There was something indescribably humbling about the southern Rocky Mountains.
The road up to the ski resort was only two lanes wide, and for most of the time not a soul was in sight. It was just Haley, on her bicycle, pedaling up the steep, winding road.
Most of the time, the road was shaded on either side by trees, with the looming, brush-covered mountains giving way to the bone-dry desert sky above. But every hour or so, the road would run along a mountainside that overlooked a valley, and Haley could see the vastness below her. Every so often, she would look up, and each time there was less and less mountain above her.
Haley had come here to Santa Fe, New Mexico with her boyfriend Miles to see the sights and hike the trails. Then she had learned that Santa Fe had a ski resort, and she had made a bet with Miles. She had bet that she could get on her bike at their Santa Fe hotel, ride into the Rocky Mountains and ride all the way up to the resort on her own power. Miles had looked half-convinced. "You're one hell of a cyclist," he had said, "but all the way up there? I don't know about it..."
Then he'd made the bet. She would try to reach the resort, and if she failed, then tomorrow she would take him on a date, rather than him taking her on one. That meant that he would pick the time, he would pick the place and she would pick up the bill. That last part was more of a symbolic gesture than anything—they shared money all the time.
But Haley did not think about that. Instead, she thought about her prize. If she won, then Miles would be at her beck and call in bed. Within their agreed-on limits, he would do absolutely anything she told him to do. She would let her inner dominatrix run wild on him.
And already she was most of the way to the top. She pulled off the road and eased herself onto the tangle of twigs and grass that made up the forest floor. She stretched her legs and felt the muscles crackle with cathartic pain. She took water. Then she took out her phone and called Miles. As the phone rang, she took a deep breath to steady her lungs. She wanted to sound self-assured for this call, and it wouldn't do if he could hear her panting.
The call connected, not a sure thing in these mountains.
"Haley!" came Miles' voice, somehow calm and excited at the same time. "How's my amazon?"
"Oh hey, Miles," she said through a grin, "just taking five, and I wanted to give you an update on my progress."
"Oh brother..."
"Oh brother is right. I'm not there yet, but I'm three-quarters of the way up, and I'm not even halfway tired."
"Me and my big mouth," he said playfully.
"Just wanted to give you the heads-up. Start thinking about things you can do to make me happy when I get back. I'll see you soon, sugar!" She hung up without giving him a chance to get the last word in.
The last stretch of the ride had a surreal quality. This far up, she was so close to the peaks that the mountains did not loom over her. Nothing did, not even clouds. The ground was sparser, and instead of scattered snowbanks, she saw snow covering the hillsides, piled up where the snowplows had shoved it off the road. Meltwater ran down the shoulders of the road and darkened the pavement.
Then she rounded the corner and saw it. She was at the ski resort. With a tired, grateful little laugh, she got off her bike in the parking lot and plopped herself down at the side of the gate. Success! She wasn't surprised; she had ridden to Carbondale from Denver, done the whole Sparta-Elroy loop in one day and even biked all the way across Wyoming. She had known she could do this. But it felt immeasurably better to have it behind her than before her.
She spent a few dreamy minutes letting her victory sink in. Then she pulled out her phone. "Hey, Miles," she said, "I made it."
"You made it." He sounded hollow, almost flat. There was no emotion in his voice, probably because he had realized already that this was going to happen. "A bet's a bet. Looks like I need to take my clothes off."
"No, no, no, no," she said quickly, "don't strip. I'm gonna do that for you. This is what's going to happen..." She looked around. The parking lot was half-empty, and no one was within earshot, so she could give him all the saucy details. "First, you're going to shower, then you're going to put your clothes back on. Then you're going to cuff your hands behind your back, lie on the bed and wait for me."
"Uh, self-bondage? Kinda dangerous, girlfriend."
"It's okay, you'll have your phone. You'll be able to call for help if something happens. But something's not going to happen, because I'm going to show up. And when I do, here's what I'm going to do to you: First, I'm going to unbutton your shirt, open up your chest and just feel you all over." She paused, imagining it. "Then, when I'm used to it, I'm going to make you undo all my clothes... with your teeth."
"Should I be writing these down?" He joked, but Haley could hear the arousal in his voice.
"Do it if you want, but don't worry about it, because if you don't remember them all, I will. And that's not all I'm going to do to you. Because once I'm out of my clothes, that's when I'm really going to cut loose on you. That's when I'm going to pull you down the bed and straddle you and make you eat my pussy." She made an exaggerated moan. "I can practically feel your tongue already. I'm going to stay there until I'm all warmed up, and then I'm going to sit you up and kiss you. And while I'm kissing you, that's when I'm going to get your cock out." She paused again and gave a half-feigned evil laugh. "That's right, I'm going to use your cock plenty. You didn't think I'd forget that part, did you? I'm going to ride you harder than I rode my bike to get up here, and you're going to make me cum. Did you get all that?"
"Got the gist of it."
"Good. Oh, and one more thing."
He waited, and when she said nothing, he prompted her: "Well?"
"You need to make me cum a lot." She put a wet, heavy emphasis on that last word. "Because if you don't, then I'm not letting you out of those handcuffs until you do."
"I can outlast you any day."