"Hey, sleepy, how are you feeling?" The voice penetrated my dreams that had something to do with sugarplums that were shaped like bears.

I opened my eyes. The only light in the cabin came from the flickering flames in the hearth. Outside the dust covered windows, the sun was beginning its descent. Everything was bathed in the shadows of late afternoon, including the man next to me, who still looked breathtaking even in the fading light.

"I'm feeling pretty much back to normal. But I'm hungry."

"Yep, I was thinking the same thing." Holt leaned over me and kissed me. "I've spent the last twenty minutes watching you sleep. Very cute, by the way. And all the while, I was trying to decide just how wrong it would be for me to take advantage of my sleeping snow angel after she'd been through a scary ordeal. But now that you're awake—"

I didn't let him finish. I threw my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth back down to mine. We clumsily hurried to pull each other's clothes off. By the time we were down to underwear, we were both frenzied with wanting each other.

He'd come through the snow to save me. My fantasy hero had rescued me from certain death and now it felt as if he'd carved his initials in my heart. Even if I never saw him again after I left the inn, I would never, ever forget him.

He pulled me beneath him and nearly ripped my panties as he yanked them off. He hesitated long enough to roll on a condom before positioning his long hard body between my legs. His hand rested against my face and his thumb brushed over my eyebrow as he gazed down at me. "Never expected someone like you to walk into my life, Jen."

His words tugged at my chest, filling me with hope that this weekend wouldn't be both the start and the end.

Holt's hand slid underneath my bottom, lifting me to meet his cock. He stared down at me as he pushed inside of me one inch at a time.

"Oh, Holt," I sighed as he landed back in that magic sweet spot he'd awakened.

I lifted my hips to meet his thrusts. The fire crackled at our feet as we rocked in perfect rhythm. A sheen of sweat covered our bodies, and the friction between us grew like the fire in the hearth. It was impossible to think that just hours earlier I’d been so cold I was sure I'd lose toes.

My pussy still ached from the sex we'd had all night and yet each time he slammed into me, I wanted more. The tender pain was the thing that would take me over the edge.

I threw my legs around him and he dove deeper, so deep that a gasp flew from my mouth. Holt froze and looked down at me. "Did I hurt you?"

I reached up and stroked his face. My fingers stuttered over the thick beard stubble on his jaw. "Only in the best possible way." I tightened my legs around him and lifted my hips to him.

I grasped the blankets beneath me, trying to hold onto something, worried that I might just be carried away by the orgasm building in my body.

"Yes, fuck yes," I cried as I felt my pussy clench down around him.

He didn't slow down. As my mind and body tried to absorb the vibrations of ecstasy pulsing through me, Holt groaned and came too.

He lowered himself onto the blankets next to me. The fire was slowly dying and as our skin cooled, the air in the cabin seemed to be cooling with it. "We need to head back before dark. Coco will be worried."

I sat up. "Oh my gosh, I forgot about Coco."

Holt pulled me back down into his arms. "She'll be fine. As you might have noticed, the woman knows everything long before it happens."

"So you noticed that too?"

"Yep, but I stopped trying to understand it long ago."

I pressed my arm against my stomach to quiet the hunger growls. "She was going to make me tomato soup and biscuits."

"Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Yep." I sat up. "Let's go back. I'm starved. Getting lost in the snow took a lot of energy." My mind flashed back to those terrifying moments when I thought I would die alone in the snow and the grim reality of how close I came to a horrid death hit me. Tears sprang loose before I could stop them.

Holt's green eyes darkened with concern. He reached up to wipe a tear from my cheek. "Hey, Jen, it's all right. You're safe now. You're with me. I won't let anything happen to you." He sat up and pulled me onto his lap, and I had a good long cry about it. I couldn't ever remember feeling as safe as I did sitting in Holt's arms.

The ride back to the inn seemed so much shorter than I'd expected. In my mind, I'd trudged through snow for hours. But it turned out I wasn't all that far from civilization. Just really, really lost.

Coco was pulling on a bright red shawl as she came out the back door to greet us. "Hurry into the kitchen, Jen. I've got hot soup and cheddar biscuits on the table."

I looked at Holt as I climbed off the snowmobile. "How on earth did she know what time we'd be back?"

Holt shrugged. "With Coco, it's easier not to question."

Coco reached us. "There's a bowl for you too, Holt. Think you've earned it." She winked at him before taking hold of my arm. She led me toward the inn. "Everything all right?"

I glanced back at Holt and faced back forward. "Everything is just dreamy, Coco. Just dreamy."