The first shot struck Jennifer under the chin. That one came from Lawrence. She was still yelping when Trent's delivery took her full in the face, filling her mouth and blinding her in an explosion of thick white. She spat and wiped her eyes clear, then pursued her boyfriend, scooping snow as she ran. Trent taunted as he fled, but stumbled knee-deep in a drift.
"Bastard!" She laughed as she pelted him, then pushed him over while he was still off-balance. He pulled her with him and they rolled in a white-powder flurry, till she straddled and pinned him.
"Language, baby!" he chided. "What would the Pastor think?"
"That you deserved it." Her eyes dared him to fight back.
A scream from Kimmie diverted her. The girl had attempted an assault on Lawrence, only to be hoisted upside-down. He dropped her flailing to the ground, holding her there and rubbing snow in her laughing, spluttering face. "You're so mean!" she protested.
He laughed. "I think that's how you like me."
"Now there," Jennifer goaded, "is a guy who's got control of his girl". Trent flipped her over and they wrestled till she disarmed him with a slow kiss on his mouth. "See?" Her breath smoked in the cold. "That's why I'm the boss of you."
"Really?" He stroked her face and smiled. "Don't bet on it."
* * * *
Two hours later they were dried off and basking before a cracking pine-log fire, sipping the treat Jennifer had supplied. Andy Williams was crooning from the stereo and all was wreathed in thick gold tinsel. Bunched mistletoe hung from the rafters.
"This is luxury," Kimmie cooed. "And your eggnog is delicious! We should rent this chalet every Christmas." She nestled into the crook of Lawrence's arm.
"We could do it next year, joint honeymoon," her fiancé suggested, snuggling.
"Yeah, and since we'll all be legally wed," Jennifer added, "there'll be no raised eyebrows at church about couples shacking up in Lake Tahoe."
"My folks think the boys are bunking together," Kimmie giggled.
Jennifer caught the guys' grimace. "Too gay for you, Lawrence? Trent not so cosy a bed-buddy?" Kimmie blushed as her boyfriend squeezed tighter. Jennifer hugged Trent, considering with a thrill how both couples would be getting sexy somewhere under the same roof.
"Tell them about the eggnog," Trent said, and they both smirked.
"Tell what?" Kimmie was wide-eyed.
"Family secret," Jennifer explained. "A dark one. My Grandma Lewis told me when I turned twenty-one." Kimmie and Lawrence drank deep of both liqueur and story. "The recipe goes way back in mom's family, so she said, right to Sarah Lewis, who lived in Massachusetts in the 1750s. It was passed down the generations, but my great-great-grandma and her family were run out of town when she started selling it. They fled west." She was met by inquisitive stares and made the most of her story. "It's not regular eggnog. It's got ... properties."
"What kind of properties?" Kimmie's fascination was palpable.
"It's more a potion, so Grandma said. It inflames people's secret desires. To extremes." She was getting heated, even though she knew it was nonsense. "Apparently it caused a whole-town orgy in Bedford, Massachusetts, that's why the church-people chased them. Grandma said the recipe had never been used since. She passed away. A year ago. Then when I was helping mom go through her things, I found it. In an old recipe book, with the writing almost faded."
"So what's so different about it?" Lawrence stroked Kimmie's bare shoulder.
"It's got the usual ingredients -- bourbon, brandy, cream, plus a few extra. Let's see, ginseng, catuaba, sarsaparilla, horny goat weed ... And you've got to incant and stir it a special way as you brew it. It says so in the recipe."
"You did all that?" Kimmie stared in awe at her glass's contents. "You made it?"
"Lots. Bottles. There's more in the kitchen." When Kimmie looked fearful, she added, "Relax, it's just a story!"
"A hot story," Trent added. Jennifer was struck by the huskiness in his voice, the straining bulge in his jeans. She glanced involuntarily at Lawrence's sweatpants and saw similar activity tenting his crotch. He was stroking Kimmie's glossy hair, plucking at the strap of her tank-top. Jennifer's fiancé's fingers traced her spine and made her shudder. She could feel her nipples pricking.
Just a story ...
One packing an instant placebo effect, so those bursting erections suggested. Along with her own soaking loins. Just some innocent fun to spice the evening, right? Fun the couples could take to their respective rooms.
"It's hot in