Holiday Hideout (Polar Bear, Alaska)

Everyone gathers around the lake. Other people are dressed as elves, Santa Claus, and there’s even a man dressed as Superman, waiting to jump into the freezing water.

There’re reporters everywhere, most likely filming for the local news stations, but either way I do my best to avoid them.

I don’t need the paparazzi getting wind I’m hiding out here.

“Once I blow the whistle, you’ll jump in and make your way to the other side. The paramedics will help you out of the water if you need help. Ready?” the announcer says into a microphone.

The crowd cheers us on, and already I’m regretting doing this. I give a quick wave over to where my fans have accumulated.

“Don’t let it get to your head,” Rachel says.

“What?”

“The fandom.”

I laugh. “I’ve never had legit fans before. It’s nice.”

She smiles and the whistle blows. I just do it. I take the plunge and jump into the water.

Holy fucking shit, that’s some cold ass water. My head, full of tiny pins, bobs above water. I move as fast as I can to make sure Rachel’s not a popsicle.

She laughs beside me, her eyes widening when she glances over at me. “Fuck,” she curses, “this is cold.”

“Language,” I deadpan.

She laughs even harder and I join in.

The paramedics help us out of the water and an older woman wraps me in a large white towel. A heated towel.

My teeth chatter as we move toward an area with a heated large tent. I can’t wait to go in there. I grab Rachel’s hand, leading the way.

“I can’t believe I did that,” she says, her lips a delightful shade of blue.

“Come here.” I envelop her in my arms, wrapping my towel around her too. “Let me warm you up.”

“I’m warmer already,” she breathes against me.

I need this woman like the air I breathe, and I’m ready to tell her that when Joanie and her friends join us.

“That was so cool. How cold was it?”

I let go of Rachel.

“Colder than your dead, black heart,” Rachel teases.

She beams as she recounts it, like jumping in the freezing lake makes her proud.

I couldn’t care less that I jumped in, but suddenly a warmth floods through me at how much this all means to her.

I hold my hand to the small of her back as Joanie and her friends congratulate us. I feel as though I’m in a daze, wanting more than anything to get Rachel back to my place and alone. All to myself, so I can show her all the naughty things I’ve been thinking of since we talked on the phone.

We head to the restrooms, getting changed out of our wet clothes. I knew I’d jump, it’s why I brought a change of clothes. After another twenty minutes of walking around, meeting a few people, and having a quick snack the organizers arranged, I walk Rachel to her Jeep.

“Can I catch a ride? I took an Uber here.”

She grabs her phone. “Let me just…” her words fall away as she taps away at her phone.

“Are you ordering me an Uber?” I ask.

She laughs, shoving her phone back into her pocket. “No, I was texting Joanie to hitch a ride with my dad.”

“He’s here? I’d like to meet him.”

Rachel stares up at me with her big blue eyes. “Maybe another time.”

A tremor of lust travels throughout my body at the urgency she wants to get back to my place. “Absolutely.”

We hop into her Jeep, and she heads toward Mistletoe Mountain.

The ride home is silent, and more than anything, I want her to tell me all the things. Everything about her life growing up here. But I can’t bring myself to ask the questions.

She has nothing to say either and tangible lust fills our ride home, wafting through the air.

It lingers, swirling and swelling until it’s suffocating me when we step inside the arctic room.

I tug her closer, needing to quench this hunger driving me toward a collision with destiny.

Her cool blue eyes roam over my hardening body and there’s a fire hidden there.

I step closer, and before we move into the house, I wrap my arms around her, folding her into my chest and kissing her, letting my tongue explore hers.

I open the door, leading her inside.

“I need you, Rachel.”

“I need you too, Fender,” she says, her breath a little shaky.

The air crackles and I lean in claiming her sweet lips again. The kiss deepens and I hold her closer, swallowing deeply, roughly, breathing her all in.

My gaze drifts down to her pebbled nipples beneath the soft fabric of her shirt. Her body’s like a road map, showing me exactly where she needs my touch.

I lift her shirt, and take it off in one quick sweep. Her light-blue bra does little to hide her arousal, and I strip that away just as fast.

She moans as my fingers trace over her breasts. Her skin’s so soft, and my pulse pounds in my eardrums.