Edge of Desire

Chapter 16

Preston

Drowning. I was drowning in everything that was Avery, but it was the greatest feeling in the world. We’d been at the cabin for over two months now and every day was better than the last. She was full of surprises and laughs.

My decision about not having sex until we were in love stood. I wouldn’t back down on that. She meant too much to me to sacrifice a night of fun. It was shocking how puritanical I’d become. Well, except when it came to oral sex. I was all in for that, but when it came to sex, I was a patient man. It was important for it to be right and for her heart to be mine. She didn’t know it, but she already owned my heart. I was waiting to tell her because I didn’t want there to be any pressure for her to say it in return. Part of me wanted to tell her after we left the cabin. This was an idyllic setting, and when she was able to return to her normal life, her thoughts about me may very well change.

Today, we were setting off on a backpacking trip. I wanted her to see the views from the mountains that you couldn’t see from a car. She was a little nervous as she had never done anything like this before. We had done plenty of day hikes, but not any overnights. We packed all the gear and headed out in the morning. It was August and the weather was ideal. My pack contained the tent and the heavier items so she could have a lighter load.

We saw plenty of wildlife, but the flowers were what enchanted her. I snapped picture after picture of her as she looked at each new blossom, like someone had given her the greatest gift. Avery didn’t take anything for granted. She appreciated the beauty in the landscape around her and her expressions reflected it. I would never grow tired of watching her light up when she saw something for the first time. We were lucky on this trip to catch glimpses of elk, deer, bighorn sheep, prairie dogs, and turkey. We both were armed because it wasn’t uncommon for grizzlies to be seen around here. I wasn’t worried about encountering a single bear. Coming across one with cubs was where the danger existed. There was nothing like a mama bear protecting her babies.

The first night, we made camp and then went down to a nearby stream to wash away the sweat from the day’s exertion. Even though it wasn’t exactly hot, hiking up some of the steeper grades made one work up a serious sweat.

Avery looked at me with shyness as I began to strip off my clothes. When I was naked, I entered the water and challenged, “You just gonna stand and watch or are you gonna join me?”

“Is it cold?”

“Nah, but you’ll have to find out for yourself,” I laughed. Then I tossed her some soap and shampoo. “Come on, little chicken.”

She grinned and took off her clothes. I would”ve given both nuts to watch her strip, but I didn’t. I gave her the privacy she needed and then I saw the water ripple as she splashed her way in, followed by her screams. The water was very chilly.

“I can’t believe you. You’re standing in here like it’s all nice and warm. You tricked me. This is freezing!” she yelped.

We both quickly bathed and got out of there. By the time we did, her lips were blue and her teeth were chattering.

“Jeepers, that was cold as hell.”

“Baby, that makes no sense.”

“What d’ya mean?”

“Hell is hot, not cold.”

And then I heard her suck in her breath.

I had my back to her and whipped around to see an expression of inexplicable shock on her face.

“Preston.”

“What? What is it?”

She ran to me and hugged me. But then she circled me. I’d already begun to pull on my pants, only she tugged the waist back down to reveal the disgusting word that had been carved into my lower back. I’d forgotten all about it, forgotten that she didn’t know it was there as I’d done my best to shield it from her.

Tracing the letters with her fingers at first, she then dropped to her knees and started kissing me there. It was nearly unbearable. My body went rigid, not from disgust, not from distaste at what she was doing, but with the impact of my emotional response. Her hands gripped my hips as her mouth traced those letters, and for the first time in my life, the thought of them didn’t anger me. She wrapped her beautiful arms around my hips and hugged me tightly.

“Avery,” I croaked, “please stand up this minute because if I don’t kiss you, I think I may fucking die.”

When she rose to her feet, I turned and pulled her into my arms. I couldn’t put my mouth on hers fast enough. I tried to convey, through that single kiss, how much her gesture had meant to me. My lips sought hers while my tongue tasted her sweetness. I lifted her into my arms and clutched her against my heart, not feeling I could possibly get close enough. When she purred, I needed to slow down, or else things would get carried away. “I don’t know how, but you manage to remove all the bad shit in my head.”

Her eyes drilled into mine. “I could never understand why you would have ‘No One’s’ tattooed on you. Now I get it. It makes so much sense. How did you hide that from me?”

“It wasn’t easy. I’ve learned to hide it from everyone. I mean, having SLAVE carved into my flesh wasn’t exactly the highlight of my life. Not to mention, it would stir up a shit ton of questions that I didn’t care to answer.”

“Jesus, Preston.” She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her cheek to mine. “I wish I could take away your pain.”

“Don’t you know?”

“Know what?” Her eyes were back on mine.

“You just did, when you saw that ugly word and kissed me the way you did. You touch my soul like nothing else has.”

We headed back to camp with our hands locked together. I cooked our dinner of steaks and baked potatoes over an open fire. We were lucky to find enough wood to build a fire and keep it going. I brought a large empty tin can and filled it with our potatoes wrapped in foil and set it in the fire. When they were close to being ready, the beef tenderloins I had frozen were thawed, so I put them on a small makeshift grate and we ate our dinner under the glow of the setting sun. Avery was surprised at how good the meal turned out.

“This is scrumptious!”

“You doubted my culinary talents? You didn’t think I could manage a meal in the wild, didn’t you? Admit it, Avery.”

“Yes. I never thought the filets would turn out. And I gotta say these taters are some of the best I’ve ever had. They’re incredibly tasty cooked like this.”

“Just wait till you taste dessert.”

She eyed me intently as I created my special banana concoction. I took two bananas and slit them lengthwise. Then I gently opened them, not all the way because it was important to keep the peel intact. Chocolate chips came next, along with small marshmallows, and then I wrapped it in foil. Finally, I placed them in the hot coals for about ten to fifteen minutes.

When I removed them, I scooped all of it out of the peels, and served it. She took the first bite, and I couldn’t stop laughing over the face she made.

“Ohmygod. These are so damn good.”

When she finally swallowed the last bite, I pushed her backwards and kissed her sticky face. “You are a mess, girl. Mmm, chocolate everywhere.” I licked her lips and cleaned the rest off her face.

“That’s one of the best desserts I’ve ever tasted. Seriously good stuff there. What else might you have up your sleeve as far as tasty concoctions are concerned?”

“I can’t give away all my secrets. Then there wouldn’t be any surprises left for you.” I kissed her nose and then got up. I put all the food away and packed it up. Next, I gathered all the trash and stuffed it in a Ziplock bag.

Her brow furrowed as she eyed me with curiosity. “What are you doing?”

“We have to store this away from where we sleep.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because of the bears.”

“The bears?”

“Yeah. They can sniff out anything from miles away. You never leave food close to where you sleep. Anything that has an odor needs to be tied up and hung from a tree.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Nope, not joking. If you want to brush your teeth and wash your face, now’s the time.”

We attended to our personal hygiene, and I stuffed everything in the pack. Then I found a tree several hundred yards away from our tent. I used a nylon rope and tied one end to the pack and I slung the other over a branch that extended out about fifteen feet. It was a smaller one that wouldn’t hold the weight of a bear. I pulled the rope to raise the pack and then tied it to the tree.

“Bears, huh?”

“We’re spending time in their backyard, so yeah, bears.”

“Jeez, I really wish you hadn’t told me that.”

“You don’t have to worry about them. They won’t bother us. That’s why I’ve taken precautions. Trust me?”

“Okay, but what if I have to pee in the middle of the night?”

“Are you worried that they might see you?”

She knocked me in the stomach. “Be serious here. What if they, you know, get me?”

“Just smile at them and I’m sure they’ll be as charmed as me.”

Her hand knocked my stomach again. “I’m serious!”

I took the hand that smacked me and said, “If you have to pee in the middle of the night, just wake me up and I’ll go with you. I’ll even hold your hand.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Of course I would.”

“But you would see me peeing.”

“Not a problem. I’ll close my eyes.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. Now can we go to sleep?”

“But it’s so early.”

“Well, that’s kinda what you do out here. It’s not like we can turn on the TV or anything.”

The sun had set, and I tossed her a headlamp. “What’s this?”

I put mine on and flipped the switch so she could see. “It’s a headlamp, but you might want to make sure the lamp is pointed up or down because it’ll blind the person across from you, namely me.”

She put it on and laughed. “These are pretty cool.”

In the distance, coyotes started howling and Avery got very still. “Preston,” she asked in a whisper, “what is that?”

I laughed and said, “Those are just coyotes.”

“Just coyotes. What do you mean just coyotes?”

“Don’t worry. They won’t come and rip you to shreds.”

“I never thought about all the creatures that would be out here. I thought it was going to be just us.”

“I see. And where exactly did you think these creatures hung out?”

“I didn’t bother to think about that. I only thought about bunny rabbits and squirrels and tiny things that can’t hurt me.”

“Come here.” She launched herself at me. “You really are frightened, aren’t you?”

“Of course, I’m frightened. What, did you think I was making it up?”

“Seriously, they won’t bother us, and if by chance they do, we have weapons. I’ve been out here dozens of times. People do this kind of thing every day. If animals were a problem, no one would ever go backpacking. It would be considered too dangerous. Okay?”

She clutched me like I was her lifeline. “But what about those stories you read where people get mauled by bears?”

“Look, you trust me, right?”

“Yes.”

“Honestly, don’t worry about them. Why don’t we go inside and get in our sleeping bags. Maybe you’ll feel better then.”

“Preston, I have to pee, and don’t want to go alone.”

I didn’t want to laugh, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“Would you like me to go with you?”

“You think I’m going out there by myself? Hell yes, I want you to go with me!”

I grabbed her hand and took her to a good place for her to do her thing. She made me turn my back and I just rolled my eyes at her. If she only knew some of the situations I had been in before, she would’ve lost all modesty. But a huge part of me didn’t want her to because it was cute the way she was so shy about certain things.

When she was finished, we headed back to the tent and crawled into our sleeping bags.

“This is relatively comfortable,” she commented.

“Did you think you’d be sleeping on a bed of nails or something?” I teased.

“Haha, funny man. I thought it would be hard and cold.”

“Technology is an awesome thing.”

“I know, isn’t it though? But it does have its limitations.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, this sleeping bag isn’t big enough for both of us,” she whispered as she scooted close to me and touched my cheek.

“It’s probably a good thing because we would never get any sleep otherwise.”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” she asked in barely a whisper.

“Oh, it would be quite the opposite. But you see, I want something more than just one night of passion in a sleeping bag with you. I want it to be more than just sex. And if it ever happens between us, I want it to be for all the right reasons.”

“Preston, how long before you think that will happen?”

“Why do you ask?”

She inched her way next to me and put her mouth next to my ear. I felt her warm breath fan across my neck as she spoke the most beautiful words I’d ever heard. “Because I think I might be in love with you.”