Chapter 104: What I want
Alaric
Nico’s smile didn’t falter for a fraction of a second. He looked down at my hands on his jacket, then slowly raised his eyes to meet mine, the brown depths entirely dark and calculating. "I didn’t lie to her about the logistics, Alaric. There are literally only two available rooms in this entire cabin. Would you have preferred that I told her the truth, forced you to sleep in the hallway, or perhaps you would have preferred to share that tiny single bed with Sophia instead?"
I let out a low, frustrated groan, my forehead dropping against his shoulder for a brief second before I forcefully pushed myself away from him. The sheer physical exhaustion of the drive was making it impossible to win an argument against his twisted logic. I rubbed the back of my neck, looking at the massive king-sized bed in the center of the room with pure dread.
"Whatever," I sighed, throwing my hands up in defeat. "I am too tired for this. I am going to hit the showers, wash this mountain grime off my skin, and then I am taking the absolute edge of this mattress. Don’t touch me, don’t look at me, and don’t speak to me until the sun is up."
I turned around, scanning the room for the bathroom door, but before I could take a single step forward, Nico’s hand shot out. His fingers wrapped securely around my wrist, his grip surprisingly firm despite his bandaged injury.
"Wait, don’t bother with the shower," Nico muttered, his voice dropping into a low, sultry tone that sent an immediate, involuntary shiver straight down my spine.
"Let go of me, Nico," I warned, trying to yank my wrist back, but he didn’t yield. Instead, he used his leverage to aggressively pull me across the tatami floor, dragging me toward the expansive glass windows at the back of the suite.
He slid the heavy glass panel open with a quick jerk of his left hand, and a sudden rush of cool, crisp mountain air slammed into our faces, carrying a thick cloud of billowing white steam along with it.
I blinked through the moisture, looking out onto the private wooden balcony. Nestled directly into the dark cedar wood was a stunning, natural rock bath, the crystal-clear water bubbling softly at a steaming temperature, fed directly from the subterranean hot springs of the valley.
"See?" Nico said, gesturing toward the steaming water with a reckless wave of his hand. "It’s a natural hot spring. Kazue said it’s explicitly meant for healing tired muscles. It’s a thousand times better than a stupid, cramped indoor shower."
I stared at the bubbling water, the heat radiating off the surface looking incredibly tempting to my aching joints, but my inherent suspicion kept me grounded. "I am not getting into an outdoor bath with you, Nicholas. I’ll just use the indoor bathroom."
While I was busy formulating my rejection and asking questions about the layout, Nico completely ignored me. He reached down, his fingers moving with a terrifying level of efficiency as he unbuttoned his jacket and tossed it carelessly onto the tatami floor.
"What are you doing?" I asked, my eyes widening slightly as he reached for the hem of his shirt.
Nico didn’t answer. He pulled the shirt over his head in one smooth motion, discarding it on top of the jacket, revealing the broad, pale expanse of his chest and the sharp lines of his abs. My throat went completely dry, my eyes involuntarily tracking the smooth movement of his muscles and his tattoos.
But before I could even find my voice to protest, his hands dropped to the waistband of his trousers.
He popped the button, unzipped the fly, and shoved the trousers down his long legs, stepping out of them until he was standing there in nothing but his dark briefs.
"Nicholas, stop," I stammered, taking a panicked step backward into the room, my face burning hotter than the hot spring itself. "What the hell is wrong with you? Have some decency."
Nico let out a loud, mocking chuckle, his eyes locked directly onto my panicked face. Without a single shred of hesitation or shame, his thumbs hooked into the elastic of his underwear and shoved them down to his ankles. He kicked them aside, standing completely, stark naked on the edge of the wooden balcony, the white steam curling around his toned thighs and his fully flaccid, heavy cock.
I gasped loudly, completely cutting off my own breath as I threw my left hand up to cover my eyes, turning my head sharply toward the wall. "What the actual hell, Nico! Get into the water or cover yourself up!"
Nico’s deep, echoing laughter filled the night air, entirely amused by my predictable, puritanical reaction. "Oh, come on, Alaric," he teased, his voice dripping with absolute satisfaction. "It’s not like you haven’t seen every single inch of my body naked before. We’ve literally shared a bed and a bathroom together. This shouldn’t be new to you. Why are you acting like a virgin who just walked into a locker room? You shouldn’t be surprised at all."
I heard a loud, heavy splash as his body broke the surface of the water, followed by a long, satisfied sigh as he submerged himself into the heat.
I slowly lowered my hand from my face, blinking through the steam to find him leaning his arms along the smooth rock edge of the pool, the steaming water coming right up to his collarbones, his damp hair clinging to his forehead. He looked incredibly relaxed, the tight tension in his broad shoulders finally dissipating under the influence of the natural spring.
"Seriously, Ric, get in," Nico murmured, his tone losing the sharp edge of teasing, turning into something softer. "The water is perfect. Your back must be completely stiff from that drive."
I shook my head firmly, keeping my distance near the threshold of the glass door. "I already told you, I am not joining you. I’m going inside to use the standard shower."
"Don’t be a coward," Nico challenged, a slow, dangerous grin spreading across his face once more.
"I am not a coward, Nicholas, I simply have boundaries," I countered, turning my back to him to head toward the luggage.
But I had underestimated just how fast he could move in the water. Before I could even take a single step away from the balcony, Nico lunged forward, his arm breaking the surface of the spring with a loud splash. His wet, burning hand shot out through the open door, his fingers wrapping securely around my bare ankle.
With one sudden, violent yank, he pulled my leg out from under me.
I lost my balance instantly, letting out a loud shout of surprise as I tumbled backward off the elevated tatami platform, falling straight over the threshold and plunging directly into the deep, steaming water of the hot spring right along with him.
The water swallowed me whole in a chaotic explosion of bubbles and heat.
I broke to the surface a second later, coughing violently as I pushed my wet hair out of my eyes, my expensive clothes now completely ruined, heavy, and soaked through to the skin.
The extreme heat of the spring immediately penetrated the fabric, making my skin tingle with a sharp, overwhelming warmth.
Nico was standing right in front of me, the water coming up to his chest, his head thrown back as he let out a loud, unbridled fit of laughter that echoed through the dark mountain forest.
"You absolute bastard!" I yelled, wiping the water from my face as I tried to stand up in the slippery rock basin, the heavy wet clothes weighing me down like lead. "Look at my clothes! I am going to murder you, Nicholas!"
"You look absolutely ridiculous," Nico choked out through his laughter, his hands coming up to rest on his hips as he watched me struggle against the wet fabric. "I did you a favor, Ric. Now you have no choice but to take those clothes off and actually enjoy the bath."
"I am going to strangle you with my bare hands," I growled, stepping forward through the water to shove his chest, but the slippery rocks beneath my feet betrayed me once again.
My foot slid across the mossy surface, and instead of pushing him away, I fell straight forward into his broad, naked chest.
Nico’s laughter caught in his throat as his arms instinctively shot out, wrapping securely around my wet waist to stabilize my weight.
The sudden, intense contact brought our bodies completely flush against one another in the middle of the steaming water. The contrast between my heavy, soaked clothing and his bare, burning skin was entirely too much to process.
Our breathing immediately turned ragged, the steam rising between our faces as we stared at each other in total, suffocating silence. The only sound left in the world was the soft, rhythmic bubbling of the hot spring and the distant rustle of the bamboo forest in the mountain wind.
Nico’s hands stayed firmly clamped around my waist, his long fingers pressing into the small of my back through the wet fabric of my shirt. He didn’t pull away, and for the longest, most terrifying second, his eyes dropped down to fixate entirely on my wet lips.
My heart did that same stupid, chaotic flip against my ribs, the sheer heat of the water blurring my judgment until I could barely remember why I was supposed to be angry with him. He was entirely too close, his cologne completely wrapping around my senses in the narrow space between us.
"Are you going to keep fighting me, Alaric?" Nico whispered, his voice dropping into a low tone that vibrated directly against my chest. "Or are you finally going to take those clothes off and give me what I want?"
