Curiosity beats out the chill, and on my drive, Ididsay there was a possibility of dying on this trip. If dying while out with Lucian is the way I’ll go, so be it.
“Let’s go.”
He ducks down and lifts me into his arms, tucking my face into his shoulder as he takes off. Wind beats my back, so I can only imagine what it’d feel like on my face. I curl in tighter, tucking my neck and shoulders behind his arms.
A short while later, Lucian lowers me to my feet to the most unearthly scene.
My entire vision is consumed by the two massive mountains in the distance, one on the right and one to the left, creating a V from the navy-blue sky behind it. The moon, low and nearly full, rests midway between the two rocky formations that draw attention to the rest of the landscape: the frozen lake covered by a thick sheen of ice and snow. The snow glistens beneath the moonlight, wholly untouched and serene on its own. Forests line either side of me, with a boardwalk stretching far.
“I’ve seen this before…” Images from all my online vacation planning become clearer. “Banff?” Jasper to Banff is a six-hour drive, but Lucian ran it in minutes.
“Lake Louise, to be specific. While there are many popular lakes around, this one is the most popular. In the summer, when the ice is gone, the water is so blue, so pure, it’s a crystal.” He pauses. “Like your eyes.”
Not to be self-deprecating or anything, but the colour of my eyes is nothing like what pictures depict this lake as, but the sentiment is sweet.
While I’d love seeing this place during the summer, this works too. Even with the cool wind blowing on my face and the fact my fingers and toes have long begged for heat, this is everything.
Lucianis everything.
He not only saved my life, but he showed me a world I didn’t know to exist beyond movies. He gave me the kind of holiday I dreamed about, and even a small tour of the area, knocking off one place from my mental to-see list. He’s proven he cares—as much as possible anyway.
He’s made mehappy.
“Merry Christmas, Sawyer.”
My heart thumps harder, as though trying to tell me something. Something undefinable, having never felt it before. Something that’ll make tomorrow impossible, knowing it’ll be our final day together.
Tearing away from the beauty, I face him, but not without scanning the woods and mountains in the distance, the walking paths stretching on either side, the parking lot which draws endless tourists’ vehicles in the summer, and the hotel with the fortunate pleasure of Lake Louise as the background to their stay.
“Thank you for this.”
He leans down to press cool lips against my forehead. “While I’d love for you to remain, I’ve heard frostbite is an unpleasant side-effect from this kind of weather, so we shouldn’t stay much longer.”
Considering my toes barely have any feeling to them—a wiggle sends a light feedback of pressure but nothing else—Lucian is probably correct. Nonetheless, I twist back to the moon, mountains, and lake to commit them to memory.
This is one of many trips I dreamed of, but staying inside Banff, even during the off-season, costs too much. I resignedmyself to not seeing the famous lake in exchange for a mountain getaway. So, while I can, before probably never returning, I study, memorize, and take it all in.
“Alright, I’m ready.”
I’m not, and he knows it too, since he waits another moment before hoisting me up and returning us home.
He stripsme from most of my clothes and places me on the floor in front of the lit fire with the fuzzy blanket draped around my shoulders and tucked around my legs, and then he returns with a glass of wine before claiming the space beside me.
“You didn’t bring me clothes.”
“Once you’re not about to die of hypothermia, my plans for your body won’t require clothing.”
If he continues with his plans, I might just fall in love with him.
And that, too, would be unwise.
Right?
CHAPTER 14
Lucian
When Sawyer’sheart rate returns to normal, my fear of her freezing to death passes, and her wine glass is nearly finished, I drag her onto my lap, intending to finish what we started earlier.
