Embracing Ellie: Chapter 17

The robe closed as quickly as it had opened. The revelation lasted a mere fraction of a second. Then she was gone for Hemi's field of view, stepping aside and closing the robe, reeling from the aftershock of what had to be a gigaton payload, a concussive bomb that went off in her viscera. Shame, absolute horrifying shame, exploded. Her cheeks burned. Her heart pounded in her ears. Daniel had done this. Daniel poked and prodded, and most of all, presumed. And here she was, doing exactly what Danny probably wanted all along and doing it as some sort of revolutionary act. Absolute stupidity.

Now that she'd scurried down to the foot of her massage bed while one of the kind massage women gestured for her to take her spot with an expression surmising what was so weird about these two people on their romantic getaway.

From where she stood now, she was practically getting a peek up under the towel the woman had laid over Hemi's bottom. She could see the inside of his thighs, for crying out loud. She stood there, wild-eyed, afraid to lie down herself, clutching her robe closed like a housewife caught unaware by a traveling salesman or the head of their stupid HOA. What if Hemi looked back right now as she opened her robe and lay down? Then he'd really get a look. God, his face when she'd flashed him, a look of surprise and embarrassment. What she'd done was practically a sexual assault, sexual harassment at least. Danny was so in trouble.

Then, like clouds parting and the sun shining through, Hemi turned his head to the left, looking away from the bed where she would lay. She quickly removed the robe, holding it to her front, and awkwardly climbed up on all fours onto the massage table. Then she flattened her breasts and naked front to the cushion and shimmied up to get her head on the pillow. This would all be so much easier if this table had one of those head cutouts so she could look straight down at the floor. But this table provided only a pillow and the choice of looking left or looking right. Hemi had looked left, so she looked right. Now none of them were looking at the other. Both of them in Danny's little ploy. Two naked chess pieces trying to figure Danny's gambit. The thought that Hemi might be aware seemed less likely, given his reaction at her flashing. That look of surprise at seeing something he shouldn't was genuine. Hemi might still be involved in some way, but where she saw it at maybe 70-30, it looked more like 95 Danny, and 5 on Hemi.

With that, oil went on her back, smoothed out over her skin with some small but powerful hands. The woman worked magic over her shoulders and down her upper back and her sides. She'd been yanked out of bed and shoved into a truck, pushed onto a helicopter, and then swooshed down a hill, all unexpected, all out of the blue. Then the hiking in skins and on boots, going laterally, one foot higher than the other. Maybe an hour or more through snow and mudslop. It had all been great fun. The aches and pains were hiding in her muscles and waiting to flare up later tonight. But this woman in the cabin knew how to fix it. She dug thumbs in circles, kneaded with knuckles, smoothed the fronts of fists down her side, sides, grabbed her hamstrings. That made her jump. And soon, she was breathing heavy, almost lusty sounds of pure pleasure.

Hemi must have been getting it pretty good, too, because she heard him groan. It was a surprising sound, one that took her off guard. She'd never heard him make a sound like that. It also sounded lusty in its own right. Maybe that five out of the hundred was some sort of temptation from Danny. Danny telling Hemi: Spend the whole day with her. You know, she's got a bit of a crush on you… Her hands went to fists, and her body tightened. Her masseuse sensed it and clucked her tongue like all her work had been ruined. She went back to work just as hard as before, digging hard, trying to push deep knots up to the surface. It brought an unintentional groan of her own. And if she thought Hemi's had maybe sounded sexual, Hemi would definitely think the same of hers. Her moan sounded like when Danny got her warmed up and first went inside her. What an awful thought to have at a moment like this. What an awful thing to think, something so intimate right here when she was naked with this other man.

Another groan from Hemi. This one longer. That guy must have some real tough muscles, too. His masseuse must have an iron grip to make that sound come out of such a beefcake.

Hemi groaned again and this time he broke up in a small chuckle, knowing how ridiculous it sounded. She chuckled too. Yeah, Danny put them in this bad spot. But once the awkwardness was over, it was kind of fun. She turned her head on the pillow, and Hemi had the same thought, turning his head as well, both of them now facing each other. Smiling blissfully and dreamy-eyed, Hemi said, "Just what we needed, eh?"

"I had no idea until she started."

"Make sure she gets your hammys."

She snuffled a small laugh. "She already did. I almost jumped off the table."

Hemi said, "Yeah, me too."

The women said nothing, just continued their strong-handed ministrations, digging in and smoothing out and spreading oil all over her tingling body.

She said, "If you won't let me use your phone, will you send a message to Danny for me?"

Hemi said, "Sure I will. What you want me to tell him?"

"You start by telling him what a jerk he is," she said. "Then start bragging about all the stuff he's missing here."

"I already told him about our ski."

"You tell him how amazing I was?"

"I sure did," he said, now closing his eyes.

She closed her eyes too. She said, "You didn't tell him I took a tumble?"

Hemi said something like, "I wouldn't dream of it."

#

They'd fallen asleep. When they woke, the room was quiet, but for the fireplace's crackle. Ellie looked up and around and saw the two ladies packing up their things. The bottles of oil, the cupsand bowls, and the towels. They'd already tidied themselves and looked ready to go.

Hemi still slept peacefully, his face turned her way. His lips were parted. His mouth looked kissable.

She took the chance to sit up and grab for her robe by the table and shrugged it on. The woman who'd performed her massage came from the kitchenette back into the room with the view where they'd done the massage. The robe went on like she had a fever-sweat, her body warm and sticky and oily. It was uncomfortable. The woman could tell what was wrong by Ellie's expression. She gestured outside, out to the back porch and the foothills and the view of the mountain, saying, "You clean."

Ellie looked out to the porch, saw nothing but the decking and what had to be the hot tub, a padded cover on top. She said, "I can't get into the hot tub like this. I have to rinse off first."

The woman gestured outside again, saying, "Yes, clean, clean."

"No," Ellie said, "I'll hop in the shower."

The woman said, "No, too slippery. You slip in there. Shower outside."

"Shower outside?" she said. "There's snow out there."

The woman said, "You're hot now. You get in shower. You get in hot tub."

Ellie said, "Is the hot tub on?"

The woman bowed her head. "Yes, hot tub ready. You go shower here." She walked past Ellie and pointed to a showerhead coming out of the wall at the end of the deck on this side of the house. The deck floor here had been tiled over and no-slip strips had been stuck to it. "Shower outside?"

The woman said, "Yes, yes. Shower, then hot tub, feel amazing."

Hemi's eyes fluttered open, and he woke mid-conversation. He said, "Hot tub."

"Yeah," Ellie said. "We're supposed to get in the hot tub now."

"I'm all oily," Hemi said, groaning and sitting up, raising his chest off the table like he was doing a push-up, his arm muscles bunching—but then stopping as he realized he wore nothing underneath.

She'd almost got a look.

"She said we're supposed to get under the shower. There's a shower outside."

Hemi could see the problem, his brow lowering. He sat up, holding the towel to cover his crotch. He said, "We can just use the bathroom, eh?"

Ellie said, "She said it's slippery in there. We're supposed to go outside."

"Oh yeah," Hemi said, like it all made sense, looking out now and seeing the showerhead. "All right, you up for it?"

"Me? I thought you'd convince her we could just use the bathroom."

"Nah, we'll just go outside."

Ellie said, "They're gonna pack up these tables still. They haven't even left yet."

"Yeah, so?

"They're gonna, you know, see us get under the water—but we're not wearing anything."

"They just saw us naked. They don't care."

"Well," she said, "they think we're a couple. It's weird. We're supposed to be here like on a couple's retreat, the two of us like we're married or something. We're supposed to be comfortable naked around each other."

"Yeah, we're not married."

"Oh, I didn't know that, Hemi," she said, comically shocked.

He laughed. "Sorry, I just mean—”

"I know what you mean, but we just gotta play it cool, right?"

Hemi looked past her, at the woman tidying in the kitchenette. "You don't think they can hear us?"

"I don't think they understand."

Hemi smirked. "I bet they understand way more than they let on."

"Yeah, maybe," she said. She turned and showed the women a thumbs up like, yeah, they were game for going outside, stripping naked when there was still snow on the ground.

"She said we're going to be all hot already, like we won't care about the cold."

"Is the hot tub on?"

"Yeah," she said, "it's already going."

"Yeah," Hemi said and rubbed his hair. "I guess we gotta."

"You go first," she said.

"Why me?"

"You want me to go first?"

"No, yeah, right. Yeah, no, I'll go first," he said, getting up off the table, holding the towel between his legs, covering up.

She watched now as Hemi went outside, showing off his bare ass for a second before he hooped the big towel around him and bunched it at the front, tying it up like a skirt. He stooped at the hot tub and she watched him pull the soft cover off and tip it over. Steam billowed out, and the sight of it had her longing to jump in, but with all this oil on her, she'd scoot right out the other side, probably go skidding down the hill with her robe behind her like a cape.

She went to the door and said to Hemi, "Are you getting under the shower?"

"Yeah, yeah. What's your hurry?

"Don't get in that hot tub, you'll slip."

"I know, I've been in hot tubs," he said, smiling lopsided, enjoying their stressful yet amusing banter. He said, "All right, you turn your head 'cause I'm gonna take my stuff off here."

"You'll do the same?"

"You know I will, Ellie," he said without looking, smiling, going to the shower, turning on the water and figuring out how to get the spray to come from the head. Once he'd figured it, he looked at her to make sure she turned away. Then he turned his back, and she didn't look at him again.

She went now to the two women who were folding up the tables where they'd laid. "You need help with that? I can help you guys load them up."

The woman said, "No, no, you stay, you go shower, go hot tub. I have to put these out back, okay?"

She still faced them, her back to Hemi, who she knew would be naked now, totally naked, standing with the incredible view of New Zealand mountains. The desire burned in her to turn, and soon it became a truly conscientious effort to stop herself from turning around and taking the look that she wanted.

The woman shooed her with the backs of her hands, smiling and wondering why this woman wouldn't want to get under the shower with her steaming-hot husband.

And then in a moment of forgetful weakness, Ellie glanced back over a shoulder and saw Hemi naked, in profile, water splashing on his shoulders and running down his muscular body, a huge red-brown sagging bundle between his legs, swinging back and forth, almost half way down his thighs.