Whiskey & Wildflowers

Chapter 31

It was still dark when Josie woke suddenly, her body stiff and sore. Disoriented, she wondered where she was and why she was sleeping on such a hard surface. Had she fallen asleep somewhere and someone had draped a blanket over her shoulders? And why did she feel like something was missing?

There was a soft splashing noise, way closer than it should have been, and her ears pricked to attention as details started to come back to her. The pool, the fort. Henrik's arms, which were no longer around her, though his side of the bed was still warm. The recoupling.

The fairy lights had been turned off sometime during the night, but there was a soft moonlit glow around the entrance of the tent. She crawled out to investigate the source of the sound, and as her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she came across a light-coloured pile of soft fabric. Running her fingers along the edge, she quickly realized what she'd found just as the splashing sound came again.

Her lips curved into an amused smirk.

"Henrik?" she called out quietly, hugging herself against the cool nighttime air.

There was movement in the water, and soon Henrik's head popped up near the ledge, his arms resting on the coping.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?"

"You really love your midnight swims, don't you?"

"Huh?"

Josie chuckled. "This isn't the first time I've seen you out here in the middle of the night. What are you doing?"

She bit her lip at the memory of that other night. It felt like weeks ago when she'd seen him crossing from the pool to the daybeds, sopping wet and without a stitch of clothing on.

"I dunno. Just swimming. I like the water, and it's relaxing."

"Hmm. Mind if I join you?"

Even in the dark, she could see the way his eyes lit up.

"Do you really want to?" he asked.

She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Dropping his joggers where she found them, she slid her own shirt over her head and let it fall next to his clothing. Henrik didn't take his eyes off her as she stood and hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her shorts and the thong beneath, sliding them both over her hips until they were in a puddle at her feet. She stepped out of them and sat on the ledge in front of him, dipping her feet into the pool. The water was warm despite the chill in the air.

Sliding a hair tie off her wrist, she gathered her hair into a messy bun at the top of her head. Henrik let out a groan from deep in the back of his throat and swam over, placing his hands on her knees and gently spreading them apart before leaning forward to kiss her belly.

Josie gasped at the feeling of his wet hands on her knees, his soft lips on her skin; the warmth of his touch sending tingling sensations through her. She ran her fingers through his soft, wet hair, pulling it back from his face.

"Henrik...!"

Instead of moving his lips lower like she wanted him to, he glided his hands up along her thighs and around, digging his fingers into her ass as he tugged her towards him. She yelped and grabbed onto his shoulders as he pulled her off the ledge and into the water with him, his arms encircling her waist as she slid down his body. Her ankles locked behind his back, and she wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him as he pushed away from the side and into the middle of the pool.

"And here I was gonna make a sexy entrance."

"I thought it was sexy," he replied, his lips brushing the side of her neck.