by Leslie North
A lazy smile crossed his face. “It would take a little more than that to scare me back to my own tent. No, Juliette, I’m here for the night.”
She sighed with relief, collapsing into his arms once more. The soft beating of his heart lulled her into a quiet trance, one that quickly segued into a restful sleep.
8
“Okay. We should head north.” Juliette pointed in front of them, squinting at her compass. Basri had taught her how to use it that morning, over half-decent coffee and a strange sort of gruel, and now she was tasked with leading them to the gorge. They would pull out the GPS if she got them hopelessly lost.
“After you, captain.” Basri’s grin made her belly flutter, the same way damn near everything did since their steamy night in her tent. She’d woken up that morning still in his arms, her blanket and sleeping bag draped over them. With how much heat the man generated, they hadn’t wanted for more covers.
“So what’s so important about the gorge?” Pinecones crunched underfoot as they wound away from the clearing that had been their temporary home. She was a little sad about it—they’d made some great memories there. And now they’d never be able to find that exact spot again.
Nor would they have a single photo with which to recall this trip. The realization trickled through her, strange and foreign. Basri was odd like that—more and more like a perfect mix of olden-days pioneer and modern-day tech guru.
“It’s our rendezvous point. We have to make it there in the next two days or else the helicopter will leave without us.” Basri cast a sly smile her way.
“Oh. Right.” She laughed, checking the map again as they walked. This didn’t seem so hard. Even if the slightest mistake could lead them miles away from their extremely necessary final destination. But with Basri at her side, she liked throwing some of the caution into the wind.
Something about him begged for the adventure. And with him, she felt comfortable taking the leap.
After a few hours of lighthearted conversation and plenty of pauses to admire nature, Juliette lifted at the straps of her backpack. They left wet sweat marks underneath—its weight combined with her exertion.
“Is it bothering you?” Basri creased his brow and came over to her, holding out a hand. “Here, let me take it for a while.”
She smirked. “No, silly.” She swatted his hand away. “I can carry my bag just fine.”
“But it must be heavy by now.” He lifted the bottom of it, holding it up a little as they continued on. “See? That’s pretty heavy.”
“Doesn’t mean you should add it to your own load,” she said, fighting a grin. She liked the chivalrous display, all the way out in the middle of nowhere. It was somehow more romantic because of it. Deep in the Caucasus Mountains, where chivalry wasn’t just dead, it didn’t even exist. Bringing this fragment of society along with them was about as hilarious as attempting to maintain a manicure on a survival trip.
He tutted. “Just let me know if you need a break. Or if I can carry it for a while.”
She grinned over at him. “Thanks. I’ll let you know.”
They continued trekking until lunch, when they dropped their loads by a crystalline river meandering lazily through the mountainside. Basri had brought some water test strips, and they found the water clean. She took big, thirsty gulps of the frigid water.
“Why is it so cold?” She splashed it on her face. “This is heavenly.”
“It probably comes from high up in the mountains.” He stood, looking up at the horizon like maybe he could pinpoint the exact spot. “It’s fresher than anything I’ve ever tasted.”
“You’ve got that right.” She took another loud slurp and sighed, leaning back on the river embankment. “I want to swim in it.”
Basri looked at her, lifting a brow. “You can, you know. There’s nobody here to peek or stop us.” He paused. “Well, I’ll peek, but I won’t stop you.”
She laughed, digging a toe in the soft mud. “No. I don’t want to…pollute it. If I bathe in it, we couldn’t drink out of it.”
“You’re not that dirty,” Basri said. “You know, that might be another product line.” His face dropped, which told her a revelation was coming on. He had a very particular look for bright ideas and genius inspiration. “Like the water test strips…we could get one for humans. How much are we polluting the water ourselves?” He snapped his fingers, laughing. “Then we could know exactly how much we’d be polluting the water by getting in.”
“I like how suddenly now you’re going to get in the river with me,” she said, voice lowering. She smirked at him, reaching for his hand.
“Well, it’s certainly not something you should do alone,” he said, sitting back besides her on the embankment. He laced his fingers around hers. “You would need…moral support.”
“Right. Moral support.” She smiled out over the river, the quiet whoosh of the current more effective than thirty thousand stress balls. Strange how stress and worry could just evaporate out here. Which left all the more room to enjoy these giggly, flirty sensations with Basri. She certainly didn’t mind spending a weekend lost in a nature-bliss spiral.
Hell, she’d needed this for far too long…so long she’d forgotten there had even been the need in the first place.
“If you don’t want to sully the water,” Basri said, his voice taking on a seductive tone, “Might I suggest that lovely clearing over there?” He nodded behind them. “I could even be convinced to pitch one of our tents for the occasion, as well.”
She couldn’t fight the grin. “And what occasion is that?”
His eyes glittered darkly. “Whatever occasion you’d like.”
Basri stretched and yawned. Birds twittered and tweeted from all angles, surrounding him in a wall of nature noise that ranked among the top five ways to wake up in life.
One of the other top five reasons lay burrowed up against him, snoring softly into his side.
He smiled down at Juliette, smoothing a hand over her head. This was day three, which meant they still had a lot of ground to cover to reach the rendezvous point that afternoon. They’d opted for only one tent last night, which helped save time in setup and breakdown. And it only made sense, since they’d become lovers since that first night in her tent.
Juliette stirred, mumbling something incoherent. Her eyes fluttered open, those beautiful green gems blearily scanning the world.
“Is it time to get up?” She rolled onto her back, one breast popping out from underneath the thin blanket. “I swear I need five more hours.”
He smiled, smoothing his hand over her breast, tweaking the rosy nipple. “It’s time.” His mind had prompted him awake hours earlier, roiling with ideas and brainstorming. Exactly what these trips were famous for—exactly what he hadn’t been able to tap into until breaking down the dam with Juliette.
“I had another idea this morning,” Basri said, hunting for his T-shirt and a clean pair of underwear in the mess of their sleeping bags.
“Do tell.”
“I was thinking about how loud we must be at night. Even though it doesn’t matter out here in the middle of nowhere.” He grinned. “And I thought of this product that would effectively be sound-dampening technology, specifically for tents. That way, it would distract or somehow convince close neighbors that you aren’t actually getting it on only a few feet from their heads.”
She laughed, her eyes lighting up in exactly the way he loved. “I think that’s great. We could try it out at a festival or camping trip or something. See if it really works.”
Basri tugged on his loose trek pants, another idea burbling to life. “Or what about a mapping software…” he paused, letting more pieces take shape. “Like an app that can highlight exactly the best places to have sex in the woods.” He laughed. “We could launch the app with our own tips for the Caucasus Mountains. Crowdsourced information about the most isolated locations for illicit encounters.”
“Your brain never stops,” Juliette said. “Do yo
u write all these ideas down?”
Basri fell to his knees, grabbing her soft face in his hands. “I would run out of paper.” Then he pressed a sweet kiss to her lips, one that made his belly knot. He couldn’t get enough of her kisses during a trip when they spent every waking second together. What would life be like once they returned?
She batted her eyes at him when they parted. “Careful with these kisses, or we’re gonna have to find a new access point for your sex map.”
He laughed. “Sex map. You make it sound so crude.”
“Sorry. The Compendium of Illicit Encounters. Is that better?”
He slapped her ass as she pulled her clothes on, then stepped outside into the gray morning. Clouds hung low, making the dense forest eerie and damp. He started a quick fire for breakfast and coffee, cups and pots clanging while he readied everything.
When Juliette joined him, she had a smile on her face. “It’s so nice to see you making breakfast.”
“What? I’ve made breakfast every morning.”
“Yes, I know. It’s lovely.” She sat next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder. “There’s something intolerably sexy about a man who cooks breakfast. Especially in the middle of nowhere, miles from civilization.”
He grinned, letting the compliment sink in. He liked this side of Juliette—it just added to the multi-faceted diamond that she was. Glittering, sharp edges that surprised and wowed…and way more playful in certain light.
They chatted and laughed through breakfast, making quick work of packing up the tent. By the time they started hiking, the clouds began to clear, sunlight breaking through in crisp, bright rays.
“It’s still early out,” Basri mused, neck craned to study the sky. The shapes of the trees from this angle lulled him into a quiet head space. He blinked lazily, taking it all in, until his foot stubbed a rock. Juliette snickered.
“Don’t you go falling and breaking a leg.” Her tone was stern but playful. “I wouldn’t have any way of getting you to the rendezvous point. I’d have to leave you behind.”
He squeezed her sides. “We’d figure something out. I’d teach you how to build me a splint.”
She poked her walking stick rhythmically into the soil as they trekked. “Do you know how to build a splint?”
“No, but we’d have to learn quite quickly, wouldn’t we?”
The sound of water reached them. He grabbed for his map, struggling to locate where they might be at this point. “I think this is the Rioni river,” he said, pointing vaguely to the northwest. “It should be there, if we’re on track.”
After clomping along a bit longer, the twisting eddy of water shimmered through the tree line. Juliette gasped. “Yay! There it is!” She hurried ahead, twigs snapping underfoot as she headed for the water. He kept pace with her, excitement clamping his throat to get a full glimpse of this river. He’d been looking forward to it as the finish line of their trip. Once they met up with the river, it would be smooth sailing to the rendezvous point, since the water beelined for their final destination.
Juliette broke through a thicket of trees lining the river, and her gasp thrilled through him. “Holy. Shit.”
He joined her a moment later, his mouth falling open. The azure waters roiled and whooshed over a boulder-laced riverbed, white clouds streaking the sky. All along the embankment, lush green mountains sloped down to meet the water, like giants bowing to the master. Basri stood in awe. The rush of the water and the union of earth and sky made him remember how miniscule he truly was—a feeling he relished.
“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.” Juliette grasped his hand, her voice almost lost in the roar of the water. A moment later, she said, “Why does this make me horny?”
He cracked up with laughter. “Beauty is titillating.” He nudged her with his hip. “Which makes it hard to keep focused around you.”
She swatted at his arm, a devilish smile overtaking her face. “You want to add another spot to the sex map?”
He grinned so hard he thought his face would split open. “You don’t even have to ask.”
9
Basri cupped her face while they kissed, the rhythm of their lips and the rush of the water a combination so pleasing that he briefly considered the possibility of missing the rendezvous helicopter. Life could be perfect out here, on the Rioni, with Juliette at his side. Kissing her next to pure water—was there anything else he needed?
Her bag thudded to the ground, and he shrugged his off. They fumbled with each other’s clothes—grasping, pulling, tugging—without breaking the seal of their lips. He squeezed the warm flesh of her hips, bringing her hard against him.
“You’re right.” He nibbled at her ear lobe, then pulled back to eye her sexy curves. “This view does make me horny.”
She giggled, shimmying out of her underwear. “Come on, Basri. I need it. I want us to come together, while we look at this beautiful view.”
Her request made tingles course through him. Yeah, this woman was made for him. “I think I can satisfy the requirements.” He looked around for someplace soft to land—not too far from the river, but with padding of any sort. “Here. Let’s go over here.”
He led her to a softer area covered with moss, a hollow in the embankment. He ran a hand up her hip, over the curve of her waist, and then flipped her around, bringing her body against his. Her ass pressed into his cock, and he groaned, rocking his hips in a circle against her. “Yes, this is the perfect spot.”
She bent over a little, propping her hands on a ridge of earth nearby. She looked back at him, eyes twinkling. “This is the spot.”
He grinned, running his cock along the crease of her ass. He reached around her, slipping a hand in between her legs, searching out the tiny nub he loved to visit. She gasped when his fingers knocked against the stiff peak of her clit.
He rubbed her for a few moments, her gasps and moans sending shivers through him, his cock pulsing with anticipation against her ass. He pinched and prodded at her clit, slipping a finger inside her slick entrance once her cries got louder. She was sopping wet.
“Juliette,” he gasped, smoothing his hands over her ass, enjoying the view from here almost more than what surrounded them. “I can’t wait any longer.”
“Mmmm.” She wiggled her ass in the air, pressing up against him. “I want to feel you, Basri. I need it.”
He grabbed a handful of her ass cheek while he eased himself inside, loving the way her pussy stretched to accommodate him. He went teasingly slowly at first, then faster as need overcame him. His mind swirled with tingling pleasure as he pushed himself deeper, a moan escaping him once he was buried deep. He gripped her hips as he pumped in and out, starting a rhythm that made his whole body hot within seconds. He clenched his ass cheeks together—already he was inches away from orgasm.
“You, feel, so, good,” he said, his words timed with his breaths as he worked her. “Fuck, Juliette.”
The walls of her pussy clenched around him and he cried out, pumping faster. “Harder, Basri!”
His fingers left indents in the flesh of her hips as he pumped harder, his mind growing fuzzy and distant as the bliss settled heavy over him. The only thing that reached him over the sound of the river was the moist slap of their skin. Her pussy tightened around his cock, and he knew she was close.
He pumped harder, sweat prickling at his temples, and Juliette cried out.
“I’m coming, Basri!” She threw her head back, her pussy quaking around him, and she released a gravelly moan, like a feral cat in the night. He bent over her as his own explosion came forth, nearly rocking him off his feet while rounds of pleasure burst out of him. He threw his head back, swallowing the idyllic vision of crystalline skies and creamy white clouds. The jagged edges of pine trees. The complex melody of a bird that suddenly revealed itself, right at the peak.
He grunted with the last spurt, smoothing his hands up her back. They stayed quiet for a few moments, until he slipped out of her.
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br /> “Come here.” He gathered her to him, his chest still heaving with exhilaration. They breathed together, in each other’s arms, until Juliette finally spoke.
“Holy fuck.” Her voice came out distant, like she still hadn’t fully landed after their voyage. “Talk about communing with nature.”
He laughed weakly, running a hand over the top of her head. “I think we’ve blessed the river.”
“Or maybe it blessed us.” She grinned up at him, slinging her arms around his neck. “With one epic orgasm.”
Hours later, they were so close to the rendezvous point Basri could taste it. And right on time, too—the helicopter was set to arrive within a half hour, and they had time to spare.
“I can’t believe we made it,” Juliette said, sounding a little sad. “I guess this means we have to go back to reality soon.”
“Or at least civilization,” Basri added, squeezing her arm. “We could postpone reality indefinitely.”
She smiled into the distance, her pace slowing a bit. “Basri, why did you give away Acumen?”
Her words jangled inside his head, foreign and unintelligible, for a few moments. That was the last thing he’d expected her to ask. “Wh—Why do you ask?”
“Reality.” She watched the ground as she walked. “It just reminded me of it. I wondered why you really did it.”
He gnawed at his lip, pondering his response. The reasons were so varied he could write a book about it. “The world is in a bad way right now, don’t you think?” He looked at her for confirmation. “Part of this is because education is still treated as a privilege, not a right. Some places don’t have any education to speak of. And I think that needs to change. My father was very serious about his children’s education, and we were fortunate that he could afford it.”
He paused, his mind roiling with thoughts. “We’re still very fortunate and privileged. And so is the board. We all come from extremely privileged, fortunate backgrounds. Most of the board members make hundreds of millions of dollars off the company—and probably billions elsewhere, from their own investments—yet they’re going wild over losing what amounts to pocket change, when this could have a serious positive world impact.”
