“Serenity?” I said softly. “We’re here. It’s time to wake up. We’re going to have to disembark soon.”
She stirred, not opening her eyes until I said the worddisembark. Her eyes flew wide open and she sat up fast, blinking rapidly and seeming confused for a moment before her gaze landed on me. “What? We’re there already? When did that happen?”
“Only about a minute ago,” I said, smiling as I tilted my head toward the window. “Take a look out there.”
Immediately leaning over, she pressed her face right up to the glass and her eyes went wide as she blinked. “Wow. That’s really something, isn’t it? Is that steam?”
“And lava,” I said. “It’s under the snow, but that’s what those black bits are that are peeking out and why the surface is so uneven. Cool, huh?”
“Fucking awesome,” she breathed, then swung those wide blues to mine and clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle the squeal that came out as she stomped her feet a few times fast. “This is so cool. We’re actually here. We’re in fucking Iceland, Bart. Two weeks ago, I didn’t think I’d ever see Idaho, never mind Iceland.”
My reply was interrupted when the pilot came over the intercom once we rolled to a stop, telling us we could disembark and wishing us a pleasant stay. Unbuckling my seatbelt with a snap, I got up and held my hand out to help her before reaching for both of our backpacks. “There’s a car waiting for us to take us to the lodge where we’ll be staying, but it’s a bit of a drive. An hour and a half or so, according to the website.”
“That’s perfect. It might be dark, but at least we’ll get to see some of the scenery on our way.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” As we walked down the aisle and descended the few steps to the ground, I told her about our lodgings so she’d know what to expect. “Do you know what’s even cooler? We’re staying in an igloo. Apparently, this place has a great view, so we’ll have the best chance at seeing the Northern lights. It looks out over the Icelandic highlands, a river, and a fucking volcano called Hekla.”
“You’re kidding?” She stopped abruptly to stare at me, incredulity swimming in her eyes as she looked into mine. “An igloo overlooking a volcano?”
“It’s a glass house igloo with side curtains but nothing covering the top, so you either sleep under the stars or the midnight sun if you go in summer. The pictures made it look like someplace out of a fairy tale, so I’m just hoping they did the actual lodge justice and that it wasn’t just a good photographer.”
“I don’t think the photographer needs to be very good or the hotel very fancy to make the place awe inspiring with those kinds of natural wonders around.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed. “After you.”
She sprang back into motion then, not stopping again until we were situated in the back of the shuttle I’d arranged to take us out there. On the drive, we pointed out a few things to each other, but mostly, we were both too in awe of the landscape to speak much. The further out we went, the less light pollution there was and the more we could see by the light of the moon and stars.
By the time we arrived, my brain was on overload, and although I’d slept on the flight, I was exhausted all over again. There was no formal check-in process at this hour, but I’d downloaded the app on my phone in anticipation of arriving when we would. Preoccupied with getting us into the freestanding glass room, I only realized once the door clicked open that I’d overlooked something huge.
Right at the front end of the house was a massive bed, but there was only one. A few lights had come on when I’d activated them on the app, and one glance was all it took to see that there wasn’t an extra bed, cot, or even a hideaway in the sofa.
Serenity seemed to notice the same thing at the same time. “Uh, Bart? Are you sure this is our igloo?”
“Yep.” I cursed under my breath. “When I updated the booking to add an extra person, I didn’t check the sleeping arrangements again. I chose this room when I still thought I’d be coming alone and it never occurred to me to upgrade it to one with two beds.”
“Okay, well, uh, I’m sure we can make a plan.”
I shut the door behind us, looking around the private bubble that was very obviously geared toward couples and not singles sharing. It was just as fucking gorgeous as promised by the pictures, a rectangular structure made entirely of glass and wood. The entire front was situated on a low overhang and there wasn’t any part of the structure that obscured the view.
A small kitchenette sat right behind it, offering a two-person round wooden dining table and a tiny sitting area off to one side with a minute couch. The bathroom was separated from the living space by only an opaque glass wall, and there was a two-seater hot tub on the deck at the side of the house, together with an outhouse that I knew from the website held a sauna.
Fuck. There wasn’t a single part of this room that would make it comfortable to share with someone you weren’t in love with.Fucking fuck. Our first stop is also the ultimate honeymoon destination.
“When I was looking for accommodations, I wanted something remote,” I explained. “Something away from the crowds where I could think, reflect, and see the Northern Lights at the same time. There were couples on the pictures, but I wasn’t exactly in the frame of mind where I was thinking about romance. It just seemed isolated and peaceful. I definitely didn’t get that it was also possibly the most romantic place on the planet earth.”
She touched my arm. “It’s okay. I’m not upset. We are going to have to figure something out, but maybe they can have a cot brought in.”
“I doubt it. The website specifically says the maximum occupancy for the room is two, and that the place isn’t family friendly. I’ll take the couch, though.”
For a second, it looked like she was going to invite me to sleep in the bed with her, but I saw the moment she decided against it. Neither of us were ready to make that leap just yet, I was sure. Serenity didn’t want to feel like she was being paid for sex, and frankly, I didn’t want to feel like I was paying her for it.
No matter how much I ached to be with her, even just to fall asleep with her on that incredible white bed under the stars, I couldn’t. There was too much at stake and we were both too determined to make this work on the terms we’d agreed to, regardless of the fact that she was probably as acutely aware as I was that it was only a matter of time.
I sighed, motioning toward the bathroom as I rolled both of our bags further into the room. “You go ahead and freshen up first. I’ll go have a drink outside to give you some privacy.”
“It’s freezing out there,” she protested but took the handle of her bag from me anyway. “Are you sure?”
“There’s a propane firepit out there. I’ll start it up and then we’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. This is supposed to be fun, remember? I’m sorry about the bed, but you’re right. We’ll make it work.”