Feels Like Home

Snowed In

Jake's POV:

I wake up to her in my arms and can't help but smile.  We are entangled in each other and I am the happiest that I can remember being.

I can not believe that this woman, full of light and life, can love me and wants to be with me.  I do believe that we are made for each other, but my insecurities still cause me to deny reality.  There is still a small part of me that can't believe that she loves me.  I can't believe that I might get to live out my days with MC.   It isn't that I deserve it. I absolutely do not.  The choices of my past have caused grief and heartache.  I have not done anything to reach this happy place.  It has been her kind words, her concern for me, and her willingness to fight with and for me that has saved me.  She has taught me how to love and how to be more human. But the fates, or God, or chance has put her in my life.  

I don't want to wake her.  She looks so peaceful, but I am brimming with energy and can hardly wait for her lips to meet mine again.  It isn't that we haven't reconnected many times during the night, but I have waited so long for her, it is never enough.  I want to run my fingers through her hair and kiss her beautiful lips, touch her silky skin, and let my fingers travel to the once-forbidden places that are now exclusive to me.  There will be plenty of time for that, I know.  I should try to sneak out of bed and make her coffee, maybe heat up some of the cinnamon rolls that were in the refrigerator.  I should get up and start the fire, make sure the world is inviting and comfortable when her eyes open.  I should start a bath for her and slowly wake her with the gentlest of kisses, letting her know that I cherish her and that she deserves all of the best the universe has to offer.  

But I am afraid when she wakes the magic of the night will be over and that it won't ever feel like this again, like the first time that a dream comes true, like the first moment that you realize and not just hope that there is a happy ending for you.  I am too selfish to let this moment go.

Unable to commit to what to do and happy right where I am, I lay in silence and take in her scent.  There is no part of her that isn't intoxicating to me. I notice the silence, she isn't making the sounds that I have grown to love.  Her face is full of a smile that I can't deny and her face holds no tension.  I thought that she couldn't be any more beautiful but I was wrong.  Her cheeks have a slight blush as if somehow she knows that I am watching her.  Red and swollen, her lips bear the memories of last night.  Her hair is wrapped around her bare shoulders and looks like pure silk.  Damn it.  I can't wait.  I am going to wake her and I am going to show her all of the ways... 

 That silence. It is more than just the normal sounds that come from living outside of the city. Why is it so quiet?  I know I live in the woods, but I can't hear the birds singing or hear the trees moving in the breeze. I can't hear the train rolling by or the occasional dog barking,

My curiosity pulls me slowly out of the bed.  I slide out from under her and move across the room to the window.  I almost trip on all of the flowers and candles that I had set up.  Cursing under my breath, I am pretty sure I hear her giggle, but when I look in her direction her eyes are still closed. Peeking through a crack in the curtains, I see nothing but white.  The sky is still dumping snow and the air is swirling with snowflakes that can't decide where to land. How is it possible that we have slept, and not slept, through an entire storm?  

I have so many things to do now before I can return to her.  I need to check on the car, find out about road conditions... Do I have internet? Do we have power?  I am thankful that I chopped all of that wood in the fall, at least we will have a fire and food and each other.  I look over and she is staring at me, a smile mixed with concern.

"Jake, what is the matter?" she asks, her voice still holding on to its sultry tone from the night before.

"Nothing is the matter, love.  Everything is perfect," I say as I walk across the room and climb in beside her, my arms wrapping quickly around her like a magnet drawn to its source.  I kiss her cheek and she snuggles back into me a sigh of contentment escaping her lips.  I lay there with her in my arms, enjoying the warmth and the love I feel.  She starts to stretch.  "Do you notice how quiet it is?" I ask.