Colder Than Ice (33 page)

Michela
stepped back from Allison. “I find myself wanting to know the smallest
things about you. What’s your middle name, how old are you? Do you have any
brothers or sisters, what’s your favorite food? That morning here, in this hut,
when we returned from looking for Ewan, you don’t know how much I wanted to
kiss you. If Sarah hadn’t knocked on the door then I’d have made a big fool of
myself. I’m sorry, you’re probably disgusted by this, but I can’t take it any
more.” She turned around and went, arms folded and frustrated at her
inability to keep her emotions in check, to her side of the hut.

Mouth
agape, Allison was at a loss for words.
She’s falling in love with me? So
how do I feel about that?
She closed her eyes as images flashed through her
mind. Her first meeting with Michela. Their first confrontation. Her disdainful
treatment of her and Michela’s rescue of her on the glacier at Mount Cook. That
night in the coffee house, the touching of hands. Allison’s insistence on
little meetings during their sea voyage. Her reaction to Maddi and the time in
the emergency hut.
I think I feel the same. So where do I go from here?

Michela
felt Allison’s arms snake around her waist. She turned and found Allison in her
arms.

Allison
tentatively brushed Michela’s cheek. “Jane, hence my nickname AJ,
thirty-two but closer to thirty-three, one brother Justin and he’s a doctor,
chocolate, always chocolate, and why don’t you finish it?”

“Finish
what?” Michela asked.

“This.”
Allison put her hand on the back of Michela’s head and drew her close.

Surprised
by Allison’s boldness, Michela pulled back, only to find her lips pursued by
Allison’s. Surrendering to the sensations coursing through her, she tentatively
mapped Allison’s back with her hands. Despite the layers of fabric, she was
painfully aware of Allison’s muscular strength.

Allison
broke the kiss and put her head against Michela’s chest, surprised that the
rapid beating of Michela’s heart matched her own. She’d never meant to react
the way she did, but was glad she had. Seeing the pain and honesty in Michela’s
eyes had shattered her resolve and, despite what she kept on telling herself,
she could deny it no longer. The feelings she had for Michela were equally
strong. The kiss was sweeter and more passionate than anything she’d ever
experienced before. She smiled into Michela’s sleeping shirt.

“I
don’t think I could have said it before but you make me feel the same
way,” she said. “You’ve had me off kilter since the day at the
crevasse in New Zealand when you held me and called me honey. Not only that,
but whether I liked it or not, before things ended with Rick I found myself
irrationally measuring you up against him and he was failing dismally. No
matter how hard I tried to run from it, when you looked my way I felt as if I
was melting from the inside out. And as for that second night in the emergency
hut, you were generating so much heat, I severely doubted that we needed a
sleeping bag. I was so incredibly aroused it was only doubt and a degree of
ignorance that stopped me from doing heaven knows what.”

Michela
chuckled and kissed Allison’s forehead. “Me, too. When you snuggled back
into me I thought I was going to die. It was only my promise I wouldn’t
compromise you that stopped me from taking it further.”

Allison
shyly leant back from Michela. “I still feel as I did that night in the
hut. Where do we go from here?”

Michela
slightly leant back and frowned. “Are you sure this is what you want? This
has been a very stressful time out here for everyone, not the least of which
you. I don’t want you to think you have to commit to something you don’t—”
Allison placed a silencing finger on her lips.

“I’ve
been known to be indecisive, but I think, no, I know I’m sure about this. It’s
not about stress or being here for as long as we have, it’s about how I feel
for you. It has been for a while now, I was just too stubborn and proud to
admit it.” Covering her shyness, Allison leaned in for a kiss just as the
final cup that had been precariously balanced on her bookcase fell and
shattered on the floor.

Allison
bent her head down and chuckled. “I made a bit of a mess, didn’t I.”
She moved out of Michela’s arms and turned to the broken cup. “Let me
clean it up.”

“Leave
it.” As Michela opened her arms in invitation, Allison eagerly entered
them. With one finger, she gently lifted Allison’s chin and kissed her. Lightly
stroking Allison’s face, Michela was engulfed by emotions. Almost tentatively
she stroked the tip of her tongue across Allison’s lips and smiled when
entrance was granted. She lightly teased Allison’s tongue and her senses caught
fire as Allison’s tongue shyly entered her mouth.

Allison
was on sensory overload. When Michela had brushed her lips she honestly thought
her legs would fail her. The sensations now went far beyond what she’d ever
experienced before. The heat in her stomach was a raging inferno that was
rapidly engulfing her body. She broke away from the kiss and managed to whisper
into Michela’s ear, “God, I want so much more. I don’t know what to
do.”

Michela
relaxed her embrace. She cupped Allison’s cheek in her hand as she lightly stroked
it with her thumb. “Do you remember what we talked about yesterday, about
Elizabeth and Charlotte?” Allison furrowed her brows. “You asked me
whether the two were lovers or in a Boston marriage. Do you remember what I
said?”

Allison
shook her head.

Stroking
Allison’s face, Michela gazed into her piercing cobalt eyes. “I said it
didn’t matter whether they were lovers or not, it was the emotion behind the
act and not the act itself.” Allison nodded. Michela lightly grazed
Allison’s lips with her own. “Let your emotions lead you, the rest will
follow.” She pulled Allison to her and they stood, relishing in the warmth
and comfort of each other.

Michela
stepped back and held out her hand to Allison. “Let me show you.”

Allison
took the hand and Michela led her to her bed. Michela slowly undressed Allison,
only pausing to scatter feather-soft kisses on her face to convey the depth of
emotion she felt.

Allison
put her fingers on the buttons of Michela’s sleeping shirt, only to have them
gently halted.

Michela
pulled Allison’s hand to her lips and tenderly kissed her fingers. “You
don’t have to do that.”

Allison
shook her head, a shy smile on her face. “But I want to. For so many
nights I watched you undress, always disappointed when you got into bed.”
She lightly kissed Michela’s cheek. “Please let me help.”

Michela
softly captured Allison’s lips and guided Allison’s hands to her shirt. They
slowly undressed each other, relieved at the trust and passion that was
reflected in each other’s eyes. Finally naked, they stood and silently
worshipped the other’s body.

Michela
reached across the small distance, and tenderly traced the curve of Allison’s
breast with the back of her fingers. “You are so incredibly
beautiful.”

Allison
shuddered at the effect of Michela’s touch.

Michela
pulled Allison to her and reveled in the feel of skin against skin. She traced
a lazy trail down Allison’s back and rested her hand on her baby-soft backside.

Allison,
hands lightly draped on Michela’s waist, gasped at the sensation created by their
closeness. Between ragged breaths, she kissed Michela’s neck and looked up.
“Please, baby, help me.”

Michela
snagged the sleeping bag off the other bed and put it next to her bag. She held
out her hand to Allison and in return Allison silently took Michela’s hand.
Michela eased Allison onto the bed and climbed in next to her. As she did she
offered a silent prayer of thanks at the wider beds now fitted in the apples.

Michela
traced a gentle path over Allison’s skin, barely touching her. She paused at the
bottom of Allison’s stomach and lightly played with the downy hair below her
navel, before grazing the warm hollow near her waist. She traced Allison’s
breasts with feather-light touches, lovingly delivered with the back of her
hand, intensely aware of Allison’s building arousal. Halting her sensual path,
she gazed into Allison’s eyes. “Honey, I want to make love to you, but if
I do anything you’re not comfortable with please stop me. I’d never do anything
to hurt you.”

Allison
sweetly smiled. She kissed Michela’s palm and then shyly guided it to the swell
of her breast. “I don’t think you could ever hurt me.” She sealed her
words with a kiss.

Humbled
by Allison’s trust, Michela ever so gently kissed a trail of love over
Allison’s body. She was in turn rewarded by Allison’s feather-light touches as
they charted a path across Michela’s body, tentatively grazing across Michela’s
breasts before retreating.

As
their dance of love progressed, their touches became bolder, more certain, each
quietly pleased at the sensations they created in the other. Murmuring words of
love, Michela tenderly stroked Allison, barely containing her own response to
Allison’s ardor.

Sensing
Michela’s need, Allison captured her lips and shyly moved her thigh to meet
Michela’s centre. Passionately connected, they sensuously moved together,
harmoniously building to a climax. They crested together and continued to move
in exquisite synchronization before finally slowing down, entwined around each
other’s body.

Regaining
her breath, Michela looked at Allison. “Honey, are you all right?”

Allison
stroked Michela’s face. “Thank you. Thank you for being so patient with
me. Thank you for putting up with my bad moods and my tantrums. But most of
all, thank you for loving me.” Her voice broke as her eyes misted with
tears.

Fighting
her own tears, Michela pulled Allison to her and tenderly kissed her forehead.
“Always, my love, for forever and beyond.”

WHILE
THE STORM raged outside, Michela and Allison took the time to discover each
other and were delighted at what they found. Their days passed peacefully,
sometimes doing no more than completing their respective research, sometimes
not getting out of bed at all. Occasionally they’d disagree on one issue or
another.

Such
discussions would lapse into arguments, end with stony silence, and then they
would passionately reconcile their differences.

Finally,
after seven days of being buffeted by the wind, Michela awoke, her body
comfortably covered by Allison. She gently shook Allison. “Alli, honey,
wake up.”

Allison
nuzzled the chest she’d used on and off as a pillow for the past few days.
“Don’t want to.”

Michela
smiled and kissed the top of Allison’s head. “Okay, then just
listen.” Allison shifted and a couple of seconds later slumped against
Michela. “What’s the matter?”

Allison’s
voice was muffled as she clung to the Michela’s body. “I don’t want to go.
Can’t we stay here and let the rest of the world go on without us?”

Michela
put her hand underneath Allison’s chin and tilted her face up. “It’ll be
okay, trust me. I think I understand how you feel right now, but we’ll work it
out.” She softly and lovingly kissed Allison’s lips. “But if we don’t
get this place cleaned up, we’re likely to have Sarah walk in on us.”

Allison
almost leapt from the bed. She quickly bathed and dressed and then helped in
straightening the hut.

“Michela,
this is Sarah, can I come over, over.”

Michela
and Allison laughed at Sarah’s perfect timing—they’d just finished making the
place presentable.

Sarah
walked into the hut and observed the look that passed between Michela and
Allison. “G’day you two. That was some storm wasn’t it?” Trying to
hide her “I told you so” smile, she looked at Allison and was
surprised by a touch of reticence in her face. Puzzled, she glanced at Michela.
Michela almost imperceptibly shook her head.

Breaking
the slight tension, Michela clapped Sarah’s shoulder. “Yes, it was. Now,
how about some breakfast? Have we managed to regain communications with Wills
Station yet?”

Sarah
nodded. “That happened about four hours ago. Maddi suggested we finish
breaking down the camp and then head for the station.”

Allison
slammed her cup on the counter, startling Michela and Sarah. They caught a
brief glimpse of her angry expression before she turned away from them. Michela
gave Sarah a “don’t ask” look.

“She’s
right,” Michela said. “We’ll start with breakfast and then pull these
huts down. That should take no more than a couple of hours and then we’ll be on
our way. Alli, how about we try some of Sarah’s cooking for a change?”

Allison
nodded, fighting back the irrational frustration at hearing Maddi Walker’s
name. While she was grateful for Michela’s explanation of what had occurred
between her and Maddi, she couldn’t help but wonder if Maddi felt the same way.
“That sounds like a plan. Let’s go.” Allison walked around Michela
and Sarah and out the door.

Sarah
gave Michela a quizzical look. “What’s that about? I’m assuming that by
the look you gave me that you two finally sorted out your differences.”

“Yes,
we did. But ever since this morning when we woke up and found the storm had
passed over, she’s progressively withdrawn into herself.”
And not
prepared to admit what’s happened between the two of us to the world.