Page 56 of Stuck on the Slopes

“I want to see you. Specifically, the faces you make.” I gasped when Juniper finally entered me. His hand ran up my body, starting below my belly button and creeping up to my breasts. “Particularly when I do something like this.”

There was so much I wanted to say, but any words failed me. All that followed were profanities and Juniper’s name. Any residual doubt or animosity melted away as Juniper and I found a rhythm, our hips moving in synchronization as I gripped at his tense biceps. My eyes cast downward where our bodies united until he picked up the pace, enough to make my head fall back on the pillow and moan his name.

“You look so beautiful beneath me.” He rolled my nipple between his thumb and index finger, earning a mewl out of me. “I can’t wait to learn everything that makes you tick.”

I wanted desperately to quip back at him, but he pinched my nipple as he thrust harder, resulting in me stuttering his name. My thighs trembled as my heart thrummed against my chest, my senses enveloped by him: the faint smell of pine trees coming off him, the warmth of his body, and the groans he didn’t bother holding back. Juniper slowed as I hit that peak, but didn’t stop; instead, he pulsed, rocking so slowly he barely withdrew at all. He studied my face, not quite making eye contact but admiring the way I looked as he made me feel nothing but bliss.

“You feel fucking divine.” He caressed my jaw until his thumb was within reach of my bottom lip. He traced it and then lowered his body closer to my own, fulfilling my desire to be closer yet to him. As he did, my knees bent, sending my legs in the air and around Juniper’s torso. He supported his weight with his forearms, which were now on either side of my shoulders.

One of his hands gripped at my hair and tugged—gently enough to not hurt but pronounced enough for me to feel. My back arched up into his chest as I moaned but flattened right back against the mattress as he moved even deeper within me, hitting a new angle that had me clawing at him after only a few more moments.

All I could sense was Juniper; it could have been seconds or minutes, I wasn’t sure anymore.

Juniper laced our fingers together as I came for the third time, then kissed me as he found his own release. I squeezed his hand and kissed him back with everything I had, rolling my hips up to heighten his own orgasm. He moaned against my mouth and pulled away once he was ready to pull out. Before we got up, we both laid there, full condom still on him as we caught our breath.

“Rachel?”

I looked over at him. “Hmm?”

“Not to freak you out, but I’m not exactly a one-night kind of guy.”

Of course, he wasn’t. He’d been through so much, had been hurt by too many people, and ogled at like he was nothing but a snowboarding sex symbol by even more.

“I figured as much,” I said, rolling onto my side so I could face him. He was on his back, his hair stuck to his neck. “I’m not really a one-night kind of girl, either.”

Juniper stopped chewing at his bottom lip, smiled, and leaned over to kiss me. Our lips felt more natural together than apart. “This can be as casual as you want.”

“Why would you think I’d want to be casual with you?” I brushed his bangs back. “You’re not scaring me off, you know.”

He sighed in relief and pressed our foreheads together. “I know with our working relationship, this is… unconventional, so to speak. I…” Juniper’s voice trailed off as he failed to find the words.

“I know, Juni.”

He smiled gratefully at me. “Let me help you clean up?”

With a nod, we both climbed out of bed and made our way to the bathroom. By some miracle, we got the hot water to run, so the two of us took a leisurely shower together.

After taking turns with the crappy old hair dryer (which had made Juniper declare he was ordering all brand-new ones for every room, not just the cabins), we didn’t bother to put our clothes back on when we returned to bed. Once we found our way beneath the covers, we gravitated toward each other, still basking in the afterglow of our morning. Juniper and I both lay on our sides, with one of Juniper’s hands running down my arm at a tantalizing pace.

I asked, “Is this comfortable for you?”

Juniper nodded as he nuzzled his nose against the back of my neck, right beneath my ear. “Careful. If you keep talking like this, I may actually fall for you.”

“Talking like what? Like someone who actually cares for your well-being?”

He twisted his torso to crack his lower back and then, upon his return, draped his arm around me. “It would make you the first person to, yeah.”

If it wasn’t so terribly sad, it would be romantic.

We let ourselves relax for a few minutes like this, tangled together as we processed everything. Soon, we’d have to see how bad the snow was outside; I hadn’t heard the plows come yet, so the likelihood of us leaving yet was slim to none.

“You deserve someone who cares about you, you know,” I said.

“To be honest, I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you. You’re a much better person than I am.”

I turned in his arms. The sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating his blue eyes. “Don’t say things like that about yourself.”

Juniper’s hand on my arm moved to my hair. He played with individual curls, twirling them around his fingers. “I’ve wanted this for weeks, you know. With you, specifically. But I thought there’d be no way you’d want me like this.”

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