by Alice Raine
Introducing himself as Tómas the new tour guide took my rucksack from me – causing no visibly jealous response from Nicholas – and led us to a 4x4 Jeep outside. It was smaller than yesterday’s mega Jeep, but still looked rugged enough to cope with the tough terrain of Iceland.
After about a forty-minute drive Tómas slowed the Jeep, pulled off the highway, and began to make his way down a steep, rough track. It was still dark outside, so it was impossible to see our surroundings, but eventually, after several very bumpy minutes, the surface flattened out and from the skidding of the tires it became apparently that we were now on sand. Pulling the car to a stop Tómas turned off the engine and no sooner had the engine noise died it was replaced with the crashing sound of waves somewhere close by.
Sitting in the dark hearing the sea but not being able to see it was quite surreal, but then after a few minutes Tómas glanced at the clock on the dashboard and told us that sunrise would start soon and so the two of us may as well get out and take a short walk. Pulling on my bobble hat I laughed as Nicholas insisted on tying the woollen strings underneath my chin and proceeded to tuck my scarf more firmly into my jacket. His overprotectiveness was really rather endearing, but seeing the amused glance that Tómas was giving us I shooed Nicholas away with an embarrassed giggle and jumped from the Jeep. As soon as my feet hit the soft sand a strong, icy wind whipped in from across the sea and hit me with enough force to make me stagger backwards. I was suddenly hugely grateful for Nicholas’ extra attention to my clothing.
It was dark, windy, and freezing cold and as I shoved my hands in my pockets I began to wonder why we had gotten out of the car at all, but as Nicholas came around behind me and pulled me firmly to his side I saw the first colour of day starting to light the horizon and felt excitement settle in my belly. Over the next few minutes the light from the sun began to illuminate our surroundings in mysterious, misty shadows and half-light, making the huge, crashing waves seem like giants as they broke on the strange, black sand. The dark basalt towers that surrounded us added to the almost mystical feel of the place, making the entire experience breathtakingly eerie but at the same time, infinitely special.
That I was here sharing it with Nicholas, a man I loved so much that it almost hurt, just added to my overwhelming emotions and once the sun was lighting the day around us I turned in his arms and poured all the excitement I was feeling into a long, searing kiss, not caring if Tómas was watching from the Jeep or not.
Upon arrival at the base of the glacier tongue Tómas ushered us into a wooden hut and told us to layer up our clothing. Bending to undo my boots Nicholas used the opportunity to get a quick fondle of my bottom, making me bat his hand away affectionately as I laughed – he was an opportunistic bugger, that was for sure, and never one to miss a chance at a grope.
Once we were bundled up like a couple of oversized marshmallow men Tómas fitted sharp crampons to the soles of our boots so we’d have better grip when walking on the ice and equipped us with a pair of ice axes each.
Glancing across at Nicholas I smiled; his cheeks were flushed from the earlier wind, his eyes shining with excitement, and with him kitted out like an intrepid explorer it was fair to say that the outdoor look really suited him. It was totally inappropriate timing, but I felt desire curl in my stomach as my eyes roved over his tall, broad frame. Knowing exactly how fine his muscles were underneath all those layers certainly didn’t do anything to quell my rising ardour, but as Tómas stood up and told us it was time to leave I reluctantly had to put it on the backburner for later.
The first part of the hike was tough, steep uphill slopes comprising of gravel, sheet ice, and boulders, which made foot placement tricky with the crampons on, but soon enough we hit proper ice beneath our feet and Tómas turned to give us some brief instructions. ‘As exciting as this day will be, I need you to both watch where I tread and follow me carefully; glaciers are one of nature’s most wondrous creations, but they are living, shifting things, and as such tremendously dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.’
Both Nicholas and I nodded and watched carefully as Tómas gave a quick introduction to how to use our ice axes. ‘If you feel your footing give way I want to you use these as I’ve just shown you to anchor yourself.’
‘That’s not likely though, is it?’ Nicholas questioned with a frown.
Raising his blond eyebrows Tómas indicated for us to follow him a little deeper up the crevasse in which we were standing, looking carefully at the ground as he went. Pausing, he pointed to some apparently solid snow and ice just in front of him and then raised his ice axe and knocked against it a few times, causing it to crumble away to reveal a deep hole beneath as both Nicholas and I gasped and stepped backwards.
‘This is called a snow bridge. It’s where snow accumulates in the top of an open crevasse – it masks the existence of the void below. It’s one of the many dangers up here on the glacier and the biggest cause of injury or death to walkers who try to navigate around here without a guide.’ Wow, well that certainly put things into perspective didn’t it? There was no doubt that I would be watching exactly where Tómas put his feet from now on.
Shifting uncomfortably next to me Nicholas took hold of my gloved hand and squeezed just a bit too tightly. Looking up at him I saw concern etched on his face, but as he glanced down at me it became obvious his fear wasn’t for himself, but me – yet another show of his feelings for me and further increasing my for love him just a little bit more.
‘Don’t worry, folks, that’s why I’m here,’ Tómas said, trying to lighten the mood. ‘We’ll take a path that combines a few of these crevasses because that’s where you’ll see the really stunning ice formations, but we’ll also follow some of the more stable upper surface too.’
Backtracking to where we had started Tómas led us off on a different path and we began our walk in a line; Tómas leading, me next, and my ever protective boyfriend close behind me. As we progressed further and further up over and into the glacier I found myself almost losing my sense of reality. We slid through smooth tubes within the ice and clambered over ragged snow covered plateaus until we reached as high as we could safely go. Tómas explained that the very top of the glacier was the most unstable, and so taking a breather before we made the return trip we stopped to enjoy the view back down over the valley. Up here on top of one the glacier ridges we could see for miles. The surroundings were just so incredible; such an intense variety of blues and whites that they almost blended with the clear blue sky. Linking my arm with Nicholas’ I shook my head in wonder as my brain struggled to take in what it was seeing, the whole climb had been like an out of body experience.
I found the trek exceptionally magical; it was deeply moving to be privileged enough to be surrounded by mother nature in all her powerful, dangerous, and awe inspiring majesty. When we eventually made it back to the Jeep after four hours on the ice it was as if we were all humbled into silence, and for most of our drive back to the hotel Nicholas merely held onto my hand as we both silently contemplated the incredible day we had just shared.
Later that afternoon after a warming shower Nicholas suggested an hour in bed to snooze after our tiring morning. Knowing we had a long night of Christmas celebrations ahead of us I quickly agreed, but as soon as I had snuggled myself up to his warm, naked body Nicholas grumbled about me being too much of a distraction to allow sleep and had decided to reinvigorate me with other, more sexual methods. Not that I had complained in the slightest.
An hour later as we prepared to go down for the Christmas buffet I was quite conscious that my cheeks were still flushed from Nicholas’ rather pleasant ‘snooze time’ distractions, but hoped that it would just look like a glow from the cold time spent outdoors.
As we headed downstairs for the Christmas buffet Nicholas reminded me to take my coat as Mr Siggi had told us earlier that today’s clear skies meant there was a good chance we might see some action from the Northern Lights this evening. Being a fo
rce of nature the light display could occur at any time, so it was advised to have your coat readily accessible in case they appeared and we needed to abandon our dinner and dash outside to catch a glimpse.
As I had predicted the buffet was enormous and I almost felt full just looking at the heavily laden tables. Even Nicholas with his healthy appetite looked a little taken aback by the quantity before us. Luckily my appetite returned as soon as I got closer and saw the authentic Icelandic food. I was quite an experimental eater, so I always enjoyed trying new cultural delights. On offer tonight were two traditional Christmas dishes; a tender smoked lamb dish called hangikjöt, and a delicious salted pork rib labelled with the unpronounceable name of hamborgarhryggur , as well as various other stews, potatoes, breads, and vegetables.
The meal was delicious, but we were barely halfway through our main course when Mr Siggi came dashing into the dining room and told us all to grab our coats and make our way outside as some colour had been spotted in the sky. Abandoning our meal we shrugged into our thick coats and made our way to the large decking area at the back of the hotel. The day had already been almost magical, but if we got a sighting of the Northern Lights it really would finish the day off with style.
Chapter Six
Nicholas
Hurrying to the large decked area to the back of the hotel, we stopped with the other guests by the railing and simultaneously craned our necks skywards. Rebecca positioned herself in front of me again, seemingly her favourite place to stand, and I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close as we silently watched the night sky expectantly.
The first indication of something happening was the gasp I felt leave Rebecca’s chest. Following her line of sight to our left I felt myself draw in an awed breath too as a band of green light suddenly became visible, swirling and flickering in the sky like a wispy curtain of coloured smoke. Giving Rebecca a squeeze I saw her glance up at me, excitement shining in her eyes. The almost luminous green bands disappeared for a few seconds and I thought that perhaps it was over, but then they seemed to burst back into life, this time with a pink tinge along their edges and an almost violet hue in the centre. I might be a man, and a fairly shuttered one at that, but this was just incredible, and so beautiful.
At some point during the course of the evening the hotel staff brought bowls of food out to us all which we picked at when the lights disappeared, which they did frequently, but our appetites were mostly lost as we kept getting distracted by staring skywards at this amazing phenomenon.
Chapter Seven
Rebecca
After an amazing few hours watching the wispy traces of the Aurora Borealis illuminate the sky we dragged our cold bodies back towards out beautiful hotel suite intent on a shower to bring some life back into our chilled limbs. What a way to spend Christmas Eve night! I’d loved every second of watching the Northern Lights, but as I slid the key into the door lock I was so cold I hardly had the patience to wait for the green light to grant me access.
Stumbling in I had discarded my boots and was already unpeeling my scarf when my eyes fell upon the hot tub in our room. Gasping in delight I spun to Nicholas who was smiling shyly, and then looked back to the tub; it had been filled by someone, presumably the hotel staff, and was gently churning its alluringly hot, bubbly water for us.
‘Did you do this?’ I asked, turning to him again and peeling off my jacket which Nicholas immediately took from me and hung up.
‘While we were outside I asked Mr Siggi to arrange it. I thought we might need warming up after our unplanned outdoor excursion.’
Flinging my arms around his shoulders I pressed my chilled lips to his. ‘It’s the perfect end to a perfect day,’ I murmured happily. ‘I love you, Nicholas.’
‘I love you too, Becky.’ Indulging in a kiss for a second or two Nicholas then gently pushed me back and began taking off his own jacket. ‘I think I can think of an even more perfect ending to this day though … get naked, Rebecca, and get in that tub.’
Biting my lip at his seductive but authoritative tone I pushed my hair behind my ears and set about hastily following his instructions. With my cold limbs today wasn’t a day for a slow, teasing striptease, so I merely peeled off all my thermal layers until I was naked and expectant.
As I looked up from hanging my damp clothes over a chair I found Nicholas advancing on me bare-chested, his glorious skin lightly tanned and tempting me to lean in and touch him. As always the covering of hair over his torso caught my eye, drawing my gaze south to the teasing trail as it disappeared into the waistband of his snow trousers and I involuntarily licked my lips. Catching my chin he tilted my face back up to his and I blushed as I saw the smirk on his face at catching my wandering eyes.
His blue gaze swept over me as I stood captured by his sheer magnetism, unable to pull myself away from him. ‘So beautiful … and all mine,’ he murmured in that soft, thoughtful way of his that sounded like he meant to say it in his head, but accidentally spoken out loud. He did this quite often, and every time I refrained from passing comment and just enjoyed it for what it was.
Removing his hand from my chin I watched in greedy anticipation as Nicholas peeled his snow trousers, thermal liners, and boxer shorts off until he too was stood naked. I couldn’t hold back my giggle at just how obviously aroused he was either, his cock pointing at me expectantly. Quite clearly the cold weather outside hadn’t resulted in any shrinkage issues for Nicholas, because if possible he looked even bigger and more excited than usual.
Despite our obvious arousal Nicholas smiled down at me sweetly before placing a chaste kiss on my temple, ‘Let’s get you warmed up, Becky.’ He really was so sweet sometimes – we were clearly both gagging for it, but he was still intent on looking after me first. Taking my hand he led me to the tub and helped me in, and I took a seat on the higher platform. The water around my calves and knees was blissful, but after being so chilled I needed to acclimatise before completely immersing myself. After diming the lights Nicholas popped the cork from a bottle of champagne that had been chilling in an ice bucket to the side of the tub, handed me a glass, and then followed my lead by joining me on the step.
Now the lights were dimmed we had a perfect view over the beautiful Icelandic valley outside and I gasped as my eyes settled on the sky again. ‘Look, you can still see some of the lights,’ I said excitedly as I saw a swirl of pale green twisting in the sky. This discovery soon had me sliding my entire body into the hot tub and moving to the far side where I leaned my elbows on the edge so I was looking out over the view. Taking a sip of the delicious champagne I placed the glass on the ledge and continued to gaze at the stunning view as Nicholas joined me in the deeper water.
Eventually the illumination faded, and as tempted as I was to stare at the sky just in case they returned, I decided to turn around and lay more comfortably against the side. Nicholas however had other ideas, and took hold of my hips to shift me so I was sat between his legs and resting back on his chest. Grinning, I turned my face to nuzzle his chest and sighed contentedly. What an utterly amazing day this had been.
It was late, well past 1 a.m., and we must have been lying there for quite a while, having finished our first glass of champagne and now getting fairly low on the second. Even though we were obviously both tired from the long day I could still feel the hot length of Nicholas’ arousal pressing into my lower back and couldn’t deny the answering throb between my own legs. Reaching for my champagne I finished the last mouthful and then smiled wickedly as a cunning plan formed in my mind.
Sitting up I turned to face him, careful not to slosh the water onto the floor and then smiled my sweetest, most adorable smile – the one that usually helped me get my own way with Nicholas if I was losing an argument. Yeah, I was well aware that I was his weakness and I wasn’t against using this knowledge to my advantage occasionally.
‘What is it?’ he asked knowingly, barely suppressing a smile as he reached up and tucked a damp tendril of hair from
my face.
‘I have one more thing I’d like for Christmas.’
Cocking his head I saw a frown flicker on his eyebrows as his lips pursed. Panicking that he might think I didn’t appreciate the amazing gifts he’d already given me I hurried to clarify my point. ‘It’s not a gift as such … just something I want to do.’ Leaning in I took his hands in mine and kissed the knuckles one by one, reflecting a gesture he often did to my hands. ‘This holiday has already been the most amazing present you could ever have gotten me, Nicholas. I have absolutely loved every single second of it. To spend the time with you, seeing the things we’ve seen, nothing could ever top that.’ I smiled at him, hoping that my small words went some way to expressing my immense gratitude. ‘So, will you let me have my last gift?’
I could see Nicholas was tempted to say something along the lines of ‘It depends what it is,’ but instead he briefly assessed me with several slow blinks and then nodded silently.
Celebrating my victory internally I didn’t leave him a second to change his mind so I jumped up, stepped from the tub and grabbed two towels so we could start drying ourselves. As usual Nicholas wanted to take charge and so after a brief wrestle for my towel I gave in and let him dry me off. As over the top as these silly gestures were, I had now accepted it as one of the ways Nicholas used to express his feelings for me; he wasn’t the most emotionally open of men when it came to vocal expressions, but he just seemed to love taking care of me in any way he could, so I merely indulged him and let him do his thing.
