Coming In From the Cold(34)

"Which is better, this or skiing on fresh powder?"

When his brain cleared enough that he could process the question, he  hooted with laughter. Pulling her down on his chest, he told her the  truth. "You win, sweet vixen." He kissed her hair, her face. "No  contest." Grinning like a fool, he held her tight. They lay there  together for a moment, the humor relaxing him.

The wind whipped past Willow's drafty old windows, causing the candle to  flicker. He memorized the shadows on the ceiling and vowed never to  forget this moment. Willow looped her hands behind his neck again, and  Dane had never felt so alive. She smiled down at him, raising her body  up on his shaft. Then her eyes fell closed as she sank down on him  again, exhaling deeply as she did so.

The laughter had loosened something in his chest, and now the unfamiliar  sensation of joy warmed the space around his heart. He was incredibly,  unbelievably lucky. He-Dane Hollister-could have this moment and  luxuriate in it. There was no need to run away from it, to fear it. He  curved his hands around Willow's chest as she moved above him. Her body  celebrated him, held him tight, made his senses sing.

Before, sex was just a quick release-a way of stealing a few moments of  pleasure before facing the grim truths of his life. Tonight, everything  was entirely new. This exquisite moment between the two of them could  build a bridge to the next moment. And the one after that.

He'd have to think about that later, though. Because his mind was busy being blown.

Her next deep thrust made both of them groan. He watched her eyes grow  glassy, her pink lips parting. She moved a quicker now, grinding against  him. "Mmm," she said, her eyes falling closed. "So good." She began to  sigh, a look of concentration on her sweet face.

The evidence of her arousal unzipped his control. He let all the  feelings come, felt her everywhere on him. "Sweet thing," he warned,  flexing beneath her. A delicious tension sunk down his spine.

She gasped, giving another very sturdy grind.

"Willow," he groaned, his body finally beginning to detonate. He pressed  his hips up, bucking against her, losing himself. Thrust by tantalizing  thrust, he unburdened himself into her body.

Willow's mouth fell open. She was gasping, pressing herself onto him.  For her, he thrust one more time, and felt her body grip his, tightening  around his cock. A second later she lay moaning into his neck, while he  stroked her back with clumsy hands.

He couldn't speak. He only shifted slightly to reassure himself there  was no way he could hold her closer. The now familiar tickle behind his  eyes began again. As his eyes filled, Dane reached up and wiped them  with the back of his hand.                       
       
           



       

"Are you going to cry every time you touch me?" she whispered, kissing the corner of his eye.

"Is it a deal breaker?" he asked. "You have the strangest effect on me."

She shook her head. "Coming alive has the strangest effect on you. I'll just stock up on tissues."

Dane sank back against the pillow, stroking her hair. He was lucky in  every possible way a man could be. It wasn't just the beautiful girl  curled at his side-he had a sport he loved, he had money, he had the  cool mountain air. Setting aside the broken leg, he even had his health.

The truth was, he'd been lucky for years, but too stupid to appreciate  it. And in service to his own self-pity, he'd been difficult to nearly  everyone who had the misfortune to wander through his pain.

But now, as he played with a lock of Willow's hair, he felt some of his  old anguish lift away. She had given him a second chance-not just with  her, but with everything. And he would try not to fuck it up.





* * *



"It's cold in here now," she said, coming back from the bathroom to hop  back into bed beside him. "The power outage takes down my furnace."

"Come here," Dane said. "I'll be the one who keeps you warm."

She climbed in next to him, and he gathered her into the crook of his  arm. With tentative fingers, he reached for her stomach, stroking the  skin. He cupped her belly, his fingers stretching across its width. "So  far, everything I know about pregnant ladies I like."

Willow sighed. "But pregnant ladies turn into mommies. With crying babies."

"And what I don't know about those could paper Everest. But I won't run from it, Willow."

"Tomorrow," she said sleepily. "We'll talk more tomorrow."

Tomorrow. What a great fucking concept. He stretched out against Willow's body-the way he'd always wanted to-and fell asleep.





* * *



When Dane next opened his eyes, an early-morning light suffused the  room. He was in Willow's bed, but something was wrong. Groggy, he tried  to sort out what the problem was. His knee was stiff, as it always was  in the morning. But there was something else. He heard the TV, which  meant the power had come back on in the night. He heard another noise,  too.

He sat up fast. "Willow?" He swung his feet off the bed, grabbed his  crutches off the floor and hobbled to the bathroom. He found her  kneeling over the toilet, trying to hold her hair out of the way while  she dry heaved. "Sweet thing," he said, leaning over to capture her hair  for her.

She held up a hand. "You don't have to … I've got it."

"I'm not afraid of a little puke," he said, setting his crutches in the  corner and handing her a tissue. "Does this happen every morning?"

She nodded, wiping her mouth and throwing the tissue into the toilet.  She closed the cover and flushed. When she stood up, he folded her into  his chest. "Maybe that's the end of it," she murmured.

"Is there anything that will make you feel better?" he asked.

"It's weird, but food helps. Certain foods, anyway. This is funny-you know what I can't eat anymore?"

"What?" he rubbed her back gently.

"Eggs … " She shuddered. "I can't be in the same building with an omelet. Don't tell The Girls."

"So let's feed you something else. I could make pancakes. It's the only thing I cook."

Willow sighed into his chest. "I don't really have time. If the plow went by, I have to go to work."

"Today?" he asked. He wasn't sure he could let go of her.

She laughed. "Of course. Every dollar counts."

He pushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Can I take you out for dinner tonight? Although you'd have to drive … "

She gave him a squeeze, and he felt it all the way down to his soul.  "You and I in a vehicle together? Sounds dangerous. But I like to live  on the edge."





* * *



While Willow brushed her teeth, Dane looked around her bedroom for the  clothes that had been so hastily discarded. When the phone next to  Willow's bed rang, Dane picked it up. "Hello?"

There was a silence on the line for a moment. And then a voice said, "Bloody hell. I can't believe it."

"Good morning, doctor." He sat down on the bed.

Callie grumbled into the phone. "This had better end well."

"Are you going to stab me in the ass again if I don't behave?"

"At least."

"Then I'd better be good," he said. Willow had come to stand over him.  She held out her hand for the phone. But he gave her the universal sign  for "just a second." "I owe you big, Callie. And I don't just mean the  bill."                       
       
           



       

"Oh," Callie groaned. "Don't make me like you right away," she said. "It's less fun for me."

Willow took the phone. "Hello?" she said. She made a comically frightened face for Dane's benefit.

"I didn't expect that voice on the phone this morning," Callie said.

"Um, me neither," Willow admitted.

"What is it with you two and snowstorms?"

Willow blushed. "Isn't that what they're for? And then you wake up the next morning and puke a lot. Oh wait-that's just me."

"You won't get any sympathy here, Wills," Callie said. "I spent the blackout at the hospital, listening to the generators hum."

"Sounds like a party."

"Yoga tomorrow? Or are you too … busy."

Willow laughed. "I'll be there."





Twenty-eight





They took the Jeep, for old time's sake, parking on Main Street.

Sitting across from Dane at the town's only Chinese restaurant, Willow  felt oddly shy. As he dished rice onto her plate, there was a lull in  the conversation. They'd done everything backward, hadn't they? She was  almost three months pregnant, and they'd never even dined out together.  Willow felt as though that awkward fact had taken a seat at the table  beside them.