I could tell by how fast her breathing was she had started to panic. I couldn’t afford for her to lose it and my heartbeat stuttered in my chest when I thought of how calm I needed her to be to save energy and air.
“There you are, baby,” I cooed softly in a calming voice as I smiled warmly like everything was fine. It wasn’t—far from it—but at least we were alive.
A rough calculation told me we must have been near to the base of the mountain. We had been at least halfway down when the avalanche hit us. We’d worked hard on our run—skiing off-trail took skill, fitness, and speed. This had helped us generate heat on the surface of our bodies and that paid off as the snow around us had melted quickly creating a void for us to move a little more freely under the snow.
However, our heat also made us perspire and that was detrimental because it made our clothing and bodies increase our chances of suffering from hypothermia faster as we cooled down.
I was thankful that we weren’t crushed completely by the falling snow and sighed with relief. Suddenly, Charlotte began to scream. The last thing Charlotte needed to do was cause herself further problems though panic. Speaking sternly to prevent her from passing the point of no return in her panicked state, I told her we had to think quickly if she wanted us to survive.
Like the flick of a switch she stopped and stared up at me through her goggles, giving me her full attention.
“Baby it’s okay. We’re still upright so I know the sky is above us. Try not to panic, it will use up more oxygen. It’s all good. We’ve got so many trackers in our jackets and on my phone, they’ll be here in no time. The two-way radio Gregory equipped me with is the best on the market. I have no idea how much snow is on us, it could be anything from a couple of feet to more. The best thing we can do is not panic and have some faith. They’ll come and get us.
“I’m scared,” she replied in a whisper, her eyes wide with fear before she closed them again.
“Look at me,” I commanded sternly and her eyes flew open again. “I know you are, but you can’t let that fear control you. The main things we need for survival are a clear head, calm logic and faith we’ll be found. We’re equipped for this with the best money can buy, babe. We gotta hang tight. They’ll find us.”
Somehow, I managed to maneuver the backpack off and slide it alongside me. Reaching into my inside pocket, I pulled out the small two-way device that would summon help. I assumed the rescue team were already on their way, no doubt alerted by Greg who knew our position.
A small smooth cold length of steel also registered in my brain and I pulled out the ice pick and dug it into the snow beside Charlotte’s head, placing the wristband around my wrist immediately. If anything shifted again we were anchored to our spot.
I had been constantly scratching at the snow with my other hand and eventually reached the melting snow next to my body and found the closed zipper in my ski jacket pocket through the thick Gortex gloves I wore.
Retracing the pathway my hand had made, I pulled out the two-way radio which was already tuned in to channel 9 and held it up to my face. Pressing the talk button, I cringed when loud static crackled because the noise was magnified in our confined space.
“Mayday, mayday, come in base. We are a party of two currently trapped and buried under the avalanche on the north side of Lavender Ridge. I figure we are somewhere in the bottom third of the north face. Last point before snow hit we were traveling horizonal toward the east... that’s left as you look at the ridge. Radio frequency will be maintained here on Channel 9. We are a party of two and at present we are unhurt… I repeat no casualties but restricted movement and we are in a small void. Greg, this is McKenna, mayday, we’re stuck east of Lavender Ridge do you copy?” I added at the end in a personal message to Greg.
I repeated the message twice more then heard the crackled connection as Greg’s voice came back. “Copy that, McKenna, we have you placed via the various trackers on your devices. We’re on our way. ETA to the ridge less than four minutes. Mountain Rescue Ski Patrol are already on the scene and making their way down to you right now.
"These are the coordinates in case we lose radio contact for some reason and someone is closer." Greg proceeded to give me the exact map references. What I was supposed to do with them, I had no idea. We knew where we were… buried beneath a shit ton of snow.
I placed the radio back in my pocket and zipped it up in the event we suddenly shifted again and turned my attention back to Charlotte. She was quiet, too quiet for my liking… and cold.
Reaching back into the backpack I pulled out the flask I had packed and four small packets containing foil blankets. Swiftly, I opened one and unfolded it down the length of Charlotte as far as I could reach. I pulled her over toward me and slipped it beneath her. Tearing the second packet open with my teeth I put the second on top of her.
Rummaging in again I felt the hard packets of hand warmers, six of them. Pulling them out one at a time, I snapped them to create the heat, and stuffed them around her, three at each side of her hips. Pulling out a straw, I opened the flask and inserted the long straw into the warm sugary liquid.
“Drink,” I ordered. Charlotte was drowsy but did as I asked and a couple of minutes later was much more with it.
I turned my attention to the snow and began to chip at the snow to the side of me creating a funnel that gradually became vertical. It was difficult, being as the snow was on my back and I was facing in the wrong direction. Then in less time than I had anticipated we’d be stuck here, I heard the radio crackle again.
“Lavender Mountain Ski Patrol to McKenna. We have your position and are making our way down to you. The trackers have you situated where you guesstimated you were. Do you copy?”
Fishing for the radio, I switched the talk button on and replied.
“Roger that. Do you have an ETA? My ski partner’s condition is deteriorating. Symptoms of hypothermia have been treated but I’m not sure how long I have before she slips back.”
“We’re proceeding with caution from the north ridge base up. Good news is you aren’t far from the bottom and we reckon we’ll be over you in less than ten minutes judging by the signal. Keep the channel open and on, copy?”
“Roger that.” Relief washed through me and that in itself was almost overwhelming. We weren’t out of danger until we were safely off the mountain, but being aware our rescuers were only minutes away was a real boost to my confidence that we’d soon be recovered.
Tucking the foil blanket tighter around Charlotte, she stared silently up at me and instead of the fear I’d witnessed before I saw trust. I bent and kissed her forehead, “You’re doing great, babe. At least your date won’t be anything like the others, huh? They’ll all seem dull in comparison,” I teased as I tried to keep the vibe positive. She gave me a small weak smile, and I felt like shit for causing her so much worry.
By then it would have been so easy to lose control and create more issues for ourselves, but I was fortunate that Charlotte knew me well. She was no rookie to skiing off-trail and even though she wasn’t verbalizing it, I reckoned she knew every action I’d taken was the best for our survival.
Chapter Six
The rescue took place a few minutes after my last message and we were taken to the infirmary at the base of the slopes.
Once home, I knew Charlotte was still suffering from the cold and I ordered her straight to bed.
Inside, the cabin felt like a warm furnace to me after being under the snow for all that time. My skin was red and stung; the snow burn, and painful chilblains, a constant reminder of our ordeal.
Keeping Charlotte warm and helping her recover were the main objectives for what was left of the day. Greg had ordered in plenty of nourishing food in the way of soups, hot lasagna and calorie-loaded desserts.
By 7pm, Charlotte was tucked up under a heavy duck down duvet by the fire, drinking some warmed-up soup. They had wanted to keep her at the hospital overnight because her temperature had been slow
to recover, but she'd insisted she’d do better at mine and promised to stay in bed until the following morning.
Paying close attention to Charlotte’s recovery, I was pleased when she devoured her food, but that alone wasn’t quite enough for me to relax. Her appearance still had tell-tale signs of her ordeal in that her lips and skin were still pale, and she still periodically shivered.
It was perfectly acceptable to feel wiped out, and yawn after a few strenuous ski runs, but knowing what she’d been through made me hyper-vigilant as to any signs of a relapse in her condition.
The mountaineers hadn’t been far off when they had estimated the time as ten minutes to reach us. We were later told it had been thirteen. By then I was still in reasonable shape, but Charlotte was much less perky and chilled to the bone.
Being dragged out of our snowy tomb by brute strength and determination had left me feeling extremely mortal in that situation. I shuddered to think what would have happened given another few minutes down there.
My observations for signs of a relapse continued. I noted her teeth chattered uncontrollably in between sips of the steaming hot soup and this gave me further cause for concern.
Apart from feeling exhausted myself, I felt like shit and was wracked with guilt that I’d gone against my better judgment and taken her up there, no matter if it was her idea to do it or not. She humbled me beyond measure when she defended me to our rescuers telling everyone how diligent I’d been during my risk assessment and mentioning how I’d carefully checked the conditions and avalanche risk.
The mountaineers then told me they had since found out the temperatures at the top of the peak were a couple of degrees off, and that unexpected spike clashed with the conditions on the ground where fresh snow fall the previous night, and how suddenly the weather had changed, made the likelihood of what happened that much greater. I knew all of that, but there had been no risk warning posted prior to us being up there.
Unbeknown to us, the explosives guy had reported in the worsening conditions just prior to us setting off down the mountainside on our run and when one of the spotters—employed to report any issues—saw some changing conditions, they closed the runs. Unfortunately for us, by then we were already on our way down.
We’d had the luckiest escape of our lives and I felt I couldn’t do enough for the guys who had rescued us. Being so grateful, I knew I’d be donating money for them to stock up on whatever they needed to help them do their job better in the future and they’d be one of my new regular charities to donate to.
After stacking extra blankets on her bed, I lay lazily across the bottom near her feet and talked for a while because I was afraid to leave her. What if she slipped into a coma if she became cold again in the night?
The temperature always dropped a few degrees inside no matter how steady the heating system continued to burn. The cabin was extremely well insulated, but I knew it wouldn’t take much for her to react to the slightest of changes to the ambient air inside. During a conversation where I asked her a question, I noticed she was particularly slow to respond.
A few minutes later, I noticed she had begun to nod off during an upbeat conversation we were having. It was enough of a signal for me to take more action to ensure she stayed healthy and warm.
“That’s it. I’m taking you to my bed.” When Charlotte barely registered what I’d said to her, I knew I‘d made the right decision. “My bedroom has a huge living flame gas fire and I figure if I burn it all night, with my body next to yours, it would help to keep your temperature stable.”
“Okay, how can I say no to an offer like that?” she murmured in her drowsy state, forcing a weak smile. Her response told me more than any complaint she could have made about feeling cold.
Although she was tall, Charlotte was light to carry. She felt good in my strong arms, but I was more focused on being her protector rather than anything sexual. I made my way from her room to mine and swept back the thick duck down duvet with my foot before placing her on the bed.
Cranking up the fire to full capacity, I turned out the light, stripped down to my boxer briefs, and slid in beside her. Her whole body shook from the cold and she immediately latched onto my body. Wrapping her legs around mine, she placed her arm around my waist and nuzzled her face into my chest. I adjusted her position by sliding my arm under her neck and pulling her flush to me as I wrapped my arms tightly around her.
When her shivering continued, I pulled the thick cover over our heads to create heat from our breaths and began to rub her back and arms in my efforts to generate more heat for her. After a few minutes her breathing and body grew quiet, and I knew the action I had taken had worked.
Eventually, she settled down and shifted, relaxing her grip on me as she slid her legs free from mine and turned to face away from me. As she did this, she nestled back into my front and I pulled my arm tightly around her again, tucking it under her waist.
It was at this point my protective role ended, and my natural all-male reaction to lying there in the comfort of my bed with a stunningly beautiful woman took over. Ever since I had set eyes on her, she had stirred feelings within me and generated this strong magnetic pull toward her. From what she had said before, the attraction was mutual. I was determined to treat her right, to respect and protect her, but my dick had other ideas.
Unlike my bandmates, I had never been the kind of guy who wanted to jump and run from a sexual encounter. I used to pass this off as being too lazy and wiped to ask her to leave, but the truth of it was that it was often a lonely life traveling from place to place. Often, the only conversations I had were with the same people who were around me for all the waking hours of my day. Having someone who wasn’t part of the daily crew to bounce off now and again felt like a breath of fresh air.
Lying in the dark with only the glow of the fire felt incredibly cozy, an unfamiliar feeling. Although Charlotte was a relative stranger to me as an adult, I still drew great comfort from knowing I knew her from before I was famous.
Authentic was the word that came to mind for the relationship I sought with her. She may have been in my bed, but she was here for a very genuine reason, a reason that had nothing to do with sex. Strangely, the feeling it gave me was one of the most peaceful I’d ever had.
“Sick,” Charlotte suddenly muttered, breaking into my relaxed state and jolting me into action. Immediately, I threw back the covers, scooped her up in my arms and dashed with her to the bathroom.
Crouching down by the bowl she spewed most of what she had eaten back up as I gathered her hair and held it away from her face. After several attempts at leaving the bathroom, we brushed her teeth, and I helped her back into bed.
Another bout of Charlotte shivering, had me wrapping my arms and legs around her, keeping her near. I rubbed her arms and legs, butt, and back, until she began to generate her own heat again and we settled back down. Listening to Charlotte’s steady, even breathing, convinced me she was okay again and once the warmth from her body began to transfer to mine. I drifted off to sleep in no time.
My sleep was heavy and dreamless once it finally claimed me. After the trauma I’d faced, being recovered was only part of my ordeal, and worrying about Charlotte after she became sick had drawn on my last ounce of energy.
* * *
Being drawn from my sleep I felt the sensual sweep of a soft feminine palm ghosting over my pecs. It took me a second or two to remember it was Charlotte who was in my bed. Her lightest touch continued, trailing down my torso, and her action drew me to full consciousness. I became aware of Charlotte’s sweet scent as she lay next to me.
The hand came to rest firmly at my hip and I heard her attempt to softly clear her throat. My first instinct was to keep my eyes closed, but as everything else that had happened between us had an air of honesty to it, I came clean and let her know I was awake.
“Are you checking me out?” I asked in a gruff morning voice as I cracked one eye slowly open.
God she’s incred
ibly beautiful. I had been right in my previous assumption. Charlotte was a stunning sight to wake up to. Her hair was all mussed up and her lips—pale the day before—were back to their enticingly kissable cherry-red. Color had also flushed her cheeks and a small bashful smile played on her face. ‘Morning Charlotte’ was fucking adorable to look at. I flashed her a lazy smile almost without realizing it.
“Busted,” she admitted and dropped her gaze down inside the covers.
Her eyes immediately shot back up to look at me as the color of her face changed to crimson. I knew she had most likely caught sight of my morning wood tenting my boxers under there and silently thanked God she was facing me.
I couldn’t begin to imagine the scenario where my rigid cock was pressed hard against her ass if she had still been spooning with me like before. It would have taken a lot more convincing for her to believe I wasn’t interested in more. Being in my line of work, people automatically assumed we didn’t care where we stuck it.
Without thinking, I raised my hand and brushed strands of hair away from her face, If I'm honest, I wanted to touch her in any way I was allowed. “How are you feeling?” I asked, ignoring her sudden awkwardness.
She inhaled deeply through her nose, sighed as she exhaled, and nodded. “Much better, thank you,” she replied, in a voice laced with relief. “I can’t remember the last time I slept so soundly,” she said. Moving position, she proceeded to hug me tightly. “Thank you for saving my life,” she said in a voice full of emotion. I knew the impact of what had almost happened would sink in at some point and I tightened my arms around her to make her feel safe.
Without thinking, I automatically wrapped my leg over hers as I pulled the bottom half of her body closer to me with my heel. She let out a small “oomph,” noise which caught me by surprise and made me realize what I’d done.
Souled: Bid on Love: Bachelor #1 Page 7