Chapter 1

Laura stood by the dormer window of their room in the ski lodge and watched as the group of cross-country skiers got themselves sorted out into some semblance of a straight line and headed off toward the horizon, where the sun was just making an appearance. There were about a dozen skiers, and the only way she could tell which one was her husband was by the distinct lime green color of his ski outfit.

Although their room was warm from the gas-log fire burning in the fireplace, the cold radiating from the windowpane caused her nipples to crinkle up and press out the front of her red see-through baby-doll nightie. The flimsy outfit cupped her large breasts into a tight cleavage, then flowed down, ending at her waist. The g-string panty was as transparent as the gown itself, revealing the light brown fur of her sex that barely hid the pink folds within. The nightgown was designed to accentuate, not to cover up, and if the skiers had been any closer to the lodge, Laura wouldn't have dared to stand that close to the window. The group was far enough away that she knew they couldn't see any details other than her light silhouette against the dark of the room behind her, even if any of them had decided to look back.

Laura sighed and turned from the window as the last skier topped the rise and dropped from sight over the other side of the hill. Her motion caused her breasts to sway back and forth, threatening to escape the confines of the straining red triangles of nylon. She grabbed her hairbrush and headed for the bathroom.

Laura watched her large breasts move back and forth as she brushed her hair to a luxurious sparkle. A blush spread across her chest and into her cheeks. Until this morning, Roger had never seen her dressed like this in the almost three years that they had been married. She had attended an all-girl high school at the insistence of her parents, and then gone on to a small private all-girl college. Her only contact with boys had been the rigidly structured, closely chaperoned dances at schools. Being shy, she had usually just danced with other girls.

After obtaining a mostly useless liberal arts degree, she had gone home to find that her parents had a young man "waiting in the wings" for her. She and Roger had "dated" for about six months, usually getting together for various family functions, before he popped the question. Six months later found them married and ensconced in the big house his parents had given them as a wedding present.

She had been a virgin for him on their wedding night, and she did her wifely duty and spread her legs and hoisted her gown for him whenever he wanted her to. She found that she enjoyed the pounding in her loins and the sweaty grabs and gropes as he made love to her, but she repressed her feelings. Her mother had explained to her that sexual urgings were just "part of being a man" and having to put up with her husband's assault was "part of being a wife." After he would spurt into her, she would get up and wipe herself off, then come back to bed, usually to find him already asleep. This was all Laura really knew about sex.

She looked down at her big boobs and shook her head. The nightie had been a waste of money. She had hoped it would help make Roger forego a day of skiing and stay in the lodge with her.

The weeklong ski vacation had been Roger's idea. Never mind the fact that she didn't ski at all. All he could think of was the total immersion into his current sport of choice. It seemed that every couple of months, he and his group of sports-crazed friends had another favorite activity that he had to take part in. Normally, Laura just stayed home and sat around their backyard pool or worked on her flowers in the sunroom while Roger went on these wild trips. Roger did very well as a consultant, which not only allowed him to take all these weeks off for his "jaunts," as he called them, but also allowed him to afford all of the equipment that these excursions seemed to call for.

This time, Roger had described a week of loafing around a ski lodge, sitting by the fire in the great room, sipping cocoa and playing backgammon. She had envisioned him making a few runs down the ski slopes, then joining her for a light brunch, followed by a few more runs and an afternoon of leisure and romance with her. Their nights would be filled with slow lovemaking under the moonlight streaming through the window.

It was with this verbal picture in mind that Laura had dared to purchase the red nightie. Just thinking about the experience of buying the gown made her blush. She just knew the sales clerk had her pegged as some sort of tramp for buying such an outfit. Laura's usual bedtime attire consisted of plain white cotton gowns, high-necked and reaching her ankles.

Laura flopped back across the large four-poster bed with another sigh. Her disillusionment had begun the day after she agreed to accompany him "just this once." She had returned from a shopping trip to buy some clothes for lounging around the ski lodge to find that Roger had made some purchases for her as well.

"You can't take all that stuff, honey," he had explained. "There is no road up to this lodge. You can only get there by snowmobile. The only clothes you will be taking will be what you can fit into a backpack. Here," he continued, tossing her a bright yellow ski outfit. "Go try this on. You'll need something warm to wear on the snowmobile."

Laura had exploded, telling him that if he expected her to live for a week on what she could cram into a small nylon pack, that he could damn well go on this jaunt by himself again! They had argued for the rest of the afternoon, Laura not budging until he agreed to buy a small trailer for the snowmobile to carry her luggage.

Their trip had started two days later before the sun came up. Roger explained that they had to reach the trailhead by 10:00 if they were going to reach the lodge before nightfall. Laura had dozed off and on while Roger babbled on and on about how much fun the trip would be.

They had arrived at the snow-covered parking lot as scheduled, and Roger wheeled their SUV into a row of hunter green clones and jumped out to greet his buddies and their wives. The parking lot was a whirlwind of activity as they yelled, and high-fived and slapped each other on the back, all while unloading the gear from their SUV's and sliding the snowmobiles from their trailers.

Laura slipped from their SUV and walked to the middle of the parking lot, looking around for a rest room. They had been on the road for over four hours, with their only stop being a drive-up window at a fast food place for breakfast sandwiches and coffee. That coffee was now making Laura quite uncomfortable. She interrupted Roger's male bonding ritual to ask him about comfort facilities.

"There's a portable shithouse up at the end of the parking lot," was his gruff reply. "Make it snappy, we're leaving in ten minutes."

She headed off toward the big green plastic box, already hating the one-piece ski suit. She knew she would have to practically remove it completely in order to sit and pee. The portable toilet lived up to her worst fears. It was filthy and it smelled, even in the sub-freezing temperatures. Of course, there was no toilet paper. Laura was reluctant to sit on the dirty toilet seat, so she squatted, holding her ski suit around her thighs as she hovered over the dark opening. She shivered as her piss gushed into the holding tank.

"Shit," she thought as she finished up, finding a scrap of tissue in her purse to wipe with. "The way this trip is turning out, the 'ski lodge' will probably turn out to be a lean-to made with old tree branches."

She left the smelly outhouse and hurried back to the group as fast as the slippery ground would allow. They were lined up ready to go and Laura noticed that most of the snowmobiles had trailers attached to them with skis and poles lashed to their sides. When asked, Roger told her that they contained food supplies for the week. They were the only ones pulling a trailer that contained mostly clothing.

A whirlwind of introductions followed, and Laura promptly forgot most of the names. There were seven couples including her and Roger, and their skimobile was placed next to the last in line. Roger told the couple behind them, Joe and Betty something, to yell if Laura fell off. After donning helmets, the caravan moved off, with Laura holding tightly to Roger's waist. The way the snowmobile was bouncing around, Roger might not have been joking when he told the people behind them to keep an eye on her.

To Laura, the trip lasted an eternity. She was glad that she had only had one cup of coffee and that she had been able to find a place to pee before they left. There were no stops along the way. When she leaned forward to ask Roger about lunch, he reached in a pouch on his belt and handed her a chunk of what looked like leather.

"Jerky," he yelled. "Bite off a piece and chew it 'til it softens up." Just then their snowmobile hit a bump and Laura had to grab wildly to stay on. The piece of jerky was left behind on the trail.

The steady vibration of the snowmobile, combined with the bumps along the trail and the lack of lunch had left Laura with a splitting headache. She was just about to tell Roger that they absolutely had to stop, when they topped a small rise and she saw a clearing before them with a large building in the middle of it.

"At least Roger didn't lie about the lodge," Laura thought with relief as she gazed at the huge ski lodge. It was a big log structure with a gray slate roof. Stone steps led up to a wrap-around porch that ran around the front and near side of the building. There was a huge stone chimney sticking up from the far end. Three dormer windows stuck out of the roof. A smaller windowless building off to the left had a couple of big barn doors on it and a huge pile of firewood stacked against it. The caravan of snowmobiles headed for this structure.

The silence was almost deafening as one by one, the snowmobiles were turned off. Their racket had silenced any birds in the area, and for a moment, the only sound Laura could hear was the metallic ticking of the snowmobile engines as they cooled off.

Laura pulled off her helmet and stepped off of the snowmobile, and promptly sat down in the snow. She had been sitting so long that her legs refused to work. Roger laughed, but she noticed that he was moving rather stiffly as he slowly climbed off of the snowmobile. The rest of the crowd was having the same difficulty, although Laura was the only one who fell.

Roger was opening the trailer as he told her that everyone needed to pitch in to unload all the supplies. Laura had informed him of her headache and her intention of going to bed to sleep it off. "Come with me now and show me our room," she said as she grabbed her overnight case. "You can bring the rest of our luggage up later."

Roger had helped her up the wide front steps and into the lodge. It was as cold inside as it was outside. "It'll get warm when we fire up the big fireplace," he had explained to her as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. "Also, each room has its own gas heater. I'll light that for you, but there won't be any running water until the pump is turned on and the boiler is fired up."

Laura's head was hurting so much that her eyes didn't want to focus. All she saw of the inside of the lodge was a kaleidoscope of images that refused to come together in her pounding head. She did notice that their room was very nice, with knotty pine walls, carpeting on the floor and rugged oak furniture. The bed was a king-sized four-poster piled with quilts and pillows.

"How did they get all this furniture up here on snowmobiles?" she had asked Roger.

"They didn't," he answered as he lit the gas logs in the small fireplace. "I think they brought everything up by helicopter."

"Helicopter! Why couldn't we have flown up here instead of riding all day on that damned machine."

Roger laughed as he headed back out to unpack. "We probably could have, but getting here by snowmobile is half the fun!"

Laura had slammed the door behind him. She had stripped off her boots and the ski suit and dived under the pile of covers in her bra and panties and shivered and cried herself to sleep. A couple of hours later, she had awakened to find the room dark and her headache receded to a manageable level. The room was warm and she got up and made her way into the attached bathroom by the faint blue light from the gas logs.

She automatically reached for a light switch and was surprised when the lights came on. The faint sound of a generator answered her unspoken question. "Wonder of wonders!" she laughed to herself as she switched on the light. "Indoor plumbing, a flush toilet and everything." The bathroom was painted a light salmon color with dark green accents. The vanity held two sinks with a large mirror across the wall in above them. A large shower stall surrounded by clear glass was in the corner by the vanity. There was a toilet across from the shower and a big claw-foot bathtub finished up the room. Dark green throw rugs and towels completed the decor.

Laura sat down to pee, noticing that the bathroom was fully stocked with soap, shampoo, and towels. She grinned when she noticed the end sheet of the toilet paper roll was folded to a dainty point. "Much nicer than the last facilities I used," she chuckled.

Laura could hear laughter and voices floating up from downstairs, but she still didn't feel like mingling with the others. She found a package of old cheese crackers in her overnight case and as she munched on them, her eyes fell on the red nightie she had bought on impulse the other day. "Wait 'til Roger sees this!" she thought as she took off her bra and panties and slipped on the wispy negligee. "If anything will keep him off the slopes and in my bed tomorrow, this will do the trick."

Laura had been asleep when Roger had come back into the room that night. He got undressed in the dark and climbed into bed without seeing the surprise outfit that Laura was wearing for him. He leaned over and kissed her cheek, then rolled over and went to sleep.

Laura awoke to the sounds of Roger moving quietly around the room getting dressed in his ski outfit. She sat up and stretched, allowing the covers to fall away from her magnificent breasts that were being offered up so sensuously by the triangles of red gossamer. "Why are you up so early, honey?" she queried with a yawn. "Are the lifts running already?"

"What lifts?" replied Roger as he zipped his suit and grabbed his goggles and gloves.

"The ski lifts, silly," said Laura as she slipped out of bed and swayed toward him, giving him the full effect of the nightie. "I thought we could spend the first morning in bed making up for that awful ride yesterday. You can ski some this afternoon while I soak in the tub."

Roger laughed, then explained to her the difference between downhill skiing and cross-country skiing. "There are no lifts, Laura. We'll leave this morning and head east. For lunch, we'll have some jerky on the trail. If we don't run into any problems, we'll be back here around sundown for dinner."

"And just what am I supposed to do here all day by myself?" Laura stormed.

"Well, you can sit by the fire, there's some books and magazines, you said something about soaking in a tub... Hey, I think there's a pinball machine in the back room."

"But what about us! What about this!" Laura twirled in front of him, showing off her lush body front and back. She was breathing hard and her full boobs bounced and quivered with each breath.

"Hey, nice outfit," Roger said as he looked her up and down. "You can wear that tonight after I get back. See ya, honey." He kissed her cheek and squeezed one of her boobs, then he was gone.

"Sixty bucks for a sexy nightie and he kisses my cheek and honks my breast." Laura thought as she fiercely brushed her hair. "Definitely a waste of money!"

She threw the brush down on the vanity and stared at herself in the mirror. At 26 years of age, she knew her body was just about at its peak. She couldn't understand why Roger would rather be off skiing than spending the day with her. Why was he so anxious for her to come on this trip if he was just going to go off and leave her alone every day?

Laura went into the bedroom and looked around. The ceiling sloped down from the center of the room toward the dormer window. The walls beside the dormer opening were only about three feet high, with small doors for storage. To the left of the door leading to the rest of the lodge was a large double-door wardrobe. On the right was a matching six-drawer dresser. A bench to her right held her suitcase and Roger's backpack. To the left of the bathroom door was a small fireplace with the gas logs, and beyond that, a small dressing table where Laura had placed her overnight bag the night before. The wall across from her was taken up by the large king-sized bed and a couple of nightstands.

Laura's clothes were on the floor by the bed, and as she took in the room, she realized that Roger had added to the mess by throwing his things around as he got ready to leave. Shaking her head, Laura spent a few minutes putting the room to order and storing their belongings away.

A rumbling from her stomach told her that she hadn't eaten anything except cheese crackers since the drive-through breakfast the morning before. Breakfast was definitely in order! She briefly thought about her robe, now hanging neatly on the hook in the bathroom, but with flash of daring, she decided to leave it hanging there. After all, she was the only one here until the rest of them got back 'at sundown for dinner.' She wondered if Roger expected her to have it ready and waiting for them.

Laura opened her door and stepped out on to the balcony that ran around three sides of the big lodge. She was standing in front of the middle door on her side, and she saw that there were three doors across from her, as well as two doors along the shorter wall at the end. The other end wall was filled by a huge stone fireplace and chimney. A set of stairs led down from each corner the balcony and met in the middle halfway down, then formed a larger staircase that completed the journey to the main floor. The main room was open to the ceiling with large trusses and beams holding up the roof. There was a large wagon wheel suspended from the roof with a dozen lamps around its perimeter.

Like her room, the walls were done in knotty pine planking polished to a golden hue. Large high-backed chairs and couches were grouped around coffee tables and end tables forming several conversational areas. There were several tasteful landscape paintings around the walls, depicting the local area as it went through its seasonal changes. Above the fireplace opening, was a large stuffed bear head. The hardwood floors were done to the same high polish as the walls and were covered in places by large rugs of a Native American design.

There was a big fire burning in the fireplace, but the heat didn't reach to where Laura was standing. She gave a little shiver as she looked around the room. Then she almost had a heart attack as the voice spoke:

"It's a lot warmer here by the fire. Come on down and pull up a chair."

Laura shrieked and looked around wildly, while her hands and arms tried to cover what the red nightie was designed to reveal. With the open ceiling and vaulted beams, the voice seemed to come from everywhere in the room at once. Then a movement by the fireplace caught her eye. One of the men in their group--Laura couldn't remember his name--had sat up from the depths of the overstuffed chair and was motioning her to come down.

"J-j-just a minute," stammered Laura as she backpedaled into her room, trying in vain to hide her entire body at once. She raced to the bathroom and grabbed her fleece robe, pulling it tightly around her. She stood for a moment as her trembling subsided and her breathing slowed. After thinking she was the only person in the lodge, that man had almost scared her to death!

After slipping her feet into her fuzzy slippers, she tentatively stepped back onto the balcony and looked back down at the man. He was standing by his chair now, and Laura could see that he was about as tall as Roger, but a bit heavier through the shoulders. He looked to be about five years older than Roger, with a tousled mop of brown hair. He was wearing gray sweats and white socks without any shoes.

"Come on down, you must be hungry. I didn't see you at dinner last night. Roger said you weren't feeling well." He beckoned again. "Hurry up. There's eggs 'n' toast 'n' stuff in the warmers in the kitchen. There's also hot water for coffee or cocoa or whatever you want."

Laura's hunger pangs overcame her shyness and she turned to the stairs and quickly descended into the great room of the lodge. Once on the main floor, she could see that the space under the rooms on her side of the lodge was divided into a large kitchen and dining room.

She grabbed a plate and quickly filled it with eggs, bacon and toast. There was a basket of silverware and a stack of ceramic coffee mugs at the end of the buffet table. Laura quickly made a cup of hot cocoa and added it to her breakfast tray. She had just turned toward the big table in the dining room when the man said, "Bring your stuff out here so we can get aquatinted." Laura turned toward the warmth of the fire. "My name is Sam, in case you don't remember from the parking lot yesterday," he continued at her approach.

"Hi, Sam, my name is Laura," she answered as she sat in the big chair beside him. She balanced the tray on her knees and made sure the robe was wrapped tightly around her. The two chairs were angled toward each other and the big fireplace, with a small round table between them. Laura took a sip of the cocoa and placed the mug safely on the table, then voraciously attacked the plate of food on her lap. Sam realized her hunger and was content just to sit and watch her eat.

Laura sat the empty tray on the floor beside her chair and picked up her cocoa. She stared at the fire for a few moments as she sipped the warm liquid, then she looked at Sam across the top of the cup. After another sip, she spoke, "You just about scared the life out of me when I was up on the balcony. I thought everyone was out skiing."

"Just about everyone left this morning on their skis. I don't ski. My wife, Bridget, is the skier, but she doesn't like to drive the snowmobile. I'm her chauffeur for the trip, at your service, ma'am." He made a mock bow from his seat across from her. Laura remembered that Bridget was the tall, tanned blonde in the extremely tight ski suit as Sam continued, "This time, I have another job, and a very pleasant one it is, too."

"What's that?" asked Laura, smiling at his little bow.

"This time, I get to keep you company while hubby is off on his little excursion," Sam said with a grin, looking her up and down.

Laura felt a little uncomfortable with his brief examination, but she was determined to be as pleasant as possible. "I don't know that I'll be such good company," she said with a little shake of her head. "I had a horrible headache when I arrived yesterday. The food has helped, but I don't want to take a chance on a relapse. I'll probably just nap in my room for most of the day, or soak in the tub or something."

"Hey, this is your vacation!" Sam countered. "You don't want to sleep or soak your whole day away, do you?"

"Well, not the whole day, but at least most of the morning," Laura replied. "With that grueling ride to get here yesterday, I can't imagine them wanting to spend the whole day on their skis. They'll probably be back by lunch time."

Sam gave her a funny look, like he was ready to say something, but then he smiled and changed the subject. "How 'bout a refill on that cocoa?" he asked as he stood up. "I'm going in for more coffee, and for a pretty lady like you, I'd even be willing to take your tray back to the kitchen as well."

Laura smiled at his light flirting. "Why, thank you, kind sir!" she said, fluttering her eyes at him. "I would dearly love another mug of cocoa." She handed him her tray and mug.

Sam left and soon returned with two steaming mugs. He carefully passed Laura's mug to her, than sat back down and stared at her over the rim of his cup as he gently blew across the hot liquid. He waited for her to take a sip, then he slowly and carefully said, "What would you say if I told you that they weren't skiing this morning? That they had just skied away over that ridge and then stopped at another place nearby?"

"I would say that your coffee must be laced with rum or something. That's absolutely crazy!" Laura replied as she set her mug on the table and leaned forward. "Roger has been talking about this ski trip for days. He stayed up almost all night two nights ago waxing his skis and working on his... his boots and bindings... or whatever they're called. He was so anxious to hit the trail this morning that he hardly noticed the nightie that I wore for him. He... I..." Laura stopped and blushed as she remembered that Sam had seen her in her nightie as well.

"Oh, he was anxious for this trip all right, but not for the skiing." Sam paused and looked her up and down again. Laura clutched the neckline of her robe together a little tighter and made sure that it was tucked neatly and modestly around her legs. Sam's 'examinations' were starting to bother her and she let it show on her face.

Sam looked her in the eyes for a moment, as if sensing her discomfort, then continued, "I'll make you a little wager. I'll bet I can prove to you that Roger isn't skiing right now, and all it will cost you is a ten-minute snowmobile ride. If I lose the bet, I will go into my room for the rest of the day and you won't see me again until the others return. You can have the run of the place and won't have to keep a death-grip on your robe there."

Laura looked down and forced her hands to relax a bit as she thought about Sam's startling revelation and his strange offer. "But... but what if you win the bet?" she asked in a voice that was almost a whisper. She took a deep breath and shook her head. Then in a normal voice, she continued, "No, this is ridiculous! Roger told me this morning that they were cross-country skiing and would be out most of the day."

"Then you have nothing to lose!" Sam exclaimed. "If you're so sure they're off skiing miles from here, then slip on your snow suit for ten minutes and then you won't have to put up with me staring at you all day."

There, he had brought his behavior out in the open. Laura thought she would take him up on his ridiculous offer, just to be rid of his roaming eyes, but still, she had to know why Sam was doing this. "So, what's in it for you? What if you win the bet?"

"What's in it for me?" Sam echoed. "First of all, I get a ten minute snowmobile ride with your arms wrapped around my waist." Sam grinned as Laura frowned at him. "But... If I win the bet, you have to spend the rest of the day with me..." He paused and looked her up and down again, then continued, "... but all you will be wearing is that little red number you were wearing when you made your debut on the balcony up there."

Laura jumped up, her cheeks burning red with anger. "You're crazy! There is no way I'll go to bed with you, whether I'm wearing that red nightie or not!"

"Whoa! Just a minute! Who said anything about going to bed? All I said was you that you spend the day with me in your nightie. You looked damn fine standing up there in that little red outfit earlier this morning. You're a lovely woman, Laura, with a fine body. All I wanted was another look at the goodies. It's not like I haven't seen you in it before. If I win the bet, I just get a closer look."

Laura was still angry. "I already told you; what happened this morning was an accident. I thought I was alone in the place. Besides," she continued, "Roger is out skiing somewhere. There's no way you would win the bet anyway."

Sam stood up to face her. "Then put your money where your mouth is, lady. If you're so damn sure I'm wrong, then take the bet and you'll have this place to yourself for the rest of the day just like you thought you were this morning. I'll be locked in my room and you can waltz around this place naked if you want to."

"All right, Mr. Smart Mouth, I'll take your silly bet. It will be a great pleasure to spend the day without the benefit of your presence," Laura snapped. "Roger told me they would be eating lunch out on the trail. If they were less than ten minutes away, they would come back here for lunch."

Sam stuck out his hand. "Then it's a bet?"

Laura grabbed his hand and gave it a quick shake. "Bet!" she replied. "I'll go get dressed."

"Just put your ski suit on over your nightie. That way, you won't have so much to change out of when we get back," Sam grinned as his eyes roved over her lush form again. "I'll meet you on the front porch in 5 minutes."