The blizzard hit without warning on New Year's Eve, 2025. A wall of white slammed into the winding mountain road just as Elias reached the top of the last ridge toward the remote cabin he'd rented for a solo getaway. The tires of his rented SUV spun uselessly on fresh powder, and by the time he coaxed the vehicle into the narrow drive, snow already buried the porch steps. He killed the engine, grabbed his duffel, and fought his way through waist-deep drifts to the door.
Inside, the single-room cabin smelled of pine and old woodsmoke. One king bed dominated the far wall, a stone fireplace the near one, and a tiny kitchenette sat tucked in the corner. Elias kicked off his boots, started a fire, and poured himself a generous whiskey. He had come here to escape the divorce papers still fresh in his glovebox and the city noise still ringing in his ears.
At thirty-four, lean and dark-haired, with tired hazel eyes and a perpetual five-o'clock shadow, he figured a week of silence would fix him.
He was wrong.
An hour later, headlights cut through the swirling snow outside the window. A black pickup entered into the drive and stalled. The driver's door opened and a tall figure stumbled out, hood up, cursing loud enough to carry through the storm. Elias watched from the doorway as the stranger battled the wind, dragging a pack behind him.
The man reached the porch, shoved his hood back, and froze when he saw Elias framed in the warm light.
"Shit," the stranger muttered. "You're real."
"Afraid so," Elias said, stepping aside. "Get in before you freeze."
The stranger stomped snow off his boots and crossed the threshold. He was bigger than Elias with broad shoulders, thick arms under a flannel shirt. He looked maybe thirty, with short chestnut hair, a trimmed beard, and sharp green eyes that flicked around the room before settling on the single bed.
"Name's Caleb," he said, voice low and rough from the cold. "Reservation mix-up, I'm guessing."
"Elias." He handed Caleb a towel. "Looks like we're sharing."
Caleb's jaw tightened, but he nodded. "Storm's supposed to dump three feet tonight. Roads are gone till tomorrow at least."
They moved around each other carefully at first. Elias added logs to the fire while Caleb unpacked coffee and a bottle of bourbon. Conversation stayed short. They chatted about where they were from (Elias from Denver, Caleb from a ranch two hours west), why they were here (Elias didn't say, Caleb claimed he needed quiet). The fire crackled. Snow hissed against the windows. The cabin felt smaller with every passing minute.
By midnight the power flickered and died, leaving only firelight. They sat on opposite ends of the hearth rug, backs against the sofa, passing the bourbon back and forth.
"Happy fucking New Year," Caleb said, raising the bottle.
Elias clinked his glass against it. "To better ones."
Silence stretched, thick and warm. The whiskey burned pleasantly. Elias felt the day's tension loosen in his shoulders. Caleb's knee brushed his when he shifted, and neither man moved away.
"You ever been stuck like this before?" Caleb asked.
"Never with a stranger."Caleb huffed a laugh. "Could be worse company."
Elias glanced sideways. Firelight painted gold across Caleb's cheekbones, caught in the stubble along his jaw. Something low in Elias's stomach tightened. He looked away, took another drink.
Hours slid by. The bottle emptied. They talked. Caleb spoke about long days branding cattle, the ache of empty pastures. Elias admitted the divorce, the way the city had started to choke him. Their voices dropped lower, words coming softer.
At some point Caleb stretched, shirt riding up to reveal a strip of hard stomach dusted with dark hair. Elias's gaze lingered too long. When he looked up, Caleb was watching him, green eyes unreadable.
"Bed's big enough," Caleb said quietly.
Elias's pulse kicked. "Yeah."
They stood at the same time, close in the small space. Caleb reached past him to bank the fire, his arm brushed Elias's chest. Neither stepped back.
Elias's voice came out rough. "We should probably—"
"Yeah," Caleb echoed, but he didn't move.The air between them grew with tension. Elias saw the moment Caleb decided. He saw it in the way those green eyes darkened, the way his throat worked on a swallow. Then Caleb's hand lifted, slow enough to stop, and settled against Elias's jaw. Thumb brushing the corner of his mouth.
Elias leaned in first.
The kiss started careful with lips testing and breath mingling but turned hungry fast. Caleb groaned low, backing Elias against the log wall, big hands sliding under his thermal shirt to spread over bare skin. Elias shuddered, fingers digging into Caleb's flannel as their tongues met, slick and hot.
They broke apart only long enough to strip. Shirts hit the floor. Belts clinked. Jeans shoved down and kicked aside. Firelight painted every line of muscle. Caleb was thicker everywhere with broad chest furred with dark hair that narrowed into a trail disappearing beneath boxer briefs already tented hard. Elias's cock strained against his own, leaking at the tip.
Caleb dropped to his knees without a word. He looked up once, eyes asking, and Elias nodded, breath catching. Caleb tugged the waistband down and Elias's cock sprang free. It was long, flushed with precum glistening. Caleb licked his lips, then dragged his tongue up the underside in one slow, filthy stripe.
"Fuck," Elias hissed, head thumping back against the wall.
Caleb hummed, took the head into his mouth, cheeks hollowing. Wet heat engulfed Elias inch by inch. He watched, stunned, as Caleb swallowed deeper, throat working, spit shining on his lips. When Caleb pulled back, strings of saliva connected them, obscene in the firelight.
Elias hauled him up, kissing him hard, tasting himself. He spun them, pressing Caleb against the wall now, sinking to his own knees. Caleb's cock was thick, heavy in his hand, the foreskin pulled back to reveal a swollen, leaking head. Elias licked around it, dipped his tongue into the slit, savoring the salt. Caleb's hips jerked, a deep groan rumbled out of him.
"Jesus... mouth's so fucking hot."
Elias took him deep, gagging slightly on the girth, then finding a rhythm, hand stroking what his mouth couldn't reach, tongue swirling. Caleb's fingers threaded through his hair, not pushing, just holding, trembling.
When Caleb started thrusting shallow, breath hitching, Elias pulled off. "Not yet."
He stood, kissed Caleb again, messy and desperate. They stumbled to the bed, falling across it in a tangle of limbs. Caleb rolled them so Elias was on his back, legs spread wide. He reached for the small bottle of lube Elias had packed—optimistic or pathetic, didn't matter now—and slicked his fingers.
One finger breached Elias slow. He gasped, back arching. Caleb watched his face, added a second, scissoring gently. The stretch burned sweet. When he crooked his fingers and brushed that spot inside, Elias cried out, cock jerking against his stomach.
"Need you," Elias panted. "Now."
Caleb slicked himself generously, lined up, and pushed in. The thick head popped past the ring of muscle, Elias moaned long and broken. Inch by inch Caleb filled him until his hips met Elias's ass. They both stilled, trembling.
"So fucking tight," Caleb growled, voice wrecked. He pulled back, thrust in again, deeper. Elias's nails raked down his back.
They found a rhythm, slow rolls building to hard snaps. The bedframe knocked the wall. Skin slapped wetly. Caleb hooked Elias's legs higher, driving impossibly deep. Elias's cock rubbed between their stomachs, leaking steadily.
"Close..." Elias warned, voice cracking.Caleb slowed deliberately, grinding in torturous circles, dragging the pleasure out until Elias was shaking, begging. Then he sped up again, pounding hard. Elias came first, body seizing, cum streaking both their chests in thick ropes as he wailed Caleb's name.The clench pulled Caleb over. He buried himself deep, hips stuttering, and spilled hot inside Elias with a guttural groan, pulse after pulse flooding him.They collapsed sideways, still joined, sweat cooling in the firelight. Caleb stayed inside a long minute, forehead pressed to Elias's, both breathing ragged.
Outside, the storm kept raging. Inside, the fire settled into embers, and neither man moved to leave the bed.
Morning would bring cleared roads and goodbyes but tonight there was only heat and the certain knowledge that neither of them would forget this cabin or each other any time soon.