“There was a helicopter…down the mountain. They might have been going down to the waystation. Did you log in at the ranger HQ?”
“Yes, of course,” she lied, not knowing why.
“Then it might have been sent to check on you. They might be figuring that with the storm you were holed up there and might be in trouble.”
“I lost my phone with everything else. If someone tried to call me…” Tara let the thought trail off.
“Okay. If that was a rescue team they will stay for a few hours. If we put a good foot under us we can get down there before they take off.” Nick paused and gave the nude woman a look that chilled her.
“I was never here. Alright? I saved your life, fed you. You owe me. Do we understand each other?”
The look in the man’s eye, cold as a gravestone, not only made her nod her head, but choked down the huge number of questions that were bubbling up.
Nick nodded then took his shirt off. He procured his ubiquitous knife from the back of his pants and cut the sleeves off then stepped back, and, to Tara’s disbelief, dropped to one knee.
“This will protect your feet.”
Tara bit her lip and rolled her eyes as she suffered through the most humiliating experience in her life- having to stand still, stark naked, while a handsome stranger knelt down in front of her, eye level with the area between her legs, and fitted her feet with makeshift shoes.
“Alright Cinderella, let’s see if we can salvage anything from your life.”
CHAPTER 9
Tara paced.
The naked hike back up to her decimated campsite had morphed from fraying, to surreal, then, unexpectedly, to liberating. She let Nick take the lead the entire time and had a sense of privacy as long as he kept forging ahead, which he did.
But arriving at the cliff upon which she’d set up her tent and seeing the rugged stranger descend over the side was another thing altogether. If something happened to him she had doubts that she would make it back to the ranger station, or to the waystation Nick had mentioned, in just her night shirt and mock shoes before night fell.
But there was nothing to do. The man seemed extremely capable, but the drop off of the cliff was so sheer and obstructed with vegetation that he was immediately lost from view and sound, and she was for all intents and purposes completely alone in the wilderness.
So Tara paced.
“A hand.” Hearing Nick’s breathless, disembodied voice rise from the edge of the cliff, Tara spring forward just before a hand appeared on the rock ledge.
She grabbed it, sat her bare butt down on the stone ground to brace herself and pulled.
Nick came up easily, his eyes transferring from the obscene sight that greeted him when he came up to her face as though he hadn't just seen her womanhood wide open. Tara knew she would have plenty of time to die from embarrassment later.
As soon as he was able Nick leaned over onto the ground and rolled away from the ledge. He lay there for a moment huffing and Tara realized a climb that could tire out the man who, just the night before, had hung upside down from a rope, pulled her out of her tent and threw her to safe ground, must have been a tough one indeed.
“Not a total loss,” Nick said, finally righting himself. He held up her hiking boots.
Tara stared wide-eyed, her heart sinking.
“Th-that’s all…that’s all you could find?”
Nick shot her a harsh glance.
“They were caught on a little doomed sapling about 100 yards down; only reason they didn’t go with everything else is they were tied together.”
Tara nodded. “I figured it was safer that way. I had them on a hook in my tent. I read that some night creatures like to climb inside for warmth.”
The mountain man nodded. Tara’s distress over her situation evaporated, somewhat, at his uncommon, precious acts of approval.
“With your hiking boots we can make good time down to the way station. Chances are the rangers can air lift you out. Might be a bit embarrassing meeting them in the raw, but you’ll survive.”
Tara made a face at the very thought of having to meet still more people in just her birthday suit, but then remembered her cleverness before they’d left Nick’s camp.
“I may look a little stupid in boots and a nightshirt, but that’s all. I spread it on a bush to catch the breeze. I expect it’ll be dry and ready to wear by the time we get back to your camp.”
Nick nodded.
“Yes, I imagine it’ll be dry. Good thinking on that…”
She didn’t like the tone of his voice as he spoke and gave him a dark look.
“Well,” he continued noting it, “it might not have been a good idea to put it on a poison ivy bush.”
Tara’s eyes went wide as understanding struck, then her face went red with rage as she realized not only the implications, but that he could have prevented the whole thing with just a word.
“What the hell is wrong with you..?” she began, setting up for a very unwise tirade against the man who had saved her life.
“Whoa…” Nick got to his feet and stepped way from the woman.
“Is it some kind of juvenile joke, to see how long you can keep the little tenderfoot woman naked? Huh? Grow up!”
He dropped his chin and looked at her with his head tucked. She’d never realized how threatening such a gesture was. It froze the words in her throat.
“Camera,” he said.
Her mind balked. She shook her head.
“I looked through your camera this morning while you were sleeping.”
“You what !?!?” The tsunami of rage that was building up in her was suddenly let out, like a balloon being pinned, when she remembered ALL of the pictures that were on there.
“I-I…” Tara found herself blushing in a very different way as he looked her steady in the eye. “I heard you swimming and went to investigate. I’m a photographer -- thanks for asking by the way -- so I did what I do. You’re a beautiful man. “ She paused and amended the statement. “You have an incredible physique. Classic, in fact, and you move so…well. It’s almost a shame not to save it for posterity.” Tara found herself almost believing her word as she spoke and was emboldened. “In any case, I could never print them without your consent, and to be honest, I don’t think I would have even dared ask, so no one would have ever seen them but me.”
Nick nodded.
“Well, no one will ever see you like this but me. You might be able to find something to wear at the waystation before the rangers see you.”
“So, what, we’re even?” she asked, the victory seeming a little hollow.
“I suppose we are.”
Then the man had the audacity to step back and ogle Tara’s naked body. She was so shocked by the blatant rudeness that at first she forgot to even cover herself. When she did she realized, with deepening shame, that the hands over her naked breast felt hard nipples. She wasn’t that cold.
The feral hunger in the man’s eyes gave her goosebumps but even as he stared, he continued to move away from her, towards the trail they had followed up.
Tara could not fully explain what happened next. Perhaps it was residual adrenalin and fear from the close call the night before. Or perhaps it was the memory of his very desirable body. Perhaps it was the revelatory experience of being naked in the wild. Or perhaps it was because she had not been with a man in literally years.
Ultimately, it didn’t matter. When she spoke she barely recognized the voice that came out of her mouth.
“Nick.”
The man turned.
Feeling like she was in a waking dream, Tara let her arms down to her sides, then, wincing inside at the wantonness of it, parted her legs a little bit and turned her thighs out, offering herself to him.
The man took a faltering step towards her, then another, then he was on her in a rush, looming over her, pressing his mouth down on her upturned lips even as he grabbed her by the back of the head with one hand and by the ass-cheeks with th
e other to press her into him in a fierce passionate kiss that ignited every cell in her body.
She rose to her tip-toes, giving as good as she got. She twisted her fingers in his wild hair, nuzzled against his bushy beard desperate to absorb his essence and let herself be drowned in the scent of pine trees and wood smoke, absorbing his essence.
She lifted a leg and wrapped it around his hip. Nick took the cue and released her head to reach down and grab her other ass cheek. He lifted her onto his jean-clad hips.
Tara scissored both legs around his waist, reveling in the sensation of the rough fabric on her inner thighs while their kiss transformed from violent passion to pure heat.
She finally released him, combed her fingers though his thick beard and gently pushed back. Nick released her to the ground and before he had the wherewithal to say anything, Tara was sinking to her knees, attacking his jeans with a vengeance , unbuttoning them and pulling them down to release the prize within.
Tara had only occasionally experimented with oral sex but, overcome with the moment, she knew she had to have the powerfully erect thing in her mouth or she might go mad with want.
Above her Nick grunted as she pressed her face to his groin.
The heat and hardness of the thing entering her mouth released something in the young photographer and she was both electrified and calmed by the intimate hot pleasure of the act. She bobbed her head forward and back, savoring his sex as she reached around and caressed, cupped, then squeezed his tight round buttocks. She felt herself dripping wet and savored the joyous pain of a hard clit. Then she realized as much as she wanted release, she would rather have him cum in her mouth than stop sucking on the engorged monster that was filling her mouth and consciousness.
But it didn’t happen. Moments later the man standing over her shuddered and took her gently, but with implacable strength, by the shoulders and lifted her away from him even as he stepped out of the jeans that had pooled around his ankles.
Nick threw the pants on the ground at her feet, then tore off his shirt and did the same with it. Deep in her well of lust Tara thought she actually heard herself growling as she ate up the nude man before her. Nowhere in her life had she imagined such a perfect example of maleness existed in the world. It was not just his chiseled tight physique that lit her up and made her wet, the man virtually glowed with primal, barely fettered power.
And it was all going to be hers. She knew he was going to engulf her body and soul just as her desperate mouth had engulfed his equally desperate cock.
He stepped up to her, reached under her arms and pulled her in tight for another deep searing kiss, only this time their naked bodies were pressed together and the organ that her mouth had so craved was pressing perilously near her wet, aching cleft.
He let her down and, with power that made an otherwise forceful move graceful, turned her away from him then lifted her off her feet again. He rested her on his hips, bumping her in a wordless demand.
Without knowing how she knew, Tara complied and parted her knees. She was rewarded by the deliciously naughty tempting sensation of his hard cock rubbing up between her thighs. The wicked organ slid easily up, lubricated by the man’s lust as well as the wetness that had dribbled in shameful amounts out from between Tara’s nether lips.
Then her began bouncing her.
The freedom of being so effortlessly controlled mixed with wonton lust drove Tara mad with desire. She moaned wordless pleas for him to enter and quash the fire he had lit up in her, but the man remained impervious. He continued to jiggle and bounce her body, his hot spear deliciously, agonizingly close to her waiting entrance.
Before she could go mad with need, Tara felt herself being let down. With careful control that bordered on gentle she was turned back around to face him, then lifted effortlessly off her feet and lowered gently on top of the pile of Nick’s clothes. Tara Miles, 30-something professional photographer from Ohio, felt a small streak of dread that she was letting a virtual stranger take her in the wild, like an animal, but, hot as she was, she simply didn’t care.
When she realized the feral man had thrown his clothes on the ground solely for her protection and comfort she thought her heart might break.
Then thought evaporated from her mind when he began slowly sliding up inside her. Tara let out a wild howl that was only cut off by its own intensity. Nick’s strength and weight simultaneously trapping and covering, intensifying her feeling of being taken while at the same time making her feel protected and secure.
His arms were like steel bars. She pulled, pushed and twisted off them to meet the equally rigid bar inside her. His thrusts were rhythmic and deep, she was able to match their sureness as his powerful butt muscles flexed, pushing him inside her, millimeters deeper with each stroke.
She came in wild gyrations, swearing and begging and thanking god for the man’s incredibly solid virile body.
The first three orgasms she thrashed and fought through. Soaked, weak and more satiated than she could have ever imagined Tara was more than ready to enjoy him getting his. She knew she would not complain with any way he wanted to take her.
But he did not break off or begin thrusting with the furious mad power she knew he had to be capable of. Instead he slowed. As her body softened beneath him he showed no interest in bringing himself off, or for their coupling to come to an end.
She relaxed, letting the motion become a naughty massage.
But as her body softened and her inner depths released even further and the toned down but unrelenting strength between her legs continued to invade her, she felt nerves begin to tingle yet again. Her eyes shot open, her alarm igniting humor on Nick’s stark features.
“ Now we get to where it matters, “ he said, his rough voice muffled by the thick beard.
Then he pressed deeper and Tara’s body relaxed around him, wet and fluid. The tingling nerves that had promised another half-hearted orgasm sprung to life, making no apologies for the lie.
“Oh God… I can’t”. On the tail of her denial, Tara’s body clamped down, engulfing his hardness and exploded, decimating her mind.
She could not tell if she passed out or simply drifted away in a swampy haze of endorphins and exhausted over-stimulation. All she knew was the first thing she felt when she came back to herself was his hardness in her and it was all she wanted to feel… ever.
“Time for round two,” the wild-man over her growl-whispered.
He pushed away and pulled out of her so quickly she didn’t have time to whimper at the loss. He flipped her over roughly and pulled her hips back and up. Too endorphins-soaked to care a whit about the undignified, carnal position he put her in, she mentally prepared for a brief savage pounding.
He entered her up to the hilt and grabbed her hips to pull himself in even deeper.
Then nothing.
His stillness jarred her. She needed him to finish.
He leaned forward, his rough beard scratching the delicate skin of her neck, his hot breath tickling her ears, giving her goosebumps.
“Shall we see what else we can do with you?”
The man’s sex-laden voice made Tara want to whimper with a combination of lust and fear. She started to say something, but her denial was smothered as her face was pushed into the makeshift ground cover. She was trapped and owned by his strength and penetrated with it as well.
The Heart's Dangerous Trek Page 3