Page 473 of Bad Prince
The terrace air bites immediately.
I squeal and try to turn back, but Tristan catches me around the waist, laughing under his breath as steam curls up from the water in the tub and twinkling lights still glow faintly along the railing in the pale morning.
“It’s freezing!”
I take his hands and step down carefully, the hot water swallowing me in one blissful wave that makes the cold air disappear instantly. I groan at the contrast.
“Better?”
“Infinitely.”
He settles onto the built-in bench and tugs me toward him until I’m standing between his knees with the water curling around us in warm, bubbling swirls.
The cold Atlantic wind kisses my face.
The steam wraps around us.
His hands slide up my hips.
Every inch of me goes alert.
In the daylight, with the ocean roaring below and people moving somewhere beyond the terrace and the whole absurd world still technically awake, this should feel less intimate than last night.
It doesn’t.
It feels wilder in a quieter way.
More daring.
More secret.
Like we’re getting away with something just by existing here together.
I glance toward the path in the distance where a couple bundled joggers pass, tiny against the sweep of cliff and sea.
“Tell me nobody can see us.”
His mouth brushes my stomach before he looks up at me.
“Nobody can see anything but steam and your paranoia.”
“That is not comforting.”
His hands tighten, guiding me the last inch until I’m straddling his lap, the water shifting to cradle us both. His arms wrap low around my waist, steady, reverent. My breath catches at how perfectly we fit—chest to chest, thighs cradling thighs, heat everywhere.
He doesn’t rush.
Neither do I.
We just look at each other for a long, suspended moment while steam rises between us like a private veil. His eyes are so soft they hurt.
“I love you,” he whispers, the words barely louder than the bubbles.
My heart stutters.
“I love you too.”
The confession feels new every time, even though we’ve said it now—years of almost, of waiting, of wanting crashing into this quiet truth.
