by Fiona Starr
“You’re all right to drive?”
“Yeah. But I don’t plan to go anywhere. I’m heading back now, but I’ll stay in town until my follow-up appointment next Monday. If everything looks good she said I’ll be able to get back to work. For now I am supposed to keep my feet on the ground.” I feel bad leaving my team short a person when things are so busy for the holidays, but there isn’t anything I can do about that.
“It’s probably for the best. Can you join us for dinner?”
I check my watch. It’s almost five. “Thanks, but I am meeting some friends at the bonfire in a few minutes.”
“All right. Maybe tomorrow then. I am glad you’re going to be okay.”
“Thanks, Mom. Me too.”
I end the call and hop into my Jeep for the short drive back to Blaze. It is probably just as well that I can’t go to work because I’m totally wiped out, but also completely distracted. I can’t stop thinking about that girl.
When I asked Topher and Lexi about her, neither of them could remember much beyond the basics. When they arrived they took her statement. Her name was Katie. She described how I fell and how she helped me. Once they got to work on me, she gathered up my equipment that had scattered on the mountain. But once the emergency rescue team arrived, there was no reason for her to stay.
Lexi noticed that Katie was wearing a purple ski pass; something only available to friends and family of the staff. So maybe she’s here visiting someone for Christmas. Everywhere I went today, I was on the lookout for her. Unfortunately for me, there are so many people in town right now, the odds of running into her are not in my favor.
But I just can’t get her face out of my head. Her blue eyes as they locked on mine, her smile as she held my face. Her warm hands. The raspy quality to her voice. You hear that? Help is on the way.
The bonfire is a holiday tradition at Blaze Mountain. It’s like a Christmas festival, a tailgate party, a concert and nighttime barbecue all rolled into one. Santa makes an appearance, and we have horse-drawn sleigh rides, an ice-carving exhibition, a hot cocoa making contest, and about a hundred other things to enjoy.
When I was a kid, the bonfire was something I looked forward to as much as Christmas itself. It’s festive and fun, and looks like something out of a movie.
I spot a bunch of the ski patrol crew hanging by the lodge. I head over and grab a beer, and sit down so I can watch the crowd.
A cloud of fragrant smoke billows from the chestnut roasting station, filling the air like sweet fog. Then the wind changes and it’s gone and when I look up, it’s like I’ve stepped into a dream.
She walks toward me through the smoke like she appeared out of thin air. She’s wearing jeans and heavy boots, and she’s looking at her phone. She looks up once, as if trying to get her bearings. Then her eyes are back on her phone, which lights up her face as she taps the screen. She seems lost in thought, distracted.
It’s Katie. The girl from the mountain. How did she find me?
I sit up straight, not sure what to do. I’m so surprised to see her here.
She lifts her phone to her ear and stares off at something behind me.
“Hey. I’m outside by the chestnut roasting guy. Okay. Oh, good.” She listens to the person on the other end then looks up again. “Yeah. Got it. See you in a minute.” Her voice is soft and has a raspy quality that makes it unique.
I put my beer down and I prepare to say hello. But she turns toward the lodge and heads inside.
I feel like an idiot, but I have to meet her again. I am on my feet and following her before I have time to think.
Chapter Four
KATIE
I got lost twice on the way to meeting my new friends. This resort is huge, and has several villages and town centers. I mistakenly took the shuttle to the other side of the mountain and had to come back again once I realized my mistake. I am pretty sure I am in East Village now because I just passed the huge bonfire Jo described in her text. Now to find the lodge with the blue snowflake decorations outside. I feel like I am on a scavenger hunt.
I worked lunch today, and I have the night off, so I decided to meet up with Jo and Ashley at a dance club where a bunch of the staff is hanging out. I text an S.O.S. to the group chat and I’m relieved when Ashley calls.
“Katie! Where are you?”
I look around again. “Hey. I’m outside by the chestnut roasting guy.”
“You’re in the right place!” A group of people laugh in the background.
“Okay. Oh, good.”
“You see the lodge building, and to your right there’s a double door on the ground floor that’s got blue and white snowflake lights all around it? That’s Club Danski. We’re in there. We have a table up near the bar.”
I scan the building until I spot the door. “Yeah. Got it. See you in a minute.”
Inside, the scene is hopping. The bar is packed and the dance floor is crowded with masses of people moving to deep bass pounding from the speakers. The deejay is wearing a huge hat with tall antlers wrapped in multi-colored Christmas lights. The lights bob and sway as he dances, a single headset earpiece pressed against one ear.
I find my friends’ table and smile as they all shift to make room for me. It’s really been awesome falling in with these girls.
“Hey! You made it!” Jo offers up a high five. “Everybody, this is Katie. Katie, everybody.”
I make my way around the table, trying to commit people’s names to memory, but I get lost after the sixth person. I peel off my coat and hang it over the back of my chair. “I’m going to get a drink.” I motion to the empty pitcher on the table with the foamy dregs of beer. “Can I get a refill?”
“Yes, please!” Jo hands me the pitcher. “Happy Hour IPA.”
“Got it!”
I move to the bar right as a couple of people leave. I slide the pitcher onto the counter and then inch onto one of the empty seats to wait for the bartender to head my way.
A guy steps into the newly opened gap at the bar. He’s standing next to me but doing his best not to crowd in. I don’t really pay him any attention until he leans in to speak to me. “Hi. It’s Katie, right?”
His voice takes me by surprise. I don’t expect anyone to know me here. I turn to see his face, surprised to recognize the guy from yesterday who fell on the mountain.
I can’t help but smile. “Hey! Ski Patrol! Nice to see you on your feet.”
His face flushes and he tilts his head as if he wants to look away. But he doesn’t. Instead he holds my gaze. “I wanted to say thank you.”
I remember how he looked when I found him, how tense it all was. That stressed out and injured guy from yesterday couldn’t be more different from the calm and cool guy standing in front of me.
“You’re welcome,” I say. He’s much taller when he’s standing. He’s also drop-dead gorgeous when he’s not panicked and gasping for breath. “I’m at a loss. You know my name…”
His face flushes. “Adam,” he says, offering me his hand.
“Katie.” When our hands touch a shock of static electricity zaps us both and makes us both jump.
He smiles at me and I swear it’s like the rest of the club disappears. He’s over six feet tall with broad shoulders that force his thin knit shirt to stretch tightly to contain him. His dark hair is cut short and stands up a little in the front. His green eyes won’t let go of mine.
“I can’t believe you’re real.” He’s still holding my hand.
His words catch me off guard. “Of course I’m real. What do you mean?” I could get lost in those eyes.
“Yesterday. When you… when you appeared.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know. The whole thing. It’s like it happened in a fog. After a while I thought I dreamed you.” He looks down at our hands as if just now realizing he’s still holding mine. He lets go, but I can tell he doesn’t want to. I don’t want him to let go, either.
What’s happening to me?
A new song starts up
from the deejay and a wave of people make their way to the dance floor.
Adam leans down to my ear. “Can I buy you a drink?”
I shake my head. “How about a dance?”
He arches his brows. “You want to dance?”
I grin wickedly. “I thought you’d never ask!” I take him by the hand and lead him to the dance floor, dropping off the new pitcher of beer for Jo as I pass the table.
Chapter Five
ADAM
When we get to the dance floor, Katie pulls us deep into the center of the crowd then turns to face me. The bass pulses in the air and she smiles as she sways to the music, her arms moving in graceful arcs around her. I watch her in awe. She’s so beautiful and she moves like she was made for dancing.
She closes her eyes and raises her arms above her head, twirling slowly. Her hips rock back and forth as her hands move down over her body. Damn. I feel myself waken to her. She bounces and flows with the music like she’s the only one in the room. When she opens her eyes and catches me staring, she moves toward me and presses her body up against mine.
She runs a hand around my waist and leans in. “You’re not dancing!” She has to shout over the music.
I pull her to me, my hands at the small of her back, holding her and moving in time with her as we rock together on the dance floor. Her skin is hot and when I bend to her ear I’m overcome with the sweet smell of flowers. My god, she even smells good.
I can feel the bass throbbing through her body and mine, the music is like a second heart beating in my chest.
She smiles up at me and makes a face as if she’s trying to read my thoughts. “What?”
Everything about her feels special. Like we were supposed to meet. As soon as the thought pops into my head, I feel the icy shot of fear course through me. Only this time, instead of sending me running, I see it for what it is: irrelevant.
Whatever has kept me from connecting to women before feels like it was meant to bring me here, to this moment, with this girl. Maybe I’m experiencing some weird pull because part of me feels like she saved me, but part of me feels like she’s the reason I moved back home. I am drunk with her, intoxicated by the pull of her. I don’t feel any fear, any stress—nothing. This is exactly what is supposed to happen.
“I’m dazzled.” I don’t stop to think about my words. They just come out of my mouth.
She stops dancing and looks up at me, her face serious.
Fuck. Did I just misread the moment? “I’m sorr—”
Katie gets up on her toes and plants a kiss on me that sends a pulse of desire from my mouth all the way down to my toes. My cock stiffens and I groan as she pulls away, but she doesn’t leave. She stands in front of me, her hand flat on my chest, that small point of contact setting my skin on fire.
She pulls her lower lip in, sucking it like she’s tasting me on her. Savoring me. I place my hand on her cheek, much like the way she did on the mountain and run it through her thick, dark hair until my fingers find the back of her neck and pull her closer.
I kiss her deeply. My tongue strokes hers like the world is about to end and this is all we will ever have. I can’t explain the need growing inside me. If I had any time to think about it, I know my old self might bolt, but this is different. She’s different, and she’s here, with me, and she’s so fucking hot.
She kisses me back, grabbing my shirt and clinging to me, pressing her body against mine and grinding against me.
The music changes, sending a cheer through the crowd as the people around us start jumping in time to the beat. I realize we’ve stopped dancing some time ago. The people around us don’t seem to notice, and if they do, they don’t care. Hello, I could stand here all night if it meant I could keep kissing her like this.
She pulls away, breaking our kiss, taking my hand, and leading me off the dance floor. I think she’s heading to the bar, but she veers to the left, grabs her coat from a table full of people and heads for the door.
The December air hits us like a blast but our skin steams from the heat inside and between us. We’re at the back of the resort. It’s still crowded from the bonfire party and the people who enjoy night skiing.
We’re both breathing heavy, clouds forming in front of our faces.
“You want to—,” I start.
“Your place?” she says.
I smile because I can see my apartment from here. I grab her hand. “This way.”
Chapter Six
KATIE
It takes about three minutes to walk to his apartment building. We step into the waiting elevator. He hits the button for the tenth floor and we start kissing again before the doors close. When the bell sounds we separate, but only because we can’t walk down the hallway while making out like sex-starved teenagers. He hurries the key in the lock on his door and then opens the door for me to enter.
I don’t have a history of one-night stands. I don’t normally hook up with random guys, but tonight, I really don’t care. I don’t care what the old me would do. I don’t care about rules. I want him, and judging by the way his body reacts when we touch, it’s clear that he wants me, and that’s all I need to know.
The door closes and he stands facing me, his keys in his hand, his hair sticking up at odd angles from my fingers running through it. He’s gorgeous, and based on the parts of him I could feel until now, I can’t wait to see his body and explore every inch of him.
Now that we’re inside, the desire surging inside me overtakes any hint of rational thought.
He smiles a little bit shyly. “Can I get you—”
My heart is racing. I don’t want anything but him. He’s all I need. And if I don’t have him now I feel like the fire inside me will burn me alive. I shake my head no and reach for him, pulling his mouth to mine so we can pick up where we left off.
He moans as our tongues intertwine. I hear his keys drop to the floor and then his hands are on me. He undoes the zipper of my jacket and I shrug out of it, letting it fall. The buttons of my flannel shirt are open which makes it easy for him to slip that off too. His hand slides up under my shirt and around my back, warming me as he pulls me up against him and then steps forward to press me against the wall.
I am so wet, so impossibly wet and his cock is rock hard against my belly. I grind against him, pushing against his hardness until he gasps. I move to unbuckle his belt.
He shakes his head as he pushes my hands away. “You first.”
He opens the button of my jeans and pushes my pants down over my hips. Then he runs his finger under the edge of my panties, taking his time and making me writhe.
I am panting with expectation, my body buzzing with raw desire and urgent need. He slides my panties down to my ankles and moves a hand behind my knee. He bends my leg gently and lifts it over his shoulder, draping it there so he can—
Holy fuck! My god! He moves his mouth over my pussy and homes in right away on my throbbing clit. I want to melt into him and let him devour me.
“Oh, oh god!” I can’t take it. I grab hold of his head, my fingers in his hair, pulling him, holding him, as he sucks my clit and brings me closer and closer to the edge.
“Yes!”
My knee starts to buckle and my leg trembles as I lose any hope of control. I slide down the wall and he wraps his arms around me, holding me up and lifting me off the floor. He carries me, still straddling his face, through the apartment and then lowers me slowly to the bed. I sink into the mattress as he sinks his glorious mouth back into my pussy.
He moves off my clit and plunges his tongue inside me, tasting me and sucking me like it’s his goal in life to make me come. He moves back to my clit and this time he’s rough and when pleasure hits me it’s like an avalanche and fireworks and a tidal wave all at once.
I let out a moan of relief when my orgasm finally subsides. He’s got a triumphant smile on his face as he watches me.
“Wow,” I whisper. “I’ve… that was… I’ve never…”
He cr
awls up onto the bed toward me and kisses me again. He tastes different, musky, and I realize with a start that I am tasting me on his lips and tongue. The thought of it sends a thrill through me.
I shift to the side so I can reach him. I grab a hold of his cock through his jeans and smile. “Your turn.”
Chapter Seven
ADAM
She pushes me back onto the bed and opens my belt. I help her with my jeans. My cock springs up against my shorts. She runs her hand over my stomach and up to the hair on my chest, flicking my nipples and making goosebumps ripple over my skin.
Then she eases my cock out of my shorts and smiles up at me before she takes me into her mouth.
Her mouth is like warm velvet and I watch her move up and down, sucking me hard then soft, then moving her tongue over the head. I want to watch her, but it’s too much; she’s so fucking hot and I don’t want to come yet.
I close my eyes and sink into the bed, holding on as long as I can. When I can’t take another second, I lift her chin with my fingers.
She looks up at me, a question in her eyes. “What is it?” Her voice is soft and that rasp makes me smile.
“Come here.”
She crawls up to me and we kiss again. Her mouth is swollen and warm. I lick her lips and then move down her chin, over her neck and down to her breasts, squeezing her and pushing the lace of her bra away so I can suck on her nipples. I feel as though I have been starving all my life, without ever knowing that she was the thing I needed to satisfy my craving.
I pinch her nipple between my lips and she gasps with pleasure. Everything she does turns me on, every time I touch her, she responds as if it was exactly what she needed. I’ve never connected with anyone like this before, and I don’t want it to end. Not ever.
