Snow Bound: The Complete Story (9 page)

She ground her hips at me, pressing herself firmly against my mouth. I shoved her back against the wall of the shower, but pressed my mouth more firmly into her sex.

Her hands were back in my hair, clutching at me, while she was saying over and over, "Sarah! Oh Sarah!"

She began to shudder, the motion filling her body, letting out a long, loud, "Sarah! I'm coming! I'm coming! Oh Sarah!"

I kept her in my mouth until the shudders dissipated. I pulled away and looked up at her. She was pressed against the wall of the shower, her eyes closed, breathing heavily. I worked my way out from underneath her, then traced a line of kissed up her body to her neck. She pulled me into a kiss.

We hugged in the shower for a while before she pulled away. "You certainly aren't my first lover, but you are the sexiest woman I've ever held."

I smiled. "Time to wash your hair.

* * *

After the shower, we took turns pampering each other. I brushed and dried her hair, then she attended to mine. I got the better end of the deal. By the time we were dressed, the snow had stopped.

We moved to the living room and sat on the sofa, curled up with each other, staring out the window and talking quietly. "Sarah," she said. "That deer was the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me."

I laughed. "I thought perhaps I was the luckiest thing that ever happened to you."

She laughed with me. "I guess perhaps they are intertwined." She paused. "Will you read more from your book?"

"The next chapter is dark," I told her.

"I'd love to hear it," she replied.

"All right," I said, pushing her away from me a little so I could extricate myself from the sofa. I retrieved my laptop then sat down on the opposite end of the sofa. She pouted a little at the distance.

"When is the last time you pouted?" I asked her.

I watched her think about it. "I honestly don't know," she said finally. She laughed at herself. "You make me feel young."

"Are you on that old thing again?" I asked her, my brow furrowing.

"No," she said.

I eyed her suspiciously. "All right. Make yourself comfortable and close your eyes." We both shifted on the sofa so we were sitting sideways, our legs partly intertwined. She closed her eyes. I opened the laptop and found the second chapter.

Chapter two of my novel is set in the city. It is written to be intentionally discordant. It is actually a good story, but it's not designed to make you feel good. I watched Allison as she became increasingly restless. At one point she opened her eyes to watch me read. I felt her gaze on me and stopped reading. "No," I said. "Eyes closed. Listen and feel the story."

She closed her eyes. My eyes lowered to the screen again, continuing the story, but I kept stealing glances at her. I watched as she slowly curled up and wrapped her arms around her knees, withdrawing from me.

I finished the chapter and watched her. She sat quietly for a minute longer, still hugging her knees, but looking restless. Finally she opened her eyes and looked at me. She looked at the distance she'd put between us and considered her own body language.

"I'm sorry," she said.

I smiled. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"That's very unsettling." She paused. "I can't even tell you why. But. It's almost like I can taste the smog choking the tree she planted."

A rush of pleasure burst through me. If that was all she got out of the story, I was pleased. That had been my goal when I wrote it, to make the reader feel choked by the city, all the noise, all the unnatural smells, all the crowding. I understood that cities were important in their way, but how can one breath?

"Sarah," she said. "Are you going to leave me like this? Is the next chapter just as unsettling?"

"No," I said. "It's not. Would you like me to read it?"

"Yes, please."

"All right," I said. I lowered my eyes and began reading again. I didn't worry about whether she closed her eyes. I didn't worry about her body language. I let her decide what her own reaction would be. I read slowly and clearly, enjoying the words, savoring them.

Chapter three is set in the summer and tells of a canoeing trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It starts with the boat sliding into the clear, still cool water. It ends with a loon crying across the water after sunset.

When I looked up, Allison was relaxed, her eyes closed, leaning against the back of the sofa. Our feet were touching, and she was smiling softly. I closed my laptop and set it on the coffee table, then leaned against the sofa and watched Allison. She sat there for a while, not speaking. Eventually she opened her eyes, fluttering them a moment before focusing on me. "Thank you," she said.

I smiled.

"I've never read any of this to anyone before," I told her.

"May I ask questions?" I nodded. "Is it possible to buy copies?"

I frowned. "Are you trying to butter me up so I'll make you scream my name some more?"

She laughed. "You can't read my body language? It's not lying."

I told her how she could get copies, both electronic and paperback. She moved back to my end of the sofa and stretched out with me. We cuddled and kissed for a while. It felt good to hold someone. She was soft and warm.

"Allison," I told her eventually. "That was a very fattening breakfast. I think we need to go work it off."

"You're insatiable," she said, grinning up at me. "But if you insist."

I pinched her nose. "Not like that," I said. "It's lovely out. Why are we inside?"

"Because being held by you feels so wonderful," she told me.

"Does that mean if I go for a walk, you won't lock me out?"

"Did I just get uninvited?"

"No, I thought you were telling me you didn't want to go."

* * *

We bundled up in warm clothes. I left my camera behind. We stepped outside wearing all the accoutrements of winter, but I still reached over and took her gloved hand.

We walked down to the ice and walked on the lake, walking the perimeter of the little bay that held her cabin. There weren't very many other cabins. We walked past the camp grounds where I had expected to camp.

"Would you really have camped out?" she asked. "During a blizzard?"

"Yes," I told her. I explained about my gear.

We were outside for about two hours before we both started to get cold. As we approached her cabin, I started a snowball fight.

She screeched at me and began throwing snow back. Eventually I caught her in the face with a big pile of soft snow. She sputtered through it. When I leaned down to pick up more snow, she ran up and stuff a handful down the back of my jacket.

It was my turn to screech. I danced around, trying to get the snow to fall out of my jacket. Allison stood a few feet away, giggling at my antics. As soon as I got the snow out of my jacket, I rushed her and pulled both of us down into the snow with Allison on the bottom. I sat on her and pinned her hands above her head.

She squealed and struggled, still giggling.

I transferred both her hands to just my left hand and used my right to pick up a pile of snow. Her eyes grew wide. She could have pulled her hands out of mine, but she behaved, her struggles little more than token.

"Sarah," she said. "Please don't."

"Oh I don't know," I said. "I think watching you squirm from the cold would be almost as fun as watching you squirm for other reasons." I began lowering the snow, deciding where to stuff it.

"You don't want to do that, Sarah," she said, renewing her struggles. "You don't want a frigid love slave, do you?"

I laughed at the pun and threw the snow away before lowering my lips to kiss her. Cold kisses aren't as good as warm kisses, but they're still nice. By now we were both well past wet and cold, though, so I climbed off her and helped her to her feet. Arm in arm, we walked up the slope to the cabin.

* * *

We were still stepping out of our wet clothes when her phone rang. She ran to answer it. I listened to a half a conversation, learning very little. She hung up and turned to me, still stepping out of wet clothes.

"They found my car but he doesn't expect to get it back to me until early tomorrow afternoon. He says he'll plow my driveway as soon as the county does the road, but that might not be for a few more hours." She smiled.

"You're happy I'm stuck here?"

She nodded enthusiastically.

"Show me how happy."

She did.

* * *

After lunch I made her sit outside with me. I made a little nest in the snow and settled down, pulling her down beside me.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"Breathing," I told her. "I want you to stay here with me until you can't stand it anymore. You can go inside when you've had enough."

After that I forbade any talking. We sat side by side in the snow. I closed my eyes and began to meditate. She was a distraction. She didn't know how to sit still, although she tried.

"I'm sorry," she said after a while.

"Are you too cold to stay?" I asked without opening my eyes.

"I'm cold, but mostly I know I'm distracting you."

"You'll still distract me if you go," I told her. She leaned her head on my shoulder. "You've never meditated?"

"I never got the point," she said.

"It's a reset," I said. "Our minds get so cluttered and frantic, always worried about something. We get conditioned to what evolution tells us is an unnatural level of stress. Thirty minutes of good meditation can act like a reset button. You can be calm and clear headed afterwards."

"Like hypnosis," she said. "I've never used it in my practice, but I know people who do."

"Yes," I said. "They both can create similar brainwave patterns."

"I don't have a lot of faith in hypnosis," she admitted. "I've had several people try to hypnotize me, but it's never done anything. I spent the entire time analyzing what they're doing."

I walked her through my thoughts when I meditate. She settled down, listening to my voice. We began to breathe in unison, and she settled in for a while, but then a tree off to our right dumped a load of snow to the ground, and the sound startled her out of it.

"I'm sorry," she said.

"It's okay. Do you want to try once more?"

"Will you be upset if I go inside?"

"No," I told her. "You did good for a first try. If you decide to try again in the future, you'll at least have an idea of what I do."

I felt her stand up. She brushed snow off herself.

"If I'm still out here in an hour," I told her. "Come get me. Be gentle."

I listened to her step into the cabin and close the door. I focused on my own breathing and tried not to think of Allison. That was a lot like not thinking of the purple bunny when someone says, 'Don't think of purple bunnies'."

I listened to the light breeze in the trees. I listened to my own breathing.

* * *

I didn't hear her approach. I felt a light touch on my hand. "Hey," she said quietly.

I didn't respond right away, awareness slowly coming back to me. I opened my eyes and looked over at her.

"I waited an hour," she said.

I smiled, still not quite ready to use words. We stared out at the lake for a while.

"Do you meditate every day?"

I shrugged. It wasn't every day. I hadn't yesterday. I laid my head on her shoulder for a minute, finally coming out of the post meditation bliss enough to answer. "Most days. Not every day."

"Will you meditate tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"May I try again?"

I pulled her head towards me, kissing her.

* * *

My body was cold by the time we got back inside, especially my bottom. Access to a dryer made me cavalier about letting my clothes get wet. I told her I was going to get spoiled. She smiled.

We got each other naked and put all the wet clothes in the dryer. I immediately headed for her bedroom and acquired a third pair of her panties. She caught up to me and laughed. "Am I going to have any left?"

"Depends on how long I stay," I told her, laughing with her. I stared at her. "On the bed, on your stomach, right now."

She stared at me for a moment, her look challenging. I stared her down, and she lowered her eyes. "Yes, Sarah," she said obediently. She climbed onto the bed and lay down.

I looked around the room and found one of the scarves, tossed casually over a chair. I grabbed it and walked over to her. I massaged her bottom with the silk for a moment, then hobbled her ankles again. I kissed her bottom.

"Still submissive?"

"Yes," she said.

I swatted her bottom lightly, then kissed it.

"Come on," I told her. I helped her roll over and pulled her to her feet. "Let's make some tea and find a game to play."

* * *

I kept her naked all afternoon. The snow plow came through late in the afternoon. Allison looked out the kitchen window at it and frowned. She looked over at me with a worried expression.

"Am I welcome for the night?" I asked her.

She smiled broadly. "Yes."

I let her dress when we made dinner together. She made stir fry. As soon as we were done cleaning up, we collected a bunch of blankets and pillows, spreading them on the living room floor in front of the fireplace. We slowly undressed each other then made gentle love together.

"You're not so frantic tonight," she told me later.

"You feel good," I told her.

I gave her a choice. Another chapter of the book or she could ask me any one single question she wanted. I promised I would answer.

She was clearly torn. Then she decided. "If I ask the questions I want to ask, it's going to destroy the mood. Will you read from your book?"

Chapter four was the city in the summer. She was fidgeting by the time I finished. She opened her eyes, and I could see the pain behind them. "That's my life," she said. "Even when I come up here, I'm working. It's better here, but I'm working."

"Do you want the next chapter?"

She nodded.

"Go make us some herbal tea, Love Slave," I ordered.

She giggled and kissed me before getting up. I watched her wriggle her naked ass at me as she walked into the kitchen. Possessive Sarah got a real good look at her ass and started to growl, "Mine!" I shoved her back down. "We're leaving tomorrow," I told myself. "This is just a fling."