Embracing Ellie: Chapter 1

Time for something fun and much lighter. "Devil in the Waters is pretty dark and stifling, and even though we're so close to the end, its time to spruce this place up a little with a fun hotwife kinky vacation book (DITW chapter incoming, too)

Here's the cover:

 And the blurb:

In search of adventure, passion sparks in unexpected ways

Daniel and Elena, a married couple from California, embark on a journey to New Zealand, hoping to break free from the monotony of their everyday lives. Their quest for excitement takes a wild turn when they meet Hemi Armstrong, a charismatic and rugged former rugby player turned tour guide.

As they explore the breathtaking landscapes, Daniel sees the electric chemistry between Elena and Hemi. With their history as high-school sweethearts, Daniel gets an unusual thrill thinking of pushing boundaries. He challenges Elena to embrace the adventure fully: flirt with her crush Hemi and see where it leads.

What begins as a playful dare ignites deeper feelings, testing the limits of their marriage and the meaning of love and desire. Will Elena seize the moment and discover new passion with Hemi? And what’s Daniel going to learn about himself if she does?

Join Daniel, Elena, and Hemi in this spicy hotwife romance that explores the exhilarating twists of polyamory and the journey to redefine what adventure truly means.

#

Chapter 1

A sun-sparkling serpent wound through the valley below, aquamarine against evergreen. Cold wind whipped her cheeks. A wet and frosty phantom hand caressed her viscera, and its icy touch had her breath held in a chest-expanding gulp. Her heart pounded; butterflies flew up from the ol’ tum-tum, and there was just no fucking way she could ever take the next step.

Elena stood over 600 feet above the Kawarau River, six-thousand miles from hometown San Diego, a warm and comparatively safe spot that a lot of people all over the world liked to travel to for their own vacation. But here she was, trembling legs supporting her trembling weight, far from home, in snow-cap peaked New Zealand, wind-whipped and petrified, about to dive headlong into certain death.

Daniel spoke beside her, voice raised for her to hear but trying to exclude the operator behind her, the guy who’d strapped the harness on her—a little tight between the legs there, friend. “Come on, Ellie. You can do this.”

She shook her head, panic beginning to rake nails down her throat. “I, uh, I can’t. I can’t. What if the cord snaps, Daniel? What if I fall wrong? I mean, I mean, I don’t want to die on the first day of vacation. Right? Maybe—”

“You’re gonna bounce right back up,” Daniel said, and batted the helmet she wore. Fat lotta good the helmet was going to do, rocketing headfirst into the earth at a hundred miles an hour. Now Daniel said, “Remember that time you had to present the Hilltop Waterway project to the city council? You remember that shit? This can’t be worse than that, Ellie. This is a piece of cake. Look down there. What do you see?”

“Certain death,” she said, and the operator behind her chuckled. She shot him a look. Stupid suntanned young guy, probably got a kick out of all these American girls shitting their panties before he shoved them off the platform.

“You got this,” Daniel said. “Ain’t nobody in this world I’d say could face this challenge better than you, Ellie. You gonna show New Zealand what the Torres’s are made of?”

“We’re made of soft stuff that explodes on impact, Daniel! Do you hear yourself?”

Daniel laughed now, and it made her mad. Her husband wasn’t even going to jump. Standing with her, offering these empty words of encouragement, and the guy wasn’t even going to jump. I don’t want to do that, he says. She said they could do a tandem jump, and Daniel goes Bungee’s your thing, El.

Daniel—as if reading her thoughts—whispered near her ear, “You were the one who wanted to do this. So let’s see you do it, babe. I know you got that tiger in you.”

God. The Hilltop Waterway project. The presentation in front of the mayor and the governor. Like about a thousand citizens. Local news was there. Somebody from CNN. The pressure that day had felt like a bungee cord pulling her into an uncertain abyss, yet she had emerged triumphant. “This is different,” she mumbled, her gaze fixed on the dizzying drop. Yeah, Ellie-baby, this cord’s gonna pull you up.

But is it?

“Is it? You’re still taking a leap—just a different kind.” Danny nudged her playfully. Given the towering height and her proximity to the edge and certain death, the nudge made that space between her anus and vagina do a funny somersault. Her toes scrunched on the beds of her hiking shoes. “And I’ll be right there with you,” Daniel said, “cheering you on.”

She sighed a long, heavy breath. Why had she ever wanted to do this? It seemed like such a good idea, sitting on the couch at home with Daniel and Pepito, their little Pomeranian, and watching Amazing Race.

Daniel offered more encouragement, getting his shoulder against hers and pointing out over the edge. “You’re gonna go zip . . . down-down-down, then yoink, right back up to me. . . . You’ve always wanted to do this, Ellie. Now focus.” With that, he put his forehead against the helmet’s visor, his blue eyes looking into hers.

She’d been with Daniel since high school. Prom King and Queen of Sweetwater High, Class of ’12. Daniel Torres was tall, dark, and handsome. Smart and funny. And all hers. And when times were at their toughest, there had always been this one man who would have her back and bolster her courage, tell her she could do the things no one see thought she could do. Sometimes even herself.

She and Daniel and the young operator were inside a cable car, suspended high—so crazy high—above the Kawarau River, a half-hour drive outside Queenstown. The sun shone warm, a bright glow bathing the landscape on this cool and clear April day. A perfectly exhilarating adventure setting: the rushing river and jagged mountains; the awesome otherworldly scale of it all.

The guide said, “I send about thirty people off here every day, and I swear to god, I haven’t lost a single one.”

“Yeah, but maybe this is just your first week here,” Ellie said, cold wind nipping her cheeks, “or maybe you find them, but you find them splatted down below on the riverbanks.”

Even Daniel laughed at that one. “Ellie-baby, you’re in good hands,” Daniel said, and the guide said, “Thank you, sir.” Daniel and the guide bumped fists. She rolled her eyes.

185 yards below, the river rushed by. If the cord snapped, she would hit that water at a speed that would make it like hitting concrete. What kind of idiot steps off a perfectly safe metal cable-car so they can dive bomb into the afterlife?

It’s not idiocy. It’s about resolve. It’s about adventure.

The cord won’t snap. Those are the whispers from the scariest part of your past. Don’t you dare listen to them.

Daniel was right.

The sun glinted off the river, and she swallowed hard, now ignoring the knot of fear tightening in her stomach. Elena pressed her lips together, biting back the doubt that threatened to consume her. “This is so crazy…”

“Trust me, Ellie. This is about embracing the moment.” Danny stepped closer, eyes locking onto hers. “You’ll feel so alive afterward. Just think about that.”

A moment passed, Daniel’s promising words slipping over her like a warm blanket. She drew in a deep breath, envisioning the rush of wind, the fleeting sensation of freedom . . . And liking it.

“Okay,” she finally said, her voice a whisper. 

“Okay?” Daniel beamed now, excitement radiating off him. 

“Yeah. I’m gonna do it. Of course I’m gonna do it. Right?” 

“Let’s go, tiger.” Daniel’s hand rested on her lower back, guiding her once more to the edge, each step closer amplifying her heartbeat’s roar. The incredible view bloomed beneath her—a breathtaking panorama that would snatch away the breath of even the steeliest world explorer. The ground felt miles away, and her palms grew clammy. Her knees shook. Her stomach went light and butterflies flittered.

“Ready?” Daniel asked, his voice steady. 

Elena nodded, though uncertainty still lingered. She focused on Daniel’s encouraging smile, the way his eyes sparkled with excitement. This was it. She took a deep breath, preparing to leap into the unknown…

Then she stepped forward into the yawning void.

#

Two hours ago they’d checked into the chalet at the Blanket Bay Estate, just outside Queenstown. Elena had stood on their luxury lodge’s balcony, admiring the view. He’d admired Ellie.

Lush green hills rolled toward the horizon. Snow-rimmed mountains stood sentinel against a cobalt sky. Sunlight shone on Lake Wakapitu. The air was crisp—a refreshing change from a California springtime heat. Elena was a warm slice, an amber slash against the alpine landscape beyond. Tall, lean, suntanned; her wavy chestnut hair spilled down her back in lustrous curls.

Danny had joined her, leaning against the railing, slinking an arm around his wife’s shoulders, drawing her close. “Can you believe we’re finally here?” This land so far from home was Elena’s adventure dream; and the trip cost a fortune, but they were young and in love, and babies were on the docket, maybe within the next four years. Claiming adventure was now or never.

Ellie’s eyes stayed on the view. “It’s surreal. Like we stepped into a postcard.”

“Exactly.” He’d glanced back at the mountains, then focused on her. “Or Lord of the Rings. We should get out there. There’s so much to see and we’re here for a reason.”

“We will. We just got off the plane, Danny. What did you have in mind?”

“I think we should get in the car, go out for a toot and see what kind of trouble we can get ourselves into.”

“We can if you want,” she’d said. “You really want to? We’re barely unpacked.”

“We’re on California time. We slept on the plane. Aren’t you itching for adventure?”

Ellie had frowned, had studied him. He was engaging in the wooden language, she called it, words that meant something else. She was onto him. He was so bad at deception. She’d said, “What are you up to?”

He’d put up his hands, innocent as could be. “Time’s a tickin’. Let’s make the most of every second we’re here.”

God, and there it had been again. Why did everything he say sound so contrived? 

Because you are up to something, my man. And Ellie can see right through you. He’d smiled. It had been a cheap smile. Ellie’s frown had deepened.

But then the frown relaxed, and she’d returned to her sweet self, easing against the balcony, wind tossing her hair. “What’s the surprise?”

He’d shrugged, acting like he’d had no idea what she’d meant. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Then she’d shook her head, eyes narrowing, smile staying, putting a dimple in one magic cheek. 

He’d said, “You don’t know how beautiful you look right now.”

She’d batted his shoulder. “Don’t sweet talk me, Diablo. Tell me what you’re up to.”

“I’m not up to anything,” he said, aloof, slipping his hands into jeans pockets and strolling back into their chalet. Ellie had followed. He’d whistled even, turning up his face and liking the acoustics in their high-ceiling chalet with the chunky wooden beams holding up the peaked roof.

“We should unpack,” Ellie had said.

He’d said, “Yup, we should get right on that,” Ellie still on his heels.

He’d bolted then, and Ellie laughed, her footsteps smacking behind him as she gave chase. Out the heavy front door to the gravel drive, sprinting to their rental Land Rover. 

He beat her to the door, and opened it for her, all calm now, like there had been no race at all. He’d gestured inside the cabin, saying, “Ladies first.”

She thumbed to her chest. “You want me to drive?”

“Fuck,” he’d said, looking into the Land Rover now, the driver seat on the wrong side. 

She’d taken the door from him and gestured inside herself, calling him, “My lady.”

He’d driven them from the estate into Queenstown, Ellie pointing out all the shops she’d want to check out, then they were headed out of Queenstown on the narrow highway, out among the craggy foothills, the mountains in the distance but still looming close. Then they’d come to the bridge, and he’d slowed and pulled off a side road and down a steep hill into a parking lot. With luck, they’d passed no signs giving away his pre-planned surprise.

He’d nosed into a parking spot, the bridge spread out before the windshield.

Ellie had ducked down to look higher up, pointing out to him the long cable that spread between the rocky foothills, a cable car hanging in the middle, its door open, people gathered in the doorway. “Look at that cable car,” she’d said, more to herself than to him. 

Just then someone fell from the open door, plummeting earthward with their hands outstretched. Ellie had gasped and covered her mouth. The person went straight down behind a line of trees where they disappeared. A few seconds later, they appeared again, floating weightless for a moment before they went down again, the bungee coiling in the air like it was weightless. A moment later the jumper’s scream of joy reached them.

Ellie had uncovered her mouth, looking his way and scowling, saying, “What are those cable cars up there, Daniel?”

He’d smiled broadly. “We’re gonna start this vacation off with a bang, Ellie, my girl.”

He could never in a hundred years have guessed how Elena’s great leap forward would turn out.