THE HOT SPRING
Bella:
I loved Kai as my mate, but with each passing day, it felt like I was suffocating. First, I discovered Hazel could be a witch, and for the past three days, Kai's grandma had been cleansing the house of supernatural energies, which meant she was trying to get rid of me. I loved spending time with him, but I had never prayed so hard for Finn to come and get me.
"The twenty-fifth is almost here, and all hands need to be on deck!" Kai's grandma yelled as we made our way downstairs for breakfast. "We have a lot to do, and I doubt thirty hours will be enough, so everyone needs to work to earn their meal!" she added in a loud tone, and I glanced at Kai.
"She hosts her children on the twenty-fifth and the twenty-sixth, so we have to prepare for this large banquet. The servants will handle the meal and the baking, while I enjoy going to the woods to get the tree," he whispered, and I nodded, trying to understand why we had to labor to eat.
Christmas with my father was always easy; all I had to do was get ready, look pretty, and hop on flights to wherever he was headed. Servants took care of all the hard work.
"Kai, what's it going to be this year?" his grandma interrupted our conversation.
"The good old cutting of trees. I'll fetch the biggest tree anyone has seen this year," he said, placing both hands on his hips with his chest out.
His grandma gave a short laugh, patting his shoulder. "Lose the attitude, or you'll lose her," she said before turning to me with a smile that spun into a straight face. "Children!" she called out to the eight-year-old and nine-year-olds giggling in a corner not far from the room.
They rushed over, and we could see the corners of Gary's lips tainted with chocolate stains.
"We weren't eating your special cookies, because we know how much they mean to you on the twenty-fifth, so we..." Willow trailed off, trying to make up a lie, but when she saw I was giggling, she looked over at Gary's chocolate-stained lips. "Gary took some of your chocolate cookies, and I tried to warn him because..."
"Liar! We all ate them!" he ratted her out.
"Nice one, Willow. I hate girls," Michael said, and we all laughed except the grandma.
"The three of you, go stand by the corner of the fireplace with your faces against the wall for ten minutes. When you're done, you better come up with a recipe for making my chocolate cookies," she said, and they hung their heads low, walking over to the fireplace.
The lady disappeared, and Kai grabbed my hand.
"We better get suited up because the weather is pretty chilly, and we need to start working," he said, and I nodded.
We both got dressed and took his granny's truck, which was big enough to fit the tree. For about thirty minutes, we were on the road, singing at the top of our voices to the song on the radio. Eventually, the woods came into view.
Kai drove deeper into the woods, stopping in front of a body of water surrounded by colourful rocks. We both got out, and I waited for him to take out the chainsaw from the back of the truck. Instead, he began to pull off his clothes.
"Are you crazy? You're going to freeze to death," I said, and he chuckled.
"First of all, I am from the Frost Pack, and this is..." I rolled my eyes before he could finish. It was true their pack was used to the cold, but he made it seem like my concern was invalid.
"Fine, get naked all you want, but I won't help you when you get frozen. I won't be here to help you," I said, and he chuckled, kissing my face with his bare chest grazing my jacket.
This distracted me, giving him the chance to pull off my jacket.
"Hey, give me that," I said, and he shook his head, tossing it into the truck.
"You will get into the water with me, and that's final," he said, and I wrinkled my brows. "That won't work on me, so what's it going to be?" he asked, and I rolled my eyes.
I walked close to the water, took off my clothes, and sat down on the rocks surrounding the body of water, dipping my legs in.
"There, I..." Before I could finish, he pushed me into the water.
I expected to be caught in icy water that would chill me to the bone, but instead, the water was warm and quickly became steamy.
"It's a hot spring," he sighed, jumping in as I dipped myself into the water, feeling its warmth seep into my skin. It was incredibly relaxing.
"This is my favorite spot in this village. I used to come here with Finn as a kid. Our grandfather introduced us to it. It has gotten better over the years, and I'm glad they maintain it," he said. I watched him speak, my gaze fixated on his lips.
I swam close to him, pressing him up against the rocks and taking his lips in mine. I sucked gently on them, wrapping my arms around his body as he tugged hard on mine. My entire body was fired up, ready to go at him, but the thought of being pushed crossed my mind, causing me to pull away abruptly, submerging his face in the water.
"What was that for?" he asked, and I chuckled, swimming away.
"Let me guess? Never push me into a body of water," I said, and he rolled his eyes. I didn't care and splashed more water on him..