Natural Satisfaction (Au Naturel Trilogy Book 3)

by Anna Durand

  "Yeah, it kind of does." I inhaled a deep breath just so I could enjoy the enticing scent of him. Why did he always smell so damn good? It wasn't cologne. He had a naturally delicious scent. "What did you have in mind?"

  "Let's go to the hot spring."

  "You mean the place where couples like to go to get it on?"

  His lips twitched upward the tiniest bit, and he tugged me even closer, wrapping his arms around me. "No, I mean the hot spring where people who aren't total horndogs go to relax. The getting-it-on part is optional."

  "I'd love to go there with you, with or without sex."

  "Good. I haven't gone there much since I started working here. Too busy."

  Hand in hand, we left the guest house and ambled past the lawn toward the nature trail. The soccer game was in full swing, with Val and the younger guests competing against the Silver Foxes. Val had been a professional soccer star—though in the rest of the world they called it football—and his team even won the Olympics. Still, the Silver Foxes always made him work for every goal.

  Damian accelerated his pace as we entered the woods.

  "In a hurry?" I asked.

  "Of course I am. You won't strip naked for me until we get to the hot spring." He eyed me sideways. "Unless you aren't going to do that at all."

  "You didn't give me a chance to grab my swimsuit, so I won't have much choice, will I?" Smiling, I bumped my shoulder into his. "Planned it that way, didn't you?"

  "No, I would never do that. I'm not, like, an exhibitionist or anything." He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, strapping me to his side. "Okay, yeah, I am an exhibitionist."

  "Uh-uh. You're a sexy Ludar prince with magic palm-reading skills, but I haven't seen you do anything that might qualify as exhibitionism."

  He grinned. "Not yet. Maybe I've been holding back for professional reasons."

  I spotted the sign that announced the hot spring was to the right, and I broke into a dead run, sprinting down the offshoot path. Over my shoulder, I shouted, "Catch me if you can."

  Damian grinned again and took off after me. "The chase is the best part."

  Our laughter echoed through the woods as we raced down the trail. I kept glancing back to see how close Damian was getting, but I decided he must've been holding back because he never got closer than fifteen feet or so behind me. The second I burst into the little clearing around the hot spring, I tore my clothes off and flung them away, not caring where they landed. I was breathing hard, but smiling too, and I hadn't felt this exhilarated…ever. How could letting Damian chase me become the best time I'd ever had? It was a silly, frivolous thing to do.

  Maybe that was why I loved it. Silly and frivolous used to be my forte.

  Damian dashed into the clearing, stopped a few feet from me, and got rid of his clothes. He was still grinning, like he had during our entire chase, and he breathed even harder than I did. He bent over, hands on his thighs. "Gimme a minute. I'm too old for high-speed pursuit."

  He turned his head to the side to smirk at me.

  "Yeah, sure," I said, "you're totally wiped out. Guess you aren't as manly and athletic as I thought. Oh well, we can put off swimming in the hot spring until you're feeling better. I'll get dressed."

  I leaned over like I was about to pick up my shirt.

  Damian straightened and pulled me into his arms. "No clothes. Once you take them off, they stay off until we go back to the resort."

  "Is that the Ludar prince's royal decree?"

  "You're damn straight it is." He shuffled toward the hot spring, forcing me to back up to it until my heels reached the rocky edge. "Dive in, Heidi. The water's warm, but not as hot as you."

  He pulled his arms away.

  And I dived backward into the blue water.

  Chapter Twenty

  Damian

  Heidi and I did not have sex in the hot spring. She was game, but I suggested we should wait awhile before we got it on again. Yeah, I said that. Me. I'd never taken a celibacy vow, and I wasn't exactly known for my restraint when it came to sex, but I'd never pestered a woman to sleep with me either. Still, not doing it when the girl wanted to wasn't my style either. What about Heidi made me want to do anything, even go without sex, just to be with her?

  When Heidi dived backward into the hot spring, her face had lit up with the most beautiful, joyful smile I'd ever seen. I got a weird tightness in my chest, like I was having a high blood-pressure attack or something. For a minute, maybe longer, I stood there and watched her paddling around in the blue waters with steam curling up from the surface. Her joy softened into a look of blissful satisfaction, but that didn't make sense. How could she feel blissfully happy from swimming?

  The more important question was, why did I feel blissfully happy watching her?

  When she dunked her head under the water, I jumped in feet first. Water sprayed up around me.

  Heidi surfaced, drenched and grinning. "Took you long enough. I thought you'd gone catatonic the way you were staring at me. Or maybe you think I'm crazy."

  "You're crazy-hot, that's for sure." I swam to her and hugged her body to mine. "I like watching you have fun. Nobody does fun better than Heidi Mackenzie."

  "I kind of forgot how to enjoy myself." She swept wet hair away from her face, then clasped her hands at my nape. "You helped me remember. Thank you, Damian."

  "Nah. All I did was seduce you. The 'fun' part you did all by yourself."

  Her lips curled into a sexily teasing smile. "Seduction is the fun part."

  That was when I made my insane announcement. "Let's not have sex for a while."

  Her brows shot up. "Are you serious?"

  "Yeah. I'd like us to get to know each other and spend sex-free time together." Yeah, I must've gone stark-raving bonkers. I had a gorgeous, incredible woman in my arms, and I told her we shouldn't sleep together.

  Heidi snuggled up to me, her slick, naked body mashed to mine and those beautiful tits mounded against my chest. "But I want you, Damian. Right now."

  "We kind of rushed into the whole naked-and-grunting phase of our relationship. Let's hold off for a little while, okay?"

  She blinked slowly, twice. "You're serious, aren't you?"

  "Yes."

  "Okay." She wriggled away from me, paddling backward. "Wanna chase me in the water?"

  "That wouldn't be a fair race. I mean, I've got muscles." I raised my arms, elbows bent, and flexed my biceps. "See? I'll catch you in five seconds at most."

  "I'm in great shape, so you'll lose that bet."

  "Bet? Guess we should have stakes, then. Five bucks?"

  She shook her head, giving me that teasing smile again. "If I win, you take me—the dirty way. Right here, right now."

  Those sounded like dangerous stakes, but I could swim faster than a girl. Couldn't I? "Okay. And if I win, you play miniten in the nude, but we don't have sex."

  "You're on."

  Heidi spun around and started swimming.

  I hoisted myself out of the water onto the ledge and leaped into the pool. Even without a springboard, I could propel myself pretty far.

  Heidi glanced back and shrieked—with joy, not terror.

  Splashing down a foot behind Heidi, I lashed an arm around her waist and tugged her into me. "I win."

  She splashed me. "Cheater."

  "I said I could catch you in less than five seconds. Never claimed I'd do it by swimming."

  "Yeah, I should've written a contract that spelled out the rules of our wager." She wriggled around until she was facing me. "You're way too smart. I'll have to be more careful in the future when we make bets."

  I cleared my throat. "You do realize that now you have to play miniten, clothes-free."

  "Yep. I never welch on a promise."

  We swam in the spring for a little while longer, but we didn't make any more bets. Instead, we did goofy things like diving in cannonball style, splashing each other mercilessly, and chasin
g each other just for the hell of it. I let Heidi catch me twice. Gotta give a girl a chance, right? It wasn't her fault I had masculine prowess on my side.

  Heidi rolled her eyes and splashed me when I said that out loud. "Are all Ludar princes arrogant and sexist?"

  "No, only the ones you beg to fuck you."

  She splashed me again.

  When we finally left the hot spring, Heidi didn't put her clothes back on.

  I raised one brow. "Does this mean Heidi the hot naturism enthusiast is back?"

  "Maybe. I did promise I'd play miniten in the nude if you caught me."

  Had I expected her to renege on our bet? Maybe I had, but not because I thought she was a coward. Overcoming fears usually took longer than a couple of days. Didn't it? I couldn't say for sure since I'd never had any anxieties as strong as hers. I would've loved to believe I'd been the reason she came out of her khaki-clad shell, but even I wasn't a big enough dick to do that.

  I threw our clothes over my shoulder, and we walked back to the resort while holding hands. When we emerged from the woods, both naked, and sauntered over to the lawn, everyone stopped to stare at us. Ollie grinned. Mara clapped and grinned. Eve waved and grinned. Val folded his arms over his chest and nodded appreciatively.

  Sylvester Norris hollered, "Way to go, Damian! You got our girl out of her funk."

  "Watch it, Sly," I hollered back. "Might use my mystical gypsy powers to curse you if you don't stop harassing Heidi."

  "Harassing her?" Sly waggled his eyebrows. "Our boy Damian's in love, eh?"

  I had no idea how not wanting Sylvester to make Heidi feel weird about going nude equated to me being in love with her. A screw must've popped loose in the old fart's head.

  Heidi and I played against Sly and his wife, Ruth, and beat them in two miniten games. Then we whupped Heidi's friends Shelby and Taylor, and after that, we creamed Val and Eve. Heidi grinned and laughed and shouted cheerfully sarcastic comments at our opponents, like I'd heard she used to do. I'd met her during the peak of her get-Ollie-back craziness, so I never got to see her in full-on Heidi mode—happy, carefree, and enjoying life with zeal. Did I have zeal? I wasn't sure, but nobody had ever described me that way. "Zeal" seemed like the appropriate way to describe Heidi, though. I couldn't wait until she climbed out of her funk all the way and became the girl everyone had described to me, the girl who lived every moment to the fullest and burned with the brightest candle on earth.

  After miniten, we got dressed and headed out to the horse pasture. Heidi had suggested it. She wanted to spend more time with Lenny and Georgie, not only to keep her immersion therapy going but also because she loved the boys and they loved her. Maybe Heidi wasn't ready for a trail ride, but she got more and more comfortable with the horses every day.

  "Wanna brush them?" I asked about ten minutes after we got to the pasture. We were outside the fence, but Heidi had spent the entire time petting and talking to the boys. "It'll mean going through the gate, but I'll be right beside you the whole time. What do you say?"

  She stopped blinking for a few seconds, her gaze trained on me, then she blew out a breath that relaxed her tensed shoulders. She smiled. "Yeah, I'd love to brush them."

  "Awesome." I got a brush out of the shed and brought it to Heidi. "Here. You hold on to this while I open the gate."

  I swung the gate open just enough to accommodate us and sidled through it first, then waved for Heidi to come in.

  Georgie walked right past me and ambled over to Heidi to nuzzle her cheek.

  She giggled. "His whiskers tickle."

  "He's definitely in love." I scratched Lenny behind his ears. "At least this guy still likes me. I was starting to feel rejected."

  Lenny walked over to Heidi and nuzzled her hand, the one holding the brush.

  I shook my head. "Damn, I have been rejected. How can I compete with two big strapping males who could trample me?"

  Georgie wiggled his lips over hers.

  "Jeez," I said, pretending to be offended, "no way can I compete with a Georgie kiss. He's never done that to me."

  She grinned, the brilliant expression aimed at me. "You're the only big strapping male I let kiss me with tongue."

  "Well, at least I've got one thing on them." I laid a hand on Lenny's chest and pushed. "Back, Lenny. Come on, back up." When the horse walked backward a few paces, I patted his neck. "Good boy. Now, let Georgie have his turn first. I know Heidi's irresistible, but she can only brush one of you at a time."

  "I'm irresistible?" Heidi said.

  "Absolutely." I rubbed Georgie's forehead. "Males of any species are putty in your hands."

  "Maybe I'll test that hypothesis later and knead you like putty."

  Oh yeah, that sounded wonderful. My dick definitely loved the idea since it jerked the second I pictured Heidi kneading my body with those sexy hands.

  "Start brushing," I told her. "To these guys, it's like a day at the spa. I'll be right beside you the entire time."

  Heidi began brushing Georgie's neck, tentatively at first, then she relaxed into the task. She looked at ease, like skimming a brush over a horse's coat was the most soothing thing she'd ever done. I loved brushing animals. It always made me feel the way Heidi looked right now. Once Heidi had brushed Georgie all over, even his rump, she walked over to Lenny and gave him the same treatment.

  I stayed with Georgie, to keep him out of the way.

  Once Heidi finished with Lenny, we walked back out the gate.

  "You brushed a horse all by yourself," I said. "That's a big step."

  She shrugged one shoulder. "You were right next to me the whole time."

  "Not when you brushed Lenny. I stayed with Georgie then."

  "I know. But you were close by." She kissed my cheek. "Thank you, Damian. It's good to get over at least one fear, but I know I still have more of them to deal with."

  "One step at a time, that's the best way to do it."

  She wrapped her arms around my waist, pressing her body to mine. "Let's go play chess."

  I pulled my head back, gazing at her with a new appreciation. "You really aren't an airhead bimbo, are you?"

  She gave my ankle a gentle kick. "Hey, that's not a very nice thing to say. Did you ever think I was an airhead bimbo?"

  "No, but I'm sure that's what a lot of the dickwads you dated thought. From what you've said, they sure didn't treat you like a mature, intelligent, sexy-as-hell woman."

  "What does 'sexy as hell' have to do with being smart?"

  "Nothing. I threw that in there because you've got your hot body glued to mine." I linked my hands at the small of her back. "Not that I'm complaining."

  "Have you changed your mind about sex?"

  "No. So we'd better play chess. Anything sexier than that will give me a hard-on for sure."

  "Okay." She kissed me on the mouth this time. "Prepare to be annihilated on the chessboard."

  She took off down the trail.

  And I raced after her with Heidi's laughter echoing through the woods.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Heidi

  I slept with Damian that night, in my room, naked, though we didn't do anything remotely sexual. I loved lying in his arms, listening to his shallow, even breaths and feeling them whispering against my neck. Ever since the first night we had sex in his wagon, I'd been sleeping better than I had in years. The more time I spent with him, the less I worried about making a fool of myself or doing something dumb like going back to my ex. No, Grant could never convince me to do that. Never again.

  Damian had to go back to work in the morning, so after breakfast, we kissed goodbye. I spent the morning hanging out with my friends. I had kind of ignored the Kitten Brigade a lot of the time, caught up in pretending I didn't want Damian, then sleeping with Damian, and now wishing I were with him instead of with my friends. I loved these girls, but I felt like my best self when I was with him.

  A morning full of Ki
tten Brigade craziness kept me occupied, and I did have fun. But my thoughts always gravitated back to Damian. Sweet, sexy, naughty, tender Damian. I'd only been half teasing when I told him I'd love to knead him like putty.

  I ate lunch in the dining hall with Damian and the Kittens. They made lots of suggestive, teasing comments about the two of us, but Damian took it all in stride. He never got annoyed with anybody, not even when Sylvester stopped by our table to give Damian a box of glow-in-the-dark condoms so he wouldn't, as Sly put it, "get confused in the dark and forget where you put that saber."

  That had to be the dumbest joke ever, but Damian laughed and said, "When was the last time you even pulled your saber out of its sheath, Sly?"

  "More often than you might think." Sylvester winked. "I'm old, not dead."

  I'd gotten used to senior citizens making sex jokes. But I tried not to visualize the Silver Foxes doing the bump-and-grind.

  Damian handed the condom box back to Sly. "In that case, maybe you better hold on to these."

  The senior citizen winked again. "You can get your own box in the gift shop."

  Sylvester opened the package to bring out a handful of packets, which he gave to Damian. Then he walked away with the box of rubbers.

  Damian stuffed the glow-in-the-dark condoms in his pocket.

  I leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Those could be fun."

  "Mm-hm." He glanced at me sideways. "Maybe we'll try them out tonight."

  Oh God, I hoped he meant that.

  Damian studied me the way he often did when he wanted to ask me something. "Do you like working as a pharmacy technician?"

  "Huh?" I snapped back to reality, shattering the fabulous fantasy I'd been enjoying that involved him naked on his stomach while I licked my way up his backside. "No, I don't love my job. It's okay, and the pay is decent, but I only became a pharmacy technician to try to appease my parents. They wanted me to be a doctor. I wanted to be an event planner. So we compromised, and I became a pharmacy technician."

  "How is that a compromise? Event planning has nothing to do with medicine."

  I shrugged. "At least I didn't have to go to medical school."

  "Event planner makes a lot more sense for you. I bet you'd rock that job."