Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 155: Playing in the snow

Chapter 155: Playing in the snow

Neil got up to his feet and concentrated on brushing the snow off his hair and coat and legs, but he wasn’t immune to the sudden exhilaration that came from being outdoors beneath a bright blue sky, surrounded by a winter wonderland of snow-covered pine trees and in the company of his lovely Mia who had suddenly turned playful towards him. He’d never been the kind to be out in the snow playing, even as a boy, his life had revolved only around his mission and the military.

Everything he does in his life, had to be something that would get him closer to his mission, but today, he wanted to know what it was like to have a real fun, just like Liam had always suggested.

Grinning, Neil finished brushing himself off, then he began to advance on her slowly and purposefully. "Shoving me to the ground was extremely childish of you," he chided.

Mia watched him advance and also began backing away, step for step. "Don’t even try it," she said, choking on a laugh, "I’m warning you—"

Neil didn’t allow her to finish speaking, he lunged towards her, but she’d predicted his movement and twisted suddenly, tangling her leg around the back of his knee, pushing hard and up, and the next thing he knew, he was falling backward in slow motion again, flapping his arms like a wounded goose, trying to regain his balance. He landed flat on his back with an audible thud at her feet while her laughter rang out like bells through the pine forest around them.

"That," Mia informed him, enjoying herself immensely, "was the payment for tackling and smashing snow in my face at that rest stop four days ago." She’d had to lived two days with a throbbing hip because of her fall at the rest stop, and now that she saw an opportunity, she’d grabbed it for a payback!

Mia stood over him, waiting for him to get up, but he continued to lie there, his face strangely thoughtful, his eyes focused on the bright blue sky above her head. "Aren—aren’t you going to get up?" she chuckled after a minute.

He turned his head toward her. "What’s the point of getting up?" He asked, his voice strangely flat.

"I didn’t hurt you, did I?" she questioned cautiously as she looked down at him with a concerned frown.

"My pride is destroyed, Mia." He laughed bitterly. How could he get up when a woman much smaller than him in size had easily taken him down? That was the most biggest insult to his pride as a General who’d spent most of his life working on his strength and skills.

Mia looked down at his face and a sudden memory of all the articles and news about his skills in martial arts and how strong he was flashed through her mind, and she suddenly understood why he was embarrassed. She could tell he wasn’t faking it either by the way he was lying there and the bitter tone in his voice.

Evidently Neil Wayner was a prideful man, and her actions of taking him down twice must have really made him feel embarrassed or feel less of a man, she realized, overcome with regret for adding to his burdens with such petty revenge. "That was silly of me. Please get up." She said.

He squinted his gray eyes against the sun and asked quietly, "Are you going to knock me down again if I get up?"

"No, I promise I won’t. You’re absolutely right, I was being childish." She reached out a hand to help him, preparing herself on the chance that he was tricking her and he was going to try to pull her off her feet, but he took her assistance gratefully without any tricks.

"I’m too old for all this," he complained, rubbing the back of his knee and brushing off the snow.

"Look at that!" Mia exclaimed, eager to make him forget his embarrassment, pointing to the snowman she had started yesterday.

Giving him a sunny smile, she explained, "How would you feel about helping me rebuild another snowman?"

"Sure," he said and to her delighted surprise, he reached for her hand and interlocked their fingers, sending little butterflies fluttering in the pit of her stomach, and then they began to walk towards the snowman like two lovers walking through the snow, holding hands.

"Where did you learn those Judo moves earlier?" he asked admiringly.

"Well..." she drawled uneasily. And he glanced down at her, "Well?" He raised a questioning brow,"Why the hell didn’t you pull that move on me at that rest stop instead of running?"

She gave him an embarrassed look. "When I was in Ivy Grove, Rayne and I attended martial arts classes, but we never learnt it to the finals. However, I learnt that particular move before i stopped attending. When you were chasing me that day, I panicked and ran. I never even remembered I knew how to do that. Today, however, I planned to do it beforehand, which is why I was able to pull it off so easi__" she stopped in midword, trying desperately to spare his pride.

They had reached the snowman and he let go of her hand, looking down at her with an admiring smile. "Do you know any other fancy moves like that?"

Mia knew several more but she shook her head, "No, actually, I don’t."

Still smiling down at her, Neil spoke very softly and very gently, "Then please permit me to teach you another one—" He moved so swiftly that Mia let out a startled scream at the same time she left the ground, falling backward into a pile of snow with exactly the right amount of controlled motion to land her on the ground in a seated position, her legs sprawled straight out in front of her, unhurt.

She gaped at him, laughing helplessly at her embarrassed flight through the air, then she got up to her feet. "You are really wicked," she chided, pretending to concentrate on brushing the snow off her clothes while she tried to think of how to get even with him again. She turned away from him for a second, then she turned back and gave him an innocent smile as she walked toward him.

"Had enough now?" he asked, grinning, his hands loosely at his sides.

"Yep, you win, you always win. I give up." She grinned.

This time, however, Neil noticed the sparkle in those bewitching large brown eyes.

"Little liar," he laughed when she began slowly circling him, looking for a place to aim. He turned with her, both of them laughing now—Neil determined not to give her an opening when she charged at him, Mia knowing exactly how she intended to force him to give her one.

"I give up," she laughed, stopping and pretending to struggle with the front zipper of her snowsuit which she’d pulled down herself a minute ago when he wasn’t looking. "No wonder I’m freezing cold. This zipper keeps sliding down."

"Let me see," Neil said with a swift courtesy, exactly as Mia had hoped he would. He pulled off his right glove and looked down at the zipper. The moment his fingers touched the zip, Mia twisted sharply and aimed her shoulder at his chest with all her might and plowed at him. However, he’d predicted her plan and swiftly moved aside, and Mia’s shoulder rammed thin air with so much force that she went falling right past him, head down.

Propelled by her own force, Mia charged straight into the snow bank behind him, burying her head in it all the way up to her shoulders.

Trying to breathe, laugh, and dig the snow off her face at the same time, she backed out of the snow bank, turned around, and leaned against it, while his laughing voice remarked, ""I’ve never witnessed someone turn their head into a snow drill before. Quite the unique demonstration. Maybe we could pitch the idea to a manufacturer?"

That did it. With a shriek of uncontrollable laughter, Mia slid down, collapsing at his feet, shaking with laughter. Trying to catch her breath at the same time she tried to stand up, she looked up at his grinning face. He was looming over her, his hands on his hips, a picture that displayed an extreme amused male superiority.

"When you’re ready to get onto a serious snowman business," he smugly informed her with his chin lifted in the air as he turned to walk off, "you can—"

Before he could complete his words, Mia stuck out her foot. He tripped over it, twisted, and went down like a felled tree.

Howling with laughter, she rolled quickly aside, scrambled to her feet, and backed out of his reach before he’d get up. "Now we are even." she told him, giggling and backing further away as he got up.

He was smiling, but there was a dangerous gleam in his gray eyes as he slowly, purposefully advanced on her. "That does it!" he said softly.

"Don’t...don’t do anything you’ll regret...!" she chuckled helplessly, holding her hand out as if to fend him off as she backed away faster. And he increased his pace dramatically.

"I give up, Neil—" she laughed shakily as he chased after her. "Don’t you dare!" she cried, running towards the woods, but he lunged at her and brought her down with a tackle around her waist before she took the first step into the woods. Pushing her into the snow beneath his body, he rolled her over onto her back and straddled her at the waist.

Grinning at her futile struggles to get away from him, he pinned her wrists above her head with one hand. "Little brat," he said cheerfully and softly, while Mia laughed harder and squirmed and struggled to catch her breath. "Give up?"

"Yes, yes, I give up!" she managed brokenly.

"Say ’Daddy’."

"Daddy!" she laughed. "Daddy! I give up!"

"Good girl. Now close your eyes and give me a kiss."