When the alarm on my phone sounded, Amber and I rolled over facing each other. Lying there together in that warm bed, neither of us wanted to move. It was the last morning of what had been an unforgettable trip. After visiting Amber's family on Sunday and Monday, we spent the rest of the week at her uncle's cabin. For three days, it was just the two of us, completely alone and to ourselves. On the first two days, we went hiking during the day while our evenings were dedicated to relaxation and pleasure. On Thursday though, a strong winter storm struck and we were snowed in together. We had no problem filling the time.
Our trip had been absolutely perfect; but now it was time to return to reality. I could tell Amber was particularly sad about leaving; so I gave her a kiss and repeating something that I had said the night before, "Nothing changes about us when we get home. Everything we had here, we'll always have."
Managing a smile Amber said, "You're right; we can always trade freezing weather and a hot tub for hot weather and a freezing hose."
I laughed and said, "Yeah, and you love every second of those trips."
Pulling me close she groaned, "Mmm yeah I do."
We kissed again and I excused myself to the bathroom. After getting ready for the day, I gathered up my things and carried them to my suitcase to pack for our return. While Amber took my place in the bathroom, I pulled on some clean underwear and then finished getting dressed in a pair of jeans and a sweater. Putting the rest of my clothes back into the suitcase, I zipped it up before carrying it downstairs and leaving it by the front door.
Heading into the kitchen, I got another pot of coffee started. As I waited for it to brew, I walked around picking up the room. I heard Amber moving around upstairs and hollered up to her, "Hey, are you ok with something small this morning?"
She shouted back, "Why? Have you been out in the cold again?" I couldn't help but laugh and then I heard, "Yeah, of course. I'll be down in just a minute."
I went back to the kitchen, poured myself a cup of coffee for myself and then started toasting a couple bagels. As I stood there, looking out the window at the snow-covered trees and mountains, Amber walked up beside me. As she poured herself a cup of coffee, she said, "For the record, everything you've given me this week has been just the right size."
Despite trying my hardest, I couldn't stifle my laugh. Amber smiled at me and everything seemed right. We both stood in the kitchen, drinking our coffee and eating. Just as she and I were finishing, there was a knock at the door. "Must be Mike," I said as I hurried to let him in.
Opening the door, I was blasted in the face with cold air and couldn't see but I heard Mike's booming voice, "Hey guys, sorry for dropping in on you early."
I ushered him in and closed the door so my face could begin thawing out. Taking off his gloves, Mike said, "How are y'all doing? Was everything ok with the place?"
Amber and I shared a quick smile and I said, "Mike, it was perfect. It was everything we could've wanted. Thank you again."
With a chuckle Mike said, "Good good, you both look well... rested."
I just smiled and shook my head. Then Mike spoke up, "Hey, sorry again for dropping in early. If you all are packed and ready to go, I figured I'd give you an earlier start. The roads are clear but they're a mess so it's going to take a while longer for you to get you back down to Little Rock."
I looked around and, not seeing anything out of place, said, "Yeah, I've got everything I need. Let me just go up and grab Amber's bags and we'll be ready to go."
When I came back downstairs, Mike took her bags from me and loaded them in his truck, having already done mine while I was upstairs. With one final look at the place where so many great memories had been made over the past week, we put our coats on and hurried out to the truck. Thankfully the heat was all the way up as we piled in and closed the doors. Mike then got in and drove us down to the street. On the way down he said, "Good thing I got here early. Your car had a pile of snow against it from when they plowed this morning. I went ahead and dug you out before I headed up."
After thanking him profusely, we pulled up to the car. Mike handled loading our bags while Amber and I got in and got the car started and warmed up. After saying our goodbyes and thanking him once more, we slowly pulled away and started making our way down the road.
As we drove away, I squeezed Amber's hand and said, "We'll definitely be coming back."
She smiled and said, "Yeah, that was..." She didn't even finish her sentence. She just chuckled and looked out the window with a smile on her face.
The drive back seemed to take twice as long as the drive up. Despite the interstate being cleared, there were definitely still icy patches and the going was slow. It was stressful; so there wasn't much in the way of conversation and Amber took the opportunity to catch a couple short naps. Thankfully, we were some of the only fools out on the road so traffic wasn't an issue. Eventually we made it back to the airport, where we returned our rental car and then hurried into the terminal and out of the cold. Standing there, we both took a deep breath knowing the worst part of our trip was over. We had made it with a couple of hours to spare and miraculously our flight was still listed as being on-time.
After checking our bags and clearing security, Amber and I found a restaurant where we could get an overpriced burger and a beer. Our food came quickly; and as we each finally ate something of substance for the first time in the day and with the stress of our drive now behind us, our moods quickly changed and we were back to our old selves. We were enjoying our time together, just making small talk and sharing a meal, like we did on the first day we met. But now, the topics of our conversations were much more salacious. We reminisced on the week, sharing our favorite moments. For me, it was the night when Amber surprised me in lingerie. For her, it was the bathtub. We both smiled, reliving those moments in our minds.
Before we knew it, it was getting close to boarding time. I paid the check and we made our way to the gate. We didn't even have a chance to sit down before the boarding process started. Soon, we were at our seats and settling in for the flight back home. I again took the window and despite the plane being relatively empty, Amber stayed in the middle seat and snuggled against my arm. Before she had a chance to fall asleep, as she was so prone to do on flights, I nudged her and asked, "Hey, so I've still got one nagging question. Last night you mentioned having something special planned for me. Any word on what that was going to be?"
Amber just yawned and said, "I guess you'll just have to wait and see..." Before I could protest further, I felt her slump against me, fast asleep. I was still too keyed up from the stressful morning and was awake for the whole flight back home, managing to finish my book in the process.
It was well after dark as we approached for landing. Amber was again awoken by the shudder of the landing gear touching down on the runway. With a satisfied smile, she reached down, retrieved her bag and was ready to disembark. It didn't take long to collect our bags and make it back to our car. Headed home, we just stopped for some fast food and ate on the way back to the apartment. Amber still looked tired when we got back so I offered for her to go ahead and go inside and get a shower while I unloaded the car. She gave me a little kiss to say thank you and headed inside.
We hadn't packed much for our trip so it didn't take me long to get the bags inside. When I had them all in the bedroom, Amber was still in the shower so I went ahead and opened mine and started sorting clean and dirty clothes, either putting them away or in the hamper. When I was done I stowed my suitcase back in the closet; and when I came out, Amber was standing at the bathroom door.
Still drying her hair with her towel she said, "Hey, thanks. I'm sorry, I don't know why I was so tired. Actually, I think I slept too much on the plane. After that shower I'm wide awake now."
Seeing her naked body, I couldn't help but go up to her and put my hands on her hips. Giving her a kiss I said, "Let me get cleaned up and we'll find something to do." Then I added, "Hey, I left your bags there by the bed."
I took my time in the shower, letting the hot water beat on my muscles. It helped a little but I was still tense from a long, stressful drive and just a long day in general. I eventually got cleaned up, dried off and then finished getting ready at the sink. When I exited back into the bedroom, Amber was wearing a pair of thin pajama pants and a tank top. As she was just finishing sorting through her clothes, she looked up and saw me admiring her choice of sleepwear. With a grin and a flash of her eyebrows she turned and took her suitcase into the closet.
When she came out, I was just finishing pulling on my gym shorts followed by a long sleeved tee shirt. As I followed her out to the couch she said, "You know, it's weird that there's no guy's version of lingerie."
I laughed and said, "Some weird shit goes through your mind, Amber... but I love it." Then I added, "So... you don't like my gym shorts and t-shirts?"
As I stopped in the kitchen to get us some water, Amber continued to the couch. Sitting down she looked back at me and said, "No, it's not that at all. Wear what's comfortable, totally. But imagine... you're feeling horny, you want to surprise me coming out of the bathroom and get me in the mood. What's something you could wear to signal to me that you want to do it?"
Thinking for a moment I shrugged my shoulders and said, "A hard-on and a smile?"
After laughing she said, "That's my point! If I come out of the bathroom naked and playing with my tits, you'll know I want to go but it's not the same as if I come out in my lingerie. There's something more seductive about that, the preparation that goes into it."
Seeing her point I carried her glass over to her and sat down. I thought some more and said, "Well, there's silk robes... but I don't think you want me looking like Hugh Hefner. Then there's speedo-style underwear... but I really wouldn't feel sexy feeling like an old man walking down the beach. Oh... and then there's just like silk shorts."
At the mention of that Amber's eyes showed definite interest. "Oh?"
