Love Like Winter

The sky was bright with a fully risen sun, and the light was blinding to look at. Aurora’s eyes were shielded with sunglasses and a impromptu hand-visor. Aiden had dragged her to some hole in the wall part of the town and at first it was nice and air-conditioned with food and caffeine. Then came the hiking and the climbing and the walking and the trekking. Now a nice sheen of sweat coated Aurora’s skin and she wanted to murder the muscular man in front of her.

Though, she couldn’t complain about the way the muscles on his back moved as he pushed himself. She was panting like a hot dog and he seemed to be completely at ease. His skin glistened like hers, but she was sure she looked like a drowned rat. Aiden would stop every once in a while to let her keep up but mostly she was left to struggle against nature’s twists and turns.

“Aiden, you really suck,” she mumbled under her breath and was shocked when he laughed loudly. He turned back to face her, stopping once again and when she finally caught up and pressed her hands to her knees, he brushed a damp strand of hair off of her forehead.

“It’s worth it, Beauty. I promise.” Without another word the adventure started up again and Aurora groaned as she followed him. She was grateful she had worn shorts and a tank top and shoes that were meant for a large amount of walking. If she had worn sandals like she originally planned for, she might’ve had to kill Aiden.

After what felt like a year and two months, Aiden brushed past two overgrown bushes and helped Aurora through the opening. She followed through, mentally cursing every bug that happened to bite her or get in her way. Then she let out a breath of awe.

“Wow,” she whispered when she finally understood what Aiden had been trying to show her. The forest she had been cursing that entire walk suddenly seemed tropical and beautiful. A stream, that was as wide as it was deep branched out into a nice little waterfall. There was cliffs that were easily climbable and led off into the deepest parts of the water.

“Now, if you can suck it up for a few more minutes, we can get up there and get wet,” Aiden said, with a playful grin. Aurora sighed and nodded before following Aiden’s lead and dropping whatever access baggage they had. Aiden grabbed onto her arm and tugged her up the pathway that led to the cliff.

After strenuous climbing and many loud curses, the two were on top of the cliff. Aiden looked over and grinned at her before whipping his t-shirt off and tossing it over the rocks. Then with a running leap he jumped from the cliff and landed with huge impact into the water.

Aurora cried out before running to the edge and making sure he hadn’t bashed his head on any rocks. Miraculously, he hadn’t, and somehow she could see no rocks. When he emerged from the water she could hear muffled shouting; no doubt encouragement to join him. So after a few deep breaths, Aurora ran over the edge and attempted to match Aiden’s strangely graceful jump. Though as the air continued to rush past she feel her body start to flail, and a scream erupted from her lungs.

When she hit the water, the initial impact was painful. Water rushed up any orifice it could find and she came up sputtering and gasping for breath. She wiped frantically at her eyes, and was pleased to find Aiden swimming to her. His hands grabbed her around the waist to steady her and on instinct went to his shoulders.

“How was that for a tour?” He asked, a grin on his face as he teased. Aurora couldn’t help but roll her eyes and swat at him.

“It was definitely better than I expected,” she breathed.