Page 12 of Summer Storm
Her knees part, her thighs cradling my hips even as our desperate hands scrabble against clothing shoving it aside. Cool fingers slip into my hair grasping tight handfuls as I sink into the soft, silky wetness of her body.
Soft mewls and squeaks, and shivery breaths that have lived in my dreams these past months burst to life but travel no further than my ears as thunder bounces off the mountain, shaking the ground, in a cymbal crashing accompaniment to the storm raging in my blood.
Chapter 10
The lost boys
Brielle
Groaning, I hitch the rucksack higher on my shoulders, trying to adjust it into a more comfortable position as the blue light of morning filters through the trees. Holy smokes, my body aches, but I also wouldn’t change it for the world because I’ve also never felt so darned good.
“What’s that cute little smile for, sweetheart? Were you thinking about me?” Aaron teases as he catches me daydreaming while he stores the tarp and tent back in his own pack. Heat floods my cheeks, but I can’t help giggling at his playfulness or the matching self-satisfied grin he’s wearing.
“Actually, I was thinking I’m probably going to be walking like your great grandma today.” I laugh at the shocked look he flashes me.
“Huh? All my grandma’s, great and otherwise, are dead.”
“Exactly.” Shock turns to concern as he comes to me and wraps his arms around me rucksack and all. He rests his chin on top of my head, swaying me gently as the birds chirp and the trees whisper. My eyelids drop closed as I soak up the pure perfection of the moment.
“Did I hurt you, babe? Was I too rough last night?”
My heart flips at the worry in his voice and I strive to undo the damage my own good humor is causing. Note to self; don’t tease about the delicious aches and pains that come about because of a good romp in the sack…or sleeping bag.
“I’m fine, honey, really,” I’m quick to reassure him but I can’t help but try and hang onto the playfulness from before. “Tonight though, I call being on top and you get to be the mattress.”
“Oh, Lord, that sounds suspiciously like something Amber would say.” He grumbles and then we’re both laughing. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“It’s nothing a good soak and some more practice won’t cure, I promise.” I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him tight while resting my cheek against his chest. He’s just so darned sweet and I love touching him. They say that everyone has a love language, I think both Aaron’s and mine is touch. We can’t seem to keep our hands off one another.
“Hmm. Okay, we better get moving then. We’re probably only an hour from the top of the ridge hopefully we’ll have caught up to the boys, so Rudy won’t decide we need to trek down the other side.
After checking to make sure we’ve left nothing behind, Aaron straps into his rucksack, making it look entirely too easy. Rolling my eyes, I give Rudy the scent and command to search again. We follow him as he circles the area, ranging from side to side and stopping to investigate one scent then roving on to another. It isn’t long before he’s moving further up the mountain with more urgency than the day before. Aaron holds my hand in his, helping me over rocks and patches of earth still wet from the rain the night before, but we fall behind. We’re just climbing over a craggy patch of rocks and tree roots when the screaming starts.
“Climb up, Collin! It’s a bear!” A young, terrified voice shouts and Rudy begins barking.
“Go! I’m right behind you.” I scramble over the uneven ground as Aaron races away sure-footed and as nimble as a mountain lion. Yanking out a can of bear spray, I sprint up the hill a whole heck of a lot slower and less gracefully than my man. When I reach the clearing, tears mist my eyes as two young boys, bedraggled and bawling their eyes out, cling to Aaron like they’re never going to let him go. Same kids, same.
“The bear?” My heart is still hammering from adrenaline and the dash up ridge. I nervously glance around the area, taking in the fire tower with one of those bear proof cabins built into it, but there’s no bear in sight and Rudy is calm.
“Rudy.” Aaron grins over the heads of the boys. I must look as confused as I feel because Aaron explains. “Tyler here was watering the bushes when Rudy found him. He thought he was a bear.”
Oh, my gosh. I slap my hand over my mouth to muffle the giggles of mirth and relief threatening to burst free.
When the boys finally let go of Aaron, I let Collin help mark our position on the GPS tracker. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy, and it’s not just from watching the little light turn from green to red on the screen either. “Well guys, you’ll be home before you know it.”
The boys are grubby and hungry. Which is something we can remedy. Collin and Tyler munch through both Aaron’s and my remaining food rations, including a couple of MRE’s or meals- ready to eat, even though Aaron whispers the darned things areabout as appetizing as old library books. The boys don’t seem to care.
Other than being dehydrated, a scratch on Tyler’s face from a branch, and some bumps and bruises they’re both okay physically. Mentally though, they’ve been through an ordeal that should have never happened.
While we wait for a helicopter to arrive, the kids tell us about the older boys who chased and threw rocks at them, until their only escape was to run into the woods and hide. When they tried to find their way back to the main trail the bigger boys were still looking for them. So Tyler and Collin kept going, thinking they could sneak around their tormentors, making their way back to the campground. Instead they became lost.
By the tightness of Aaron’s jaw, I’d say a reckoning is coming, and well there should be.
Much to Aaron’s and my complete surprise there are reporters, both local and national, waiting at the hospital along with the boy’s grandparents, parents, and the authorities when the helicopter lands.
“Under the circumstances Tyler and Collin handled this unfortunate situation with valiance and grace. They took care of each other and were smart about it until help could arrive.” I answer the reporter’s question.
“Ms. Danner-Smith, how does it feel to be a hero?”
