Break the Ice (Road Trip Romance Book 10)

by A. K. Evans

  “Do you want to?” he asked.

  “Call them?”

  Mack shrugged. “Yeah. Do you want to tell them? I don’t mind if you do.”

  I considered it for a moment. There was no question in my mind that I’d want to share this news with all of our friends, but it was a big deal. Not just for us, but for them, too. For years, they’d managed to support both Mack and me while understanding that the two of us were in a bad place. Not once had they chosen sides or made it worse for us. We were both extremely lucky we had them in our lives. And I thought they deserved more than just a phone call.

  “Let’s wait and tell them when they get here,” I suggested while I finished rolling the dough into balls to make donut holes. “I want to see the look on their faces. Plus, maybe it’ll make up for them missing out on a few days of fun up here.”

  Mack let out a laugh. “Okay. That works for me.”

  For the next few minutes, Mack watched me as I worked on our breakfast. I managed to get all the dough rolled into balls and was able to drop them right into the oil I’d already preheated. They only needed about two minutes to cook, so while they were in there, I prepared the topping—a big bowl filled with sugar.

  After I’d pulled the first batch of donut holes from the oil and placed them on the paper towels to drain, I dropped the second batch into the oil. While those cooked, I took one of the donut holes from the paper towel and rolled it in sugar.

  Then I held it out to Mack’s lips and said, “Open.”

  He didn’t make me ask twice and parted his lips. I placed the donut in his mouth and watched as his eyes lit up with delight.

  “Good?” I asked.

  He nodded as he chewed. “Delicious.”

  “Do you want to roll the rest of those in the sugar while I finish up with these?”

  “I might eat them as I go along,” he warned me.

  I smiled and insisted, “I’m completely okay with that.”

  By the time Mack got all the donut holes from the first batch rolled in the sugar and onto a fresh plate, I was pulling the second batch out of the oil. And once I turned off the stove and removed the oil from the heat, Mack came to stand beside me. He held a donut up to my lips. “Your turn to open,” he advised.

  Still smiling, I opened. Mack allowed his fingers to linger in my mouth, and I had no choice but to lick the sugar from them. As I did that, the look in his eyes intensified.

  “Fuck, I must be a glutton for punishment,” he said as he pulled his thumb from between my lips.

  I licked trace amounts of sugar from my lip and held a donut up to his mouth. Once he’d taken it from me, Mack wrapped his arms around me, lifted me up, and placed me back on the counter again. After we both swallowed the food in our mouths, he gave me a peck on the lips.

  “I love you so much, Marley,” he said softly. “I hope you know that.”

  “I do. And I love you, too.”

  Mack gave me another peck, which quickly turned into something much less innocent. But beyond a much deeper kiss, Mack didn’t allow things to progress. We spent the rest of the morning feeding each other donuts, kissing, and loving every single moment of it.

  Then we took advantage of the fresh snow and went out to ride for a few hours. But before it got too late, Mack urged us back to the house so we could grab his keys and head down the mountain road.

  He was a man on a mission, and condoms were the priority.

  We got a bunch of those at the store.

  But because I had made a promise the day before, I also picked up some ingredients I’d need to make him a few desserts.

  It was a tough call, but I had a feeling we were both more excited about the condoms. Maybe that was because we used another three of them that night.

  Seventeen

  Mack

  “I can’t do it.”

  I was one lucky guy.

  I never expected this. In fact, I would have been more than happy with things being like they were with Marley that night she came to my room. We were on speaking terms, we had spoken about what drove us apart in our past, and we’d taken that next step in moving from friends to lovers.

  I had no reason to complain. I was nothing but grateful we’d gotten that far. It was well beyond anything I ever thought I’d have with Marley.

  I didn’t need anything else.

  My life would have felt entirely complete with everything I already had with Marley.

  Yet apparently, that wasn’t all I was going to get.

  Because she was giving me so much more. I was getting it all. Her smiles and laughter. For years, I knew how much I hated being on the receiving end of her eyes rolls and scowls. There was no doubt about that. But I definitely hadn’t realized just how much I missed having her smile at me or how much I enjoyed hearing the sound of her laughter.

  It did not matter what it was going to take. I was never going to go back to a life that didn’t have Marley in it. It was sad that I hadn’t realized how much not having her was affecting me. Because ever since she walked through that door of the house here and broke down into tears, giving me the perfect opportunity to approach her and start the process of healing us, I started to feel like I’d gotten the missing pieces of myself back. Pieces she’d taken when she broke my heart all those years ago. Pieces that only she could have mended.

  And she was doing a fine job of putting me back together.

  Looking at her now, I wanted nothing more than to see her smiling at me. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what I was getting. If anything, Marley looked utterly terrified.

  “Baby, I promise I won’t let anything happen to you,” I said.

  She shook her head and urged, “You go. I’ll meet you down at the lift.”

  “No. I’m not going without you,” I returned.

  Marley and I were out enjoying what was likely to be our last day alone on the mountain. We’d spoken to our friends, and they were planning to leave early tomorrow morning to head up. Luckily for them, there was no storm on the horizon, and the road leading up to the mountain had been cleared early yesterday afternoon.

  And since I knew they were all going to come up and want to take advantage of all the recent snowfall by going off the trails to ride through the fresh powder, I wanted Marley to attempt it again. I didn’t want her feeling like she couldn’t be a part of it because she was worried that she’d end up stuck and alone.

  I understood her fear, and I wanted to help her overcome it.

  “I can’t, Mack,” she insisted. Her voice was shaky, and I realized just how much anxiety this was giving her.

  Sitting down beside her at the top of the trail, I put my hand on her thigh and gave her a squeeze.

  Just that simple little move made me recognize the importance of this. Despite how hurt I had been over the years by our separation, I always knew that if Marley ever needed me, I would be there for her in a heartbeat.

  But now, she was mine in the way I’d wanted her for so long. And seeing her frightened and anxious, I was even more determined to make this right for her. Marley was my girl. This was my job now.

  “I will not let anything happen to you,” I told her again. “You can do this. I know you can because I watched you when you went down a few days ago.”

  Marley’s eyes searched my face briefly. “Do you promise not to get too far ahead of me?” she asked.

  “I’m going to stay behind you,” I explained. “This way, if you slow down too much and start to sink, I can help you.”

  “Really?”

  “Marley, you and I just got back into each other’s lives. Do you honestly think I’m going to risk allowing anything to happen to you?” I asked. “Plus, it’s my job now to make sure you know I’m always going to have your back.”

  She smiled, leaned toward me, and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I love you.”

  I kissed her back and returned, “I love you, too. Are you ready to do this?”

  Nodding slowly, she said, “Yes. Okay
. I’m going to do it.”

  With that, she strapped her second foot onto the board, stood up, and started down the trail. We’d already discussed where we’d go off the trail and into the untouched powder, so I stayed back slightly and just kept my eyes focused on her.

  The next thing I knew, we were riding through fresh powder, and I was cheering Marley on from behind. She followed all my instructions, slowing when she felt nervous, but picking up speed when I told her she had to in order to avoid getting stuck again.

  Well before I was ready for it to happen, we ended up back on the trail and rode it the rest of the way down to the lift. When we got there, she bent down, unstrapped one foot, and turned to face me. She pulled her goggles up, her face mask down, and kissed me.

  “That was so much fun,” she declared.

  Grinning at her, holding her close, I replied, “I told you that you were completely capable. I’m glad you had fun.”

  “Thank you, Mack.”

  “Love you, Marley.”

  She didn’t say the words back. Instead, she hugged me before kissing me again.

  As we made our way onto the lift, I asked, “Do you want to try another one?”

  “Yes.”

  There was no way I was turning her down. So, that’s exactly what we did. We spent the next few hours riding all over the mountain, having the best time we’d had the entire trip. Or the best time snowboarding on the trip. We’d done plenty of other things that might have ranked up slightly higher on the list of fun.

  The day flew by, and before I knew it, we had gotten the last ride on the lift before it shut down and made our way down the final trail to where we’d get off and walk back to the house.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked Marley as we walked.

  “I had such a blast, but I’m going to be feeling it tomorrow,” she answered. “And given the lack of sleep last night, I’ll probably fall asleep early tonight.”

  “Unless, of course, I find a way to keep you up tonight, too,” I noted.

  Marley giggled. “I might need to get myself a subscription to your online training. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to keep up with you otherwise. I just don’t have the stamina.”

  I put an arm around her back, and when my hand settled on her opposite shoulder, I curled her into my body. “We’ll work up to it,” I stated. “Don’t worry. It’s my job to know how to get you there.”

  “Yeah, in more than one way,” she murmured.

  Now, it was my turn to laugh. “You’re crazy.”

  “Only about you.”

  That right there. It was just a simple, silly conversation, but it meant everything to me. It felt so good to be back with her like this. To have simple conversations. To have such ease between us. I never imagined that if I’d gotten the chance to speak with her again that it would ever be this easy. I wasn’t going to complain, though. We both had already suffered enough, so having this be this stress-free was a relief.

  Marley and I got back to the house, got our boots on the drying racks, the boards propped up to dry, and our outer layers taken off.

  When she was in nothing but her base layer covering all her gorgeous curves, I asked, “Shower before dinner?”

  Marley nodded.

  I picked her up over my shoulder and carried her downstairs to the shower. We both tried to stay focused on the task at hand—or Marley did, anyway—but I couldn’t keep my hands to myself. And luckily, Marley didn’t seem to mind when I delivered two orgasms.

  Just over an hour later, when we finished eating dinner, I decided to see if Marley was up for a bit of fun.

  “So, what do you think? Are you too exhausted from all the riding today?” I questioned her.

  She shot me a curious look before she replied, “Well, I’m not ready to fall asleep just yet. Why do you ask?”

  A sly grin formed on my face. “I was just thinking that maybe we could play a game tonight,” I returned.

  Marley’s face lit up. “Oh, I’m up for a rematch. What are we playing tonight?”

  “The game is a bit more physical,” I warned her.

  In an instant, Marley’s shoulders fell. “Great,” she mumbled.

  “What does that mean?” I wondered.

  With a look of disbelief marring her features, the woman I loved more than anything in the world explained, “Let’s face the fact that I do not stand a chance in any sort of physical competition with you. Normally, I wouldn’t be upset about it. You’re you. It’s what you do. But I was totally looking forward to winning a game against you since I lost at the last one.”

  “You still can,” I insisted. “I was thinking it would be fun to play Twister.”

  Marley’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  I nodded.

  There wasn’t an ounce of hesitation as she got up, took me by the hand, and dragged me over to where the games were.

  We got out the game, got everything set up, and started. Not surprisingly, it started out the same as most things between Marley and me normally did.

  Innocent.

  But considering I had some not-so-innocent thoughts about where the game would lead from the start, it didn’t exactly help keep things from entering spicy territory.

  “Crap!” Marley shouted after she’d spun the spinner.

  “What is it?” I asked, unable to see what it had landed on.

  “Right foot, yellow.”

  It took me only a moment to assess the situation. In my position, I could easily move my right foot to a yellow circle. It put me in what I thought was a perfect position.

  I waited for Marley to make her move. When she did, she lamented, “Sorry.”

  “Do you honestly think this is a bad thing?” I asked.

  “My ass is practically in your face,” she pointed out.

  And your pussy is right in line with my mouth, I thought.

  “I like the view,” I told her.

  “Your spin,” she returned, ignoring me.

  I spun. “Left foot, red,” I called out.

  The front of my body was facing the ceiling, and with my spin, all I needed to do was slide my left foot over two spots to the red circle. The front of Marley’s body was facing the ground. Moving her left foot to red only spread her legs wider and made the view better for me.

  Once we were both into position, I said, “Your turn.”

  I heard the flick of her finger against the spinner before she hissed, “Shit.”

  I didn’t even have to see what it landed on to know that I was going to love it. “Where am I going, baby?” I asked with the unmistakable sound of delight in my tone.

  “You’re getting entirely too much enjoyment out of this,” she shot back.

  “Of course, I am. All I have to do is lift my head a bit, and my face will be buried between your legs. What’s not to enjoy about that?” I responded.

  The moment the words were out of my mouth, I watched as a shudder ran through Marley’s body. Maybe she did like this. Maybe she was struggling to remain composed as much as I was.

  I no longer had any doubt about that being the case when she rasped, “Right hand, green.”

  I stretched my right hand out to the side and set it down on green. Marley’s body wasn’t nearly as long, so in order for her to get her right hand on green, she had to bring her face in line with my cock. She set her hand down, and just the thought of her face and mouth being that close took things up a notch for me. I was already turned on about five minutes into the game, so this position was just icing on the cake for me.

  Wondering how she was handling it, I asked, “Are you good?”

  I watched and saw her body beginning to tremble. She wasn’t going to last much longer if I didn’t spin soon so she could move. But just as I was about to reach out for the spinner, she said, “Oh, fuck it.”

  Her hand that had just barely made it to the green circle came up and gripped my length. I groaned and let my elbows hit the ground—essentially forcing myself to lose
—before I lowered my hips. Marley was still up on her feet and one hand. She looked down between her legs at my face and smiled.

  My hand came up and smacked her ass. “You don’t play fair.”

  Quickly swinging her body around, planting her feet between my legs and bending at the waist to place her hands on my hips, Marley countered, “And you think putting this in my face while you said naughty things to me was playing fair.”

  “I never touched you,” I noted.

  She cocked an eyebrow, gripped the material at my hips, and yanked down. I lifted my hips, completely willing to let her do whatever she wanted.

  The moment she had me there in nothing, she dropped to her knees between my legs, gripped my cock in her hand, and brought her mouth to the tip. My fists clenched at my sides as I anticipated the feel of her mouth around me.

  “What do you want, Mack?” she asked, her voice filled with seduction.

  “Marley, please,” I begged.

  Yes. I’d resorted to begging. Her hand on me, her mouth that close, years of fantasizing about this, and feeling her warm breath as she spoke… I was certain I was going to lose my mind.

  Clearly, she loved what was happening because there was an accomplished look on her face. “You seem tense,” she said softly.

  “Baby.”

  There was no denying the pleading in my tone. It was apparent that I’d been a little too confident when Marley and I were playing Twister. I had teased her and had all sorts of naughty thoughts, but now I was regretting teasing her like that. If she didn’t get her mouth on me soon, I wasn’t sure how I was going to survive.

  I didn’t know if it was the sound of my voice or her own anticipation and excitement about it, but Marley stopped teasing me.

  She parted her lips, covered the tip, and swirled her tongue around the head. I was torn between the overwhelming urge to drop my head back and close my eyes or continuing to look at her. She was beyond sexy and watching her do this was something I didn’t want to miss.