10-03-2026, 01:58 PM
The air at 5:30 AM was a crystalline, biting blue. The Bavarian Alps were silent, save for the distant, rhythmic clanging of cowbells in the valley below. Shreya slipped out of the hut, her breath blooming in small white clouds. She was wrapped in a thick wool coat, her dusky skin pale with the cold, but her heart was racing with a heat that had nothing to do with the altitude.
Behind the weathered timber of the equipment shed, shielded from the dormitory windows, she found him.
Vicky was leaning against the rough-hewn wood, looking like a cinematic vision of an alpine explorer. He wore a dark thermal layer that clung to his 6-foot athletic frame, emphasizing the taper from his broad shoulders to his lean waist. He was staring out at the horizon, where the first jagged line of orange was bleeding into the navy sky.
"You're late," he murmured, not turning around, but his voice carried that low, melodic Kerala lilt that always made her knees weak.
"I had to climb over a sleeping Arjun," Shreya whispered, stepping into the narrow space between him and the shed. "I'm lucky I didn't break a leg in the dark."
Vicky turned then, and the look in his eyes was stripped of the "bored student" mask he wore for the group. He reached out, his large, warm hands hooking into the pockets of her coat and pulling her flush against him.
The height difference was never more apparent than here. Shreya’s head reached just to the middle of his chest. She pressed her cheek against the firm, solid muscle of his sternum, breathing in the scent of mountain air and the faint, musky lingering of his skin.
Her soft, curvy frame felt small and protected in the circle of his arms. Vicky’s hands slid from her pockets to the small of her back, pressing her closer until she could feel the hard ridges of his thighs through their trekking gear.
"I hated last night," Vicky whispered into her hair. "Lying three feet above you and not being able to touch you. Hearing you breathe and knowing I couldn't pull you into my bunk."
Shreya looked up, her dark eyes reflecting the growing gold of the sunrise. "It was torture. Aditi almost saw us, Vicky. We’re getting reckless."
Vicky didn't argue. Instead, he leaned down, his face inches from hers. The light of the rising sun caught the sharp, handsome angles of his jawline and the deep bronze of his skin.
"Maybe I want to be reckless," he breathed.
He kissed her then—a deep, slow, and desperate collision that tasted of the cold morning and the heat of their secret. Shreya stood on her tiptoes, her hands sliding up to grip his biceps, feeling the corded strength there as he lifted her slightly off the gravel.
His lips were chapped from the wind but possessive. Shreya let out a low moan, her body arching into his athletic hardness. For a few minutes, the freezing temperature didn't matter. The risk of Arjun waking up and looking out the window didn't matter.
"We have to go back," Shreya whispered against his lips, though she didn't move an inch. "The sun is up. They’ll be waking up for coffee."
Vicky pulled back just enough to look at her, his thumb tracing the fullness of her lower lip. "Two years, Shreya. We’ve only just started. How are we going to survive the winter if we can't even handle one night in a hut?"
"We'll survive," she said, a new spark of confidence in her voice. "Because every time we almost get caught, it just makes the next time in Room 912 better."
They waited another five minutes, watching the sun fully crest the peaks, before heading back separately. Vicky went first, jogging toward the hut with the easy grace of a natural athlete, looking like he’d just stepped out for a morning breath of air.
Shreya followed a few minutes later, pausing to rub some color into her cheeks so she wouldn't look quite so... thoroughly kissed.
As she stepped back into the kitchen, Arjun was already there, yawning over a steaming mug of black coffee.
"Morning, Shreya," he grunted, eyes bleary. "You’re up early. Go see the sunrise?"
"Couldn't sleep," she said simply, reaching for a mug. "The mountains are beautiful, aren't they?"
Arjun looked at her, then glanced out the window at Vicky, who was currently doing a series of casual stretches on the porch. Arjun narrowed his eyes, a flicker of that suspicion returning, but he just shrugged.
"Yeah," Arjun muttered. "Beautiful. But I think the altitude is making everyone act a little weird."
Behind the weathered timber of the equipment shed, shielded from the dormitory windows, she found him.
Vicky was leaning against the rough-hewn wood, looking like a cinematic vision of an alpine explorer. He wore a dark thermal layer that clung to his 6-foot athletic frame, emphasizing the taper from his broad shoulders to his lean waist. He was staring out at the horizon, where the first jagged line of orange was bleeding into the navy sky.
"You're late," he murmured, not turning around, but his voice carried that low, melodic Kerala lilt that always made her knees weak.
"I had to climb over a sleeping Arjun," Shreya whispered, stepping into the narrow space between him and the shed. "I'm lucky I didn't break a leg in the dark."
Vicky turned then, and the look in his eyes was stripped of the "bored student" mask he wore for the group. He reached out, his large, warm hands hooking into the pockets of her coat and pulling her flush against him.
The height difference was never more apparent than here. Shreya’s head reached just to the middle of his chest. She pressed her cheek against the firm, solid muscle of his sternum, breathing in the scent of mountain air and the faint, musky lingering of his skin.
Her soft, curvy frame felt small and protected in the circle of his arms. Vicky’s hands slid from her pockets to the small of her back, pressing her closer until she could feel the hard ridges of his thighs through their trekking gear.
"I hated last night," Vicky whispered into her hair. "Lying three feet above you and not being able to touch you. Hearing you breathe and knowing I couldn't pull you into my bunk."
Shreya looked up, her dark eyes reflecting the growing gold of the sunrise. "It was torture. Aditi almost saw us, Vicky. We’re getting reckless."
Vicky didn't argue. Instead, he leaned down, his face inches from hers. The light of the rising sun caught the sharp, handsome angles of his jawline and the deep bronze of his skin.
"Maybe I want to be reckless," he breathed.
He kissed her then—a deep, slow, and desperate collision that tasted of the cold morning and the heat of their secret. Shreya stood on her tiptoes, her hands sliding up to grip his biceps, feeling the corded strength there as he lifted her slightly off the gravel.
His lips were chapped from the wind but possessive. Shreya let out a low moan, her body arching into his athletic hardness. For a few minutes, the freezing temperature didn't matter. The risk of Arjun waking up and looking out the window didn't matter.
"We have to go back," Shreya whispered against his lips, though she didn't move an inch. "The sun is up. They’ll be waking up for coffee."
Vicky pulled back just enough to look at her, his thumb tracing the fullness of her lower lip. "Two years, Shreya. We’ve only just started. How are we going to survive the winter if we can't even handle one night in a hut?"
"We'll survive," she said, a new spark of confidence in her voice. "Because every time we almost get caught, it just makes the next time in Room 912 better."
They waited another five minutes, watching the sun fully crest the peaks, before heading back separately. Vicky went first, jogging toward the hut with the easy grace of a natural athlete, looking like he’d just stepped out for a morning breath of air.
Shreya followed a few minutes later, pausing to rub some color into her cheeks so she wouldn't look quite so... thoroughly kissed.
As she stepped back into the kitchen, Arjun was already there, yawning over a steaming mug of black coffee.
"Morning, Shreya," he grunted, eyes bleary. "You’re up early. Go see the sunrise?"
"Couldn't sleep," she said simply, reaching for a mug. "The mountains are beautiful, aren't they?"
Arjun looked at her, then glanced out the window at Vicky, who was currently doing a series of casual stretches on the porch. Arjun narrowed his eyes, a flicker of that suspicion returning, but he just shrugged.
"Yeah," Arjun muttered. "Beautiful. But I think the altitude is making everyone act a little weird."
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