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Snowbound

By: Sensual_Goddess



Beth arrived in Chicago just ahead of the storm. It wasn't predicted to be a very big storm, but by the time she was in the cab and on her way to the hotel, the wind had shifted and the snow was blinding. The cab driver didn't seem alarmed, so Beth tried to relax. Between the flight and the weather, she was tense. She told herself she would have dinner and get back to her room. She had planned her arrival a day early so she could see some of the sights while she was here, but it didn't look like the weather was going to cooperate. At least she was staying in a nice hotel. She was almost looking forward to a day alone.

Beth's room looked out toward the city. Bright lights contrasted with the gloomy weather and made it feel warmer than it really was. She decided she would take a quick shower before dinner. She stripped out of her travel suit; sensible shoes that slipped off easily, black slacks, red sweater. She stood there for a moment, caught her reflection in the mirror. "Not bad for 44," she said out loud, as she reached behind her back to unclasp her bra. She stepped out of her panties, and left everything in a pile in the floor.

Something about showering in unfamiliar surroundings was always a little bit of a turn on for Beth. Everything felt a little different than at home. The light pressure of the water, the smooth stone floor unlike the slightly rough tile at home, the scent of the body wash all mixed together and made her feel a little vulnerable and exposed. She kept her eyes closed while she washed herself with the soft wash cloth. She could smell the lavender and rosemary in the soap. She was beginning to feel very warm, inside and out. She leaned back and let the water hit her mid chest, run in rivulets down her body, tickle her between the legs. She dropped the washcloth and began to pinch her nipples, not too hard, but enough to make them tingle. They were rock hard and very responsive to her touch. The warm water licked at her pussy lips, and she relaxed her knees so she could feel that warmth on her clit. She was imagining that warm water as a strong, firm tongue lapping at her, could feel hands on her ass holding her still. She moaned softly when she came, and stood there with her fingers still caressing her nipples for a minute or two after the spasms had subsided.

The snow looked to be falling even harder when Beth got out of the shower. She wrapped up in the big fluffy towel and opened her suitcase. She pulled out a black sweater dress and her black bra and panties. She liked getting dressed up, even if she was going to dinner alone. "You never know when you might run into someone interesting, and you want to be prepared," she thought. Tonight, Beth was prepared. Her black dress was clingy and soft. It accentuated her curves without showing too much. She left her hair a little messy, because the hotel soft water didn't allow for anything else, really. Just a smear of lipstick and a dab of perfume and she was ready. She grabbed her bag and headed for the elevator.

The restaurant was crowded since nobody wanted to go out in the weather. Beth gave her name to the maitre d', who told her it would be about an hour before a table was ready. She was going to sit in the lobby and read to pass the time when a man's voice from behind her offered the fourth seat at his table. She had no trouble carrying on a conversation with strangers, she just wasn't sure she was in the mood for it. It had been a long day and she was looking forward to some quiet. But, she was also hungry. It would be nice to be fed and tucked in before too long. Beth turned to see who was offering.

The first thing she noticed was the smile in his eyes. Not on his face, but in his eyes. Green eyes that met hers level and held her gaze. The gaze that Beth couldn't hold because she was checking him out. Was that really a dimple in his left cheek? Hard to tell with the late afternoon shadow, but he had a warm smile regardless. Confident enough to keep his hair cut short, instead of fighting the receeding hairline. Beth found herself wanting to rub his head between her breasts. Then she found herself blushing, furiously.

"Are you sure you wouldn't mind?" Beth asked. 

He explained the person he was waiting for had just called to cancel, and his friends were waiting inside. Beth took the arm he extended. Static electricity startled her when she touched his arm. Was that a good sign? He winked at her and introduced himself. "I'm Scott, and who might the lady be?" She looked around. "Oh you're talking about me," she smiled slyly. You can call me Beth."

Beth realized quickly the person who hadn't shown up was not female. She felt a little awkward being there in the middle of their boys night out, but they were great to include her in the conversation, especially when they figured out she could hold her own discussing sports. They raised a glass to common ground many times throughout the course of the evening. Beth found herself looking at Scott across the table, wishing she was sitting next to him instead. He was funny and charming and she was pretty sure she had caught him looking at her a little intently when she spoke. She was certainly not tired anymore. In fact, she was wide awake, almost aroused just from being in the presence of three men. But she was positively intrigued with Scott. She was disappointed when he said it was getting late and they should be clearing out to beat the weather. They exchanged cards and agreed they would have to do this again the next time Beth was in Chicago.

Beth was watching them walk away when Scott turned around and walked back to her. 

"Can't let a lady walk back to her room unattended at night," he said and extended his arm for her. 

Beth thought about the offer for a moment. A handsome, single man, asking to accompany her to her hotel room on a snowy Chicago night. Should she invite him in? She looked into his eyes again. He seemed trustworthy. Should she take the chance? She decided to let him walk her to her room and think about it some more.

The elevator was full, and it stopped on every floor. Scott was standing behind her, and she could feel one of his hands on the small of her back. Every time the elevator stopped, Scott's hand rode down a little lower, until he was cupping her ass. Beth could have moved away if she had wanted, but she didn't. She leaned back and Scott gave her a squeeze. That's when Beth knew she would be inviting him in. And, she was pretty certain she knew what he would say. Especially if he was one to let his cock do the talking. It was pressed up against her ass, hard and demanding attention. Beth pushed against him and moved her ass up and down just barely enough for Scott to feel, but so the others in the elevator couldn't see. The older gentleman to Beth's right figured it out, but he didn't mind the show. The man and his wife got off on Beth's floor, and she gave the him a wink when the exited together. 

"I think you could have had that guy, if you want me to go?" Scott smiled at Beth. 

Beth rolled her eyes. "I think his wife might kick my ass. She looked tough, and I think she had a cane!" They both laughed.

"But seriously, the weather is terrible. I'd hate to see you stranded here, unless that's what you want?" Beth looked at Scott expectantly. 

"I kind of hope that does happen, to tell you the truth," Scott said. "You seem like someone who would know how to waste some time stranded."

Beth fumbled in her bag for the key, and dropped it in the process. They bumped heads when they both bent over to pick up her bag. Beth muttered "ouch!" and rubbed her forehead. Scott took her hand away from her forehead and kissed her there. His lips were warm and soft. 

"Let's go inside before one of us gets really hurt," Beth said.

Beth wasn't one to pick up strangers and take them back to her hotel room. In fact, this was the very first time she had done so. She tried to be nonchalant as she removed her shoes and motioned for Scott to have a seat on the sofa. 

"Drink?" Beth asked.

"No, just come sit by me. It's a little chilly in here," Scott said and put his hand on the cushion beside him.

They talked about small stuff, found out a few more things they had in common. Beth's soft sweater dress had ridden up quite high on her thighs, and Scott could see the top of her stockings. Black and lacy, and he knew just a little higher her skin would be bare. He reached over and put his hand on her thigh, pushed her dress up, found that bare flesh. Beth didn't stop him.

"I love the sight of a woman in stockings," Scott said when he reached that skin. That space between stocking and panties is so sexy." He looked down at her exposed flesh, then back up at her face.

"So what if she's not wearing panties?" Beth teased. She didn't move, though. 

She was wearing panties, which Scott would discover for himself in just a few seconds if he kept moving his hand up her thigh. 

"Such a tease, Beth. I think I should get to see those panties," he said when his fingers met lace. "Are they black like your bra?" 

"How did you know the color of my bra? " Beth asked, trying to sound shocked.

"Educated guess," Scott smiled. "You seem like a lady who likes things to match. Black dress, stockings, shoes." "Oh, and I can see through your dress in this light, too," he winked. 

"I'm glad you still think I'm a lady, and hope you don't mind if I don't act much like one tonight," Beth smiled back. "Oh, and since you've been sneaking peeks at my lingerie, I might as well let you see it."

With that, Beth stood and pulled her dress off over her head. She tossed it in the corner and turned around slowly. Her lacy black underthings were sexy and revealing. Her big nipples strained against the transparent lace of her bra. Her high cut panties revealed the swell of her thighs and the curves of her ass. Scott had been right about the space between her panties and her stockings. He wanted to reach out and touch her there. But he was enjoying the view and wasn't ready for the show to end just yet.

Beth could tell she was having an effect on Scott. He had already been hard by the time they got out of the elevator, but now she could see the outline of his cock. It was almost poking out the top of his pants. She thought she might be able to get her hands around it, and found herself getting warmer at that thought. She straddled his lap and faced him. She didn't have to ask him to take off her bra; he already had the hooks undone by the time she was settled. Her warm soft fleshy breasts fell into his hands and he buried his face between them and inhaled deeply. 

"Oh god you have amazing breasts Beth," he sighed as he continued to nuzzle her chest. He held a breast in each hand and admired her big brown nipples. He couldn't decide which one he wanted to suck first so he held them together and placed them both in his mouth.

"Oh, Scott, I LOVE that!" Beth cried out as he sucked her nipples. 

Beth's pussy was warm, hot actually, and very wet. She could feel the crotch of her panties up against her mound. She wanted those panties out of the way. 

She grabbed Scott's head and pulled him closer to her chest. He had to push back to get a breath. When he did, Beth took the opportunity to start unbuttoning his shirt. Scott leaned back and let her. She ran her fingers through the curly hair on his chest, gently teased his nipples. Then she leaned forward and kissed him. Not a soft, tentative kiss, but not rough and demanding, either. Just somewhere in between. Her lips parted his when they met his, and her tongue probed. They wrapped their arms around each other and felt their chests pressed together. 

Beth felt Scott's thick cock up against her and wanted him right fucking now. She reached between them and worked down the zipper of Scott's pants. She moved his briefs aside and let the head of his cock spring free. She wrapped a hand around his shaft and realized she was right about the size; she couldn't get her hand completely around him. 

"I hope you don't mind, but I want you now," Beth said as she pulled her panties aside. 

She guided the head of his cock to her very wet opening, slid it up and down, around, back and forth, all over. She was soaked, he was leaking precum, they were already a slick mess. She looked at Scott to see if he was going to protest.

"What the lady wants, the lady gets," he smiled. 

Then he put his hand over hers, the one she was using to guide his cock inside her. When she felt the head pop inside she relaxed her hand and so did he. She felt his thickness stretch her open, felt his length fill her. When she felt her labia resting against his balls, Beth moaned loudly. 

"You've filled me up babe, I mean that," Beth said as she started to push against Scott's thighs, rocking in and out, slowly.

Scott moaned out loud, something about tight, wet, or both, maybe. Beth took it to mean he was enjoying this as much as she was. She leaned forward so her nipples would brush his chest while she straddled his legs. She tried to squeeze her pussy around his cock as she rode him, but honestly, he had filled her so full she wasn't sure he would be able to feel it if she could squeeze. So, instead, she worked on her thrusts. Slow, gradually faster, sometimes just a little out, sometimes all the way to the head then back in all snug and wet and hot. When he looked up at her and told her he was coming, Beth stopped completely and kissed him. She stayed completely still, well not completely, she was still trying to squeeze, until he put his hands on her hips and pulled her close, then pushed her up. Beth liked the way his forearms felt in her hands while she held on for the ride. 

Beth looked down at Scott and saw he was starting to get sweaty. She could see the shiny wet droplets forming on Scott's forehead and shoulders. He reached up and held her breasts, softly, found them a little sweaty underneath too. You sure wouldn't know it was snowing outside by the way they had heated up the room. Thee was a thick sheen of condensation on the windows. The city lights were muted and soft, making small kaleidoscopes through the moisture on the windows. It all felt like a fantasy, except for the very real, very hard cock buried deep inside her, and Scott's hands grabbing her ass. 

"Are you going to let me come tonight Beth? Scott asked, a little breathless, but still smiling.

"Oh, are you ready, then?" Beth tried to sound surprised. But she wasn't surprised, and Scott knew she was playing.

Beth put her hands on Scott's shoulders and rocked her hips in rhythm to his thrusts. She squeezed her pussy just as hard as she could. Scott held on to her hips. When Beth started to climax, she felt Scott grab her ass tighter. He groaned and closed his eyes when Beth screamed. She felt his hot cum coursing down her inner thighs as she held on tighter. They laughed and yelled "Sorry" in unison when the room next door's guests banged on the wall.

"Probably that lady and her cane," Scott laughed as he pulled Beth close and tickled her below her ribs. This caused her to scream again, but there was no more banging.

"I think we should put out the "Do Not Disturb" sign, Beth said when she was done laughing. 

"Oh, but I plan on disturbing you as many times as I can between now and check out, when ever that ends up being," Scott said.

Beth hoped the snow didn't let up for awhile. She was sure she and Scott could come up with many ways to stay warm and entertained for at least a day or two.

Snowbound



"36...24...36" I muttered to myself as I turned the dial on the safe. That had been the combination as long as I had worked at the small convenience store. Nobody could remember who set that as the combo. But no one knew how to change it either. At the end of the day I guess it doesn't matter. And at the end of a ten hour work day like this I didn't even care a little bit. 

As I slammed the safe shut for the night my co-worker James poked his head around the door. My heart skipped a beat; I'd thought I was alone. "Hey James, you all done for the night?" I asked. James worked in the deli and they were usually finished before me. As the floor supervisor I was the last one out at night.

"Yeah I just finished up", James replied, running his fingers through his hair. "Just thought I'd, y'know, let you know."

"Cool," I said. This was a little weird; the produce deli never checked in with me before they left. "Well I'm about done, too," I said. "Just have to shut the lights." I stood up, smoothing my hands down my jeans. James stayed in the doorway, pretty well filling it up; he had his hands crammed nervously in his pants pockets, his wide shoulders stretching the fabric of his t-shirt.

"Um, I was actually hoping to talk to you," He said, not making eye contact.

"Ok, Shoot," I said, sitting back down on my stool. 'I'm never getting out of here tonight,' I thought.

"Well," James said, "I'd like to go on a date with you. If you wanted." 

Wow. Not what I was expecting; and what superbly horrible timing. "Oh geez Jimmy," I sighed. "I don't think this is a good time. It's not that I don't like you, I'm just really busy with work here and with school..." I trailed off. 'Great now I've broken his heart' I thought.

He did look crestfallen. "Ok no problem," he said, scuffing his feet. "Well y'know, just think about it. If you ever change your mind you know where to find me."

I smiled fondly "Thanks Jim."

After he left I shut off the computers and the lights upstairs, grabbed my coat and headed down to my car at last.

Just as I was crossing the back dock to the door and my freedom the lights went out and all the fans and machinery that were usually background noise in the store whirred to a halt. Power outage. Fuck my life.

I clicked on the tiny flashlight that I keep in my purse and almost jumped out of my skin when I saw someone coming towards me from the door before I realized it was James. "James!" I gasped "What are you still doing here?" I asked.

"Have you seen it out there?" he said, shaking snow out of his hair. "We've got at least 16 inches. I don't think we can drive out of here." I ran out to the door to see for myself. He wasn't exaggerating and more snow was pouring out of the cold night sky. 

I came back in and took a deep breath. 'I just wanted to go home.' James was still standing there watching me. I picked up the dock phone to call my boss. Dead. Of fucking course. I dug my cell out of my purse and turned it on. 

"You're never gonna get a signal in this storm," James said. Right again.

"So what are we supposed to do?" I asked him, at the end of my rope and close to tears.

"I guess we'll just have to stay here for the night." He said calmly.

The man who I had just turned down for a date was probably the last person I wanted to be trapped in a snowstorm with. I looked up at the ceiling, blinking my eyes hard to stop the tears from falling. "Hey, hey, it's alright," James said coming up to me and gently taking my upper arms in his big hands. "We'll be fine; it's just a little snow."

I sniffed and nodded at the floor. "You're right. Everything's OK. We'll just stay here tonight." 

"Yeah, we'll be just fine. C'mere." James wrapped his arms around me and I sighed, hugging him back. "Alright, we'll get some supper and then we'll make camp upstairs where it's warmer."

While I walked the isles picking out some things for us to eat, James gathered some of the heavy packing blankets that we used on the dock sometimes. We met upstairs and decided to camp in the safe room because it was the smallest. The temperature was already dropping in the store and we would be glad of the close quarters in the night.

When I came into the safe room with my bag of goodies I saw that James had moved the table out to the hallway and was spreading blankets out on the floor. "I don't know what you like," I said, holding the bag aloft, "So I grabbed a bunch of things."

James looked up at me and grinned "Oh, I'll eat anything."

"It doesn't count as stealing does it?" I asked, sitting down on the floor. "I mean we are trapped here."

"Definitely not," James relied, joining me on the floor. I dumped out the bag between us and we started divvying it up: fruit, chips granola bars and a few bottles of water. We ate in silence, a flashlight propped up between us illuminating the room. I expected it to be awkward but it was actually pretty nice. James had a nice energy if that makes any sense. He's always calm, always relaxed. It seems like no matter what's happening he never gets flustered or upset.

When we finished James leaned back and announced, "I'm full."

"Me too," I agreed. We put the rest of the food back in the bag and set it in a corner. By this point it was getting pretty cold. James saw me shiver a little.

"Here," he said, getting up. He picked up a blanket from the pile and wrapped it around my shoulders.

"Thanks," I murmured. "We should probably close the door, too."

After shutting the door, James wrapped up in a blanket too and sat back down on the floor. "So what now?" He asked. "Wanna tell ghost stories?"

I chuckled a little, "If you want to."

"Or we could tell secrets," he said, eyeing me slyly in the dim light. 

"Is that a game?" I asked. 

"Sort of. We just go back and forth, telling each other things that are secret. It's a good conversation starter." 

"Ok," I said. "What else are we supposed to do?" 

"OK I'll go first," James looked up at the ceiling, thinking. "I'm afraid of heights," he declared.

"Lame," I said, rolling my eyes.

"We've gotta start slow, build it up. Your turn." James said

"Ok umm. I think I'm too tall," I declared.

"You're not too tall!" James said at once. "You're perfect. You just need to date tall guys."

"Exactly," I said, "My choices are limited." 

Now he was rolling his eyes and smiling. "Ok my turn; um...I never met my father."

"Oh I'm sorry," I blurted out, "That's so sad." I'd never known that about James.

"It's not so bad," He said, twisting a corner of the blanket in his big fingers. "Never knew what I was missing right? Besides my Mom always said he was an asshole anyway." He grinned up at me and I felt myself smiling in response. 

I cast around for another secret, something on par with what James had revealed. "Ok, I was engaged once," I said.

"Really?" He asked. "But you're so young!"

"Yep," I said, "My high school sweetheart. I t didn't work out."

"What happened?" James asked "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No it's OK," I replied. And it really was. I found that I didn't mind divulging my secrets to James. "We just drifted apart. He proposed right after graduation but we went to different colleges. Y'know. Long distance never works." I smiled weakly.

"Hmm," Now James was thinking. "My high school sweetheart has four kids. So glad I got out of that when I did!" He laughed and I laughed with him, unable to help myself. The flashlight illuminating our room had been growing dimmer and dimmer as we talked and now it was just a fain yellow glow.

"I think that's about to die," I said, pointing.

"You're right," James agreed. "I think we should save the other one for emergencies, though," He gestured towards the other flashlight we'd found. 

"Mmm," I agreed. Another shiver wracked my body despite the blanket wrapped around my shoulders. It was getting colder by the minute. 

James noticed: "Maybe we should sit by each other. For warmth," he said. I was concerned that he had ulterior motives but I was also fucking freezing so I nodded my head. "C'mere," he said beckoning me over. 

I shuffled over to his side in my blanket and sat down next to him. "We have to put both of our body heats into one space," he said, adjusting our blankets. He put one around our shoulders and one over our knees so we were right next to each other in a little blanket tent with just our faces out. "Better?" he asked.

I nodded again. It was strange to be this close to James. It's funny how you can see someone every day and never notice them. James was kind, funny and attractive yet I had never thought of him as a potential partner. When he asked me out I said no without even thinking about it. Now that I felt I knew him a little better I felt bad for hurting him.

I rested my head on James' shoulder and he put his arm around me. I sighed, finally feeling warm. "Thanks, I murmured."

"No problem," he replied, resting his cheek against my hair. "So whose turn is it?"

"What? Oh, I don't remember." I'd forgotten that we were playing a game.

"I'll go," James volunteered. He took a deep breath. "I've had a crush on you from the first moment I saw you," he said. I froze in his arms, listening to his secret. "You're the smartest, most beautiful woman I've ever met."

I shifted around so I could just see his face in the scant illumination. "Oh James, I don't know what to say." I was floored by his confession. How could I not have noticed that? I guess I wasn't paying attention.

He reached a hand out of the blanket to cup my face, running a rough thumb along my jaw, I shivered and this time not from the cold. I knew that this time I needed to make the move. I leaned forward and pressed my lips against his.

I felt James' body relax, as though he had been holding his breath since revealing his affection for me. He returned the kiss, opening his mouth slightly and caressing my lips with his own. I could taste his mouth, smell his skin and feel his warm breath on my face. He seemed present in this kiss more than anyone else ever had. Maybe it was just the absence of distractions, but this was the most intense kiss I'd ever experienced. 

We pulled apart. "Wow," I whispered. I just caught his smile as the last light from the flashlight faded and died.

"Let's lie down," He whispered back. "I'll get us another blanket." We snuggled down together and covered up with the heavy packing blankets. James wrapped his arms around me again and I snuggled my face against his chest. He smelled very appealing: Laundry soap, cigarette smoke and a hint of sweat. 

"Mmm," I sighed contentedly. He chuckled and stroked my hair.

"How 'bout another one of those kisses?" he asked half teasing. I obliged him by rolling over and presenting my lips. This time he was not so gentle. My mouth opened automatically to his insistent caresses and when it did his tongue darted in to touch my own, prompting a little involuntary moan from me.

His lips left mine and he kissed under my jaw, licking my neck right in that vulnerable place where my pulse flows, I shuddered in pleasure, a sudden heat rushing between my legs. He caressed my hair and kissed down my neck to my collar bone. 

I lay almost paralyzed with pleasure, idly stroking his broad back with my hands. James made his way back to my mouth, kissing it once, twice. We both lay there breathing heavily, unable to see each other in the dark. But I had a feeling he was thinking something similar to me: what now? Are we really going to do this?

"Lena?" James said my name, his voice was low, husky, so full of lust that it was all I could do not to capture his mouth with my own again. "Do you want to do this? If you want to stop I need to know now." He said.

My mind was racing. Did I really want to do this? Of course! My body screamed. But my mind reasoned that we hardly knew each other and we were at work and a million other reasons why not. A split second later my body won out.

"Yes!" I whispered. "Yes." I kissed his mouth and felt him sigh in relief. He kissed me back and his exploring hands glided down my sides, over my breasts. He let out a faint moan and I giggled. "Yeah," I said, "they're even better naked!" 

"Then what are we waiting for?" He laughed, undoing the buttons on my shirt. I reached behind me to unclasp my bra and within moments my naked breasts were cupped in James' hands. "Oh my God," he moaned and I laughed again but it soon turned into a moan as he squeezed gently and ran the balls of his thumbs over my nipples.

James scootched down under the covers and soon was squeezing, kissing and licking my breasts with an expertise and enthusiasm I had never encountered. I lay writhing and whimpering with pleasure. Finally he kissed his way back up to my mouth and I was able to get even.

I claimed the top, straddling James' hips and planting my hands on his chest. I took my time exploring him, running my hands down his chest and then up under his shirt, feeling the rippling muscles of his abs. he kept quiet while I was doing this, I could hear him breathing. I took the hem of James' t-shirt and tugged it upwards until he helped me by sitting up and shrugging it off. Then I could really feel him. I ran my hands smoothly over the broad planes of his chest and down over his ribs. How could this god have been working with me for three years without my realizing it?

My fingers came to rest at the waistband of James' jeans. I teased him a little, running one finger just underneath the fabric. He let out a low growl and grabbed me by the hips. I undid the button on his leans very slowly; then slowly, slowly undid his zipper.

"You're killing me, Lena," He growled. "I'm serious."

I chuckled and carefully reached my hand inside his pants. I felt the long, hard ridge that was his cock, trapped down against his leg by his pants. "Ooh, poor thing, you're all trapped." I rolled off of him so he could slide his jeans and boxers off.

It was now pitch black in the little room. I couldn't see James at all but I could sure feel him. I ran my hands down his chest again to get my bearings and felt his cock standing straight up, long thick and very, very hard. I couldn't stop my sharp intake of breath as I ran my hand up and down his member for the first time. 

James slid one finger into the waistband of my pants and gave a little tug. "No fair." He said. Before I knew it he had flipped me onto my back and was undoing my pants too. I shimmied them down and off my legs and straddled James again. I wanted to play with him. Resting my palms on his chest I kissed his lips again and wiggled my hips a little, grinding my wet pussy unto his cock.

James growled into my mouth and gripped my hips. His hands traveled up my sides to cup my breasts again. He squeezed the nipples a little, just the way I liked, and rolled them in his fingers. I moaned and arched my back. The blankets had fallen down around my hips but I didn't even feel cold anymore. 

But I wasn't done. I pushed James' wonderful hands away and scooted myself down his body, trailing kisses across his skin and letting my breasts drag down along his body. When I got to his cock I gave the tip one wet lick with the tip of my tongue. I heard James' intake of breath and his member jumped up, like it wanted to get into my mouth. 

I licked wetly all up and down his shaft before popping the whole thing into my mouth and sinking down on it until he hit the back of my throat. I adjusted my position, twisting my head back and forth, corkscrewing him deeper into me. James gasped; everyone loved that. I backed off, taking a big breath in through my nose. I fluttered my tongue gust under the head. James moaned and I came up grinning. I was glad be was enjoying himself but I didn't want him to come until I had gotten some of that magnificent cock myself.

James grabbed me around the waist and flipped us over so I was on the bottom. He nuzzled my neck and kissed my ear. "You smell amazing," he murmured "I wanna eat you up." He kissed his way down my body, stopping to give each or my nipples a lick. I was twitching with anticipation as his lips got closer to my pussy. 

He parted my folds with his long fingers and drew his tongue slowly to the top where he flicked my clit with the tip of his tongue. I shuddered as he licked, sucked and tickled me. I felt like I was about to come already. I tangle my fingers in his thick hair and pulled gently. His mouth stopped moving but he didn't move it off of me. I gasped, regaining my breath and coming down from the edge of my orgasm.

I was so close, so sensitive; I could feel my pussy beating like a heart against his hot lips. I slowly began to rock my hips against him, building friction. He responded with a few slow licks and then sucked my clit into his mouth. My muscles started to clench and spasm. When James pushed one of his thick fingers into me I couldn't hold it off any longer. I came hard, shuddering and gasping as he continued to wiggle his finger inside me and flick my clit with his tongue.

As I came down from my high, James wrapped me in his arms and kissed my hair. I giggled a little, embarrassed at the sounds I had been making. James didn't seem to mind, though. He was practically panting and I could feel his erection pressing into my hip, reminding me that he hadn't gotten off.

He gathered my breasts in his hands and flicked my nipples with his tongue. I moaned; they were so sensitive now. "Good God, I love these," he moaned, burying his face between my tits. I giggled again. As his fondling and licking stimulated my breasts, I started to get aroused again. I moaned each time he touched my nipples and when the head of James' cock nudged my slick pussy, I gladly opened my thighs and relaxed to let him in.

I grunted as he pushed into me; he was so big. But the full stretch was gloriously satisfying. As he started to slowly thrust in and out of my sopping pussy I was nearly vibrating with pleasure. James must have been very close himself. Soon his strokes sped up and the tip of his cock brushed my g-spot with each thrust. Gasping I rocked my hips to meet his and we each came. I threw my head back, suddenly dizzy with ecstasy and James grunted, pumping his hat seed into me with a few deep thrusts. 

He rolled off of me and we lay apart, gasping and sweating in the cold air. Finally I crawled over to lay my head on James' shoulder and he pulled the blankets back over us.

"Hey James?" I asked quietly.

"Mmm?" He rumbled, sleepily.

"I'd like to go on a date with you...Y'know, if you wanted," I said, smiling.

"I don't know," James chuckled, brushing a hand down my back. "I'm not sure if we have chemistry..."

"You want chemistry?" I giggled, straddling his hips again. "I'll show you chemistry!"



Snowbound



Like bits of shredded paper struck to wet glass, the heavy snow continued to clog the wiper blades slowing the tiny electric motor to an unhealthy groan. The streaked windshield became impossible to see oncoming traffic, and both side-mirrors of the school bus were so caked, Jeff Morrison had to open the driver's side window every couple of minutes just to brush that side clear. 

The weather was beginning to worry him. He glanced at his watch. They'd not met anyone coming or going in thirty minutes of crawling up the mountain. Thank heaven the highschool teenagers had been delivered to their parents, all except one. The senior's car waited at the bus terminal and he wondered if she'd be able to drive out of there. Would be good to have this trip over and the bus back in the barn. He reminded himself of the warmth of the terminal, had just turned off the AM radio, which was all about the freak storm they traveled through, and he was more than enough aware of that.

"What the fuck."

A thick crunch, and the tearing of metal, the buses' objection from running off pavement to rugged stone and gravel, ground through the interior of the bus. The passenger added a high-pitched screech to Jeff's already over-stimulated eardrums. The speedometer bounced into his sight showing thirty-five miles-per-hour, the nose of the bus suddenly jerked down, all in less than a second, and he hung weightless.

"Hang on," he yelled. 

The wheel spun from his hands, both hands flew, at the same time he attempted a downshift, and instantly couldn't think of why he'd do such a thing. Jeff's foot slammed down the brakes. The tires bounced and slid. The bull of a steering wheel whipped left and right, as if it wanted to rid itself of driver and passenger. They were going to die.

* * *

He awoke to black so dark a cave met his eyes, only colder. At first, he couldn't remember where he was, then the fire alarm of reality met him head on. He was blind.

"Carla?" The sound was that of a frog, he wet his lips, tried again, "Carla Phelps, you alright?" This time he recognized his voice, and a picture of the emergency flashlight popped to mind. If he couldn't see, at least the girl would have light. Jeff's hands searched under the dash.

"Shit, that hurt."

The sting in his knuckles subsided as he worked the fingers. Pain is unsympathetic, but did increase his thoughts of their plight. With more diligence than he felt, his searching fingers found the kit all school buses by law were required to carry. The cold metal of the electric lamp was encouraging. A strong beam filled the inside of the bus. That would teach him for being so pessimistic, not blind after all. Jeff played the light around searching for his passenger, noting quickly that the bus had flipped, lay upside down at a crazy angle. Swift barb's of memory jabbed his foggy brain, and he shivered at the replay of the drive off the cliff. A movement of air chilled his neck, but the windows that he could see remained intact, which was good, but the whiteness that registered beyond the safety glass showed they must be under snow.

"Mr. Morrison, is that you?" 

The light spun toward the voice as if it had a mind. The blonde figure in the beam hunched sideways, winter legs drawn up. A thin, brown jacket gapped open, ripped by something, dangled in tatters off one shoulder. The sleeve still clung to the wrist, held by a single, large, pearl like button. Before he jerked the light away, one full, naked breast jutted dangerously from a pink, torn blouse. The girl seemed unaware of her condition. Dazed, he figured, and that single defining moment would be the one picture to keep alive the impact of the accident, and the danger they faced. 

"It's me," he said. "You alright?"

"Seem to be banged up, but yeah . . . what happened?"

"Off the road . . . remember hitting something. The storm. . . Do you have a cell?"

"Got smashed."

He chuckled to himself by almost correcting the girl's faulty grammar. 'It was smashed,' instead he said, "Okay then, we'll be alright," then quickly added, "They'll send someone out, when we don't arrive." At least that's what he hoped would take place. No sense making the girl worry any more than necessary.

"When will that be?"

"Soon," he said. "We're only six or seven miles out."

He looked in the emergency kit, drew out a couple space-age foil blanket packs, tossed one in her direction. "Wrap yourself up, keep warm." He heard the stripping of foil as she tore into it, and he opened one for himself. This way, he wouldn't have to draw attention to her nakedness by asking her to cover up.

"There's plenty of water," he said, remembering the plastic bottles in back, "and we can melt snow if we need. The biggest thing is to keep warm until we're rescued."

"I heard the radio," she said, her tone admonishing."Said the storm would last days." Carla was quiet then, seemed to be thinking, made up her mind and added in a calm voice, "Dad made sure we all had survival training, so I'm not particularly worried. As good a time as any to test it. Luckily neither of us is hurt. That could have complicated things."

"Indeed."

In a few hours even the foil blanket he'd wrapped tight around himself didn't keep out the cold. The windows were filling with Jack Frost scribbling. Moisture from breathing became invisible crayons, painting the windows with feather ice. Jeff wondered if they were going to have to open a window for air. He shined the light in Carla's direction to reveal that the cold had already overreached the limits of her body to provide heat. Her teeth chattered across the short distance.

"You that cold?"

"Mm-m-more," she said. "I learned that we will survive better if we share body heat . . . that is if you don't mind." Without waiting for an answer she scooted right up to him, pulled her blanket over both of them.

"Wait, my blanket can help."

After that, he began to warm. Her shivering hadn't lessened, and adding that her little body snuggled so tight to him, the mental picture of her full breasts pressed to his chest was a permanent tattoo. His mind ran in all directions . . . the girl is only eighteen, for shit sake. 

"Is there needle and thread in the survival kit?" Carla asked, her voice soft and quivering.

"I believe so."

"I can sew together two of these blankets, make a tent to cover us."

He thought for a moment. "I might be able to get a couple of these seat backs off. Make it easier to sit, instead of this hard roof. Warmer on our butts too."

"Metal's hard."

He was thinking about being human and something else becoming stiff with her clinging to him, and that didn't make him happy. Embarrassing himself was not something he did regularly. In an hour by his watch, he had several seat backs off, lining them up. It was then he noticed several of the windows were cracked and one was completely broken. The packed snow didn't allow wind to enter, but convection cold seeped into the bus like a frost bitten worm.

"Here we go," Carla said. "Help me ti-ti-tie this to the seats." It was large enough to cover about six foot, and drape down to stop any errand cold from the sides. They'd still need their blankets, but it would help.

He lay his head on a seat back, stretched out full length and pulled the extra blankets over them. He switched off the light to save the batteries. Darkness swept over them like a cloud filled night without city lights to reflect upon them. 

"The lights right here, if you need it," he said.

"Need heat more than light," she said, "and we'll have more if we take off our clothes." She said it so matter-of-fact that it startled him. Heat rushed to his face. He felt her moving, knew she was removing her pants. Before he could say anything, he heard fabric rustle. Envisioned every move as the ripped jacket came off, top over her head. "Come on, hurry it up,"she said, "it's cold out here."

She was again snuggled to him, her head on his chest, legs covering his.

"Ah, warmth," she whispered, her body nestling in with his.

He didn't know if true or not, but in his mind he felt the hair covering the 'vee' between her legs tickle his skin. He thought her a little damp when she threw a leg over his stomach, but that was probably his imagination.

"I've never been this close to a naked man." She giggled with teenage nervousness.

Great, I'm physically tangled with an impressive virgin who isn't my wife, or even a fiancee . . . he willed his appendage to shrivel, but thoughts of what she could be doing only made it worse. 

"Ohhh," she whispered, "you're . . . "

The sound of her voice, he thought, was more knowing than surprise.

"We're both naked, and I am human."

"I know about a penis," she said. "I've had sex education." 

"Then you know how difficult this is."

"We didn't go into the physiological aspects of male sex."

"Beautiful."

"I do know about babies, and other things." She faltered, then it all came out in a rush."Girls talk, you know. We're not that much different from boys."

Oh, yes, you are . . . Jeff envisioned her young, taunt body draped over his. Her hot breath did knowing things to him inside. Where were girls like you when I went to high school?

"Do you know anal?"she said.

"What?"

"Have you had anal sex?"

"I heard what you said, and that's none of your business. I don't talk about what I have or have not done in private." He'd only read magazine articles on the subject, but wasn't about to explain that.

"So, you don't screw and tell. But, I've never done anything sexual, unless you call kissing, and masturbation, sex."

"Good for you, saving yourself."

"I'm not saving anything. Just saying, I'm not about to get pregnant." 

So, you've . .?"

"Screw you . . . I've never been promiscuous."

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I just never found it easy to talk about . . ."

"Sex?" she said. "Good to know."

"Girl, I'm six or seven years older, and you're not my type."

"You don't know my type, and I'm a woman, not a girl. I can make you cum just as well as someone your age."

He remained silent, wondering, who is this girl? 

"You don't believe me?" she said, and grabbed him.

"Heyyy . . ." 

The touch, a shout of her exasperation and need, rammed over him like a pot of molten metal. Her fingers working him like she'd milk a cow.

"Don't." he said, finally catching his breath. "That's not appropriate."

"You like being touched," she said, "I can tell, and you don't care which woman does it." 

Her closeness made him weak. A shutter ran through at her touch, and a woman's throaty laugh came from under the dark, foil covers.

"See? Your body betrays you, and I like what I'm doing. Remember, I heard that radio too, and if I'm going to die, I'm not going without trying everything mother said was morally disgusting."

"We're not . . . going to die."

"So, you say . . . Tell me what you like a woman to do," she said, ignoring his denial of their future. "I know one thing, I'll bet." 

With that, her lips squashed against his chest. "I love my nipples played with, do you?" she whispered, her voice husky with desire. Took a few seconds to find one in the dark, her hot breath stimulating the hair on his chest to a tornado of action.

Suddenly her lips found him, and quick heat flashed through his system. 

"You shouldn't . . . be doing that," he said. A ragged deep breath entered the bus, and he prayed she wouldn't stop.

"Even if it's this enjoyable?"

"Just don't start anything you can't finish."

"I finish everything."

Her lips gathered in the nipple, sucked on it, played with it. Carla's tongue swept around the now hardening little tower. Tweaked the other with her fingers. "I do this to myself sometimes."

Jeff's groan was not all involuntary, his fingers were counting ribs, found the tip of one breast squashed against his chest. Something he didn't recognized filtered from her lips, an animal sound. Little vibrations that hung in his mind long after she'd made it.

He felt her push up, balancing on her arms, giving complete access. He hefted the breast as if he were a scale, and she a delicacy he was about to ravish. Heavy, round, better than a handful. She shivered, then attacked his other nipple, as if his ministrations had driven her to do it, turning his desire up like a dial on an electric stove. 

"I'm all quivery inside," she said, her voice low and gravelly, "with the thought of what comes next. My friends disagree . . . some don't like it, others say it's a wonderful experience, can't get enough. Believe I'll be one of the latter . . . guide me, I must know the taste of a man before I die." 

She moved down, kissing the flats of his stomach. On the way, her hair dragged over his skin in a torturing misfit of emotions. Anticipation, that warrior of desire beat inside his frenzied brain. Every muscle in his body demanded the torment, coaxed the end, and yet . . . Something soft and warm ran the full length, using him like an ear of corn. Jeff trembled under the touch, wished he could see what was happening, but the light would destroy the mood. She cradled him between those spellbinding, warm globes. Felt them slipping around him agonizingly slow. The sudden urge to burst flew across his libido like a feather dipped in hot grease. She caressed the head of him like a favorite ice cream bar or a piece of candy.

Her cheeks and tongue did their magic. On and off like someone rapidly flicking a light switch, jeff neared the explosion point.

"Should call this a suck job," she said, breaking the spell, "there is no blowing." She giggled around him. "How'm I doing?" 

He almost blasted himself into her right then, but with a steel will brought himself back from eruption. She moved on, taking her time, humming 'She'll be coming round the Mountain.' It was meant to be funny, he knew, but the vibrations sent him to the edge. His hips spasmed by themselves. 

Startled by the quick upward force, Carla pulled back, and in one quick downward jab of her head took him to the root of his existence. 

If this was illegal in some states, politicians obviously had never tried it.

Carla's breath came in jagged gasps. "Didn't know I'd like it this much," she said, coming up for air. "My heart is racing."

"You'll like what I do for you much better."

"I don't know, this is pretty fantastic." Her tongue swept over him lovingly, kissing the tip. She let out an exaggerated smacking of lips. He could almost see her tongue sneak out, licking her lips. "I want more," she said and he hit the back of her throat as she attempted to take all of him again.

Her body convulsed, she was going to retch. Her pharynx opened in preparation, and Jeff slipped easily down Carla's throat. The muscles tightened around him and he realized she'd just tried to swallow. He was there in that instant. Clamping down on his sphincter muscles, Jeff held it for a long count, the pleasure built in those few seconds until he could hold back no longer and spit a stream of pent up joy.

Everything halted, as if his cum startled her into complete submission. When the second discharge exploded down her throat, she resumed a slow tender action, worked over him until she had only the tip between her lips. He wondered if by chance she kept some of his discharge on her tongue just as another spasm grabbed him.

"I didn't know it would be like this," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Forceful." She laughed now, full and throaty, a woman sound. "Like sequential explosions, boom, boom, boom," she said. "I'm in awe."

A tiny smacking of lips came to him, this time without any sign of prevarication. "I actually like the taste. Do all men taste this good?"

"You should ask your girlfriends."

"Think I will. At least I have something to compare and share. I'm going to try that again."

"You'll have to wait a few minutes."

"Why?"

"I need to reload."

"Ohhh." That giggle again. She had transformed to teenager.

"It's your turn," he said. "Take my place down here."

In a few seconds, she was under him. His hands caressed her face, a finger ran over the puffy lips, and he wondered if he'd bruised them in his excitement. The sides of her neck were extremely sensitive, under the ears and the small concave spots near the clavicle. His tongue flicked about her ears. He drew in an ear lobe, sucked it as she had him, and biting the neck with his lips produced an almost growl. Her head twisted into him. Jeff tasted her lips, hard and demanding. 

"Did I tell you, I can touch my nose with the tip of my tongue?" she said.

He made love to her tongue to see. Right then he wanted to dive into her, smell the freshness of her, take her quick, satisfy his desire, but held himself in check. Finally reaching her breasts, he kissed the tops with windshield wiper like kisses, dipped between them, lingered over the breastbone, explored the mass of them, searched out each nipple, flicking them with the point of his tongue. Finally, taking one at a time between his lips, he sucked hard and soft, tit-for-tat, pulling each one until it nearly slipped from his lips, rolling the stretched flesh until she groaned. In one swift motion he was between her legs, found them to be longer than he thought. He loved long legs. Slipping his fingers under both sides of her tiny butt he balanced her on his hands, drew her into him.

At the contact Carla yelled. "Fuckin' bitch," The first orgasm hit hard. Her legs stiffened as she pushed to meet his thrusting. That growl again. "Ohh, fucck."

He brought her to the finale. 

Sweat covered, they lay side-by-side in each others arms, their breaths hot and heavy, hearts yammering.

"Now, that's an orgasm," she whispered, "Better than I get by hand." She played with the hair on his chest.

"Told you so, want to go again?" he asked.

"Can you?"

"I have a mouth," he said and laughed.

"Well, I could," she said, "but you have to refill. That's such a downer."

"It'll be up soon enough."

"If not, I may have to give it resuscitation."

"Hummmm." His eyes rolled, but she couldn't see that, or hear him wondering what came next in her mother's abhorrent fantasies of what was morally disgusting. 

* * *

The unapproachable, Mr. Jeff Morrison, how that has changed in such a few minutes. His breathing slow and strong under her ear, made him seem so close . . . if it weren't for the mess they were in. If they were rescued, everything would reverse, except; something very important had just taken place. She had given for the first time, the most personal of all acts to a man she didn't know. A tiny thrill flashed through her at the thought. The power she had over him in those few seconds, beyond belief. The Gemini twins mirrored how she felt, connected body and soul, and now her other half lay drained, slowed under the auspicious of sexual satisfaction.

Into her mind flashed a picture of just how wrong Misty had been. She knew now that her friend didn't always know or tell the truth, doubted that Misty had even been close to her boyfriend's prick. Poor Floyd. Come to think of it, poor me, because I believed. Misty's words rang clear in her brain. 

"All women do it," Carla's friend said, "including our respective mothers, they just don't mention that in their little sex talks." Then came the explanation of the very first time Misty went down on her boyfriend. "He got so worked up, grabbed my hair . . . that thing of his cut off my air, I gagged and threw up all over him. Served him right."

This hadn't actually been an endorsement, and Misty had said it tasted like poor man's Okra, thick and slippery.

I hate Okra, nearly puke at the smell. If that's what boys expect, piss on them. In the months since Misty's little declaration, Carla had found one of her brother's adult magazines,'The Joys of Oral Sex, and Other Interesting Pleasures.' Coming downstairs to help for dinner that late afternoon, she found her mother already in the kitchen.




Snowbound



"Mother, can I ask you something?"

"Of course, dear. You can ask me anything."

"Does anal sex hurt?"

The spoon Melody Phelps was stirring the carrots with slid from her fingers, disappeared into the bubbling pot."Where in the world are you getting such nasty stuff? That's for whore's and prostitutes."

"Heard about it at school," Carla lied.

"Don't believe everything from the school grounds."

"Well . . ."

"Well what?"

"Nothing, I guess that's something I don't need to try."

"Definitely. That's the grossest thing I've ever heard. Any boy wants to do that, run like hell."

Later that night, Carla turned out the light and lay for a long time thinking in the dark. She heard footsteps going into her parents room, her name being said, and getting up carefully placed her ear to the wall. Her mother's voice explained about Carla's sex question.

"What? Is she sexually active?"

"Heard it at School."

"You explained that's not a thing for teenage girls to think about, didn't you?"

"In so many words . . ."

"Okay, then," her father said. "She's a smart kid." 

Carla's ears perked at his next words, and she strained to hear.

"I'm really in the mood," her father said, "for something like last night."

There was a moments hesitation before her mother's whispered answer.

"Honey, regular sex would be better tonight, I'm just too sore down there."

Carla backed from the wall almost tripping over a pile of dirty clothes. She couldn't believe what she'd heard. Was Misty really correct, that all couples including her own mother and father actually did it, and after all her mother's berating of anal sex. Her ear plastered back to the wall. The catlike sound of springs compressing and decompressing, then the sex driven rustle of her mother's whisper.

"Now, before you come, get up here."

Silence after that, except Carla thought she heard a low groan from her father.

Not only a liar, my mother's a fucking hypocrite. Carla almost laughed out loud at her sense of irony, caught herself just in time. Her parents thought she was asleep, best to let them continue to believe that. 

Slowly the veil of the past disappeared, and she smiled. What's good for mother is certainly good for me. 

This nakedness is a bit of alright. Mr. Morrison, her first actual lover, smelled like fresh mint soap, and lying skin to skin with him sent ripples of pleasure through her body. Carla knew basically what men wanted out of sex, but anything special, she reasoned, was an individual's taste. Thinking back, Mr. Morrison had definitely startled her by his hardness. She had been thinking more in terms of the texture of sausage, not cucumber. That first touch had been an accident, but curiosity forced her hand. 

She'd kissed his chest simply because it had been there, and his smaller nipples. Had to find out if they had feeling like hers. When he finally touched her, a fervor cascaded through her being like the first splash of warm water on a cold night . . . She felt certain that Morrison knew the nervous excitement that rampaged through her, the untested emotions she was unaware that existed inside her.

Startled at her own brazenness, once begun, no way she could have stopped. Amazed that he tasted like . . . skin, the same as when she sucked on her own nipples. She'd expected more, something different, manly. The rubbery tip was easy to manipulate, the shaft very ridged, the surrounding skin taunt but pliable, and the longer she continued, the more energized she became. 

She'd been prepared for cum, just not quite in the manner that it did. That torpedo dive beyond her tonsils was a complete surprise. Every ejaculate, each pulse of his manhood could be felt down to her toes. Bile had risen unbidden, and she'd managed a quick swallow to keep it down. His first burst of seminal fluid traveled the course to her stomach in less than ten seconds, and that appeared in her disappointment. When the final dregs seeped out though, Carla spread it around the inside of her mouth with loving attention, the light scent of it filled her with increased desire and helplessness.

Then he was saying something . . . for her to lie on her back. Wait, she wasn't finished. What was he doing, hands on her ass, lifting, massaging her little puckered cave . . . Hummmm. Now that was more than good, it was suburb . . . "Ahhhhh." Her legs kicked out involuntarily, heels beating his back, she spasmed, stomach fluttering, felt her pussy clench. His lips kissed the folds of her labia, his tongue searched inside as if to pull out her very essence. "Ohhhhh Shitttt." 

* * *

"That was unexpected," she whispered, several minutes later.

"What'd you say?"

"That second orgasm was wonderfully intense."

"Hummm, glad you liked it."

Her own handiwork never reached two climaxes. 

"A first," she said, gratified, and laying a cheek over his belly button, found him wilted, a tiny bit of fluid in the crown-slit. She inserted the tip of her tongue. Sure of herself now, Carla promptly filled her oral cavity, gently swishing his member around, she thought, like a small wash machine. The scent of him drew on her unseen desires, and she wondered how much of him she could stuff inside.

I'm definitely an oral person.

Holding her breath, she could finally wait no longer as Jeff expanded to such proportions as to cause her discomfort. First one of his boys, then the other slid out and he stretched and unfolded, filling the remaining space.

"Oww."

Her laughter was the marriage of teenage flirt and whore. 

"You bit."

"Of course," she said, rather matter-of-fact.

"Why?"

"Because I wanted."

"Please, don't want too again. That hurt."

"Poor baby," she said and suckled him.

"Be careful."

"Hummm," she murmured around him. "Of course."

She used him for the better part of twenty minutes. The adult in her delighted in his stamina, his wariness, the teenager in her once again, the playful, the experimenter. Bringing Jeff to the brink, backing off, pushing him up the ladder again and again until it felt like hours had passed. The adult she inspired to be made love to him as if it were their last second on earth, cramming every little nuance she thought of into each moment.

When he was more than ready, she pointed him to the sky, and straddled his body, fit the rubbery round head between her legs. 

"Wait."

"What's wrong." 

"I'm not prepared, don't have anything with me."

"Have what?"

"You know."

Her quick, deep laugh was all knowing, definitely adult. She rubbed him over the soft part of her; jerked when he touched her steaming spot, her breath catching in that instant.

"Not to worry," she said, then added, "I feel an urge to talk dirty. Do you like women to talk dirty during sex?"

"Would you?" he asked.

"Don't answer a question with one, that's rude, but I might, under certain circumstances. Do you want to cum in my pussy?"

That startled him. No, he didn't and was about to say so, didn't get the chance.

"I want you to cum in me," she said, and slipped him to the entrance, letting her body settle. Carla grunted at the tightness, moved in a slow circle over him. He was sunk half-mast.

"No," he said, and pulled back as far as he could,"what are you doing?"

She turned around to face him.

"Damn it," she said, grabbing his arms."Put your fuckin' hands on my tits and get working."

He felt helpless with need, did as she bid. Facing this way she had to position herself just right, and finally with some extensive pushing he slipped inside. The muscles surrounding her tight, little opening clamped down hard, and she wiggled her ass pushing until he was as far as he was ever going to go.

Carla's breath sounded like a horse after a mile run. Her heart rushed to catch up. She was finally doing it. Had a man inside fucking her, and oh she liked it. On the bottom she realized he wasn't able to move freely, and she did all the work. His fingers pulled and twisted her sensitive nipples. At one point he bent forward and took one in his mouth. His sucking and nipping drove her pleasure factor almost to a ten. So tight around him.

"Suck my tits," she said. "Better then my fingers." She tried to kiss his lips, but they were busy, kissed his cheek and forehead instead.. Her arms whipped around his head, pulling him into her, squashing her breast. She heard him gasp, released the pressure.

"I'm going to cum," she said, "cum with me, cum with me . . . uhhhhh." 

He was just seconds behind. 

She felt him expand as the first bouts of her pleasure released. He pushed further into her, sent her way over the edge. His balls gathered and let go, a multitude of fireworks and she thought he would never stop. Four huge convulsions, each one seemed as powerful as the first. Jeff held her as if the slightest nudge would topple them both. Slowly he shrank, but her hot little cavern would not loosen. She continued to rotate her hips, clenching and unclenching the muscles around him, as if milking the very last strokes of pleasure from him. They remained together until he was softer than hot butter and he slipped from her little puckered starfish with a groan.

"Whoa, that was special."

"Yes, it was," he said, "beautiful."

"So, now that you've had two of my holes. Want to go for the third?"

* * *

He looked at his watch, the light from the flash glowed dim orange. Shadows made harsh, thick lines across the features of his passenger's delicate face. Jeff, breathing in the warmth of her natural perfume was struck by her simple beauty. She clutched, half-consciously the shiny blanket to her bosom. The crinkles of it looking like tiny cracks in a shroud of metal. 

"We must think about getting out of here," he said, "Batteries giving out."

"You said they would find us."

"And they will, it's just better if we try on our own."

"How long has it been?"

"Too long, almost thirty-six hours, and I'm hungry."

"I won't starve," she said," I know where there's plenty of protein."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah."

Jeff searched for his pants and shirt, struggled into them.

"You're sure we can't wait a little longer?" She reached out. He hadn't pulled his pants to his waist yet, and she took hold. "Once more?"

"Later."

"You promise?"

"Definitely."

Her laughter said, if anyone else was listening, that she was well aware he'd keep his promise, and gave him a lingering kiss.

"Okay then," he said, gently breaking free.

"Can't get enough of you." Carla said, her laugh turned to a healthy chuckle, signing his accord, "but I'll wait."

His belt whapped against something as he cinched up his pants, and wondered how that would feel on the bare bottom. A little sadistic tendencies there, fella? Perhaps a mutual flogging was in order. His grin split wide in the dark, and looked over as Carla drew the thin poly-foil blanket tighter around her.

* * *

He felt more than a twinge at that last kiss, and wondered about his feelings for the girl. Carla Phelps at the moment, he knew, was totally enamored by the physical aspect of their relationship, but he looked for something longer lasting. 

Once Jeff had his clothes in order, he headed toward the broken window he'd seen earlier. The yellow bleached out beam of his light would not last much longer, and this might be the only time he would be able to see how much damage the bus had sustained, and if they would be able to leave. 

He kicked out the rest of the window, drew in the glass pieces and deposited them out of the way. This took a good amount of time, and the light was all but out. From what he could see, the snow didn't seem tightly packed around the window, and figured he might be able to dig out enough to at least estimate how deep they were buried.

They should keep extra batteries on the bus. That made sense to him, but where? He didn't remember seeing any in the emergency kit. There hadn't been room. He started back. It was worth a try to use what life was left in the flashlight to search.

"I think, if we can find batteries for the flashlight, we could dig out," he said.

"Where would they be kept?"

"Don't know. We'll have to search. The glove box would be a good beginning."

"You do know about boxes," she said, "Took care one that I'm very aware of."

"Is sex, all you have on your mind?"

"At the moment–I think you've destroyed me for anyone else."

"Okay then, I'll check the . . . glove box."

"Damn," she said, feinting disappointment.

"Get to yours later."

"Oooohh. I'll be right here."

"Not a pout a doubt it," Jeff said, and thought he'd heard something more than lighthearted sexiness in her voice. In her bravado, he felt, she was also really scared.

The flashlight became so out-of-it, it was not more than a glow, and still no batteries jumped out at him. He switched it off, hoping the batteries might return more light after a prolong rest. Pulling back the edge of their homemade tent he crawled under, let the edges drop.

Nothing, huh?

"Not yet," he said, "but I did bring back matches, and a magazine."

"We going to read?"

Carla's voice quavered.

"It's to start a fire, if we need."

"Oh."

That single word told him more than if she had actually begun to cry. 

"We're fine," Jeff told her. "We'll see rescuers soon."

He didn't hear her attempting to dress, so, wasn't likely she believed there was a search party. He reached where he thought her shivering body might be, pulled her to him. She stayed that way for a long time, and he thought she might have gone to sleep. He was about to drop off himself–.

"Damn, your belt buckle is ice cold," she said.

He quickly undressed. Wouldn't want her to be any colder than necessary.

"What's your favorite position?" she said, when he was finished.

The question seemed to come so natural from her, that he answered without thinking.

"Sixty-nine."

"Found out when I did it that first time, that I definitely love oral sex."

"All aspects of sex are great," he countered, "but yes, I love oral with a caring partner."

"Any special things you like your partners to do? Anything forbidden?"

"Doing what comes naturally, fun, and I don't mind some experimentation. I close the door to out and out S&M."

"A little is okay, then?"

"A little slap on the butt now and then, teasing, toys, harmless games okay . . . brutalizing and torture, no way. You into that it'll be without me."

"Alright then. Lets get to it."

"To what?"

"Your favorite position of course. I have a lot to learn. I'll be bottom to start."

He heard and felt Carla sliding down.

"Come on, I'm ready."

Jeff quickly turned around, moved into position.

"Ow. Thought you said you weren't into S&M."

"Sorry. You okay?"

"Here," she said, this time, guided his knee safely over her head.

"I'm really sorry."

She answered by throwing her arms around his waist, pulling herself up, and taking him deep. He became too busy to know how long they were attached, but he'd never felt anything like this. She kept her nose buried, pulling back only long enough to breath. He tried a couple times to help her, but evidently she was not having him pull away. In the excitement, her teeth scraped him. Pulling away hadn't done any good before, so he pushed, but there was no place for her to go, and he slipped down her throat. Here she hung, writhing. 

At first, he thought she was acting, the movements of her head so invigorated him, that he pushed further. That's when her arms dropped from his waist, his knees gave way and they both fell to the seat cushion. He hit right after, up to the hilt. Her teeth crunched down, and he was instantly up.

"Owww." They said almost instantly.

"We need to be careful," he said, after catching his breath, "one or both of us is going to get hurt."

"I love sucking your cock, but don't force it down my throat. I'll let you know when I'm ready."

"I didn't mean to do that."

"Didn't mean to bite either. Change positions with me, that way I can control how much I absorb." 

After they'd switched places, Jeff found that she could do more for him in this position, and she did. He reciprocated, but couldn't do all the things he wanted, still her breasts were in the right position, and he loved their heaviness, how they fell neatly into his upright palms. He started with slow gentle movements, and as she became more excited, increased the strength of his manipulations until she moaned with painful pleasure. When she reached the point of maximum release, he inserted a finger into her tight little ass, pushed it to the second knuckle.

"Uhhhh."

She exploded, and he moved the finger in as big a circle as her body would allow. All the while constant, moving pressure with his tongue on Carla's budding clit forced her into another.

"Oh, Fuck." 

Her words bounced off the metal of the downed bus, radiated in his ears, punched him to greater exuberance Then he was engulfed as she shook with orgasm, and he exploded in that instant. Her groaning brought him to greater heights and when he emptied his last, she settled all ninety-eight pounds of her upon him with a final sigh. She kept him engaged, refused to give him release.

Carla sighed finally like an animal at peace. 

"And, it only gets better," she said. 

Her breathing was the only thing that told him she still lived. 

The illuminance on the hands of his watch drifted steadily toward 7am. In the light of the new day, which was still as dark as a cave at midnight, Jeff had woke to a sore back, and whimpering. So faint the utterance, he had to really listen to know if he'd heard anything at all. Which made him feel as if he were spying, an outsider staring into a window of Carla Phelps soul. She'd finally succumbed to the fear that held both of them in its mighty grip. He scooted next to her in spoon fashion. Immediately she took Jeff's hand, pulled it to her heart, held it there in both tiny hands. He kissed the back of her head, knowing her hair was probably a dirty, tangled mess. Carla began to sob then.

"Come here," he said, his voice soft and inviting her to face him. 

Her face buried into his chest, and he kissed the top of her head several times, cradled her in his arms."We're going to get out of here," Jeff said, "believe that."

"It's just too much, I . . ."

"I understand. For a first time snowbound, you're very brave."

"Feel more like a child on her first ride at the carnival."

He chuckled. 

"I'm scared too."

"You don't act it."

"I definitely feel the pressure," he said. "If it weren't for you, I'd be going crazy right about now."

He thought about those last words, and knew they were true. Saving face in front of a girl, uh, woman . . . if he didn't have to hold himself together for her, he'd fold, maybe even give up permanently. He'd never been good under pressure until now. He planned to really get to know this Carla Phelps. What is it about this particular girl that keeps me in check, makes me motivated and calm at the same time? 

He knew the water bottles were nearly empty. They must melt snow, but the paper he'd found wouldn't produce enough heat to melt a fraction of what they needed. He thought hard and long, couldn't think of anything to use for fuel, and his head drooped. He drifted between sleep and hazy periods of near awareness. It didn't matter when the idea appeared, but he was fully awake now.

"I have it."

"My God, you woke me. What is it?"

"Gasoline, we can use the gasoline in the tank to melt snow."

"Whoa, that's dangerous. Gasoline explodes."

"Only if contained," he said. "In the open, it burns like anything else."

Jeff's hands scrambled for the flashlight. The light was dim, but bright enough to find the emergency kit. Inside he found the fits-all plyers, proceeded to pop open the cover to the cab-over engine. Dragging the fiberglass bonnet out of the way, he pushed it under the up-side down stair well. Now that the engine was exposed he searched for the carburetor fuel line, found it and began to loosen the connection with the fits-all. 




Snowbound



"Get me two of those cans from the back."

He turned the light so it would illuminate a path for her. "Hurry though, this light won't last long."

He sloshed the can. A little water left. 

"Drink this," he said, "No use wasting it."

When she'd tipped the can of its last, Jeff sucked on the end of the metal gas line, placed it in the can and was rewarded by a thin stream of gasoline. 

"You should let me do that," she said. "I'm getting pretty good."

He laughed, wiped his mouth with his shirt, but the pungent fuel taste had already entered the nasal passages. 

"You can be funny," he said.

"And truthful."

Jeff screwed the connection back on just finger-tight, in case they'd need it again. The can was about half full of fuel, more than enough to melt snow. 

"Bring the matches and paper."

At the broken window the flashlight bulb glowed so dim he could see only a few inches ahead. He poured the gasoline outside the window in a little depression he'd made in the snow, took the matches and rolled a sheet of paper like a fat cigar. The match lit first time and he placed the paper over the flame where it flared, then settled into a yellowish blaze.

"Get back," he said, and scooted as far from the gas pocket as he could before dropping the paper. There was a whoosh, a blinding sense of heat as the gas vapors took hold. Using the other can, he placed it near the fire in a position to catch any run off water.

He grinned in satisfaction, cast a glance at Carla. Bizarre shadows danced and flickered on her crouched naked body. Her hair seemed traumatized, falling over her face so he could see nothing of it but the strong chin and lips. In that moment Jeff really saw Carla for the first time.

"You're beautiful," he said, "and sexier than hell."

"So are you."

She wiped the hair from her eyes, gazed at him through half-closed lids, then moved forward on hands and knees, breasts swaying gently with each movement. 

His breath caught, as her head lowered and she continued.

She played until he was nearing the peak of his endurance. 

"I want you to take me hard," she said, making sure he understood. "Fuck my face like I'm a slave, and yours to do with whatever you want. Don't mind the tears, cum in my mouth, force me to swallow your thick, juicy spunk."

He didn't think he had to force her to do anything, but if role playing was what she wanted, he was all for it. She'd brought him to this point. He grabbed the hair on both sides of her ears, twisted it in his fingers, pulled her to him, thrust with his hips.

"Take this bitch," he said, pumping faster and faster. "Suck it like you've never sucked anyone's cock." He bent over her head, held her to him by the back of her head, thrusting hard. He looked down, thought in the light of the fire he saw a smile at the corners of her lips. Her eyes were closed. Carla looked like she enjoyed his playful plummeting dominance and her willful participation. She pushed against his thighs, nails bitting into his skin, but he wouldn't let go. 

"Take it," he said, continuing to ravage her mouth. "This is what you wanted."

"Uhhh," she moaned, her body stiffening.

When she came, Jeff found it difficult to believe. It wasn't a hard climax, but she'd definitely just had an orgasm, and holding himself at the apex, let go. In the excitement, he almost forgot.

"Swallow," he said, "swallow like the little whore that you are. That's it–again, make sure you have it all. Do not, miss a drop."

He flopped back on the seat cushion, drained. Carla came with him, cleansing him. Then finally lay beside him.

"Thank you," she said. "Heard it talked about and wanted to experience dominance. It was a fun game."

"Did I hurt you?"

"No," she whispered. "If anything, you were too gentle."

"I will admit," he said, "there were a few seconds there, that I enjoyed what was going on, especially with your hands urging me on, but this overall, S&M thing is not really mine." He paused. "But, you came." 

"That I did."

"That was the fantastic part, unbelievable."

"Can't you fathom that someone might get a charge out of being dominated?"

"I just never knew anyone who did."

"Don't forget, you came too."

"Yes, but you wanted me to do that, almost a command that I do."

"Didn't you like it?"

"I didn't, not like it."

"Mother had a friend years ago who I think was into the domination thing. Mother seemed interested, but of course, never mentioned any knowledge of the concept at all. One of them saw me in the doorway and they quit talking about it. I didn't catch everything, but enough that it sort of stuck with me."

"I guess. Is this something you'd like all the time?"

"Look. I know now, that I'm a very oral ordinated person, and like to experiment, but I don't want someone fucking my face all the time. Once in a while though . . . wouldn't make me unhappy." 

"Yeow. My God, your fingers are cold."

Faster than a snake Jeff grabbed both her hands, rubbed them together in his.

"Don't like my fingers on your boys?"

She laughed.

"That better?" he said, when friction begin to warm his palms.

"Much. Now I can really play with my friends."

It was his turn to laugh, and he cupped a breast, ran a finger around the tight little tower in the center, while Carla played musical gonads. 

"I really like this," she said, when they broke the long, deep kiss. 

"Lovely," he said, drawing down to continue, pushing himself toward her massaging hand.

"Oh, oh. Fire's almost out," she said. "Think we've collected any water?" 

"I'll check." Jeff said, reluctantly disentangling.

"I'll be here when you finish."

"Yeah, not much place to go."

He jiggled the water can, and to his surprise some sloshed around inside. Pushing the can under the tent lip he said, "Here, drink what you need." He redid the fire, and when she'd finished, he drank too. When the last swallow hit bottom, the dull ache in his stomach reminded him again that they hadn't had food in a long time. It came to him in a flash. Eat the girl.

"What are you laughing about?"

"Nothing," he said.

"Come on . . . a person doesn't laugh for no reason."

"Thinking about how hungry I am."

"Eat me then," she said, without hesitation. 

"That's just what I was thinking."

"What you waiting for, an invitation?"

* * *

"We do this a lot," he said, voice indistinct, almost a mumble.

"Didn't your mother tell you not to talk with your mouth full," Carla said.

"I don't think she meant this."

"Talking's a bit distracting at the moment. I wouldn't mind you humming . . . though."

Jeff began,'The Star Spangled Banner'.

"Ohhh, you patriotic prick . . . but that's so nice. You really know how to play organ."

"Play guitar better."

"You must be a wonderful guitarist."

"Hummm."

* * *

"Okay," Carla said, "your turn." Jeff's reaction a while back to her cold fingers gave her an idea.

"Where are you going?"

"Be right back." The flap of their homemade tent drifted over her bare ass and he watched the last of her disappear into the dark.

Jeff frowned, listened to the faint sound of her, and in less than a minute she was back.

"Where'd you go? Have to pee?"

She bent over him.

"Ahhhh, you're . . . " then warmth hit him, an instant later cold. "I don't know what you're doing, but that's quite a sensation. Spicy hot and icy cold all at the same time."

* * *

Afterward, they lay huddled together all arms and legs. A human octopus. 

"What's that?" Carla said, lifting her head. "Didn't hear anything."

They were quiet for a while but nothing came to them except the licking of flames, and an occasional water drop sounding an end to it's fall. 

"For a second there, thought we were being rescued."

"We will, and soon."

"My throat's a little parched."

"No, wonder," he said. "I'll get some water."

He soaked the ground again outside the window with gasoline. He hefted the can. In a bit, they'd have enough for another few hours.

"Here you go."

"If we get out of here–."

"When," Jeff corrected.

"Okay. When we get out, what are you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"About us."

"I don't understand." His brain flashed an instant picture of house and picket fence. No picket fence he countered. Is there really an us?

"Oh, come on, don't be a shithead. You know perfectly well what I mean."

"To tell the truth, I hadn't thought about it."

Which of course was an outright lie.

"Just like a fucking man." she bit him.

"Hey."

"You're the one who believes we're getting out of this death trap, so are we going to be seeing each other?"

"I'd say that also depends upon you," he said. Knowing what she meant and saying it out loud was not something he wanted to voice at the moment.

"It's only been a few hours we've known each other, but I've done things with you, I hadn't planned on, or would have done on such short notice . . ."

"If you thought we were going to live?"

"Something like that."

"I admit, our situation is extraordinary, but I enjoy being with you."

"You enjoy the sex."

"The sex is outstanding," Jeff said, "but I'd think we'd want to find out if there is anything other than the physical to keep us seeing each other."

"That's what I needed to know. So, being as there's nothing else, let's work a little more on the physical aspects of our budding relationship."

"You are such a strumpet."

"You calling me a lady of the night?"

"Just someone who enjoys sex."

"And don't you know it . . . and legally, I'm still a virgin."

It was like the arctic during winter, only hours instead of the northern months of night. Jeff and Carla settled into a system. At the moment, they were at a lull. 

"I wonder if they've missed us yet?"

"I'm sure they're out looking for us right now," he said. "Soon as we didn't arrive at the terminal, they'd know something was wrong."

"I'm sure you're right," Carla murmured. "I wish they'd hurry."

"You've decided you don't like it here anymore?"

It took several seconds before she answered. 

"You keep saying they'll find us, and I want to believe you. So, why don't they?"

"Probably have others in worse shape to contend. We're fine here, can last for days with the water we're getting.

"I'm so hungry."

"I know . . . so am I, but the thing is we can survive here."

"How long has it been?" Carla grabbed his wrist, turned it so she could see the hands on his watch. "I can't tell."

He looked. " Forty nine hours," he said, after calculating. 

"Feels like days," Carla said.

He chuckled.

"What?"

"It has been."

"Oh,"

"Listen."

"What?"

"Shssh."

"Hear that? They're coming. They've found us." He grabbed her in a hug.

"Shit? Where my clothes? Help me. Get dressed. Can't have them see us naked. They'll know something happened."

* * *

After they'd been dragged out, placed in warm blankets, closed in an EMR vehicle and taken to the hospital for a check up, they were separated, and didn't see each other until Jeff went to see her that evening in the hospital.

Entering the two person room, he knew immediately Carla wasn't the first bed, but he nodde to the elderly woman lying there. Around the curtain, his eyes ran into Carla's parents.

"Hi," he said, "I'm Jeff."

"So you're the one saved our Carla?" The fiftish looking man with hair cut in buzz, shook his hand. It was a strong grip, and Jeff liked the man immediately.

"I wouldn't say saving is the correct word. We helped each other."

Carla smiled knowingly, held out her hand which he took. 

"I wanted to thank you for all the encouragement you gave," she said. "They treating you okay here?"

He nodded, thinking how much of him she's consumed, and how she must look under the blankets. "You look pretty thin, how much weight have you lost?

"I pigged out when they fed us. Would have been nice to have something sweet to eat in the bus."

He almost blanched. A breeze made him say, "Hate these open-in-back gowns, feel almost totally naked."

Everyone laughed. 

"Why don't you come for dinner this Saturday?" Mrs. Phelps said. "You should be out of here in a few days."

"That's an excellent idea," Carla said. "We can share thoughts. Maybe even write a book together on our experience."

"I-I--."

"Come on," Carla said, "say yes, we have so much in common."

Her face spoke more than words, the wide lips smiled knowingly, the corner crinkles of her eyes held an inner laughter that only they knew the reason, and a promise seemed to radiate from every pore.

"Sounds wonderful," he said.

The end



Snowbound



The absolute silence was only punctuated by the slowly swirling snow, until the single digit powder compressed under Jake's snowshoe. He looked up into the encroaching twilight and shook his head to see the sky already blanketed with points of starlight. Jake knew a crystal clear night was just a precursor to a bitterly cold morning. He guessed it would be well below zero if a storm didn't slide in during the night. Jake refocused on the silhouette of the small cabin before him as he steadily snowshoed to it. Just as the metal teeth of his shoes clicked against the porch, a monstrous shape erupted from the tree line and ran at him full bore. The animal leaped from several feet away, hitting Jake full in the chest, knocking his muscular body to the porch.

"Damn it, Kody! Get off me!"

Jake grabbed the huge Husky by the neck ruff and tugged him to the side. Climbing to his feet, he quickly brushed the powder from his clothes. Pulling off a glove, Jake reached above the door, searching for the key he kept there. Eventually his chilling fingertips found the frigid piece of metal and retrieved it from his hiding spot. Quickly slipping his hand back into the warm glove, he spent several minutes fighting the aging lock before it finally gave way. As Jake pushed the door open, Kody rushed past him into the dark room.

"Crazy dog," muttered Jake as he released his snowshoes and cleared them of snow, leaving them propped against the wall as he closed the door. 

Jake made his way to the table on the side of the tiny room and wiggled his arms out of the backpack he was wearing. They had been at the cabin for several days now, Jake had to make the several mile hike to his SUV so he could drive to town and restock supplies. Since he was limited to the amount he could carry, Jake tended to go out several times a week. His civilization-weakened body had complained about the new demands, but the soreness was lessening with each trip. 

Leaving his pack on the table, Jake moved to the only heat source for the cabin, a small two-burner wood stove. Opening the stove, Jake reached in with the poker and stirred the coals. He smiled as the small red embers came into view, a faint wisp of smoke curled from the ashes. Reaching into the tinderbox, he pulled out a handful of tinder, and laid it gently on the coals. Leaning in close, he gently blew until the small pile burst into flames. Jake spent the next few minutes carefully feeding the flames pine needles, then gradually larger twigs, until he had a small fire going. 

As he carefully laid in the first piece of kindling, he couldn't help but think back over the last five years, and the fact that the pain of losing his husband had never really lessened. Each year as the horrific anniversary came again; Jake left his modest home and escaped to the wilderness for a few weeks. As he fed the hungry fire, he recalled the wonderful times he and Scott had over their decade plus relationship. A slight smile crept across his face as he recalled how he teased Scott about his slightly receding hairline, and how valiantly he tried to hide it, until he had gotten tired of the teasing one summer and had cut off all his hair. What Scott hadn't foreseen was how sexy Jake thought he was with buzzed hair.

A sharp crack from the burning wood brought Jake back to the present. Looking around the tiny room, he saw some of the small tokens of Scott he had brought to the cabin over the years since his death. Only happy memories, Jake had no problem bringing up the horror and soul rending sadness of the accident. His only consolation was the knowledge that, according to the investigator, Scott probably never saw the drunk driver who t-boned his car. The trial that followed was a blur to Jake, the pain of his loss put everything in a haze for him.

His colleagues at the university somehow seemed shocked that he grieved like he did, as if it were somehow less painful because their relationship was between two men. Oddly enough the person who was the most support, was a quiet man that Jake had never really gotten to know that well before, but he had lost his wife years before to breast cancer. He seemed to fully understand that love was love and the pain wasn't a contest to see who hurt the most. Jake had spent many hours with Keith talking about their spouses, and the knowledge that someone else understood did help.

But Jake coped most days now. It was just around the anniversary of Scott's death that he needed a break from life. So this tiny cabin he had built after Scott's death had become the place that kept him sane.

Jake shook his head at himself as he lit the small sliver of kindling he was using as a taper. With flame burning brightly from its tip, he quickly lit a small kerosene lamp beside the bed. Checking to make certain everything was in place, he closed the door to the stove. The small space warmed quickly, and Jake was soon stripping off his layers of clothing. Eventually he was down to his union suit, and lay on the bed to enjoy one of his few acknowledgments to the digital age, his eBook reader. Jake had finally relented and purchased it, not to be one of the in crowd, but because of the weight it saved in his backpack. It could store a week of reading material with very little weight. That, combined with Kody's warm body across his feet, soon had Jake feeling very warm and relaxed.

Kody perked up suddenly, staring in the direction of the door. Jake listened carefully, trying to see or hear what had the dog's attention. Just as he was about to settle back to read, thinking a passing owl or other small animal must have caught Kody's attention, a frantic pounding erupted from his door.

"Oh god! Please! I'm freezing, please let me in."

"Hang on! Hang on! I'm comin'," yelled Jake.

Grabbing his pants he quickly pulled them on and then shuffled across the few feet of floor to reach the door. Yanking it open he found a tall young man standing at his door, shivering and covered with snow. As Jake tried to work out how this youngster had managed to find him, he realized the kid was standing in the driving snow in only a t-shirt, jeans and athletic shoes.

"Come on! Get in here!" said Jake as he frantically beckoned him into the cabin.

Jake tugged the young man into the cabin when he didn't move. Slamming the door shut, he turned to see that the kid had slumped onto the bed. His body was wracked with shivers as he sat on the bed, his lips blue from the cold. Jake grabbed his hands and started rubbing them, realizing that they are almost frostbitten. The young man was incoherent except for the whimpers of pain as feeling returned to his hands. Jake pressed a hand against his chest and laid him on the bed. 

Jake cracked the ice from the kid's shoes, finally getting them off. Minutes crept by as he fought to get the socks off his wet, frozen feet. Finally managing to peel them away, he saw gray-white flesh, a sure sign of frostbite. Jake was becoming frantic as he realized the severity of the exposure. Even in what felt like a warm room to Jake, the kid was shivering violently, his speech incoherent. Jake only knew one way to get his body temperature back to normal, but he wasn't really sure he could handle that kind of intimate contact with another man. Letting out a long sigh, he decided there wasn't really a choice, if he didn't warm this young man up he wasn't going to survive.

Lifting the kid's slender frame, Jake quickly undressed him, trying to be as clinical and quick as he could. Soon his ice-coated clothing was draped around the room. As the kid lay curled on the bed, his slender body and pale, smooth skin made him look even younger than Jake's initial impression. Putting his misgivings behind him, Jake banked the stove then tugged the blankets over the kid. But watching for a few moments Jake could see he was still shivering violently. With a deep sigh, Jake stripped quickly and crawled into the bed behind the freezing young man. Quickly pulling the multiple layers of blankets and quilts over them, Jake braced himself and spooned his naked body against the nude kid now sharing his bed. 

Raising his head, he saw Kody watching them closely with an inquisitive look on his face. "Come on, Kody. Climb on top and help me get him warm." The large Husky moved to the side of the bed, looked to Jake for confirmation, then climbed on their feet and lay down.

A gasp slipped between Jake's lips as he enfolded the freezing stranger. The icy cold of his skin shocked Jake's body, sending the message that it desperately wanted away from the frigid boy, but Jake held the kid tightly while his system valiantly tried to warm them both. The minutes seemed to creep by, while the increases in temperature seemed tiny. But after long minutes of worry, Jake felt his charge relax beside him and a few minutes later slip into the deep breathing of normal slumber. 

Finally able to relax, Jake stayed spooned against him to make sure he remained warm. As he drifted off to sleep, he realized distantly that he had missed the smell of a man surrounding him since he'd lost Scott. Lifting himself from the bed for a moment, Jake blew out the lamp then snuggled back against his guest.



Justin woke slowly in luxurious heat, feeling oddly safe and protected. He refused to open his eyes and destroy the feeling of contentment that he hadn't felt in years. He had vague memories of the driving snow and bitter cold last night, and finally seeing a light in the distance. He had almost given up, his feet numb as he struggled for each step as he stumbled to the door of the tiny cabin. After that everything was a blur of white cold, followed by the intense relief of warmth. 

Justin moved slightly, and everything came into focus. He could feel the heat of the person behind him and heard a sigh from his feet that he somehow knew was a dog. The warm body spooned behind him was bringing out more feelings of intimacy than Justin could deal with. The prickles of hair against his bare back let him know it was a man, and his body was already beginning to respond to the intimacy. Justin desperately looked around the tiny room, trying to figure out of what he was going to do. As he was working out options, he felt the person behind him stirring.

"Get down, Kody," he heard in a deep bass voice that then with a question directed at Justin. "Morning. How are you feeling?"

Justin shrugged, and then realized he needed to actually speak. Taking a quick inventory of his body he realized, other than a little tenderness in his toes, he was fine. Actually he was more than fine, his erection was rock hard and jutting from his crotch.

"I'm ok, thanks for letting me in. I'm afraid I don't remember much of it," said Justin softly.

A deep rumbling chuckle rose beside his ear, sending a chill down his entire body. "Well, sorry about stripping you down and putting us together in our birthday suits. It was the only way I knew to get you warm. You had a pretty bad case of hypothermia, you might have some frostbite on your toes too."

The blankets behind Justin started to rustle and suddenly a thickly muscled thigh was across his hips. Justin could feel the weight shift as the stranger hoisted himself out of the bed. Justin looked up and almost gasped as a hard-as-rock, bubble butt walked away from him. His eyes were locked on the lightly haired ass cheeks. As the owner's back was turned toward him, a wet lick across his face brought Justin eye to eye with the cabin owner's large, very hairy dog. 

Justin reached out and ruffled his fur and smiled. "Hey boy, what's your name? You kept the old toes pretty warm last night."

"His name's Kody, and I'm Jake. What's yours?"

Justin sat up, hoping to hide his rampant erection, pulled the blankets and quilts around him until only his face was showing. As his surroundings began to register, he realized the room was not exactly warm, so he was glad he had stayed burrowed in the covers. As he looked out at Jake, he saw the big man pulling on a set of white thermals that covered him from neck to ankles. There was also a cheery fire going in the small wood-burning heater, Justin could already feel an increase in temperature for the minuscule room. Catching Jake's eye, he realized that he still hadn't given his name.

"I'm Justin. Sorry, I was zoning a little. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you saving me last night."

Jake walked across the room, pulled a 5-gallon bucket from a cabinet, and as Justin watched he fished his thick uncut penis out and proceeded to urinate into the bucket. Justin's mouth fell open as he watched Jake pull back a long foreskin and take care of his morning piss so blatantly. Suddenly he realized that he needed to pee urgently too, looking around he realized the bucket was the bathroom. The turgid state of his cock certainly wasn't going to make this situation any easier. As he was starting to panic about getting out of this without acknowledging his . . . problem, he realized Jake was dressing.

"I'll fix us some breakfast, but since we don't have electricity, I keep the stuff that needs to be frozen in a little box outside. I'll be a few minutes so if you need to take care of your morning . . . ritual. That bucket is my bathroom, just cover up whatever you do with fresh sawdust and put it back in the closet," explained Jake as he want out the door.

Justin breathed a sigh of relief and quickly threw his feet over the side of the bed and onto the wooden floor. As he put weight on them, pain lanced through his feet, confirming a problem with his toes, but his full bladder convinced him to cover the few feet to the bucket, which he did with careful steps. Spreading his legs wide, Justin desperately willed his hard cock to soften enough to urinate. Finally the cold of the room did what he couldn't through resolve alone achieve, and his dick deflated enough to at least point it at the bucket. With a sigh of relief, the thick hard stream of urine burst from his penis and hit the middle of the sawdust filled bucket. He stood there for several minutes as a seemingly never-ending stream continued to surge from him. As the final drops fell into the bucket, he heard a rumbling chuckle behind him.

"Whoever fills the bucket has to take it out and dump it, just thought I'd warn you," said Jake softly.

Justin gave a yip of surprise at not having heard Jake come inside. He realized it must have just happened when the swirl of freezing air hit him and he dove for the bed and it's warm blankets. 

Jake chuckled at the young mans antics, grabbed a small bag and poured a good amount of sawdust into the bucket. Putting everything back, he moved to a basin that Justin hadn't noticed before and washed up before starting to put together some breakfast. Justin realized that he was still naked and started looking around the room for his clothes.

"They're still wet. I don't think you want to try to put them back on right now. You're fine as you are as far as I'm concerned, or I can give you something of mine to wear if it would make you feel more comfortable," said Jake.

Justin started a little when he realized that Jake knew what he was looking for, but then settled back into the bed when he realized the big man didn't care. He thought for a few minutes and meekly asked, "Maybe a t-shirt would be good. If you've got one."

Jake left his food preparations and stepped over to dig through a small plastic box. After a few moments he straightened up and tossed a bundle of cloth to Justin. He caught it and quickly pulled the grey t-shirt over his head. It was big enough that Justin was swimming inside it, but at least it was long enough that it covered his groin if he had to get up. 

Refocusing on his host, he studied Jake while he was busy cooking. Justin knew he was younger than Jake, but he didn't think it was by too much. Jake definitely had the advantage in size; he looked like an ex-college football player who hadn't let himself go to seed. His muscles were large, the biceps stretching the sleeves of his shirt showed that, without being too much. Justin was most entranced by his butt though. It had to be one of the nicest bubble butts he'd seen in a long time. Justin was definitely a butt man too, he loved guys with tight asses. Of course Justin knew Jake had to be straight, so this was all just jack-off material for later, much later. 

Jake turned away from the wood stove he'd been cooking on with a steaming plate in each hand. Walking over, he handed one to Justin. Jake perched on the edge of the bed and ate slowly, while Justin practically inhaled the plate of food. With a smile, Jake took the empty plate from Justin's hand and handed him his own.

"Here, eat up. I've had plenty and you are still recovering. Let me take a look at your toes while you are finishing," said Jake.

Justin took the plate without any questions, or hesitation, and started eating his second breakfast. He gradually worked his toes out of the blankets, suddenly concerned that somehow Jake would know just from his toes that he was gay. He knew he couldn't survive the trip back to his vehicle right now, and since his own family had rejected him why would he expect some stranger to be more understanding. Justin flinched as the examination started, but Jake was very gentle. Focusing on the food, he emptied the plate before Jake was finished. Justin was relieved when he stopped since his touch was having the same effect on his dick as waking up next to Jake had earlier. Jake carefully tucked the blankets back around Justin's feet and stepped back.

"You were starting to get frostbite, it wouldn't have taken much more and you would have lost a toe or two. But I think you're going to be fine, you might have some blisters though so you need to stay off your feet for the next few days. You don't want to pop the blisters," explained Jake.

Justin wiggled his toes slowly, feeling a slight stiffness. "Ok, are you a doctor or something?" asked Justin.

Jake chuckled and shook his head. "No, I'm a microbiologist, but my partner was a nurse so I know a thing or two about first aid."

"Oh, well I'm glad she taught you some basic stuff. Otherwise I'll be in trouble," said Justin slowly.

"He," said Jake.

"Excuse me?" said Justin.

"You said 'she', my partner was a man. And he was a damn good nurse."

Justin sat frozen in place for several long minutes, his mind racing to put the pieces together. He finally realized that he'd been quiet an uncomfortably long time and Jake was waiting for his reply. Sudden completely at a loss for words, he blurted out the first thing on his mind.

"I'm gay!" said Justin.

Jake looked at him quietly, seeming to study him closely, shook his head and smiled. "Well, I guess we can stop worrying about offending each other because we're gay."

"You're the first person I've told, well the first gay person, I'm not queer or anything, just gay, no one else knows, well but my family, but that didn't go well, but—"

Jake stopped him by putting his meaty hand over Justin's mouth. "It's ok, Justin. If you want to talk about it that's fine, but let it settle for a while. I'll answer any questions you have, but I haven't been with many men other than Scott. He was kinda the playboy in our relationship. Well before our relationship, otherwise I would have decked him," said Jake with a chuckle.

Justin nodded his agreement and then felt Jake's hand pull away from his face. Jake paused for a minute and then nodded when Justin maintained his silence.

"Ok, then lets talk about last night. What in the world were you doing driving around in that storm, and how did you find this cabin? I'm at least 2 miles from the nearest road, and it's almost impassible," said Jake.

Justin nodded and made an audible gulp. Considering his words carefully, he began to talk. "I ran off the road and the car was stuck in a ditch, and I guess I got lost trying to get into town. The snow was so deep, and I kept falling. I had almost given up when I saw the light in your window and dragged myself toward it."




Snowbound



Jake looked at Justin and folded his massive forearms in front of his chest. When Justin finally met his eyes, Jake cocked one eyebrow and looked at him again. "And? What the rest of the story? Why were you out at all?"

Justin dropped his eyes, staring at the floor and then letting out a deep breath. "I was kicked out of the house. My parents said I was an abomination and threw me out."

Jake hovered for a minute and then sat on the side of the bed. He hesitantly reached out and rubbed Justin's back. After a few minutes, Justin continued "I've been out at college for several years. I never had enough nerve to date anyone though. My parents are very strict Mormons, but I thought it would be ok, that they'd understand. And I'll be graduating in the spring, so I thought I'd come out over Christmas." Justin took a deep breath and his body shook. Jake tried to comfort him as best he could, but knew that he just needed to get the story out.

Justin shuddered slightly and continued his story. "They both started screaming at me. They said I was going to hell for having those thoughts. I tried to talk to them, tried to give them some of the literature from PFLAG, but that just made it worse. Dad grabbed a belt and started hitting me with it. Then they said I had to leave, that I couldn't stay in their house for one second longer. I guess I didn't move fast enough 'cause my Dad grabbed me and threw me out the front door in just the t-shirt and jeans I was wearing. I banged on the front door for a long time, but they turned off the lights. My brothers and sisters must have heard the argument too, because all of their bedrooms were dark. One of them threw me out a pair of shoes, but that was it. Eventually, I realized they really weren't going to let me back in, so I took my car and started back to school. The snow was blowing so hard I could barely see, and I guess I missed a turn and ended up in the ditch."

Jake tried to think of something to say. His own coming out had been years ago, and it had gone fairly well. His parents were very supportive. Scott's family had not accepted his announcement, and they never had reconciled before Scott was killed. As he was working through to something comforting to say, Kody walked over, stuck his nose in Justin's armpit, and inhaled deeply. Justin gave Jake a slightly horrified look, and Jake burst out laughing.

"Yeah, he does that sometime. I don't know if it's a greeting, a chemical test, or if he gets off on pits," said Jake.

Justin chuckled then reached over and scratched Kody under the chin. Kody let out a small whine of pleasure, and laid his head on the bed beside Justin. As the two of them got better acquainted, Jake cleaned up and stowed everything away. When he finished, he saw that Justin was yawning and his eyes looked like his lids were lead weighted. 

"Justin, get some sleep. It's still snowing pretty hard out there so I'm just going to read for awhile anyway," Jake said, holding up his reader as proof of his activity.

Justin nodded and wiggled back into the blankets. His soft snores were soon proof of his exhaustion.



Jake had been quietly reading for the entire morning, but his stomach was starting to grumble and he knew Justin would wake up soon with a voracious appetite. Standing, he stretched, his back popping softly as his body resumed its full height. Walking over to a cooler he kept to one side, Jake quietly opened it and did a quick inventory of their food. Jake knew they would need supplies in a few days since there was no way Justin was going to be able to make the hike to the SUV until he had recovered. He'd already checked the weather forecast on his radio, and knew another big storm was coming in 48 hours from now, so he'd have to make a trip to town soon. 

Pulling out some bratwurst, Jake started browning them. Grabbing a few other ready-to-eat items, Jake had shortly put together a decent lunch for the two of them. He walked over and gently shook Justin. When Justin's only response was an unhappy grunt, Jake shook him again. This time he got a groan of acknowledgment, and Justin sat up in the bed. 

"I made lunch," said Jake.

At that announcement, Justin's stomach let out a loud growl and both men chuckled. Justin scooted to the edge of the bed, swung his legs over the edge and his feet to the floor. As he pushed himself into a standing position, pain shot through this lower body and he fell back onto the bed.

"Oh fuck!" said Justin through clenched teeth. Realizing what he had just said he reddened. "Sorry, that kind of slipped out."

Jake chuckled softly, "Don't sweat it. Sometime things slip out of my mouth too. Let me take a look at your feet."

Jake pulled over a chair and lifted the young man's feet to inspect them. As he looked over first one foot and then the other, the t-shirt slipped off Justin crotch, revealing his soft cock and tight ball sack. Jake tried to ignore the sight before him, but for the first time since losing Scott, he was feeling a physical attraction to someone. Snapping himself back to the task at hand, he pushed Justin back on the bed and shook his head.

"The blisters are fairly big, so you need to stay off them as much as possible. I'm afraid you're stuck in the bed for the next few days."

"Sorry, I know I'm ruining your vacation," said Justin, dropping his head.

"Nope. You're not ruining anything. I come up here because Scott was killed around Christmas. So I can avoid the memories in our house, I built this place the first Christmas after . . . after it happened. So Scott was never here, but there are a few things of his I've brought up over the past few years," said Jake.

"Well, I'm at least in the way. This cabin is, kinda cozy for two people," said Justin.

Jake chuckled and smirked a little at Justin. "Depends on how cozy the two people are."

Jake grabbed one of the filled plates and held it out to Justin. Taking it carefully, Justin was soon eating with relish. Jake smiled to himself, enjoying the youthful exuberance of his guest. As he watched Justin clean his plate, Jake was drawn to the slender young man in front of him. The t-shirt that he had loaned him was far too big, looking like a skirt on Justin, but it somehow fit the innocent charm of the youngster perfectly. Jake again got that comforting feeling that he had not felt for years. Jake had always recognized that Scott wouldn't want him to stop living because of his death, but Jake had been numb inside for so long that he had just accepted the fact that he would never find a person to be with again. Justin had him rethinking his assumptions of how his life would go. Jake suddenly realized what he was doing, and slammed down on his emotions. He refused to take part in any romantic daydreaming with a 20-something virgin. It just wasn't going to happen.

Jake was rather quickly brought out of his woolgathering by a wet lick across the back of his hand, followed quickly by a wet nose bouncing under it. Jake chuckled and reached down to scratch Kody behind the ears.

"Are you needing some attention, Kody? Is Justin getting all of Daddy's attention?" said Jake as he ruffled his Husky's thick fur.

"He's beautiful," said Justin.

"He's a pain in the behind is what he is. But he puts up with me and my moods, so I guess that makes us even." Jake looked around the room, noting a few things they would need if the two of them were spending a week at the cabin to give Justin time to heal. Having decided what staples they needed, he turned to check his backpack and started dressing for the trip. Without a thought, Jake sat on the edge of the bed to pull on his gaiters, with Justin scurrying to the opposite corner to stay out of his way. 

Innocently, Jake reached over and grabbed Justin's bare shoulder and squeezed it. "Sorry, dude. I forget how big I am sometimes."

Justin smiled slightly and shook his head, "You look like a perfect size to me." Immediately realizing what he had said, Justin blushed crimson, and Jake chuckled slight at his discomfort. Without further comment, Jake finished dressing and was soon standing beside the door.

"I'll only be gone a few hours, I'll be back before nightfall. I just want to make sure we don't get stranded without food if a blizzard comes through. I'll leave Kody to keep you company, and you need your rest anyway."

"Ok," said Justin, "Just be careful."

Jake gave Justin a slightly sad smile, knowing the kid couldn't have known that was the same instructions Scott gave him each time he left the house. Turning quickly, Jake slipped on his snowshoes and headed out the door.



The snow had been deeper than he'd thought. Jake was glad he'd invested in a new pair of snowshoes at the beginning of the season, and that he was in shape for some rigorous snowshoeing. But he'd made it back to the SUV, easily dug it out and made it to town. It was a typical tiny up-north hamlet, but it had everything Jake needed.

He made a few passes up and down the aisles of the small mom & pop grocery store, trying to guess what Justin might like. Finally realizing he was acting like he was shopping for an important date, Jake laughed at himself and his constant habit of over planning. With that acknowledgment, he quickly finished his shopping and packed his purchases in the SUV.

As he headed out of town, he passed the small local pharmacy. Realizing he hadn't gotten anything for Justin's frostbite, he quickly wheeled into the snow-covered parking lot. Inside, he perused the aisles to find what he needed. Picking up the typical antibiotic creams and gels, Jake realized he had inadvertently ended up in the family planning section. Looking at the selection, he sighed at his foolish optimism that some young kid would be having the same fluttering for an old guy as Jake was having for him. But his preemptive nature soon won out and he grabbed a box of condoms from the shelf and tossed them in the basket along with a tube of lubricant. Shaking his head at himself and chuckling again, Jake figured these condoms would dry up before he used them, but he was prepared . . . just in case.



Justin woke up slowly, drifting in that wonderful place between sleep and awake. This day so far had been amazing, considering that he thought he was going to die last night, he couldn't believe his change of luck. Part of the reason Justin was still a virgin was just fear, he was afraid of falling for someone and finding out he was straight, but a bigger part was he'd found a lot of guys who he thought were cute, but never anyone who made his heart sing. The guys his age were more interested in drinking and screwing than anything else, and while Justin wasn't opposed to either of those, he wanted something more. He knew that Jake would never have feelings for a lanky kid like himself, but he could still fantasize. And the shoulder that Jake had grabbed was still tingling in delight from the touch. 

Justin started as he felt something large jump on the bed beside him, immediately realizing it was Kody. The panting dog was sniffing across and through the bedding, until Justin was laughing and trying to push him away. The struggle continued for a few more minutes until Kody finally relented and jumped to the floor. Justin fought to sit back upright, and then looked at Kody's inquisitive face.

"Oh man! I really gotta pee!" said Justin.

Justin tossed the covers off and threw his feet over the edge of the bed. Carefully putting the majority of his weight on his heels, he gingerly walked across the small room and pulled out the bucket. Standing quietly, his strong stream arched into the bucket as he sighed in relief. Shaking the last drops from his dick, he quickly stored everything back where it belonged, and was slowly making his way back to the bed when Kody intercepted him. The dog looked at Justin, then stepped in and stuck his wet, cold nose right under Justin's balls.

"Holy shit! Don't do that!" squealed Justin as the cold shrunk his genitals. 

Kody trotted off a foot or two and seemed to smirk at Justin as he struggled the last few feet to the bed. Just as Justin was covering himself, Kody erupted into a series of growls and barking that startled Justin.

"Shut up, Kody! You damn well know it's me!" came from outside the cabin as Jake stepped onto the small porch.

Justin pulled the coverings over and around him, making a warm cocoon against the cold that was about to invade his warm space. As he covered the last spot of exposed skin, the door popped open to a snow covered Jake who struggled to get into the door while Kody circled his feet feverishly. "Kody! Calm down, I'm here. Chill out." Turning to Justin, he smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, they're a lot better. I managed to use the bucket a few minutes ago and it wasn't too bad." Justin got a crooked smile, "Except Kody sticking his nose in my crotch."

Jake roared with laughter. "He does tend to do that a lot. When Scott was alive Kody drove him crazy sticking his nose under his nut sack anytime he found him naked." Jake turned and quickly tucked away the food that he'd gotten, leaving everything else in the backpack. He quickly pulled out two steaks and set them into a pan he'd been heating. Soon the tiny room was filled with the aroma of seared steak. Flipping the beef, he quickly filled two plates with a few items he had picked up. Soon the meat was cooked to the degree of doneness he wanted, and he carefully moved each steak to the already full plates.

Turning from the stove, Jake handed one of the plates to Justin then balanced himself on the edge of the bed. They both ate with single-minded focus and soon both plates were cleaned. Justin tried to sneak his plate to Kody for a final polishing, but when Jake snorted quietly at the noise, he knew he was busted. More importantly, when Jake's plate joined his, he knew it didn't matter. 

Jake soon had the dishes cleaned and was preparing for night. To Justin it seemed as if the wind was blowing even harder, which Jake soon confirmed.

"There's another storm coming in tonight. The weather station said it could get to blizzard intensity. If it's that bad we might be stuck here for a few days, but I got plenty of food for us."

Justin nodded, not certain what to say since he was largely helpless in this situation. His clothes were dry, but unable to walk he hadn't even bothered to get to them and take off Jake's shirt. Actually, he was still very much enjoying the smell of Jake on the shirt as he wore it. 

Once Jake had closed the shutters on the one window, he came back to the bed with a couple of magazines in one hand, and his reader in the other. He tossed the magazines to the bed beside Justin.

"I thought you might like something to read, so I grabbed a couple of magazines while I was out. There isn't much to do at night here except read," said Jake.

Justin nodded and snuggled down into the bed again, moving so there was ample light from the kerosene lamp. Jake stripped down to his underwear, and crawled in bed beside Justin. The evening passed quietly as the two of them read and occasionally shared something they found. As the wind picked up, howling around the small shelter, the warmth soon had Justin relaxed and sleepy. When he gave another massive yawn in less than a handful of minutes, Jake turned off his book.

"I think you're ready for some sleep, and I'm tired too. Lets get some shuteye," said Jake.

Justin nodded sleepily and handed the magazines to Jake. Wiggling down into the bed he soon found himself snuggled against Jake's warm body. Justin kept drifting off, only to be awakened by Jake moving again. After several times, Justin finally asked, "What's wrong?"

"Well, normally I don't sleep in anything," said Jake.

"So why are you wearing them tonight? I don't care, it isn't like we haven't slept together without clothes already," Justin said with a sleepy chuckle.

Without another word, Jake quickly stripped and tossed his underwear beside the bed. Wiggling back into the warm blankets he was soon nestled into the bed. Justin snuggled back against his warm backside, feeling very content. Jake smiled silently when he heard the soft snore coming from behind him, and quickly fell asleep feeling very content for the first time in a long time.



Jake woke the next morning feeling a vaguely familiar sensation on his butt as he drifted awake. After a few moments he recognized it as an urgently hard cock pressed between his butt cheeks. Enjoying the sensation that at one time had been very familiar; he relaxed and appreciated the feeling of long lost intimacy. But the feeling of satisfaction was fleeting when he awoke enough to realize that Justin was probably asleep, and didn't realize he was humping Jake's ass. Very softly he called out, "Justin?"

"Yeah?" came back the sleepy reply.

"Babe, your morning wood is a little busy . . ."

There was a brief pause, followed almost immediately by a loud squeak as Justin pulled his cock away from Jake. 

"Oh god! I'm so sorry! Please! Oh god, I'm so so sorry. I was dreaming, and --"

Justin froze as he tried to collect his thoughts. Feeling very confused between his raging hormones and terrible guilt at what he'd done to Jake. Part of him was on the verge of tears, while another was furious at the situation that he was thrust into. His emotions were still warring as he felt the bed shift and Jake turned to look at him.

"Calm down, Justin. You were asleep and dreaming. You're a young guy and I'm sure you have desires. I know I'm too old for you, so don't think anything of it," said Jake calmly.

"No," said Justin almost in a whisper.

"No?" said Jake.

"No, you are not too old for me. I thought I was too much of a kid for you."

Jake looked at him and smiled, "This sounds like the x-rated version of the old 'assume' joke." When Justin just got a confused look on his face, Jake just shook his head. "Never mind, but now the question is, what do you want to do? We're both wide awake so we don't have the 'I was asleep and didn't know' card anymore."

Justin looked deep into Jake's blue eyes, torn between terror and ecstasy. He was unable to decide, not knowing what to do now.

"We don't have to do anything. It's up to you," said Jake quietly as he stretched his arm, exposing the plentiful hair exploding from his armpit.

Justin inhaled the scent from Jake's pits, and sighed. Deciding this was what was fated; he finally whispered, "Can we kiss?"

Jake chuckled, then gently took Justin's face in his hands. Moving closer, he stopped a few inches from Justin's lips and inhaled deeply. The morning smells of the young man were surprisingly pleasant, awakening feelings in Jake that he'd thought had died with Scott. Refocusing on the young man he was holding, he studied Justin's face carefully. His dark hair and eyebrows, combined with his chiseled jaw and slight dimple were charming and sexy to Jake. His nose could only be described as pert, but his lips, Justin's lips were so very red and kissable. Closing the last inches, Jake pressed his lips against Justin's, and to his delight he found they were every bit as kissable as he'd imagined.

As they separated, Justin gasped for breath as he tried to recover from his first kiss with another man. The soft lips, the scratchy rough beard, the slight masculine smell, everything about it was perfect. The hot touch of Jake's lips on his own had surged through his system and his cock was again hard and throbbing. His mind was reeling as he realized Jake was waiting for him to speak. Unable to form an entire sentence he gasped out.

"More, please!"

Jake cupped his chin, running his thumb across Justin's dark morning scruff. Leaning back slightly, he pulled his t-shirt over Justin's head and dropped it to the floor. He leaned in again and kissed Justin. This time it wasn't a simple kiss, Jake let the heat he was feeling enter the kiss, their lips pressing hard against each other. Suddenly Justin opened his lips slightly and his tongue darted out to touch Jake's lips before escaping back to Justin's mouth. Jake took that as permission for more, and drove his tongue into Justin's mouth. Soon the two of them were kissing with intensity and passion that had Justin's head spinning. Suddenly he felt Jake's finger run down the middle of his chest. The touch left a trail of fire where it passed and Justin's passion rapidly reached the point of no return.




Snowbound



"No. Stop. Oh god," gasped out Justin.

Jake immediately jumped back. "Sorry, Justin. I didn't mean to go too far."

Justin started a twittering laugh, "No, it was amazing and I want to do more. But I was about to nut."

With a smile Jake spread his massive hand across Justin's chest and ran it up to his nipples. "That's fine. I'm sure you will recharge in no time." With that Jake leaned in and sucked one of Justin's nipples between his lips and licked it gently. His hand slid down Justin's quivering body, exposing its gorgeous length. As he flipped the last blanket from Justin's groin, his hard cock jumped into view, a thick strand of precum running from his slit to his pubic hair. Moving his hand back up Justin's body, Jake started rubbing his finger over Justin's hard nipples as their lips again found each other. 

Their tongues were soon fighting for supremacy as Justin barreled toward a long overdue orgasm. His body began strong rippling contractions as he felt his cum race from his full balls. Trying to warn Jake, he managed only a grunt and gasp before the first strong shot exploded from his cock, leaving a line of white cum from his cheek, down his neck and across his smooth torso. Jake continued kissing him passionately as Justin's body thrashed under him leaving a crisscross of translucent cum covering Justin's torso. His orgasm buried him under new and amazing sensations as the overwhelming pleasure continued to roll over him. Eventually the last pulse erupted from his hard cock, leaving a pool of semen covering his groin. As his muscles released, Justin's body melted against the bed as he gasped for air. Jake touched him gently, slowly tracing patterns over his chest. 

"Oh god, I've never come that hard. It was amazing," sighed Justin.

Jake leaned in and gave Justin another soft kiss. "Good, that's the best thing you could have said." Jake moved close to Justin and almost licked one of the many trails of cum over his face before he remembered this was not Scott lying under him. Grabbing the discarded t-shirt, Jake quickly wiped Justin clean.

Justin relaxed against Jake's large frame, feeling very content. Suddenly he realized only one of them had gotten off. "Hey! You didn't get your nut yet. I want to get you off too. Like you did me."

Jake let out another deep chuckle and rubbed his hand over Justin's exposed back. "I'm afraid I'm too old to get off on just nipple play and kissing, but it felt really good."

Justin twisted in Jake's arms until their faces were almost touching. Justin rubbed his smooth torso against Jake's hairy chest, loving the texture of Jake's curly hair against his skin. Justin ran his fingers down Jake's chest, tugging at his thick public hair. Jake let out a sigh as his achingly hard cock flexed from the stimulation. Justin looked up at Jake, who nodded his permission. With that acknowledgment, Justin's slender fingers slipped deeper into his dark bush, taking the base of his throbbing cock and caressing it slowly.

Justin fondled him seductively, feeling the slight corrugation of Jake's rock hard cock. His hand slowly teased its way up the length of Jake's thick cock until he reached the skin-covered tip. Justin smiled at the loose foreskin he had found and quickly buried his finger inside, running his finger through the accumulation of precum. Justin tugged and stroked Jake's foreskin for several minutes as he explored, enjoying the added dimension. Eventually he gripped it lightly and pulled back the long soft skin covering. Justin was fascinated as it slithered wetly down Jake's thick cock, revealing the dark head of his dick. Rubbing his finger over Jake's piss slit, Justin coated his finger with more precum. Mesmerized, Justin started to lean in to taste this glistening tower of manhood, when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's wait on oral, babe. Ok?" said Jake in deep tones.

Justin nodded, not sure if he'd made a misstep, or not. But then moving his head back to Jake's chest and he flicked his tongue over Jake's hard nipple as he slowly stroked his iron hard cock. Justin wanted more so badly, but he was trying to not rush Jake into anything, he realized that he was falling for the ruggedly handsome man. Soon he heard moans of pleasure as Jake's body tensed under him.

"Oh god! Oh god! Fuck! I'm coming!" said Jake through the moans.

Justin released Jake's nipple and tightened his grip as he jacked him. He wanted to watch this massive cock explode from his handling. Quickly Jake's moans escalated, then his hips flexed up and locked. 

"Oh! Oh! Ahh! Fuck!" screamed Jake.

The first jet caught Justin across the cheek and he jerked back. He continued jerking the rapidly firing cock as Jake emptied his load. Numerous lines of thick white cum soon decorated Jake's chest as his cock shot again and again. Justin pulled the foreskin over the tip and held it tight as the last of Jake's orgasm ballooned it with semen. As the last ripple of orgasm passed through Jake's body, Justin released the skin and watched with fascination as it slowly opened, releasing the trapped cum to slowly drip off Jake's softening cock and into his thick bush. Running his hand across Jake's torso, he smeared the trails of cum over Jake's hairy body. Justin slowly touched and worked semen over Jake as he enjoyed the post-orgasm closeness of his first sexual experience. Jake simply watched and smiled, content to let Justin experience it however he wanted, knowing it would be a memory that would be with him forever. 

Eventually Jake's chest hair was matted with jizz, and Justin looked up with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry, I guess I just got lost in the moment," said Justin as his face reddened slightly.

Jake lifted his chin and kissed his lips gently. "You're fine. Whatever you want is ok with me. This is all new to you, so whatever you want to try, we'll try."

Justin smiled and nodded, "I want to try everything, but maybe not right now."

Jake let out a belly laugh and nodded, "Not unless you're wanting to kill an old man. I don't have your stamina."

Justin kissed Jake's cheek and shook his head, "I'm sure you could be ready just as quick as I can."

Jake reached down and gripped Justin's already resurrected cock and squeezed its hard length in his hand while Justin sucked air between his teeth. "I don't think so, stud. You're already hard and ready for round two. But how about we get some breakfast and check those feet before we ravish each other again."

Justin smiled in agreement, ready to do whatever Jake wanted.



Having finished breakfast, Jake moved to check the condition of Justin's feet. He carefully inspected them, prodding at them in a few place and was pleased to find nothing particularly tender. Looking up he smiled at Justin.

"Looks like they're about healed. Wanna go out and get a little practice with the snowshoes?" said Jake.

Justin perked up at the idea he could leave the tiny cabin, even if it was only for a short walk. "Sure! That sounds great. I wouldn't mind getting out for a little bit."

Justin threw off the covers and swung his feet to the floor before he remembered that he was completely naked. He started blushing, then realized that there was very little that Jake hadn't already seen of his body, but he did need his clothes if they were going out.

"Umm, I need my jeans and stuff."

Jake chucked and pulled the dried clothing together and tossed it to Justin. "Don't worry about the shocks and shoes. I think we're about the same size so you can wear a pair of my wool socks and an old pair of hiking boots," said Jake.

Justin pulled on the clothing as Jake quickly retrieved the socks and shoes. As he sat them down, Jake realized that Justin still needed a coat, so he went rummaging. The only thing he found was an old wool coat of Scott's that Jake had brought to the cabin. That first Christmas after the accident, Jake had slept with it every night. He looked at it closely, thinking about its significance, and realized that it wasn't Scott, it was just a memory cue. But he still handled the coat gently as he set it beside Justin.

Soon they were both bundled against the cold, with several more borrowed items completing Justin's wardrobe. Jake helped him fasten the spare snowshoes onto his boots, and they headed out the door. Jake strode across the open space without a backward look, until he heard a soft gasp as Justin got the shoes tangled and fell face first into the powdery snow. Jake let out a soft laugh and turned back to help. Grabbing Justin's hand, Jake pulled him to his feet.

"Come on. It's pretty easy, but we'll practice in the yard for a few minutes before we had hit the trail," said Jake.

Justin nodded as he tried to wipe the snow from his face with the oversized mittens that Jake had given him. Once he was on his feet he watched as Jake gave him a lesson in using snowshoes, and Justin quickly caught onto the technique. 

The next few hours were spent in relative quiet as Jake shared the sights of his part of the forest with Justin. They proceeded slowly; wanting to be sure Justin didn't over-tax himself. But Justin was in awe of the spectacular scenery and kept stopping Jake to see a new marvel that he had discovered. The winter sun was out and turned the world into a crystalline encased wonder for them both. Jake had walked this trail many times, but he was enjoying Justin's fresh wonder at the sights. When they reached the turn around point, Jake brushed the snow from the trunk of a fallen tree and motioned for Justin to sit beside him. They both gobbled down the trail mix that Jake had put together, with Justin eagerly looking at the world, and Jake looking at Justin.

"Justin?" said Jake.

Justin turned with a smile, "Yeah?"

"So how are you feeling about what happened this morning. If you want to talk about it or if you have any questions . . ." Jake trailed off.

Justin thought for a second, then smiled at Jake, "Can we do it again?"

Jake let out a chuckle, "Yes, if that's what you want. But if it made you feel bad, then don't think you have to do anything else."

Justin paused for a moment as he reflected. "No, I think what my parents did was wrong. If it weren't for you I would have died. I think this morning was wonderful. I've never felt so safe and cared for in my life."

"Ok, well I know I'm a lot older than you so I don't want you to feel like you have any kind of obligation to me," said Jake softly.

Justin shot him a dejected look and hung his head, "Ok . . ."

Jake's brows knitted together as he looked at the boy. Finally reaching down, he cupped Justin's chin in his palm and turned Justin to look at him. "Look Justin. I was just being realistic. I'm sure you'll want someone closer to your own age."

Justin finally looked up and met his eyes. "No, you are so incredibly sexy and I love how I feel when you touch me. No hipster, twenty-one year old is going to make me feel the same way. If you don't want to be with me I'll live, but I want to be with you more all the time."

Jake gave Justin a kiss and a gentle smile. Without another word, he split the rest of the food and started nibbling while they were studying the area. As the last morsel slid down his throat, Jake brushed his hands off on his pants and then stood. Looking over at Justin he grinned, "Wanna race?"



Jake was leaning against the post on the porch panting for breath. Justin had been more of a challenge than he'd expected in the race back to the house, and now he was trying to recover. Just as he turned to see if Justin had recovered, a snowball splattered against his jacket. Turning quickly, he saw Justin laughing as he raced around the cabin. Jake chased after him, only to be rewarded with another snowball to the forehead. A full out war quickly ensued that left Jake the clear and distinctive, loser. 

As he lay gasping for air again, this time in a snow bank, he turned to Justin. "How in the hell are you making snowballs from powder! Mine are just falling the fuck apart!"

Justin reached down and grabbed a small handful of snow, and breathed into it. The combination of warm wet breath glued the particles together. Justin playfully tossed the little snowball at Jake. 

"Well crap. Ok, well as soon as I can dig my way out of this snow, we can go clean up for dinner."

Justin offered Jake a hand then tugged the larger man to his feet. They slowly walked to the cabin feeling very connected. Opening the door, they stowed their snowshoes beside it then continued inside. While Justin stripped off his wet clothes, Jake grabbed another bucket and went back outside to pack it with icicles from the roof's edge. Coming back in he sat the bucket as close to the heater as he dare to let the ice melt. Stepping beside Justin, Jake was quickly stripped and was rustling through yet another storage area. Pulling out a washcloth he turned to Justin.

"Well, finish stripping. We need to clean up, we stink to the high heavens," said Jake with a smile. Justin quickly shed the last of his clothes and sat on the bed in the warm room, watching the hottest man he'd ever seen walk a few feet from him, completely nude and looking really sexy. He was focused completely on Jake's hairy bubble butt as he mixed the ice and hot water into a washbasin. Once he was satisfied with the temperature, he turned and looked at Justin.

"You want to clean up first?" asked Jake.

Justin spread his legs, exposing his continually hard cock and smiled. "Why don't you wash me, then I'll wash you."

Jake smiled at Justin's sudden forward behavior, but the idea of washing each other sounded really good to Jake. Walking between Justin's spread legs, he slowly and carefully started washing this new man in his life. While he explored and touched the sexy smooth college boy, who was mewing and writhing under him, Jake paid careful attention to Justin's nipples, stopping each time he thought Justin was getting close. The only dark side to his exploration was finding the bruised welts that still faintly crisscrossed his body from his fathers beating. Jake put his anger aside and refocused on the handsome youngster under his hands. Jake carefully ran the warm wet cloth over Justin's face and neck; then, he leaned in and kissed him softly.

"Turn over, babe. I need to get your backside," said Jake with a smile, looking forward to getting to explore this young man's ass. Justin slowly rolled over, moaning as he tried to ratchet his overloaded senses down. He groaned as he lay face down on the bed, feeling very safe, even in his exposed position. Justin sighed as the cloth began traveling over his back. The lower it got, the more he anticipated the first touch on his ass. He was involuntarily clenching and releasing his butt, eager for Jake's touch. Just as the cloth was about to slide over his ass cheeks, Jake stopped. Looking back with a moan of disappointment, he saw a smile on Jake's face as he carefully washed Justin's feet, checking them briefly before he moved to his ankles and began moving up his legs. As the warm cloth cleaned Justin's calves, a soft moan came from his throat. When Jake stroked across Justin's inner thighs, he had to wave Jake to stop before he came from the wonderful sensations. 

Finally, Justin relaxed against the bed and signaled Jake to continue with a loud exaltation of air. As the cloth hit his lightly haired ass cheeks, Justin shuddered from the sensuous cleansing. Immediately Justin knew he wouldn't last. Trying every distraction technique he could think of, he lasted beyond Jake's big hands rubbing the cloth over his butt cheeks. But when a single cloth-wrapped finger slid down his ass crack, and over his butt hole, Justin lost control. 

With a gasping squeal, Justin plunged headfirst into his orgasm, as he felt Jake press harder against his clenching hole, getting just the tip inside. His body contracted as the first wad of cum hit the bed. Unable to control himself, Justin was bucking under Jake's prodding fingers while his body exploded with the sensations of amazing sex. More quickly than he would have liked, his orgasm ended and Justin was lying in a puddle of his own cum, gasping for air.

Jake leaned down, kissed the nape of his neck and whispered in his ear. "You ready to wash me?"

Justin nodded weakly, but then rebounded at the thoughts of free rein to touch and explore this stunningly handsome man. Turning, he took the washcloth and rinsed it carefully before beginning. He started with Jake's face, carefully running it over his cheek while caressing it with his fingertips. As he washed around each ear, he ran his tongue along the outside edge and kissed the lobe. He moved down Jake's neck, lovingly washing the hollow on each side of his shoulders before leaning in to kiss his Adam's apple. As he moved down Jake's chest, Justin tried to remember every porn scene he'd watched, every erotic story he'd read, trying to make this experience memorable for Jake.

But as he lifted Jake's arms to wash the dense hair of his pits, Justin didn't need instructions. His primal instincts took over and his hands grabbed Jake's shoulder has he buried his face in the warm, masculine crevasse. He licked, sucked and bit in the deep recess until it was wet and dripping spit. Panting with desire, Justin moved to the other side and repeated his performance, perfecting some moves from what he had done seconds before. 

Sighing as he refocused on his task, Justin carefully washed Jake's torso. The cloth skimmed over the hair covering his flat belly, then glided to his faint, but clearly defined, Adonis belt. Following the crease lower, Justin quickly found himself in the wiry pubes of his lover. Justin knelt before Jake and washed his balls with excruciating care, taking his now hard cock in his fist, he peeled back the long foreskin and carefully washed the head. By the time he had finished, Jake's cock was hard as a rock and leaking precum in a solid stream. 

Justin moved to his thighs and enjoyed going over each millimeter of skin as he explored the hair covered muscles. Jake was panting with lust, his legs spread wide by the time Justin finished with them. Standing behind him, Justin pushed Jake onto the bed and chuckled.

"Time for me to clean this last bit, Jake. Damn, you are so fuck'n hot!" said Justin.

Jake smiled at the profanity that had slipped from Justin, but moved to the bed in a daydream of lust. Lying across it, Jake spread his legs as far as the space allowed, exposing his rosebud for Justin's examination.

Justin moved in closer and began working on what he thought was Jake's single most attractive feature, his ass. He carefully cleaned it; over and over again he wiped its melon shape with great care. Once he had finished with the lightly furred butt, Justin carefully cracked open his ass cheeks, seeing Jake's hairy trough and winking red hole. Pushing the damp cloth into his crack, he teased Jake the same way Jake had teased him, with the same result. Soon Jake was moaning and thrashing on the bed under him. Again the circumstances overwhelmed Justin and he was drawn to perform the one act he had never seen the appeal of, but he suddenly, desperately, wanted to rim Jake. 

Justin dropped the cloth in the basin and again knelt behind Jake. Forcing his muscular ass cheeks apart, Justin tentatively leaned in and licked over his puckered hole. It had none of the unpleasantness that Justin had been concerned about. In fact, the act itself almost sent Jake through the roof, which was reason enough to repeat it. Soon the air was laden with pheromones and both men were gasping and pawing as lust overtook them. As Justin ate Jake's ass like a seasoned pro, Jake knew he finally wanted it again, needing it from his young lover, he needed to be fucked. 




Snowbound



"Fuck me," whimpered Jake, "Please Justin. Take your fat cock and fuck me!"

Justin rocked back, unprepared for this turn of events. In his wildest fantasy he'd never imagined that he would ever fuck Jake. He was just too masculine, too much the quintessential top. But his bubble-butted wet dream was lying beneath him, begging to be nailed. Justin was trying to formulate words as Jake looked back and regained a little composure.

"It's ok if you don't want to, but god you have me so horny, babe. That rim job was amazing and I'd really love to be your first fuck," explained Jake.

Justin grinned and nodded. "Yeah, I'm so horny. I want a piece of your ass. But . . ."

Jake chuckled, "I bought supplies . . . in case something happened. And I'll tell you what to do. It's been a long time so you'll need to get me ready for your fat dick. Go look in the backpack, there are some condoms and lube."

Justin leaped up, grabbed the bag and quickly rifled through it and found what they needed. As he stepped back, Jake turned and took the condom box from him and removed one. Ripping it open, he unrolled it down the length of Justin's raging hard cock. Noticing Justin's flushed skin and heavy breathing, he knew that neither of them was going to last long, but it was going to be wonderful.

"Take the lube and coat my hole really well, then slowly push one finger inside me. Once that feels like it's loosening, add a second one. Eventually you'll get a third finger in and then I'll be loose enough. It might take a little while, like I said it's been years since I've had sex with anyone. Just take your time, and it'll be amazing for both of us," explained Jake.

Jake moved to his knees, presenting his ass for Justin to explore. His breath sucked in as Justin's finger slid over his hole, coating it with the slick gel. After a few passes, Justin slowly slid his finger into Jake, pushing with a steady pressure until it was completely buried inside. Jake was overwhelmed by the sensations, pressing his face into the bed as his ass was loosened for a fucking that he needed more and more with each passing second.

Justin carefully added a second finger, feeling the tightness of Jake's inner portal as he worked to stretch it. The heat and scents coming from Jake's ass were almost overpowering as Justin got him ready. As Jake relaxed, Justin slipped in a third finger and then slowly pushed them home. 

"Oh god, Justin. That feels fucking wonderful. Fuck me, babe. I need your cock so bad, fuck me hard!"

Justin let his fingers slide out and stood mesmerized by Jake's dilating hole for several moments. Then he coated his latex encased cock with a thick layer of lube. Standing behind Jake, he ran the head up and down the trough of his ass, then pressed his swollen cockhead against Jake's hole. Leaning against it, Jake's gut slowly relaxed until Justin slipped inside. Feeling the constraint of the second portal, Justin repeated his performance and was soon pressing deep inside of Jake. As his dark pubes ground against Jake's butt, a huge groan erupted from Jake.

"Oh, god yes. Fuck me fuck me fuck me. Oh holy hell!" moaned Jake.

Justin pulled almost out, then slowly pushed back inside. The condom was helping him last, but Jake's hot, tight ass was proving too much. Knowing he wouldn't hold out much longer, he left any pretext of being an experienced lover and grabbed Jake's hips and started pounding him. Soon their grunts and moans were filling the room. So loud in fact that Kody groaned and covered his face with his tail. 

Justin fucked Jake with all the force his slender body could muster, and Jake enjoyed it. But with a final slam, the crescendo hit Justin and his body started pumping the condom full of cream. He thrashed and tried to push back into Jake, but succeeded only in sending his body into convulsions from the sensations of lust. Soon Justin was spent, his third ejaculation of the day actually exhausting his reserves. With a final shudder, he collapsed across Jake's back.

Jake moved slowly, feeling Justin's cock gradually slipping from inside him. Turning under Justin, he soon had the youngster in his arms, kissing him tenderly.

"That was amazing, you were amazing. I almost came from you fucking me. Damn, it was so good, babe," whispered Jake.

Justin looked up with a single tear rolling down his face. "Fuck me. Please."

Jake reached up and wiped the tear from his face. "Why the tears? What's wrong?"

"Nothings wrong. It's just that I've never felt this cared about. I really want you to have my virginity."

"Have you ever . . . put anything up there?" said Jake.

Justin blushed a charming crimson. "Yeah, my fingers, a lot. And I ordered a couple of toys online too. I like it, but I want the real thing."

"I'd love that, Justin. We'll go at your speed, and we can stop anytime if you want to quit," said Jake as he caressed Justin's face.

With a smile Justin handed Jake a condom, the lube and crouched on the bed with his ass in the air.

Jake moved behind Justin on the bed, leaned forward and opened Justin's ass cheeks. Leaning in, he inhaled the odor of man sex and youth. He ran his hot tongue over Justin's exposed hole, eliciting a rumbling groan from Justin. Smiling to himself, he licked and tasted Justin's ass, driving the young man under him wild with desire. They progressed rapidly as Jake hardened his tongue and drove it into Jake's puckered ass.

"Oh shit! Motherfucker! Oh god damn, fuck me, fuck me, fuck my hot asshole," screamed Justin through a loud moan.

Smiling at Justin's sudden lapse into dirty sex talk, Jake dove in with an insatiable sexual appetite. He was soon tongue-fucking Justin with an intense passion, as the boy was lost in the heat of the moment. Deciding Justin was ready for the next step, Jake quickly put on the condom and coated it with lube. Reaching up, he spread Justin's ass cheeks, watched for a moment as saliva dripped down the hairs surrounding his ass, then squirted a healthy amount of slick gel over his puckered ass. 

Jake followed it quickly with his thick finger that he buried deeply inside of Justin. When Justin's only response was an increase in volume and intensity of moans, Jake began a careful preparation for what was to come. His finger slid in and out of Justin, his butt slowly loosening until Jake was able to slide a second finger beside it. After several long delicious moments of fingering the hot boy ass in front of him, he applied more lube and slid in three fingers.

"Please, please Jake, Fuck me. God I need your hard fuck'n cock in me," begged Justin.

Jake kissed Justin's ass cheek as he let his fingers slip out of his cavity. Flipping on his back, he pulled Justin toward him and gave him a soft kiss. "You take it from here, babe. Get on top, that way you can control the speed."

Justin nodded comprehension, his body shaking from the stimulation Jake had already sent through his body. Crawling across the bed he was soon positioned over Jake's latex coated cock, with his own rigid cock jutting into the air between them. Justin reached back and found Jake's hot, throbbing cock and rubbed it over his hole. Unable to control the gasp that shot from his mouth, Justin started pressing down. His ass seemed to stretch forever, the pain mounted until the head slipped through his outer sphincter. The pain spiked as Jake's thick hard cock popped through, but it quickly receded and after a short period of time it became pleasurable. Willing himself to relax, Justin pushed down again, this time forcing the thick man cock through his inner gateway. 

This time the searing pain took away Justin's breath. He fell forward, catching himself on Jake's broad chest. His breath was coming in ragged gasps as he tried to cope. Then he felt Jake's gentle touch over his body.

"It's ok, babe. Breathe and try to relax, the pain will get better in a few minutes," whispered Jake.

Justin focused on Jake's touch, his body relaxing as the pain slowly disappeared, to be slowly replaced with electric jolts that felt like mini-orgasms filling Justin's body. Time stopped as the two joined in their shared sexual pleasure. Eventually Justin pushed down again, this time it was pure pleasure. He'd never felt so full, and the sensations coursing through his body were like nothing he had ever experienced. Before he realized what he had done, Justin felt the curly hair surrounding Jake's cock rubbing against his ass. With a sigh, Justin leaned in and kissed Jake hard across the lips. Bracing himself against Jake's chest, he started grinding himself in small circles, relishing the electric sensations arising from his body.

"That's it, babe. Enjoy yourself. Just do whatever feels good. Damn, you have a tight ass. You feel amazing around my cock," said Jake softly.

Justin smiled down at his man, spreading his hands over Jake's chest, Justin lifted himself higher and then drove the thick cock deep into his gut. Quickly he lost himself in the pure sexual pleasure, riding Jake's cock like a wild thing. Jake tried to make it last, wanting Justin to find the pleasure he was seeking, but soon he was racing toward an orgasm. His muscular hips thrust up as he drove himself into Justin, meeting each of his bucks by driving his thick cock deeper inside. 

Justin grabbed Jake's nipples and tugged on them as he ground his ass against Jake's crotch. The combination proved too much for Jake. Gripping Justin's hips, he flipped them over and started power fucking the young man. Justin let out a guttural scream of pleasure as Jake's cock rammed over his sweet spot again and again. With now both men racing to a climax, their bodies were responding in ways that Justin had never felt before. Just as he felt the first jet of cum squirt from his well-used cock, Justin felt Jake tense, filling the condom. The pleasure washed over them both, their bodies writhing on each other as their climaxes crested simultaneously. 

Slowly they came down from their sexual highs, burying themselves in the blankets for warmth as they gently and lovingly kissed and touched each other. 

"That was amazing," murmured Justin, "It was better than I ever imagined."

Jake kissed him softly and nodded, "It was amazing. I loved every second."

Without another word, the pair snuggled against each other, letting the room dim as the sun slowly slid out of sight.



Justin looked around the tiny room that had been his world for the past week. He and Jake had enjoyed each other's bodies in every way either of them could imagine, and it had all been amazing. Justin was saddened that it was coming to an end and they would be going their separate ways. But it had been an amazing time, and he wouldn't have changed a thing.

Grabbing the bag full of clothes that was serving as his suitcase, he stopped at the door and started putting on his snowshoes. Hearing nails on the wooden floor, he looked up in time for Kody to lick him from chin to eyebrow. Laughing he wiped his face dry then turned to Jake.

"I'm ready whenever you are, handsome," said Justin.

Jake looked over at the youngster and smiled. The time they had spent together the last week had been amazing. Feelings had been awakened in Jake that he thought had died with Scott. As he did his last round to close up the cabin for the season, he had one regret. He knew he would never know for sure, but Jake wished he knew that Scott approved. Scoffing at his silliness, he headed over to Justin, who was watching him from the open doorway.

With a slightly sad look on his face, Justin gave Jake a brave smile. "If you could help me get the car out that would be great. I know you have to get back, and I'll need to call a few friends and see if I can crash at their house until I find something."

Jake gave Justin a confused look, "Why?"

"Why what?" said Justin.

"Why do you need to find a place? I thought were you coming to live with me," said Jake.

A smile broke out on Justin's face, covering it from ear to ear. "Really! You want me to live with you! In your house!"

"Yes in my house, our house. I'm sure we'll have to work out a few things. But Justin, I've fallen in love with you."

Justin threw his arms around the handsome muscular man in front of him. "I love you too! I thought it was just me being a silly kid."

Jake held him tight and kissed him again. "If it is, we're both silly kids. Come on, let's get your car out and head home."

Justin raced out the door with Kody, joy settling into his system with an intensity he could never remember before. His emotions seemed contagious as Kody raced through the thigh deep snow in huge bounds. Looking back at the cabin, he watched Jake carefully lock up. 

Staring at the tiny cabin, he realized for the first time that there was no window on this side. As Jake walked past him, he tried to work out the riddle of where the point of light came from that guided him the night he almost died. Jake paused to look at Justin.

"Everything ok?" asked Jake.

Justin turned to Jake with a smile, "Everything's perfect. I was just thinking too hard. I could have sworn the light from the lantern is what I followed to find the cabin that night in the storm."

Jake paused and let the handsome young man walk past him. Tilting his face to the sky, Jake mouthed a silent thanks, and quickly caught up with Justin.

With that the pair moved across the glistening snow and into their new life together.



Snowbound



"I'll go with him."

"Of course you will," the Lazy S foreman said, turning and giving me a leer and a snicker. I thought that was a bit mean because Sam wasn't getting anything the foreman hadn't gotten before him. Who was he to be showing judgmental?

The foreman told Sam that someone needed to go up to the Culbertson farm up the valley half way to the top Hahn's peak to check on the fences there before the snows came. Old man Peyton was a cattle man himself, but he'd bought the Culbertson farm up the valley with his brother over at the Circle K ranch. The Peytons saw the end of King Cattle coming and decided to dabble in farming themselves a bit. But a man couldn't maintain his claim on farming land out here on the edge of civilization without maintaining the fences. Homesteaders were drifting in, and the law let them grab anything thought to have been abandoned.

I turned to Sam Saunders and gave him what I thought was a secret smile but what probably wasn't a bit of a secret in the Lazy S bunkhouse. I was kind of a screamer—couldn't help it—and there wasn't much privacy attached to sudden hard on sex in a bunk house. Sam smiled back, clearly pleased I'd agreed to go with him. He looked good enough to eat. A good six years older than me, but in a lot better shape than I'd managed yet. I was getting there, though. It's a big reason I'd come here.

I had only recently arrived from back East to try my hand at being a cowboy. It was such a romantic thought and was being played up in the adventure literature for young men. Especially mentioned among my friends in Pennsylvania was how hard bodied and randy cowboys could be. I liked both the idea of hard-bodied men and me being hard bodied too.

It certainly had been one big adventure for me so far. Although only of average height and pretty slim, Sam had been at it long enough to have really muscled and toughened up. Back East he could have traveled with a troupe as the muscle man, I thought—and a handsome one at that. Curly reddish hair, a dandy's handsome face, and an "aw shucks" demeanor that turned into something else when he was fucking me.

"Remember to camp out at Dayton's mill on Slater Creek until you meet up with the man Peyton's brother is sending from the Circle K," Chuck told Sam. "His name's Jake."

We did just that—stopping at Dayton's mill to camp—before riding our horses up the valley and into the mountains, where the air was crisp and nature was both beautiful and wild.

"Smells like snow," Sam said, as we were unloading the horses and setting up camp next to Slater Creek. "And the water's already icing up."

"Good thing you brought all that liquor, then," I said, with a laugh.

"Ain't that the truth? It might snow a blizzard up at Culbertson's while we're there and we'll be stuck up there all winter with nothing to do but to keep our insides warm with liquor."

"Nothing to do?" I asked as I heaved my saddle off my horse and set it down not far from where Sam was getting an open fire going. "Is that the only thing we could do up there to keep warm?"

"Not at all, not at all," Sam muttered in a hoarse voice as he reached out and drew me into him and into a deep kiss. "We ain't had a go of it for a week, and I've been hard for your sweet tail since ten minutes after the last throw."

Our bodies were rocking against each other. Our hands had gone straight for each other's crotches. We were both hard. I'd been hard for him for the past five miles as we climbed to the camping area, and I anticipated what would happen there. I got the top four buttons of his rough cotton shirt open and latched my mouth onto a nipple. I knew that nipple play turned him into a wild man. And it was working here.

He was scrabbling at my belt and then the buttons of my fly, and I felt my jeans gliding down my legs. I stepped out of them, and he unbuttoned the flap of the union suit I was wearing underneath. He pushed that down between my legs to where he could lodge a gloved finger in the entrance to my hole, wiggling it there as I opened to him. Satisfied I was opening to him, his gloved hand took possession of my cock and started stroking.

"Don't make me wait," I whimpered in a low voice.

"Not a chance of that," he growled back.

I was on my belly over my saddle, my arms flung out above my head gripping the base of two saplings at the edge of the stream, my butt pointed to the sky. The flap of the union suit had been pulled through my legs and up my back so that my puckering hole was exposed. Sam was on his haunches behind me, between my spread legs, one gloved hand spreading my buttocks to expose and stretch my hole, his tongue driving me crazy inside my crack, and his other hand having pulled my cock through and stroking it. I was doing a lot of egging-on screaming . . . until I came. He milked my cock for everything he could get out of it, and being young and in pretty good shape for an Easterner, I kept giving him cum for a few seconds.

"Now you. You. Fuck me! Give it to me now."

Sam complied, moving over my back, latching onto my pecs with his gloved hands. Entering, entering, entering me, and pumping, pumping, pumping. I writhed under him. Never before had he given it to me so hard and deep. Never before had we had such privacy to be able to let it all out. Never before had I felt free enough to scream for more of it, deeper. At the ranch, we'd never been far enough from the ears of others to engage in the wild fuck Sam now was giving me.

I felt him tense, hold for several seconds, and then, in a heavy release of breath, give me his load deep up inside me. Once, twice . . . four times in all. I was swimming in cum.

It was only while we were cooling down, that we both looked around and saw him—over to the side at the edge of the clearing, down on his haunches, elbows on knees, a long blade of grass extending from his mouth as he chewed on the end of it, an enigmatic smile on his face, one hand holding the reins of the horse grazing beside him and the other open and dangling between his legs.

Who knew what he'd been doing with it before we saw him, but the bulge in his crotch was huge. Everything about the man was huge—not as in fat—but as in tall, bulky, muscle bound. He made Sam look scrawny. Dark, curly hair, swarthy complexion—he must have had some Mexican in him—hair in profusion. Five-o'clock shadow on his face, but the promise of hair everywhere else—spilling out of the neckline of his shirt, on the backs of his hands and on his knuckles. A face that was so ugly that it was mesmerizing and arousing; a body that was powerfully built, a real muscle man. A man my friends in Pennsylvania had said was out West, just waiting for me.

"You must be Jake, then," Sam said, trying for a calm voice conveying that we weren't doing anything out of the ordinary at all.

And, indeed, we weren't—really. The reality was that there were so few women out on the frontier as yet that the men mostly had to do with just their right hand or other men. Still, there was no way of knowing how one man would react to coming upon that as opposed to another man.

* * * *

It had been a rough ride from the campsite up to Culbertson's farm, and Sam had said we should start checking the fences right away. It looked even more like snow was coming up here than it did down at the Lazy S. I stuck to Sam, and Jake went his own way. Something in the way he eyed me as we rode along gave me chills of both fear and arousing anticipation.

Sam and I would be staying in the same cabin with this man for a week or more. I hadn't thought about that before. I assumed I'd have Sam all to myself. We'd have to be more careful and observant than we were at the campsite. It wouldn't be any different from being in the bunkhouse with other men, and I'd been looking forward to it just being the two of us.

I may have been apprehensive of the man as we rode along, but he and Sam were having a good old time jawing and talking of shared experiences, which included, again to both my apprehension and arousal, their visits to the same male brothel in Hayden. They discovered they both were fond of the same male whore and what they said about what they liked in how he looked and what they could do with him, sounded awfully familiar to me.

I wasn't shocked, though, because, again, I didn't find this as unusual as most public claimed to think, considering the needs of men and the male-to-female ratio on the frontier. There were a whole load more fit and randy men on the frontier than there were women. It wasn't uncommon for the men to turn to each other. Most, indeed, could enjoy both women and men as long as they regularly could get off. Without someone else, they had to take the matter into their own hands, and it's not hard to get tired of that.

It was because of the virile, muscular, and randy men that I'd come West. I wanted the knees of a strong man between my thighs. The men in Pennsylvania were OK, but I'd heard arousing stories about the doings of the men on the frontier. I had tried several men out at the Lazy S before settling on Sam, and none of the men before him had thrown me out on my tail. I had learned that size mattered too. Sam was the biggest of all who had fucked me. Within three weeks of my arrival at the Lazy S, half the cowboys in the bunkhouse—and the foreman as well—had fucked the "sweet little piece coming in from the East." There was even talk of not needing to make the run to the brothels of Hayden this fall. I was just shopping, though, and when I settled in for Sam, I kept my legs closed to the rest of the men in the bunkhouse.

That night, after Sam had tended to the horses and I had cooked our meal—and Jake had gotten started on the drinking—we celebrated our arrival by dipping into the large supply of liquor Sam had brought up—the clinking of the saddlebags on the horses reminding us of good times to come all the time we were riding up into the mountains.

As was the custom in the bunk house, we were down to our union suits, all three of us. I melted at the look of Jake in his. It barely contained the muscle mass of his body. He'd unbuttoned the top of his suit down to his waist. I could see why, His chest was so muscular that it strained at the suit, the rough material of which must chafe his big nipples. The effect was a magnificent hairy chest spreading the top, exposing his powerful torso.

The bulge at his crotch strained the buttoned flap to hold him in too. As it was, the flap was pushed forward by his equipment and curly hair and glimpses of a cock were visible in side looks at him. It was all I could do to contain myself while watching him strut around the single room of the cabin. It grew more maddening when he got more comfortable and left his flap hang open and his cock and balls hang and swing free. I have to admit that, in our time in the cabin, I saw the cock more in erection than hanging and swinging, though.

To put it succinctly, Jake was one hairy muscle stud. I was wishing that he'd been on offer in the Lazy S bunkhouse when I'd arrived from the East. I was with Sam now, though.

The two of them were passing the bottle—and then another one and another—between them and laughing and jawing. Occasionally, I got a swig or two—or three—too. I wouldn't say I was drunk on my tail but I was gone enough to easily give into what happened as the evening wore on.

Sam had pulled me down into his lap. I was naked except for my boots and had no idea how I'd gotten in that condition, other than I might have done that myself. I know I was swaying in front of him and finishing off a bottle that the two had passed to me. The two men were sitting in straight chairs against the wall, side by side, and watching me do the dance I thought I was doing.

Sam pulled me right down on his cock—both cocks were now out of their union suit flaps while I was swaying in front of them. Jakes' cock made me moan. It was twice the size of Sam's in both girth and length. Jake was twice the man that Sam was in every way. Twice as cruel too, I was to find out.

I slid down Sam's cock as I was pulled into his lap, facing him. I unbuttoned the top of his union suit, spread the sides wide, and played with his nipples while I bounced up and down on the cock until Sam came. I'd already come, but was gone enough that I hadn't been aware enough of it to enjoy it.

"You gonna share some of that with me?" The question was spoken in a growly voice. I looked over at Jake. He was looking straight into Sam's eyes. He was asking Sam, not me.

"Sure, have at it. We like the same thing," Sam said in a slurred voice, as he started handing me over and Jake got his strong, beefy arms around me. The bulging slabs of his chest were busting out of the top of his unbuttoned union suit and showed nearly all of it. His chest was as hairy as a bears.

I protested, not too effectively or forcibly, I'll admit, considering that I had drunk more than I should have and the dancing display I'd already put on. Much of the protesting centered around the size of the man's cock. I didn't think I could take it. I protested I couldn't take it. I was here with Sam, not Jake. Both men were laughing and drunkenly chanting. "Take it, take it, take it," I heard Jake belt out in a deep bass voice.

I gave one last plaintive look at Sam. His voice heavily slurred, he was chanting "Take it, take it" too—and pushing me over onto Jake.

Jake pulled me down into his lap, facing him, just like Sam had done. I wouldn't have put it past him to have schemed that if he did just as Sam had done, Sam would be better with it that way. Just a friendly sharing of what Sam had. Just like sharing his liquor. A generous man, Sam was, and he was really getting along with this cowboy from the Circle K. Sam was sitting there, watching us, with a sloppy grin on his face, and fisting his cock. Obviously Sam was good with it.

The big, hairy cowboy got the bulb of the monster in me, but just that, showing I couldn't take it. I screamed of not being able to take it. He pulled me down farther on it. I couldn't take it. My walls were stretched to the limit. But they began to give way as he pulled me down farther on the cock, relentlessly. And then I could take it. And then I wanted it. I always wanted a cock inside me. The bigger the better. This was the biggest.

"Arch back to the floor," he growled. "Grab my ankles."

I did as he commanded, and screamed my fear and taking to the sparse furniture—the two beds—across the room in an upside-down view. With beefy, hairy hands on my waist, he slid me on and off of his club, the cum Sam had deposited there already aiding in both the friction and the lubrication. My screams turned from ones of pain and splitting to "Yes, yes. Fuck me hard. Deep. Split me! Pound me! Give it to me! Just like that. Just like that! Oh, shit, I've never had it this big."

I heard him snort and mutter, "Just bet you haven't, you sweet little honeypot. Tight as a virgin."

We both knew I wasn't, though.

He came in one heavy flooding, followed by several weaker afterbursts. I lay there, spent, tears running down my cheeks, cum burbling up my channel and down my inner thighs. My belly wet from the cum of my own spouting. Panting, panting, panting.

Wanting nothing now so much as the bed I could see in my upside-down view across the room.

"Shit, oh holy shit," I weakly murmured as he started to pull me on and off the cock again. He was still hard. He hadn't finished fucking me.

Sometime later I was looking, at first plaintively and later warily, over at Sam slumped over in the chair against the wall, his head hanging down, snoring. At first I thought I wanted him to wake up and come to my rescue. Increasingly, though, I wanted him to stay comatose, not to see what Jake was doing to me on his bed. Sam had been good, but Jake was twice the man Sam was.

Jake was on his back on his bed, and I was on my back as well, on top of Jake. He was gripping my pecs with his hands, pinching my nipples, and his bent legs encased mine and had them spread wide and raised. His dick was pumping up into me deep. Thick and reaching deeper than Sam had ever reached. The bed was creaking and bucking as hard as Jake and I were. I didn't want it to stop—and it didn't for a long time into the night. He was twice the man that Sam was.

* * * *

It had already started snowing when we stumbled out of the cabin in the early morning, on our way to checking the fences. Before braving the fence inspection, I was preparing the breakfast and Sam went out first thing before that to take a leak and to feed the horses in the barn. I was walking gingerly and sighing and giving Sam hard looks while avoiding looking at or talking to Jake at all. I don't know what I wanted Sam to do—or Jake to do or say for that matter. I don't know what I would have done if Jake had apologized, blamed it on the liquor, and told me he wouldn't touch me again. My feelings were mixed. Sam should be my man and act like it. He should know what Jake did and do something about it. But if he knew—or showed he knew—maybe Jake wouldn't give me another roll in the hay. And what Jake did with me the previous night was the best fucking I'd ever had.

Something inside me told me that Sam should be asserting his rights. But he didn't even seem to notice that I had a burr in my saddle or how tense the atmosphere in the cabin was. When he went out to take care of the horses, he was gone long enough that Jake pulled me over to the wall beside the door, pushing me against the rough log surface with his hairy chest, bursting out of the top of his union suit, which was still unbuttoned down to his navel, with the flap at the crotch open.

"No, we can't," I murmured. But we obviously could. His dick was so hard he couldn't have stuffed it back in his suit if he'd wanted to, and I could tell that it was going to get what it wanted. He scared me, but he sent my heart racing too. He was so much bigger than Sam, and I had taken it all. My channel was twitching. I couldn't help it. I wanted him inside me again.

"Then be quick about it," I whimpered. I was Sam's, not his.

He laughed. He reached around and unbuttoned the flap in my union suit, jerking it between my legs to expose my hole as well as my cock and balls. He lifted one of my legs, pushing my knee into the curve of the log wall. Crouching down, he came back up under my buttocks, got his cockhead positioned, and slowly pushed up into me. I moaned and groaned, turning my face toward his, my eyes locked on his, seeing a determined, cruel, sneery look on his face. He moved his beefy, hairy forearm to under my chin and pressed me hard to the wall. I fought for breath, my eyes watering. I opened my mouth to cry out at the deep, thick invasion of him.

"I'll be quick about it if you're quiet about it," he growled. "You don't want Sam to hear, do you?" I clamped my mouth shut, my silence aided by the pressure of his forearm on my throat. I didn't know if I wanted Sam to know what he was doing with me or not, but I knew that if my cries summoned Sam, there would be no option of pretending or hiding anything.

I counted the stuffing, cruel, glorious strokes. One, two . . . eighteen, nineteen, twenty. He jerked and creamed my intestines.

When Sam returned from feeding and watering the horses, Jake was sitting at the oak table, drinking coffee and looking very pleased with himself, and I was hobbling around the kitchen counter, finishing up breakfast preparations, and not able to look Sam in the eyes.

We weren't out, Sam and I, on the fence line much beyond noon. The snow was piling up and it was accumulating deep. When we'd managed to trudge back to the cabin's porch, it nearly was over our boot tops.

"We're gonna be snowed in real good in another hour or so," Sam said. "I'll go look to the horses and you go on in. Don't know where Jake's got off to."




Snowbound



Katrina cursed as her car slipped yet again, sliding toward the side of the road. The snow was falling thick and fast, the world a white blur that made it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. She'd been a fool to attempt to drive in it. The interview at the ski lodge had gone well, and she'd left feeling confident that she'd be receiving a call about the waitressing job soon. By the time the interview was over the snow had started to fall. Her prospective employer had tried to discourage her from driving home through it, but Katrina didn't have the money to purchase a room for the night, and she couldn't bear the thought of asking for charity and crashing on someone's couch, or in the common room. She'd purchased new tires recently, so she'd been reasonably certain she could make it through a little powder. 

The track down the mountain had been fine initially, a bit slippery but nothing that some slow, careful steering couldn't handle. The snow had gotten steadily worse as she made her way down. Katrina feared that she was now in the middle of a bona fide blizzard. Why, oh why had she let her pride get the better of her common sense? Surely the pity on stranger's faces when they saw her without a room of her own would be better than ending up frozen in a ravine somewhere. The more her car slid around the more she became certain that this was the end for her. Her car would slide off the road and be covered by a mountain of snow, and they wouldn't uncover her cold, dead body till springtime. She sighed and gently stepped on the gas again, the car chugging along at roughly five miles an hour. 

At the very least, she should have brought chains. What kind of idiot drives up a mountain without the proper equipment for her car? She shook her head, making silent mental pleas to God or whatever deity might listen to just get her out this safely. She could barely even tell whether she was actually on the road at this point. For all she knew, she could be driving across a snowy field; everything was just white. There seemed to be a slight indentation in the fallen snow, and she was following it closely, hoping that it was the road. Who knew where she would end up if she lost the road. Her car battery and fuel would only last so long; without the heater she knew she'd probably catch hypothermia and die. The shelter the car would provide would be minimal protection from the cold. Shivering at the very thought, she cranked the heater up a little higher. 

"Slow and steady, Katrina," she told herself. There was no one else on the road, and no need to hurry. Oh, except for the impending darkness of nightfall, which would make her journey even more difficult. If it was hard to see the road now, it would be nearly impossible once darkness fell, and her only light was the headlights of the car, reflecting off the falling snow and making it even more confusing. Was it possible it was falling even thicker and faster now? Shit, she'd really screwed herself over on this one. She carefully urged the car forward. She'd come to far to turn back now; anyway, her car would probably have a worse time struggling uphill through the snow. At least this way she had gravity on her side. 

She idly flicked through the radio stations, searching for a weather report or music or anything, really, but she found nothing but static. Not surprising, given her location and the circumstances. Her cell phone had been without a signal since she'd started up the mountain. How far had she come? She'd been on the road at least an hour, possibly longer. She hadn't checked the time when she left, and the slow slogging through the snow made time drag by. She could have been out here for days with how slowly it seemed to move. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she hadn't eaten all day. She had a granola bar in her purse, maybe if she could ease her car to a stop she could fish it out. She started to steer to the side of the road, then laughed at herself. What did it matter if she stopped in the middle of the road? There was no one else around. She changed course back to the center of the road, and then it happened. 

Her car hit a patch of ice, or maybe some especially slippery snow, or a groove in the road; whatever the cause, the result was the same. Her car began to drift towards the opposite edge of the road. Katrina frantically tried to steer into the turn, although every instinct of self preservation made her want to pull the car the other way. Logically she knew if she had any chance of regaining control, she had to steer into it. Her efforts were having no effect. The car was steadily progressing to the side of the road, to the edge that dropped off into - what? She couldn't tell. 

"Please, please, come one, come ON!" she begged her car. The tires seemed to catch, and for a split second Katrina had hope. It was quickly destroyed as the nose of her car dipped over the edge, and the pull of gravity and the forward motion of the car completed the job. In a moment, she was hurtling down the side of a steep hill - at least it wasn't one of the ravines, maybe a hill she could survive - at breakneck speed. She tried to pump her brakes, but the only result was that her car swerved from side to side, threatening to tip over. There was a grove of trees at the bottom of the hill. Katrina screamed, covered her eyes, and hoped for the best.

BANG!

Her car took the first impact on the passenger side, the hit sending it careening sideways, where the tail end of the driver's side was slammed into another tree. The back end of the car lifted, flipping up into the air, and Katrina screamed again as the whole thing flipped upside down, the windows shattering sa the roof of the car made contact with the ground. The car slid forward again, finally coming to rest against another tree. 

Dazed, Katrina tried to gather her thoughts. She was suspended upside down, hanging from her seat by her seat belt. Something was pressing into her ribs, and her arm was twisted painfully against the door. Dimly she was aware of something wet running through her hair, and she reached her free hand up to touch, recoiling at the sudden pain. Her fingers were covered in blood. Her pinioned arm was throbbing, and her ribs were screaming from the pressure. She had to free herself from the wreckage. Shakily, she reached for her seat belt release, bracing her legs against the roof of the car to support her weight. The catch came undone and she fell to her knees, her face smashed against the steering wheel. There was a hole to her left where the window should have been, halfway sunk into the snow, but she crawled through it, hissing in pain as she put pressure on her injured arm and hastily lifting it. She must have broken it. 

Katrina freed herself from the ruins of her car and tried to take stock of her surroundings. Her head felt fuzzy and muddled. What should she do? She couldn't stay here. Maybe if she could make her way back to the road someone would come along. A snowplow, perhaps, or someone else as crazy as she was, to be out driving through this mess. She took one wobbly step in the direction of the road, then another. Her teeth began to chatter and she wished she'd worn warmer clothing beneath her coat. Thankfully she'd been wearing sensible shoes and not high heels. The blood was still seeping from her head, and she blinked and rubbed at her eye to clear her vision. Somehow she became fixated on the idea of making it to the road, as if she was guaranteed to find assistance there. She looked up the steep hill, wondering how she could complete the climb. Well, she'd just have to find a way.

Holding her broken arm close to her body, she trudged up the hill, her steps erratic and swerving back and forth as she tried to find her footing and clear her head. She was so cold, colder than she'd ever been in her life. Her body was shaking so bad it was hard to stand. She giggled as she fell into the snow, some small part of her aware that it wasn't funny at all; it was serious, possible a matter of life and death. Katrina contemplated death as she lay in the snow. The snow made everything look so white and pure. Idly she wondered if Heaven was filled with snow. Maybe warm snow. She should get up, she knew, but she was just getting comfortable. Her body felt like it was warming up. Maybe the snow was acting like insulation, keeping her body heat in. You're dying, Katrina. The thought rose up from somewhere , but she dismissed it as irrelevant. Even if it were true, what a lovely place to go, everything so soft and beautiful...

*

*

The angel of death was not AT ALL like he should be. The black hood was about the only part the stories got right. No scythe, no mystical aura around him, and surely angels weren't supposed to curse or place blame on the human they'd come to collect. 

"You little idiot, what the HELL where you thinking, driving through that?" Death was certainly grumpy.

Katrina wondered why the angel didn't already know. Surely her death was written down in his magic book somewhere: Katrina Walsh, November 24th, cause of death: Driving like a moron through the snow. RIP.

"Wake up, stay with me!" 

Well of course she was going to stay with the angel, where else did he think she was going to go. Death was lifting her up now, and throwing her over his shoulder. What an unusual way to be taken to the afterlife, Katrina mused. She'd expected something a little more, well, magical. Shouldn't she be leaving her corporeal body and floating up into the sky? Death was awfully human-like. She wondered if he was new, maybe still in training. Of course, she WOULD get a newbie. She banged against the back of Death while he walked, like a sack of potatoes. She'd always imagined something more graceful. Oh well... 

Katrina closed her eyes again, confident Death would awaken her when they reached their final destination.

*

*

Ow. Katrina groggily fought to open her eyes. Her feet felt like they were being pricked by dozens of tiny needles. She jerked her foot closer to herself, trying to make the pain stop. Her foot was puled back away from her, and she became aware of a pressure, rubbing the pins and needles into her foot. Someone was causing this pain! She jerked her foot away again, and was met with a low growl.

"Stop it, you little fool! Do you want to lose your toes to frostbite?" 

She finally succeeded in opening her eyes. She appeared to be on a couch. She was inside somewhere, probably a log cabin if the interior was any indication. There was a roaring fire in the fireplace in front of her. The room was almost completely dark save the fire light. There was a man at the base of the couch, holding her foot between his hands. Ha, there was the source of the pain! Not comprehending the situation yet, she tried to withdraw her foot from his hands again. He jerked it back again, roughly, the harsh movement making her aware of the blanket atop her, and her bare body underneath it. Why was she naked?

"Am I dead?" she asked the strange man.

"No, but it was a very near miss. What were you thinking, driving through a blizzard like that?" He was angry, but she couldn't be bothered about that now.

"I'm naked." she said.

"Had to get you out those wet, cold clothes. Don't worry, I didn't look. Well, much." The man offered her a sheepish grin and Katrina pulled the blanket up higher over her chest, crying out in pain as she was sharply reminded of her broken arm.

"What? What is it?" asked the man, and Katrina mutely proffered her arm. He rose and examined it, causing her to hiss in pain as he prodded at it. "Broken," sighed the man. "Of course." He stood and left the room. Katrina brought her good hand up to her head, feeling the dried, crusted blood around the sore spot. Her ribs ached dully every time she drew breath, but they didn't seem to be broken. Her feet were still tingling unpleasantly, and she rubbed them against each other, trying to work away the cold. The mad reappeared a moment later, with gauze and a stick. "There's no way we;re getting down this mountain tonight," he said. "We'll have to splint it for the time being, till we can get you some real medical help. He knelt in front of her prone form, extending a hand for her arm. "This... is going to hurt."

Katrina reluctantly gave over her arm, telling herself it was for the best. She wanted to continue to favor her arm and hold it against herself, but she knew the man was right. It would do better in the long term if she took care of it now. The man held the stick against her arm to act as a brace, then started to wrap. She hissed through her teeth as he put pressure on the broken bones. Please, let it be over soon. 

"I'm Daniel, by the way," said the man.

"Katrina," she introduced herself. 

"Well Katrina, what were you doing driving through a blizzard?" She was certain he was trying to distract her from the pain, but she welcomed it. She explained about the job, about being broke, and most of all being an idiot. By the time she had reached the part about the Angel of Death coming for her he had finished.

"I suppose that was you," she said. "I guess you're not really an angel." Daniel chuckled.

"I'm afraid not. Sorry to disappoint. Just an ordinary man trying to enjoy his private cabin getaway without silly girls crashing into his front yard."

"Was it really your front yard?" Katrina craned her head about, looking for a window. 

"Not quite, but I saw your headlights from a distance, heard the crash, and left to investigate. Good thing, too, because you were nearly dead when I found you. You're lucky I could follow your tracks. Why on earth would you leave the car? You had to know that was your best bet of being found."

Katrina shrugged, unable to explain her reasoning. It had made sense at the time, but looking back she supposed it had been rather foolish. 

"How are your feet feeling? Any numbness?" asked Daniel. Katrina flexed her toes experimentally, realizing that the pins and needles had stopped at some point in her story. 

"No, they're fine," she said truthfully. She cleared her throat. "Um. Thank you. I guess I owe you my life." She gazed down at the blanket, unsure of how to thank someone for a gift of that magnitude. 

"Yes. Well. Must've been your lucky day," he said gruffly, seeming as uncomfortable with the topic as she was. "So hopefully in the morning the storm will have abated somewhat and I can drive you into town. I'm afraid you're stuck here with me tonight." Again, the sheepish grin. "Are you hungry? Or do you need to um, use the facilities?" he averted his gaze as he asked, but once he spoke the words Katrina realized that she was both ravenous and had an uncomfortably full bladder. 

"Um, yes. To both." Daniel directed her down the hall, and she carefully got up, wrapping the blanket around herself so as not to give him a glimpse of her body. At least she still had her underwear on, she noticed with relief. She followed his directions and locked the door behind her, just to be safe. After relieving herself, she examined her head in the bathroom mirror. An ugly gash reached from above her brow almost back to her ear. She turned on the tap and dabbed at it as best she could with her bare hands, wiping the dried streaks of blood from her face. There was a knock on the door, and she opened it a crack, poking her head out. Daniel was standing off to the side, pointedly not looking at her, holding out a few articles of clothing.

"I thought you might like to put something on," he said. "Sorry all I have to offer is my stuff." Katrina thanked him and pulled the clothing inside with her, re-locking the door. He'd given her a pair of pajama pants, which would doubtless be slightly too long, but the drawstring waist meant they would probably stay up if tightened properly. He'd also included a couple of shirts; a tank and a t-shirt, and she layered them both on, trying to cover her nipples. The pants were a bit too long, as expected, but they didn't show any indication of sliding down and giving him a free show. She opened the door and found Daniel sitting on the couch, holding a steaming bowl of something. He offered it to her as she came into the room.

"It's just chicken noodle, nothing fancy," he said, but Katrina fell on it like a starving person. The warmth of the soup coated her insides pleasantly, and she relished the heat radiating from the bowl on her still cold fingers. Daniel busied himself with the fire while she ate. Hearing her spoon scraping against the bottom of the bowl, he offered her more, but she politely declined. Her stomach warm and full, Katrina felt her eyes begin to grow heavy. She curled up on the couch, pulling the blanket over the top of her, too tired to feel the least bit shameful over making herself so at home.

"You can take the bed, if you like," offered Daniel, gesturing down the hall, presumably at the bedroom. "I can sleep on the couch." Katrina mumbled that she was fine, and closed her eyes. Sleep overtook her immediately.

*

*

She heard strange sounds, a rustling, and popping and cracking. Katrina pulled the blanket around her tighter, startling herself awake by the pain in her arm. She opened her eyes. Where was she? All the details from last night came pouring back in. The interview. The snow, the car crash. Daniel. As if summoned by the thought, he appeared, carrying an armful of logs for the fire. 

"You're awake," he said. "How are you feeling this morning?" Concern was etched on his face.

"Fine, a little worse for the wear, but fine." She smiled at him. She hadn't noticed last night, but Daniel was actually a very handsome man. Tall, fit, with an attractive crop of black hair and an even more attractive smile, one that he favored her with now.

"How about some breakfast?" She eagerly agreed, and followed him as he made his way to the kitchen, insisting that she be allowed to help.

"You really should be resting..." Daniel was hesitant to allow her to do too much. 

"I'll rest after breakfast," she said. "Anyway, we'll be on our way to the hospital soon and I can rest there."

"Ah." Daniel paused. "About that." He drew back the curtains from the kitchen window and Katrina saw, to her horror, that the snow was still falling fast and thick. It was even higher than last night, and she knew that there was no way they were making it out of the cabin today. "Sorry," said Daniel apologetically, as if he were somehow responsible. Katrina was dismayed. She felt like the snow was keeping her prisoner. At least the other inmate is handsome, she thought.

"Well, perhaps tomorrow then." She smiled bravely. Her poor arm! But there was nothing to be done about it. 

"Tomorrow," Daniel agreed, and began to pull food from the fridge. There was a pot of coffee on the counter, and he offered her a cup, which she gratefully accepted. He set her to work turning the sausages, after ensuring she wasn't a vegetarian. He whipped the eggs, a job that would be too difficult to do one-handed, and set about making fluffy omelets for them.

"I've never had anyone cook me breakfast before," laughed Katrina. "Do you do this for all the women who stay over?" she asked playfully. 

"Well I would, if I had guests," said Daniel, "But for some reason I don't get too many out here. And seriously? No one has ever cooked you breakfast?"

"Well, my mom," Katrina amended, "But a guy... no."

"Do you not stay the night, or just only date assholes who don't care about you?" He seemed to be taking the issue rather personally. Katrina thought back to her ex-boyfriend. She'd stayed the night, many times, but he had been far too self-absorbed to take the time to fix her a meal. He had taken her out for dinners, true, but she couldn't picture him bothering to cook up food for anyone but himself. 




Snowbound



"Assholes, I suppose," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I have a thing for that type."

"You should be with someone who treats you well. Don't you want to be with someone who actually cares about you? Cares FOR you?" Katrina thought of how Daniel had rescued her and taken care of her last night. She couldn't imagine any of her exes going to that kind of trouble for her, let alone a perfect stranger. 

"I guess I should really re-evaluate," she said, turning her attention to the food. Daniel stepped closer, resting a hand gently on her arm.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's really not my place. I just hate guys like that. They give us all a bad name. Are you with someone like that now?"

"I'm between assholes at the moment," said Katrina, offering him a wry grin. "But perhaps I can do better on the next one." 

"I hope so," muttered Daniel, and returned his attention to the eggs. 

They had breakfast at the kitchen table, Katrina making polite inquiries about the cabin. It had been his grandfather's, left to Daniel in a will. He used it every once in a while when he needed to get away from civilization for a time. Katrina was thankful he'd been visiting the cabin this weekend. Just imagine where she'd be if he had been at home in the city! Dead and buried beneath a pile of snow, no doubt. After breakfast, she tried to help with the dishes, but found she was more of a hindrance than a help with her broken arm. Daniel suggested she take a cup of coffee and sit in front of the fire while he finished up. She still felt chilled from last nigh; no doubt it was mostly in her head, but she eagerly agreed, warming her bare toes in front of the open flames. Daniel appeared a few minutes later. 

"I'm not really set up for entertaining guests," he apologized. "I usually read or go out for walks... cook...I don't have much in the way of amusement, not even a TV. Sorry."

"I think I'll skip the nature walk," Katrina said dryly. "But I wouldn't turn down a book." She smiled at Daniel. He indicated the bookshelf on the far wall.

"Help yourself. I'm going outside for a bit, just to take a look around, maybe check the roads. Stay here." Katrina nodded. No fear of her venturing outside alone.

She watched as he bundled up in coat, gloves, boots and scarf, secretly admiring his butt as he bent to lace up his boots. As if he could feel her gaze, he back at her sharply, and she hastily stood and walked to the bookcase, pretending to peruse titles as she felt his eyes on her. Aware again of how handsome he was, she idly plucked a title at random and pretended to read the back of it. 

"An avid thesaurus reader?" Daniel inquired, and Katrina flushed as she realized which book she'd grabbed. He was standing close to her, but she hadn't heard him cross the room. She was suddenly aware of how close to her he was. Leaning across her, he pulled a book from the shelf and held it out to her. "You might like this one." Katrina was extremely aware of how close to her he was, his hand brushing against hers. Clearly her body was craving male attention; it had been a while, for sure. His shoulder had brushed lightly over her breast when he reached in front of her, and her nipple was tingling slightly from the contact, a pleasant tingling, not like the pins and needles of her feet last night. 

She took a deep breath, accepted the book, and thanked him. He stepped back and continued getting ready to venture outside. She returned to the couch, settling in with the blanket again. She watched him from the corner of her eye still, as he opened the door and left. Whew. She supposed it was natural to feel some sort of hero worship or adoration for the man who'd rescued her. After all, he had truly saved her from death. He probably thought she was an idiot, he'd basically said as much last night, so there was no point in working things up in her head. Tomorrow she'd be on her way and though she would be forever grateful, she'd doubtless never see this man again. Resolving to behave more like a sensible adult and less like a love-struck teenager, she opened the book and found it was actually quite good. Action-based plots like this weren't her usual fare, but she found herself enjoying it anyway, and made quick progress. 

After a time, Daniel returned, with no news. The roads were as bad as should be expected, with no sign of a plow or even other traffic coming through. Katrina was the only one crazy enough to even attempt it, apparently. Daniel suggested lunch, and though she wasn't really hungry yet, she agreed, guessing that he was probably ready for food after expending energy traipsing through the cold snow. He showed her the cupboard that was his pantry, cheerfully declaring that she could have whatever flavor of canned soup she liked.

"Nothing but the finest gourmet options for my guests," he said, and his infectious grin soon had Katrina smiling and laughing with him. She made her selection, and like a true gentleman he insisted on preparing hers first, though she knew he must have been hungry and eager for a hot bowl of his own. She spooned her soup, blowing on it to cool it as he hummed and stirred his own. He moved around the kitchen very naturally, which was a strange sight to Katrina. Most of the men she'd dated were only familiar with the fridge - it held the beers- and the microwave, but Daniel obviously was at home here. He had a fully stocked spice cupboard and he added a shake of this and that to his soup, to "jazz it up a little," as he told her when he saw her watching. 

"Tonight though, you're in a for a real treat: my world-famous hunter's stew." He brought his bowl of soup to the table and sat down. "A secret recipe, handed down for generations," he lowered his voice and leaned in, whispering confidentially, "the real secret, of course, is that we make it differently every time and no two people agree on the recipe. But," he continued in a normal voice, "It's nearly always edible, if you like a hodgepodge of meat and miscellaneous vegetables." Katrina found herself grinning at him again, and wondered what such a charming man was doing out here alone. The question left her lips before she could stop it.

"Ah. Well, you see my most recent motivation for coming out here to clear my head happens to be the reason I'm alone as well. My girlfriend - ex-girlfriend , I should say - didn't find my company nearly as charming as the company of others. I came home early from work one day to surprise her, heard noises coming from the bedroom, and well, it's so cliché I hardly need to go on. So here I am, giving her the chance to move all her shit out while I'm gone so I don't have to deal with her." Daniel stared down at his food, and Katrina was sorry she'd asked such a probing question and forced him to relive the negative feelings. She reached her good hand across the table, gently covering the back of his.

"I'm sorry. I know how that feels." She did too, unfortunately she'd encountered a cheating boyfriend more than once. Daniel flipped his hand over and held hers, as if taking comfort from it. She left it there, and they shared a moment, making eye contact and drawing understanding from each other before Daniel let it go.

"I'm sorry, here I am holding on to your only functioning hand when you must be wanting to eat! You should just tell me when I'm being a whiny sap and keeping you from your sustenance."As if to prove his point, he began to dig into his own soup. Katrina found that hers had cooled enough now, and ate it.

"Well now," said Daniel, when they had finished. "I'd better get started on dinner, it takes a few hours of slow cooking. We'll be cooking it up in the true rustic way, over the fire. Mostly because I have little faith in the power holding out if this snowstorm keeps up, but we can pretend it's so we're being authentic." He winked at her over the last part. "Go, make yourself comfortable, read, maybe take a nap, I'll be along shortly." Knowing that she would be no help with one arm, Katrina did as she was bid. The couch looked incredibly inviting, and though she'd been planning on returning to the book, her exhausted, healing body insisted on a nap instead, and she was out like a light.

*

It was darker when she woke up, though impossible to tell how late, given how short the days were now. There was a pot on a hook extended over the fire, and the smell of meat and vegetables was just beginning to waft from it. Daniel was seated in the armchair next to the couch,and her stirring drew his attention. 

"Sleeping beauty awakes," he said. "Feeling alright?" Katrina couldn't help but be touched by his concern for her well-being.

"Fine, just a bit stiff," she said. Daniel nodded.

"To be expected after yesterday. Would you like a massage?"

"Oh, it's not that bad, I'm fine..." Katrina's voice trailed off. Her aching muscles were dying for a massage. 

"Don't be stubborn, I don't bite, you know. Come, sit." He indicated the floor in front of the armchair, and Katrina shrugged and smiled before sitting down in front of him. His hands brushed her hair gently over her shoulder and out of the way, and then his thumbs began to knead into her stiff upper shoulders. She sighed and relaxed, enjoying the feeling. His hands were firm but gentle, taking care to ease up if she stiffened or showed signs of discomfort. Katrina couldn't remember the last time a man had given her a massage. Her exes, if they even bothered to make the gesture, would massage for roughly thirty seconds before sliding their hands around to her breasts and trying to get to bed. Daniel worked slowly and patiently down her back. 

He leaned down to reach the small of her back, his hands caressing her curves. His head was close to hers now, she could feel his warm breath on her neck, and the graze of his stubble against it when he leaned further down. She shivered slightly at the feeling, her body responding. Her neck had always been a very sensitive spot. Being kissed on the neck from behind was enough to make her go weak at the knees. For a moment she allowed herself to imagine Daniel leaning in farther and softly kissing her neck...

"Are you cold?" asked Daniel, and Katrina realized she had shivered again. Not from cold though, as Daniel thought.

"No, I'm fine," she reassured him. "Just, uh, a ticklish spot."

"Ah. Well, consider yourself lucky. If you didn't have bruised ribs and a broken arm, I'd take that as an invitation to find your ticklish spot and torment you." His voice was playful. "You get off easy, this time." Katrina wasn't sure if she was disappointed or relieved. "Is that better?" he'd finished his massage.

"Yes, much. Thank you." She smiled at him over her shoulder. 

"Good. So, I was exploring the old closets while you were napping, trying to find a game or something to amuse us, and unfortunately my family appears to have cleaned us out. However," he said, "I did manage to find some very old jigsaw puzzles, if you think you're up for that kind of excitement after your ordeal. I wouldn't want you over-exert yourself."

"Jigsaw puzzles?" she laughed. "Sure, why not." she hadn't done puzzles since she was a kid, but it would be something different, and the idea of working closely next to him appealed to her more than it should.

"Excellent!" He got up and led her to the a card table he'd set up behind the couch. He swept out a chair for her so she could sit. "Now, would you prefer the field of flowers, the field of flowers, or the wood scene?" she chuckled at the three remarkably similar puzzles he'd set out. 

"Oh, the field of flowers, of course," she said, pointing at the first one. "The other just can't compare."

"Mmm, the lady has impeccable taste in puzzles," complimented Daniel. "The field of flowers it is!" Opening the puzzle, he upended the pieces all over the table. "I call the yellow flowers, you can have all the other colors." 

"ALL the flowers are yellow," she laughed. This man made her laugh more in one day of being with him than she had in months. 

"Only to those with no imagination," teased Daniel. "These ones are yellow, yes, but THOSE ones are clearly goldenrod, and these over here, electric lemon."

"Electric lemon?" snorted Katrina. "Well then, I call the electric lemon ones." She picked up a piece.

"Well then I'll thank you to keep your grubby little hands OFF of my yellow ones," said Daniel, plucking the piece from her hand and mashing it into another one, though it clearly didn't fit. Katrina giggled again, and they spent a happy hour or so bantering over the yellow pieces. After a while Daniel came and stood behind her, presumably admiring her work. 

"You've got this whole section upside down," he said, leaning in and flipping the piece she was working on. "Obviously it goes that way." He didn't move right away, his chest touching her shoulder as she worked. His head was so close to hers. Her heart pounded and she thrilled at being so close to him. Slowly, she turned her head to see him gazing at her, and not the puzzle.

"You're so beautiful, Katrina," he said. Her heart beat faster as he hesitantly leaned in, bringing his face closer to hers. Their lips were mere inches apart. She tilted her face slightly upwards, inviting him, and he took it, bringing his mouth down over hers. His warm lips kissed hers, gently opening them, and his tongue met hers, the kiss growing more intense and heated. His hands encircled her waist, drawing her closer to him. He pulled her upward from the chair, never breaking the contact of the kiss. Her good hand sought his neck and closed around the back, holding him close to her. The kiss seemed endless, and Katrina's body was responding. For that matter, so was Daniel's; she could feel his erection pressing into her. He swept her up in his hands and carefully laid her on the card table, leaning over her and finally breaking the kiss, only to kiss her neck instead. Katrina squirmed with pleasure, the feeling sending a jolt right to her core. He leaned into her harder.

"Ah!" Katrina was unable to stop herself from crying out as he put too much weight on her bruised ribs. Daniel jumped off of her like she was on fire. 

"Shit, what did I do? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him. "Just my ribs." Damn her ribs, she'd really been getting into that, too. She wondered if he'd resume kissing her again, but the moment seemed to have passed, for Daniel declared it was dinner time. He dished them both up hearty bowls of his specialty, and Katrina ate with relish; it was warm and filling, and her body was demanding sustenance, probably because of all the energy it was expending healing itself. After dinner, they resumed work on the puzzle, though not much work was getting done, as they spend more time casting glances at each other and smiling than actually fitting pieces together. Abruptly, the power went out and they were plunged into near darkness, save the fire.

"Oh," said Katrina, "I guess that's it for the puzzle then." In the dim light all the pieces looked the same. 

"Maybe we should get to bed," suggested Daniel. If the weather breaks, we should probably get an early start tomorrow. Get that arm looked at." Katrina had a fleeting fantasy of sharing a bed with him, but she quickly dismissed it. The kiss had been fun, but she didn't want to form an emotional attachment to this man. She was probably never going to hear from him again, and anyway he was probably on the rebound. She nodded agreement, and Daniel helped escort her through the dark room. "You're sure you'll be comfortable on the couch again?" he asked. Katrina nodded. "I don't suppose you'd want to... never mind. Sleep well." He leaned and kissed her cheek, then was gone. Katrina wondered what he'd almost said. To share his bed? She had to admit to herself that yes, she would want that. Good thing he hadn't left it up to her. She snuggled into the couch and closed her eyes.

*

The morning dawned crisp and cold, and Katrina raced to the window upon waking, only to find that the snow had stopped, but hadn't melted in the least and was still far too high for traveling. 

"I guess you're stuck with me another day," said Daniel behind her. She turned and they exchanged half-hearted shrugs. Part of her was excited to spend more time with him, but the logical part of her brain was sighing and chiding her, warning her to be careful. "Breakfast?" asked Daniel, and she nodded, following him to the kitchen again. "Pancakes." Daniel said, and Katrina raised an eyebrow at him. "For breakfast, we're having pancakes. You can make the coffee, but you'll have to leave the pancake flipping to the experts." Katrina started for the electric coffee maker before she remembered the power was out. "Here." Daniel handed her a metal kettle. "Put it over the fire and get it hot." She filled it with water and hooked it over the arm like she'd seen the pot of stew yesterday. Daniel came into the room behind her, whisking a bowl of batter and holding a cast iron skillet. He positioned the skillet over the fire on a little metal stand that had been next to the fireplace. 

"We'll let that get nice and hot," he said. When the kettle began to boil, he pulled it off the fire and took it back to the kitchen, pouring it over the grounds inside the filter so it ran to the pot below. "Just like back in the olden days," he joked.

"Yes, the olden days when they had fancy plastic and glass electronic coffee contraptions made useless by a snowstorm... just like those days."

"If you're going to complain about the coffee you don't get any," he mock-threatened, and Katrina made a big show of apologizing, rolling her eyes and eyeing the coffee pot the whole time. 

"I suppose I can forgive you and share my sacred coffee... for a fee." Daniel leaned in, his breath surprisingly fresh as he whispered into her ear. "Can you pay the price?" Katrina shivered as his lips brushed against her neck. Then his face was in front of hers, his eyes asking the question, and she saved him having to wait for an answer by lifting her lips to his and meeting him in a warm embrace. The kiss was short but intense. Daniel pulled back, smiling. "Ok, coffee for you," he said. He herded her out of the kitchen with two coffee cups in hand, urging her to rest on the couch while he cooked pancakes. 

"It's all about the artistry," he informed her as he dispensed batter onto the skillet. "Artistry and of course, the flipping skill." He loosened the edges of the pancake, and then, holding the handle with an oven mitt, expertly jerked the pan so the pancake flipped over onto the other side, revealing its golden brown bottom. Katrina gave him a slow clap, smiling. "Thank you, thank you," said Daniel, making a mock half-bow. He put on a fake Russian accent. "I heff studied menny, menny years at fancy academy to leern secret of pencake flipping. My pencakery ees widely edmired by my lowly waffle comrades." he broke into a laugh, unable to keep a straight face, and Katrina joined him. He served her up the first pancake, liberally doused in maple syrup and she dug in, watching as he tried to flip the pancakes higher and higher to impress her, until one flipped straight into the fire. She snorted with laughter around her food. Shrugging it off, Daniel piled his own plate high and joined her on the couch. 

"I'll walk down to the road after this and check it out," he said, shoveling pancakes into his mouth. "I'm pretty sure we're stuck here all day, but I'll make sure." Strangely, Katrina felt a little disappointed with how he seemed to want to get rid of her. She knew it was silly, but they really had so much fun together, she'd sort of hoped he was enjoying it as well. But of course she needed to get back, her friends were probably worried sick about her, and she needed to call them and tell them she was alright. She nodded at Daniel, and sure enough after breakfast he was bundling up again. She watched him again, admiring his strong arms until he covered them with his jacket and coat.