Hitting the highway with a Harley sitting between your legs is one of the most thrilling things I’ve ever experienced. The sense of freedom, the power, like you’re riding a piece of a storm. There’s no better sensation to have while heading out on vacation.
Unless, of course, you’re having hot, steamy sex with a very attractive man. Then it’s a whole new ball game. Pun intended.
My name is Diane. I’m 30 years old. The reason I’m on the road on my Harley, Little Brother, is because my big brother Fred told me that I was going to get some R&R before he accepted any more assignments. My brother is also my manager. I do digital photography for a living. Most of the time I can’t go anywhere without it. This time was the lone exception. No cameras, no laptop. Only a cell phone for emergencies. I was going to die from technological withdrawal.
Let me explain. Several weeks, or was it months, ago I was in a bar in Hollywood. A pool hall actually. Some drunk attacked me because I was admiring a tight ass from across the room as it was bending over to play a shot with a handsome man in tight leather pants. That ass, as it turned out, belonged to Kiefer Sutherland and the man in leather was Markus. Yes, that’s right. The actor and sometime director. What a way to meet, don't you think?
Since that fiasco, Kiefer has been romancing me. First it was in a clearing behind the Hollywood sign, then it was on a secluded beach on the Mediterranean. Through a bit of trickery, I got an assignment to photograph Andalusian horses at a place called Castile de la Luna. It was owned by a Mr. Raoul Cordoba. Seems that Markus was his middle name. Kiefer and I had a wonderful two days of forgetting the world.
However, the Gods of Entertainment decreed that Kiefer return to work long before he wanted to. So he left to appease them and I came home as well, though by a different route to confuse any nosy tabloid people. I was so emotionally drained and exhausted, I was in a slump. Nothing I did seemed right. I was that way for at least a week before my brother came over.
Fred is a power house. When he wants you to do something, he’ll steam roll you into it unless you’re a really solid rock in his way. He came over to my place and all but packed me up and booted me out the door. Verbally, that is. He knows better than to try it physically. He handed me the directions, the reservation information, and a map. The little shit even signed me up for snowboarding lessons when I got there a week from that day.
So, there I was, hightailing it up into the Rockies to get away from civilization, the paparazzi, and everything. It would take me about three days of hard riding to get to where I needed to go. But I didn’t mind. Riding out on a deserted highway with the wind in my face is better than hiding in a car with the AC on. All my cares are put on a top shelf when I ride. It’s perfect.
The ride was fantastic. Even the fact that I crossed the border into Colorado in the middle of a snowstorm didn’t bother me. Although I did have the common sense to pull into a motel when the going got too bad. I made sure that my bike, Little Brother, was covered before I went into the room to unfreeze my riding leathers so I could get out of them and into a warm shower. That and a warm bed made all the difference.
For some odd reason the mountains made me feel more alive, more aware of myself. It was almost Spring and the mountains were still dressed for Winter. Yet I could almost feel life stirring as my bike roared away from the last hotel within a very large surrounding area. At least any ones that I knew of. I wasn’t too worried. I knew how to rough it and camp out even in snowy weather.
Fifteen miles from my destination and the sun starting to go down behind the mountains, my bike decided to have a tire problem. Namely, it hit a sharp stone in the center of the icy highway and blew out. Luckily for me, I had on chaps and sturdy jeans under that. Laying a bike down on black ice is not my idea of a fun time. Having no choice but to lay it down on your leg is painful and will ruin anyone’s day. Using one booted foot, I managed to shove Little Brother off my right leg and slide away from it into a snow bank.
My bike slid a little bit further down the road and stopped, its motor still purring away like a passive, yet playful kitten. “Why me?” I asked to the growing darkness, “I haven't done anything bad this time around.”
I groused and cursed fluently as I stood up, only to have my right leg buckle slightly. Testing it, I found I could put weight on it, even walk on it, but it was going to be a slow painful process. It was just one piece of shredded mess. The reason it buckled is because the kneecap was skewed slightly out of place and the whole outside of my leg, from hip to thigh, was missing a good patch of skin.
By the time the moon came out from behind the trees, I had the bike off the road and into a small clearing. The emergency pouch I always keep with me had a small pup tent and two solar blankets, along with the requisite all weather matches. With the temperature dropping rapidly, I managed to get set up and a fire going in no time. Then I turned to little brother.
The cause of the blowout was easy to spot, though it was quite a surprise to see. A spearhead shaped stone was wedged nicely between the rim and the tire itself. It took a bit of work, but I got it free and amazingly enough the tire was still intact. No tears, no bent rim, nada. It was strange to say the least. I set aside the stone an the tire and gazed at the fire, pondering my next move.
Sleeping was on my mind, but so was staying alive. So I sat there and rubbed fresh snow into the road rash on my leg, gritting my teeth at the cold and pain. The injury wasn't that bad, but I wanted to stop the bleeding in case it attracted hungry animals. I didn’t feel like being a meal for anything cute and fuzzy that had very large teeth.
I must have dozed sometime around midnight because I woke with a start, grasping the spearhead stone I had set aside earlier. It was dark and there was a heavy fog surrounding the area, like a huge cloud decided to land on top of the spot I was sitting in. The wispy tendrils of the fog drifted in and out of the trees like wandering ghosts searching for something. There was something mystical about sitting there next to a bed of red coals and watching the forest through the haze of the fog.
The silence was absolute except for the drums in the distance. Wait a minute, Drums??? I stood up and started following the sound, hoping someone would be there to get a message to the lodge so they would worry.