Christmas with Nicholas: - an Untwisted seasonal story (Untwisted series) (5 page)

Chapter Five
Rebecca

It was Christmas Eve, and even at this early point of the morning there was already an excited buzz in the hotel breakfast room as we sat enjoying a large mug of delicious cinnamon coffee. The waitress had told us that in Iceland people celebrate Christmas on the twenty-fourth, so the staff were already preparing half of the rustic dining room ready for tonight’s festivities. By the looks of the huge tables they were setting out for a buffet it was going to be a mammoth feast.

It was still dark outside as I devoured my third slice of toast and watched Nicholas eat his way through a mountain of scrambled egg and bacon; between the walking, fresh air, and exciting sex yesterday we’d burnt quite a bit of energy and were both in need of a good breakfast to refuel.

Shaking my head in amusement I smiled to myself at the enigma of the man sat across from me as he chewed thoughtfully. Even the way he ate was controlled and precise. Things between us were going really well, better than I’d ever dared hope after the rocky start to our relationship, but this holiday was proving to be a real eye-opener – and I wasn’t just talking about the stunning Icelandic scenery. Nicholas was letting his guard down far more than usual, letting out the part of him that I secretly called his ‘snuggly side’ regularly over the last two days. In addition to that, he was even more attentive than usual, doting almost, and taking every opportunity to hold my hand or cuddle me to his side. Being the sole focus of this gorgeous, albeit complex man, was pretty bloody fantastic, really.

Yawning, I put my coffee down and stretched out my tired muscles. My body was finding the timings of the days here very peculiar; it was just before 8 in the morning, but the sun wouldn’t be rising for at least another two hours yet. We had a big day planned today though – a walk on one of Iceland’s famous glaciers, Sólheimajökull. I was so excited, I’d seen the photographs of the electric blue ice tunnels and crevices and couldn’t wait to experience it first-hand.

Sitting back to allow my toast to settle I saw the hotel manager approaching us with a smile. Mr Siggi stopped by our table and nodded a greeting to us both. ‘I’m so glad I caught you both. I know you are set for the glacier trek today, but seeing as the weather is clear this morning I wanted to suggest an extension to your trip. If you can be ready to set off an hour earlier our guide can take a detour further south and you can watch the sunrise at Vik beach – it makes quite a stunning start to the day.’

Looking at me for my approval I nodded briskly and smiled at Mr Siggi. I’d read about the beach at Vik, famous for its volcanic black sands and basalt columns similar in formation to the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, but because of the snow yesterday I hadn’t thought a trip would be possible.

Agreeing a departure time with the very amenable manager Nicholas and I set off for our room to shower and pack up all the clothing we’d been advised to take for our glacier trip. Nicholas had quite literally bought me an entire new wardrobe for this trip; when I’d first opened up my suitcase after our arrival I’d discovered everything from beautiful lacy underwear sets to thermal long johns and snow trousers. It looked like several of the more bulky items would be useful today out on the glacier.

Packed and ready to go, Nicholas took my hand and we headed down to meet our guide in the reception. I couldn’t help but smirk at the relief I saw on Nicholas’ face when he saw that our guide today was an older man, and not the cheeky, charming Bragi from yesterday. The youngster had been harmless enough, but from Nicholas’ almost volatile reaction to him I was quite relieved by the new face. Nicholas had done really well employing his calming strategies yesterday, but I’d much rather he could fully relax and enjoy himself, and seeing as this new man was probably mid-fifties I assumed Nicholas wouldn’t see him as a threat of any kind.

Introducing himself as
Tómas
the new tour guide took my rucksack from me – causing no visibly jealous response from Nicholas – and led us to a 4x4 Jeep outside. It was smaller than yesterday’s mega Jeep, but still looked rugged enough to cope with the tough terrain of Iceland.

After about a forty-minute drive
Tómas
slowed the Jeep, pulled off the highway, and began to make his way down a steep, rough track. It was still dark outside, so it was impossible to see our surroundings, but eventually, after several very bumpy minutes, the surface flattened out and from the skidding of the tires it became apparently that we were now on sand. Pulling the car to a stop
Tómas
turned off the engine and no sooner had the engine noise died it was replaced with the crashing sound of waves somewhere close by.

Sitting in the dark hearing the sea but not being able to see it was quite surreal, but then after a few minutes
Tómas
glanced at the clock on the dashboard and told us that sunrise would start soon and so the two of us may as well get out and take a short walk. Pulling on my bobble hat I laughed as Nicholas insisted on tying the woollen strings underneath my chin and proceeded to tuck my scarf more firmly into my jacket. His overprotectiveness was really rather endearing, but seeing the amused glance that
Tómas
was giving us I shooed Nicholas away with an embarrassed giggle and jumped from the Jeep. As soon as my feet hit the soft sand a strong, icy wind whipped in from across the sea and hit me with enough force to make me stagger backwards. I was suddenly hugely grateful for Nicholas’ extra attention to my clothing.

It was dark, windy, and freezing cold and as I shoved my hands in my pockets I began to wonder why we had gotten out of the car at all, but as Nicholas came around behind me and pulled me firmly to his side I saw the first colour of day starting to light the horizon and felt excitement settle in my belly. Over the next few minutes the light from the sun began to illuminate our surroundings in mysterious, misty shadows and half-light, making the huge, crashing waves seem like giants as they broke on the strange, black sand. The dark basalt towers that surrounded us added to the almost mystical feel of the place, making the entire experience breathtakingly eerie but at the same time, infinitely special.

That I was here sharing it with Nicholas, a man I loved so much that it almost hurt, just added to my overwhelming emotions and once the sun was lighting the day around us I turned in his arms and poured all the excitement I was feeling into a long, searing kiss, not caring if
Tómas
was watching from the Jeep or not.

Upon arrival at the base of the glacier tongue
Tómas
ushered us into a wooden hut and told us to layer up our clothing. Bending to undo my boots Nicholas used the opportunity to get a quick fondle of my bottom, making me bat his hand away affectionately as I laughed – he was an opportunistic bugger, that was for sure, and never one to miss a chance at a grope.

Once we were bundled up like a couple of oversized marshmallow men
Tómas
fitted sharp crampons to the soles of our boots so we’d have better grip when walking on the ice and equipped us with a pair of ice axes each.

Glancing across at Nicholas I smiled; his cheeks were flushed from the earlier wind, his eyes shining with excitement, and with him kitted out like an intrepid explorer it was fair to say that the outdoor look
really
suited him. It was totally inappropriate timing, but I felt desire curl in my stomach as my eyes roved over his tall, broad frame. Knowing exactly how fine his muscles were underneath all those layers certainly didn’t do anything to quell my rising ardour, but as
Tómas
stood up and told us it was time to leave I reluctantly had to put it on the backburner for later.

The first part of the hike was tough, steep uphill slopes comprising of gravel, sheet ice, and boulders, which made foot placement tricky with the crampons on, but soon enough we hit proper ice beneath our feet and
Tómas
turned to give us some brief instructions. ‘As exciting as this day will be, I need you to both watch where I tread and follow me carefully; glaciers are one of nature’s most wondrous creations, but they are living, shifting things, and as such tremendously dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing.’

Both Nicholas and I nodded and watched carefully as
Tómas
gave a quick introduction to how to use our ice axes. ‘If you feel your footing give way I want to you use these as I’ve just shown you to anchor yourself.’

‘That’s not likely though, is it?’ Nicholas questioned with a frown.

Raising his blond eyebrows
Tómas
indicated for us to follow him a little deeper up the crevasse in which we were standing, looking carefully at the ground as he went. Pausing, he pointed to some apparently solid snow and ice just in front of him and then raised his ice axe and knocked against it a few times, causing it to crumble away to reveal a deep hole beneath as both Nicholas and I gasped and stepped backwards.

‘This is called a snow bridge. It’s where snow accumulates in the top of an open crevasse – it masks the existence of the void below. It’s one of the many dangers up here on the glacier and the biggest cause of injury or death to walkers who try to navigate around here without a guide.’ Wow, well that certainly put things into perspective didn’t it? There was no doubt that I would be watching exactly where
Tómas
put his feet from now on.

Shifting uncomfortably next to me Nicholas took hold of my gloved hand and squeezed just a bit too tightly. Looking up at him I saw concern etched on his face, but as he glanced down at me it became obvious his fear wasn’t for himself, but me – yet another show of his feelings for me and further increasing my for love him just a little bit more.

‘Don’t worry, folks, that’s why I’m here,’
Tómas
  said, trying to lighten the mood. ‘We’ll take a path that combines a few of these crevasses because that’s where you’ll see the really stunning ice formations, but we’ll also follow some of the more stable upper surface too.’

Backtracking to where we had started
Tómas
led us off on a different path and we began our walk in a line;
Tómas
leading, me next, and my ever protective boyfriend close behind me. As we progressed further and further up over and into the glacier I found myself almost losing my sense of reality. We slid through smooth tubes within the ice and clambered over ragged snow covered plateaus until we reached as high as we could safely go.
Tómas
explained that the very top of the glacier was the most unstable, and so taking a breather before we made the return trip we stopped to enjoy the view back down over the valley. Up here on top of one the glacier ridges we could see for miles.  The surroundings were just so incredible; such an intense variety of blues and whites that they almost blended with the clear blue sky.  Linking my arm with Nicholas’ I shook my head in wonder as my brain struggled to take in what it was seeing, the whole climb had been like an out of body experience.

I found the trek exceptionally magical; it was deeply moving to be privileged enough to be surrounded by mother nature in all her powerful, dangerous, and awe inspiring majesty. When we eventually made it back to the Jeep after four hours on the ice it was as if we were all humbled into silence, and for most of our drive back to the hotel Nicholas merely held onto my hand as we both silently contemplated the incredible day we had just shared.

Later that afternoon after a warming shower Nicholas suggested an hour in bed to snooze after our tiring morning. Knowing we had a long night of Christmas celebrations ahead of us I quickly agreed, but as soon as I had snuggled myself up to his warm, naked body Nicholas grumbled about me being too much of a distraction to allow sleep and had decided to reinvigorate me with other, more sexual methods. Not that I had complained in the slightest.

An hour later as we prepared to go down for the Christmas buffet I was quite conscious that my cheeks were still flushed from Nicholas’ rather pleasant ‘snooze time’ distractions, but hoped that it would just look like a glow from the cold time spent outdoors. 

As we headed downstairs for the Christmas buffet Nicholas reminded me to take my coat as Mr Siggi had told us earlier that today’s clear skies meant there was a good chance we might see some action from the Northern Lights this evening. Being a force of nature the light display could occur at any time, so it was advised to have your coat readily accessible in case they appeared and we needed to abandon our dinner and dash outside to catch a glimpse.

As I had predicted the buffet was enormous and I almost felt full just looking at the heavily laden tables. Even Nicholas with his healthy appetite looked a little taken aback by the quantity before us. Luckily my appetite returned as soon as I got closer and saw the authentic Icelandic food. I was quite an experimental eater, so I always enjoyed trying new cultural delights. On offer tonight were two traditional Christmas dishes; a tender smoked lamb dish called
hangikjöt
, and a delicious salted pork rib labelled with the unpronounceable name of
hamborgarhryggur
, as well as various other stews, potatoes, breads, and vegetables.

The meal was delicious, but we were barely halfway through our main course when Mr Siggi came dashing into the dining room and told us all to grab our coats and make our way outside as some colour had been spotted in the sky. Abandoning our meal we shrugged into our thick coats and made our way to the large decking area at the back of the hotel. The day had already been almost magical, but if we got a sighting of the Northern Lights it really would finish the day off with style.

Chapter Six
Nicholas

Hurrying to the large decked area to the back of the hotel, we stopped with the other guests by the railing and simultaneously craned our necks skywards. Rebecca positioned herself in front of me again, seemingly her favourite place to stand, and I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her close as we silently watched the night sky expectantly.

The first indication of something happening was the gasp I felt leave Rebecca’s chest. Following her line of sight to our left I felt myself draw in an awed breath too as a band of green light suddenly became visible, swirling and flickering in the sky like a wispy curtain of coloured smoke. Giving Rebecca a squeeze I saw her glance up at me, excitement shining in her eyes. The almost luminous green bands disappeared for a few seconds and I thought that perhaps it was over, but then they seemed to burst back into life, this time with a pink tinge along their edges and an almost violet hue in the centre. I might be a man, and a fairly shuttered one at that, but this was just incredible, and so beautiful.

At some point during the course of the evening the hotel staff brought bowls of food out to us all which we picked at when the lights disappeared, which they did frequently, but our appetites were mostly lost as we kept getting distracted by staring skywards at this amazing phenomenon.