Shifters in the Snow

by Jacqueline Sweet

  She laced her fingers into the soft brown curls that had long since won the battle against his careful combing and pushed her body up against his.

  Andi was surprised by how much she wanted him but she wasn't about to stop and overthink it now. Right now this mountain of a man was coaxing waves of pleasure out of her with his tongue and his fingers and his thick, hard cock was bobbing against her stomach with his every movement.

  She reached down to wrap her fingers around it. To stroke the silken skin, listening to him gasp at her touch as she tried to maneuver him toward the spot where she needed to feel him most.

  Dan reached out in the darkness with one arm, feeling along the night stand by the headboard, "Where's the goddamn light switch on this thing?" he growled against her neck as his hand continued to search, "I want to be able to look at you."

  Andi reached out and lightly clicked the little bedside reading lamp on. It's pale yellow light lit the bedroom in a soft glow. She could see him looking down at her now, those deep brown eyes alight with lust as he gave her a smile that was both tender and hungry, "I never thought you'd be so beautiful," he murmured so low she was sure she misunderstood him.

  It didn't matter at the moment, at this moment all that mattered was that he was here with her, naked against her and that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

  She ran her hands over his collar bones where they protruded as he held his weight above her, then down over the pec muscles that defined his broad chest, through the soft fur that lined those contours and down over the sculpted abdominal muscles that he hid under those stupid overalls.

  She watched his eyes close and admired the handsome face that had been revealed by the recent shave. She smiled as his jaw tightened as she wrapped her hand around his girth again and moved him against the slickness of her opening.

  He didn't need any more convincing, he pushed forward, entering her slowly and fully until their bodies were pressed tightly together. Then he began moving inside her filling her again and again with strong, deep strokes until Andi felt her body began to quake.

  His arms wrapped around her bringing his weight down on her, his thrusts coming faster as though her tremors were signaling to him. Andi was vaguely aware of her hands clutching at his shoulders as she toppled over the ledge of her climax with him following right behind her.

  They fell back onto the pillows together, Andi's eyes closed as she panted to catch her breath. Dan rolled to the side and drew lazy circles over her bare skin, stopping occasionally to place a soft kiss along the trails he was drawing.

  "I guess I should have shaved weeks ago," he teased.

  Andi smiled, "I didn't think you liked me weeks ago?"

  She opened her eyes to see the slightly hurt and confused look on his face, "Why on earth would you think I didn't like you?" He asked.

  "You seemed to unhappy to see me that first day," she answered, "and every time you look at me it seems like you're, I don't know, like I don't measure up to your expectations or something."

  Maybe this wasn't the time and place to have tell him all this but she'd always been curious about it.

  The hurt and confusion on his face deepened, knitting his eyebrows together in a deep furrow over his nose, "Well I admit, I wasn't expectin' to meet you just yet, but I'd hardly say I was unhappy..." his eyes traveled down her naked body and back with a hungry look, "and I sure as hell ain't dissatisfied wicha."

  He slid his palm over her breast, letting the ample flesh fill his hand as he massaged with a light squeeze before letting it slip from his grasp and continuing down to rest his hand on the rise of her stomach, then over to trace the contour of her hip and thigh. He licked his lips in an entirely unconscious gesture of appreciation, "Ain't dissatisfied at all."

  Chapter 8

  The coffee shop had opened back up on Saturday morning after a two day hiatus for the holiday. Andi had been hit with a thousand questions from Jen and every other woman who'd seen her with Dan at the Thanksgiving party.

  Problem was, she didn't know all the answers herself yet. She knew that Dan had changed her world, that she felt like she'd been brought to Silver Peak just to meet him, that she felt like she was supposed to be with him.

  Being with him made her feel warm and safe and happy. The sex was better than she'd ever thought sex could be-- and she thought sex was pretty damn good. He made her feel beautiful. He wanted to look at her, to keep the lights on when they made love, to run his eyes and his hands over every inch of her.

  They'd been together every day for over a week now, but this morning something was different. Dan didn't come in to the coffee shop. 10 AM came and went with out a sight. 11 AM and then noon and still no Dan.

  Andi tried not to let her disappointment show. She looked forward to seeing him during her work day and she enjoyed watching the faces of the locals when they realized the good looking man that lingered at the counter was their very own Grinch. She thought it was cute to watch him come out of his shell and begin to get to know his neighbors.

  When Jen turned the open sign off at 3 PM, after the last customer had left, she turned and gave Andi a worried look, "You go on now, I'll get everything cleaned up and ready for tomorrow."

  Andi nodded absently. Jen knew she was distracted by Dan's absence, "You know he probably just got a call to plow someone's driveway, hun, it did snow most of the night." Jen was probably right, but Andi couldn't help the sinking feeling in her gut as she climbed the stairs back to her apartment.

  He hadn't answered her calls and she felt like she'd given him plenty of time to call back when she pulled the borrowed all wheel drive wagon to the foot of his driveway.

  Dan lived several miles outside of town, past the ski lodge, past the Coydog, a few hundred yards past where the county maintenance crews stopped plowing the road. In the summer months, the road made a wide loop around the lakes that the town was set on and connected to the highway several miles north of town. During the winter months, the county kept the road plowed and opened till just past the last commercial building on the road, which was the Coydog where it sat just past, and across the street from, the ski lodge.

  Andi parked the wagon on the street in front of the six foot snow berm where the maintenance crew left the snow plow parked. She wrapped the scarf around her neck and zipped the winter coat up and then started the hike up the narrow lane where Dan plowed the main road himself as far as his driveway.

  The lugs of her snow boots were packed with mud and ice and climbing the long driveway up to his cabin meant a few slips but she hadn't heard from him in two days.

  The cabin windows were dark, a faint glow from a fire left to die could be seen through the window but no one answered when she knocked.

  She walked around the deck to the rear porch but still no sign of the man. His truck with the plow on it was in the driveway as well as the snow mobile his brother had come to borrow that morning.

  Andi sat on the bench next to the back door to wait but when the sunlight started to fade behind the mountain, she reluctantly gave up her post and made her way back to town.

  She still hadn't heard from Dan when the email came from Mike.

  Sorting through her inbox one evening, she was surprised to see Mike's name next to the subject line, "Coming back for you."

  Her gut clenched. She reflexively looked down at her phone sitting on the table beside her, looking for the notification of a call or a text from Dan that she knew wouldn't be there.

  She opened Mike's email and read in a mix of horror and shock and hope his long, drawn out story of missing her, of wanting her to come home, of his sorrow and regret at everything he'd done to her and, finally, of his plans to be in Silver Peak to spend Christmas with her.

  Andi didn't know how to feel. It was everything she'd wanted to hear-- a month ago. Before she'd met Dan. Before she'd discovered Dan's quiet strength, his dignity, his devotion. Before she'd felt what it meant to be adored and honored by a lover. Before she'd
fallen in love with Dan.

  But Dan had been missing for nearly a week. No one town seemed to think anything of it. This was par for the course for the "Grinch" they knew.

  She looked at the calendar. Mike said he'd be there for Christmas. A week away.

  With shaky fingers, Andi began typing her return email.

  Andi rummaged through Becka's refrigerator, moving aside the groceries she'd bought, looking behind the milk and the left overs from last night's dinner that she hadn't eaten. Somewhere in the back on the top shelf, she could have sworn she'd seen a bottle of wine when she'd first arrived.

  Yep. There it was. She pulled it out. Merlot. What the hell was that doing in the refrigerator?

  She decided she didn't care. She opened the cabinet and began the search for a wine glass. Giving up on that, she grabbed a tumbler. At least the cork screw was easy to find.

  Andi rarely drank alone. She loved a beer with friends, or a drink with dinner when she was out for the evening, but prying open a bottle of wine alone at home usually made her feel desperate. Tonight she didn't much care. She poured the too cold fluid into the tumbler and took a large gulp like she was doing shots of vodka.

  The wine was cold all the way down to her stomach and she grimaced at the flavor.

  She leaned against the counter in the dark kitchen with the glass of wine in her hand and stared defiantly at her computer sitting on the little dining table across the room.

  What had she done?

  Was she really going to give Mike another chance? Did she really think he was make it up to her? Was he serious? Did he really want her back?

  More importantly, did she really want him back? What about Dan? What had happened to him? Why was he avoiding her? Why hadn't he called? What exactly was she to him?

  What, exactly, was he to her?

  She took a deep breath and another long sip of the red wine. It was seriously terrible wine. That's probably why Becka had it in the fridge. It wasn't getting better as it warmed up.

  Andi turned around and poured it down the sink.

  Mike would be here in a few days. He was coming to see her, to beg her forgiveness, to get her back and make it up to her. That's what mattered now. That's what she would focus on.

  Chapter 9

  Andi locked the back door of the coffee shop behind her as she closed up for the day. She collected the mail and began the climb up the stairs to the apartment, distracted by her sorting of bills, Holiday cards to both her and Becks, and brightly colored catalogs promising delivery in time for Christmas.

  When she looked up and found him standing by the front door she jumped so far backward that she nearly fell down the stairs.

  "Sorry." Dan looked haggard. His beard was filling in again, although no where near as overgrown as it had been when she'd met him. He looked tired, his eyes haunted, "I didn't want to interrupt you at work."

  "What happened to you?" Andi didn't know whether to kiss him or punch him. She took a step toward him but he stepped aside.

  "I can't, Andi," his voice sad but stern, "You don't deserve this life. I can't do it to you."

  With that he bolted past her and bounded down the stairs leaving her calling after him in vain.

  She started to run after him, hoping to stop him, hoping to get a better explanation but he was gone.

  Andi sat on the top step and stared at the footprints his boots had left in the snow while her heart twisted in her chest.

  She didn't know what had happened or why, but she knew it was over. Whatever they'd had together, it obviously meant more to her than it had to him. She sniffed back the tears and did her best to swallow her losses.

  Andi got back on her feet and went inside.

  Mike would be here in a couple of hours.

  By the time she heard the sound of his truck pulling into the driveway, she had convinced herself that her fling with Dan had just been a little rebound thing. Just something to clear the cobwebs. It hadn't meant anything. To either of them. Obviously.

  Mike was her future. The next few days were just what they needed to get back on track. Going to pick out a tree together, trimming it together by the fire, and a romantic Christmas dinner at the ski lodge's fancy four star restaurant.

  Andi couldn't leave Jen to man the coffee shop alone for the rest of the season, but she'd head back to the valley as soon as the lodge stopped running the lifts in the spring. She'd move all her stuff back into Mike's house and go back to work at the shop with him and pick up the wedding plans where she'd left off.

  She opened the door when she heard him knocking and flung herself into his arms.

  "Whoa Bessy!" Mike took a step back from her, effectively thwarting her hug, "Here, put this somewhere, would ya?" He handed her a heavy duffle bag. Her arm being pulled to the ground from the unexpected weight as soon as he let go.

  "Oof," She grunted as she hoisted it off the floor, "You must have bought me some heavy presents?" She joked as she hauled the bag into the apartment.

  "Nah, it's just clothes and stuff," Mike said casually as he came inside and closed the door behind him, "I didn't bring any presents with me."

  He began a self guided tour of the small apartment, flicking light switches on along the way as he went, "Geeze, Andi, this place looks like a swap meet on an Indian reservation, I'da thought you'd have picked up some before I got here."

  Andi narrowed her eyes and shot a frustrated look at his back, "Becka is into Native American folklore, remember?" She hardly saw how it was her place to change anything in her friend's apartment. Not to mention, she'd really come to enjoy all the little animal figurines lining the shelves, "It's not my apartment. I'm just staying here for the winter."

  Mike turned around and gave her a weak smile, "Yeah, well the bears are creepy. I hope there aren't any in the bed room."

  She followed him into the kitchen, and watched as he went through the shelves and the refrigerator, "I knew I should have gone by the store on my way in to town," he finally said as he closed the door of the fridge.

  "Well I thought we could go shopping together after we get a tree," Andi said brightly.

  Mike gave her an exasperated sigh, "I just spent six hours in the car, I was kinda hoping to get some rest before I had to go anywhere."

  He watched her shoulders slump in disappointment, "Hey babe, I'm sorry. Go get yer purse, let's go." He smiled at her the way she remembered from happier times together and her spirits lifted.

  Mike insisted on the store first, walking up the aisles of the small general store, muttering at the lack of options, "I just don't understand how people can live in a town this small," he said as he ridiculed the fact that there was only one brand of cheese, only one brand of butter, and that his favorite beer wasn't available in long neck bottles.

  At the Christmas tree farm, they argued over what type of tree to get. Mike liked the big, full bushy ones but Andi preferred the type with the branches that jutted out straight from the trunk in flat little shelves, "Well it's just going to end up in the land fill next week anyway, doesn't matter to me if you wanna pay $20 more for a tree that looks sick."

  Andi finally settled on the tree that Mike liked best.

  Back at the apartment, Mike wrestled the tree into the stand and set it up in the corner while Andi put groceries away.

  "There's a really nice restaurant up at the ski lodge," She was telling him as they hung ornaments on the tree together, "I thought we could do Christmas dinner up there tomorrow."

  "Yeah, OK, I guess. I mean, if you'd rather go out instead of eating here at home."

  "Well, I mean, tomorrow's only Christmas eve," She said, "I thought it would be nice to go out and then we can have dinner in on Christmas day when everything is closed anyway."

  Mike watched her, an indecipherable look crossing his eyes before he smiled and agreed, "Yeah. That sounds great, babe. Let's get all dressed up and have a nice dinner out. Isn't there any place other than the lodge, though?"

 
Andi thought for a minute, "Not any place fancy. The Coydog is pretty casual, and the only other place that's open is the pizza place."

  "Maybe we could go into Bishop? Or down to Mammoth Lakes then?" Mike was naming off every town within 50 miles of Silver Peak.

  Granted, Silver Peak had some pretty limited options, but the lodge really was one of the best restaurants to be found south of Tahoe and it didn't involve driving an hour out of town on Christmas Eve.

  "I already made the reservations at the Lodge," Andi said, hoping to end the debate.

  She watched Mike as he thought it over for a minute before he finally acquiesced with a grin and a shrug, "Yeah sure, I'm sure it'll work out."

  They spent the rest of evening catching up. Andi sat beside Mike on the love seat by the fireplace and snuggled against him as he tried to fill her in on what had been happening while she was gone.

  "So what happened, Mike?" She finally asked as she moved away from him to the other side of the small couch. No matter how she positioned herself against him, she couldn't get comfortable, "Why are you here?"

  "I've been doing a lot of thinking," Mike said, "Things just aren't the same without you around. I need you at the shop, I can't find anything at the house, and then I got an earful at Thanksgiving when you didn't show up." He looked at her, "I miss you. I want you to come home."

  Andi gave him a hesitant frown, "I don't know, Mike. You said some pretty mean things. And what about your girlfriend?"

  He leaned across the cushion between then and took her hands in his, "Babe, I am so sorry. I know what I did was terrible and I understand if you're mad. I know it's gonna take a long time for you to trust me again, but I swear I love you and I want you back. She didn't mean anything to me, and it just showed me how much I love you."

  "We can go to counseling if you want," Mike's eyes were watering as he looked at her, "We can take it slow. We can postpone the wedding. Anything you want."

  How could she question him? He was on the verge of tears, holding her hands and begging for forgiveness. She felt herself giving in, offering him a lopsided smile in acceptance of his apologies.