Page 11 of Summer Storm
“How about I trade you a piece of jerky for a handful of your mix, even Steven?”
I tip my head and consider the offer, then up the negotiation. “Throw in a kiss and you have a deal.”
“Deal.” She sticks out her hand to shake on it.
I take her hand in mine, pressing it against my heart and then lean down and claim her lips. What was supposed to be light and playful, turns hot and voracious. When we part, it takes us both a moment to catch our breaths. There’s so much I want to say, but now isn’t the time or the place. When we’re home again though? I’m laying everything I want out to her, I just hope she’s on the same page.
“It’s growing darker, we should get moving soon.” We both glance up at the canopy of branches above.
“You’re right.” She sighs.
After we munch our shared snacks, Brielle uses the dead branches as a screen for privacy while I turn my back and piss in the other direction. Using hand sanitizer, we “wash” up, I don’tknow about her but somehow my hands never feel truly clean without soap and water. For now, I guess it’ll have to do. We help each other back into our packs and Brielle gives Rudy another whiff of the scent bag and then were off.
The higher we climb the rougher the landscape becomes. There are bigger patches of open land, but the sky has grown steely with low hanging clouds and mist begins to cling to my hair and beard.
Entering another patch of trees, thunder rumbles in the distance, rolling closer. Mist turns to drizzle. Pondering the terrain, I picture a map in my head and calculate how far we’ve come. I think I know where we are. If I’m right and Rudy isn’t leading us on a wild goose chase, there should be a fire tower around not too far ahead. Visibility drops to a few yards. The wind kicks it up a notch, whistling through the tops of the trees even as the pine needles beneath our feet become slick and treacherous. I peer through the gloom looking for a good place to set up a rough country camp.
“Brielle, we’ve got to stop before this storm reaches us.” I can tell by the stubborn tilt of her chin she’s determined to push on. “No, sweetheart, It’s too risky, I won’t risk you getting hurt. Think, baby, Rudy could get hurt.”
“But those boys are out here all alone…”
We won’t do them any good if resources need to be pulled away from the search to come rescue us instead. Besides, it’ll be night soon, we’ll have to stop anyway. The storm should pass within acouple hours. We’ll get moving again in the morning as soon as it’s light, rain or shine, okay?”
“Yeah, alright. Rudy, heel.” She’s torn, I am too, but stopping now is the prudent thing to do.
“Good. There’s a flat spot over there, see it?”She turns to where I’m pointing then nods as I unbuckle my rucksack. “Help me get a tarp strung up between those trees to keep the worst of the rain off of us.”
As soon as the tarp is strung up A-frame style between the trees and the ground is cleared of rocks and debris, I get to work snapping together a small two-person tent beneath the tarp while Brielle gives Rudy food and more water.
“Here,” I help Brielle remove her rucksack. “Take off your boots and get inside. I’ll hand in a sleeping bag. Spread it out and then I’ll hand in the rest of our stuff and Rudy.”
“Okay. Um, I have a towel I keep in my stuff for Rudy’s feet, let me pull that out for you.”
While Brielle gets to work with the sleeping bag and stowing our packs at one end, I wipe Rudy’s paws and coax him over the lip of the tent and then take off my boots, setting both hers and mine right outside the tent flap, but well under the shelter of the tarp and crawl inside and zip it closed to keep any bugs out just as the skies open up.
It’s cramped inside the little enclosure but that just means we’ll have to snuggle. We both remove the bright reflective vests. Brielle turns on a small flashlight, and we rummage through our packs getting settled in for the night.
I stretch out, feet toward Rudy, who’s laying at one end already asleep. My head nearly brushes our packs. Brielle bumps me in the ribs with her knees as she straightens out beside me. I’m not having that though, instead I pull her against me.
“Come here to me, woman.”
She sighs, melting and molding against me, her hand finding it’s way over my heart, a soft little sparrow finding the safety of home. So natural and easy. It unlocks something inside me and just like turning off a light switch, I feel the stress of the situation we’re in just drain outta me. It’s a nice feeling. No, a fucking stellar feeling, like transcendence or some holy life altering out of body experience.
We lay like this for a while, drifting, dozing, maybe just floating in our own thoughts, listening to the wind and the rain.
My voice is hushed but I still kinda startle both of us when I speak. “With this downpour, will Rudy be able to pick up the scent again?”
Brielle’s fingers jerk, but the motion turns to a rhythmic caress that I’m sure is meant to be soothing. It’s not. “Honey, Rudy can find a scent the size of a teardrop in a chlorinated Olympic sized pool.”
“Honey, huh?”
“Mm-hmm.” She purrs, and suddenly I’m not in the mood for rest.
In a spectacular maneuver that’s more barbarian than gentleman I half sit up, rolling her under me. Lips seeking, I find hers in a kiss so intimate that anything that’s come before vanishes in the fog of passion descending upon us.
I can’t explain it, but there’s something about being tucked away in the darkness, in a shelter I’ve provided for her, my body protecting her, a barrier between her and the wilderness that nourishes my soul, like I’m everything a man– Brielle’s man– is supposed to be.
And there she is– sovereign, woman, Goddess, meeting me in the betwixt and between at the very epicenter of passion, creation and destruction, a supernova exploding into something exponentially infinite.
