Snowbound Hearts

by Benjamin Kelly

  Audrey bit her lip but giggled anyway. “I’ll bet you were pissed.”

  “Nah, he’s such a nut, nobody can get mad at him.”

  “You didn’t exactly answer my question about a girlfriend. All I really know is that you carry a picture of a cow in your wallet.”

  Stephen sighed and gazed through the open doorway at the flickering shadows the fire cast across the floor. “I got home from work last Friday, and all of my girlfriend’s stuff was gone. I found a note on my pillow that said she wanted to see other people. So, at the moment, I’m single. I answered your question, now you answer one for me. Why were you afraid to ask me if I had a girlfriend, and why did you sound so disappointed when I said I did?”

  Audrey put her hands over her face and shook her head. “That’s two questions.”

  “I don’t care. Answer me.”

  “What are you doing out here in these woods, in exactly the right place at exactly the right time that I needed you, Stephen?”

  He shrugged and shook his head. “I told you why I’m here. I don’t understand what you’re asking me.”

  She kept her hands over her face and shook her head. Audrey had avoided giving him answers again. As much as he wanted to sit her in a chair, shine a light into her face, and interrogate her, he deicide to let it go. She had asked him to trust her and was presenting him with another opportunity. Even if it killed him, he was determined that he wouldn’t blow it this time. He believed in his heart that she was worth whatever amount of patience winning her over required.

  Audrey grabbed the paperback off his lap. “So, do you always read spicy romance novels?” She started reading the page he had it opened to. “Oh my God, I’m not sure spicy is the right word.”

  “Nope, and I’d hesitate to call it a romance novel, although there are romantic aspects to it.”

  She elbowed his side. “Scoot over and give me some pillow,” she said, still reading.

  “I’ll run grab the pillows from the other bedroom.”

  Audrey grasped his hand before he could get up. “Don’t. These are plenty big enough for us to share, if we sit close enough.” She got up and flipped the covers back. “So, this was under the bed?”

  Stephen repositioned the pillows and slid up against her. “Yeah, I’m thinking someone was hiding it. They probably forgot about it.”

  “I can see why they would have hidden it.” Audrey pulled the covers over them and shivered. “Cold sheets.” She flipped the book back to page one.

  Stephen hugged her and rubbed her arm to get her warm. “That’s just the boring stuff,” he said. “I’ll give you a summery if you like.”

  “Sure.”

  “Okay, girl meets guy, they hit it off. Girl meets other guy, and they hit it off. Girl accidentally invites both guys to her apartment on the same evening. Guys show up and start beating the hell out of each other, and then girl stops them by doing”—he turned several pages and pointed to a line of text—”that right there, to both guys at the same time and you’re up to speed. And your hands are trembling.”

  “Yeah, so they are. That happens when I’m nervous or excited—or both.” She held the novel where they each could see it.

  ***

  “Whoa, hang on, flip that page back for a second, I didn’t quite catch that,” Stephen said.

  “Okay, I kind of want to read it again anyway.” Audrey turned the page back.

  “All right, I thought that’s what it said.”

  She closed the book and set it on the bed. “My eyes are all blurry. I’m too tired to read anymore, but maybe, if you want, we could read more tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, it was fun. I’ve never read a book with anyone before. Especially this kind of book with a beautiful woman.”

  Audrey grinned at him. “Thanks. Um—do people really do those things like it says in the book?”

  “Probably only in books like this and a certain type of movie, I guess.”

  Audrey gave him a sideways glance and leaned into him as her cheeks flushed bright red. She lowered her voice nearly to a whisper. “Reading that made me feel all funny down there.”

  “Yeah, you and me both.”

  Audrey squeezed his thigh. “Hey, you don’t have any whipped cream, do you?”

  “Why, do you want to try some of that stuff in the book?”

  She elbowed his side. “No! I’m just craving whipped cream after reading that.”

  “Yeah, me too, among other things.”

  Audrey hung her head where he couldn’t get a look at her eyes. “Okay, confession time. I sort of want to try it, but that doesn’t change where we stand. Do you have any or not?”

  “No.”

  “What about bananas or cherries or chocolate syrup or honey?”

  “As much as I hate to say it, no. I’d kill for a banana right now.”

  Audrey rolled over, threw her leg across Stephen, and hugged him. “Oh yeah? What would you do with it?”

  Stephen sighed as her thigh came down heavily across his crotch. Given the abundance of stimulation he had received since Audrey showed up at his door, it didn’t take much to get him aroused. “Be happy that I don’t have one because if I did, you might find out,” he said with a sly grin.

  “Thanks for being so sweet. Another guy might have taken advantage of the situation. I feel really comfortable. I know I can trust you.”

  “If you keep pressing me right there with your thigh, I don’t think I’ll be able to trust myself. I’m just about to nut up after reading, and lying on the sofa with you, and letting you sit in my lap—for hours.”

  “Trust me, Stephen, I’m feeling the same effects.” She slid over a little farther and pressed down harder.

  Stephen grunted, barely able to resist dragging her onto him. “Unless you want to feel a lot more effects, you’d better get up now.”

  She kissed his cheek and sat up. “I hate to ask, but do you have anything I could wear to sleep in? I don’t think this flannel shirt will be comfortable.”

  He puffed out a long, hard breath. “I’ll go get your suitcase out of your car, if you want.”

  She sighed and clutched his hand. “You’d do that for me?”

  “Yeah, sure. Did you lock the door?”

  “I left all my stuff back at the cabin. I was in such a hurry to get out of there I didn’t bother packing. I figured I’d go back in a few days and get everything.”

  “I have a T-shirt and long johns you could wear.”

  “A T-shirt will be fine.”

  “I’ll give you a pair of long johns anyway. They’re comfortable, like pajama pants. It gets cold in the bedrooms. I should talk to the cabin’s owner about installing stoves. I doubt he’d do it. He has the place up for sale. Who knows if the new owner will rent it out? This might be the last time I stay here.” Stephen went to the dresser and opened a drawer.

  Audrey strolled over to him. “As long I have plenty of cover, I’ll be fine with just a shirt. I like getting into a freezing cold bed at night. It feels great against my skin.”

  ***

  A tapping noise woke Stephen from a dead sleep. He cursed the wind under his breath, rolled over, and slapped a pillow onto his head.

  “Stephen, are you awake?”

  He glanced toward the voice to see a silhouette standing in the doorway. The faint amber glow of the dying fire shone through the periphery of her hair, around her supple curves, and between her legs. A knot formed, constricting his chest and making the mere act of breathing laborious. “Audrey, what’s wrong?”

  “I’m cold. The heat isn’t making it into my bedroom.”

  Desire arose into his pounding heart as he gazed at the sensuous sight before him. “Yeah, it’s going straight up to the ceiling. It’ll be warmer sleeping on the sofa in front of the stove. I’ll come throw on another log and stoke it up for you.”

  She took a step forward. “Would you mind if I got into bed with you?”

  Stephen groaned loudly, unable to co
ntain the animal passion she stirred within him. “What planet are you from, Audrey? I mean, seriously? Guys lie in bed at night and dream about a woman asking them something like that. God, you’re so beautiful and sexy and sweet. I’d love nothing better than for you to get into bed with me. You want sex, right?”

  She stepped over to the side of the bed. “We can’t, Stephen.”

  He huffed and rolled over, facing away from her. “Fine, I’m too tired anyway. Wake me up if you change your mind.”

  Audrey slid under the covers, snuggled up against his back, and put her arm around him. “Is this okay?”

  He shivered as her ice-cold body touched his. “I’m awake now. God Almighty, Audrey, how did you get so cold?” Stephen rolled over to face her, pulled the blanket tight around her back, and wrapped his arms around her. “Have you been out in the snow?”

  “No, I woke up like this.”

  “How could it be so cold in the next room? Was your window open?”

  “I don’t know. Something happened, Stephen. You’ll think I’m nuts if I tell you, but when I woke up, something was on top of me.”

  “Something? Somebody? An animal?”

  “No, something dark and cold, like a thick black blanket made from ice. It held me down so I couldn’t move at all for a while. Then it just dissolved away. I was terrified, but I couldn’t scream. It’s like I was paralyzed.”

  Stephen sighed heavily. “The way the wind is howling is enough to spook anyone. I’m having a little trouble sleeping myself. Don’t you think it was just a nightmare?”

  “Maybe it was, but there’s another explanation, and I think it’s probably the right one. I’m still in my car, covered with snow, probably dying. That would explain so many things, like why it’s been so cold in here ever since I arrived.”

  “Audrey, you’re not in your car. I thought we had settled that.” Stephen grunted as she worked herself tightly up against him. “It was cold before you got here. That little stove is too small to heat the whole cabin. If you want, I could have you sweating in five minutes.”

  She repositioned her cold hands to another spot and drained away more of his heat. “That’s a subtle way of suggesting that we have sex, but only if I want, right?”

  “Of course.” Stephen rubbed her arms and back, hoping the friction would warm her frigid skin.

  “If I’m unconscious, living in a dream, it would also explain you.”

  “What’s so unbelievable about me? I’m just a regular guy who happened to rent a cabin the same week as you. There’s nothing mysterious about that.”

  She kissed his cheek and whispered in his ear, “You have no idea what you just said.”

  “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head when you crashed? Some of the stuff you say makes no sense at all. Maybe you’re in shock.”

  Audrey wiggled her voluptuous body against him. He slipped his hand down her side to her slim waist, over the mound of her hip, and around onto the back her freezing thigh.

  “I’m definitely in shock, but not from the crash.”

  He slid his hand up onto her rear and squeezed.

  “Are you massaging my butt to get me warm?”

  “No, I’m doing it because I like it. Audrey, do you feel that lump where you’re pressing your crotch against me? We’ve got about a millimeter of cloth between us. What’s the difference in that and my hand?”

  “I didn’t say it wasn’t okay. I was just thinking maybe you should use both hands. That way one side won’t get more attention than the other. You know what’s okay and what’s not. Besides it’s only a dream.”

  Since she had asked, he took her rear firmly into both hands and indulged himself. “Audrey, if this was a dream, we would have already had sex. Sex on the table after I beat your clothes off playing strip poker. Sex sitting in the chair at lunchtime. Sex on the sofa after gassing the generator. We would have had cans of whipped cream and mounds of bananas, and I would have eaten the nastiest banana split in the history of the world after reading in bed. If this was a dream, we’d be having some crazy awesome sex right now, instead of talking.”

  “We would if this was your dream.”

  The fact that she wouldn’t expect to dream about sex with him rattled his confidence. Up until that moment, he had been certain that she desired him. “So, you like to have frustration in your dreams?”

  Audrey pressed her hand between them, momentarily separating her crotch from his, as she worked it down toward his legs. “Sometimes, really good frustration can be better than sex.”

  Stephen sucked in a hard breath. Her hand was ice cold, but the spot where she grasped him was burning hot.

  She loosened her grip and rubbed him. “Was that a good gasp, or did I grab them too hard?”

  “That was a ‘I can’t believe she’s touching me there’ gasp.”

  “Because it hurts?”

  “Because it feels so good.”

  She tightened her grip. “I knew you liked the way I frustrate you.”

  “Well, I can honestly say that having frustration with you is better than having sex with the women I’ve known.” He dug his fingertips in deep and massaged her bottom.

  “Yeah, Stephen, you’ve frustrated my brains out. More of that, please.”

  Stephen chuckled, not knowing what to think about Audrey. She obviously had some serious issues on her mind. Grabbing his balls was probably just her way of distracting him so he wouldn’t push her for answers that she wasn’t ready to give him. And it worked. For the moment at least, he didn’t care about anything except the way she was clutching him. “You feel a lot warmer now, especially your hand. Do you want to sleep by the stove?”

  She repositioned her hand grasping him more fully. “Do you mind if I stay in here with you? The wind is awfully spooky. We can’t have sex, but if you’ll let me, I’ll frustrate all night long.” She giggled as she massaged him.

  He took a deep breath and groaned. “Oh, you’ve already frustrated me so much that if you don’t stop, I’m going to explode.”

  Audrey quit moving her hand but didn’t let him go. “So, you’ll let me stay?”

  “You can stay, if you’ll be quiet and go to sleep. And stop mentioning that we can’t have sex. I’m still craving one of those special banana splits, and I don’t give a damn about the banana, only the split.”

  Audrey pressed her lips to his and kissed him passionately. “There’s a little taste for you. Maybe not the one you want, but it’ll have to do for now.”

  “Audrey, you’ve seriously got to move your hand.”

  She began gently squeezing him again.

  “Uh, that is not what I meant. On second thought, maybe I could stand being frustrated a while longer.”

  She put her mouth to his and continued frustrating him. The thin T-shirt she was wearing provided little buffer between her rigid nipples and his bare chest as she squashed her breasts against him. He didn’t think he’d be able to get any sleep, not that he wanted to sleep.

  The relentless wind pelting the cabin with snow was downright unnerving. Her presence in his arms brought him comfort the way clutching a teddy bear soothes a kid’s worries about monsters under the bed. As teddy bears went, Audrey was extraordinary.

  ***

  Stephen opened his blurry eyes to the dim light of an overcast morning. At some point during the wee hours, Audrey had finally stopped rubbing against him and dozed off, allowing him a few hours of desperately needed sleep. He gazed at her pretty face and watched her sleep for a while. She was lying on top, straddling him, her head on his shoulder and her crotch placed squarely onto his. Eventually, she opened her eyes.

  “How did we get like this?” she asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’m glad you’re on top so you can’t get mad at me.”

  She slid off him and glanced at his crotch. “Oh.” She reached down and traced the length of his erection with her index finger. “Did I do that?”

  “Yes. Again.”


  “Sorry,” she said and got up, but turned back and grinned. “I’m not really sorry.” She spun on her heel and glided to the bathroom as if walking on air.

  Stephen expected her to go on to her room and get dressed, but she came back and got into the bed with him. Her big pink nipples were visible through the old, worn-out white T-shirt she was wearing.

  Stephen was still lying on his back. She slid under the covers, straddled him, and put her head back onto his shoulder where it had been. A man’s body was never intended to endure the kind of repeated stimulation with no relief that Audrey insisted on giving him. But he couldn’t ask her to stop. If the torture of constant arousal with no hope of fulfillment was what he had to endure to be near her, then he’d suffer silently in agonizing bliss. She shifted from side to side getting perfectly centered and settled her full weight onto him.

  ***

  After breakfast, Audrey and Stephen sat staring at each other over their empty plates. She had put on one of his flannel shirts over her T-shirt but hadn’t bothered buttoning it. Her hard nipples strained against the thin white cloth that barely obscured them. She pushed the plates aside, put her elbows onto the table, and her chin in her hands. He did the same so they were face-to-face.

  “I know I’m just the test dummy, but I hope I’ve given you second thoughts about your so-called soul mate.”

  Audrey shook her head. “I’m more convinced than ever that he’s my soul mate.”

  Stephen let his head drop and rapped it once on the table, then frowned at her. He tapped the middle of his chest with an index finger. “This is not indestructible, Audrey. Any more damage and it might never heal.”

  She sighed heavily, returning his frown. “Were not in love, Stephen, we can’t be.”

  If she had made her statement with conviction, Stephen was certain that his heart would have shriveled and died, but the tone of her voice betrayed her true meaning. She wasn’t making a statement at all. She was asking how they could have fallen in love so quickly. “Where did that come from? I never mentioned that word.”

  “Did you really think you had to say the word? I can see it in your eyes.”