The Rainy Season

"Don't you think this is a bit risky?"

"What do you mean?'

"Ahh, hello! You just meet the guy last week! And now you are telling me that you are going to go into the mountains of hinterland with him?"

"It's right outside the city, relax."

"It's right outside the city, relax. That's probably what that model told her friend before she got murdered, too!" Cindy waved her textbook at her friend, furiously flipping pages to find the story she had read about a couple of days ago.

Alexis sighed, but continued sliding things she thought she might need into her backpack. She loved her friend dearly, but on her path to becoming a U.S. Attorney at some point in the future, the college junior saw criminals and deviants everywhere, including every man that they encountered, and every website they visited.

Finally giving up the effort, Cindy dropped the book and sat up, rolling herself over the back of the couch, and walking into the kitchen. She emerged several minutes later with a can of OC spray, and held it out to the blond she loved like a sister. "Ok, so take this."

"You're kidding, right?"

"No! What if he tries something?"

"Jesus Cindy, he's a cop! You are the one that wants to work in law enforcement, you telling me I should stop trusting you when that happens?"

"Good one, but no bite. I do not want to work in law enforcement; I want to work in the courts. There's a difference, and if you were interested in helping your fellow man instead of walking runways, you would understand that." It was clear to anybody with a sense of economics that Alexis' major in fashion design and marketing held a higher potential for significant income then Cindy and her budding Criminal Justice degree. So she liked to needle her friend on her apparent selfishness.

"Mother, I will be careful, I promise."

"You better. If not, I'll tell everybody you were smoking, drinking, and carrying on at the apartment social in your letters."

"False testimony. You will make a lovely supreme court justice one day."

"I will! First woman to be on the federal bench and a lingerie model."

"In the same year, no less." She smiled at her friend, ignoring the finger she got as she walked out onto the balcony and waved to the man waving at her from the black truck below.

She wanted to turn and walk out the door that led from said balcony to the walkway and the stairs down without having to face Cindy, but no such luck. The woman was standing right next to her, shaking her head.

"You are kidding me, right?"

"What?"

"That thing!"

"He's an outdoor enthusiast."

"You are about as city as they come. You grew up in New York, remember that?"

"You know what it is? It is Saturday, and you don't have a date. I'm not going to let you ruin this for me!" Alexis made her best motion at turning up her nose at her friend, but Cindy just shook her head. They had been friends to long for stuff like that. And besides, the blond was already giggling.

"Whatever. Be safe. How big are those tires?"

"40 inches or something like that."

"Does he have an elevator for you to get in and out?"

"No, he throws down a rope ladder." She smiled and ran down the stairs, knowing fully well that her friend was shaking her head behind her.

But Alexis didn't care, she was way to happy about the turn of events that had made this moment come to be. Darren and her had meet when he came and spoke to her class about the smuggling of fake merchandise and the illegal importation of merchandise manufactured overseas. The former marine now worked for Immigrations & Customs Enforcement, and he had looked hot in his suit and tie.

He had taken questions after class, and along with some of her friends, she had worked up the nerve to ask him to lunch with them afterwards, under the guise to ask more questions. Professor Matkins, who was apparently a cousin of the hot young cop, had warned him about the four, but the girls just laughed it off. If school rules did not prohibit it, she would have dated him, he was pretty cute, too.

Lunch had stretched, and eventually one by one the friends fell away as they returned to class, until it was just him and her, standing in the parking garage. He showed her all the cool stuff mounted in his Dodge Durango, and finally he worked up the courage to ask her out, something she had been trying for the last couple of hours.

So they had lunch again a couple of days later, this time not in the cafeteria. His knowledge of downtown Seattle's little eateries was impressive, and he pointed out which ones were run by illegal immigrants, which ones were tied to Asian criminal gangs, and which ones were fronts for drug organizations. She asked why all those people were allowed to run free and he laughed, telling her that if he arrested them all at once, he would be out of a job.

Over lunch they had finally managed to talk of something other then fashion crimes, and he had told her of his love of the outdoors, and everything that lay outside the city limits, the white water rafting, the hiking, the climbing, the mountain biking, the off-roading, and the endless winter opportunities. She realized that at that moment that she didn't have anything she loved like that (other then shoes, which she didn't think was a good conversation piece at that very moment), so she pointed out that as a city girl, she had never gotten to see much of that.

"I'm going out this weekend, want to come?"

"With you?"

"Yeah. I'm going to head up a bit into the gorge, and ride the river. Nothing crazy, some rafting, get my feet wet for the coming season. I have two boats, if you want to go."

"Ahh…sure! Why not, you'll teach me how?"

"Naturally."

And so they had set a time, and now he was here, ready to scoop her up and show her a whole new world. As always, she caught her breath when he climbed out of the truck, always surprised by how hot he was.

Standing about 6'2", he looked deceptively tall because of his lean frame. She guessed him at no more then two hundred pounds, but all of it contained in long, lean muscles, and densely packed shoulders developed from swimming and climbing. He apparently cut his own hair with a set of clippers, so his head looked perpetually buzzed, which was kind of cute, and it brought out his deep brown eyes. His hands were rough and large, with scars and cuts from rocks and other natural phenomenon they had grabbed. He had told her he might add some more from grabbing her, and she had laughed. Grab away, she had thought to herself at the time.

She greeted him with a kiss on the lips, which he had not expected, but which was a good way to start the day, he thought. Putting his arm around her, he told her she smelled good, and smiled when she giggled. He always started their meetings with a compliment, and she always giggled, and he always chalked up another point on the scoreboard.

His opening of the door for her was rewarded with another kiss, and then he helped boost her up into the truck, walked back around, and climbed into the driver seat. Despite the fact that he had lifted the Chevy Silverado 3500 up by an impressive eight inches, and mounted it on a set of four forty inch tires, he was also well aware whoever rode on the inside still wanted to arrive without the feeling of being in a tank. So he not only had a roll cage on the back and extended front and back bumpers with all the lights and winches you could ask for, but also plush seating on the inside, with a full safety harness. When she had asked him if he had ever rolled, he only smiled.

He fired up the massive machine, and they rolled out, heading to the interstate. She loved playing with his satellite radio, and they had already discovered that they had similar tastes in music and movies, so it was easy to find something they could agree on. He smiled as she started dancing in her seat, a trait that was very endearing, but when he started talking to her, she calmed down and paid attention.

"You've never kayaked before?"

"No."

"Okay, no big deal. We'll start off in this little pool I know, you can get used to it, do some rolls, stuff like that. Then we'll move upstream, and can ride it back down. You'll have fun, trust me." He smiled again, and she leaned over, kissing him on the cheek. "And if you don't totally come undone, I'll take you to dinner tonight."

"And if I do?"

"Dinners on you, for making me put up with you." They laughed together, which they both took as a good sign.

There were several other trucks and cars pulled onto the massive grass expanse next to what he had called a pool, which turned out to be a small lake. She walked up to the edge of the water, looking down at the rocks and saw that it dropped of sharply. Whole families seemed to be out there, playing around in kayaks and other watercraft propelled by muscle alone, flipping, rolling, yelling, laughing, and screaming. That's not so hard, she told herself.

Turning around, she watched as Darren pulled down a sleek yellow kayak, at least eight feet long, and then another one, which was a bit fatter, and not as long. Opening a box mounted along the side of the bed, he pulled out two floatation devices, and tossed her one. "You got on your suit, right?"

"My what?"

"Your bathing suit. You are wearing it under that, right?" He pointed to her white t-shirt and shorts, and she smiled. Not exactly, she thought, but good enough.

Walking around behind the truck next to him, she made a show of slipping out of her sandals, and bending over, pulling down her shorts. The red bikini bottoms came into view, and she felt him moving behind her. Pulling off the shirt, the triangles that acted as a bikini top, connected by a set of strings, came into view, and she saw him licking his lips. She tended to have that effect on men.

He stepped closer to her, taking the woman into his arms. Alexis was a lovely specimen of female, and every time he saw her, she showed him more of herself, each piece of which he liked more then the last. He guessed her at 5'5", and not much over one-thirty, if that much. Her body was full and round, and he just now realized now nice those tits were. C cup, he guessed. Her long blond hair hung halfway down her back, with her sparkling gray eyes smiling up at him. Pulling her tight, his hands ran up and down her body, and she sighed softly when he grabbed her ass. She felt his hard cock poking against her, and she was glad she had this affect on him. He certainly made her horny.

It was not clear who initiated it, but they both leaned together and kissed, then they were sucking face and swapping spit in a furious little combination of passion and moment, holding each other close, bodies mashed together, the tonsil hockey match raging back and forth.

When they finally broke, it was for air, not for a break, and they were both beaming. That had been pretty good for a serious first kiss. They shared a couple more, then he pulled back a bit, adjusting himself, and she had to giggle again.

He was a patient teacher, and she would be eternally thankful for that. Helping her into the floatation device, he placed her in the kayak, tightened the skirt over the top for her, and then pushed her into the water, before diving in after her. Treading water next to her, he flipped the kayak over, having her do the Eskimo roll herself, then flipped it again, again, again, until she did it without panicking or laughing, both of which made her swallow water.

Finally she felt comfortable, and he told her so, and he let her paddle around the lake for a bit, getting used to the feeling of being on the water in something so small and inherently unstable. Eskimo's hunted whale from these things, she thought? Once again Native's had impressed her.

Finally he loaded it all back up, and they headed further up the mountain. The road turned from gravel to dirt, and then from dirt to a trail that one could probably only find if you knew to look for it. He threw it into four-wheel drive, and she looked out the window at the tree's coming by, now understanding the scratches in the paint of the beast.

"Put your window down and tell me if you see the tire slip." His was already down, and he was hanging half out, his voice sounding distant and detached. She did as instructed, and when she leaned out, she realized that they were climbing up what looked like a dry creek bed. Massive boulders and rocks were in their way, but the truck was just rolling over them, the axle and gears beneath shifting side to side, the massive tires crawling over the obstacles before them.

They came to a small river, and he climbed out, wadding it back and forth a couple of times to check the depth of the ford, then they slowly rolled through. "I come through here a lot, but you have to be careful that parts did not get washed out. That would really suck." He smiled at her, and she thought of what would be a good way to convey how impressed she was, but could not think of one, so she just nodded.

They pushed further up the mountain, and finally they came to anther clearing in the trees, and she saw the sparkling river ahead. He paralleled it to a sharp bend, then traced it all the way around until they came to a much smaller clearing, where he turned around, and backed to the water.

Climbing out, she looked around, her ears open for any sounds, but she didn't hear anything. Wow. This was peace and quiet! "You come up here often?"

"Whenever I can."

"Wow. Is it always this peaceful?"

"Most of the time. I'll spend and entire weekend out here, and not see another person."

"Wow. I bet you could get freaky out here." She grinned at him, and he grinned right back.

Pulling down the boats, he flipped them and laid them side-by-side, then laid the paddles, floaters, and a helmet next to each one. Pulling two camping chairs down from the bed, he produced a cooler and set up the whole thing next to the flowing water, then grinned back. "Maybe this will help me in that goal."

She walked over to see what he was hiding in the plastic box, and laughed out loud when he handed her a beer, followed by a Glad ware container of chicken salad, which he claimed to have made himself. She told him she did not believe it when she tasted it, then made a mental note to get herself invited to his place next time he cooked.

They talked more and he gave her more safety tips as they ate their surprise lunch, something she had been wondering about. Finally he cleaned up, and ogled the lovely lady in the skimpy bikini. "You ready?"

"Let's do it!"

The water up here was much colder when she slipped into it, but she made a show of not saying anything, hoping to appear as tough as he was. The river was not running all that fast, and he went ahead of her, showing her where to turn, which rocks to avoid, how to glide with the flow, how to control the small vessel.

They reached the larger clearing, and beached, carrying their boats back up. This time she went first, and saw how much faster it was if you didn't use your paddle as a brake, almost overshooting her exit zone. She screamed with glee, and when he came out, she greeted him with wet kisses.

It was an easy way to spend a day, ride the water, make out for a bit and do some teenage style groping and fondling, then hit the water again, and do it all over. It left her feeling hot and bothered, but also fired up and exhilarated, enjoying something she never knew she would have. It had started off as trying to get him to take her so she could spend time with his hot young man, now it was turning into a cool new experience. She could have kept going all day, but when she walked back up from a particularly fast run, she saw him standing in the bed of the truck, looking of towards the mountains.

"What's wrong?"

"See those clouds building up?" He pointed to the east, and she followed his finger, seeing the rapidly building weather system. They were already pushing down the mountain, dark towering mass of rain that would not be contained for long.

"What does it mean?"

"We have less then thirty minutes." He jumped down; kissing her on the lips, then went to work.

He was actually off by about ten minutes. Just as he finished securing the second kayak, the heavens opened up, and water started coming down as if from a hose. He pushed her into the truck; double-checked all his riggings, then climbed inside himself. "You look hot, all wet like that."

"I'm very wet."

She realized after a second what that sounded like, but she could see that he was very hard, looking at her tits, and so she just laughed, and he laughed with her, then he leaned over and kissed her, before firing up the truck, and pointing them down the hill.

He took the narrow trail they had been using to cut back up, the truck slowly trotting across the rapidly softening ground. They came to the large clearing, and he turned, heading down the mountain in a zigzag fashion, avoiding pointing the truck straight downhill as much as possible. "Up is always easier."

They slipped by a couple of inches a couple of times, and each time she seized up, but he kept control of the massive vehicle, and they reached the riverbank soon. Again he hoped out, and walked out onto the ford. She could instantly see how much the water had risen, feed by the torrential rain. Earlier it had been at his knee, maybe. Now it was at his waist, and he was fighting the current. Suddenly he disappeared from view, and she jumped out, rushing over.

His head broke the surface about one hundred feet down, and he fought his way to the shore, then ran back up, right into her arms. "You okay?"

"Yeah. That was pretty fucking stupid of me. Get in!" Pushing her back into the truck, he ran around and climbed in, then backed away from the river.

"A part of the ford is washed out, and that's what got me. Should have had a safety line, I was trying to rush it. Don't worry, I have a plan." They headed down the river, and then back up the hill a bit, then cut down a switch back to where he knew of another crossing. But when they reached it, he did not even have to get out to check it. On calm days the ford served as an underwater break to the current, leading to the formation of white caps, swirls of oxygen and bubbles at the surface, tell tale signs. With this much water moving with this much force, you should be able to clearly distinguish it. No such luck.

"Now what?"

"Now you get to really see me in action." He grinned at her, backed up again, and then turned the truck. They were going back up.

She held on to her seat, and prayed that all that roll gear was as good as it looked as he climbed into the trees, and then into another dry creek bed. Except this one was rapidly filling with water. He gunned it, and they shoot up, climbing over rocks as he again hung out the window. She did same, mostly to see what was going on, but all she could see was trees and rain.

They reached a ridgeline and he climbed out of the creek, by now a rushing body of water, and headed towards what looked like a mountain on top of a mountain. The massive stone face sat like a dagger sticking out of the chest of a murder victim, pointing to the heavens, and creating a fierce contrast to the woods around them.

He pulled up to cliff face, turned, and parked just off the middle of what looked like a polished, yet huge, dinner plate. Jumping out, he ran over to a small knoll of trees growing along the edge of the rock wall, then returned, and drove over to it. "Stay in the truck." Kissing her, he hoped out, and into the bed.

She watched through the window as he appeared with the massive black backpack she had seen in the bed before, and pulled out what looked like a small shovel. He worked rapidly, digging two small trenches that led to the edge of the rock, and into the downward slopping woods.