SNOW SWIRLED around them as they hurried along the sidewalk in Aspen. The late autumn storm had descended on the mountains as they arrived earlier in the day. Now that the sun had set, the sidewalks were turning slick in the increasing cold.
Leo shivered in his coat.
“You okay?” It was the most frequent thing Aud asked Leo. He wasn’t used to having anyone care enough to ask if he was okay on a regular basis. But after Randal’s attack and how easily he might not have been okay, he understood Aud’s concern about his well-being.
“I’m fine. Just a bit cool,” Leo replied. “But we’ll be back inside in a minute.”
“This is one of the reasons I wanted to do this little getaway when it was more autumn than winter.” Aud reached for the door into the hotel, but the doorman beat him to it, holding it so both of them could escape the cold wind and get into the warmth of the hotel’s lobby.
The hotel was grander than anything Leo had ever been in before. It was like a log cabin on high-dollar steroids. Heavy-beamed ceilings rose majestically above polished marble floors. Large fireplaces sat in nearly every wall of the lobby and adjacent sitting area. Leo stared at all of it hours before when he and Aud checked into their room. Now he just followed Aud with only a few quick glances at things he missed on previous trips through, like the stuffed moose that stood off to one side of the sitting area.
“Ah, Aud, was the moose there earlier?” Leo whispered, not wanting to seem like a complete idiot for not seeing the moose before.
“Yeah. It’s been there for years.” Aud stopped and hit the button for the elevator. “I bet you were just taking everything else in and missed the moose.”
The elevator arrived, and after a young couple in his-and-hers snowsuits walked past them, they entered.
Once they got into their room, which felt to Leo more like a smaller version of the sitting area of the lobby with a bed instead of a moose, Aud caught Leo up in his arms and kissed him. Leo relaxed and let the wonderful joy he always felt when in Aud’s arms flow through him.
As their lips parted, Aud sighed lustfully. “We’ve had dinner and a pleasant short walk in the snow. Now what do you want to do?”
“What I always want to do when you’re around.” Leo flashed him a wicked grin. “You.” He unzipped his coat and hung it on one of the hooks next to the door.
Aud trapped him against the wall after placing his own coat next to Leo’s. “I can oblige you in that. What do you say we go over and make use of the fireplace? We haven’t made love in front of a fire yet.”
“They won’t get mad if we use some of the wood over there?” Leo eyed the short stack of firewood set in the iron holder near the fireplace. When they’d come in, he figured it was just part of the decor.
“That’s why it’s there, silly.” Aud laughed as he walked over to the fireplace that already had some wood set and ready for burning. With a quick turn of a handle and the push of a button, Aud had the fire started. It took a couple of minutes for the wood to catch, but the flames provided their own ambiance.
After sitting on the bearskin rug in front of the fire, Aud held his hands out to Leo. “Come on down here. It’s more comfortable than you’d think.”
Leo had never been naked on an animal skin. Normally he was just naked on cotton sheets. He took the few steps between them and accepted Aud’s hand. The wood in the fireplace crackled as he eased down next to Aud.
“This is kinda classically romantic, isn’t it?” Leo laid his new glasses on the cut-log coffee table.
Aud kissed him before answering. “Yes it is.” He held Leo as they kissed.
Leo needed to feel Aud against him. He undid the buttons on Aud’s blue flannel shirt and slid his hands across the firm planes of Aud’s chest, enjoying the way the blond hair there felt against his palms, and he played with it between his fingers. Leo pushed Aud’s shirt over his broad shoulders and down until Aud lifted his hands to slide them out of the sleeves.
While Leo had been undoing his shirt, Aud had been working on Leo’s. When their bare torsos touched, a wave of heat spread across Leo’s body. He loved the way Aud’s form felt against his, but he wanted more than just rubbing their chests together.
Fumbling slightly, Leo undid the button on Aud’s jeans, and working together, they managed to get themselves undressed quickly and easily.