Together, they followed the river bed, the energizing air of the afternoon just starting to give way to real cold. Rounding a bend, Kyara saw where they were headed.
The building looked old, its woods stained dark and strong, but it didn't look rickety. The stone and logs supporting it all looked thick and powerful. As they go closer, Kyara saw that it had been recently reinforced by newer, paler wood.
“While we've been working on the trail, the crew from the other end has been coming down to fix this,” Jason explained. “It was an old mill. We're hoping to make it something of a waypoint and camping site along the trail. Speaking of which....”
Jason moved to the heavy door of the entrance and pushed it aside. Inside the old building was dark, but he'd set up several candles and prepared a fire in the center of the flat stone floor.
“The guys would kill me if they knew I was making a fire inside here, but I thought we might need to warm up this evening. Besides, what they don't know won't kill them.”
Kyara stepped inside, enjoying the view as Jason got the fire going. She rubbed her hands together to work some heat back into them. Jason glanced at her, then pulled her closer to the barely glowing fire. He moved her hands to rub her chest instead of each other.
“Keep your core warm, he instructed her firmly. “Your outside can freeze, but not your heart.”
“For my next surprise” he announced as he pulled out a large s
teamer truck from a niche in the wall. Inside was a small sampling of food and a single sleeping bag. He waggled his eyebrows at her, then began to set up for dinner.
Kyara laughed as Jason burned their fire-cooked dinner. Her giggles left her leaning on him as she tried to get her breath back.
“OK, that settles it,” she managed between laughs. “Our next date is in my kitchen. You clearly have some things to learn, too.”
“I am an expert at eating, not cooking,” he said with mock-dignity, studying the withered remains of what should have been a baked potato. Kyara burst into giggles all over again, falling over into his lap.
A solid, persistent throbbing from inside his pants made Kyara feel a rush of a very different kind altogether.
“Did you actually have fun and learn things?” he asked from above her.
“Hmm,” she said. “Let me see.” She let her hands wander over his jacket, tugging the zipper until the layers beneath it were exposed.
“You can go straight where you're headed if you line it up with a tree,” she quoted, tugging up on her clothes to kiss along his belly just above his cock.
“If a trail works in loops, it's harder to get lost,” she murmured, curving her kisses around to head back down toward his pants. He reached for her, running his hands along her thighs, trying to work upwards, but she swatted his hands away with a tsk.
“Uh uh. If I get soaked, it could be very dangerous. Staying dry is staying alive.”
Jason groaned as she pressed against his erection.
She moved suddenly to straddle his lap, her hands looped behind his back as she stared into his eyes.
“We should get in the sleeping bag,” she told him.
He nodded, his mind clearly on the steps after that.
She kissed him, once, with quiet passion.
“After all,” she said. “Outside can freeze, but not your heart.”
Then there was no speaking for a long, long time.
Kyara hummed to herself as she bustled around the kitchen, expertly keeping four dishes going as once, even as she kept an eye on Crystal's work as well. The weeks had blurred together into months, but all happy ones.
A bell dinged from the dining area, and Crystal swept over to check on it with the ease of long practice. She moved with the same vibrant energy Kyara did, despite it being the first day of her Christmas break.
I was prepared for sulky teen. It's easy to forget that she's graduating in a few months. I wonder if she'll want to come work here full time? I could sure use her. I was worried business would slow down, either with the cold or when the novelty wore off, but we seem to be doing just fine.
Kyara heard a small, “ummmmmmm” from the window. She spun, wondering what Crystal could be seeing to produce such a sound. Though snow hadn't stuck for more than a few days at a time, everyone had moved indoors lately, and the closer quarters were making people a little testier.
Crystal was staring at the ticket as if she'd never seen one before.