The snow tumbled from the sky like a curtain in big, wet flakes that glittered in the porch light and added layer after layer to the smooth, edgeless blanket that tried to swallow the world. From time to time, trees capitulated under the weight and threw their branches to the ground with a final, resonating gun shot, or faltered altogether with a cannon blast. The startled jerks and hammering heartbeat were the only things that broke Carol’s miserable monotony while she stared out of the blurred window into the white-gray nothingness and watched through red-rimmed eyes as the snow climbed above the window sill.

Her mood was just like the snow - gray, heavy and cold. It should have been the best Christmas ever. Now she sat there, alone, the ambers of the fire in the hearth behind her dead, and wrapped her blanket tighter around herself, unable to dispel the chill from her heart.

“Going to be a day late. Missed flight. Driving up there by myself. ” Was that the message you wrote your fiancée when you needed to tell her that you’d be late for your first real, romantic holiday together -- for the long-awaited, cozy Christmas week in a remote mountain cabin? Of course it wasn’t.

How he could not have expected her to call him after that, she had no clue. Or perhaps he had, subconsciously. Perhaps this had been his way to tell her that sorry, it just didn’t work for him. The giggling, female voice that had answered her on his fixed phone had been like a punch into her face and guts. But when she had asked for Fernando and Miss Giggles had called out for loverboy, she had felt her heart freeze and shatter, piece by piece, with agonizing pain.

“Don’t bother coming.” It had been a single wave of wounded rage that had kept her voice steady enough to say the words -- before the tsunami of misery following in its wake tore apart her world. She had hung up the phone, and there had been nothing. No frantic call back. No message begging her to talk. Just silence, a broken heart and tears streaming in rivers down her face.

* * * *

The snow was halfway up the windows. Candles flickered and made the room look far warmer than it felt. Carol’s stomach grumbled, but she couldn’t find the energy to get up. A knock sounded.

She should go to the door. But there couldn’t be anybody outside, not on Christmas Eve with the snow already four feet high and still falling. Her fantasy was playing games; loneliness was no doubt making her imagine things.

Another series of knocks broke the silence, loud, insistent. She turned her head around and looked at the door. “Wha…” Her voice was inaudible, raw from crying.

The knocking turned into a pounding. “Hello?” a muffled male voice asked from outside. “Is there anybody inside? Hello?”

* * * *

A deep trench, almost a canyon, wound its way through the snow, and the older couple standing in front of Carol’s door, clad in thick down jackets and with their cheeks reddened by the exertion in the cold, looked relieved. They were both breathing hard and leaning on their snow shovels.

Carol vaguely remembered their faces. “Hello,” she finally managed to stammer, and even as she spoke, the names came back to her. “Mr. and Mrs. Preston.” The tumbling snowflakes gave the scene a blurry appearance.

“June. Please call me June, and he’s Edgar. We’re neighbors, after all. You’re Carol, aren’t you?” The woman smiled brightly, and her breath came out in puffs of mist. A few blond curls clung wetly to her forehead under the jacket’s hood.

“I’m… yes. I remember you. Dad fixed your car once.”

The man, Edgar, chuckled. “That he did. I’d been trying to get it running for a whole day. Took him all of five minutes.” He looked her up and down. “We saw your car and the smoke from the chimney, but then the smoke stopped, though your car’s still up the lane. Are you okay? Are you here alone?”

“I… yes.” It was hard for Carol not to start crying again. “My fiancé was supposed to come too.”

“Oh.” June gave her a look of sympathy. “They closed the roads a few hours ago.”

“I don’t care!” Carol’s breath hitched. “I’m sorry,” she hastily added. “It’s just that…” She looked at the single wooden step in front of her that the snow already tried to claim once again.

“You had a falling out.” It wasn’t a question.

“How…?”

“Your eyes are red and puffy. We saw you crying through the window.”

As if the mere mentioning of the word had open a valve, fresh tears streaked down Carol’s cheeks. She hated that she couldn’t hold it together, but the frozen fingers of loneliness crushed her heart once again.

“Oh my!”

The wooden shaft of the shovel clanked on the cobbles, and then arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a tight hug. A scent of female perfume and sweat filled her nostrils. Sobs shook her, but a soothing hand travelled up and down her back.

“Nobody should be alone for Christmas. You’re coming with us.” June’s tone left no room for discussion. “But first, we’ll go inside and close the door. You have to be freezing in just your pajama, girl!”

“I… oh…” Flustered, Carol extricated herself from the embrace and took a step backwards. “I’m sorry, you have to be freezing yourself. Come in.”

Edgar had already leaned the shovels against the porch railing, and the two of them quickly stepped out of their boots and onto the lush carpet. Once the door shut behind them, Carol nervously looked around, for the first time in days noticing that the living room was quite a mess. “Sorry, I didn’t have much energy for tidying up.”

“And that’s understandable.” June stood next to her, one hand on Carol’s shoulder. “Why don’t you pack your things and jump into some warmer clothes, and we’ll head over. It’s rather cold here.”

“I had blankets.” Carol’s defense fell short against the twinkle in her older neighbor’s eye.

“Oh my god!” Edgar exclaimed far too loud. “Is that an original?” He crossed the room with a few long steps and crouched down in front of the wooden statue Carol’s mother and father had quarreled about so often.

“Not really. But it’s been made at the end of the nineteenth century.” She felt her cheeks grow hot, watching Edgar admire the lewd ebony statue. “Mom always argued that it was indecent, but Dad insisted on having it out in the open. I never got around to stowing it away.”

“And I’m glad.” Edgar’s voice was nothing more than a deep whisper. “She’s beautiful.” He ran a finger down the horned, wooden goddess, over her full, naked breasts and between her lewdly splayed legs.

As her neighbor’s finger caressed the statue in such a loving, almost sexual way, Carol became aware of her own state of being under-dressed. “I… I should really put something on. I haven’t unpacked much. I’ll be just a minute.”

The tightening of June’s fingers around her shoulder stopped her. “You don’t need to hurry.” She winked. “If there are two things that can keep my Edgar happy and occupied, it’s Egyptian history and naked women.”

Carol’s blush intensified, and she quickly headed to her bedroom.

* * * *

“...and this will be your room.”

“It’s lovely.” It was, really. Unlike the rest of the Preston’s cabin, which was all sheepskins and wood, the small room towards the back had two red-bricked walls and a four-poster bed with intricate ornaments and airy, transparent veils. “It’s like a princess’ quarters in a castle.”

June chuckled. “That might be because Edgar modelled it for his princess.”

“You have a daughter?”

“Yes, her name’s Amy. She has to be about your age. It’s a pity you never met. She’s twenty-three.”

Carol bit her lip while she stowed away her clothes in the dark wooden wardrobe, wondering if she should ask the question. But she was curious now. “She’s not coming here for Christmas?”

“Not this year. She lives with her husband in Australia. They visit us over the holidays every other year though.”

* * * *

They had spent the night in front of the fireplace, wrapped in thick woolen blankets, eating home-made cookies, sipping hot punch and sharing stories of past times at the cabins. Whenever June and Edgar had shared a particularly funny moment, they had sent each other loving smiles and winks, and the small touches that accompanied those always sent small stabs through Carol’s heart. But the laughter over -- in hindsight -- hilarious mishaps had more than weighed up these reminders of her loneliness, and when Carol had made her tipsy way to bed, she had felt relaxed for what had felt like the first time in ages.

She awoke to a soft bumping sound and had to blink a few times to realize where she was. The soft, bluish moonlight reflected on the snow and tinged the room in a mysterious glow. Something creaked, and more bumping followed, soft thuds.

Suddenly wide awake, Carol extricated herself from the blanket and slipped into the felt shoes. They were really ugly, but they were soft and warm. She tip-toed into the hallway to get herself a glass of water, but with each step, the thumping sound got louder.

When she was about to pass the Preston’s bedroom, she noticed the door slightly ajar and couldn’t stop herself from taking a peek. She almost gasped aloud and put a hand across her mouth.

Both were naked. June was on all fours in the middle of the huge bed, with her eyes closed and her head thrown back in ecstatic bliss. Behind her, Edgar knelt with his hands around her hips and pushed her slowly back and forth. She couldn’t see his groin, but there was no doubt what Carol was witnessing.

She had never considered herself a voyeur. But these two bodies, in all their slightly pudgy imperfection, were beautiful in the moonlight. June’s big breasts dangled rhythmically in the shape of long, perfect, round cones tipped with dark, long nipples, and gasps and grunts accompanied their dance of love. The looks of passion on their faces were breathtakingly beautiful.

Moisture coated Carol’s fingers and a moan almost escaped her lips. A guilty blush spread over her cheeks when she realized where her hand had strayed. She shouldn’t be doing this! But the rhythm sped up, the creaking and thumping intensifying just like the moans and grunts did.

“Oh god yes, baby, yes, give it to me! God, this feels so good! Harder!” June’s moaned encouragement was shaken by pleasured hitches in her breath.

“I love you!” Edgar grunted in reply, pushing himself hard into her and drawing a moan of delight.

Carol’s own fingers danced between her thighs, delved into the wetness.

Edgar’s thighs slapped audibly against June’s buttocks. Their moans rose in pitch, announcing their impending climax.

Carol fought to contain her own moans, lost in the wonderful intimacy of the scene she was spying on, feeling the heat of passion rise from her loins.

Edgar’s arms wrapped around his wife’s upper body and he pulled her up, burying himself all the way inside her with a hard thrust, one hand squeezing her breast. June was trembling all over. One hand found her clit and rubbed hard and fast, and then they both came, shaking, moaning and shivering.

Pleasure surged through Carol. She almost fell to her knees, only at the last moment turning around to lean against the wall next to the door. Trembling waves of delightful heat raced all through her body and she slid down the wall, her lips clamped tightly together to contain her moans of lust.

The bed creaked some more. Fabric rustled.

“I love you so much.” Edgar’s voice was still shaky.

“I love you too. Always have, always will.”

There was a pause, and Carol finally managed to get her breath back. The guilt she had momentarily managed to push away returned tenfold, and she was about to get up and sneak away when June’s next sentence made her freeze.

“What do you think about Carol?”

“Well, she’s very likeable. She shouldn’t be alone over Christmas. It’s a good thing you convinced me that we should go looking.”

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.”

A deep, soft chuckle sounded from the bedroom. “Not? So you want me to say that she’s incredibly pretty and intelligent, and that I’d love nothing more than to strip her naked and ravish her?”

Carol’s breath stuck in her throat, but she didn’t dare to breathe anyway. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“That’s more like it. I saw you stare at her bum. She’s got a lovely, tight bum, doesn’t she?”

“As if you needed my opinion there. I know how much you love bums. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one with indecent thoughts about her, am I?”

June giggled. Carol’s face and upper chest burned with a strange heat that had nothing to do with the guilt from earlier.

“Would you lick my pussy? I you pulled the blanket over yourself, I could pretend it’s her.”

Again, fabric rustled. “You’re a wicked woman,” Edgar’s slightly muffled voice accused.

“Hush, love, don’t disturb the picture.

Oh yes… yes… just like that!”

Carol couldn’t keep listening. She tip-toed back to her room on shaky legs. She had never, ever thought about making love to a woman. Hell, she had never thought about making love to someone twice her age. But now her mind was racing, and her body - her body was sending signals that almost made her dizzy. She climbed underneath her blanket and curled up into a ball, one hand clutched between her thighs.

Nothing that she felt made sense. The heat flickered like the flame of a candle, licking, slowly burning away the wall of moral values she built up over a lifetime. The image of her cabin neighbors’ bodies in their lovemaking wouldn’t leave her alone, sometimes even mixed with ones of herself, naked as well, kneeling between June’s creamy thighs while Edgar, from behind… No, she had to stop thinking that.

It took her long to get back to sleep, and when she did, it wasn’t for long. Every time she touched the land of dreams, June and Edgar were waiting for her, naked, making love, and urging her to join them. Even though she hadn’t seen it for real, Edgar’s cock stood dark and swollen, bigger than any she had seen before, and for a moment all she could think of was to feel it inside her all the way, have it stretch her to the limit, ride it to a glorious climax.

Her own daring startled her awake time and time again, and she tossed and turned, sweating and breathless.

* * * *

She woke again at the first light of dawn. The snow outside glittered beautifully in the reddish, warm light. Everything wore soft, white caps, and there were no hard edges to see as far as her eyes could reach. The cabin was still silent.

Carol pulled herself away from the view and slipped into her terry-cloth robe. She headed down to the living room and got a fresh fire going. She rubbed her hands together, listening to the crackling of the wood, when a breathtaking thought occurred to her.

She couldn’t, could she?

It was outrageous. And more, what if she couldn’t go through? But the images from the night came back at the smallest reminder, having lost nothing of their intensity. She tip-toed back to her room and rummaged through the large bag with the things she hadn’t bothered to unpack, the things she hadn’t thought she’d need.

Her heart started to race and her fingers felt clumsy, but she finally found what she was looking for. Quickly stripping out of her robe and pajamas before she could get second thoughts, she stepped into the black, frilly panties with the bright red bows. The matching bra, or more of a bustier or a miniature corset, was a bit awkward to put on, but one look into the small mirror opposite the bed told her that it fit perfectly. She had bought the ensemble for Fernando, images of romantic lovemaking at the forefront of her mind. But that had been then.

She pulled the sheer, black nylon stockings with the red seams up her legs, straightening them around her thighs with shaking fingers. Matching gloves soon covered her arms, leaving only the tips of her fingers bare. Her skin started to burn with arousal and trepidation.

She froze. What if what she had heard yesterday had just been said in the throes of passion? What if she was rebuffed? What if…

But June and Edgar were -- she was sure about that even though she had only just gotten to know them -- genuine.

She plucked the big red bow from Fernando’s now useless present, careful not to damage it. It would fit.

Carol sneaked back to the living room and pulled one of the sheepskin rugs over underneath the decorated fir branch next to the couch and wrapped the loose ends of the bow around her chest. Her breath flew. The fire crackled merrily. Now all she could do was wait.

* * * *

Carol must have dozed off. A soft, “Oh!” got her wide awake though. She opened her eyes to see Edgar and June, both in their pajamas, her arm wrapped around her husband’s midriff, standing just a few feet away with wide eyes.

“Carol?” Edgar asked.

The prominent emotion on his face was one of puzzlement, but hidden behind that was a lustful desire. Carol felt her skin grow hot and start to prickle. June’s eyes narrowed slightly, but there was a small hint of a grin tugging on the corner of her mouth.

She felt like jumping from a huge cliff, but there was no way to turn back. “I heard you," she confessed. "I mean, last night. I went to fetch me a glass of water, and your door wasn’t closed, and…” She closed her eyes. Her skin was burning up by now, and she felt utterly stupid, stammering like this.

“Carol?” This time it was June who whispered her name, gently, drawing Carol’s insecure gaze towards her.

“Yes?” She bit her lip.

“Do you really, really mean what you are implying?”

“I…” It was a last way out. Thinks would be a bit awkward perhaps, but nothing had to happen. She could still… June’s tongue trailed over her lips, a subconscious declaration of her thoughts, and suddenly all Carol could think about was to strip the woman of her clothes, to cover her thighs with kisses, to caress her big breasts and suck those dark nipples into her mouth. She didn’t know where that came from, but the moisture building between her thighs made her words inevitable. “Yes! God, yes! It’s all I’ve been thinking about all night!”

And then, suddenly, June was kneeling next to her, her hand cupping Carol’s cheek and her thumb caressing her lips. Carol forgot to breathe while sparkles danced over her lips. A hand trailed gently up her thigh, and she parted her legs involuntarily.

“Merry Christmas,” June whispered, close enough so her hot breath caressed Carol’s face, and the young woman trembled under the flighty touch of air.

“Merry Christmas,” she whispered back, her breath shivering with an excitement she had never felt before.

“Have you ever,” June softly inquired while she leaned in closer, “made love with a woman?”

“Never!” Then June’s lips were upon hers, and all conscious thoughts dissolved into nothingness. Warm skin brushed over skin, teased, nibbled, and then a soft, hot, moist tongue sneaked out and demanded entrance. Carol’s lips parted without resistance, and her own tongue greeted the intruder, rubbed against it, while she melted into the kiss and gasped her approval into the older woman’s mouth.

Edgar’s experienced fingers had found her mound and softly stroked up and down. The smooth fabric of her panties quickly became soaked. Carol arched her back, any misgivings she might have still carried washed away in a torrent of passion.

June broke the kiss and turned her around. She felt her panties get pulled down her thighs. Strong hands gripped her waist and pulled her onto her knees, and when June sat down in front of her, already free of her pajama bottoms and stripping out of her top in a practiced motion, a hunger Carol had never experienced before welled up.

She leaned down, her eyes only inches from June’s ripe pussy with its neat strip of short, blonde curls, and breathed in the heady, intense aroma of the older woman’s excitement. “Oh god,” she whispered, dizzy, light headed, almost overwhelmed by the daring intimacy. Soft, pink wrinkles peeked from June’s pussy, like rose petals about to unfold.

Then something warm and smooth pushed against her own pussy, rubbed up and down, and without second thought, her tongue sneaked out and licked June’s juices from their source.

“Yes!” Her older neighbor greeted her ministration. “Oh god, yes, oh Carol!”

Then Edgar’s cock pushed its way inside, slowly, forcefully, opening her further than she had ever been opened before, and her lips sang a song of passionate delight into June’s pussy.

Fingers buried themselves in her hair. More fingers gripped her waist tightly. The back strap of her bustier loosened, and then her breasts swung free. Like June the night before, she was being fucked by Edgar from behind, now naked and lewd and loving it. His hard, ridged, throbbing cock pistoned deeply inside her, only to withdraw and make her gasp with desire.

Her tongue found its way inside June, and the moans her penetration brought where just the prettiest music. She moaned herself, and Edgar grunted and fucked her harder.

Soon, they were one moaning, trembling, feverish tangle of people, racing towards climax. And they reached it almost at once, like domino bricks, one triggering the other. June’s legs lifted and her thighs clamped hard around Carol’s head, who kept licking and sucking on June’s clit with eager abandon. The knowledge that she was giving such pleasure and the taste of the older woman’s juices spraying her tongue lifted her over the edge.

Her body stiffened and her pussy clenched hard around Edgar’s cock, milking him in time with the waves of passion shooting all through her. After a last, deep, hard thrust, she felt his cock throb and spurt his seed inside her.

For a minute, all three of them were frozen, caught in their own intense pleasure, only small shivers and gasps giving away what they were feeling.

Edgar extricated himself first, lying down alongside her on the rug with his head propped up on one arm and gently caressed her bum. June, still breathing hard, relaxed her legs, and Carol could finally take a deep breath again. Her chin was wet, coated with June’s juices, and she couldn’t suppress a delighted giggle.

“That was wonderful,” June breathed, her eyes still closed and a smile on her lips, then pushed herself up and grinned at Carol. “Did you enjoy it too?”

“I…” The way the heat on her cheeks came back with a vengeance, even after all that had happened, was almost funny to Carol. Not just almost. Her lips spread into a wide grin. “Enjoyed it? It is the fucking best Christmas ever!”

“Now, that’s putting it rather bluntly, isn’t it?” Edgar teased.

Carol slumped onto her side and stretched out her legs, grinning mischievously at him and, in a stroke of inspiration, reached out and caressed his now soft, glistening cock. “Yep, you put that in rather bluntly, but I loved it. We’ve got to do that again!”

“Oh? Well, then we will.”

June chuckled melodically. “Looks like you’ve met your match, Edgar. Now why don’t you try to be a good husband and cook a nice breakfast for two famished, beautiful ladies?” The next words were whispered so only Carol could hear them. “...while I lick my husband’s Christmas present from that beautiful, sexy pussy here.”

Edgar got up with mock grumbling, complaining about poor men and hard work and not finding any appreciation, but he willingly headed to the kitchen. A little later, Carol’s high-pitched cries of pleasure filled the cabin while eggs and bacon sizzled in the pan. Every few seconds, a curious eye would peek around the door frame.

* * * *

“...it was the stress. You’ve got to turn a blind eye from time to time if you want to keep your prince. That’s how they work, and they can’t help it. Believe me, I’ve been there.” Linda leaned forward, nodding to underline her words. “I know for a fact that Fernando already regrets it.”

“I’m not here cry out my eyes over Fernando or seek counsel.” Carol leaned back against the couch. She couldn’t fault her best friend. She had always stuck to the old world view of working man and stay-at-home wife, and she appeared to be happy with it, even if Harry misstepped every so often. Linda had even once confessed that she considered it a good thing, because Harry’s conscience urged him to buy her large gifts and expensive holidays. But it wasn’t Carol’s way of thinking. Not anymore.

“I’ve met a couple at the cabin, and I stayed with them.” She could see Linda’s eyes widen for a moment and felt a giddy pleasure over the bomb she was about to drop. “And by ‘with them’ I mean, in their bed.”

She had paused long enough so Linda, predictably, seized the moment to take a sip from her coke. It came back out through her nose. “Fuck! You what?” she asked between coughs and sneezes.

“I became their lover.” Now Linda’s eyes were large as saucers. It was time for the coup d’état. “My contract here was about to expire anyway, and I’m not sure they’d renew it, what with the layoffs in October. Edgar offered me a job in his company, and I’ll be moving in with them at the end of January. They live near the coast. You know I always wanted to live close to the sea.”

The silence stretched. Linda’s jaw worked, but no sound came from her lips. Carol began feeling uncomfortable when her friend’s eyes didn’t stop roaming up and down over her, but finally, Linda found her voice again.

“Let me get this straight. Shy, straight, old-fashioned Carol goes to the cabin for holidays, gets set up and cheated by her fiancé and comes back bisexual and in love with a couple, with whom she’s about to move in. Did I get that right?”

At least Linda didn’t sugar-coat things, ever. “To the point. But…” Carol leaned forward herself, whispering with a wink, “...it was a Christmas present!”

“A… Christmas present?” Linda snorted. “A Christmas present, really? Oh my god, you’re so crazy!”

Carol joined in her laughter. She’d miss Linda, who was wiping her eyes by now, but she couldn’t wait to join June and Edgar. When the older woman had brought up the idea, she had felt like teenager in love for the first time, full of butterflies and ready to conquer the world. The funny thing was, even after two weeks, she still felt the same. She suddenly noticed that Linda had fallen silent, a pensive look in her eyes.

“You’re really in love, aren’t you?” she asked while the last of Carol’s own chuckles ebbed away.

“Totally and utterly.”