Snowbound

by MG Braden

  his touch. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

  She threaded her fingers into his hair and pulled his face down to hers. She was being braver, or

  perhaps it was more brazen than she’d ever been, but she needed to kiss him. When his lips met hers she

  held nothing back and neither did Daniel. This was no gentle, tentative kiss. She could feel the force

  behind his kiss, not hurtful, yet demanding. She met it with all the desire she had built up. Hearing a groan,

  she felt him shift position. His kisses trailed down her jaw line, his breath in her ear made her shiver as

  he kissed down her neck. Her hands ran down his back and back up to his hair, his face, just touching him.

  Feeling him. Cool air caressed her skin as he pulled back from her. She tugged at his shirt to pull him

  closer. She just wanted to feel the warmth of him near her again.

  He put his hands over hers, held them still and said, “Do you know how beautiful you are? You are,

  you know. Inside and out. I think...I just think we need to slow this thing down.”

  “Slow it down? Oh.” She didn’t understand. She was ready to rip both of their clothes off.

  “You’ve had a rough day. You were already tired and now you’re even more so. Plus, you’re hurt. I

  can’t take advantage of that.”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Take advantage? You don’t want me? But you seemed...and I

  thought...”

  “Oh believe me, Cass. I want you. Look at me. You can tell that I want you.” She could see that he

  was clearly aroused. “But I also want to not be lying on newspapers on a hard floor worrying about

  exposure.” He smiled a very slow, sensuous smile. “When I expose your body I damn sure don’t want it

  getting frostbitten. Maybe a nibble here and there...”

  She swatted at his chest. “OK, I get it.”

  He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her in close, turning her so that she was facing the fire and

  he was behind her once again. “Let’s try to get some rest

  Chapter Fourteen

  Every muscle in his body hurt. He’d slept fitfully, with his arms around Cassidy, wanting to make

  sure she stayed warm. Holding her wasn’t exactly a hardship—in fact, if not for the strangeness of their

  situation it would be pure pleasure. He’d tried to keep her at least slightly cushioned. His body wasn’t

  used to sleeping on the floor and the newspapers weren’t much for padding. By the stiff way Cassidy was

  moving, he suspected she wasn’t fairing much better. That was in addition to her ankle.

  They had been in the chapel for about sixteen hours now. The walkie-talkie had never come back to

  life, so he could only assume that there was a rescue team trying to dig them out. Even though they had

  been careful there weren’t very many rations left. One and a half bags of trail mix weren’t going to go

  very far. They were also down to their last stack of wood, so he sure hoped they were going to be out of

  here soon.

  The silence between them was easy now, having already spent the morning talking. He kept

  encouraging her to move around and keep her energy up. Staying active would help with the stiffness, so

  he kept moving around too. Checking on her ankle, he’d left it unwrapped for a while, when she wasn’t

  walking on it.

  “Time to rewrap that ankle and get you moving again.” He smiled at her. She was sitting in a chair

  near the fire with her foot propped up. She had her eyes closed, but he knew she wasn’t asleep. When she

  opened them he was once again struck by their colour. The grey eyes were surrounded by thick dark

  lashes and always a stray curl from her head in the way, making them appear to peek out from behind. She

  must have got some sun this week, as there was a smattering of freckles just across her pert nose, and a

  warmth of colour added to her creamy skin.

  “Yes, master.” When she used that tone, adding her wide smile, he would almost swear she was up

  to something. There was a good sparkle in her eye, something he hadn’t seen when he first met her. He

  hoped he was the one who put it there.

  “You learn fast. Always listen to me and you won’t get in trouble,” he teased.

  “Right. I’ll try to remember that.” She shifted her foot as he wrapped it. “Oh, that’s a bit tight.”

  “Sorry, I do want it tight, but not uncomfortable.” He adjusted it. “Is it ok now?”

  She stood up and tested it. He saw that she was putting more weight on it, which was a good sign. “I

  think so. Thanks.”

  As she turned to walk she caught the edge of her chair and stumbled. He caught her easily.

  “Dance?” Since they had woken up he’d tried to keep a slight distance from her. Not because he didn’t

  want to touch her, but because he feared if he started again he might not be able to stop. She deserved

  better than that, she deserved romance. Now, holding her in his arms again, he wondered if he was out of

  his mind. He wanted to kiss those full lips, explore her lush body. He felt his resolve dim and lowered his

  head toward hers.

  * * *

  Just as Daniel’s lips were about to touch hers, Cassidy put her hand up in front of them. As much as

  she wanted to kiss him, and she really did, she hadn’t brushed her teeth since yesterday morning and she

  was feeling less than hygienic at the moment. Fuzzy teeth did not make for hot kisses.

  “Something I said?” he asked, after he basically ended up kissing her hand.

  She shook her head. “No, but, do you have any mints or gum or anything like that?”

  “Are you trying to say I have bad breath?”

  Horrified at what she’d clumsily implied, she rushed to answer, “No! Oh no, I meant for me. I’m

  sorry, but it’s been a while since I brushed my teeth and...”

  “Ahh, I see. That I understand. I bet mine could use something too, but I don’t have anything that

  will help.” He walked away to the busted out window. She watched him grab some snow and scrub it into

  his face.

  She couldn’t believe she just spoiled a tender moment between them. Stupid Cass, really stupid.

  Way to ruin the kiss. Last night you were ready to jump his bones and today you’re pushing him away.

  He’s going to think you’re wishy-washy. Wanting everything to be perfect, she didn’t want him to kiss

  her and think about how awful her breath was. She wondered if she would ever feel self-confident again.

  There were moments where she was filled with it, then in a rush of insecurity, it would be gone. Man, she

  was going crazy in here. The need to have a shower and a good night’s sleep overwhelmed her. Rubbing

  the back of her neck, she tried to ease the tension.

  “Let me do that.” He came up behind her, using his hands and fingers to work out the knots. It felt so

  good. She said nothing, afraid to ruin yet another moment between them. His thumbs worked their way up

  the cords of her neck and then down to her shoulders, he continued down using his whole hand along

  various pressure points in her back.

  “Mmm.” She would have purred if she could have. Oh this feels so good. She’d never had a man

  massage her like this. In fact, she’d given Rick massages all the time but he had never once offered to

  return the favor. Why was I with someone like that? After a pause the next thought came quickly to her.

  Because I didn’t know men like this existed.

  “Here—sit facing the back of the chair.” He flipped a chair around for her and she straddled
it,

  leaning over the back with her head on her arms. His hands slid up and down her spine, working their

  magic. She almost dozed off as his hands slowed down. He wasn’t massaging anymore as much as he was

  lightly rubbing her back. Up and down, into her hair, around her shoulders, back to her hips. Her breath

  came more quickly and the feeling of sleep was replaced by a delicious coiling inside her abdomen. She

  knew she need only turn around, and he would be encouraged to go further. They could turn that coiling

  into an explosion. Yet, there was no demand from him to have any more than this and slowly she drifted

  off into that state between sleep and consciousness.

  It was hard to say how long they stayed like that; time seemed irrelevant since they couldn’t go

  anywhere. When she finally became fully aware, the first thing she noticed was the temperature had

  dropped and there was a heaviness against her back. Shifting, she felt Daniel’s head resting awkwardly

  against her. The soft snoring sounds told her he was asleep. She was trying to figure out a delicate way of

  extricating herself when a tumble of snow fell through the open window at the front of the chapel. She

  forgot about being delicate and jolted straight up, cringing as his head bobbed down and then back up,

  waking him rudely. At that moment she was more concerned about the snow that continued to fall in

  through the windows. Was there another avalanche? No, there couldn’t be. There was no noise, no

  shaking. Just snow falling through the window.

  She looked over to Daniel who still yawned and looked around, as if he was trying to get his

  bearings. “What’s going on?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not sure. It seems as if the snow is collapsing.” He tried his walkie-talkie

  again, but now it was completely dead. “Must be the batteries or something. I’m not sure if I grabbed a

  charged one or not, I was in too much of a hurry.” Picking up his sweater, he pulled it over his head, then

  he went over to where the snow was falling in through the window. “I wonder if we can find a way to

  sweep this to the side, so that when it melts it doesn’t make a path down to where we are sleeping. I

  chose that spot because it was close to the fire and therefore still dry from the avalanche. I’d hate to see it

  get wet, because then we won’t have any padding at all to keep us off the cold floor.”

  Cassidy grabbed her jacket from the floor and put it on. The air was cooling rapidly and they were

  trying to save what little wood they had left for night time, when they’d need it the most. “It’s coming in

  too fast. I don’t think sweeping is going to help, not that we even have a broom.”

  For a time they just stood watching the snow fall into the room, getting deeper with each dump. Her

  feet were chilled, so she walked around, trying to warm up as best she could with her hobbled ankle.

  Every part of her was so cold. Curiously, she noticed that the snow wasn’t falling through any of the other

  broken windows and she pointed it out to Daniel. “It’s only that one window. That’s so weird. I wish it

  would stop. I’m getting worried.”

  He went to each of the other windows where the snow from the previous days had come through

  and packed itself in. Then he went back to the first window. “Wait, I think I hear something. It sounds

  like... it sounds like equipment of some sort.”

  “Equipment?” Her voice was hopeful.

  “Yes. Let’s hope they are digging us out of here and not just grooming or anything.”

  “I thought they didn’t groom back here.”

  “They don’t usually, I just don’t want to get your hopes up in case I’m wrong.”

  Suddenly she was able to hear the noise too and it was getting louder. “I can hear it! It’s getting

  closer.” Trying not to get excited, she couldn’t help herself from hoping. The humming noise grew louder,

  more snow fell in the front window, then the chapel shook slightly. Her eyes widened. What if they were

  wrong? What if something else was happening? No. Think positive, Cass.

  The chapel stopped shaking. The door opened with such a force that both she and Daniel jumped

  back. She was so surprised she grabbed him and gripped his sweater tightly.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Fancy meeting you two here. Someone call for a ride?” Sandra asked, with what sounded like

  forced cheer, as she peered in through the door.

  “Oh, thank God.” The words seemed to tumble out of Cassidy’s mouth as she let go of Daniel.

  “Hey!” Daniel wasn’t sure whether to be insulted or not.

  “I just meant I was getting worried that we’d be here forever. I’m cold, my foot hurts and we were

  running out of firewood.”

  “Right. Good point.” Still he thought they’d done pretty well under the circumstances.

  “Well, it looks like you two didn’t do too badly. Let’s get you back down the mountain. I’ve got a

  physician standing by to check you both over to make sure.”

  “I’m fine, but Cass has sprained her ankle pretty badly. Are there snowmobiles out there?” He

  indicated toward the door with his head.

  “Yes. Go ahead, take the first one. We need to check out the damage here so I’ll hop on back with

  one of the other guys to get down.” Sandra moved further into the chapel to look around as some of the

  others on the team were still working outside.

  “You got everything?” he asked Cassidy. They both looked around the room. “I guess there’s not

  much to have, but I mean your coat or whatever.”

  “I’ve got it.” She seemed reserved.

  “Anything else?” He looked at some of the flowers that hadn’t been knocked over or crushed.

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Okay, here we go.” Lifting her up, he carried her to the snowmobile and liked the way she felt in

  his arms. Not feather light, but she felt real and solid in his arms. He liked that he could hold her and had

  something to hold. Having briefly dated a woman who dieted herself down to some anorexic weight and

  felt too fragile, he always worried she’d break when he touched her. Being too thin like that kind of

  creeped him out. He liked a woman to curve like a woman and not just at the bust line. Settling Cassidy on

  the machine, he then swung his own leg over.

  “Wait, please.” She laid a hand on his back, turned and yelled out to Sandra, “Did you find Rick? Is

  he ok?”

  Daniel was surprised she was still worried about Rick considering what he’d done. Then again,

  one of the things he liked about Cassidy was her concern for others. Even if Rick wasn’t the most decent

  guy, being buried alive in an avalanche wouldn’t be something Daniel wished on anyone.

  Sandra came out to stand beside the snowmobile. “We found out that he made it down before the

  avalanche hit. He’s completely fine. He turned in your skis and was about to leave when he heard about it.

  He told us where you were, but by then Daniel had already reached you. I think he feels pretty bad.” She

  paused. “He’s still down at the lodge.”

  “Thank you.”

  Daniel turned to look back at Cassidy. “You, okay?”

  She only nodded, wrapped her arms around his middle and put her head down into his back. He

  wasn’t sure if she was crying or just preparing to face the wind. “Okay, hang on tight.” Turning on the

  machine, he revved it and took off. He loved the exhilaration of riding on a snowmobil
e with a pretty

  woman sitting behind him and clinging tightly. Especially when that pretty woman was slowly thawing his

  long frozen heart.

  * * *

  By the time they made it to the bottom of the slope and into the lodge, Cassidy’s whole body was

  numb, outside and in. She couldn’t believe all that had happened in such a short space of time. The whole

  thing was mind boggling and just a tad surreal to her. A medical team greeted them upon their arrival in

  the lodge and he and Daniel were separated to be checked over. It all happened so quickly, but

  somewhere in the flurry of people she swore she had seen Rick’s face. Her thoughts drifted, though she

  snapped out of it when she heard the doctor speak to her. “Pardon me?”

  “I was just saying that overall you check out, but you’re probably suffering from shock and mild

  hypothermia. Your ankle is sprained, but it looks like it received appropriate care. There’s not much you

  can do for that except keep it elevated, iced and wrapped when you are walking, which you should try to

  minimize if you can. In the meantime, I’d like you to have a warm bath, not too hot, to bring your

  temperature back up. Then you should dress in some warm pajamas and climb into bed.”

  “I can do that. Thanks, doctor.” Cassidy didn’t move off the bed where he was examining her. The

  medical team had commandeered several rooms on the main floor of the lodge. She didn’t think she had

  the strength to stand up and wondered how she was going to get up to her room—she was so tired. She

  worried about Daniel and wondered how he was making out. He’d done his best to keep her warm, and in

  doing so she suspected he’d ignored his own needs.

  “Ms. Jensen?” She heard the voice of the doctor, as if from far away. “Ms. Jensen, we’re going to

  get you up to your own room now. I’m going to have a nurse go with you because I don’t want you to fall

  asleep in the bath. She’ll take care of you.”

  There was a commotion outside the doors. Cassidy heard loud voices. Wearily, she sat up

  wondering what was going on. The door to the room banged opened, Rick stood framed inside, one hand

  on the door. She sighed.

  “You can’t just barge in here. We’re trying to treat this patient.” The doctor sounded annoyed.