“Come on,” I said, standing and taking his plate. “You’re sweaty and need a shower. Which means I need one now, too.”
“That a fact?”
“It is.” I looked back at him over my shoulder. “Should we run the forest shower scene back?”
He was already on his feet and heading my way. I took off running to the shower, laughing along the way, stripping off his shirt.
Maybe I wouldn’t go home after all.
The hard slapto my ass made me cum so hard I saw stars. If I took nothing else from this trip, I’d take this. The time we missed. The orgasms I missed. Because Ducane was my first. My only.
I hadn’t planned it that way. But once we split, my focus wasn’t on sex or dating. It was about becoming the best version of myself for the people depending on me. I let myself grieve the loss of Ducane and turned it into fuel. Family. Career. Fun when I could find it.
“You’d better stay covered up unless you want me back in those walls.” The loofa dragged down my stomach, lower, hisfingers finding me still swollen and sensitive. I gasped. “Mm. That’s what I thought. We gon’ be late, and it’ll be your fault.”
“What are we even doing? I just want to be a beach bum.”
“We can after this mud bath. We...” He trailed off, tugging at his ear.
“Ducane, say it. We what?”
He looked at me a second too long. There was more to the sentence, but he swallowed it. Whatever it was, it was bigger than a spa day. I felt it land in the room and settle.
“Nah.” He let his hand drop. “I just want us to get rid of the toxic shit. Start clean.”
He gave me the easy version, and I let him, because I wasn’t ready for the hard one either.
I pulled a dress over my head. “Well then, we should get going.”
I smiled at him, grabbed my bag and sunglasses, and he followed me in swim trunks, no top.
“You’re the one who needs to stay covered up. Sexy self.”
The blushing grin on his face made me shake my head. God, we were so down bad for each other, and that hadn’t changed. The ease ofusbroke my heart. That was what nobody told you. Love wasn’t enough by itself. It wasn’t armor, wasn’t a shield, wasn’t a guarantee of anything. We’d had all the love in the world, and it still hadn’t saved us. You needed more than that, and back then, we just didn’t have it.
I pushed the thought aside and took his hand as he led us the rest of the way.
The spa sat at the edge of the property, where the trees thinned out to volcanic rock. A woman in white linen met us at the entrance. The whole place seemed to breathe as slowly as she did. The scent of mineral water and an easy quiet stretched out in every direction.
“Welcome. You’re booked for the couple’s volcanic mud immersion.”
She walked us toward two stone tubs sunk into the floor, steam curling off the surface. “The mud is rich in sulfur and magnesium. It pulls toxins from the skin, eases the muscles, and it also lowers the cortisol the body holds onto without you knowing. Most guests come out feeling lighter. Some say they leave things behind in it.”
I cut my eyes at Ducane. He was already looking at me.
“Soak as long as you like,” she said. “Rinse stations are to your left. I’ll bring water and fruit. Take your time.”
She slipped out, and the quiet folded in behind her.
I dropped my dress and stepped down into my tub. The mud closed over my legs, warm enough to make me groan, thick enough that I had to lower myself slowly. Ducane sank into his beside me with a grunt, head tipping back against the stone.
“Okay,” he said after a minute. “I see why people pay for this.”
“Mhhm.” I let my shoulders drop under the heat. “This is nice and look at this view.”
“I may need to make this a yearly trip. You can come if you behave.”
“Infinity Island will never be the same without me. Don’t play yourself like that, Sugar Cane.”
