Clio had never been so happy to say good bye to her family before. She waved as her car and driver pulled away from the winery, blowing kisses to her sisters and brother, smiling reassuringly at her mother and father, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Everyone was gathered on the porch, looking forlorn as they attempted to be brave, as if Clio were going to war or something, for goodness' sake. Italians loved nothing more than a good melodrama, and the eldest child of the family's only son leaving the fold over the Christmas holiday to go be with her boyfriend would do for now. It held equal amounts of romance and sorrow.

The car pulled out into the watery, early morning sun of the Italian winter, and Clio was glad that the weather would be nice for the drive to Courchevel. It was an eight hour drive from the winery to the ski resort, an all-day trip, but driving was still the fastest way between the two places. She had reading to catch up on, and even had her laptop charged up and ready to write up some notes. She was also simply looking forward to the drive through the beautiful alps. Her driver, Aldo, was a fun, funny, and reliable driver, and Clio knew she had nothing to worry about.

Clio knew that in many ways her parents were very liberal and permissive, but that in other ways they were as old-fashioned and strict as anyone from the Victorian Era, and she considered herself very lucky to have been given permission to go to France at all. She settled back in the warm, comfortable car and counted the hours until she'd be with her beloved Archie. She felt heat bloom in her belly, and realized that she was horny. She even felt tingling in her breasts, a first for her.

Oh my god.

She thought of Archie's hands and mouth on her, and she could barely keep still in the back of the car. She'd never had feelings like this before in her life. She wondered if Francie had. She'd have to remember to ask her when she returned from Courchevel.

It was a perfect day for driving through the alps. The sky was a deep blue, with a few, white puffy clouds dotting the horizon. The mountains were covered with snow so white it was nearly blue in the bright light, with a bit of slate gray showing through here and there. Traffic was light on the alpine highway and Aldo was making good time, Clio could tell.

For the first few hours she read and took notes on her laptop, but then the view outside her windows captivated her and she set everything aside, daydreaming as she watched the Alps go by.

She joked with Aldo, telling him she felt very James Bond, that maybe she should have a scarf and red lipstick or something.

This made Aldo laugh as he nodded. "Sí," he agreed. "Faresti una bellissima Bond girl, you would make a beautiful Bond girl."

"Ah, grazie tanto, thank you so much," Clio responded.

They crossed into France with just a couple hours left in their trip, and just a bit of daylight left. Clio suddenly wished she'd dressed up more, or at least fixed her hair. It was in a braid that hung over her shoulder, without even a barrette to dress it up. She felt very plain, and worried that she wasn't wearing any make-up.

She told herself not to be stupid, she'd never worried about make-up before, and Archie never seemed to care. Archie liked her just the way she was, didn't he? He liked her for her wit, her sense of humor, her brains, her talent, not how she looked in make up or with her hair done.

The car pulled up in front of the chalet that the Spencers had rented, and Clio had just put her hand on the door handle when the front door opened and Archie came flying through it. He gave a wild whoop as he yanked the car door open and scooped Clio out into his arms, squeezing her tightly as he did so.

"You're here, finally!" he shouted as he spun her around in the chilly Alpine dusk. "I thought you'd never arrive, god I'm so glad to see you and hold you at last!" He stopped spinning her so he could kiss her, smiling as he did so, letting out a satisfied moan as he did so.

Poppy and Skip appeared in the doorway, arms around each other, grinning as they watched the happy reunion. Aldo, too, was smiling as he pulled Clio's bag from the trunk of the car.

Clio thanked him and watched as he headed off toward the town, where he'd spend the night before heading home in the morning.

"Come on, Archie, grab her bag and bring her in before she freezes out there," Poppy called.

"Okay, okay, sorry," Archie said, releasing Clio and reaching for her bag.

Clio joined Poppy and Skip in the house while Archie brought her bag in. She followed him into the room they'd share, exclaiming along the way at how lovely and quaint the chalet was.

"Archie, you said it was small and cute," Clio complained. "This place is gorgeous! Look at these walls, this wood is beautiful!"

"'This wood is beautiful'?" Archie repeated with a laugh as he led her down the hall. "Clio, they're just walls."

Clio slapped at his back, laughing along as they entered the room they'd share.

"Here we are," Archie declared, turning so he could take her in his arms again. "Finally, I can kiss you like I want," he murmured, leaning in to press his lips to her fragrant neck.

Clio leaned her head back to give him easier access, closing her eyes and feeling like her spine was melting. She grasped weakly at his elbows as the strength left her knees, making a soft moan into his hair.

Archie moved his mouth slowly along her jaw until he captured her lips, his tongue already searching as his hand came to rest on her neck.

"God, I missed you so much, so much," he whispered against her mouth in between kissing her. His other hand moved to her front to cup her breast, his thumb rubbing small circles on her nipple.

"Archie, what are you doing to me?" Clio gasped, taking a step back. "We have to go out there and make small talk with your sister and her husband in a minute, and I can barely stand up!" She shook her head briskly and swallowed. "Let's save the sexy stuff for later, please, okay?"

Archie leaned in and pecked her lips. "Okay, darling," he answered good-naturedly. "I'll do my best to keep my hands to myself. In fact, I'll go out there and pour us some wine, and leave you to unpack and freshen up and all that, how's that sound?"

"Thank you," Clio answered with the smile Archie loved. She put her hand on his chest and patted it a couple of times.

After he left, she put her things away in the empty drawers she found, washed her face, and went out to the cozy living room where a fire was burning merrily in the huge fireplace.

"So, should I help with dinner or anything?" Clio asked as she sat next to Archie with her wine.

"No, not necessary," Skip assured her. "We have one of those all day cook pot thingummies--"

"A crock-pot?" Clio supplied.

"Exactly so," Skip replied. "This morning we stuck in a chunk of beef, some potatoes, and a bit of veg, and in another hour or so, it should be ready to eat."

"Sounds wonderful," Clio said with a smile. She'd heard that Skip was a very nice person, and so far everything she'd heard was true.

Next to him, Poppy grinned. "And very little clean up after, also, which is the best part, I think."

"Maybe next year the girls will be old enough to come with us, and we can teach them to ski, what do you think?" Skip asked, changing the subject.

Archie put an arm around Clio as his eyes lit up. Clio knew he loved spending time with his nieces and missed being with them when they were apart. "Oh, that would be lovely, don't you think, Poppy? Do you think they'll be coordinated enough by next winter?"

Poppy considered. "Well, they've been riding for a couple of years already, so I don't see why not, if MJ and Heath would let them."

"Well, you all know that I've never been skiing before," Clio interjected. "So you're all going to have to teach me this year, and I bet I'm going to be harder to teach than Kiki and Lulu. I apologize in advance for that."

Clio was a little anxious about learning to ski the next day, not only because she was nervous to actually learn, but because she didn't want to look foolish in front of her boyfriend. She did her best to act normal all through dinner, but Archie could tell she was preoccupied about something, and knew for sure something was up when she decided to go to bed early.

"No, you stay up and visit with your sister," she tried to insist. "You hardly get to see her, what with studying in New York and everything."

"I'm not going to leave you alone your first night here," Archie insisted, rising. He turned to Poppy and Skip. "We're going to bed, you don't mind, do you?"

"Of course not," Skip assured him.

Poppy, too, shook her head. "You certainly don't have to explain why you'd rather be with her than with us, brother," she assured Archie.

"Thank you," he responded with a grin. He turned to Clio. "See? No worries, now let's go."

"God, Archie, you're so transparent," Poppy said, shaking her head.

"Bite me," he returned cheerfully as he took Clio by the elbow and led her from the room.

"I don't think she believed you wanted to comfort me because it was my first night here," Clio said with a laugh as they slid into bed a few minutes later.

"No?" Archie asked, his voice innocent in the darkness as he took Clio in his arms.

"No," Clio responded with a laugh. She pressed herself into Archie's body, feeling happy, feeling greedy, feeling horny as she leaned in to kiss him, hard.

She pulled Archie's thin body onto hers, rolling her hips into his and making a happy moaning sound as they came together. She could feel him growing hard between her legs and reached for the waistband of his pajamas so she could push them down and out of the way.

Archie groaned at the feel of her hands on him, the feel of her slim body next to his. Her small breasts pressing into his chest made him crazy, the feel of her long legs wrapped around his hips made him feel like he was going to pass out.

But suddenly, as he was unbuttoning her pajama top, images of the unknown person who'd left the love bites on his body came to him, thoughts of the anonymous mouth on his groin. He had to suppress a shudder as Clio pressed herself eagerly to his body, as she kissed him over and over again.

Who had it been?

"Archie? Are you okay?"

Archie could hear the worry in Clio's voice, and he could imagine her face clearly, even though it was dark.

"I'm fine, darling, honest." Archie reached again for the buttons on her front while leaning out to kiss her, biting her lips gently as he spread her top open, loving how warm and alive her flesh felt under his hands.

Again, unbidden, came the image of the unknown person, the unknown mouth, hovering over his body, marking him as it moved down his torso as it broke the capillaries on the surface of his skin, and suddenly Archie couldn't stand it. His brain couldn't hold back the truth of what his body had experienced anymore.

"Archie? What's wrong?" Clio sat up. "You're--you--you're not excited anymore--?"

Archie, too, sat up, swallowing and turning away. He didn't know what to say. This had never happened to him before.

"Did I do something wrong?" Clio's voice was soft. She reached out a tentative hand and put it on his shoulder. "Please tell me if I did something."

Archie shook his head in the dark. "No, darling, you didn't do anything, honest. I reckon I just had too much to drink or something, that's all." He sighed.

"Oh, really?" And Clio, who'd seen Archie drink much, much more, didn't know whether to believe him or not. "Um, okay." She swallowed. "Okay, Archie."

"Clio, it's not a big deal, it happens to all blokes sometimes," Archie said, turning around to face her finally. "Can we just go to sleep?" He reached out to touch her cheek.

"Sure," she said, nodding into his palm. "Let's go to sleep."

They lay down, facing each other, neither willing to voice the truth of their disappointment.

"Good night, darling."

"Good night, Archie."

It was a long time before either of them slept, however.