Sleigh Ride to Love

by Rosemary J. Anderson

  Five miles on and Holly pulled up behind Zachariah’s team. He had stopped outside a dilapidated old cabin at the foot of Island Point. Jumping off her runners she walked past her team, fondling ears and uttering words of reassurance as she sought out Zachariah, who had already entered the structure. Inside was basic to say the least, but there was a stove.

  Zachariah turned as she entered.

  “We’ll have to hole up here for the time being, Holly, the weather is making it too ghastly to continue and the wind force is getting higher as we speak. I had trouble with Titan and Quince, he mentioned his lead dogs, they seem freaked out by the expanse of white, although we were doing okay until the snow came, then…” He shrugged.

  “How long do you think?” Holly hoped fervently it would be for a good time but showed nothing of her thoughts on her face.

  “Your guess is as good as mine, so let’s settle the dogs and fire up this stove.”

  “K.” Holly nodded. “Will you do the dogs while I sort out the stove and some food, or would you prefer the other way around?”

  “No, I’ll feed and bed down the pooches, you do your stuff, woman.” He grinned disarmingly.

  The stove was soon alight, the orange and yellow flames licking up the flue. Finding a pan and filling it with snow, she waited for it to melt then took it out to Zachariah to mix with the dry dog mash. Bending double against the force of the wind, she trudged to where he’d bedded down the dogs in deep piles of straw under the shelter of the cabin’s ramshackle veranda. Receiving his nod of thanks, she petted the dogs before trudging the short distance back to the cabin.

  Opening the door, the force of the wind nearly snapped it from its hinges. Zachariah brought in with him icy cold, and a flurry of snow. Holly looked up from stirring the stew. The cabin was creaking and protesting against the gale and she wondered if indeed it would hold up until morning.

  “Coffee’s ready and the stew won’t be long.” She nodded toward the metal coffeepot, steam rising from its spout.

  “Looks like we’re in for a bad one.” Zachariah sighed, removing his gloves and filling both mugs with the hot beverage. “God knows how long we’re going to be stuck here.”

  “Well, we’ve no choice but to make the best of it and at least we’ve got hot food and shelter, so maybe it won’t be so bad.”

  “Optimism, Holly? What brought about this change?”

  Sending him a filthy look she stuck her nose in the air and turned back to her stirring.

  Ladling the stew into two tin bowls, she wordlessly handed him one, and, sitting opposite in a dilapidated old chair, dug her spoon into the rich gravy.

  The silence continued as they ate their meal, and although the stew was thick and rich Holly was just about fed up of eating the same old thing. The meal finished and dishes washed, they waited out the storm talking desultorily about nothing in particular. A couple of hours passed and even though the cabin was far from warm and drafts wafted in through the cracks in the plywood walls, Holly felt comfortable and her eyes grew heavy.

  Her head bouncing up and down on her neck as she began to nod off, Holly felt rather than saw Zachariah move, but was too tired to open her eyes. The next thing she was aware of was strong arms lifting her high against a muscular chest. Forcing heavy eyes open she stared up at Zachariah’s stubbly chin.

  “W–what?”

  “I’m just making you more comfortable, Holly. Go back to sleep.”

  Wanting to argue, Holly struggled to stay awake but exhaustion won, and closing her eyes she gave herself into Zachariah’s care.

  * * * *

  Sometime later Holly slowly opened her eyes. Something had disturbed her and she frowned moving restlessly.

  “It’s nothing, Holly, go back to sleep,” Zachariah murmured against the top of her head.

  Realizing she had her head on his chest and her legs were wrapped around his, and feeling warm but slightly self-conscious, although why she should she had no idea, Holly wriggled slightly away from him.

  “The noise?”

  Zachariah sighed. “It was just the log pile falling down. I guess the wind caught at it.”

  “Oh.”

  Comfortably snuggled against the heat of Zachariah, Holly tried to go back to sleep, but although still tired she found she was unable to relax sufficiently to drift off. Was it the storm? The noise from the log pile? Or was it the close proximity of Zachariah that was keeping her awake? She had no idea. But somehow she thought it to be the later. He smelt so good, all earthly and manly, and it was doing something to her, making her want him. She silently groaned.

  “What’s up, Holly?”

  “Err, nothing, nothing at all.”

  “Sure? Not scared or anything are you?”

  Her mind screamed, yes! Yes, I’m scared, scared of my feelings for you. Scared that I might lose control and tell you I love you, and scared that here in the middle of nowhere I want to rip your clothes off and let you take me to heaven. But instead she simply said, “No.”

  “Well, try and get some more sleep, because once we get away from here I don’t want to stop until Koyuk.”

  “K.” Holly resolutely closed her eyes. But it was no good, no matter how much she tried she couldn’t stop thinking about his hard body pressed close to hers. “Oh God!” She caught herself up as the words slipped inadvertently from her mouth.

  “Holly?”

  “Eh?”

  “What is it?”

  “Nothing, I’ve told you, it’s nothing.”

  A bit of maneuvering and Zachariah was lying on top of her. “Nothing?” His eyebrow lifted in enquiry. “Could it be that maybe you’re feeling a little—horny?”

  “Horny? Well, I never I…”

  “Sure you have, Holly, in fact if I remember correctly you’ve felt a lot horny on a number of occasions. And,” he said quickly as she made to interrupt, “I have the ideal medicine for a woman who is horny.”

  “Oh, and what would that be?” Holly asked, unable to resist.

  His whisper in her ear brought heat to Holly’s cheeks and a wetness invaded her panties.

  “Oh God, Zachariah.” She breathed as an ache made itself felt in her pelvis. Then without hesitation she reached up and pulled his head down, urgently seeking his lips with her own.

  His kiss was magical, drawing from her an answering response. His tongue played acrobatically with hers as his hands helped divest her of her clothing.

  Soon they were naked, breast to breast, hip to hip. Opening her legs Holly eagerly pleaded with him to fuck her and fuck her hard. Needing no second bidding Zachariah lifted his hips and pushed his cock home, deep into her moist pussy.

  Holly cried out at his penetration, enjoying the fullness of him inside her. Hooking her legs around his, she caught his hips with her hands and, pulling him toward her, aided his mighty thrusts.

  Zachariah’s mouth found her nipples and sucked hard, his suckling mimicking the energetic thrusting of his cock. Opening her thighs as wide as she was able under the restriction of the sleeping bag, Holly groaned in the back of her throat as his pubic hair tickled and rubbed against her swollen throbbing clitoris, the abrasive action sending her spiraling out of control.

  The ember of an orgasm ignited, blazing and burning a trail of fire, filling her belly and pulsating in her womb. She fizzed, sparked and buzzed as heat rushed through her veins and burst like an explosion in her pelvis.

  Pulling her legs up until her knees were hard against his hips, Zachariah penetrated her deeper his cock, seeking out her G-spot. Driving hard into her wide pussy and feeling her inner muscles tightening around his member started a chain reaction in Zachariah’s loins. The slap of his balls, the guttural sounds spilling from Holly’s throat and her heavy, sweet breath against his cheek brought forth an answering cry from him, and as he pounded into her G-spot, he climaxed, spilling his hot seed deep into her womb.

  The cabin grew silent and the air cooled. Zachariah pulled out of Holly an
d she uttered a small mew of protest. Rolling onto his back Zachariah dragged her inert body into his arms and pulled her head down onto his chest. Hearing the thunder of Zachariah’s heartbeat under her ear, she moved restlessly, her breasts tingling delightfully and her tender clitoris still throbbing in the aftermath of passion. And as to her heart, well that continued to thump in time with Zachariah’s. She truly loved this man, loved his gentleness, his compassion and his strength, if only he loved her in return. But as he didn’t, she would just take what was on offer, what he wanted to give, and if it was just sex, then so be it, at least it was something. Closing her eyes she slowly drifted off into a deep slumber.

  Zachariah looked at the ceiling. It was as ramshackle as the rest of the building, and had holes in the roof where snow was gently drifting in, and it was cold, but he felt warmth in his heart for Holly. She gave everything when she was in his arms, there was no holding back. She enjoyed him as he did her and it filled his bruised heart. But what of the future? He’d heard her whisper those words of love in Unalakleet, but she was so young, what did she know of love? He’d been the one to take her virginity and he doubted if she’d had another man in her bed since, so how could he be sure he was what she really wanted? Sex could so easily be mistaken for love, so was it that way for her? Or was she really and truly in love with him? He had to be sure of her feelings before he made his known, it was only fair. He’d been married once and happily married at that, and for a woman to be a second wife, well it took a lot. It took trust, honesty and deep abiding love on both sides. He knew his feelings and his mind, but did she? Zachariah sighed and closed his eyes. The wind was still howling around the cabin, sounding lonely and melancholy, and his heartbeat thumped in an answering response.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The gale had decreased in its ferocity and Holly, well wrapped up against the freezing temperatures, was following as per usual behind Zachariah’s team. It was an hour since they’d left the cabin but by not a word had their passionate coupling been mentioned. Not that she had expected a long and drawn-out discussion, but she had, she supposed, expected some acknowledgment. Like what? she asked herself a trifle cynically. Like, oh, she didn’t know, like—are you all right, love? Or maybe, a wonderful few hours, darling? She sniggered. As if!

  But would it have hurt for him to have sent her just a look, or given her a touch? Just a gentle touch of his fingers, or even a kiss, not necessarily a deep passionate kiss, but even a peck on the cheek would have been better than nothing. However, it was not to be. When she’d eventually surfaced he had already been up awhile, busily making coffee, and he had barely looked at her, just urged her to get a wriggle on, and when she’d climbed naked out of the sleeping bag, he’d turned away. If only he’d stopped and looked at her, really looked, then she would have thrown caution into the winds and hurled herself into his arms and begged him to love her forever. So, perhaps, on second thoughts, it was a good thing he hadn’t encouraged her.

  Soon they were skimming over the thick ice, the water underneath, although not very deep, was deep enough to give Holly the jitters. Having fallen through ice once was horrific and the memory would stay with her forever, but twice would be a nightmare. As the sleigh glided smoothly she could hear the crack of ice underneath the runners and it unnerved her.

  Keeping one eye on the markers and the other on the mountain ranges, Holly was relieved it was Zachariah who was reading the compass and determining the direction, as she would be sure to get them lost. The miles soon passed and Holly began to notice buildings, an indicator that there was only around another ten miles to go before they reached Koyuk.

  * * * *

  Pulling into the checkpoint which was just a tent situated on the beach, Zachariah arbitrarily decided that they would not be stopping. So, with that in mind they grabbed a quick cup of coffee, fed the dogs, ate some trail mix and within the hour they were leaving, heading swiftly toward Elim!

  After leaving the checkpoint at Koyuk they stayed on the ice and headed along the shore. Climbing up over ridges a quarter of a mile high, they found themselves in the trees, and it was at this point Holly breathed a sigh of relief. A few miles on and she could see the rise of Mount Kwiniuk, which was actually five miles past Elim, but was so big it dominated the skyline. The rise was every kind of nightmare she could have imagined. The altitude, the unnerving sight of trees looking as if they had been shrunk by a mad scientist, and the full force of the wind that blew like a tornado around them had her already strung-out nerves screaming in panic. The dogs were running well and for the first time Holly could feel the end in sight, although realistically it was still around 165 miles to Nome.

  * * * *

  Beginning the descent, they passed through forests before crossing the mouth of the river Kwik and headed into the full force of the wind. Passing another cabin, Holly of course wanted to stop but she was out of luck as Zachariah whizzed straight past it. The wind was behind them now and they kept on going and going. She was cold, hungry and exhausted but Zachariah, obviously focused, continued to push on.

  Eventually, they passed Moses Point and thankfully got off the ice. Houses and cabins were scattered along this part of the trail and Holly recognized that they were travelling through Old Elim, which was now only used as a fishing camp. However, Zachariah still didn’t indicate that they were going to stop and Holly sighed in exasperation, muttering dire warnings about the forms of torture she wanted to use on his inert body. Several miles on they were once again running on ice, and swiftly passed the old discarded Moses Point FAA station where the only thing left in operation was the unmanned radio beacon. Travelling on a road about ten miles from Elim, Zachariah stopped and after a brief conversation with Holly determined that they should run in the ditch. His explanation for this decision was sound, the road surface amounted to just gravel in places, and would easily wreck the plastic covering on the runners.

  The ditch didn’t make for pleasant running, it was narrow and uneven and Holly felt every bump as her bones were jolted along with the sled. A relatively short run in the ditch and the gravel gave way to ice and they bounced their way out of the rut to begin the steady climb to the headland. Finding it a long and arduous climb that tested woman, man, and beast, she nevertheless stayed focused. Fortunately an hour later Zachariah elected to rest the dogs for thirty minutes to prevent heat exhaustion. Although this justification to Holly seemed a touch bizarre as the temperature was in fact freezing. Giving voice to her thoughts, she listened in fascination as Zachariah then patiently explained that canines had a higher body temperature than humans and the effort of the climb could cause the dogs to overheat, resulting in heatstroke and probable death.

  Thirty minutes later, the dogs fed, rested, and watered, they were back on track, moving ever swiftly toward the next checkpoint. Zigzagging through trees heavily laden with snow, their boughs weighted toward the ground, Holly let her gaze and thoughts wander as they headed downward on the trail toward Elim.

  It was darker amongst the trees and the previous blinding white of the snow was now more subdued, mainly because of the shadowed mottling effect of the sun’s rays through their branches. Eventually they reached the checkpoint, which was situated in the state maintenance garage. The dogs were bedded down on the north side out of the howling wind. Exhausted but happy to be there, Holly dazedly followed Zachariah to check in. Wanting to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him, she instead settled for a wide grin when he decided to spend the afternoon in Elim and give the dogs some time to recharge their batteries. The dogs’ well-being was of course of paramount importance to Zachariah, and if he felt they needed rest, then rest they would have. Wishing he had as much care and concern for her, Holly nevertheless was glad of a welcome break. After a wash in hot water, Holly went to the designated area with Zachariah for some food and a much needed sleep.

  * * * *

  At the setting of the sun, Zachariah and Holly pulled away from the checkpoint i
n Elim. Calculating that they had travelled approximately 875 miles to this point, and still had another 133 miles to go, Holly sighed. At least the end was now in sight. She felt a mess, she’d had the odd shower but wanted nothing more than to soak in a hot bubble bath, wash her hair until it was squeaky clean, brush her teeth and climb between clean, cool cotton sheets and maybe, just maybe, eat a large cream cake.

  It was dark and they were heading out to sea and running on ice. This was a part of the trail Holly embarked on with a certain amount of trepidation. Why on earth Zachariah didn’t decide to wait until morning was beyond her. Reaching Walla Walla, which was about ten miles from Golovin, they journeyed across land on the Old Elim Mail Trail. Here was mostly woodland and the trail was narrow, bumpy, and winding, and she needed to stay focused. A dog with a broken limb would be a disaster. Soon they were climbing up and over the Kwiktalik Mountains, the going was hard and on more than one occasion Holly’s breath through sheer terror caught in the back of her throat. Eventually they reached the final summit, that of Little McKinley, which to Holly’s relief was just ten miles from Golovin. But her relief was short lived as she soon realized that this part of the trail was one of the most difficult. The moon was out brightening the path ahead, highlighting the spectacular view from the top of Little McKinley. Squinting she could just about make out Golovin at the end of the rocky peninsula by the pinprick of lights from the village which looked like the fairy lights on a Christmas tree. Looking across the vista was breathtaking, she felt as if she was on top of the world. The silvery moonlight was shining down on the valley below, making the whole scene ethereally beautiful, but it also made her feel very small and insignificant.