Lost and Found - 28

28

Boxing Day 2008

Amelia opened her eyes aware of two things, one her nose was almost frozen to ice, and two that she was curled up against Sol’s naked chest. Her mind went into overtime at the thought as she tried to work out all that had happened the previous day...and night.  It was the best Christmas she could remember, despite the lack of decorations, gifts or even a tree. Yesterday...she sighed, yesterday had been wonderful, her and Sol together and it was just as though the last ten years hadn’t happened. They’d talked, laughed, teased and even gossiped, and she’d never felt closer to someone.

Then she thought about the afternoon, the revelations, the transition from rekindling their friendship to...Amelia sighed again, yep even that had been perfect. She’d not imagined that happening when they’d left London together, but through the day time had seemed to disappear, and it had been the most natural thing when it happened. And boy did it happen...there was literally no stone unturned, they’d explored, touched and loved each more than she’d ever thought possible.

And now? Wriggling she felt his legs twitch and before she could register he was waking, Sol had wrapped his legs around her and secured her close to him. Looking up from her position against his chest, she saw him smiling sleepily.

                “I had to take immediate action! I thought you were about to run away...”he kissed her lips in a lazy, loving way, his soft lips moulding over hers and claiming all conscious thought. “But there’s no way that’s happening. If nothing else it’s too cold!”

Smiling she looked up at him knowing he was right, “it was my first thought! I did almost get up and run away!”

He laughed, “I knew it! You don’t regret it do you?” He tried to prop himself on an elbow, to look down at her, but her warm hands travelled under the pile of duvets he’d pulled over them as the fire had died down the previous night and halted any actions. He gasped as her small but insistent hands moved around his waist and held him close.

                “How can I regret something that was so...” words failed her but Sol seemed to relax, and with that came his options.

                “Perfect? Inevitable?” kissing her forehead he groaned, “we should’ve waited, sorted everything out. I should have romanced you, wined you, dined you...but yesterday was just like an ever growing torture!” Tilting her chin, forcing her to look at him he half smiled, “there isn’t a day that’s gone by since I left here that I haven’t thought about you, wanted to be with you. Even when I thought I hated you, I couldn’t get you out of there.” He tapped his head as if to stress the point. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t wait, couldn’t make this perfect. But I’m not sorry it happened Meals, and don’t ever doubt that.”

              “Neither am I, sorry that is. You’re all I ever wanted Sol.” The comment ended quietly as the honest confession shocked even her.

Sol however grinned from ear to ear, “I am? Well that’s great news Meals, as I love you and I have NO intention of losing you again!”

She pffed, “you don’t have to say things like that, I’m here aren’t I?”

Rolling to lie over her, their naked bodies pressed together, he grinned, “I can assure you that this is not pillow talk. You know that!” He glanced towards the fire, “I need to restart that fire before we both freeze to death.”

Amelia laughed, wrapping her legs around his waist, “you sure you want to do that now?” As he nodded she started to wriggle, pressing various parts of her body against the equivalent parts of his.

Raising his eyebrows, he glanced down at her, a gaze that warmed even the cold tip of her nose, “ah? You have different plans I see?”

                “Well there are more than one way to get warm.”

Her shy smile was both endearing, and a total turn on to Sol, and any response from him was lost in a kiss that took her breath away.

Half an hour or more later as the early morning light started to peer through the thick curtains, Amelia lay in her cocoon of blankets, watching a very cold Sol, clad in only his boxer shorts, relight the dead fire. Fortunately the night before he’d brought in plenty of wood to last the day, so he didn’t have to brave the outdoor cold, but an attempt at turning on the light told them that the electricity was still off, it was going to be a long day without heat.

Slipping back under the duvet Sol shivered, “if we hadn’t spent the night together I think one of us might have died of hypothermia!”

Amelia had immediately wrapped the cold Sol in her warm limbs and was hoping that their proximity would warm him up, “so is that another justification?”

He laughed, “Guilty as charged!”

Within another half an hour the room was significantly warmer, so leaving Sol basking in the warmth of the crackling fire, she pulled on her warmest clothes and made for the kitchen. The Aga there was constantly on, so whilst the room wasn’t exactly hot, it was far from cold. Bacon sandwiches and coffee were the quickest things to make, and so she started to make light work of providing some form of breakfast.

As she waited for the kettle to boil on the gentle heat of the ancient range, she glanced outside, the snow was deep, she’d not seen so much since she was a child, up against one of the outhouses it had landed in a drift that looked to be six feet high, but the rest of the garden had at least a foot, if not two. God knows how long it would take for them to get the car free of snow, to be able to leave the house. They were at the end of a long driveway, which in turn was off a small country road. The last of the routes if a snow plough got anywhere near the village at all. Nope, they were here for the duration, and there was nothing either of them could do about it, and Amelia couldn’t think of anything better.

The battery life on her phone was diminishing, and until they had electricity there was no way of recharging it, a spate of texts messages from both Cole and Li exchanging Christmas wishes had been responsible for that. So she took the opportunity to call the hospital.

It was chaos there too, lots of staff snowed in, so lots staying for extra shifts, no one really knew what was happening, so she left a message for her father, and was told he was well and had been out for a walk that morning, only around the ward, the nurse had joked, but he would be pleased to hear from her. 

She was loading the tray with as much food and drink as she could carry when Sol appeared in the room, “I’ve lit a fire in the dining room and opened the doors to the hall, I’m thinking that it might make the whole place more inhabitable!”

Amelia nodded, “have you seen the amount of snow? A repair may take days!”

                “And we could be snowed in for days too!”

She nodded, “and as nice as that sounds, practically, we don’t have that much food, and the fridge is obviously off, we’ll need to store things in the back porch I’d think. How much food have we got? Enough for a few days?”

He shrugged, “that depends how much energy we use up!”

Amelia swatted his arm, “can you think about anything other than sex?”

Pulling her into his arms, Sol swooped down and kissed her, those familiar lips covering her own, but as his tongue breached her lips, suddenly the friendly kiss became possessive, filled with passion and promise. When he did eventually break free, it was his turn to ask, “Do you?”

Reaching up to cup his cheek she smiled, “touché!”

                “Right, there are snow spades in the outhouse...is there anything your father doesn’t have here?” Sol shook his head in wonder, “so anyway, if we clear the path at least that’ll make a difference.”

                “Are you sure you want to walk to the village?” she asked mimicking him in donning her hat, scarf and gloves. “It’s not the shortest walk!”

He pulled on a hooded sweater and was fastening his boots as he answered, “we walked it yesterday, it’s not far. I think we should get some supplies, a hot meal in the pub. Maybe make sure people know we’re here. Just in case.”

                “But it’s so bloody cold!” she grumbled.

                “The sun is out, it’ll be bracing! Come on!”

After clearing the path, they linked gloved hands and started to climb more than walk in the knee high virgin snow. The silence was eerie, no animals or vehicles to disturb the beautiful landscape, the fields, the road, the paths all merged into one, and the trees were coated with thick white snow, almost as though painted by a huge emulsion brush.

                “You ok?” Sol asked, pausing at the gates to the Manor house.

She stopped too and nodded, “I’m really happy...but it all seems a little surreal!”

Stooping, he covered her lips with his, pulling her against his body, tongues duelling, lips teasing. The kisses the previous nights had been passionate, desperate, but now this kiss was warm, promising, almost a conspiratorial gesture. Nevertheless when they separated both were breathless.

With a smile, Sol lifted her on to his back, pulling her legs around his waist, then started the tramp towards the village.

The whole of the main street was in chaos when they arrived.  Most of the houses had power, but there were several trees that had collapsed in the vicinity. Most of the men were kitted out in warm clothes and were helping to dig out various homes, and trying to move and ultimately secure the fallen trees.

Sol leaned over to whisper in Amelia’s ear, “I think I should help here, will you be ok?”

She nodded, “the women are bringing food and drink out from the pub, I can help them.”

He planted a kiss on her lips, then approached Mike, the landlord of the pub who seemed to be in charge, whilst Amelia headed into the Red Lion to offer her own services.  Several of the elderly living around the village were stuck without power, so once the men had cleared paths to their door, the women descended en masse with soup, bread, flasks of tea and a warm smile. They also made sure that they had enough heat, if not they were escorted to the rental rooms in the pub until the power came back on.

For two hours both teams worked diligently, and when they finally met up in the warm pub, they were shattered.

                “Mike has said we can all have a hot lunch.”

Nodding Amelia slid her arms around his waist, cuddling into his chest, “I know, then we need to get back before it gets too dark. Mrs Young reckons Dad has a supply of gas heaters and oil lamps in one of the outhouses.  We’ll never find them in the dark.”

Sitting together they tucked into the hearty stew that Mike’s wife Cathy had created in gigantic volumes, with large doorstops of homemade bread slathered with salty butter. Amelia couldn’t remember having a better meal, the adrenaline of the mornings activities, coupled with Sol’s attentive company were making this an idyllic and memorable day.

                “I’ve really enjoyed this today!” Sol announced sitting back, his hands clasped over his full stomach, “community spirit, camaraderie, and the woman of my dreams! What more could I ask for?” She smiled coyly and Sol reached out to tuck a damp tendril of hair behind her ear, “I love you Hot-Meal-ia!” The words ended with a growl, and a jolt of heat shot through her swirling around her pelvis at the thought of what that growl was hinting at.

His eyes widened at the blatant desire so visible in her expression. Jumping to his feet, he strolled over to Mike, “We need to go back and sort out some heating in the Manor, here’s my number, if you have any more issues give me a shout, we’re only a ten minute walk away. Ok?”

Mike shook his hand and smiled, “thanks for your help today; I’m sure we’ll be fine from now on.” The older man glanced over to Amelia, and then back to Sol with a knowing look, “enjoy your afternoon!”

Sol grinned, “I intend to!”

With that he turned and held out a hand to Amelia. This was everything she wanted, Sol looking at her as though he could literally eat her, no one to interfere, to tear them apart. Two consenting adults who’d admitted their love for each other, no room for dominant or controlling parents. This was everything she’d ever wanted. Her happily ever after...what could possibly go wrong?