While our dinner is not worthy of a five-star restaurant, the view around us was six-star spectacular. The night was moonless, and the velvet black sky above our heads blazed with countless stars. The Milky Way rose and arched across the heavens in a misty river of light along the eastern horizon. The snowshoe workshop did triple duty as kitchen, dining area, and lounge. We spent as many hours outdoors together as we could stand.

Spooning naked in the blackness is sexy, erotic, and boring. Even newlyweds need to hop out of bed and walk around, if only for a change of view. With dinner finished, Alice and I snuggled in the stove's glow as much from affection as out of a desire to keep warm.

Long after the sense of satisfaction and the mellow comfort of fullness was gone, our mouths retained the taste memory of our meal.

"Did you have enough to eat?" I burped, patted my midsection, and smiled. My belly was at maximum density.

"Not another bite, I'm stuffed." She shifted closer and rested her head on my shoulder, the bill of her cap obscured her face.

"Care for some tea and an after-dinner joint?" My stash of Liberty Mountain weed was enough to give a decent buzz to two bored and stranded hunters. As they used to say while I was in basic training, “Smoke 'em if you got 'em.”

Relaxing a few feet from our hobo stove was delightful. The radiant warmth was almost enough to offset the chill of the below-freezing air. Thank God, it was a windless night.

Cabin fever and frostbite are both threats to survival. Our hunting gear was top of the line but not intended for Arctic conditions. The only way to stay warm was to keep moving. We lost more heat than we generated while sitting together on the frosty couch carved into the sides of the snow drift. A pile of pine branches was both padding and insulation for the icy sofa.

I gazed into the smoldering embers of our little stove as Alice, and I huddled next to each other. I was sure that survival was possible for the first time since our adventure started. My concern now was the quality of life while we survived.

We're stuck in this Godforsaken cave until either the spring thaw arrives, get rescued, or we hike back to base. Four months of co-solitary confinement will challenge the sanity of the most devoted lovers. Trapped with Alice for a third of a year? I shuddered at the thought.

Foolish boy. I scolded myself for being so self-centered. She had to be as concerned as I was; she was after all, also stuck with me for the duration.

We were in for a hell of a ride. Before this was all over, our sheltering cave was sure to become an emotional pressure-cooker. Like it or not, we were going to be stewing in each other's juices. We would either curdle or bond.

"Whatcha thinking?" Alice looked at me and snuggled closer for warmth.

"Nothing much. Just wondering how long it will be before we can't stand snake. We have enough God damned reptiles back there to feed us this winter and half of the next." I pointed to the cave behind us.

"Yuck! Just shoot me now," Alice stuck her finger in her mouth and pretended to gag. "We gotta have a variety, or our taste buds will die of boredom," she sighed.

"No shit. How many flavors of pine needles can there be?" I shifted and held her tighter.

"We know there's a herd of deer in this valley. I can set up a hunting blind in the evergreen stand. Maybe I can bag us a Bambi with a clear field of view," Alice volunteered.

I cringed a bit at her suggestion. Alice's enthusiasm for Bambi-burgers was what got us into this predicament. It was pointless to bring it up since there was nothing we could do about it and no one was keeping score.

"Let's talk about it in the morning after a full night's sleep; we need to pick up and go to bed." I kissed her cheek and rubbed her neck with my hand.

Alice cleaned the pan and our mess kits while I wrapped Rocky's remains in a plastic shopping bag and buried it deep in the hole I'd dug in the snowdrift. Food storage wasn't a problem. We lived in a walk-in freezer.

"We're not going to bed without a bath. You stink, I stink, we all stink," Alice said as she scratched under her boob. Scratching, like yawning, is contagious. I chased a sympathetic itch crawling across my belly.

She was busy melting snow for our bath water while I set about gathering bundles of pine branches for an additional layer of insulation under our sleeping bags. I completed several trips to deliver natural bedding to our tent by the time the pot was steaming away.

The air inside our shelter was chilly, but also noticeably warmer than the frigid night outside. The residual heat coming from the rock faces of the abandoned mine kept ambient temperatures slightly above freezing; not exactly comfy for a nude sponge bath.

"We gotta problem. We don't have anything to wash with, not even a face cloth," I scratched my head and tried to think.

"That sucks!" she wrinkled her nose at me as she fired up our Rayovac lantern.

"Great idea! Wish I had thought of it." I hug Alice, knelt, took off my boots and removed my socks.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked with a puzzled laugh.

"You said socks. I'll use my wool socks as a sponge." I kissed her in appreciation for her cleverness.

"I said it SUCKS, my hard-of-hearing lover," she chuckled, shook her head and kissed my lips with the tip of her tongue.

Creative listening sometimes is an advantage. I hate conversations which become fill-in-the-blank dialogues of frustration.

"We'll smoke after our bath." I set my weed and matches to one side and undressed.

Alice followed my example, and we found ourselves in a race to see who could be naked first. The contest ended as we laughed and kissed in a dead heat at the finish line. A quick game of rock-paper-scissors broke the tie and granted her the honor of first place.

"What will we use for soap?" I asked as I soaked my socks in the steaming water.

"Don't sweat it. Clean is better than dirty." Alice lay on her stomach and motioned for me to start her bath.

Wet sock in hand, I straddled her naked behind and leaned forward to smooch the back of her neck.

"Don't even think about it. Frostbite and foreplay don't go together." Alice twisted around and placed her finger over my lips in a gentle shushing fashion.

I kissed her fingers and winked; message received. She smiled back, rested her head on her forearms, and spread her legs. Bath time. Alice's back was no problem. Smooth, sensual; I cleaned her skin. Naked rounded fanny cheeks? Problem. Slick, sexy, and sinful, I caressed her ass as I washed.

I didn't understand why I was so attracted to Alice. I hardly knew her. We'd been in each other's lives for less than a week. She was on my mind twenty-four seven. I felt the heat of the pressure cooker.

I curiously seemed to be getting a crush on Alice, but that was impossible. Crushes were for kids with pimples who have to be home by midnight. I was an old fart. I didn't do crushes. Then again, who the fuck knows?

I spent a few extra seconds fingering her asshole. Alice giggled as I continued bathing her. If I could get my bunkmate excited and clean at the same time, why not? Efficiency can be pleasant as well as effective.

She turned over on her back as I finished wiping her toes, and smiled. "Be quick; I'm cold."

Working to keep my lust at bay, I sensually scrubbed her neck and chest and refilled my sock with warm water every thirty seconds or so. Alice was responding to my touch; her body blushed with excitement.

I took my turn on my stomach as Alice gave me a sponge bath. Shit! She had the bedside manner of a Zamboni driver; all business. She traded sensuality for speed, dumped half the remaining tepid water across my back, ass, and legs, and wiped me dry in thirty seconds. My other side got the same speed-cleaning treatment. We scrambled under the covers as fast as possible; too frigging cold to linger.

The interior of the sleeping bag was a few snowflakes above freezing. Alice and I clung to each other like refrigerator magnets, maximum skin-to-skin contact to share body heat. Alice's arm wrapped around my chest, and we hugged each other from both sides at once. 

The embrace was strong, soothing, and sensual; a beautiful benefit of shared naked warmth. We let silence fall over us like a comfortable cloak as we enjoyed each other's touch. The bubble of quiet ended with the sound of a ripping fart loud enough to echo off the walls.

"Oh shit, oh dear! I'm so sorry," Alice giggled like a shy girl on her first date.

"Well, at least it doesn't stink," I said, before gasping to breathe as the stench of used snake filled the sleeping bag. Shit! That fart bomb could clear a room.

I let rip a gas bubble that I had been keeping under house arrest for the last half hour. Better now than later.

"Well, if you want to be like that," Alice squeaked out a baby fart.

I burst into laughter. What kind of idiots get into a flatulence contest at a time like this? I grunted and answered her challenge with a toot of my own. Game on! 

"That fucking reeks! Put a cork in it!" Alice slid her finger in my ass.

"Careful, you're playing with fire." I laughed and kissed her on the mouth as I returned the favor. 

We wrestled like two amateur proctologists as I wiggled my index finger in her butt-hole. Alice shrieked with laughter as she screamed and twisted to escape my invading digit.

Kissing while giggling and laughing is a fun but impossible challenge; too much multitasking.