For one of my best readers & reviewers, imaferrari, who is not in the holiday spirit. Yet. May this bring tidings of comfort and joy. ;)
/ /
"I hate you."
"That's a lie."
"No. No it's not. I hate you."
"Ashley..."
"I mean it! I don't know how you convinced me to do this-"
"By giving you a mind-blowing orgasm. More than once."
"And that isn't fair, Spence. That's extremely unfair and playing dirty and hitting below the belt and-"
"Okay, I get it."
"So, yea, I hate you."
"No, you don't. You hate what we are doing."
"That, too. I hate you and I hate what we are doing."
"God, I had really forgotten just how much you could complain..."
"This is justified complaining! You used me, Spencer. You used my... my lust for you and various body parts to wrangle-"
"What? 'Wrangle'? Since when do you say 'wrangle'?"
"Stop interrupting me. Wait... where was I? Did you do that on purpose, too? Make me lose my train of thought?"
"You were blaming me for being here today."
"...Right, exactly. You are to blame for all of this, so, you know, my complaining is your punishment."
"Fine."
"Fine? That's it? That's all you have to say?"
"Yep."
"Oh... Oh, I get it, you are being passive. Well, two can play at that game, Spencer."
"Okay."
After that, the only sound between the two of them is the crunch-crunch-crunch of snow and ice being broken by two pairs of feet fitted with snow-shoes.
Up above there is the distinct sound of the breeze through bare limbs, rattling and creaking against the crystal clear sky of blue.
The sun is even out, but it isn't warm at all - sure, they've both probably worked up a kind of sweat, however it is a deceptive rise in personal temperature.
It's more like fifteen degrees out here.
It's cold. And Ashley Davies is not meant for cold.
She's meant for beaches and bikinis and pools to cool off in after baking in the UV rays.
She's meant for the kind of weather that lends itself to shorts and tank-tops and flip-flops.
Winter and Ashley Davies do not mix.
Ohio and Ashley Davies do not mix.
But Spencer did that thing. You know, that thing - where she tilts her head and frowns and looks cute and sexy at the same time. And before Ashley knew what hit her, she was on a plane with the rest of the Carlin family, heading to some ridiculous December get-away to the old stomping grounds.
She thought that would be enough. Wasn't that a sweet gesture? Didn't leaving L.A. and heat and Starbucks on every corner mean anything to the girl who owns her heart?
Nope, apparently not.
They got settled in and they ate a meal and the snow started tumbling down.
Ashley took a hot shower and Spencer made her hot chocolate - with marshmallows - and they were left alone in an okay room.
And Ashley thought that it might not be too bad, thinking of the two of them cuddled up through the night and doing whatever it might take to stay warm...
Ashley Davies could put up with Ohio on terms like that.
But she knew that Spencer wouldn't go for any hanky-panky with her parents just down the hall, so Ashley toweled her hair dry and drank the velvety chocolate down before climbing into bed. She leaned over to Spencer, who had been reading this whole time, and kissed the girl's forehead.
"You tired, Ash?" Spencer asked and Ashley sort of shrugged.
"Not too much, but, you know, what else is there to do?"
Spencer's wicked grin told Ashley what else there was to do on a night in Ohio as the snow piled up outside.
"Just try not to shout the walls down..." Spencer whispered into Ashley's ear right before teeth nipped at the flesh below and hands started running lower and Ashley fought to obey Spencer's request.
She might have failed a bit, but it was worth it.
Well, it was worth it... at the time.
Now, not so much. Those orgasms came with a price. A hefty one. One that Ashley is now paying as they trek further and further away from the house, from the fireplace and the shower, way too far from the west coast and the world that Ashley Davies is meant to reside in.
Snow-shoeing. Outside. In the snow and ice and cold. Exercise in the winterly mess that is this place. Who exercises during the winter-time if you have to contend with snow? Who invented snow-shoes anyway?
Ashley is sure it was for some poor soul who couldn't get around, long before the days of cars.
But that doesn't explain why anyone would use them now, does it?
Nope, it does not.
And Spencer doesn't seem to care! Taking pictures and clipping right along like they are actually walking on pavement, Spencer Carlin is in her element.
Ashley realizes it now, that old saying coming true right before her eyes: you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl.
Who knows what will happen next? Milking cows? Churning butter? Peeling potatoes?
Ashley grumbles to herself, realizing that she is quite hungry as well, having foregone pancakes for coffee because she was barely awake and not at all amused.
She just followed Spencer out the door, no doubt looking like an angry child, as Glen laughed at her and called her 'whipped'.
So, now she is hungry and ticked off and Spencer is getting too far ahead for her to catch up... and, to add insult to injury, Ashley feels like she has to pee.
Fucking coffee.
She's going to hold it, though. No way is she going to dig through the layers she has on and expose her ass to nature just for a piss.
She'll hold it even if it kills her. Which it might, because her abdomen is starting to cramp and walking is not helping, it is hindering.
At some point, Spencer finally turns around and cocks her head at Ashley.
It is merely a curious look, but Ashley is no longer rational and thinks that Spencer is looking at her like 'hurry the hell up!'
"What?" Ashley shouts. And she can see Spencer's massive eye-roll from here.
"Never-mind. I can tell that your attitude has not changed yet, so forget it."
She wants to keep being a bitch, if only to satisfy herself. But the pain from not going to the bathroom is making her squirm and Ashley hates pain a bit more than snow-shoeing now.
"Look, can we go back?"
"But we're almost there, Ash... C'mon, I know you are all annoyed, but we are almost done-"
"Spencer, I need to go back."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Why?"
"Because."
"If you don't tell me, then I am going on without you."
"Fine. Do that. But I've got to go."
Now there is no mistaking Spencer's look. Gone is the weary, but accepting stare. It is replaced by a look of real disappointment.
And that one is a killer, folks. Ashley has had that look thrust upon her before and it makes her crumble faster than anything else.
It is the kind of look that wounds you, that makes you feel horrible, that makes you want to drop to your knees and beg for a second chance to make things right.
Even when you hate winter.
Even when you hate snow-shoeing.
Even when you hate your girlfriend... but you really don't.
Even when you have to pee so bad that you are contemplating soiling yourself, just so you have some relief.
Ashley hangs her head and fesses up.
"I have to pee, Spence."
The girl blinks once or twice and that look of disappointment fades away, replaced by a bright grin.
"Oh! Is that all? Well, then let's go."
"Back to the house?"
"No, to the woods, so you can do... you know..."
"Uh, no, not happening."
"Ashley, it's easy."
"I don't care."
"I'll be there and no one will see you... We are the only ones out here anyway."
"Spencerrrrrr..."
Okay, Ashley whines. She cannot help it. Peeing outside is not an Ashley Davies thing. It is not something she does. All the nights of drinking and drug-taking, mostly before Spencer Carlin's arrival in her life, would leave her stumbling and puking - but she never urinated outside.
Never. Not once.
It's like some kind of record, she is sure of it, and she doesn't want to break it.
"Ashley, stop being a baby. Do your business. Then we can go and see the view and then go back."
All the fight is gone from her now. There is nothing left.
She came to Ohio and she is freezing and she is exercising, all because Spencer wanted her to, and now... now this.
Why try and avoid the inevitable, Davies? Glen was right - you are whipped, you are owned, your heart has dragged you into a world where what you want is meaningless.
Ashley sighs and Spencer takes her hand, leading her away from the rough path they have been following. She helps Ashley unzip the puffy ski pants, pushing the hem of her coat up along the way. Then it is the second pants, unbuttoned and shoved down.
After that, Spencer leaves Ashley to take of of things.
Which she does, grimacing the whole time, and when her skin is finally... out there... Ashley hisses out loud.
"Holy fucking hell, it's cold!"
Ashley's voice echoes out and Spencer's body sort of tenses in front of her semi-squatting form.
"Don't think about it. Just hurry up and it'll be over."
"Easy for you to say, you are clothed and I can barely think."
"Why do you need to think?"
"I'm using the bathroom outside, Spencer. It's not relaxing! I cannot relax!"
"Okay, okay, sheesh... calm down and just, uh... think about... think about being warm..."
"What?"
"You know, visualize where you'd rather be and let that image soothe you and then you'll be able to pee."
Ashley thinks that suggestion is a crock of shit. But she'll do anything at this point and so she pictures when they actually did make it to Cabo and how great it was.
How hot it was. How alcoholic it was. How naked it was.
And as silly as it seems, the whole visualize-thing does work.
Back on the path, they resume walking without talking.
Or, rather, Ashley is still refusing to talk and Spencer's gaze is bouncing between the scenery and Ashley's profile.
She can feel those blue eyes on her, probing and sad and full of longing.
Again, Ashley isn't sure she can hold out. Spencer Carlin is her ultimate weakness, her Achilles heel. Spencer is kryptonite and Ashley is Superman in show-shoes.
And just like every other time, Ashley breaks first and willingly caves to the power that love has over her.
"So, this view is pretty great, hmm?"
"I think so."
"That's cool."
Okay, now they are being weird and that sucks more than them being irritated with each other. Weirdness is so not them. They are not that couple. They don't do awkward.
They do angry or happy or sad. They do sexy or playful or honest.
But weird? No, they don't do that and Ashley won't allow this to continue.
"You were right."
"...About what?"
"The picture a warm place thing. It worked."
"Good."
"And, uh, you were right earlier, too."
"...Okay..."
"I don't hate you."
Spencer sort of smiles at that and that causes Ashley to sort of smile in return.
"I dislike this..." And Ashley motions to their current form of movement.
"...but I don't really dislike you." Ashley finishes and Spencer watches her, smile now firmly in place.
"I know."
"Okay, good."
They move at the same time, Spencer to the left and Ashley to the right, lips colliding in the cold and the two of them drag that kiss out like it might be the last one they'll ever share.
Though they both know that that is far from the truth.
Still, it's a nice make-up kiss and Ashley does feel better now and she is pretty certain that Spencer feels that way, too.
Eventually the great view is there to be witnessed.
And it is great, once Ashley gets to actually see it. On her way up the small incline, the ground below must have gone missing somehow, because Ashley's foot went down further than normal and she did a spectacular face-plant into the snow.
Spencer's booming laughter did nothing to help matters, either.
But once the snow was wiped from her eyes and Spencer's chuckles died down and the blonde girl proceeded to dry every single bit of moisture from Ashley's face... Well, then she could see the view of this town there are in and it really was beautiful.
Everything encrusted in white and smoke billowing up from chimneys and trees sparkling in the sunlight.
It is lovely, that's what Ashley says aloud, and Spencer kisses her cheek.
"I knew you'd like it."
Which is true. Spencer knows what Ashley likes, even when Ashley protests and battles and swears up and down that she won't like something.
Spencer knows her better than anyone.
And maybe it'll sound crazy to other people, but Ashley likes that Spencer is so much her other half - the peanut butter to her jelly, the lime to her tequila, the head to her tails.
Spencer gets her soul when even Ashley doesn't understand it.
And that's saying something.
By the time they get back, lunch is ready and waiting. And Ashley isn't ashamed to say that she gorges herself. Then she takes a really long shower, to try and erase her memories of relieving herself in the woods.
And she just sat down for a second, to rub lotion on her increasingly dry skin, but between the snow-shoe hike and the emotions and finally feeling warm again... Well, Ashley just passes out on the bed.
At some point, a blanket is thrown over her, but she just pulls it more tightly about her body and goes right back to sleep.
/ /
It is the faint and delicate breath against her face that stirs Ashley to the land of the living once more.
Then she feels the tender brush of lips against her own, then that touch is on her chin and to her jaw, her cheeks and the tip of her nose and her still closed eye-lids and her forehead.
Every point of Ashley's face is being covered with light kisses.
Ashley kind of hums, which is something she only does when really happy, and usually that sound is caused by one of two things - Spencer and food.
And there is no food to be found right now, so it must be Spencer-induced joy.
That's when Ashley notices pleasant surprise number two, a comfortable and heady weight against her body. And her hands slowly move up and out, finding smooth thighs on other side of her own hips.
That bit of knowledge sends Ashley's humming into over-drive.
She flutters her eyes open and can see strands of blonde hair, with patches of ceiling through that golden wave, and her hands graze further along Spencer's thighs and go towards the girl's ass - giving it a good grip once there.
Spencer's breath hitches by Ashley's ear, lips and tongue working magic on Ashley's neck, latching on to a sensitive spot and causing that hum to turn into a moan.
"Oh, God, I love it when you wake me up like this..."
"Well..." Spencer starts, placing kisses along Ashley's shoulder, "...I wanted to show you how much I appreciate all you did for me yesterday."
Ashley registers that she slept from sometime around two yesterday afternoon all the way to tomorrow morning, but that heavy amount of rest matters very little her at this point in time.
Because Spencer has sort of flattened her body more and that has brought them into further contact, the kind of contact that causes both of their bodies to instantly buck into one another.
Ashley moans more and Spencer sort of growls deep in her throat and Ashley is so turned on, like more than she ever has been. And that's a pretty wild thought, because Spencer is really good at turning her on.
It could be the girl's profession. Which, you know, Ashley is glad that it is not Spencer's job to turn on people... Unless it was Spencer's job to only turn Ashley on.
Her random and rambling thoughts are brought to a sharp halt when fingers dip below the waistline of Ashley's sweat-pants and Spencer off-sets her hips so that she is straddling Ashley's thigh, diving in and grinding down at the same time.
"Fuuuuck... oh, yes... oh, fuck..."
Ashley know she is being too loud. She'll wake up Arthur. And Glen. And Paula, dear God, she'll wake up Paula and there will be uncomfortable looks and tension and embarrassment galore.
As if sensing Ashley split mind of worry and ecstasy, Spencer captures Ashley's lips in a rather impressive kiss, tongue swirling and all that, panting breath to match her own.
"They're... all... gone..." Spencer groans out, the motion of her hips growing more and more erratic. And the pumping of her hand going a little deeper and a little harder each time as well. And with those wonderful words, with the wonderful sensation of Spencer inside of her and on top of her and all around her, with the house all to themselves and no need to be quiet, Ashley has another mind-blowing orgasm.
And, yes, she shouts the walls down.
Twice.
/ /
"I think I like Ohio."
"Yea?"
"Yea... and winter's not so bad, too."
"Wow, such a change of heart, Ash."
"Well, you know, I can adapt to new situations pretty well."
And Spencer grins knowingly and Ashley does the same.
"You sure can, Ash."
/ /
-end-