Falke’s Peak

Gunnar hung his head as if she’d just chewed him a new asshole, and gave a little whimper. Just as Axel knew she’d do, Dakota went to Gunnar and gave him a hug.

“Oh, you big baby. I’m not mad.” She kissed his head. “Just don’t scare me unless I’m supposed to be scared.”

Gunnar licked her cheek, and she laughed.

“Suck up,” Axel muttered, shaking his head in disgust at his brother.

Dakota stood up straight, keeping her hand on Gunnar’s head.

Gunnar chuckled. Whatever works.

Axel hopped off the porch then turned and lifted Dakota down into the snow. It took a few seconds for her to find her balance, but when she did, she grinned up at him. He would swear he’d never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.

* * *

Dakota followed Axel through the snow, the shoes hardly sinking at all because the snow was wet, but the little bit that stuck to the shoe was heavy, making it even more difficult than normal to walk in the webbed footwear. She followed Axel’s tracks as he headed around the side of the cabin, and when she looked up at the new view, she gasped in awe.

Axel stopped and turned back. “What’s wrong?”

All she could do was point at the towering mountain covered in white. The snow sparkled in the sunshine as if diamonds were scattered over the surface.

“Falke’s Peak, or at least that’s what we call it.”

“It wasn’t there when we got here the other night,” she said, moving closer to him. “It’s amazing. Look at those jagged edges, and the snow is so pretty.”

Axel laughed. “It was there, but the clouds were too low to see it. Got your camera?”

“Oh! Yeah.” She pulled her right glove off and reached into the inside pocket of her down jacket. She snapped a few pictures. “I grew up in Boulder, but…”

“It all has to do with elevation,” Axel said. “In Boulder, you’re already a mile high. Here, you’re less than half that. The peaks look higher.”

She turned her gaze to him and made a face at him.

“Duh.”

He laughed and chucked her on the chin with his gloved hand. “Come on. You’ll like the lake. It’s just over that little ridge over there.” He turned away and started off.

Dakota glanced up at the mountain again as she tucked her camera away and pulled her glove back on.

She followed his tracks, finding it easier if she stepped inside them, since his snowshoes were slightly bigger than hers. Falke leaped through the snow, bounding ahead and returning to walk by her side a while, then taking off again, constantly making her grin at his antics.

Dakota felt so…happy. She tried to remember the last time in her life she’d been able to cut loose and laugh like this. To breathe in the fresh air and stare at the butt of a man so gorgeous it made her ache to jump him and have her way with him right here in the snow.

Well, never. But she vowed to try to find things that could make her feel like this. Happy and filled to brimming with laughter and…pleasure. She just felt really good.

She took off her gloves and stuffed them in her jacket pockets. It was really warm, the sun managing to fight winter and give off heat.

“Almost there,” Axel called over his shoulder. “Just this hill to go.”

She glanced at the hill in front of him, then stopped and turned back to look for the cabin. They’d gone maybe two hundred and fifty yards from the back of the little house, and the hill that looked kind of difficult to climb up in snowshoes was more or less the base of the mountain Axel had called Falke’s Peak.

Axel was up the fifty-foot hill without a problem.

She stopped at the base and looked up at him. He wasn’t even breathing hard.

“Come on, honey. It’s not as bad as it looks. Keep the snowshoes perpendicular to the hill and kind of crab-walk up sideways.”

She turned and started moving. Fell over on her side, but at least her body went up the hill when she fell and not down. Her bare hand met icy snow, and she jerked it out of the white stuff and dug out her gloves. After wiping her hands off on her jacket, she put the gloves on.

Falke stood at the bottom of the hill, looking up at her as if he expected her to roll down on top of him.

She stuck her tongue out at him and pushed herself back up onto her feet.

“That’s it, hon. You can do it.”

“If I wanted to hear a cheerleader, I’d join the Dallas Cowboys.” She took a few more awkward steps.

Axel laughed. “We like the Seahawks in this part of the country. I thought you’d be a Broncos fan.”

“They’re all the same to me,” she muttered. “Bunch of big men plowing into each other over a toy ball.”

“Damn, you’ve got spunk.”

“My dad—” She caught herself from another tumble and steadied herself. “He told me that I have a snarky side.”

“I’ve yet to hear snark from you,” he said. “Just a little farther.”

She fought her way up the last few feet, and then she was being lifted the rest of the way. Dakota wrapped her arms around Axel’s neck when she was high enough and planted a hard kiss on his lips.

“Thanks.”

He grinned, his breath warm against her cheeks.

“You’re very welcome.” When he let her slowly slide down his body, there was no mistaking the hard bulge in his pants, even through the layer of denim and skiwear.

“Mmm.” She leaned into him and breathed in his scent. Fresh and clean like the outdoors with a sweet male musk beneath.

“Be good,” he whispered and pulled back. “Turn around and take a look.”

Reluctantly, she pulled away and let him lift and rotate her so she faced away from him.

“Oh…wow…” A smooth expanse of white stretched out before them, outlined by the dark pine trees. If she thought the snow on the mountain sparkled like diamonds, it was nothing compared to this.

Axel wrapped his arms around her and pressed into her back. “Pretty, huh?”

“Amazing. Absolutely gorgeous.”

“You’ll like this too. Come on.” He moved around her, took her hand and led her down the gentle incline to the lake, and then out onto it.

“You sure it’s safe?” she asked, wondering how deep the water was below them.

“Yep. Frozen solid.” He stopped and leaned down, unbuckled his snowshoes and then hers. “Step out.”

It looked deep, and she frowned at him when he stood up.

“Go on,” he said with a grin. “Trust me.”

She did trust him, and she stepped out of the snowshoe onto the snow, sank down about three inches then stopped.

“Careful, it’s slick.”

She squatted down and brushed the snow away, and saw the ice. Saw through it to some weeds and gravel.

“Oh, cool!” She went down on her knees and brushed away more snow. “Look. You can see the bottom. It’s so clear!”

Axel dropped down beside her and helped her push the wet snow away to clear a circle of the pretty ice.

“Wow. Oh, man, just…wow!” She stuck her face down next to the ice, almost touching it with her nose, and looked through it at the colorful stones and weeds that had literally frozen into place. “It’s like a giant snow globe. Why is the snow so shallow here?”

“This is a really windy spot when the snow’s falling, so it doesn’t get deep.”

Dakota sat up on her heels and grinned. “Thank you.”