Chapter 24

Sean lay on the rumpled bed sheets wearing a tired smile etched on his face with Elizabeth spooned in his arms. He wormed his head along her neck and breathed in the scent of her hair; sex, sweat and rosewater shampoo flooded his olfactory senses. His right arm was sandwiched between his lover's side and slender arm as he traced lazy circles on her pert breast. Elizabeth was sleeping contentedly in his arms with the slightest trace of a smile curling the corners of her mouth. Despite the fact that he was exhausted, Sean simply couldn't sleep. He didn't mind; he hardly noticed the passage of time as he marveled at Elizabeth's gentle beauty and as he replayed their most recent joining in his mind. As always, the session of lovemaking an hour ago was intense and passionate. Sean felt pleasantly sore in all the right places as he continued to idly caress his love's delightfully nude form. If Sean didn't know for a fact that Elizabeth spent a good deal of time at the gym he would have sworn that it was their very healthy sex life that kept her in shape.

A sudden jerking from the woman in Sean's arms interrupted his idle thoughts. Sean sighed inwardly and braced himself for what was to come. It was a subtle thing at first, a twitch in the fingers, a curling of the toes, but slowly the fidgeting coursed through the rest of her body like a series of tremors that had the woman struggling with invisible hands and phantom bonds. Her breath quickened in a panic of gasps that turned into a series of frightened mutterings. Sean did what he could to calm her in her sleep, whispering gently to her and holding her warmly for nearly half an hour, but he knew it was useless.

Elizabeth bolted upright, a wordless scream dying on her lips. A thin veneer of sweat covered her quaking body. Sean slowly sat up and wrapped the blankets around her shivering shoulders. Elizabeth stared passively through the bedroom double doors to the reception area. Sean wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders as she slowly came back to her senses.

"Pretty bad this time?" Sean asked, already knowing the answer.

Elizabeth nodded silently.

"You want to talk about it?"

There was no reply.

Sean was aware of his girlfriend's regularly occurring nightmares. Including the more vivid dreams, like the one she just awoke from, Elizabeth had no idea just how regular they were. When Sean informed her of her weekly bad dreams Elizabeth batted aside his concerns as if they were nothing. The fact that she ignored them showed Sean how deeply scarred she really was. She never talked about them, about her dreams nor her time with Charles. Sean knew they were intricately interwoven.

"Okay, how about a bath? We can even use bubbles." Sean suggested. When they took a bath together they usually didn't use the scented liquid because Sean thought it a bit frivolous even though Elizabeth loved it.

Elizabeth leaned in Sean's arms and nestled her head under his chin. Sean scooped her seemingly frail body up in his arms and headed for the large master bathroom. The cream marble tub was large enough to easily sit three people so it would take a while to fill. Sean sat Elizabeth on his lap while he talked about little things, told silly stories and gave her little clues about what he bought her for Christmas, to draw her out of her shell.

Slowly, Elizabeth became more relaxed as the spa-tub filled.

Sean poured in a generous helping of bubble bath and then gently dipped his girlfriend in the steamy foam. He grabbed a small towel, soaked it and began washing her back. Elizabeth's body blushed from the hot water as Sean gently stroked her hair and continued to talk. Elizabeth pulled on his arm and asked him to join her. Sean entered the water and held her body in his arms. He waited for what came next.

Elizabeth began shivering and weeping. Her body shuddered as the terror rattled her, but not a single tear was shed. Sean cradled her head and crooned soft words to ease her pain. Eventually, Elizabeth calmed down enough until she was silent and still.

"I'm so sorry that you have to put up with all of this, Sean."

Sean gently nuzzled the top of her head. "I just wish you could talk to me about it."

"I... I can't. I just can't."

"I know. Whenever you're ready, okay?"

Elizabeth nodded and sat in his arms as Sean continued to wash her.

For the next three mornings everyone arose bright and early to hit the slopes. The weather was very cooperative and gave them an extra four feet of fresh powder every day. Elizabeth, Vanessa, and Sean quickly took to the intermediate slopes but then decided to return to the easier skiing when they found out that Eric had never learned how to ski. He was trying to put on a brave front for Vanessa. They tried out snowboarding on Christmas Eve and it was Eric's turn to shine as the instructor dubbed him a 'natural'. He was quickly carving furrows in the snow while everyone else fell on their rears most of the time. That night Sean and Eric went to the front desk, greeted Teresa and picked up some packages that they wanted delivered to the hotel to avoid lugging them around at the airport. The women knew they were presents and they constantly badgered the men for information. Elizabeth and Vanessa ended their prodding when they discovered that the packages weren't for them but were presents to be exchanged between the men.

That night the group dined at a nearby fancy Italian restaurant and then they retired to their rooms and bed for an early start on the gifts the next morning. Well, that was what the women first suggested but Elizabeth and Vanessa agreed to play an erotic version of twenty questions that lasted through a good part of the night.

At the end, the game was reduced to, "Please? I'll be a good girl."

The two men shook their heads and the women pouted. Sean was very glad that he had the foresight to get a good lock on his luggage.

Christmas morning came and Sean awoke to an empty bed. He smiled to himself, because he knew exactly where Elizabeth was. He took his time with his morning ritual, groggily brushing his teeth, washing his face, and calling room service for some breakfast and coffee. He purposely stayed in his room as he looked at the clock. It was six in the morning, which meant he had gotten a meager four hours of rest. Elizabeth flung open the double doors just as Sean placed the phone back on the cradle.