A Season of Firsts

Chapter 34

2 months later

The ski season is almost over, so we have been making the most of it out on the slopes. The improvement in my skill from last year to now is astonishing, and I only have one person to thank for it.

"Have you decided where you're going when the season's over?" Rory asks me, his voice coming from behind me as I sit between his legs in the snow, taking a well-earned break.

"I need to go home first to visit my Dad, Cara and all of my friends and family at home, then I was thinking of interrailing in Europe over the summer. I've managed to save a little bit of money from working at the hotel, and I've still got the majority of my inheritance money from my mum," I respond. In all honesty, I've been desperately trying not to think about what the future holds, because it means thinking about me and Rory going our separate ways. I know he wants to go to college in Canada, because it's something he's talked about before. Our separation is something that has always been inevitable, but seems unbearable now the time is nearing. We've just become stronger than we've ever been and it's going to be ripped away.

He's silent, thinking, so I probe him for his plans. "What about you? Which college are you thinking of going to?"

"I'm not sure yet. I don't even know what I want to study. My parents want me to major in business, but my heart's not in it," he says honestly, contemplating.

"You need to trust your gut, don't do it if it won't make you happy. It's not your parents getting the degree, it's you," I say, playing the devil's advocate. In his parent's eyes, anyway.

"I wish it was that simple," he sighs, resting his head against mine.

"Why isn't it?"

"They've had huge expectations of me since I was a little kid, teaching me about their business and prepping me to take over it one day. I don't know how I would tell them that I don't think I want that. It would feel like I'm being ungrateful for everything they've done for me."

"I get that, you don't want to disappoint them," I say, running my fingers over his palm in a comforting gesture.

"No, I don't," he sighs, and goes silent for a while, and I let him think it over. He'll ask for my input when he wants it. "Anyway, enough of this depressing talk. Let's go home so I can take your clothes off," he says, and moves out from behind me. I laugh loudly, hoping no one near us on the slope heard that. "You want me to distract you from your problems with sex?"

"You know me too well," he says, and takes my hand to pull me closer to him, and plants an intoxicating kiss on my lips, giving me a taste of what's to come when we get back to his apartment.

My clothes are off within a minute of entering through the front door, scattered in a trail from the entryway to Rory's bedroom. I lie back on his bed, exposed save for my underwear, as he hurriedly pulls his base layer over his head, giving me a beautiful view of his toned chest and abs, and the deep V that disappears into his boxers. My eyes are full of lust as I scan his whole body, and he sees it in them when our eyes meet.

He crawls predatorially onto the bed, hovering over me and kissing me gently. I'm not in the mood for slow, so I wrap my legs around his torso and crush his chest to mine, and open my mouth to his. His tongue invades immediately, swirling seductively and dampening my core.

"You're so beautiful," he whispers as he lifts his body from mine slightly, kissing my neck and trailing down to the swell of my breasts. He pushes my bra aside and bites my nipple before soothing the pain with his tongue, and I gasp as my back arches, needing more.

"So are you," I say, running my hands along his hard abdominal muscles and down to his boxers. I'm about to rip them off him when he stops my hands with his.

"I don't think so. Ladies first," he says, and pulls my panties down my legs as I unclasp my bra. He inhales sharply when he presses his fingers to my core and feels how wet I am. I moan as he starts moving his fingers rhythmically, in and out, and assaults my body with kisses at the same time.

"Please," I gasp, and he knows what I want, he's just playing with me to prolong this.

I move his fingers up to my clit, and he gives in and gives me what I want. My hips start moving to his rhythm as he circles his fingers, alternating the pressure to drive me insane, and it's not long before I'm crying out his name as I reach my climax.

I collapse on the bed, sated, and I hear the rustling of a condom wrapper as he rips it open and rolls it on.

"Hey, I wanted to do that," I frown, but there's a smile on my lips.

"You can another time," he kisses me on the lips, "But right now I need to be inside you, I almost came just from watching you writhe under me." There isn't another warning before he lines himself up with my entrance and slides into me, shaking me out of my comatose post-orgasm state. I wrap my legs around him again as we move together, and I enjoy the pained look on his face, because I know he is working hard not to come as easily as I did. He lifts my left leg and places it on his shoulder, changing up the angle, and I move my hand down to just above where we're joined to bring myself to climax at the same time as him. When he sees what I'm doing, he grabs my wrists and pins them above my head.

"I think you'll find that's my job," he says mischievously, and keeps both of my wrists pinned with one hand as he finds my clit with the other. I can no longer focus on anything but the combined pressure of him inside of me and his fingers on my clit. I start to call out his name as I get closer, and he tenses at my words, releasing into me, which sets me off on my own high.

When we've both come down from our highs, we curl up in the blankets, and he positions himself behind me, resting one arm in the crevice of my neck while other is wrapped firmly around my torso. I feel relaxed and protected, and I drift off to sleep in his arms.

I wake not long after to the feeling of his fingers drawing circles on my arm. I know him well enough now to know that means he's thinking hard about something.

"What are you thinking about?" I turn over, facing him, my voice laced with sleep.

"Us," he says, simply, and it plants a seed of dread in my stomach.

"What about us?" I ask tentatively.

"I can't let you go, not when we've had so little time being completely together," he muses, mirroring my thoughts.

"I know – I don't want to let you go either," I say sadly, knowing it's our only option.

"Are you looking for a companion to travel Europe with?"

My heart stops. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'd quite like to see Paris," he smirks at me.

"What about your parents? Don't you have commitments with them over the summer?"

"Nah, they'll get over it. I've

been working for them in their stores since it was legal, so I'm sure they'll let me have a break just this once."

"You're serious," I say, half asking him and half telling myself. I can't quite believe my ears.

"As a heart attack," he says, his face deadpan.

"Promise me," I say, holding out my pinkie finger, and he joins it with his and stamps our thumbs. He knows how seriously I take pinkie swears, so that's when I realize that he isn't just playing with me. He actually wants to travel Europe with me. I squeal, jumping on him and kissing the life out of him. He laughs under me, but I can't contain my excitement. "We're going travelling together!"

"I know, baby," he chuckles, kissing me tenderly, "I can't wait."