A Little Alone Time Together

We drove up the snowy, winding road towards the cozy A-frame cabin. A wave of relief washed over us as we approached the garage just down the hill from the cabin. By the last leg of our trip up the mountain, we were white-knuckling the steering wheel and "oh shit" bar, respectively. The winding roads were bad enough in good weather, and the weather was anything but good that evening, the snow falling quick and thick. I actually sighed with relief when David parked the car safely within the garage.

"I'm gonna go unlock the door first, get some lights on, and then I'll be back out to help get the luggage in, okay?" he explained. I nodded, pulling on my mittens in preparation for getting out into the cold and grabbing items from the car. The detached garage was a short way from the cabin, but there was a steep climb of stairs that were bound to be slick with ice. I kept an eye on David as he made his way up slowly, checking nearly every time I placed a bag on the cement behind me that he wasn't lying prone on the steps.

Eventually he reached the cabin, and the next time I turned around with luggage, lights were on inside the structure. A few minutes later, as I was giving the car one last look before locking up, David reappeared, ready to help me carry the bags into the cabin. We both looked over the impressively steep and somewhat imposing stairs.

"They're slick, but we should both be able to get up them no problem if we're careful about it. Gotta go slow and deliberate though," he told me. I responded by shouldering my backpack and picking up as many bags as I could. David did the same, as neither of us wanted to make an extra trip down and back up the icy stairs. David double-checked that the car was locked and we began our wary ascent.

"Did we really need all this for the weekend?" David huffed ahead of me.

"Well, no," I began, puffing out my own response, "but I don't want to leave the bags for the next stay in the car."

"Yeah, there are things that wouldn't do well if they froze...".

At the top of the icy climb, David opened the door and we both hurried in, eager to get out of the blistering cold. Not only was the snow still coming down heavily, but the winds had carried a terrible, biting ferocity. In the entryway, I caught sight of my reflection in a mirror, my face red from the few minutes exposed to the elements. I shuffled in further to place our things down out of David's way, letting him come in and shut the door behind us.

The cabin was colder than I had hoped it to be, but I saw that the fireplace was now on in the living room area. David explained that the heat had been on, but it was clearly set quite low and he had opted to turn on the fireplace. We removed our wet, snowy boots and jackets before taking in the sight of the main floor of the cabin. Dark, polished wood furniture, a plethora of thick blankets, and an assortment of wall decor greeted us. Once it warmed up, it would be downright cozy.

"I'm gonna take the suitcase and duffle bags to the bedroom," I stated, picking up the bags.

"All right. I'll toss that pizza in the oven. It's pretty late for dinner, but I'm starving and I don't wanna have to actually cook something right now," David responded.

"Sounds good! Why don't you make those ready-to-bake cookies too while the oven's going? I really want something sweet right now," I suggested, bent over as I reached for the bag handle furthest from me. I felt my partner step forward and grip my hips, pulling me into him and grinding against me. His breath tickled my ear as he spoke next.

"Yeah? I think I want something sweet too."

"Hm..." I hummed, glancing over my shoulder at him, "We'll see... But first, unpacking and pizza."

"And cookies," David added, his fingers lingering as long as they could as he began moving off towards the kitchen.

"And cookies," I confirmed, beginning my task of hauling the luggage into the bedroom and starting to unpack for our stay. I heard David start putting the food away and preheating the oven as I walked off towards the staircase. I groaned.

"What's wrong?" David called from the kitchen.

"More stairs..." I lamented. I received a chuckle for my annoyance.

As I climbed the staircase, I too questioned why we had brought so much with us. I knew I was right to bring them all in, sparing us the mess of anything that froze and expanded in the car overnight. Moreover, traveling in our reliable, but aging vehicle in such poor weather in the mountains had made us concerned enough to bring extra supplies - just in case. More than usual anyway.

My moment of packer's regret faded as I reached the top landing. The decor was minimal, but elegant. Everything seemed to tie together so effortlessly, and I felt a pang of envy that our own home didn't own such an air of being... put together.

'As much as these folks charge for a night, I'm sure they make enough to pay for a maid to upkeep the cabin,' I thought. We were here to unwind, after all. To reconnect with each other.

David came up to the bedroom a few minutes later as I was unpacking, and I could tell by the way he was looking around that he was looking for something in particular.

"Babe, where's the bath kit? I wanna get a shower in while the pizza's in the oven," he asked.

"Uh... I just saw that a minute ago..."

"Found it! Slid off and partway under the bed."

I watched with interest as he stripped down and began carrying items into the bathroom, biting my lip slightly. David wasn't the only one ready for a little excitement. I listened carefully over the steaming shower for the oven timer; David had a bad habit of thinking he could squeeze a shower in while anything was in the oven. It was amazing that he hadn't burned the house down yet, though I'd caught it close to catching fire a number of times over the years.

Sure enough, I heard the timer begin going off before David finished his shower, and I raced downstairs to turn off the annoying alarm. David also hadn't found or set out the oven mitts, so I spent a minute searching for them before I could remove the pizza. The edges were very dark and looked pretty crispy for a soft crust pizza, but we were used to this - and often much worse - charring. It wasn't terrible, but when we did go out to eat, I was always amazed how different food tasted when it wasn't... charred black.

Once I had pulled the pizza out and set it aside to cool, I noticed the cookie dough on the counter. Figuring I was already in the kitchen, I washed up and divided the dough onto cookie sheets before placing them next to the oven as the temperature adjusted.

By the time I returned upstairs, the shower was no longer running. I was mildly disappointed to find David half dressed when I walked in. He helped me finish unpacking before we both made our way downstairs, stomachs growling.

We ate quickly. Quietly. Suddenly, when I caught David staring at me, I asked, "What?".

He didn't respond at first, but after a moment, replied, "It's still pretty cold in here. Why don't you take a nice, warm bath? I can put away the leftovers and bake the cookies."

It wasn't unusual for David to suggest something like this; it was his way of reminding me to take care of myself and take a little time for myself. Even if it was supposed to be a getaway for us to reconnect after work pulled us a little further apart each year. I decided a bath sounded lovely, and agreed to let him clean up.

It took a little while for the tub to fill; it was sizable and the stream of water filling it was feeble at best. By the time I was able to sink into the warm water, I had already lit scented candles around the bathroom. I turned the lights off, leaving the candles to set the ambience, and sat in the tub, large enough to well and truly cover me, relishing in the plume of bubbles on the surface.

'I want a tub like this,' I thought, enjoying the feeling of being utterly enveloped in the wet warmth. So much so, I dozed off briefly, waking when the water began cooling.

I dried off and walked, undressed, into the bedroom to see David laying on his back under the covers. I could tell that he was naked beneath them as well. He'd turned off the lights, but had snuck in electric candles from home, and it was these that cast a dim glow across the room. I saw a couple of familiar bottles on the nightstand beside him; I knew one was massage oil, and the other was lubricant, though I wondered where he'd found the time - and room - to stash them in the luggage. I nibbled on my lip again in anticipation, and slid into the bed from the other side, cuddling up to him.

We trailed our wayward fingers over one another slowly, studying each other with an intimacy we hadn't created in what felt like had been years. Soon, David was guiding me to turn over onto my stomach, and he continued working his fingers over my body before introducing some of the massage oil. A warm vanilla scent wafted over, and before long I was relaxed enough to be nearly falling asleep.

It was as David was straddling my thighs that I realized how hard he'd become, and he slowly began probing for entry. When he found it, we had no need for the lubricant he'd brought, and he entered as soft and sweet as his fingers had glided over my skin, though he was anything but soft. We both let out a pleasured gasp as our lovemaking continued, drowning in that heightened level of intimacy...

...It wasn't until much later, lying sweaty and tangled in the bedding, that a loud alarm caught our attention. After a few moments of confusion, I suddenly jumped up, racing down the hallway buck-ass-naked, my lamenting shriek echoing in the cabin's darkness and the growing scent of smoke from the oven overpowering the air.

"THE COOKIES!!"

Playlist for the creation of this piece.