Over the River and Through the Woods Read online

  Then the dream was abruptly over, with no explanation. I couldn’t understand it. Wrapped up in my own world of tears and hurt, I began to nurse every vicious thought I could possibly come up with about Micah and how he deserved to burn in hell. Could I have been so badly mistaken? Was this all some simple misunderstanding? It seemed that way. The boy I loved was still clearly present in the man before me. I just hadn’t taken the time to notice. He claimed to secretly support and watch me, but that didn’t make any sense. It was widely known on campus that he was a ladies’ man. Micah Nikolaus has a new girl every week, according to his Playboy reputation around school. All the girls wanted him, but none could manage to keep him. Still, it didn’t stop them from lining up for a chance to try.

  Staring into the dancing flames, memories of the two of us together ran like a film reel in my head: laughing on dates with friends, him comforting me when I didn’t feel good or was upset, and the many, many, hot passionate kisses we’d shared.

  We’d come close, but had had never crossed that boundary of becoming truly intimate with one another. We were both raised in families with strong moral values, but I still often wondered how we managed to remain pure and not give into the temptation. It had been difficult, to say the least, and both of us had wanted to, many times, of that I was sure; but still we held back, hoping that the “right time” would present itself—which, which in my home, meant abstinence until marriage. I knew it was the same for his family, too, as they came from the same staunch religious background as mine did.

  However, I wasn’t sure he still kept to the same values he used to. Rumors abounded, after our break up, of how happy he was to get rid of me so he could finally get some action.

  My heart ached. I didn’t know what to think anymore. What was true and what wasn’t? Being with him, today, had totally twisted everything inside me all over again. My stomach felt like it was tied up in knots. Regardless of everything I thought, felt and imagined, one thing was certain. I was still in love with him . . . or at least the memory of him.

  “Success!” he said, reentering the room with a small white box marked “First Aid” in his hands. “I washed my face and around the cut while I was upstairs so it’s all ready for you, doctor.”

  I laughed and gestured for him to sit beside me, allowing the quilt to slide from my shoulders as I accepted the box from him and opened it. “Oh good. It has some antiseptic ointment, too. That’ll help.” I opened the package of Q-tips and carefully applied some. “I’ll try to be gentle.” I lifted it to his forehead.

  “I’m tough. Shove it in there.” He encouraged me with a wink.

  I shook my head, unable to help my smile. Such a guy. I carefully rubbed it into the wound, using the dry side to wipe off some of the excess around the edges so the bandage would adhere better. Removing two smaller Band-Aids, I crisscrossed them, pulling one up and the other down in a butterfly effect to help close the edges of the wound together.

  “How do I look, doc? Am I gonna survive?” Micah asked, his eyes twinkling as he stared into my face.

  “I think you’re going to be just fine, sir. As good as new. When we get out of here though, I do recommend you see a real doctor. I still think you need some stitches.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right. I’m probably going to have a nice scar to scare all the girls away now.”

  “Yeah, right,” I answered, rolling my eyes. “As I said before, they’ll always love you.”

  Frowning, he turned away and stared into the flames. He gave a non-committal grunt and began unlacing his boots. I could tell something had upset him, but I didn’t want to press the issue and ruin the current comfort between us. I enjoyed not fighting with him. He removed his boots and placed them by the fire before removing his socks and draping them over the top of them.

  For the first time, I noticed how wet his pants were. His legs must be freezing, as well; and suddenly I felt bad for all the attention he’d paid me before taking care of himself. Standing, he left the room and returned with my wet boots and socks, placing them in the same manner beside his. “I’m going to leave your clothes hanging in the bathroom for a little while since they’re still so soaked. Once they stop dripping, I’ll move them out here, okay?”

  “Don’t worry about it, Micah. I’m good now. I can take care of myself. You get comfortable and get out of your wet clothes. No point in killing yourself while you’re trying to save me.”

  “True,” he said, reaching for the buttons on his shirt, which was mostly dry except for where it had hung out below his coat. Shrugging from it, he hung it from a newel on one of the chairs. I was captivated by his golden skin and ripping lean muscles and couldn’t seem to tear my eyes away—until he reached for the button on his pants and my breath caught. “Do you mind?” he asked, pausing. “I don’t have anything else to wear, yet.”

  I shook my head and turned back toward the flames, feeling a heated blush stealing across my face that wasn’t from the fireplace. “No. Get comfortable. I mean, look at me. I’m in a towel for crying out loud.”

  “And a very large quilt.” I heard the sound of his zipper coming down followed by his pants hitting the floor. I couldn’t help the quick glance I cast in his direction, curiosity getting the better of me. His legs were as strong and muscular looking as ever, clearly showing he was still working out regularly. He was wearing a pair of long, cotton boxer briefs that amply showed the curve of his firm buttocks as he bent to retrieve his jeans. My face grew hotter and I glanced away. “I’m going to run up and get another blanket real quick. Be right back.”

  “No,” I blurted out, shocking myself. He paused, raising his brow a bit.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. I mean, my blanket is already warm; and as you stated before, there’s plenty of it. Why don’t you come share with me?”

  A slow smile spread across his face. “I think I will. You know that is what they teach in survival classes. Skin to skin body heat will warm you faster.” He moved toward me and I held the blanket open, unable to the shiver that swept over me when his cooler skin brushed against mine. He must’ve been freezing all this time.

  “No funny stuff, mister.” I warned, as he scooted clear up beside me so our arms and legs were touching.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” he replied, slipping his arm around my shoulders anyway, and dragging me into his embrace. He reached up with his other hand and released my damp hair from the towel. “As I thought. Still naturally curly as ever.” His voice was like a whisper at my ear. “I’ve missed your hair, Felicity. I’ve missed everything about you.” My heart rate increased rapidly. “Please. Tell me what I can do to fix things with you.”

  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?”