by Lark Avery
I mindlessly stacked shampoos, conditions, and hair gels. I had to stay here. Leo couldn’t have gone far. Likely he’d come home any minute just like Tristan said. If he didn’t see me here, he’d worry or worse go out looking for me.
I rearranged the bottles on the shelves by height. I pulled them all down and began again, this time by color on the bottle.
Three crisp raps on my back door startled me. I flung the door open without even pushing the curtain aside.
Patience huddled on my doorstep. The blowing snow blocked out her face behind the scarf, but the long fur coat was the same. Her dark eyes blazed like coals over her scarf.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Now’s not a good time.”
Snow drifted across my slippered feet into the kitchen. It wasn’t Leo. My boy was still out there. I started closing the door, but Patience’s arm shot out. She stopped it before it latched.
“There’s no time to waste. I found your son.”
I opened the door, fully standing on the step, searching for Leo. I willed him to pop his head around the corner. “Where is he?”
“He’s in a trap.”
My knees weakened. I grabbed the metal rail on the steps to brace myself. The coldness seeped into my fingers and palm. My warm skin against the wet metal made my hand stick to it briefly. It was painful pulling it away.
“I have to tell Tristan—the Sheriff.”
“No time. We need to leave now. With the two of us, we’ll get him out in a jiffy. Come on,” Patience said.
In mere seconds I was ready. It was only her and me on my back step. “Are you sure you can find him? Was he badly injured?”
“One thing at a time,” She reached inside her fur coat. Muttering, she dug around, eventually producing a small leather pouch. It was stained and worn soft.
She pulled out a pinch of what looked like green moss. I’d never seen that shade of blue green before. Interesting as it may be, I was only interested in finding Leo.
“Take a closer look.” She raised her palm up to my face.
I bent closer only to humor her. We had to get to Leo. When I did so, she blew the moss right into my face.
I sneezed. My eyes itched terribly. “What the fuck was that?”
She tucked the pouch away, then set her bare hand on my forehead. I smelled an awful burning odor. It stung my nostrils. Then incredibly, I was a snowflake being carried on the wind.
There was no sense of time being a snowflake. There was only being in the now blizzard. I tried to open my eyes so that I might spot Leo this way. But I saw nothing. Instead, it was like riding a rollercoaster in the dark.
I tried to call out to Tristan, but I had no mouth.
Then suddenly I was back in my body, cold and wet. The wind chaffed my face.
“Time to wake up,” Patience said.
I struggled to open my eyes, but they felt glued shut. I finally pried them open when she kicked my side. The pain lifted whatever she’d given me that made me so sleepy.
“What was that?” My tongue felt coated with carpet.
“You don’t remember?”
I shook my head slowly because it hurt to move it. “What have you done with my son?”
“That’s not very gracious after I brought you to him. But I forgive you, that potion can make one irritable.”
“Who are you?”
“Rika.”
She was the Russian.
I let this monster in my house. She had my son. Now she had me.
Tristan, help us. Please.
“Leo? Leo?” I glanced around wildly, but all I saw was snow. It fell from the sky, it whirled around me. Beyond a few feet, it was white-out conditions.
No answer.
Oh God. Leo, please be alive. I’ll find you.
“Where is he?”
“That part was a fib. I didn’t even know he was missing.”
I launched myself at the other woman. I slipped on the ice, hitting the ground hard. My hands flew to protect my face too late. My fingers came away bloody. Even with my eyes closed, stars danced before me.
The fall knocked the air out of my lungs. I gasped for breath, crawling forward, then stopped. Pain wracked me. I tried to speak, but the breath had been robbed from my body.
“Wh-why?” I managed.
“Why what Dear? There are so many things to wonder, a simple ‘why’ doesn’t begin to cover it. Let’s start with a ‘what’ instead. I’m leveling Snow Ridge.”
I gaped at her.
“You are my witness to the pain I’m going to inflict on Snow Ridge. That and I want to sell the mining rights, and it’s much easier with no living inhabitants.” She adjusted her back pack. “Come on. You’ll want a better view.”
Tristan
We found Leo quite a bit from Liv’s house. He was playing a game in a small forest clearing that involved chasing vultures who were scavenging a deer carcass. The birds were almost as big as he was, but that didn’t bother him. He ran waving his hands and hollering as their big wings flapped, lifting them in the air just out of his range. There were a half dozen of them, so his game had been going on for some time. With the fresh snow, the vultures were very happy to find a food source; their tolerance of Leo was greater than it might have been otherwise.
I’d never been so grateful for anything in my life as finding that little boy safe and sound. By then, we’re out of range for the two-way radios to notify Liv. The ride back to Snow Ridge on our snow machines was hurried. I couldn’t wait to ease Liv’s anxiety over Leo. And I longed to take her into my arms and set things right between us.
My fantasy was short lived.
At Liv’s, the back door slammed in the wind. Something was seriously wrong.
I left Leo and Gary outside, waiting while I ran inside.
“Liv! Liv!” I called, but there was no answer. The house was silent except for the wind rattling the window panes.
A plastic bag of candy sat on the kitchen table. It caught my eye as Liv was not a fan of processed food.
I picked it up, staring at the package. I couldn’t read the writing, but it didn’t matter what it said, the language was Russian.
A cold stole over me and settled like a fist around my heart.
Rika had Liv.
And she wanted me to know that.
Anger rushed into displace my chill. I wouldn’t allow Liv to be a pawn in Rika’s sick game.
Gary took Leo over to his house for waffles and movies while I went off in search of Liv.
Rika was back at her place. That was the only thing that made sense because she wanted me to follow them. Whatever twisted plan she created, she needed an audience.
Possessive power raged through me. I would kill this woman. She dared to take Liv from me?
God help her, Liv was the only woman for me. My life felt empty without the thought of her and Leo in it.
I’m coming for you, Liv. Hang on.
As I rode up the mountain, the snow softened under the snow machines’s weight. Snow continued to fall, but the temperature warmed to just above freezing.
What was Rika doing heading up into the mountains this late in the year? The fresh snow covered the warmed snow pack below. Spring time in the mountains was avalanche season. Dislodging a shelf of soft ice crashing down a mountain was something no one could survive. Rika knew that
Up ahead, I glimpsed the mountain ride. I stopped, pulling out my binoculars.
I squinted and adjusted them, making sure what I saw was not just my imagination.
Rika marched Liv up the mountain. They weren’t following a straight line but zig-zagging to prevent triggering an avalanche. So Rika was aware of the risks. That didn’t matter much as loosened ice chunks rolled down anyway. I dogged the first two, but the third one took me by surprise. I turned my head just in time to avoid getting hit in the face with ice. Instead, the ice chunk slammed into my right ear.
Fuck that hurt.
My bellow more full of anguish at L
iv’s precarious situation than my own pain, rang out against the snowpack.
I’m coming for you, Liv. Hang on.
The midday sun burned through the last of the clouds. No more blizzard. Instead, the sun warmed the new snow, making slick over the snowpack. Inside my head, my ear was still ringing from the blow. My face felt sticky, and I wiped away bright red blood. There was no time to waste by tending to the injury now. I shook my hand after wiping my ear, and blood speckles stained the snow. God willing, the next blood that spilled would be Rika’s.
Liv
“Liv! Liv!” Tristan bellows echoed across the icy landscape. In the clear air, his voice traveled far. I wanted to weep with relief. He was gaining on us. Soon this would all be over.
“Alpha males. Never subtle.” Rika snorted, poking me in the back when we climbed up the mountain. The snow was sticky, and it was difficult to make progress.
“Why are you doing this? What has Snow Ridge ever done to you?”
“Stop dawdling,” Rika said. “This rocket launcher isn’t made of air.”
That’s what she had in her back pack. She was going to fire it into the mountains and trigger an avalanche to bury Snow Ridge. Everyone I loved was well and truly fucked.
I couldn’t see Rika behind me, but I could feel her distraction with Tristan following us. Increasingly snow chunks fell with our footsteps down the mountain. My pace slowed as dizziness overcame me. This was a lack of oxygen from our fast ascent.
Rika’s gnarled walking stick aided her, but I had only my lack of physical fitness to thank. The trail narrowed again. Ahead a curve beckoned, or my eyes were playing tricks on me. I had to do something to let Tristan catch up. Leo was down there, I would gladly sacrifice my life to save his. I fell to my knees, panting.
“What’s the matter with you?”
“Elevation.”
Rika snorted. “Not my problem; you’ve never seen the inside of a gym.”
Where the hell was Tristan now? I no longer heard his outraged calls for Rika’s attention.
Fuck this. I couldn’t wait for the rescue. There might not be time.
I launched myself at Rika, aiming low for her knees. This was no airborne tackle but more like a belly flop on my part. Surprise and my low center of gravity were more effective than I guessed.
“Oomph.” Rika hit the ground, face up with me landing on top of her.
That’s when my unappreciated previously good luck ended. To our horror, the momentum propelled the two of us forward.
Back as a kid in Ohio, I loved sledding. I was even pretty good at sensing when to lean one way or the other just so to increase my speed. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine such experience would one day find me riding a Russian psychopath down a Montana mountain.
“Watch out!” I called to Tristan. I could now make out the shape of him ahead. I closed my eyes, bracing for impact. Surely we would hit him at this speed. Instead, I felt the whoosh of moving air. The back of my jacket jerked back like a parachute opening.
I cracked open my eyes.
Rika was airborne. Her fur hat flew off as she went spread eagle over a bump. From there, she continued tumbling down the mountain, dislodging snow and gaining speed.
That particular spot she came into contact with must have been warmer than farther up the mountain. The snow around her point of impact cracked, then in one fluid motion, the snow gave way.
An avalanche rolled down the mountain in a blinding cloud of snow. The roar was louder than anything I could have imagined.
And she was gone in that fresh mountain of snow that stopped long before reaching Snow Ridge.
Tristan wrapped me in his arms. I couldn’t stop shaking, and it wasn’t from the cold.
“Did you find Leo?”
“He’s safe. He’d wandered out to play in the snow.” He inspected my face and ran his hands over me, making sure I was uninjured. “Marry me.”
“Why?” I loved the sound of his heartbeat under my fingertips.
“Because I’ve loved you for years. I’m not going to let you get away again.”
“You love me?”
“With all my heart.”
I dropped my hand from his solid chest down to the bulge in his pants. “I love you too. All of you.”
7
Epilogue #1
Seven months later
Christmas in Snow Ridge was my favorite time of year. We always had a white Christmas, but this year it was extra special because I was a husband and father. We’d married at the end of summer, but I still had a honeymoon feeling. I craved Liv and didn’t think that would ever go away.
Leo was out of his mind with the excitement that only a four-year-old brings to the holidays. Since my cousins’ new lodge was finished, we planned to hold the festivities there so that everyone in town could join us. Life in the mountains got isolated in the winter without things to look forward to.
I’d been drafted into tending the open bar, which was hopping. I barely had time to catch a glimpse of Liv and Leo decorating the twelve-foot tall evergreen we’d installed. That was overkill in hindsight, as decorating the top was proving to be challenging. Dane was busy keeping the kids off it while Trudy added the star.
“Want me to take over?” Gary slid behind the bar to join me.
“God, yes.” I passed behind him, clapping him on the shoulder in thanks. He was already drawing beer off the tap. He had grown on me now that I knew he didn’t have any designs on Liv.
I spied Liv wearing a red off the shoulder sweater and a santa hat. She wore tight black jeans and ankle boots. She might be a mother to Leo, but she was my wife, and she was smokin’ hot. She’d brushed her hair up into a messy bun with a few curls clinging to her neck. I loved kissing her neck but wasn’t eager for her to put that and so much of herself on display. She was mine dammit. All mine.
She glanced over in my direction just then. Even from across the room, my cock hardened at the thought of her. She was talking to Meg before hurrying over to join me.
“Meg’s organizing games for the kids. Thank god. Leo is about ready to burst from sugar overload.”
I steered her in the opposite direction of the crowd congregating by the fireplace, food, and tree.
“Where are we going?” She asked.
I kept my hand at her lower back just above her delectable ass as we headed down the corridor. The holiday music grew distant as we moved along.
“Tristan Barlow, you better not be taking me to one of the hotel rooms. That is so tacky.”
I chuckled as we arrived at an unmarked door. It had a keypad on the door that I unlocked before stepping back and ushering my wife into the room before me.
Liv flicked the light switch on, I heard the gratifying intake of her breath. It was smaller than the traditional rooms and didn’t have any of the designer rustic décor of the other rooms. A handmade sleigh bed was the focal point. The single window was flanked by built in bookshelves. Rows of old fashioned hardbacks lined the shelves. A small wood stove was tucked in the corner.
“What is this?” She asked softly.
“We had some extra space that was too small for a guest room. I suggested we use it for if any of us ever needed to stay overnight in the winter. Since it wasn’t going to be for public use, Ash and Dane let me build it how I wanted.”
“You did all this.” Liv’s voice was in awe. “I knew you were a talented carpenter, but this is something else.”
I came up behind Liv, wrapping my arms around her. She turned to face me. “Is there anything you can’t do well, Tristan Barlow?” She looked up at me from under her lashes.
I shrugged as I walked her back toward the bed.
She raised an eyebrow at me. “You have something in mind?” Her gaze lowered to the bulge in my jeans.
“I have something particular in mind for you, wife.”
She licked her lips, tilting her head up at me. She looked sexy as sin in that red sweater. I wanted to be buried dee
p inside her while she moaned my name. She was like a drug that I couldn’t get enough of.
Liv crossed her arms at her waist and pulled her sweater over her head.
I sucked in my breath. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples puckered in the cooler air under my watchful gaze.
She reached to unbutton my belt, but I brushed her hands away.
“Your jiggling has been torturing me all night. I think it’s time I return the favor. Get on your knees.”
Liv shot me a heated look over her shoulder. She looked beautiful with her ass in the air. Her white skin begged for my attention.
I smacked her ass feeling her soft skin under my hand.
“Fuck!” Liv cried, but she arched her back offering herself to me.
I kissed her tender flesh, murmuring, “That’s for the hard-on I’ve had all night.” I stroked the round globes of her ass, and she shivered at my touch.
“I’m thinking to go braless more often.” Liv glanced at me over her shoulder.
My fingers slid down, stroking her seam. I slipped one finger inside her. “You’re very wet, wife.”
“Stop teasing me. I need your cock inside me.” Her pussy muscles clenched my finger.
I didn’t need to be asked twice. I dropped my pants, releasing my cock. I stroked myself once, twice as pre-cum glistened on my head. Liv and I were working hard to make a baby, and it was the most pleasurable job I’d been assigned.
I guided my head to her pussy. Liv instinctively leaned back, pulling me deep inside her. Gratitude and pride washed through me. She was mine.
I stroked her deeper, letting her moans guide me. I wanted her orgasm so hard she almost passed out. She bucked as she came hard, shuddering, and milking my cock.
Sure she was satisfied I let myself tumble in bliss with her. My cock pumped her pussy full of my cum. We collapsed on the bed, lying sideways across it. We’d never even gotten the covers off.
As we lay panting in the room, the sounds of “Joy to the World” drifted down the hall.
“You’re not kidding.” Liv murmured, turning to me. “That was fucking fantastic.”
