I tilted my head to the side and asked, “Why didn’t you want to tell me, then? It’s not as though the avalanche was your fault.”

  “Except that it was.” He pulled a stick of dynamite out of the inside pocket of his jacket. “I’m not sure what happened since the small slide I triggered at the top of the run did exactly what I expected. No way in hell should it have caused another avalanche of the magnitude it would take to reach this shack.”

  “That’s dynamite.” His lips curved into a small smile at my statement of the obvious before he went into a detailed explanation about how ski patrol was responsible for the prevention of avalanches that could injure guests at the resort. “Whoa, I had no idea.”

  He chuckled as he stripped out of his jacket and sat down next to me, bending over to unlace his ski boots before kicking them off. “It isn’t something we advertise. We don’t need any spectators when we’re working with explosives.”

  That was a fair point. I could see myself getting curious and wanting to see how triggering an avalanche worked. “I’ve been skiing for years, and I always thought you guys were responsible for things like search and rescue or helping injured skiers.”

  “Yeah, we do that, too.” He shrugged as though the magnitude of his responsibilities was no big deal. I was struck again by how humble he was. It was surprising with how attractive and successful he was since he had a lot to be cocky about. Then again, I spent most of my time in academia, and my male peers tended to be skinny, nerdy dudes, so what did I know?

  “You must have a lot of experience if you’re the head of the ski patrol for a big resort like Winter Falls.”

  “More than a decade.” At my look of shock because I’d assumed he wasn’t much older than my twenty-five years, he added, “I joined the National Ski Patrol when I was fifteen. They have a young adult volunteer program that my parents encouraged me to do because it kept me busy and out of trouble. My dad signed me up for an outdoor emergency care class for Christmas that year, and I fell in love with ski patrol.”

  I was in a tiny shack with a guy I didn’t really know in the middle of a blizzard. I should’ve been scared out of my mind about what would happen over the next few days, but I wasn’t even a tiny bit nervous. Gavin had already proven I could trust him, and spending the holiday with him up here was a heck of a lot better than what I would’ve been doing otherwise, no matter the circumstances. “It sounds as though you’re the perfect person to get stranded with in a blizzard. You’ve already rescued me once. I’m confident you can do it again whenever it’s safe for us to leave.”

  Chapter 4

  Gavin

  The trust shining from her green orbs did funny things to my heart. It probably made me a horrible person, but I wasn’t in a rush to get us rescued. By whatever fluke had caused that second avalanche, my wish to get stranded with her had been granted, and I intended to take full advantage of the opportunity that had been handed to me. Lucky for me, I didn’t need to feel guilty about it either since our best option was to stay right where we were.

  I pulled my two-way radio out of my inside jacket pocket and wiggled the device in the air. “Someone will be monitoring the channel back at the lodge, but since the storm hit right after night skiing hours were over and the slopes are closed, I let my team head home already. Since we’re safe where we’re at for now, I don’t want one of them to risk their life trying to get to the shack so they can help shovel us out.”

  “I wouldn’t want anyone out there in white-out conditions.” She pointed at the small kitchen area. “With just the two of us here, I don’t think we’ll run out of supplies for at least several days. I vote that we stay here for as long as you think it’s our best option.”

  It was a good thing I had wanted to be prepared for the blizzard ahead of the holiday, or else we wouldn’t have quite so much on hand. I jerked my chin toward one of the shovels propped against the wall next to the door. “If push comes to shove, I can get us out of here. But if the snow is as deep as I suspect, it’ll take a hell of a lot of time and energy. And then we’d still need to get down the mountain safely.”

  Her pretty green eyes were earnest as she said, “I’m a really good skier.”

  Skiing was a huge part of my life, so her comfort on the slopes was a bonus. “That’ll come in handy when we’re ready to head out of here.”

  Her nose scrunched while her gaze darted around the interior of the warming shack. “What’re we going to do to pass the time? There isn’t a television, and I only found a few magazines.”

  I went over to the small filing cabinet that doubled as a bedside table next to the cot and pulled the cards out of the top drawer. “We keep a couple of decks in each of the shacks. Solitaire is a great way to kill time if you get stuck on the mountain by yourself overnight.”

  “Ooh, yay.” She clapped her hands and bounced up and down on the cot, drawing my attention to how her tits swayed with the motion. “I didn’t dig around too much because I didn’t want to invade anyone’s privacy.”

  “Feel free to look in every nook and cranny while we’re here,” I offered with a smile as I shrugged off my jacket and hung it on the hook next to where she’d put hers. Then I took off my ski pants and put them up, too. “I’m the one who makes sure these places are stocked, and I pick the supplies knowing that anyone on the mountain might use them.”

  “Awesome.” She returned my smile. “Then I guess I won’t feel too guilty about raiding the snacks and drinks when I got here.”

  I jerked my chin toward the small pantry. “Did you find the bottle of cinnamon rum?”

  She licked her lips as though she wanted a taste of the fiery drink, making me wonder how her mouth would taste. “I did not.”

  I walked over and pulled out the boxes on the back shelf to grab the bottle out of a package of rice cakes and set it on the middle of the table. “Nobody ever picks those as a snack, so it works great as a place to hide the alcohol. That way, it’s not the first thing a skier finds when they pop in here for a break.”

  “Definitely a smart call.” She laughed as she got up and walked over to one of the chairs at the table. “Otherwise, that bottle would be empty every time you restocked.”

  Drinking while skiing wasn’t a good idea since it greatly increased the risk of injury while on the slopes. It still happened all the time, though. But we weren’t going to hit the slopes anytime soon, so I got a couple of cups and set them down next to the rum. “Lucky for us, it hasn’t been opened yet.”

  “Want to play drunk war?”

  I’d played war a bunch of times but had never played the version where it was a drinking game. “Sure, but you’ll have to tell me the rules.”

  She gave me a quick rundown as I claimed the other chair. When she was done, I eyed the bottle between us and suggested, “We should stick to sips instead of shots if we’re both going to drink at the start of every war plus any time we lose one.”

  “Good call,” she agreed, pulling the cards out of one of the boxes while I poured rum into each of the cups. Even with limiting our intake, it didn’t take long for us to start feeling the effect of the rum. It turned out Tory was a lightweight, and because she had incredible luck in our card wars, I ended up drinking almost twice as much. She was an adorable drunk, giggling over jokes she tried to explain but got distracted in the middle, making me laugh anyway.

  We were snowed in at a small shack in the middle of the woods on the mountain just playing cards together, but it was one of the best nights of my life. And it only got better several hours later when we decided it was time to sleep, and Tory insisted we cuddle up on the cot together. Holding her in my arms felt right on a deep level, as though she belonged there. I actually found myself in the odd position of being thankful that I’d somehow messed up with my avalanche control, leaving us stranded together...and hoping the blizzard was as big as forecasted because I wanted as much time as I could get with Tory.

  After sleeping in the next morning, we played a few different card games but without the alcohol. With anyone else, I probably would’ve been bored and ready to start digging us out, especially since I was missing my family’s Christmas celebration—although I had been able to wish them a happy holiday by radioing the lodge and having them call the landline and my childhood home. The connection was shit, but that was probably for the best because my dad didn’t have the chance to question why I hadn’t tried to make it down the mountain. I was perfectly content spending the holiday up here with Tory, and I would never risk her life to make it down the mountain in the middle of a blizzard. She was already precious to me, and I was honored to have the chance to help keep her safe.

  I would never do anything to dim the smile she flashed at me before she said, “Double solitaire was fun, but I had something a little different in mind for our next card game.”

  “Sure.” I didn’t need to ask what game she was going to suggest before I answered. I was up for whatever Tory wanted to do.

  She winked at me, and the action was somehow both completely adorable and incredibly sexy at the same time. “Want to play strip poker?”

  Strip poker? I must’ve been a much better boy this year than I realized because my dirty fantasies about seeing every inch of her curvy body were about to come true. “Are you sure?”

  Her green eyes held a hint of mischief that made me wonder if I was about to be played. Not that it made any difference to me, I was still going to take her up on the offer. Even if I was the one who ended up fully naked and she only lost a few articles of clothing, I’d still consider that a win. I wasn’t sure where the game would lead us, but I sure as fuck wanted to find out. “Count me in.”

  She rubbed her hands together in excitement before grabbing the deck of cards we hadn’t been using and expertly shuffling it with the other. “There, if we use both, it’ll be harder for me to count cards.”

  “I knew it,” I crowed. “You’re a card shark, aren’t you?”

  She widened her eyes in an attempt to look innocent as she murmured, “I wouldn’t use that term, exactly.”

  I leaned my elbow against the tabletop and propped my chin up in the palm of my hand. “What would you call yourself then?”

  “Someone who’s really, really good at math.”

  If my cock hadn’t already felt like a steel pipe in my pants from her mention of strip poker, her confidence would have hardened it. “That good, huh?”

  She nodded and explained, “I’d better be since I only have one semester to go for my PhD in statistics. I just need to finish my dissertation and present my paper to my advisory panel at the end of the next semester.”

  “Well, damn.” I let out a low whistle. “I’ve played my fair share of poker, but it sounds as though I’m going to be in over my head with you.”

  “Do you want to play something else?” she asked.

  I shook my head and smirked. “Hell, no. I figure half of the game is luck, so I’m bound to win at least a few hands.” I reached over and grabbed my jacket, goggles, and thermal mask. “But I better add a few more items of clothing so that you don’t have too much of an advantage.”

  Her giggles filled the air, and it was the best thing I had heard in a long time. I made a mental note to give her reasons to laugh as often as possible while I had the chance...and to make her scream my name in pleasure if this game led where I hoped.

  Chapter 5

  Tory

  Suggesting strip poker was way out of character for me. I’d never played it before, but the sparks flying between Gavin and me were so thick, I felt like I needed to do something to give him the green light to make a move. Maybe strip poker was a drastic measure, but I didn’t have a lot of experience in situations like this. Or any, really.

  He’d been a perfect gentleman with me and was such a good guy. I worried that he wouldn’t try anything while we were stuck here together because he thought he’d be taking advantage of me. But I didn’t have the same issue holding me back since I never claimed to be a lady. I was more than willing to put my math skills and great memory to good use by winning the clothes off his muscular body if he was inclined to let me...and judging by the large bulge in his pants, he definitely was.

  “Feel free to put those all on,” I agreed with a grin. “It’ll make winning that much sweeter.”

  He pulled his thermal mask down around his neck, popped his goggles on top of his head, and slipped his jacket on. “Your confidence is sexy as fuck.”

  I’d never really felt seductive before, but being with Gavin had tapped into my previously undiscovered sensual side. “Then prepare to be wowed because I’m about to beat the pants off you. Literally.”

  “Game on, baby.”

  I followed up my boast, winning the first five hands and claiming his mask, goggles, jacket, and both of his socks as my prizes. Then we went back and forth for the next few hands, with him getting my sweatshirt and one of my socks while I went for his shirt. His bare chest was a heck of a distraction, but I was determined to get his pants and won the next hand, leaving him in nothing but his boxer briefs.

  My gaze landed on his impressive erection, and I bit my bottom lip. Around the fourth hand, he’d scooted his chair next to mine instead of staying across the table, so he was easily able to reach out and pull my lip from beneath my teeth. “You sure you want to keep going, baby? We can stop if you want.”

  “I don’t need to stop.” I shook my head and took a shuddering breath in an attempt to soothe my jagged nerves. “What I really want is for you to kiss me now. Please.”

  He didn’t make me wait for his response. His hand wrapped around the back of my head to pull me closer, and his mouth crashed down on mine. My lips parted, and his tongue swept inside. I clutched his shoulders as I lost myself in his kiss, letting out a whimper of protest when he started to pull back.

  “You can’t make sounds like that, baby. My control is already at its limit,” he groaned, his chest heaving as he dropped his forehead against mine. “You deserve so much more than our first time together happening on a tiny cot in a warming shack of all places, and that’s where we’re headed if we keep this up.”

  I cupped his cheeks with my palms and stared into his dark eyes. “That’s exactly what I want. You and me? Here and now? It’s perfect.”

  “How am I supposed to think straight when you say shit like that?” he groaned.

  “Stop thinking so much and just kiss me,” I urged, pressing on the back of his head to bring his lips closer to mine.

  He gave me exactly what I asked for, his tongue sweeping inside to explore my mouth until I was breathless with need. This time when he tore his lips away from mine, it wasn’t to point out all the reasons I deserved more. Instead, he slid off his chair and dropped to his knees in front of me. Wrapping his hand around my ankle, he pulled my remaining sock off my foot. “I can’t believe I didn’t even get both your socks. Remind me to take you to Vegas sometime. I’d love to see you kick some ass in a poker tournament.”

  “As long as I stay away from the blackjack tables, the casinos don’t even mind that I can count cards. From what I’ve heard, it’s a crucial technique used by all successful players.”

  He shook his head and laughed softly as he tugged my Merino wool leggings down my thighs. “And you tried to convince me you weren’t a card shark.”

  I shrugged. “What can I say? A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.”

  He tossed my leggings over his shoulder, his gaze zeroing in on the wet spot on my sheer pink panties. “From now on, anytime you need me to ease the ache in your pretty pussy, just say the word, and I’ll take care of you.”

  “Word,” I panted when he traced his index finger over the gusset of my panties. I parted my legs to give him better access, but it wasn’t necessary because he lifted me off the chair and carried me over to the cot.

  Once he laid me down, he tugged my T-shirt over my head. His eyes heated as his gaze swept down my body, clad in only my sheer bra and panties. “You’re so fucking gorgeous.”

  The way he looked at me made me feel beautiful. “And you’re hot as heck.”

  He crawled between my legs and tugged on the sides of my panties to pull them down my legs. “Then I guess we’re a perfect pair.”

  “Uh-huh,” I breathed, unable to say much of anything when his thumb circled my clit.

  “I can’t wait to taste you.” He reached under my back to undo the clasp on my bra before tugging the straps down my arms. “But first, I want to get my mouth on your perfect tits.”

  My nipples pebbled beneath his stare, and my back arched off the mattress when he lowered his head to suck one of them into his mouth, sending a shock of pleasure straight to my core. I’d never felt anything like it before. “More.”

  “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll give you as much as you can take,” he promised as he switched sides to give some attention to my other breast. By the time he’d licked and sucked my rounded globes to his satisfaction and started to work his way down my body, I was writhing in need beneath him. “I need your taste in my mouth.”

  My legs slid together restlessly, as I tried to ease the unfamiliar ache between them. His hands skimmed down my thighs and drifted to the inside to push my legs apart. Then his head bent low, and his tongue swiped between my pussy lips, licking upward to circle my clit. With just that one touch, he pushed me close to the edge.

  “Gavin,” I gasped.

  His smile was full of wicked intent as he glanced up at me. “Yeah, baby?”

  “I’m not sure how long I can hold on,” I warned.

  “Don’t try to fight it.” He spread my pussy lips with his thumbs and licked up my center. “Come for me, baby.”

  He worked me with his mouth, tongue, and fingers until I flew apart, screaming his name as he ate me through my release. When my shudders started to subside, he shoved his boxer briefs down his legs, causing his long, hard cock to spring free. The head was purple and leaking precome, but I didn’t get to stare at it for long because he lowered himself over my body and notched the tip at my entrance.