Page 60 of Falling Slowly
We were close enough to see what was happening without the binoculars, but Charlie handed them to me anyway. “She’s enticing him. Look a bit closer.”
“Why does she keep running away, then? She needs to stop and let him mount her, right?”
Charlie drew a breath, blowing it out with bulging cheeks. “Right. I’ll never understand females.”
“She’s already part of his harem, right?”
“Uh-huh. She should give up and accept the inevitable.”
We watched for a long time as the two elk circled each other, the female leading on the male. Then, finally, she stopped and the bull elk climbed on her back. With Charlie’s binoculars, I caught the moment of almost penetration before the cow elk moved away.
“Was that it?” Charlie asked.
“I don’t think so. I saw his thing but… you know.”
“What?”
“He didn’t hide the sausage,” I clarified. “If these are recording, watch the playback.” I handed the binoculars back to him.
That’s when the elk headed towards us. Charlie crouched to hide behind the rock, pulling me down with him. There was no need for binoculars anymore. We could see them in vivid detail. The giant antlers charged at us as the male swerved by our hiding place. He only had eyes for the female, though. She’d stopped running away now, instead turning back to rub her neck against his, again climbing onto his back as to show him what to do. They were huge animals. Majestic.
I held my breath as the male mounted the female again, his pointy white erection now on full display. But this time, he rose on his hind legs and thrust into her. The powerful act was over in seconds, after which the animals went their separate ways.
I allowed myself to breathe again. “That was quick.”
“You like it to last a little longer than that?” Charlie’s voice sounded throaty.
If he was turned on, so was I. Not that I found a bull elk sexy. It was just hard to watch them without thinking of Charlie. What were the human mating rituals? We weren’t that highly evolved.We still had those primal urges—behavior so innate that it needed no words or higher reasoning. I wanted him the same way I wanted all the things I couldn’t have. Beach vacations, massages, chocolate that didn’t cause pimples… Charlie was my pie-in-the-sky dream, and if I had a chance to make it true, why wouldn’t I?
“I appreciate more than one thrust, yes.” I tried to keep my voice light, but it came out nearly as thick as his. “And a bit of foreplay, not just running around a field, letting him sniff my butt.”
His shoulders shook from laughter as he held onto a small tree to keep his balance. “I’m willing to go the extra mile. You like someone going down on you?” He grinned from ear to ear, his cheeks red.
I swallowed. “Are we really talking about this?”
“No, definitely not. Who’s talking about it?” He swiveled his head, eyeballing the forest like a fucking owl.
No one was allowed to look that hot when playing dumb.
“We’re not talking about it,” I confirmed, sliding off the rock and heading in the direction we’d come from.
At least I thought so. After a few minutes of climbing, we came to a path and started following it up and over the hill. But the path kept veering to the left, leading down. We came to a tight bend, then another one. After a while, a large root blocked our way, forcing me to throw my legs over it. I was starting to feel the chill. Not only the cool of the falling night, but the terrifying realization that I’d never been here before.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Bess
Cold dread shot through me. “Is this the right path?”
Charlie reached me. “I don’t know. I was wondering that too.”
“Please tell me one of your fancy gadgets is a compass.”
He shook his head.
“Something with GPS?”
He pulled his phone from his pocket. “It looks like we’re too far from the nearest tower. I’m not getting any signal.”
