Awakened in August (Spring River Valley Book 8) by Clarice Wynter Read Free Book Online Page A

Adonis came to mind as she studied him. The circles under his eyes had disappeared, and a few days in the sun had given his pale skin a golden cast. Chlorine in the pool had already lightened a few streaks in his hair, and his shoulders were slightly pink where he’d neglected to reapply sunscreen.
    He looked ten times healthier than he had when he’d boarded the Green Solutions bus, and judging from the energetic night they’d spent, his heart was certainly in good condition. The knot of tension she’d felt every time she thought of him working himself to a state of collapse finally loosened. Maybe there was hope for him. When he saw himself in the mirror this morning, he’d have to admit he’d begun to reap the benefits of a long-deserved rest.
    “Mmphf,” he muttered and tightened his grip around her. “Not moving.”
    “Don’t you want to find inner peace?” She nudged him. Wild horses couldn’t drag her to a class this morning, but she loved the idea of teasing him. “Achieving a state of Zen can help every aspect of your life.”
    He opened one eye. “You’re joking right now, right?”
    She clamped her lips shut to avoid laughing and shook her head, her eyes wide.
    His eyes narrowed for a second, then he dove under the thin blanket and his hands were everywhere, tickling and caressing, leaving Lydia breathless from begging for mercy.
    “What are you doing?” she pleaded, trying to stifle hysterical laughter.
    “I’m searching for inner peace, and I think I found it.”
    She gasped. He most certainly had. A moment later her laughter turned to sighs of delight then to moans of passion. When he’d finished his search, she lay utterly spent, her body tingling in all the right places. Sleepily, she decided she’d found a new definition of inner peace that involved heavy breathing, a little sweat, and cries of satisfaction.
    Next to her, Riley bunched up the pillows and propped himself in a half-sitting position. “If we didn’t have to go to the Long House for breakfast, I’d be perfectly happy to stay here all day.”
    Her muscles warm and sensually liquid, Lydia crawled across him and laid her head on his chest. “I wish we could, but the housekeeping staff can’t find you in here. I’m not supposed to have guests in my cabin. It’s not quite light yet, so I can sneak you out now, and I can meet you later, maybe after morning yoga.”
    He sighed. “So I don’t get to spend the day with you?”
    “Sure you can, but I still have to work. You can come to all the activities I’m scheduled for.”
    He growled. “I want you all to myself.”
    “Tomorrow. It’s my ‘day off.’” She made air quotes with one hand. “I don’t have anything scheduled. I’m supposed to just show the guests how to relax by example.”
    “Can we leave the resort? I’d love to go for a drive.”
    “Sorry, not tomorrow. But we will. We have time for everything, don’t we?” She held his gaze to let him know there was a lot more to that question than just the words.
    He nodded and kissed her forehead, then the tip of her nose, then her lips. “Yes, we have time for everything.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Riley hadn’t thought it possible. He’d come to Green Solutions under protest, figuring a few days off would probably bore him to death rather than relax him. Instead, he felt like a new man. He lay on a hammock in the shade, watching Lydia teaching guests to float on their backs in the lake and overcome their anxieties about relinquishing control. She looked amazing, standing waist deep in the dark blue water, laughing with people who’d probably had to schedule every minute of their lives up until now.
    His heart skipped a beat every time he looked at her. What shocked him even more than discovering this depth of feeling for someone he’d known for so long but hadn’t really known at all was that for the first time probably since he’d hit puberty, he had no desire to get up and accomplish anything. He lay