Nicole 

The choice we made to go to Lake Tahoe was the best one we made. This place is literally heaven on Earth.

I had never come here before, but everyone I know that has, speaks wonders about it and now I can see why. 

The timing was perfect too. We really wanted to getaway from the routine and stress of our daily life and by the time I was free from my published author duties, it was nearing our one year anniversary. 

What better way to celebrate the day we started dating than by going on a three day weekend romantic getaway?

Once my responsibilities and obligations as a fresh new author were all done, Lucas spoke with his boss and his team and they were very pleased to give him one day off. That said, we packed our bags, left Sparkles at my parent's place, - who, by the way, were spoiling her rotten - and hit the road. 

The crystalline clear blue lake that I could see from the porch of our cabin matched Lucas' eyes that penetrated through me every time he looked at me.

Instead of spending tons of money on a fancy hotel room that has butlers following you around every hour of every day, we chose to rent a wood cabin for our three nights away. It was a lot cheaper and it had everything we needed for three days only. Plus, it provided us the calm and relaxation and that off the grid feeling we craved.

It was just us, the lake and the tall trees with the leafs that were, one by one, turning orange as the season of autumn was making its come back.

"I could live like this forever."

"Me too." I sighed in contentment as I snuggled close to him. Our legs were tangled under the white sheets that were messily arranged on top of us. 

We arrived yesterday and explored all the areas around our cabin but since we came back to our little den after dinner last night, we haven't left the bed. 

What? We were a couple of twenty-something year olds, we were young, we loved each other, and we haven't had the time to have sex lately. This was our chance to make up for loss time.

My fingertips traveled through the soft, pale skin of his uncovered chest and made their way to his jaw line. 

"Are you hungry?" He asked, his voice just above a whisper.

I peppered small kissed on his jaw, his cheek, his nose, forehead and then saved the big one for his lips.

"A little. Not enough to leave this bed, though."

Looking at the cabin from outside, this place was as dreamy as it can be, with the roof in the shape of a triangle, and with a small yet beautifully decorated deck. It had a few chairs, a table and a few plants.

On the inside, this cabin is everything you could dream of. It's the coziest house I've ever been to, maybe even cozier than Lucas' place in London. 

It was a wood cabin, literally, so it was all decorated in light brown colors which only made it look even more comforting and cozy. It was packed with a large fireplace downstairs, in the living room area that also had a couch as well as a glass coffee table, next to the small kitchen and bathroom, while the open space bedroom took over the entire first floor.

A massive bed, tons of blankets and the isolation was exactly what we needed. Well, maybe we didn't need the blankets, but we definitely needed everything else.

Fall was upon us and it was quite chilly here, so we used everything this house had to offer. However, we did agree on coming back here in the winter, around Christmas time, with snow and Christmas fairs all around. I'm sure we'll love it as much as we do now, if not even more. 

"I could go downstairs, make us some toast and coffee and bring it to you in bed." He raised one eyebrow while he suggested. 

"This bed isn't even half as good without you in it..." I hummed in thought, my index finger tapping against my chin as I faked my thought. "But I'll accept the offer. Of course, only if you promise to come back here and eat breakfast with me and go for round... four? Five? I've lost track."

His dimples showed as he chuckled and flashed me a sweet smile. "You don't need to ask me twice."

His butt was in full sight as he got up from the bed and made his way towards the suitcase to pick up a pair of boxers and put them on to go downstairs. I enjoyed the view and let my eyes close again while the smell of the coffee Lucas was making traveled through my nostrils. 

Not too long after, I was sitting up in bed, making room for the tray filled with deliciously smelling food that he carried. 

"What are you doing?" He asked, in reference to one of the old t-shirts he brought with him that I threw on. 

"Giving you something to work on afterwards." I winked at him and took a bite of the brown toast. 

The cabin was packed with a lot of  essential things such as fruit, coffee, bread, butter and most importantly, wine. Not for right now, but for tonight. 

Lucas took the liberty to prepare us two glasses of fresh orange juice, coffee, toast and he even prepared us a bowl of granola with raspberries. 

I think we must have slept an overall time of three hours during the night, if that much. We had a pretty tiring night with all the love making, so we were exhausted and hungry and all that food disappeared in a heartbeat.

Lucas took the tray downstairs and when he came back up he wasted no time in sliding his hands up my waist to remove the old worn out t-shirt. 

Our breaths mingled as our noses touched, but not our lips yet. My hands traveled to the waistband of his boxers and tugged on it with my finger, teasing him. 

"You need help with that?" He asked in a whisper, his breath tingling the skin on my neck, just below my ear. Afterwards he took the opportunity to nibble on my earlobe. 

"Desperate, are we?"

When Lucas and I first spent the night together, in his bed, having sex, it was special to me. I was no virgin, but the experience was so good that it felt like I was an innocent woman and he touched me for the very first time. It was indescribable. Well, minus the discomfort of the first time.

And I never thought that I would get to feel that way ever again. 

Turns out, with the right person, you can. Every single time. That's how it felt every time Lucas and I had sex.

His fingers wrapped around my thighs as he pulled me down so I was now right below him and his bulge. 

Enough with the foreplay.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck, and attacked him with kisses. Our tongues fought for dominance in the middle of a moaning fest while our hands explored every inch of skin in our bodies. 

The thin barrier of fabric between my hot, wet core and his erection was now gone and there was no holding us back. We went all out this time. Must have been the breakfast that served as  fuel to support our bodies' desires.

With him now inside me, we were both rocking back and forth as his lips brushed against the brown skin surrounding my nipples, making me moan even louder. 

In a mixture of moans, screams, whimpers and cries of pleasure I came undone, and so did he. His sweaty body fell on top of mine and we stayed like that for a while before he moved out of me and we made our way to the bathroom to take a much needed shower, and thankfully a next round. 

  * * *

Although Lake Tahoe is the dreamy destination hidden in the middle of California, this place is obviously better in the winter, since it has a lot more winter related activities, plus you get the view of the trees covered in white snow. 

Nonetheless, Lucas and I managed to make the most of our days, and in between sleeping, making love, eating, taking pictures, reading and taking walks around the place, we still found time to do a little paddle boarding and swim a little. The water wasn't that cold and we still had a pretty good time. 

On our last day here, that's what we did in the morning, just as soon as the sun light peaked through the transparent blinds in the bedroom. 

We woke up, ate breakfast and took a shower and got dressed and ready to go - I put on my white and blue bikini and Lucas put on his black swim trunks.

We rented two boards for a pretty nice price, got one for each, and now all we had to do was to get on top, which was a pretty easy task for Lucas. He seemed like a natural on that white board, while I was still trying to stand and find my balance. 

"Just picture an imaginary dot in front of you and focus on it." He told me while he stood still on the board.

Yeah, yeah... Easy for you to say.

Eventually, I did found an imaginary dot. I don't know if it was because of it or for some other reason, but I did manage to stand on the board and paddle my way through the lake, with Lucas right by my side. And whoever doesn't believe it, I got the pictures to prove it.

I might have stood and then fallen down like ten times on the course of two hours, but what matters is I got up every time and finally managed to stand still and actually paddle without falling. I was starting to get the hang of it.

At the end of the day Lucas is right - it's all about balance. 

After a fun morning out on the lake, doing paddle, kissing and enjoying each other's company, we visited what Google indicated was the best restaurant in the area to eat in. We had lunch, ate some ice cream and went back to our cabin to shower and change into some warmer clothes, since the weather was getting more and more cold as the hours passed by.

In the afternoon, we had our last activity planned - a hike. At first I wasn't feeling too keen on exercising any more than I had intended to on this getaway (which was not exercise at all) but Lucas said it would be a good idea and I accepted the suggestion. 

And thank God I did because it was so much fun and so beautiful. 

It made me feel like we were back to being those two young adults that took walks around the parks in London, letting the cold breeze of autumn freeze our bones and chill our insides while our hearts were as warm as the burning sun.

The scenery was beautiful too - the big trees, the colorful leaves that slowly fell down and covered the wood path, the view of the lake from up the hills. It was all worth a picture, a real, handmade picture that you'd hang on the wall of your living room.

So, that was what we did right before leaving to go back to our old routine. There were a lot of souvenir shops that sold paintings and pictures but those were pre-made, we were looking for something a little more... special and with some history behind it.

That was when we found a man sitting on a wood chair, with a tripod and a canvas in front of him.

After speaking with him for a while, we learned his name was Richard. He didn't tell us his age but he couldn't be more than sixty years old. 

There was a sign next to him that said Paintings - 30$. 

"How long does it take for you to work on a painting? Medium size?" Lucas had asked him.

"One hour. Maybe a few more minutes, give or take."

We agreed on waiting a little bit more and leave for San Francisco later than we had planned, just to wait for the perfect painting that we both wanted to hang in our wall.

Initially we planned on taking a little walk and saying the final goodbye to this magical place while the painting was getting done, but Mr. Richard's compelling, sweet and gentle voice pulled us in and we didn't leave his side the whole time, looking at him while he was doing what he loved and talking about who he loved.

"My wife used to paint too but she got sick a couple of years ago. Never got back to it." He explained to us, with some traces of sadness in his voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said.

"She's all good now. But I think the cancer changed her a little, she doesn't want to do the same things she used to want to do. Or maybe she's just getting older, I don't know."

"How long have you two been together?" Lucas asked, already invested in the conversation as much as I was.

"Thirty five years. We got married young, that's how it was back then." We simply smiled and nodded in agreement. "What about you?"

"A year."

"Oh." He looked up at the sky in reminiscence, probably remembering of simpler times. "You're young, you got your whole life ahead of you."

In fact, we did. 

The conversation we shared, that seemed to never end, made the hour we waited for the painting to pass by faster than we thought and by now, Lucas was paying him and we were parting ways.

"If you do come back during Christmas don't forget to visit me." He told us, with a smile dancing on his lips that battled the grey mustache.

"We won't. Thank you again." Lucas said before shaking his hand and carefully taking the painting to our car.

"Have a nice day." I waved at him with a warm smile and followed Lucas' footsteps.

One thing I learned during this little vacation was that it was all about balance. Not just when you're paddling, but in life. And I have a feeling I'm definitely going to need to learn how to balance everything life still has in store for me. 

 * * *

Author's Note:

Y-ellow!! I hope you guys are enjoying how this is going, there is SO MUCH MORE COMING! You're not ready (in a good way!) 💗

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Xoxo, Mars