Over the River and Through the Woods (4 page)

Chapter Six

Unable to believe what I was hearing, I glanced into his eyes. They’d always been the clear beacons to his soul, perfectly mirroring whatever he was thinking. In them, I only saw warmth and honesty. He wasn’t playing games with me.

“I know we’ve had obvious miscommunication in the past.” I began, trying to sort out an answer in my mind. “That much is clear. I think the thing that bothers me the most is how over this past year, you seemed to despise me, as you were constantly flaunting your new conquests of the week. I can’t be one of those conquests, Micah. It would hurt me too much. I’ve already spent way too many nights crying into my pillow over you.”

He sighed heavily, giving a half snort. “I’ve really screwed things up, haven’t I?”

“What do you mean?”

“You want to know why I’m with a different girl every week? Because none of them are you! I’ve been miserable ever since we broke up; disgusted with myself for not fighting harder to keep you. But I thought you didn’t want me, so I let you go. This was my way of trying to keep you from knowing how much you had devastated me. I figured if I flaunted myself with other girls, you’d think I didn’t care.”

“Well, congratulations. It worked like a charm.” There were butterflies of nerves racing around in my stomach. It was both hard to hear these things, but good, too. I was happy we were trying to clear the air between us. “That, on top of all the conquest rumors I heard about you, pretty much drowned my heart.”

“Please tell me you didn’t buy into all that, Felicity. Those were nothing more than locker room rumors started by stupid horny guys.”

“Are you saying you haven’t been with anyone?” I asked point blank. “I find that hard to believe.”

“Have you?” he replied with his own question.

“No, but I haven’t dated anyone since we split.”

“Not at all?” He seemed surprised.

“I was asked out several times, but I never followed through. I still felt too . . . damaged . . . to trust anyone, again. You’ve been out with half the female student body, and we both know some of them don’t have the greatest of reputations, either.”

“Oh, Lissy,” he said softly, using his old nickname for me. Just hearing it fall from his lips, after all this time, made tears well up in my eyes. I had forgotten how much I missed the way he used to talk to me when we were alone. “Again, none of those girls were you. Why would I trade perfection for a quick lay? You and me… we had dreams together. I couldn’t just set those down and walk away from them. The more girls I dated, the more clear things became. I knew that I would always be in love with you and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do—since you clearly hated me and obviously didn’t want me anymore. Trust me when I say that this last year, without you, has been just as bleak for me as it has been for you. I’ve missed you.”

“Micah . . .” My voice trembled as my gaze fell to his lips. He didn’t hesitate, moving in to capture mine. Letting the blanket fall away from my shoulders, I naturally turned into his kiss, clinging to his body as he slowly leaned me back onto the floor. His weight sank against me and I welcomed it eagerly, basking in the feeling of being in his loving embrace. His tongue traced my lips and I opened my mouth, letting him invade my senses as I desperately clung to him.

“Lissy,” he whispered again, raining kisses across my face. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me. I’ve wanted you for so long, in every way imaginable. I haven’t been able to get you out of my head.” His lips traveled down my neck toward the swell of my breasts showing above the tucked in towel.

Sucking in a breath, I struggled with my emotions—torn between wanting to remove the towel so he could continue his path across my body, and wanting to stay true to the values I’d held so strongly for my whole life. He pressed a kissed on my shoulder and I let out a small yelp, pain coursing through me.

Eyes filled with concern, he examined me. “I’m sorry. You’re bruised here. Probably from the seatbelt. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

He drew away, pulling me up to a sitting position.

“As much as I’d like to continue, I think it would be best to table this until we both feel a little better. With all we’ve been through today, our emotions are running high and frankly, I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck now that I’ve quit moving around.”

Nodding, I understood what he meant. It wouldn’t be right for us to rush into something while we were caught up in the moment with everything we had felt and experienced. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, we were two souls lost in a world that only contained us. Things could look different in the light of day or whenever we were rescued from this place.

The sky was darkening already, our hike through the snow to get here taking the better part of the day. I was sure our families were beyond worried by this time and I felt bad, knowing our absence would be ruining their Christmas Eve parties.

“I can’t believe it’s still snowing,” I said, glancing toward the door and noticing, for the first time, the wad of newspaper shoved into the hole Micah had created.

“I know. I bet there’s easily another foot out there since we wrecked.”

“There’s no chance of them finding the car tonight, is there?”

“I seriously doubt it; and even if they did, I doubt they’d send anyone out searching until the morning. The weather conditions make it unsafe right now.

“Are you warm enough to move to the couch? It would be a little more comfortable than the floor.”

I nodded and he stood, offering me his hand and helping me up before grabbing the blanket off the floor and wrapping it back around me. “Hey now. That’s not fair to you,” I complained, instantly missing his warmth. “There’s room in here for both of us.” Holding the blanket open, I invited him in and he lifted it away from me, stepping behind me and then wrapping the two of us up together, curving his arms around my body.

“Let’s skip the couch and scrounge for some food in the cupboards. Maybe they have something edible here we can eat, before we delve into our stash. I’m starving.”

“That sounds wonderful,” I agreed, pausing to retrieve his small flashlight from where he’d left it on the table. We shuffled, as one, toward the kitchen. Taking the light, he slipped an arm out and began checking some of the upper cupboards while I checked the lower. “Cereal!” I practically shouted, excited about my find and grabbing the unopened box of Peanut Butter Crunch.

“I seriously doubt we’ll find any milk in this place.” He glanced to where the fridge sat unplugged with the door cracked slightly open to keep it aired out.

“I don’t mind eating out of the box.”

“Yeah, me either. That kind is pretty tasty plain. Besides, as the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers, right? Let’s keep looking and see what else we can find.”

I opened a drawer, spying a bottle of over-the-counter pain meds in the dim light. “Here you go.” I pulled the bottle out and shook it. “Do you still need some of these?”

“Yes, please!” He sounded relieved. “Hold the blanket.” Sliding from behind me, he found a glass and got some water out of the tap.

“What’s that door to?” I asked, pointing to the far wall.

“I have no idea. I haven’t checked it yet,” he replied after swallowing his pills. “Let’s find out.”

Turning the handle I squealed as he swung the light to hit it. “It’s a pantry! And it looks like it’s fully stocked! Check it out. There’s bottled fruit and containers marked with baking supplies. And canned soups!”

Micah laughed heartily. “I never thought I’d hear someone so excited about canned soup in my life.”

“Doesn’t that sound perfect, right now? Didn’t you say we can use the stove? Or we can even cook it on the fire.”

“I did. We can do whatever you want.” I could tell he was completely amused over my exuberance.

“Shine your light over here.” He did as I asked. “Look! There’s cake mixes and frosting.” Snatching a box off the shelf I turned it over and glanced at the instructions. “These mixes don’t require eggs either, only oil and water.”

“There’s oil right there on the shelf and it looks like the pans are down here.”

“Please tell me it’s okay to use all this stuff!” Biting at my lip, I looked up at him for his approval.

“Well, personally, I’d rather a stranded traveler break into my vacation home and eat my food versus finding dead bodies in my house because they were trying to be polite. But that’s just me.”

Smiling widely, I nodded my head vigorously in agreement. “Let’s eat! I mean sure, it won’t be my mom’s famous Christmas Eve treats, but we can still make the night the best we can, right?”

“I don’t see any problem with that. And who knows how long this storm is going to go on. We might as well make ourselves comfortable.”

“Speaking of comfortable, do you think any of my clothes are dry enough that I can get out of this towel?”

“Let’s find out.” I followed Micah over to the makeshift dryer he’d set up and we began feeling the fabric of each piece. “These are completely dry,” he said wryly, dangling my panties from his index finger. “If your other stuff is still wet, I’d be totally okay with you cooking dinner in just these.” I blushed.

Punching him in the shoulder, I grabbed my underwear from him and started sliding them up my legs, pausing when I got to my knees. “Uh, turn around,” I ordered.

Grinning widely, he sighed heavily and faced the other direction. I quickly grabbed my bra and, dropping the towel, I put it on too, before snatching my clean cable knit sweater and sliding it on, the long length of it brushing just past my hips to rest on my thighs. There were a couple very slight damp spots on the wrists, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.

“Is it safe to turn around, yet?” Micah asked, the humor still in his voice.

I threw his clean t-shirt at him. “Get dressed. No peeking.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied and I couldn’t help feeling sad as he covered his delicious looking muscles, once again.

Sliding into my jeans, I hurried to zip and button them before grabbing the small flash light off the table and hurrying back to the kitchen, leaving Micah to finish dressing.

Checking the cupboard again, I searched for a saucepan to make soup. “Hey, here’s an oil lamp. Can we light it for the kitchen? That would help me see a bit better.”

“Sure, I can get that started for you.”

“What kind of cake do you want? I figured I’ll start it first, so it can be cooking in the oven while we make and eat the soup.”

“The chocolate cake looked good. There was a tub of chocolate frosting in there next to it, too.”

“Chocolate cake it is. I’ve always loved that about you. Did you know that?”

“What?”

“Your infinite love for all things chocolate. It compliments mine so well.”

He laughed. “Well, I’m happy there’s something you’ve always loved about me. That’s encouraging.”

By the time I left the pantry, he had the lamp lit and burning brightly. Somehow it made the whole place feel even warmer and brighter. He’d already managed to find a mixing bowl and a spatula, as well.

“There are several different kinds in there; you can pick the soup, if you’d like,” I told him. “I’m okay with whatever you want.”

“The beef minestrone looks good to me.” He handed me the large can.

“That sounds perfect. We also have that gift basket of sausage and cheeses I was giving to my dad. That would go well with the soup, I think.”

“I think you’re right.” He glanced toward the door. “I’m going to need to go back outside for a bit, though, while you’re doing this.”

“Why?” My head jerked up as I stared, horrified, at him. “You just got dry clothes on!”

“I’ll dry again; or I can put my wet jeans on. We need some more wood from the shed to get us through the night. There’s also a fireplace in the upstairs bedroom. I thought maybe we could sleep up there together, unless you’d rather I stay down here on the couch, so you can have the bed to yourself. There is also another bedroom through that door.” He pointed. “There’s no fireplace in it, though. I figured it would be easier to heat the place if we kept as many doors closed, as possible; but I’ll do whatever you’re most comfortable with.”

“There’s no way I’d kick you to the couch or a cold room after all we’ve been through today. And truthfully, sleeping in a warm bed sounds divine.”

“It’s a big one, too; so you’ll have plenty of space to yourself.”

I snorted. “If I can’t trust you now, Micah, when will I ever be able to?” I knew he was simply trying to help me not be nervous. “Besides, it’s not like we’ve never fallen asleep together.” My memories drifted to a campout we’d gone on with some friends, a few months before we broke up. Our parents’ hadn’t known there was mixed company and all of us had paired off with our significant others for the night. I was pretty sure Micah and I were the only couple who hadn’t had sex together, judging from the sounds occasionally drifting from other tents. But we did have a pretty hot and heavy make-out session before finally forcing ourselves apart. That had been one of the hardest nights we’d ever spent together. I was still amazed that we’d managed to put the brakes on our feelings.

Micah sat in one of the chairs and shoved his feet back into his boots, grimacing as he did so. It made me want to shiver just watching him. I was sure they were still pretty soaked and cold. He didn’t even bother trying to put socks on first.