Dark

by Rachel Harley

  He reaches her and I see them bantering for a moment and although I can’t hear them, I know that the word cock-end was probably in there somewhere. Despite the distance, I can hear Diane’s dirty laugh from here and Justin waves his arm, indicating for her to get onto the damn snow and get on with it.

  She does, but not with a huge degree of confidence, the tips of her skis meeting in a plough to slow her down, poles held out like oars. As she gets a few metres away from the top, I press record on my phone as Justin seems to explode away from it, both his skis leaving the snow for a moment as he throws himself down the slope behind her.

  ‘Way to go, Justiiiiiin!’ Ellen screams as he flies past Diane at speed. Holy fuck, the man can ski! He slaloms left and right effortlessly, seeming to barely skim the snow, his centre of balance precise and although he’s going way too quick, he never loses control for a second. I get the feeling he won’t be skiing like this again, at least not when the slope’s full of kids, and he’s taking full advantage whilst it’s quiet.

  My eyes are dragged away from Justin’s body now hurtling towards the base of the slope as everyone cracks up as they look at Diane. She’s completely lost her shit – Justin cannoning past her like Franz Klammer has scattered her wits and, as she forgets the snow-plough with shock, both skis pointing straight in front of her, I realise her mistake.

  Justin skids to a stop, leaning sideways on both skis so perfectly it’s clear that he’s been doing this for a very long time. We’re all howling now as Diane’s yelling body catapults down the slope in front of her, her poles wind-milling as her wails get louder, but incredibly, she stays on her feet. Ryan’s nearly crying by the time she slams into the barrier a few feet away from us, which bounces her harmlessly back onto her arse.

  We lose it, holding each other up and my hand’s shaking as I continue to video her. She lies on her back, panting and swearing and Justin pushes gracefully over to her, gliding in a circle around her and he holds out his hand.

  ‘You owe me fifty quid, Wallace,’ he says, hauling a red faced and panting Diane to her feet. ‘Knowledge is power, remember?’ He reaches out and straightens her furry earmuffs affectionately and she slaps his behind as they both glide slowly over to us. As a group, we start to clap, Carter putting his fingers into his mouth and whistling so loud I wince.

  Justin bows comically as he reaches us, Diane bringing up the rear still muttering, but there’s a smile on her face.

  Carter looks down at me. ‘Let’s go and get you some practice,’ he says, everyone else chatting quietly for a moment and I look from his face to the still nearly empty slope. By the time he’s taught me the basics, there will be a lot more people in here. He must want to have at least one blast at speed before the place is full kids and it’d be dangerous. He’s told me he can ski. Hell, the man doesn’t just ski – he skydives, rides horses and superbikes, and is probably a member of MENSA. Mind made up, I grin at him now.

  ‘Go and have some fun for five minutes, whilst it’s quiet,’ I say, loud enough for Justin to hear me and he turns his head, giving Carter an appraising look. Carter smiles down at me, planting a soft kiss on my nose.

  ‘You sure?’

  ‘Absolutely. Go on – give Justin a run for his money!’ I say, fishing my phone out of my bag again. This is another one to get on camera and Carter’s looking at Justin now.

  ‘Fancy it?’

  ‘Hell yeah.’ Justin pushes himself towards the lifts again, Carter kissing me softly before he joins him and Diane moves behind the barrier to watch with the rest of us. She slips her furry earmuffs around her neck like DJ headphones and grins at me.

  ‘This should be interesting,’ she says. Ellen’s next to me and she bumps shoulders, her eyes sparkling with happiness. She’s having an absolute ball – we all are.

  All eyes are on the two tall figures at the top of the slope now and I see Carter lean towards Justin and say something. Justin nods and they both wait at the top, evidently for the few people on the slope to ski to safety. If any of the staff see this, they’re going to get bollocked, but there’s no one on the snow at all now, so they’re not being entirely irresponsible.

  As if a hidden signal has been given, Carter and Justin chuck themselves from the top of the slope, hitting the snow at the same time, their tall lithe bodies in identical positions. My mouth drops open as they start to slalom around each other in a perfect double helix, their speed increasing with each turn, the angle of their bodies mirroring the other in exact symmetry. Their passes widen as they approach the bottom, Carter inching ahead and hunkering down low over the snow in his final approach. Jus is right behind him as they hurtle towards the bottom.

  I want to clap, but I’m still recording, so I content myself with screaming my head off. Ellen is hopping up and down next to me, all of us going wild. As Carter and Justin skid to identical stops a few feet from us, so perfectly synchronised it looks like they’ve been skiing together since they were kids, they turn and grin at each other.

  Justin claps Carter on the back as they glide over, the out of control celebrations finally quietening but everyone grinning like idiots.

  ‘Where did you learn?’ Justin asks, as Carter comes as close to the barrier as he can get. I shove my phone back into my bag and throw my arms around him. He’s not even breathing hard, the man’s in great physical shape. He runs a hand through his tumbled curls, everyone listening now.

  ‘Courmayeur, in Italy, he replies. ‘The slopes there are incredible, the highest skiable peak is over fifteen hundred metres. Total adrenaline rush.’ He grins at Justin now. ‘Been going there for most of my life, from about the age of four. My father has a place there.’

  Making their way out of the slope area and back over to the benches, Justin and Carter talk quietly together as the rest of us put on our skis. Or, try to at least. I feel like a total moron. I’m sitting at the end, everyone else chatting as they ski up without appearing to even look at what they’re doing and I bite my lip as I stare down at my feet.

  Stop being so pathetic! You’re not some wilting helpless female?

  Carter’s noticed that I’m prevaricating and Justin smiles as he glides over to Ellen who’s now standing waiting for him. He kisses her softly and smiles when she whispers something in his ear. They head off for the lifts and then Carter’s hunkered down in front of me. He blinds me with a perfect smile.

  ‘You were incredible,’ I say, a thread of awe in my voice. He was. That was such a turn-on – everything he does is a turn-on, but there was something really masculine about what he and Justin did a few moments ago. Dunno why. Maybe it’s just me, but the pair of them together, well… it blew me away.

  Carter rolls his eyes, but the smile stays fixed to his face and I know my words have pleased him.

  ‘If you enjoy this today, I’ll take you to Italy in January,’ he says, his head dipped now as he clicks my boots into my skis, checking they’re safely in place before looking at up at me again. ‘You’ll love it there, Pearl, it’s so beautiful.’ His eyes melt into mine as he gazes up at me but I’m too busy processing what he’s just said.

  He wants to take you skiing in January? That’s months away!

  Indeed it is and this is extremely good news. He’s thinking about the future, a future with me in it. I beam back at him, my heart skipping a few beats with an overflow of love.

  ‘I’d love to,’ I murmur, suddenly feeling ridiculously shy. Carter stands fluidly, holding out his hands and I take them. He tugs me slowly from the bench, enfolding me in his arms for a moment and he kisses my ear.

  ‘I love being able to share all these first time experiences with you,’ he breathes and my eyes slide shut, not just at the words, but the warm stream of air in my ear. I love it too and I lean up to kiss him, telling him so with my lips.

  He lets go of me as I glance around. The rest of our group have gone, Justin and Ellen are just reaching the bottom of the slope and she’s laughing like a loon at somethi
ng Justin’s either said or done. I hear the faint cry of ‘Ryan – you bell-end!’ followed by a throaty laugh halfway up the lifts and Carter grins.

  ‘She’s crazy, that woman!’ He stands to the side of me and I listen carefully as he tells me how to move across to the snow. Holding his hand for a few moments, I master it quickly and within another couple of minutes, we’re over to the side of the main slope, where there’s a small area designed for absolute beginners. It’s empty, which is great, as I’ve a feeling I’m going to spend most of my time here on my bum. Surprisingly, I’m wrong.

  Carter’s a natural teacher and within ten minutes, I’ve grasped his instructions and I’m moving easily down the small gradient, able to control my speed and direction without too many problems. Justin was right, it’s very much like riding and due to my cultivated leg muscles from gripping them around horses, I’m nearly proficient at the basics within half an hour.

  Hiking an eyebrow as I reach the bottom of the small slope, yet again without falling over, Carter gives me a slow smile.

  ‘You really are good at everything, aren’t you?’

  ‘Am I?’ I return as I reach him, sliding my skis in between his and threading my arms around his warm neck. He kisses me, slowly and gently, his eyes sliding shut with pleasure as I caress his tongue with mine.

  ‘Yeah, you are,’ he murmurs, breaking away. ‘You’re incredible.’

  His quiet words, soaked with so much emotion make another clench of happiness appear inside me. I’m incredible. I kiss him again, my lips one huge smile and he strokes my face.

  ‘Come on, beautiful. I think you’re ready to join the rest of them,’ he says. ‘I’ll be right there with you,’ he goes on, when he sees me hesitate. ‘You’ll be fine, Pearl.’

  I know I will and as we make our way over to the lifts, the others are just gathering at the bottom and they cheer when they see Carter and I skiing over, holding hands. Justin grins at me.

  ‘Told you!’ he says and I roll my eyes, poking my tongue out at him. I catch the lift behind Carter and get off when he does, about a third of the way up the slope. It doesn’t look too bad from here, the gradient already starting to ease out towards the landing area and I remember everything he’s just taught me so patiently. Within a few seconds, I’m sweeping gently down the slope beside Carter, who gives me such a loving look as I approach the bottom, my knees go weak.

  For the next four hours, we have an absolute ball. The Factore begins to fill up and we mostly end up paired in our respective couples, aside from the pit-stops and rests that we have, sitting on the benches, sharing bottles of water and laughing hysterically at the thrills and spills. Everyone’s glowing, faces pink from the cold, eyes sparkling with happiness at the day we’re having.

  At two o’clock, Justin gathers us all together.

  ‘Okay. Is anyone hungry?’ he asks, hiking a brow and as soon as he mentions food, my stomach growls. I didn’t have any breakfast this morning, I had a cup of coffee in my flat, but that was it. I was too excited to eat and due to all the energy I’ve just expended, I’m suddenly gripped with hunger. I nod quickly.

  ‘Me, definitely,’ I say, as everyone else nods.

  ‘Well, we can eat in here, but it’s all fast food,’ Justin says, wrinkling his nose. ‘I vote we get in the car and find a pub?’

  We all nod in agreement and make our way over to the changing rooms, a chatting and relaxed group. I grin over at Regan and she winks at me, Ollie’s long arm thrown over her shoulder. She looks so content.

  Within the next fifteen minutes, we’re all sliding back into the minibus and Ellen pulls up Google, tapping and peering for a few minutes.

  ‘There’s a pub about five miles away,’ she says, Justin nodding as he starts the car and she puts the post code into the sat nav.

  I pull my phone out of my bag and open the videos I took earlier. I snuggle into Carter’s body as we watch the footage, and Diane’s head flies around when she hears the shrieking and catcalling coming from my phone.

  ‘What you watching?’

  ‘You!’ I fire back with a laugh and her mouth drops open.

  ‘You did not video that?’ she says in horror and I hike a brow wickedly.

  ‘Did I not? Have a look on YouTube later, if you don’t believe me!’

  Ryan’s laughing. ‘Pride comes before a fall, my love,’ he says, pulling his batty fiancée to him and kissing her hair. I hold my phone out to her and everyone’s laughing as it gets passed around.

  Within five minutes, Justin pulls into the car park of a country pub and we all go inside, taking a large table near the window. I’m hungry, but I don’t want to stuff myself – we’ve got a slap-up dinner at Dan’s in a few hours. I’ll just have a sandwich or a jacket potato.

  We scan the menus for a few moments, a waiter coming over to take our order for drinks and food and we laugh and chat as an easy group as we wait for it to arrive.

  Carter has his hand on my thigh underneath the table, my chair is so close to his it’s touching and I can feel the heat from his body as his fingers stroke my leg in rhythmic circles. The waiter’s back with the drinks and garlic bread and Justin thanks him as he takes his orange juice, swallowing a mouthful and then whispering something in Ellen’s ear. She snorts, taking a swig of her own drink and Diane gives them both a beady look.

  ‘It’s rude to whisper,’ she says loudly and Justin hikes an eyebrow.

  ‘I was just wondering if you want me to take the fifty quid out of your wages,’ he laughs and Diane glares at him over the table. She reaches over and picks up a garlic doughball, stuffing it into her mouth and then licking her fingers.

  ‘Sod off, Justin. How the shit was I to know you’d been skiing since you could flaming walk? You were homeless for six years before you met Ellen!’

  The woman in question rolls her eyes at her best friend. ‘Yes, Di,’ she says patiently. ‘But did it never occur to you that he had a childhood before that? You forgot one vital thing… never assume anything, because if you do…’

  ‘…you make an ASS out of U and Me!’ everyone cries before collapsing in laughter again and I see a woman sitting at a table with her husband a few feet away shoot us a disapproving look. She’s probably not impressed with Diane’s foul language either and I hope that no more comes out of her gob.

  Our food arrives and there’s silence for a few moments as we all tuck in. Everyone’s hungry it seems, but I remember that I’m usually starving after riding, the feeling of being replete and needing to refuel. Carter’s eating with one hand, his fork in his right, his left seemingly stuck to my thigh like glue. I’m not complaining and I switch my fork to my own left hand so my right can cover his. I link our fingers and he smiles down at me, picking up his water glass and taking a swig.

  When our plates are empty, the waiter appears and asks if anyone would like to see the dessert menu. No-one does, neither are there any takers for coffee and Justin declines for us all and asks for the bill. As we wait for it to come back, Carter pulls his wallet out of his pocket.

  ‘Justin, let me get this,’ he says. ‘You paid for the skiing and the car hire.’

  Justin shakes his head. ‘Thanks, Carter but it’s fine. I’ve got it,’ he says. His words are entirely pleasant but he’s brooking no argument. This is his wife’s day out and it’s all on him. Carter smiles in acknowledgement and thanks Justin, shoving his wallet away and when the bill comes, Justin pays it. Within a few minutes we’re all back in the car and heading home.

  Everyone is quieter now, there’s some chatting, but we’re all relaxed, full of food and a little tired. It’s not a long journey home, but I feel myself begin to doze against Carter as the miles roll past and I’m jerked from light sleep when Justin pulls the Mercedes to the top of the driveway and cuts the engine. He grins over his shoulder at us all.

  ‘Brilliant day! Thanks for coming,’ he says, Ellen’s smile mirroring her husband’s. There’s the murmur of acknowledgement and thank
s as everyone piles out of the minibus and hugs are exchanged for a few moments as we group on the drive. We’ll all see each other again in a few hours and Ryan offers Regan and Ollie a lift, which they accept.

  ‘See you later!’ Diane blares as they make their way down the driveway. ‘You were awesome, Justin, but you know that anyway!’ She waves and I turn to Carter as we stand at the back of the Mercedes. Justin and Ellen are making their way to the house, but Carter’s voice stops them.

  ‘Thanks, Justin. Today was awesome,’ he says, holding out his hand again and Justin takes it immediately.

  ‘More than welcome. See you at around half seven?’

  Carter nods. ‘Absolutely.’ I turn to him again as Justin and Ellen open the front door and disappear into the house. He takes my hand and leads me over to his Audi. I wish suddenly that he’d brought his stuff with him – he could have got ready here. It’s late afternoon, we could have snatched an hour in bed, too.

  He’ll be spending the night with you. Get a hot bath and an hour’s kip. If he comes good on his promise, you ain’t going to get much sleep tonight.

  I’d forgotten about his text, telling me to conserve my energy, that I’m going to need it later and I grin up at him, pushing his body gently back against his beautiful car. I slip my arms around his neck, snuggling under his throat. He groans quietly as he pulls my body into his and we just stand and hold each other. Even that feels intimate, the signs that I can read in Carter’s body making it so. The light thrumming in his tissues, the tremble as he feels my hands slide under his sweater, his naked skin breaking out into a rash of goose-bumps and he lifts his head.

  ‘Your touch ignites me, Pearl. There really isn’t any other way to describe it,’ he whispers and then his lips are on mine. We kiss for a long time, locked together leaning up against his car in the soft afternoon sunlight, both of us flushed and breathing hard when we eventually part.