by Rena Allcott
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SNOWBOUND
by
RENA ALLCOTT
Amber Quill Press, LLC
http://www.amberquill.com
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Snowbound
An Amber Quill Press Book
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental.
Amber Quill Press, LLC
http://www.amberquill.com
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.
Copyright © 2003 by Rena Allcott
ISBN 1-59279-109-3
Cover Art © 2003 Trace Edward Zaber
Rating: NC-17
Layout and Formatting
Provided by: ElementalAlchemy.com
Published in the United States of America
Also by Rena Allcott
Always The Thirteenth
Just Call Me Jane
Sweet Suite 302
A Taste Of Chocolate
Dedication
To all the real men in my life--
past, present, & future, and a special Thank You
to L. who stands head and shoulders
above all the rest
SNOWBOUND
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Porter Cole nuzzled the damp blonde curls near Darcy's ear and sighed deeply. "Darling, that's the best Christmas present I've ever received." He rolled onto his side and pulled her into the curve of his naked body.
"Are you sure that's all you want?" Darcy whispered as she stretched to melt her entire body into his. "Have you had enough already?"
Porter trailed warm fingers across the swell of her uncovered breast and cupped its weight gently as he kissed his way down her neck. "Hmm, let me see." His other hand searched the soft curve of her belly, tangling his fingers in the equally damp curls below as he hummed, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."
Her laughter spiraled into a moan that worked its way deeper in her throat as she arched against the warmth of his hand. She reached down to find his shaft. Under her skillful hands, his penis swelled and throbbed.
She chuckled. "Looks like seconds are definitely in order."
Porter sucked her lower lip into his mouth, then trailed a string of hot kisses along her jaw. "You have such marvelous hands, my darling."
Smiling, Darcy turned to face him and pulled him closer. She nibbled his lips. Her tongue invaded, flicking the corners of his mouth, dueling with his tongue.
Growling, he rolled on top of her. He pressed against her, his hands tracing the long line of her naked body. Then, he feathered her with lips grown hot and urgent, sipping from her inflamed skin as he followed the line of her throat and shoulders to her quivering breast. His tongue lazily circled and caressed her erect nipple before slowly drawing it into his mouth, suckling her.
Waves of hot desire flooded every part of Darcy as she laced her fingers through his dark hair and buried her face in its musky smell. Her breath escaped in small gasps as Porter's tongue slid down the soft mound of one breast and lingered, his head buried in the deep valley of her cleavage. A jagged sigh followed his progress to the tip of the other breast.
Unhurried, Porter continued his teasing journey. His tongue invaded her sensitive naval.
"Porter! Oh, Porter, darling!"
His hands parted her thighs and his tongue traveled lower to reach its goal. He cupped her buttocks, lifting her to him, his tongue drawing the slick heat from her. The moist tissue of her clitoris throbbed and swelled under his mouth as he suctioned her sensitive knob. Her heels drummed helplessly against the bed as pulses of need tormented her.
Then he knelt between her thighs and gently rubbed the soft head of his engorged penis up one side, lingered for a long moment, and then drew it down the other side.
She reached for him hungrily, crying out. "Porter. Oh Porter. Yes! YES! Now!" She pulled his body down until she could feel his penis, hard and throbbing, branding her skin. He moved forward to kiss her lips once again.
At his first strong thrust, time ceased. Her universe consisted only of them. Electric thrills spun their way up and down her body. She clung to him in a sea of motion and emotion.
Nothing mattered, nothing existed, but the two of them.
He flung his head back. His throat tensed.
She felt the gathering of forces within him, and her own body answered in kind.
"Oh my darling!" He groaned. "Wendy. Wendy. Wendy."
Darcy froze. Wendy?
Wendy?
She stared at him for a long moment. Then adrenalin coursed through her, fueled by anger. She threw him off her with a mighty surge of energy.
"You bastard!"
Porter teetered on the edge of the bed. "Oh god, Darcy, I didn't mean it." He reached out for her.
Darcy jumped to her feet, grabbing her discarded shirt and holding it in front of her as if to shield her nakedness.
"Who...the...hell...is...Wendy?"
"Nobody." Porter sat up.
"Nobody?" She fumbled for her dark gray skirt and stepped into it, jerking it up and zipping it closed. She shoved her panty hose into the pocket of the matching jacket she had tossed onto a chair.
"Someone I once knew."
Darcy slid her bare feet into black patent leather heels and turned to look down at him. Suddenly she frowned, thinking hard. She turned her back and pulled on her pale pink silk blouse. As she was tucking the blouse into the top of the skirt, she spun back to face him.
He looked up at her, then looked away quickly.
"Where have I heard that name before?"
Porter Cole hunched his broad shoulders and appeared to turn to stone.
"Wendy...I've heard that name around the office. Human Resources just hired a girl named Winifred. Winifred. Wendy! I remember now. She's that tall redhead who showed up the first day of work wearing a bright red micro-mini. Sue was talking about her and her invisible skirt in the lunch room last week."
Porter stared straight ahead.
"My god, Porter, we aren't even married yet and you're cheating on me?" She stepped over to the bed. "When were you going to tell me? Just after I said 'I do'?"
Darcy closed her eyes and sighed. "Or is Wendy my successor?"
"Of course not, darling, don't be silly. You know how much I love you. It only happened once. It was just an accident. You were at that conference in Colorado Springs and I got in this big fight with my wife."
"Your wife!" Darcy scooted quickly around the bed. She snatched the lacy bra and matching panties that had ended up at the bottom, and shoved them into her handbag. "Why on earth were you fighting with your wife? Besides, shouldn't you be referring to her as your ex-wife?"
"The divorce isn't final yet."
"Just exactly when will it be final?"
"In about a year." Porter looked away. "I think."
"You don't know when your divorce will be final?" Darcy reopened her purse, pulled out her hairbrush and raked it savagely through her tumbled curls. "Six months ago you said it was all over. Remember, you told me it was time to make our wedding plans?"
"I thought it would be final before now, but we're still in the process of dividing up the property."
"And how long has this been going on?"
"About a year or so."
"Wait just a minute," Darcy said, suddenly understanding the reality of Porter's situation. "You haven't been answe
ring the phone at your apartment in Denver, lately. Why, Porter? Aren't you living there anymore?"
"Darcy--"
You've moved back in with your wife, haven't you?"
"Sort of. We're staying in the same house. I have to help her with the kids right now."
"So...it's obvious you're having sex with Wendy in your spare time. Are you also sleeping with your wife?" Hugging her handbag, Darcy headed for the bathroom, Porter at her heels.
"It happened." He reached the bathroom's threshold. "Once."
She slammed the door in his face.
"Once! Right! And when were you planning to break the news to me that you were still married?" Darcy yelled. "After our honeymoon?"
"No, of course not, but Rachel doesn't want to get the divorce until after the baby is born."
Baby?
Darcy pulled open the bathroom door and watched Porter shuffle his feet uneasily before her. Seconds felt like minutes. Coldness grew deep in the pit of her stomach. "What...baby?" She was stunned at her calm voice.
The calm before the storm.
"Well, Rachel discovered she was pregnant and put the divorce on hold."
"And you didn't think I needed to know? Exactly when is this baby supposed to be born?"
"Next month."
"Next month!"
Porter cringed as Darcy threw her hairbrush at his head.
"We've been dating for almost a year. Now you're telling me that the baby is due next month!" Darcy picked up the motel's complementary bottle of mouthwash and lobbed it at Porter's head. He batted it away with his forearm. "My god, that means you were still with your wife eight months ago."
"Don't be angry, Darcy. I'm sorry. Please forgive me, darling."
"Don't darling me, you pathetic jackass." Darcy grabbed her handbag and car keys, and headed for the door.
"Hold on," Porter yelled, jumping to his feet and attempting to pull on his shirt. "We came in your car. Remember?"
"Yes, I do remember." Darcy picked up Porter's brown trousers, tucked them under her arm and swung open the outside door.
"Wait a minute. Where are you going with my pants?"
"I thought I'd dropped them off at the cleaners." She stalked outside to her car and yanked open the door, slinging the pants into the passenger's seat. "I'm sure I'll be passing one."
"You're crazy!" he screamed as he raced around the room throwing bedding off the bed and moving chairs.
Darcy watched him as she got into her car, vaguely amused by his rising panic. Finally, she called out, "Looking for these?" twirling his boxers outside the window. The wind billowed the silky dark blue shorts, whipping them off Darcy's finger and flinging them high into the air. They sailed across the parking lot and snagged on a convenient pine tree branch about eight feet off the ground.
Porter held his shirt tails down in front of him and stepped outside the motel door. An icy gust of wind caused the back of his shirt to balloon.
"Nice butt, cowboy," Darcy called out as she put the car in gear and pulled away slowly.
"Stop! Wait!" Barefoot--and otherwise bare--he jump-hopped after Darcy's car. "How am I going to get home?"
"Call Wendy!" Darcy leaned out the open window. "Or Rachel!" She peeled out of the parking lot, then circled back around to where Porter was still standing. "Oh, and by the way...you may want to alert Human Resources to begin interviewing for a new executive assistant. Maybe Wendy's interested in my old job."
* * * *
On the second day of January, Darcy loaded the last of her clothes into the backseat of her gold Maxima and said goodbye to the old neighborhood. It hadn't been easy, deciding to leave. But the alternative--staying in town and continuing to work for Porter Cole--was not an option she cared to explore.
Denver was too crowded with memories. Too many special places. Too many mutual friends. Besides, she was tired of winter.
Interstate Seventy beckoned.
At Georgetown, pretty white flakes danced delicate patterns in the air. She stopped to pick up food at a sandwich shop.
"Headed for Vail?" the elderly man at the counter asked as he wiped his hands on a towel and took the twenty she offered.
"Not really."
"Going skiing?" He looked past her out the window. "Fresh powder. Best kind of skiing there is."
"No, not this time. Think I'll head a little farther west."
"How far you planning to go?" he asked with a frown. "This kind of snow has a way of making driving nasty."
"I've driven in snow all my life. I won't have any problems."
"Okay." He shook his head. The fluorescents reflected rainbows off his balding scalp. "But you be careful, you hear?"
Darcy smiled into his worried frown. "Thanks for the warning." She started to walk away, then turned back. "And thanks for caring."
The wrinkles in his cheeks magically transformed as a spectacular smile wreathed his face. It warmed Darcy's soul.
After she left the shop, Darcy looked back to see him standing at the front of his store, framed in the big window. She waved as she reached her car, then got in and drove away.
Outside, the January snow was falling soft and quiet. The radio station she had been listening to slowly faded away, and she turned on the CD player. Elton John replaced the silence of the car as he sang, "Your Song." Their song.
Wrong.
His song. His CD. His generation.
Darcy hit the reject button, opened the car window and tossed the CD as far as she could, screaming, "You cheating bastard. You lying, cheating bastard."
Thick snow blasted her face through the open window. She felt the car wheels lose their grip on the packed highway. Half-blinded, she fought for control of the sliding car. A passing van appeared out of the swirling white. A startled man's face stared down at her as the van barely slipped by, missing her fender by barely two coats of paint.
Shaken, Darcy turned her car into the next intersecting road--more of a lane, really--and slowly loosened her fingers from the steering wheel. Ahead stretched an empty, open expanse. A good place to let go of all the tears. All those hot, bitter tears, waiting to drown her. In the privacy of the deserted road, she let them flow as she drove slowly through the swirling snow.
Five miles later, with no turnoff in sight, Darcy decided she had probably made a mistake. But now the roadway was too narrow to turn around. She moved forward, hoping for a driveway or a side street. Anything wide enough to get her headed back to the highway.
Hot tears leaked out of her eyes again. Hiccupping sobs bubbled up from her aching throat.
"How could he do that? How could anyone so wonderful turn out to be so bad?" She struck the steering wheel with one small fist.
Suddenly, the rear of her car attempted to pass the front end. She fought the wheel and won. "Just got to keep the wheels moving, just got to go slow." She sang, tunelessly. "Just got to keep going."
The road narrowed more. No place to turn around magically appeared.
Darcy drove deeper into the mountains.
The snow fell thicker. Visibility--not good when she first started driving on the back road--now shrank to less than two feet. The pavement disappeared under a thick white blanket, undisturbed, unsullied. Darcy found herself following the poles marking the road's edge.
She dug out the cell phone from her bag and turned it on. Its strident continuous beeping signal spelled out "out of range."
"Great. A perfect beginning to another perfect new year." She pulled out a tissue and was dabbing at tears once again oozing from the corners of her eyes, when she spotted something ahead on the road.
Blinking rapidly, she was sure her eyes deceived her. In the thickly falling snow, a small red car had appeared, half on and half off the road, its nose buried in a snowdrift.
Darcy pressed the brake pedal and her car whipped from side to side. She didn't stop sliding until the nose of her car almost kissed the other vehicle's red fender.
Completely terrified, she fought
rising panic. When her hands finally stopped shaking, she backed up and edged past the other automobile. Less than a mile later, she spotted a snow-covered figure trudging down the middle of the road. It looked like a walking snowman.
As she approached, the figure half-turned and waved furiously.
She cautiously eased to a stop beside him and rolled down her window. "Can I give you a ride?"
"Thank you! I need to call for a tow." He looked down into her car. Bright blue eyes peeked out of a black ski mask.
Darcy gasped.
With one quick movement, he jerked up the ski mask to the top of his head, revealing a luxurious, curly red beard. "Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."
Darcy took a deep breath and smiled.
He's gorgeous. Yum! "You look like a bank robber in that mask."
"Does the offer of a ride still stand?"
"Of course."
She watched as he made his way around her car. Snow flew in all directions as he slapped it off his body. After much stamping and shaking of his coat, he opened the passenger door and carefully wedged himself into the seat. "Where are you headed?"
"Actually, I'm not sure. I left the highway to take in the scenery and haven't been able to get back. You wouldn't happen to know a good spot to turn around, would you?"
He chuckled. "Not right off, especially with all this white stuff piling up."
"I'm assuming that was your red car back there."
"Yep! Li'l Red let me down."
Darcy laughed. "Your car has a name?"
"Sure thing. She's quite a character. We've been through a lot together." His smile revealed even white teeth. "You mean yours doesn't have a name?"
"Well, it's a Maxima." After a slight pause she went on. "Guess I could call her Max. By the way, I'm Darcy."
"I'm Curtis Howe." He paused, brushing off more wet snow from his jeans. "Sure am glad you happened along, even if you are lost. My friend has an A-frame cabin about a mile ahead. I'm hoping he still has his phone turned on. He's in Arizona for the winter, but I use his cabin all the time when I come up here skiing. Figured I'd hunker down there until the storm lets up."
