The Stranger

Part 5

    They traveled for a few hours, and Quinn could feel her eyelids begin to droop along with the little daylight there was. Her head bounced against Jack's chest as they rode through the winter wonderland. She could have slept if not for the pain that assaulted her with every jolt. Jack tried to be gentle, but Ellie was not as considerate. Now that the blizzard wasn't blasting everything in sight, their surroundings were quite breathtaking. Everything was still covered in white, but the ice covered trees were picturesque, towering above them with spots of white covering parts of their branches. It was as if someone had poured white chocolate over the entire mountain range, and it had dribbled and rolled down the trees, pooling at the bottom where the ground was completely covered in soft, white velvet.

    "Blizzards are pretty." She commented, gazing upward to feel the snowflakes land on her eyelashes. Jack's chest rumbled as he chuckled at her approval of the results of the harsh weather. He probably thought she was delirious. Maybe she was.

    "Jack?" She said. His eyes flickered down to her. "Be careful. Later, I mean....when you....look for them." He might be some mysterious hit man, but he'd somehow managed to carve a small part of her heart for himself. He was still a stranger, but she would never forget their time, no matter how short it was. Some of the things she'd told him she'd never told anyone else, not even her closest friends. And the things he told her, things that would burn into her memory and make her think of him every time it snowed.

    The corners of his eyes creased with a smile as he gazed down at her. "Are you worried about me, Quinn?" The words were slightly muffled behind the cloth covering his mouth, but she was close enough to his face to hear the tease in his voice. It warmed the blood in her veins.

    She fought a smile. "No." His chest rumbled again, and his eyes creased deeper. She wanted to pull down the cloth so she could see the tiny dimples in his cheeks. He held her a little tighter as they continued on.

    It was well after nightfall by the time they reached the ski lodge, which had been a bit further than she'd originally thought. Jack slid off the horse around the corner from the building, in the cover of the shadows as he turned to help Quinn down. She stared up at the glowing building with a strange, sinking feeling. He walked her close to the entrance, stopping where the porch light touched the snow.

    They stood on the line, her in the light of the ski lodge, and him in the shadows beneath the moonlight.

    "Jack." She said before he could leave her. He turned back, waiting.

     "Who are you, really?" She'd never believed his name was Jack. There was something staring her right in the face that she just couldn't name. "Just give me something. Anything."

    He came closer, walking to the line once more. Dots of white were scattered in his golden eyelashes as he gazed down at her, eyes the color of the ocean as he tipped his head slowly to the side.

    He pulled down the cloth, "How about a token?" She frowned, her brows furrowing a fraction at the question.

    He stepped closer to her, and brushed her hair back with gloved hands before resting them on either side of her face. Her eyes fell shut, her breath held.

    The shock of heat against her lips startled her for the second it took to realize he'd kissed her. Their eyes met, and then she leaned into the warmth of his mouth, ignoring the pain in her leg for this moment.

    He didn't leave her with a feather light peck. Jack kissed her as if he could read every desire in her mind, with slow deliberation, as if it were their last day alive. He drew her lips open, breathing her in deeply with every motion. Snow accumulated along their shoulders, and in her hair, but she was warmer than she'd been throughout the entire blizzard. Lost in the thrill of kissing a stranger, the ecstasy of feeling his tongue against hers, she couldn't have cared less if they were buried beneath a blanket of white.

    His hands held her in place as if he could stay there forever, exploring her mouth, kissing her like he wanted to take her back to the cabin and never bring her back. Like there was one more thing he would regret not doing. In that moment, the idea was more appealing than anything the ski trip had ever promised. If he caught her up in his arms and ran away with her into the snowcapped mountains, she didn't think she would protest. She would crack all of her ribs and suffer through the pain as long as she was wrapped in Jack's arms, flush and warm.

    The icy air that slipped between them when he finally pulled away sent a shiver down her limbs. He brought his lips up to her forehead, pressing them one more time against her cold skin, and for a moment, part of him was in the porch light. He leveled her eyes with his, pulling her face up to meet his gaze, eyes blazing.

    "I'm yours." He whispered. Every rib in her chest ached as he walked backwards until their fingers were too far apart to touch. He gave her fingers one last squeeze before he pulled up the cloth, mounted his horse, and disappeared into the night, leaving her with a thousand questions and a racing heart. The stranger who had saved her life was gone, and she didn't even know who he was.

**In case anyone is curious, the song "Fly" by Bloodwitch was the inspiration behind the kiss. Not super romantic, but to me it fuels the heat of the moment.**