(A special thanks to Duchess Naoko Smith for editing and flogging when needed. Any errors, omissions, unsafe sex, or my incorrigible run-on sentences are mine alone.)
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"Fuck... me," I manage to get out. And not in a good hot and bothered way either.
Loose rock and pebbles continue to fall around me, a few unlucky ones making contact as I lie in an unorganized heap. Earthy fresh smells, crushed plant matter, but luckily no sewage odor. At least I had managed not to soil myself during the fall.
"Just brilliant, Rose..." wonderful. I am giving myself yet another self 'pep' talk after again putting my big foot in my mouth, blabbing to all my friends: "I'll meet you and everyone else up at Alpine Lake in two days. I want to hike up this time instead of drive." "I'm a self-sufficient gal, I can take care of myself." "Look everyone, I'll be fine. See? Compass, advanced first aid kit, GPS, cell phone with back-up battery stick, an emergency locator beacon, bear spray... even mace for those pesky bears needing more persuasion."
All that wonderful planning and equipment is nowhere in sight. Hell, nothing is in sight. It's freaking dark. I'm nervous about starting to move.
What seemed like moments ago, I was nearing the end of my first day's hike. I put a lot of miles behind me, moving swiftly along the trail, getting well beyond the few casual hikers I'd met going the other way. The elevation rising along with my spirits, I was getting deeper and deeper into the forest. I'd hit the water falls at the end of the first day with evening rapidly approaching. Then I made the fateful choice to reward myself.
Standing at the top of the falls looking out over the valley below, the beauty ripping through my soul, freeing me of civilized life. I stripped off my top, shed my jeans and panties, meaning to rinse off that notorious trail grime that always powders your body in the most un-dainty areas.
I hadn't even bothered to pitch the tent, I intended to experience the universe under the stars. My pack lay just up the bank holding my inhibitions and clothes.
Poets, who don't know anything, talk about the magical quiet of water rushing through nature. Bullshit. Nothing obscures noise better than moving water.
I was happily at one with nature, drip drying in the nude, looking out over the valley again, when out of the corner of my eye, I caught a flash of red plaid back up near the trail.
I hadn't heard anyone approach, only the sounds of the water etching through volcanic rock and basalt.
Just because I'm willing to share myself with Mother Nature doesn't mean I'm willing to share my shaved glory with some random knuckle dragger.
I scrambled for my clothes; grabbing, twisting, cursing the 'smart' decision to put my hiking boots back on when I chose to balance my way out across the rocks into the water.
Here's where things get fuzzy. I know I didn't scream, because that would've made whomever initiated this mad scramble look. I was still completely bare, trying to figure the fastest way to get everything covered. I remember one of my feet strangely starting to dangle and give way, just decided on its own to leave our little panic party. The rest of me followed, the ground slid away below me as I frantically grabbed at my pack, somehow managing to snag the strap.
I distinctly remember seeing my dark green button-up shirt flutter away into the dusky evening sky. Funny how the last clear thought you had turns out to be completely worthless when you wake lying in a heap partially covered by dirt... in the dark.
It's cold. I'm tired. So very tired. I twist, feeling for my pack. I had it in my hand, I'm sure. I feel rock, moist dirt, colder rock... nothing. I freeze. A moment of clarity putting everything together: I'm stuck out on a ledge of unknown size in the middle of nowhere.
I very slowly twist back around to my heap of dirt and rocks. When you're cold, starting to shiver, trying to keep awake because that's what you're supposed to do, and about ready to potentially die, you make all sorts of dumb conversation with yourself. "It's a warm heap of dirt." "I think I'll stay here until it gets lighter." "I'm cold, but the dirt's warm."
I'm fading in and out. I think I see a sliver of the new moon. I don't think I'm cold any more. In fact, I'm happy I don't have clothes on, because, really, it's quite warm. Maybe I'm not awake. It's a nice dream - this warm arm gently wrapping around my waist. I'm free. I float. I sleep...
...
I wake. I wake to one hell-of-an aching body. It's still dark, but I see a little glow in the sky through breaks in the trees. I seem to be looking through a silhouetted opening: a tent or shelter of some sort. I'm enveloped in warmth, snuggled with my back against a warm body. I've regained enough sense to not stir, remembering the old adage about hypothermia and using body-to-body contact for safe re-warming. I push my naked body more firmly into the life-saving heat and am rewarded with a protective arm wrapped around me.
... I wake again to much better light, but the shelter must have been a quick survival construction, because I just seem to be in a natural hollow, loose moss hanging down from the entrance. The warm arm has remained wrapped around me, firm calloused hand on my shoulder, forearm tenderly bowing across my chest, firm elbow pushed just oh-so-right across my bare mound with the boney tip just above my... now hold on, there, Rose. Sexy thoughts?
Yes! Suddenly I feel needs and wants percolating up through me. I had a brush with death, I have the gift of life. I'm a torrent of emotion. I need to celebrate.
The gamey, yet somewhat musky smell is enticing. My ass is pushed against a soft, furry patch. There is a not-so-subtle bulge from behind pressed to my thighs. An involuntary hip rocking on my part brings it into, ahem, firmer evidence.
Angling my bottom higher and gently spreading my thighs, I manage to get that pleasant bulge to cross my opening, aiming for a head-to-head meet. I get pressure from my ass to clit, a throbbing soft pulse providing tingling sensations and coursing up through me.
The hand slides down from my arm, cupping the side of my breast, fingers gently squeeze into my armpit. Doesn't sound sexy, but it was. The lower position put that elbow in the perfect spot for downward pressure to the bare kitty, sensitive clitoral tip now mashed exquisitely into that still growing firmness below.
He's now awake or awakening. I can feel his purring breath through his chest into my back.
He's still getting bigger, almost lifting my thigh on his own accord. I'll worry about that later, because the pressure across my needs from below, the musky, sexy scents, his purring vibration, soft furry head nuzzling my neck, snuffing deeply my own sexy scent of need...