Devoted to the Blizzard: A romantic winter thriller (Tellure Hollow Book 3)

by Adele Huxley

  “She probably had no way of getting to either of you anonymously in the States,” Henry offered. “You would’ve seen her coming.”

  “Whew!” I exclaimed as I shook my hands out, trying to throw out the excess tension and anxiety. It sounds horrible, but I was glad that for once it was Bryan’s past coming to bite us in the ass and not mine. I rolled my head around to loosen the muscles in my neck. “Right, so I guess we just go get the bitch and throw every charge possible at her. If you can arrange a couple minutes alone for me, I’d appreciate it,” I laughed nervously.

  “Does she have a history of mental illness?” Henry asked Bryan.

  I looked to Bryan and couldn’t read his expression. He didn’t meet my eye. “She… uh, she’s always been a little highly strung, but nothing like this.” He pounded his fist once on the counter in frustration. “I’m sorry. I should’ve said something earlier, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with all this. She’s been emailing me for the past couple months, but nothing threatening. Just bullshit stuff. I didn’t outright ignore it, but I eventually told her to stop contacting me.”

  With the emotional rollercoaster I’d been strapped to, hearing this revelation was barely a blip on the radar. A sharp stab of something akin to betrayal hit me in the chest, but it quickly disappeared. I trusted Bryan completely, especially when it came to Angie. Whether I was in his life or not, he would’ve never gone back to her. I understood his reasons for keeping it from me.

  “If it’s all right with you, I’d like to take a look at those emails,” said Henry.

  Bryan nodded and finally met my gaze. “I’m sorry,” he mouthed.

  “It’s okay,” I replied, reaching for his hand across the island.

  Bryan is definitely the romantic one. He has this uncanny knack for turning the mundane into some of the most romantic moments of my life. He always keeps me on my toes. So the night before the race, when he proposed we cuddle outside and look at the stars, I was instantly up for it. I sometimes felt bad that I wasn’t the romantic softie he deserved, but I was sure to reciprocate my love in other ways.

  Layered with thick clothes and socks, he’d bundled me under a couple of blankets out on the deck before disappearing inside for a few minutes. He returned with two giant mugs of the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had.

  Bryan slipped his arm around my head as I rested on his chest. “This is incredible,” I whispered. “There’s like, no light pollution whatsoever.”

  “It’s pretty special,” he replied, kissing the top of my head. “Have you thought about… wait, never mind. Forget I said anything.”

  I poked his side. “You can’t do that. You know I hate it when you start a sentence and don’t finish it. What should I have been thinking about?”

  My head rose and fell as he took a deep breath. “The race. What you’re gonna do. I forgot we said we weren’t going to talk about it.”

  I nodded as my eyes scanned the sky. “Yeah, I’ve been thinking, but I haven’t decided anything yet. Josh hasn’t said anything official, and Janet keeps getting hassled by reporters, so… yeah. It’s not like I have to decide any time soon.”

  “No, not at all,” he chuckled. “Just in the next ten hours or so.”

  “Exactly,” I quipped. The days had slipped away, and yet I was no closer to a decision.

  “Mmmhmmm,” Bryan replied.

  “What’s that mean?” I asked. I lifted my head and twisted to look at him. The stitches in my side tugged a little, but weren’t nearly as sore.

  “You said you didn’t want to talk about it,” he protested with a grin. “I think the general gist of your declaration was that you were sick of talking about nothing but skiing.”

  “What do you think I should do, then? Should I go for it?” I settled on my elbows, intent on making him answer.

  Bryan looked at me thoughtfully before he traced a line along my cheek with his finger. “I think you need to ask yourself how you’ll feel if you leave here without racing. Picture us unpacking back in Tellure Hollow, and imagine how you’ll feel.”

  The moment he said it, my chest tightened with emotion. I’d hate it. I’d feel like a failure. Like I’d gone half way around the world for nothing, spent two years for nothing. But I kept my mouth shut, swallowing my sudden realization. I didn’t want to ruin this moment he’d planned.

  “What about Angie?” I countered.

  “What about her? They know what she looks like, security is going to be through the roof tomorrow. Even with all the letters, I just can’t believe she’d actually try to hurt you in any way. I don’t know what she was hoping to accomplish in the first place.”

  I frowned and chewed my lip in thought. “But on the other hand, you never would’ve pegged her as someone who could do this much. What if she tries to mess with my equipment? Or, she’s camping out on the side of the mountain right now, waiting to get me with a blow dart gun.” The ridiculous scenario only shielded my genuine worry… that girl was clinically crazy and the truth was, no one knew what she was capable of.

  Bryan traced another line down the ridge of my nose, bopping the end. “It’s completely up to you. But I think you need to ask yourself if you walk away, will you be happy?”

  I snorted in derision. “The threat of death kind of forces my hand a little, doesn’t it?”

  “You face death every time you get on those skis. It’s obviously your decision, but I think it’s that simple,” he concluded.

  “Oh, do you now? Well, who asked you, anyway?” I laughed. I leaned forward and gave him a kiss to show I really was kidding. “You’re right, though. We shouldn’t talk about this.”

  A comfortable silence grew between us as we lay in the still darkness. He idly caressed my shoulder while I worked my own hand under his sweatshirt to steal body heat. He gasped when my frozen fingers made contact, but he didn’t pull away. The clear night sky loomed above, thick with bright stars arranged in constellations I didn’t recognize.

  “I forgot the sky would be different here,” I whispered. “I never realized how familiar the stars are back home. Here, it feels like I’m on a completely different planet.”

  “It is strange, isn’t it?”

  As we star gazed, it dawned on me that this was the first time we’d been alone together, with nothing else going on, since we’d flown into the country. I wasn’t healing from an injury, we weren’t obsessing over some mysterious stalker. I snuggled against him and wrapped my arm around his strong chest.

  “I’m sorry things have been so jacked up between us. I miss our quiet little life back home.”

  Bryan snorted. “Quiet?”

  “Well, all right,” I conceded, as I shifted to my elbows. “Normal?”

  His brow wrinkled as he looked down at me. “Seriously?” He laughed and smoothed the hair from my face. “I know what you mean, though. Things have been so crazy, I feel like I haven’t gotten a chance to sit and just be with you. Like we haven’t even really taken a minute to look at each other.”

  I nodded, already getting some very naughty ideas of what I wanted to look at. I leaned forward, hesitating just a fraction away from his lips. I lifted my eyes to his and whispered, “I miss your touch.” It was a slow, sensual kiss… at first. The heat grew as our hands roamed. Our lips parted and his tongue found mine. The moment they met, slipping and sliding over one another, it was like a switch had been flipped, our desire turned up bright.

  Bryan pushed me onto my back, kissing with such hunger my lips were left full and throbbing. He nibbled down my chin and neck as I arched into his hands. I pawed his skin, slipping my hands under the layers to get to his warm body. I needed to feel his hard, bare chest against me. It had been so long, we practically attacked each other, shedding clothes while trying to stay under the pile of blankets.

  The one thing I never anticipated before being with Bryan was how complicated sex could be. I always thought it’d be Unit A in Slot B, so easy it’d be impossible to mess
up. But the reality was pleasantly different. I could be out-of-my-mind aroused one second and giggling the next, yet somehow it all made sense. Sex was about so much more than getting off. We connected, we played, we gave each other pleasure.

  We laughed at the awkwardness of trying to strip while remaining under the blankets, but the moment our clothes were off, the fire in his gaze burned bright. Bryan studied me as his hand traveled down my stomach, sliding between my thighs. With a slight grin, he teased my sensitive skin, running patterns back and forth until my hips bucked to his touch.

  As he kissed my bottom lip, he slipped a finger inside me. I gasped as he buried the cold digit inside my hot pussy.

  “Sorry,” he whispered in my ear.

  “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for,” I replied breathlessly.

  Bryan worked his magic on me, his sparkling eyes watching my every reaction with growing lust. In tune to my body, he brought me to the brink several times, pulling away at the very last second. He left me whimpering, begging for release.

  After the third time, he climbed on top of me, the head of his cock pressed against my wetness before sliding between us. I wrapped my legs around his waist, digging in with my heels as encouragement. His hardness ground against my clit, the pressure building once again. He wriggled free and disappeared under the covers.

  “Wait! What are you… oh…” I moaned as his tongue slowly lapped at my skin. “You better make the most of it because I’m not going to last long with you doing… that…”

  As he kissed and licked the sensitive flesh, he plunged two fingers inside. I bucked my hips to meet them, tightening with a cry of pleasure. He wasted no time, devouring me with small moans of his own. My eyes fluttered open and closed, the stars hanging heavy and bright above us, witness to our passion.

  My breath came harsh and uneven as he brought me to the brink of orgasm. Bryan’s free hand traveled up my torso, cupped my breast, before rolling my nipple between his fingers. This final pulse of pleasure sent me hurtling over the edge.

  I cried out as I came, my legs involuntarily squeezing Bryan between them. The pleasure was almost painful, nearly too much to handle. Weeks of pent up stress and frustration rolling free with each rippling spasm. His tongue and fingers pulled the pleasure through me. I trembled with the aftershocks as he withdrew and climbed up my body.

  I loved his sweet weight on top of me, his hardness pressed against my thigh. I kissed him deeply, tasting myself on his tongue. My hand crept down his side, slipping under his pelvis. I squeezed his cock and grinned.

  “Now I get to take care of you.”

  “No, I need to feel you,” he growled into my neck. “I want to be inside of you.”

  “But we don’t have a…” I stopped short as he reached for something on the table. I could’ve recognized that gold and black wrapper anywhere. “You brought a condom out here?” I laughed in surprise. “Well, aren’t you sure of yourself?”

  Bryan shrugged with a boyish grin and pushed to a kneeling position, his legs straddling my hips. The momentary loss of heat bathed my skin in goosebumps, but the view was more than worth it. We’d had to start using condoms when I began training, the birth control messed with my system too much. I had to admit, I kinda liked the pause in action. There was something incredibly sexy about the anticipation, watching him get ready to enter me.

  Pulling the blankets up over his shoulders, he returned to me. I reached between us and guided him with one hand. He slowly eased himself inside, resting to kiss me when he was fully buried. He began a steady, sensual rhythm, occasionally grinding his pelvis against my clit and building my heat once again.

  I rose to meet each thrust, his muscles rippling under my hands. As the tempo increased, the blankets slid from our bodies, falling to the deck without notice. Bare to the world, we made love under the stars with abandon.

  Bryan buried his face in my hair and whispered my name. I moaned in response, hooking my ankles around his waist. I rolled my hips up higher to feel him enter completely.

  He pressed his forehead against mine, our lips grazing one another. His breath quickened as he whispered, “Oh my God…”

  Bryan tensed, and I felt his cock pulse as he came inside me. My muscles clenched around him it felt so good. The sounds he made as he finished drove me crazy. With my heels digging into the meat of his ass, I held him in place until he relaxed.

  With a big sigh, he sat back up on his elbows and gave me a lingering, intoxicating kiss. My mind felt wiped clean. So much of the stress I’d carried with me washed away. I clung to the moment, just me and Bryan, nothing else in the world.

  As he rolled to my side, I leaned over to retrieve the forgotten blankets, pulling them over our sweat chilled bodies. For a few moments, I settled against his chest, my head rising and falling as his breathing returned to normal. I was half asleep, dazed with pleasure and exhaustion, when Bryan cursed.

  “Ah, shit…”

  “What’s up?” I asked sitting up.

  He grimaced as his hands moved beneath the blankets. “The condom freakin’ broke.”

  “Are you serious?” I half laughed. Unbelievable. Even the calmest, most intimate moments were tainted with stress. I shook my head and settled back against his chest, refusing to let anything ruin this moment. “Nothing we can do about it now. I’ll get Plan B tomorrow after the race. No big deal.”

  Bryan relaxed and kissed the top of my head. “So, you made your decision then, huh?”

  I slipped from the bed in the thick darkness, maneuvering around the pitch black room by memory. Moving quietly so I didn’t disturb Bryan, I grabbed the clothes I’d set out the night before, slunk into the hall, and shut the door behind. Not a lot could pull me from a warm bed curled up beside Bryan. Today was that rare exception.

  As I pulled on my shoes and grabbed my bag, a tickle of excitement traveled up my spine. Janet’s idling car waited just over the crest of the drive, her headlights illuminating the side of the garage. I’m doing it! It’s actually happening! All these months thinking about today…

  I tossed my bag into the back, and threw myself into the passenger seat with the stupidest grin on my face.

  “Well, good morning to you too!” Janet laughed. “You’re perky this morning.”

  “I feel like my stomach is going to turn itself inside out, but I’m so fucking ready I could scream.” It was difficult to contain my excitement and nerves.

  Janet nodded knowingly and laughed, throwing the car into reverse. “Just don’t use up all that energy before you need it. You’ve got hours before race time.”

  “Oh trust me,” I said, practically bouncing in the front seat, “I’m not going to run out of energy.”

  We wasted no time getting on the mountain. The trails reserved for the race were closed for grooming, but we still wanted to check out the conditions at the top and warm up the muscles a little. In normal winter ski gear, not my racing suit, I passed as an everyday skier. The anonymity was welcome, given the surprisingly large media presence already forming at the bottom of the slopes.

  When we got to the top, I did my best to push all that out of my mind. Up here, it’s just you, the snow, and gravity. Janet led the way down the first leg, taking me down a rather empty intermediate run just to warm up. The skis felt light and nimble under my feet. Freshly groomed snow was always second best to ungroomed powder for me, but I enjoyed the easy, smooth ride for once. I was pleasantly surprised not to feel any twinges in my side as we leisurely skied down.

  I concentrated on making tight turns, keeping my body crisp and snappy. The first half of the race wasn’t as much of a concern as the second. The race consisted of two parts, the downhill and the slalom. Downhill was all about pure speed, and often came down to differences of tenths or even hundredths of a second. All it took was a wide exit out of a corner or a rough landing to blow the race by only a few seconds. That’s not what worried me, though. It was the slalom.

  Slalom req
uired agility, precision. Weaving between red and blue gates, a skier balanced along a razor-thin edge of control. If I pushed myself too fast, my transitions between gates suffered. If I concentrated too hard on hitting my marks, I risked sacrificing my speed.

  Janet understood my anxiety without my even having to voice it. I followed the narrow path of her skis, slowly building speed to keep up as we descended. She banked left and right in wide, winding turns, punctuated with short bobbing shifts. A smile quirked the corners of my mouth as we carried on, my confidence growing by leaps and bounds. By the time we skated to a stop at the bottom, all the butterflies of anxiety had disappeared, and I was left feeling nothing but excited.

  “We should be able to head up now, or do you want one more run?” Janet asked as she pulled the goggles from her face.

  “Nope, I’m golden. I’m so freakin’ ready to do this. Let’s go see what they’ve designed.”

  Competitors and coaches were permitted to inspect the course once before the race began. We skated slowly down the hill on the outside of the course, discussing the best route down. Each run has a natural plumb line. This is the path a bowling ball, for instance, would roll if let go at the top. My goal was to stick to that line as closely as possible. I had to dedicate each turn, bump, and crest to memory in an extremely short amount of time.

  We’d slid half way down the course when Janet checked with me. “You feeling okay about all this? Any worries or concerns?”

  I frowned, planted my poles and leaned my chin on the handle. “Yeah, actually, one thing. Does champagne freeze? ‘Cause I want to make sure my hair looks good for all the photos after they spray me down for my gold medal.”

  Janet smirked but didn’t indulge me. “Let’s get you ready.”

  Even though the weight of the whole stalker thing had largely lifted from my shoulders, I was afraid some lingering apprehension might rear its head as I walked into the locker room. Twice now, I’d nearly suffered a breakdown in that small room. But as we pushed through and started to settle in front of my locker, I felt nothing but enthusiasm.