapping my arms around her waist from behind, I lean my chin on her shoulder and whisper, “Let’s go inside and get a drink.” I walk with her in front of me, my arms still holding her tightly as we head into the lodge.

As we approach a table near the stone fireplace, she takes off her gloves, goggles, and hat. Her beautiful, but messy, hair hangs around her head. She runs her hands through it trying to tame it, then reaches in her pocket and pulls out a hair tie.

As she pulls her hair back, I tell her, “Don’t put it up. I love your hair like that.”

“Messy and windblown?”

“I just love it down. You know that.”

She smiles and shrugs her shoulders. “Whatever. You’re the one who has to look at it.”

As she takes off her coat, I can’t help but think how f*cking hot she looks and she doesn’t even know it. She has these tight little black pants on with a snug white turtleneck. I laugh to myself when I see she’s wearing black and white striped socks. In the past nine months I’ve never seen her wear anything that wasn’t a shade of white, gray, or black. She looks hot in everything, so she obviously knows what to wear.

“How about we try a hot toddy?” she says as we sit down in the chairs near the fireplace.

“I’m not drinking anything with the name toddy in it. It scares me. I’ll stick with hot chocolate,” I tell her just as the valet brings us our boots.

I bend to put boots on and notice she’s watching me. “What?”

“Thank you.”

“For what? Not wanting a hot toddy?”

“No, silly. For helping me down Pinball Mountain.”

“Well, you know that did take an exceptionally long time.”

“Yesss,” she says in her standard response tone when she knows I’m fishing for something.

Sitting up, I roll my shoulders, one then the other. “I’m feeling pretty sore from catching you so many times.” I emphasize the word ‘sore’.

She drags her eyes slowly across my shoulders as she bites her lip. “Well then, I think you might be in need of a massage.”

Wiggling her fingers, she adds, “And as luck would have it, you’re in the company of one of the best masseuses around.”

Shooting her a devilish grin, I say, “A massage? Or anything of my choice?”


She laughs and shrugs her shoulders. “Anything of your choice, like what?”


“You’ll see.”


She shakes her head at me, and I can’t help but smile. Watching her now, so natural, so beautiful, I know why it only took that one meeting so long ago to know she owned me. It’s like I was hers from the very first time I looked into her beautiful eyes.


We decide to head to our room after we finish our hot chocolate. Once we’re in the elevator, I grab her and kiss her. Her response is immediate, and we have a full-blown make out session right there. Barely able to keep our hands off each other long enough to open the door, we stumble into our hotel room practically wrapped around each other. Crushing my mouth to hers, I kick the door shut behind me. As I trace my tongue over the seam of her soft lips, I can taste the hot chocolate she just drank downstairs.

“Mmmm . . . you taste like chocolate,” I whisper in her ear, my hands now resting on her cute ass.


“You like that?” she answers back in her own sexy whisper.


“Mmmm hmm . . .” I moan again as I continue etching her mouth, searching for more of that taste.


“We could order some more from room service. Or better yet, chocolate cake.”


“Whatever you want. As long as I get to taste it on you, I’m in.”


She turns her head and playfully bites my earlobe while her fingers trace patterns up and down the back of my sweater. I’m so turned on right now, but I need to take a shower. This sweater is itching the shit out of me and has me sweating my balls off.

Reluctantly pulling away, I give Dahlia a quick kiss. “Order whatever you want. I’m going to jump in the shower. I stink and I don’t want you spending the night having to smell me because I’m having a hard time smelling myself,” I tell her, walking backwards toward the shower.