Soon she was sitting on one of the logs Alex had dragged to the fire the night before, drinking her second cup of a bitter brew, and watching him as he slept.
She decided that he reminded her just a bit of how Sam had looked when he slept. There was a similar flush to his cheek, and the lines of his face blurred and smoothed making him seem much younger than the conscious Alex. She hadn’t asked how old he was, but Alex appeared awake, to be in his late twenties, or early thirties at the most.
For a few minutes, she felt peaceful watching him, but then she remembered that they were still lost.
As she woke up so did her bladder, and the coffee didn’t help matters. She pulled on her shoes, and climbed up to the top of the rocky ridge beyond the trees. This time, she made note of where she walked in relation to their site.
On the way back she came to a clearing that drew her up to a view of a wide expanse of open country, and she climbed up to the highest point.
A hawk was flying in the cloudless morning sky, almost parallel to her view, and as she followed him with her eyes, he led her to see a tiny ribbon of grey through the green. The more she looked at it the more it seemed as if it must be a road.
It seemed very far. How far she couldn’t judge, but she began to be sure it was a road and maybe even the highway.
Her heart leapt in her chest, because she knew if she could see it, then they could get to it. If it was a road then it had to go somewhere.
“Yes, yes, yes!” she shouted into the valley.
There was no echo, but the hawk screeched in answer.
Now that she’d seen the road, she felt a soothing optimism and realized just how worried she’d been.
If there was a place to go, somewhere they could walk to, then they were no longer really lost.
“Melanie?”
She turned and saw Alex walking toward her, looking worried.
“I heard you shouting. Are you okay?”
She ran to meet him, grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the edge.
“Oh, Alex, look! A road!”
His eyes followed where she pointed. “I don’t see it.”
“There! Right over there.”
“Oh, yeah! I see it.” He looked at her and grinned. “Lucky us, you’ve got eyes like a hawk.”
“How far do you think it is?” she asked.
Alex shielded his eyes from the bright, rising sun and searched again to find where the road became visible near the horizon.
“I don’t know-far. But it can’t be more than fifteen or twenty miles, or we wouldn’t be able to see it at all. Once we get down there we’ll have to travel by compass. The terrain doesn’t look too bad from here though.” He turned and looked right into her eyes. “It could be as much as a few days of walking.”
Every time he looked at her like that, she felt the same small thrill go through her. To break the spell, she closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath.
“But, we’re going to go for it, right?”
“Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense to stay here. It’s summer. That road goes somewhere, and really all we have to do is not get attacked or eaten by any animals, not get lost, and not get injured before we make it out of here.”
For a moment Melanie thought he was being melodramatic for effect, but his serious expression convinced her that he meant every word.
“Don’t get eaten, lost, or injured. Check.”
Back by the plane, they prepared to set out. In the bin was a simple nylon backpack that was serviceable enough, but not very large. Alex cut and tied a makeshift backpack from the parachute material so they each had something to carry things in.
Together, they decided what to take and what to leave behind. Then Melanie took charge of making them a quick meal of oatmeal and dried fruit. By the time they were ready, the sun was already high.
Before they started out in the direction of the road, Alex stood where they had first spotted it, and drew a rough map and directions. He pulled out a compass from a small pocket on his backpack.
“If we make sure we’re headed northeast, we’ll eventually make it there.”
They walked along the ridge until they found a spot that sloped more gently downward, and picked their way carefully down the side of the mountain.
The terrain was often rocky and difficult, but Melanie’s energy was high. They snacked on trail mix and dried fruit. Alex’s mood seemed even and focused, and although he sometimes walked ahead to see what was coming up, he mostly stayed close.
The beauty of the park was staggering, and she found herself forgetting at times that this journey was not recreational, but one of survival.
At one point her attention was drawn to a large, dark object that was moving in the near distance. When she recognized the shape, she stood frozen in place. “Oh my God,” she said in an urgent whisper.
Alex was a bit ahead, but he turned.
“Let’s roll,” he said, “I’d like to make good time while we’re fresh.”
When she didn’t move he started back towards her.
“Hey, what’s up?”
Putting a finger to her lips, she pointed with her other hand. “Alex, shhhh.”
He came close and peered over her shoulder.
“What?” he whispered near her ear.
Eyes wide, she looked back at him. “Don’t you see it? I think it’s a bear.”
About fifty yards away, a small bear ambled along with his backside facing them.
“Oh yeah, I see him now. It’s a black bear cub.”
Melanie couldn’t believe how casual he sounded. It was irritating sometimes, how nothing seemed to ruffle his calm exterior, but his manner did quiet her rising alarm.
“Well, from what I’ve heard, where there’s a baby bear, a mama bear isn’t too far behind.”
“Yep, and there she is.”
The mother bear was quite a bit bigger than baby bear, and although she didn’t appear to see them, she sniffed the air huffing with displeasure. Never having seen a bear outside of a zoo, Melanie was as fascinated as she was terrified.
They stood still for a few minutes, watching the mother and her cub. Finally, the pair began drifting away in the opposite direction from them, and Alex suggested they continue on their way.
“You didn’t seem at all concerned,” she said, feeling a small petulance now that any danger had passed.
“I didn’t have anything to be afraid of.”
“Well, what if she had come after us?”
“Like I said, nothing to fear.”
Melanie caught the twinkle in his eye. “I’ll bite, why not? Do you think you can outrun a bear? I read somewhere they can run forty miles per hour.”
“I cannot run forty miles per hour. But, I know one thing.”
“What’s that, Alex?”
“I can outrun you.”
He laughed, obviously pleased with his joke, and Melanie looked at him with narrowed eyes resisting an urge to smack him. But then she had to laugh, she forgave him. It was funny because it was so untrue. It hit her again, that from the beginning, he’d been just as concerned for her safety as his own.
Without warning, Alex bent down and kissed her softly, sending a delicious shock of pleasure through her that went down to her toes. Instinctively, she slid her arms around his neck and returned the kiss.
Pressing close, their bodies sought to meet and soon they were touching chest to chest, her flat belly against his groin, thigh to thigh. She felt like she couldn’t get close enough and slid her hands under his shirt exploring the feel of his back. His kiss became harder and soon she could feel both of their hearts beating in a tangled rhythm. She felt a shiver of pleasure. Then a feeling of apprehension came over her.
Things were quickly getting out of control and Melanie wasn’t quite ready for that, although she was so very tempted.
She let go of Alex, and pushed gently away. Both of their breathing was ragged. She saw him wince; he closed his eyes a
nd took a few deep breaths. She sank to the ground and covered her face with her hands.
After a long silence, she peeked through her finger then took her hands down and looked up at him.
“Well...I think I know where that was headed,” she said.
He shook his head like he was coming out from under a spell. Then he gave her a little smile. “Would that have been such a bad thing?”
Melanie considered. She picked up a rock and passed it back forth between her hands. Her body was answering no, not a bad thing, it would be a very, very wonderful thing. She resisted a powerful urge to stand up, grab him and start it all up again.
She could see Martin’s face, though. His frowning, sad face came to her mind and she felt guilty. This kind of guilt was unfamiliar to Melanie who had always been faithful to her man. At least she had in body, if not always in mind. She didn’t like it either; it was a murky, confusing feeling.
And there was also Alex. A man who could take her heart along with her body, and she had determined never to fall in love with a man like him again.
But when she was in his arms he seemed like too much to give up.
This was the time to speak up, to tell him all of these things, but a childish stubbornness held her back. It had been years since she had felt this alive, and she had gone through so much. Didn’t she deserve to feel good for a while? Perhaps, but she wasn’t protected against any of the dangers that sex with Alex might involve. Not to her body, or to her heart.
“I just can’t.”
She stood then, and moved so close she could feel the heat coming from him. She submerged herself into his eyes and lips, until that’s all there was for her in that time.
And there it was again. She had that same feeling of recognition like she knew this man, or was it his soul that she knew? It was as if she had always known him from somewhere back before time began.
The final vestiges of guilt faded. If he wanted her, then she was his. At least in that moment.
“Oh, you are an amazing man,” she said, again feeling that it wasn’t at all what she had intended to say.
“Amazing, I don’t know. I try to be prepared, but even though I was a boy scout, I’m not prepared for this.”
“I adore boy scouts, especially grown up ones,” she whispered and kissed him lightly.
“I’m not a boy scout anymore,”
He gently bit her lip, then leaned back and looked at her. There was a mischievous expression on his face, and she felt she was seeing a bit of the boy that he once was.
“Even so, I think I still adore you,” she said.
Now these words that surprised her again, and she was beginning to feel that another person was speaking for her. But she knew it was simply the bolder, brasher side of herself that had taken control.
When she looked back at Alex, she saw her surprise reflected in his eyes then his expression changed. And she knew that look of his by now. The line of worry flashed across his brow, and then it was gone. He gathered her against his chest. “We’d better keep going,” he said quietly next to her ear.
CHAPTER 6
They walked for hours in a mostly companiable silence, sometimes holding hands. Melanie’s feelings fluctuated from feeling a quiet joy, to worry, but mostly she kept coming back to guilt. And her guilt was a complex, multi-faceted thing. She knew what she was doing with Alex was all wrong, and yet it felt so right.
There was Martin; of course there was Martin, who only a week before had asked her to marry him. And what did this all say clearly about the strength of that connection?
She knew what it said, and her own thoughts began to echo her mother’s words on the subject. Was she truly afraid to fall in love with the kind of man she really wanted?
She felt guilt about Martin, but strangely, it seemed worse somehow that she might be leading Alex on.
Leading him on, not only because she hadn’t told him about Martin, but because as attracted as she was, and as wonderful as he seemed to be, she didn’t see how it could work. She didn’t want a relationship with someone who flew planes for a living. It was too risky. She wanted safe. She wanted to feel safe, and she wanted her man to be safe.
She was afraid, yes. But it was perfectly reasonable to be afraid to fall for a man like Alex.
A thought bubbled around the border of Melanie’s mind, and as much as she tried to ignore it, it finally burst its way in. Then she almost laughed out loud at the irony, and wasn’t able to deny her own truth. She understood then, that in many ways she had never felt as safe with any other man as she did with Alex. She somehow knew that he would do anything to protect her; he would never do anything to intentionally hurt her.
***
Late that afternoon, the temperature seemed to spike along with the humidity.
Even the few clothes that Melanie wore, a camisole and cotton shorts, were too many for comfort. They became damp with sweat and stuck to her, feeling like hot caramel against her skin.
They were walking side by side when Alex pulled off his shirt, and the action seemed to release a pent up heat that now lifted off his skin. She knew it was an optical illusion, but his tan, muscular back seemed to be steaming. As they walked through a grove of close-fitting trees, he moved ahead to lead the way and Melanie saw he had a tattoo on his right shoulder inked in navy blue. Curious, she picked up her pace, but when she saw clearly the circular symbol for gratitude, she stopped in her tracks.
“That is so strange,” she said to herself. She stood still, a feeling of unreality stealing over her.
Alex turned and came back to her. He wiped the sweat off his brow with his shirt that hung over his other shoulder, took a bottle of water out of his pack and offered it to her.
She took a drink, handed it back then pointed to his shoulder.
“Your tattoo,” she said, shaking her head slowly in disbelief.
“Oh, yeah. It’s the only one I have. That was a very short phase in my life. It hurt!” He laughed. “It means gratitude.”
Melanie was quiet for a moment. Then she pulled her camisole off over her head revealing a smaller version of the same design just under her belly button near her left hip.
“I know what it means,” she said.
She saw his expression change from simple surprise, most likely because she was taking off her shirt in front of him, to one of delight. He stared at her tattoo then he stared into her eyes. Melanie felt her insides begin to melt. The power he held over her with his eyes was too much and made her think of vampires again. She began to fantasize once more that he would suck on her neck.
Instead, Alex took her hand, and pulled her to him. With his arms around her waist, she leaned back and smiled, because she was right where she wanted to be.
“I don’t mean to get metaphysical, but maybe the universe is trying to get us together,” he said.
“Maybe.”
“Why did you get that design?”
Melanie sighed, as she didn’t want old memories to join this moment. “I wanted it to remind me to be grateful for what I’d had, and to look for the positive.”
“Grateful for what you had with your husband?”
She nodded. He bent down and kissed her on her cheek then he kissed her other cheek and finally softly touched his lips to hers. The kiss was light, exploring and sensuous, his hands moving over the bare skin of her back. She still felt torn, but the thought kept running through her mind. This feels too good to stop. She reached up and grabbed a handful of his hair delighting in how unexpectedly soft it was. Using the hand that was behind his head she pulled him closer and the kiss intensified.
The melting had progressed, traveling through her, until the bones of her legs seemed to be dissolving.
Alex was holding her up and he must have felt a need to relax down onto the earth, because he moved them onto their knees. Melanie suddenly came back to the here and now, feeling a sharp pain where she’d knelt on a rock.
“Ow!” she cried out and bro
ke apart from Alex, who looked concerned.
“Sorry. Are you okay?”
Melanie started to laugh. “I told you I don’t like camping. What I wouldn’t give for my nice soft bed about now.”
“Hmm, that sounds good to me too. Let me see.”
He pulled her leg into his lap and brushed off her knee. “No blood. Why don’t I kiss it and make it better.”
A few of his kisses landed on her knee, but he moved upward until his kisses were at the top of her thigh where her shorts began. “If we are going to continue with this, and I personally don’t want to stop yet, let’s pull out the sleeping bag.”
The sun felt good now. It was another sensation mixed in with his kisses, the soft flannel fabric of the sleeping bag, and the competent touch of his hands as they explored her body. And he was taking his time.
When his lips were on her neck, he bit her lightly, playfully, making her giggle.
“I’ve thought about you doing that,” she said.
He bit her again, a little harder and the pain and the fiery pleasure seemed to throb together. A low moan escaped her lips and she pulled his head up to kiss him. Lips and tongues searching, and it was odd, a combination of the excitement of exploring a new body, and there had been very few, and a definite feeling that she’d been here before. It was almost like déjà vu.
“You taste good,” he said.
“Amazing as I definitely could use a shower.”
“Well in another day or so I might not say this, but I like how you smell. It’s you only more so.”
Melanie knew exactly what he meant because the scent of him was intoxicating. She wanted to eat him up, dig her nose into his armpit, and taste every bit of him. Alex gently caressed her.
She felt small and very female lying on the parachute material next to him. She could curl up in his arms and not worry about anything and the feel of his naked skin pressed against her naked skin took her breath away.
Afterward, and after she had recovered a bit, she moved to reciprocate but Alex caught her and gave her a kiss that tasted of her.
Unintended Love: A contemporary romantic novella Page 4
