Kissing Fire

by A. M. Hargrove

  Before I could think of anything to say, he asked, “Do you know why?” he asked.

  “Why?” I didn’t really want to know now, so I’m not sure why that tiny word eked out of my mouth.

  “Because Avery I don’t think, I know I could love you.”

  I whipped my head toward him so fast, because I wanted to be positive I didn’t mistake what I heard. “You could?”

  “Oh yeah Avery. Undoubtedly. I could love you with all of my heart and soul.”

  “Really? Me?”

  “You Avery. Yes, you and only you.”

  I beamed and kissed him lightly on the lips.

  “Then I guess we’ll have to work on that, won’t we Preston?”

  “I guess we will. But, you’re a little late because I already am,” he answered, giving me a cheeky grin, as he pinched my butt.

  “Ouch!” I yelled. “You better watch out buster. Do you know why Preston?”

  “No, Avery, but I think you should tell me.”

  “Because paybacks are hell you know.”

  “Yes, they are Avery. And I’m quite sure yours will be spectacularly so.” He was smiling back at me.

  I went to my room to put on some clothes. Preston could love me. Could I love him? I’d never loved anyone before. What did it feel like to love someone? Should I ask Caroline? I didn’t know, but maybe I would know when it happened. I’d never thought much about it before because I never thought it would happen. I’d had such bad luck on the man plan that I had taken myself off of it. Well, after Little Dickie and all, I just figured that was my last straw. No more men for Avery. Men were bad luck on all counts. But now with Preston, I was back on track. I’d never felt about any man like I felt around him. He made me feel like...well, I’m not exactly sure how he made me feel. All I knew was that if our little episode in the shower was any indication of what was to come, I was there ready, willing and certainly able. Damn, just thinking about him got me all hot and bothered. I mean, really. He set my blood on a five alarm fire.

  Looking at the clock, I realized I’d been standing in my room, naked, for the last thirty minutes. I hit the closet and pulled out some jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt, slid on some flip flops and headed downstairs. When I got in the kitchen, Preston looked up from his task of chopping vegetables and started grinning. I smiled back, but he kept on smiling.

  “Okay, what’s so funny?”

  “Nothing at all.”

  “Yes there is. Do I have something stuck in my teeth? Broccoli, black pepper? What’s up?”

  “Okay, it’s your hair. Did you brush it after your shower?”

  Thinking back I realized I hadn’t. My hand flew to my hair and it was a tangled mess of mostly dried fuzz.

  “Oh good lord, I bet I look like I have a nest of squirrels livin’ in here.”

  He belted out a hearty laugh. “Not quite. Maybe birds, but not squirrels.”

  “I totally forgot to comb it. Crap, now I’ll never get a brush through this.”

  “Er, Avery, did you have your mind on something else? Were you distracted by something?” He gave me another one of his cheeky grins.

  “Oh, you’re not playing fair mister. Not fair at all. What do you think Preston? Of course I was distracted. I’ve just been butt naked in the shower with the hottest guy in the world while he...er...while he, um...”

  “Yes? Pray tell, what did this hot guy do to you?”

  My face grew warm and the rest of my body quickly followed. I felt feverish, so I began to fan myself. I grabbed a handful of my shirt and pulled it away from my chest, trying to get some airflow down there.

  “I...well you see, he put my leg over his shoulder and then he put his mouth and then, well, um his tongue was...oh God,” I buried my face in my hands. I was so embarrassed talking about it with him. I pulled the front of my shirt over my face and stood there like that.

  Then I felt these strong arms wrapping around me and tucking me into his chest as he chuckled and hugged me tightly.

  “Yeah, Avery? What else?”

  “It was wonderful,” I said into his chest as I hugged him back. “Preston, this kind of thing really embarrasses me. Talking about it and all.”

  “Why?”

  “Well, because it’s so intimate. That’s why.”

  “Avery, can I tell you something?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It was the greatest thing I’ve ever done. You’re beautiful all over and you taste like heaven.”

  “Oh God. I’m really embarrassed now.”

  “Honey, will you look at me please.”

  “Do I have to?”

  “No, but I would really love it if you did.”

  I lifted my head and pulled my shirt down so my face was exposed. Then I looked him in the eyes.

  “Please don’t be embarrassed about this. I want you to be able to talk freely about this with me. What you like or don’t like. But I loved it Avery. Every single minute.” Then he passionately kissed me.

  “Preston?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You know you said you liked doing that to me, right?”

  “Very much so.”

  “Would you want to do it again, because that kiss you just gave me sort of set me off a bit?”

  He really started laughing then.

  “Have I created a monster in you Avery?”

  “I think maybe you have.”

  Chapter 16

  Preston

  Drowning. That’s how I felt. I was drowning in everything that was Avery, but it was the greatest feeling in the world. We’d been at the cabin for a month 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 still stood. I wouldn’t back down on that. She meant too much to me to sacrifice a night of fun for that. Yeah, we were both consenting adults, but I wanted her heart before I wanted her body. She didn’t know it but she already had mine. I was waiting to tell her because I didn’t want there to be any pressure for her to say it back to me. Part of me wanted to tell her after I took her away from here. This was an idyllic setting and I knew when she was able to go back to her regular life, her thoughts about me may very well change.

  We were headed out to go backpacking. I wanted her to see the mountains that you couldn’t get to see in 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 our gear and headed out in the morning. It was August and the weather was ideal. My pack was loaded with the tent and the heavier items so she could have a lighter load.

  We saw all sorts of wildlife but the flowers were what enchanted her. I took picture after picture of her as she looked at each new blossom, like someone had given her the greatest of gifts. One thing about Avery was she didn’t take anything for granted. She appreciated the beauty in everything around her and her expressions reflected it. I would never get tired of watching her face 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 really worried about that. I was more concerned with coming across one with cubs...that’s where the danger existed.

  The first night, we made camp and then headed down to the 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 glanced at her and challenged, “You just gonna stand and watch or are you gonna join me?”

  “Is it cold?”

  “Huh uh. You’re gonna 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 wanted to watch and I would've given both nuts to do so, but I
didn’t. I gave her the privacy she needed and then I heard the water rippling as she splashed her way in, followed by her screams. It was very chilly.

  “I can’t believe you. You’re 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.”

  “Um Avery, that makes no sense.”

  “What d’ya mean?”

  “Hell is hot, not cold.”

  I suddenly heard her suck in her breath.

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

  “Oh God Preston.”

  “What? What is it?”

  She ran to me and hugged me. But then she walked around me. I had already started to pull my pants on so she tugged the waist back down a bit to reveal that disgusting word that had been carved into my lower back. I had forgotten all about it...had forgotten that she didn’t know it was there.

  Tracing the letters with her fingers at first, she then dropped to her knees and started kissing me there. It was almost more than I could bear. 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 make me ill. 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 one kiss, how much that gesture had meant to me. My lips sought hers while my tongue tasted her sweetness. I had to have all of her through that kiss. I lifted her into my arms and tightened her against my heart, not feeling I could get nearly close enough to her. When she started that purring thing, I realized I needed to slow down or else things would get carried away.

  “Avery, I...I don’t know how, but you manage to take away all the bad shit.”

  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. You’ve tried to hide that from me, haven’t you?”

  “Well, yeah. I hide it from everyone. I mean, having ‘Slave’ carved into me wasn’t exactly the highlight of my life. Not to mention, it would stir up a ton of questions that I don’t really want to answer. Avery, you’re the only person I’ve ever talked to about my prison term. I mean Caroline knows some of it, but not nearly as much as you do and you only know a tiny bit.”

  “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?” Those eyes of hers were back on mine.

  “You just did, when you saw that ugly word and kissed me the way you did. God Avery, you touch my soul.”

  ********

  We headed back to camp with our hands locked together and 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 an empty tin can and filled it with our potatoes wrapped in foil and put it in the fire. When they were close to being ready, the beef tenderloins I had frozen were all thawed out and at room temperature so I put them on a small make shift 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 really good!”

  “Ha! You doubted my culinary talents in the wild, didn’t you? Admit it, Avery.”

  “Yes, I did. 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 really good like this.”

  “Just wait till you taste dessert.”

  She eyed me intently as I made my special banana concoction. I took two bananas and slit them length wise. Then I gently opened them, not all the way because it was important to keep the peel intact. I added chocolate chips and small marshmallows and then wrapped it all up in foil. Finally I placed them in the hot coals for about ten to fifteen minutes.

  When I removed them, I scooped them out and served hers to her. She took the first bite and I couldn’t stop laughing over the face she made.

  “Whadyaputinthese theyarsodamngood ohmygod.”

  When she finally swallowed her last bite, I pushed her backwards and kissed her sticky face. “You are a mess girl. Mmm, chocolate everywhere.” I licked her lips to get the rest off her face and then just laughed my ass off at her.

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

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

  She was eyeing me with curiosity. “Um, what are you doing?”

  “Oh, we need to get this stuff away from where we sleep.”

  “And why’s that?”

  “Because of the bears.”

  “The bears?”

  “Yeah. They’ll sniff out anything from miles away. You never leave food near where you sleep. Anything that has an odor needs to be tied up and put in a tree.”

  “You’re joking, right?”

  “No, not joking here. Avery, if you want to brush your teeth and wash your face and stuff, now’s the time.”

  We did all of our personal hygiene things and I had everything all stuffed in the pack--trash, food and personal items. Then I found a tree several hundred yards away from where our tent was and used a nylon rope to tied to one end to sling it over a branch that extended out for about fifteen feet. It was a smaller branch that wouldn’t hold the weight of a bear. I tied it off and we were all set.

  “So bears, huh?”

  “Avery, we’re spending time in their back yard, so yeah, bears.”

  “Damn Preston. I really wish you hadn’t told me that.”

  “Listen, you don’t need to worry about the bears. They won’t bother us. That’s why I’ve taken those precautions. Trust me please?”

  “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 with her hand. “Be serious here. What if they, you know, get me?”

  “Honey, if you have to pee in the middle of the night, just wake me up and I’ll go with you and even hold your hand.”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “Of course I would.”

  “But, then you would have to see me peeing.”

  “Don't worry, I would 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 head lamp. “What’s this?”

  I put mine on and flipped the switch so she could see. “It’s one of these. But you might want to make sure the lamp is pointed up or down ‘cause it’ll blind the person across from you, namely me.”

  She put hers 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?”

  “Avery, they’re not gonna come and rip you to shreds. Don’t worry honey.”

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

  “I see. Avery, 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 flew at me like a damn rocket. “You really are frightened, aren’t you?”

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

  “Look, they won’t bother us and if by chance they did, we have weapons. I’ve been out here lots of times. People do this kind of thing all the time. Animals aren’t a problem or no one would ever go backpacking. It would be considered too dangerous. Okay?”

  She was clutching me like I was her lifeline. “Okay.”

  “Look, you trust me, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then why don’t we go inside and get in our sleeping bags. Maybe you’ll feel better then.”

  “Preston, I have to pee and I’m scared now.”

  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 or something? 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.

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

  “Well, no, but 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 the both of us,” she whispered as she scooted close to me and touched my cheek.