‘It was just something I had running around in my head, that’s all.’
Rose smiled. ‘No surprise there, then.’
A familiar figure emerged from the delicatessen a way along from the pancake place. A small carrier bag swung from his hand. It was Tom.
‘Hi,’ he said, his smile warm and aimed at all of them, although Madeleine couldn’t help but notice the way his gaze ended up on Clara. He waggled the bag. ‘More cheese,’ he said, wandering across to join them.
Clara laughed. She glanced at the others. ‘Have we finished our shopping spree? Does anyone need to get anything else?’
‘I’m all shopped out,’ Madeleine said. ‘We could always grab a drink down here? A hot chocolate or something?’ She didn’t want them to crash back into Snow Pine Lodge at an inopportune moment.
Rose shook her head, her spiral curls moving a fraction more slowly than she did. ‘No more hot chocolate, Maddy. I’ll turn into a cocoa bean. I wouldn’t mind a glass of hot wine, though.’
‘I’m on my way to the lodge now,’ Tom said.
‘Honestly, I think we should head back too,’ Clara said. ‘Even with the snowploughs out, the bus is going to struggle to get up the hill.’
‘Fair enough,’ Madeleine said. They reached a junction point in the corridors, the space opening out with more corridors spidering out from the area. In truth, she’d become completely disorientated in this subterranean world. She searched for clues, ideally a big sign with the symbol for the bus on it, accompanied by a large arrow. With no such obvious direction in evidence, Madeleine headed towards one of the passageways.
‘Maddy, where are you going?’
She looked round to see Rose pointing in the opposite direction.
‘It’s this way,’ Rose said.
As she began to undress Gull, Tania realised she wanted more than pure gratification from his body. She wanted to know who he was. She’d carefully skirted around all personal questions, determined to keep this nothing more than an anonymous encounter. Determined to keep herself anonymous. Or, at least, that was how it had started.
She pulled at the sleeves of his top, then gave up on that and felt for the hem running around his waist instead. She rucked the fabric up, shoving at it and exposing the pattern of dark hair running up from his navel and then spreading out to envelop his chest. He obliged with the rest of the removal, dropping the top onto the work surface behind him.
‘Tell me who you are,’ she said, running her fingers through the hair, seeking out the gentle undulations of muscles and ribs. It was his turn to shiver.
‘What do you want to know?’ he said, his breath hot in her ear.
‘Everything. I don’t even know your name.’
‘Gulliver Richard Thornton,’ he said, inching down the zip of her gilet, his words feeding directly into her brain, each sentence punctuated with a kiss. ‘Born 9 June 1991. One brother. One sister. Grew up in Surrey. Boring childhood. We had Labradors. Joined the Foreign Legion for some adventure.’
‘What?’ She pulled away, frowning at the last comment.
He grinned, using her movement to complete the zip’s journey. He slid the gilet from her shoulders and added it to form a pile of clothing behind him. ‘That last one might have been more in my imagination. Your turn. I don’t know anything about you, either.’
She shook her head. ‘Don’t change the subject. And your French isn’t good enough for the Foreign Legion. What do you really do?’
‘Is this another challenge?’ he said, his fingers pushing at her fleece underlayer and then the tight-fitting elasticated base layer, finally finding and tracing their way across the skin of her stomach. ‘One wrong answer and I’m out on my ear?’
‘No. I just—’ Tania lost track of her words as he traced a path around her waist, easing the layers of her clothing upwards to expose more and more skin to the cool air. His fingers moved confidently, circling and varying their pressure as he felt his way across her.
His head dipped to kiss her neck. His lips and teeth caressed and nipped at the skin just behind her ear as his fingers slid to the banding of her ski trousers. She sucked in a harsh breath as he felt his way around, teasing the zip fastening down a few notches, far enough to allow his fingers access to the edging of her underwear.
‘Don’t stop.’ The words came on an exhale and she pushed herself against his hand. He edged a little further inside her clothing. She groaned. ‘Oh, that feels so good.’
‘Can we feel now and talk later?’ His words were softly spoken, but Tania could hear the intensity behind them. She recognised it, because she felt it in the same way. ‘I don’t know about you, but I can’t concentrate on both, and I know which one I’m more interested in, right now.’
She nodded, pulling his face towards hers as she lost herself in his touch. The questions could wait.
Rose usually enjoyed the bus ride through the resort, but so much snow had fallen since they’d entered the underground complex that she wasn’t sure there would even be a bus. They huddled under the entrance to an underground car park, which doubled as one of the many stops for thegratuitresort bus. And when the bus did arrive, it was preceded by a snowplough.
The expression on the bus driver’s face didn’t lighten the atmosphere when they climbed aboard. These drivers usually flung their vehicles up and down the hill with as much abandon as the most reckless skier, but this afternoon, with the light fading fast, and the road through the resort reduced to a single track which required constant clearing, the journey up the hill was painstaking.
