Her Runaway Prince

“Christ, that was so… Amazing,” Peter remarked through rapid breaths, breaking the silence.

“Amazing doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Amanda replied.

Peter turned to face Amanda and took her hand in his.

“Hey, know what I just realized?” he asked her. Amanda rolled onto her side to face him.

“What would that be, hmmm?” she replied warmly.

“Merry Christmas, Amanda,” he said and kissed her softly. Amanda had absolutely forgotten that Christmas was coming, let alone that it had arrived.

“It’s Christmas already? Damn… Merry Christmas, Peter,” she replied and kissed him in turn.

“The most amazing Christmas of my life. I love you, Amanda Douglas.”

“And I love you, Peter Michaels.”

*****

Petro felt a sudden sadness overwhelm him. He wished to hear her say his real name. She’d told him she loved him and she didn’t even know who he truly was. Petro took a deep breath and brushed the sadness aside. He told himself that would come with time, but for the moment, he didn’t want to think about anything other than the beautiful woman next to him. Petro wrapped his arm around her and pulled her tightly against him.

For the first time, on that Christmas day, in front of the burning fire, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next morning when they woke up, they were still holding each other.

“Good morning gorgeous,” Petro whispered softly.

“Good morning handsome,” she remarked sheepishly.

“Boy, what a night,” Petro said as he stood up and walked to his backpack.

“Sorry love, I’m just absolutely freezing. And well, now you know how glorious my nip*les are. So you can understand why I don’t want to freeze them off,” Petro joked as he got some clothes out of his backpack. Amanda simply laughed and pulled her own clothes closer.

They both dressed quickly. Petro brought some water to the fire and put it on to boil. He made them both some coffee and they sat down next to each other.

“So, last night really happened, huh,” Petro said, still trying to convince himself

“Yeah, it really did… And I’m so happy it did,” Amanda replied, smiling at him over the brim of her cup.

“Yeah, as am I,” Petro said with pure happiness.

“I suppose we should get going soon though. It’s almost time for the yearly tourist rush,”Amanda told him and finished her coffee.

“Just as long as you promise not to go swimming again,” Petro replied jokingly.

“Oh, but you make me so hot that I just needed to cool myself off. I’ll control myself better this time,” Amanda replied, eliciting laughter from Petro.

They spent the rest of the morning gathering everything as they prepared for the journey home. Amanda took another few jabs at Petro’s large and overstuffed backpack.

“Hey, my excessive preparation saved your life, don’t forget that,” he quickly reminded her.

Amanda just laughed, but he could tell she was very grateful for it.

They finished packing, put out the fire and with a final kiss inside the cabin, started their journey back home.

The sky was completely clear that day. The sun was actually shining rather brightly. They both took note of how much snow had melted.

“So, tell me about this tourist rush,” Petro said as he tried to distract himself from how exhausted he felt again.

“Well, I call it a tourist rush. It actually isn’t anymore, but it’s what I called it when it first happened. Now it’s almost exclusively my yearly regulars. See, every year I hold a fireworks show,” Amanda explained as they walked. Petro just nodded along.

“On New Year’s, I go to the lake and set off a load of fireworks. It started out as just something I wanted to do to promote the BnB the first year, but it’s become a tradition. So now, every year, the place is filled with people who come for the fireworks. As I said, it’s mostly the same families every year, but here and there will be new faces,” she smiled as she told Petro the story.

“Wow, that definitely sounds like something to behold though,” he remarked.

“Oh, it definitely is. The way the fireworks paint the sky. The way trees look under their lights. The reflection on the lake. It’s something to see, that’s for sure. And this year, you’re going to experience it firsthand,” Amanda smiled at him and hugged him softly.

“Well, I cannot wait to see it,” Petro replied and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

The rest of their trip was uneventful, yet felt so important. Nothing really happened but their conversations showed that something had changed.

The way they would flirt with each other, the jokes and laughter they shared. They both realized that something was different.