Jared hummed as he leaned over the hot tub, peeling away the cover. Fluffy white snow that had been sitting on the top of the cover showered down on his bare feet as he peeled the cover off the hot tub. Then he tested the water with his fingertips. Nice and hot. He walked over to the control panel and crouched down to search for the knob that would turn on the jets. Bubbles burst forth and filled the big hot tub.

“Yes.” He grinned and rested his hands on his hips. This was going to be so good. He’d get his little princess hot and wet in more ways than one. It was a perfect night with the barest breeze drifting through ice-dusted pine trees. There was a natural calm and quiet isolation to the night that made Jared forget about the bustle and noise of Chicago. The sky was a light purple, and the snow-filled clouds were drifting closer. It might even snow tonight. He hoped it did so he could see Felicity’s face light up with joy.

The soft click of the patio door opening made him glance away from the skies. Felicity stood in the doorway, a fluffy white towel wrapped around her body, reminding him of that first morning she showered at his apartment. Her shoulders were bare.

“God, please tell me you forgot a suit and you’re naked beneath the towel.”

Her cheeks reddened, but she smiled. “You’re determined to get me naked, aren’t you?”

Jared chuckled and raised his palms in surrender. “I won’t deny it. I’m desperate for you. I just hope you want me too, because sex in a hot tub is one of my fantasies.”

Her eyes twinkled. “I always want you.”

“Then drop that towel and get over here, princess.”

She crept on bare feet across the snowy deck and reached the hot tub. Only then did she drop the towel away from her body.

His heart stopped.

She wore a two-piece polka-dot suit that seemed to come out of his fantasies. It looked like a suit from the 1950s, something Marilyn Monroe would have worn. It cupped her breasts and her bottom. It wasn’t a strappy thing, and it covered more skin, but the way it hugged her drew his eyes to her curves. Curves he had dreamed about tracing with his hands or nipping with his teeth. The ruffles really got to him. It screamed innocent and sex kitten all at once.

“Do I look okay? Layla stole my suit and packed this instead.” Her uncertainty dragged him away from his wicked thoughts. She didn’t think she looked good? His cock certainly thought she looked amazing, and the rest of him was in complete agreement.

“Fuck, you look amazing, Felicity. It’s not exactly manly to admit this, but I just about came in my trunks.” He groaned and reached for her. He needed her body pressed to his or he might die.

She laughed, and the rich, husky sound was not helping his painfully aroused state. When he noticed her shivering, he gripped her waist and lifted her up to sit on the edge of the tub.

“The water’s hot—get in,” he encouraged. As she slid into the tub, he folded her towel and set it on a chair beside his. Then he climbed up the side of the tub and eased into the bubbling water beside her. He watched in amusement as she used her hair tie to pull her long brown hair up into a cute, messy bun. The movement exposed her graceful neck, making him hot just picturing nibbling it while he seduced her out of that little bikini.

“What?” she asked when she noticed him watching.

He struggled for words. How to explain to her that she fascinated him? That everything about her made him feel funny, like he was aroused and sated and excited and calm all at once? To him she was…everything.

“You’re fucking cute as hell, princess. Get over here.” He patted the water near him since she was perched on the seat opposite him.

Felicity laughed again as she scooted off her spot and slid through the water over to him. He caught her and guided her into straddling his lap, facing him. The position was heaven and hell for his aching cock. Her hands settled on his shoulders, and she leaned into him, her lips curving in a sweet smile.

“This is nice.” Her gaze dropped to his lips.

“It is nice.” He cupped her bottom, pressing her close against his groin. She made a soft little sound the back of her throat, like a cat purring.

Fuck…

He slid his hands inside her bikini bottom to cup her bare ass cheeks. There was nothing that could stop him from torturing and teasing her until she was as desperate to be fucked as he was to fuck her. He slid his hands farther down until his fingers reached her silken folds. She jolted and gasped, and her lips parted as she stared at him in shock.

“Jared.” She almost whimpered his name when he slid one finger into her. She was wet and tight, and the feel of her made him so hard and desperate for her that he was having trouble breathing.

“Ride my hand, babe,” he encouraged, his voice a low growl.

“Hmmm.” She rocked her hips wildly as she did as he commanded. Her hands dug into his shoulders as she clung to him.

“That’s it.” He rocked his own body up to meet hers, and he felt it on his fingers when she climaxed. Her body gripped him, and she dug her nails into his skin. She came so quickly, so hard, and so fucking beautifully just for him. It made him feel like a god.

When she collapsed against him, panting, he lifted her up off his lap and tugged her suit bottoms off, letting them drop outside the tub.

“Hey!” she gasped, trying to reach for the bottoms, but he kept her beneath the water.

“You don’t want the neighbors to see you,” he warned, laughing against her neck between hot, hungry kisses.

“Jared, you devil,” she hissed, but he could hear the smile in her tone.

“I’m just getting started.” He used one hand to tug his trunks off, and then he settled her back on his lap.

“Put me inside you,” he whispered in her ear. “Take me, princess.” He bit the lobe of her ear, and she tensed and moaned with pleasure. As she lifted her hips, she used one of her hands to grip his shaft and guide it into her. She eased down onto his cock, but he couldn’t wait. He gripped her hips and pulled her down hard.

“Oh, God!” she cried out and arched her back.

Sliding into her felt like heaven. She was hot and slick, and her body gripped him as tight as a fist. She bit her bottom lip and stared at him, her gaze hazy as though buzzed with pleasure as he started to push in and out of her, possessing her, harder, faster, his hold rough. Her nails dug into him. All the while their gazes locked as though in a silent battle of wills to see who would surrender and come apart first.

“You’re fucking beautiful,” he growled and slid his hands from her waist to her hips, getting a firm hold on her to better jerk her down on his cock.

“Oh, God!” she cried out so loudly that he swooped in to capture her lips and stifle any further cries.

The moment their lips touched he moaned in delight and climaxed. He’d never been more thankful she’d gotten on the pill. Being skin to skin with her was like nothing else in the world. He’d never done drugs, but he imagined that making love to Felicity was like heroin. There was no coming back from that exquisite high. He’d always crave more.

Neither of them spoke, but Felicity buried her face in his neck and held on to him tight, as though she feared he’d vanish. Her body trembled, and he held her against him. He was shaking too.

“It’s okay. I’m right here,” Jared reassured her, unsure why he did, but something had changed between them. He could feel it pulsing beneath his skin where she touched him as though they were connected on a level too deep to comprehend.

A little strangled sound escaped Felicity’s lips. She was…crying.

“Princess? What’s wrong? Was I too rough?” he asked, worried that he might have hurt her.

After a few sniffles, she lifted her face. “We have to talk.”

The words cut him and filled him with dread. “About what?”

“Jared, I’m applying for the job in California. That means I’m leaving Chicago in the spring. Leaving you.”

It was something he’d been purposely ignoring whenever he could. The thing was standing between them.

“Okay, let’s talk,” he replied, holding her close. It was hard to imagine her being on the West Coast, not when they were still connected right here. A cold breeze trailed up his shoulders, and he fought off the chill that came with it.

“There’s no way you can stay in Chicago?” he asked.

She hesitated and shook her head. “Not if I want to work in a museum in a career path that will lead me to a curator job. It’s my dream. I can’t just…” She looked away from him.

“Give it up? I know.” He nuzzled her cheek. “I don’t want you giving up your dreams for me.”

“And you, could you give up a partnership at your firm to come with me to California?”

It took him several long seconds to reply. “No. As a lawyer, transferring to a different state is complicated. I’d have to take another bar exam or try to get grandfathered in, but the pass rates for the California bar exams are extremely low. I also don’t have any connections. It’s not impossible, but it’s complicated and difficult.”

“What happens in May when I graduate?” she asked him. Her gray eyes were wide, and a dozen questions burned in the depths of her gaze.

“I don’t know what will happen, princess. You don’t have to decide that now. Things could change in four months.” He didn’t want to think about her leaving. It left him hollow inside. She nodded, but sorrow still gleamed in her gaze as she pushed off his lap. Disconnecting them.

“Hey, come on, princess. Let’s enjoy your vacation. We’ll face this soon enough.” He curled his fingers under her chin and lifted it so she had to face him again.

“Tonight should be about us having fun,” she replied solemnly. Her serious expression inspired him.

“Let’s forget about everything except us, right here, right now.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her softly at first, but soon—as always when he kissed her—he lost control. Every touch of her lips to his sparked new fire.

Something cold and wet settled on his shoulders, then his arms, and finally his nose.

He broke the kiss at the same time she did, and then he started to laugh. Thick thumb-size snowflakes were falling all around them. It was the type of snow rarely seen in Chicago, special mountain snow. The thick flakes fell into the hot tub, and Felicity wriggled against him.

“Oh my God, it’s beautiful,” she whispered reverently. They’d both seen plenty of snow in Chicago, but mountain snow during Christmas was magical.

“We should get inside before it gets too thick. Wait here and I’ll get your bottoms.” He fixed his swim trunks and climbed out of the hot tub. Felicity huddled in the water up to her chin, watching him as he bent and retrieved her ruffled polka-dot bottoms and handed them to her. With pink cheeks, she took them and they disappeared beneath the water. As much as he adored her naked, it might shock his parents if they came home to find him and Felicity skinny-dipping in the hot tub.

When she rose out of the water, he swallowed hard at the sight of her luscious body, dripping wet.

“Towel?” she asked, half giggling.

“Oh, yeah.” He stumbled as he searched for the towels. She was a temptation and a distraction no man could resist.

He gripped her by the waist and helped her out of the hot tub before handing her a towel and wrapping his own around him.

“Let’s get inside and warm up. We can watch a movie in the living room.” He had plans to do more than that, specifically in his bed, but he wanted her warm and cuddly.

“Okay, I like the sound of that.” Felicity smiled, and it made his heart jump a few beats. She tiptoed across the snowy patio and ducked inside to turn off the jets while he re-covered the tub.

By the time he’d made his way back into the house to change his clothes, he found Felicity on the couch, asleep. He couldn’t blame her after the sex in the hot tub. She had taken him to a new height of pleasure tonight, and he felt almost boneless and exhausted, but for the first time in a good way. Like he’d run for miles and the aftermath of the sweet adrenaline high had made him mellow as hell. That was how good sex was supposed to be, but it’d been so long since he’d had meaningful, life-changing sex. And nothing with any woman before Felicity had felt like this.

He paused by the couch, watching her sleep. Her dark-brown lashes spread across her creamy skin, and her fists were balled as though she was clinging to something in her dreams. He braced one arm on the back of the couch and leaned over to brush his thumb across the faint worry lines on her brow. She sighed softly, and the worried look faded as she relaxed. His heart flipped inside his chest.

The distant door chime dragged him away from Felicity. It had to be the pizza. With a rueful smile he went to answer the door, knowing he didn’t have the heart to wake Felicity just to eat. After the long hours they’d both been putting in at their jobs and with Felicity’s classes, they both needed a real vacation with no stress or worries.

After he paid the deliveryman, he set the pizza down on the kitchen counter and helped himself to a few slices. Felicity suddenly peered over the top of the couch.

“Pizza?” she murmured and got up to come around the couch toward him. She looked adorable with her flannel PJ’s, a dark-red-and-black plaid. The button-up shirt was open enough to reveal her throat and those dainty collarbones he loved to kiss and nibble. God, the woman was a walking temptation. He could never get enough of her.

“Hungry?” he asked as he offered a plate to her.

She grinned sheepishly and snagged a couple of slices. “So tomorrow we go skiing?”

“Uh-huh.” He watched her closely, noticing how she looked suddenly nervous.

“You’ll teach me, won’t you? I’ve never skied.”

He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her closer. “Of course. That will be half the fun.” He couldn’t wait to see her on the slopes, all bundled up and ready to go. She’d be a real snow bunny. His snow bunny.

Felicity grinned. “Thank you, Jared, for this, for everything.”

“I’m glad you came.” His tongue felt thick, and he wasn’t sure what else to say that didn’t sound hopelessly romantic and would have him making a fool of himself.

She swallowed another bite of pizza and leaned into him.

“Just promise you won’t laugh when I fall on my ass tomorrow,” she demanded.

He kissed the tip of her nose. “I can make no promises, princess. It’s such a fine ass.” He cupped her bottom and gave it a playful squeeze.

“You better sleep with one eye open,” she warned, but she dissolved into giggles when he patted her ass.

“I don’t think either of us will be getting any sleep tonight.” He lowered his head toward hers, stealing a kiss from her petal-soft lips.

Yeah, there would be no sleep at all.