sheltering arm. Bert couldn’t have found a more secluded spot. And there was a camping area on the other side of the stream, down near the inlet.
She smiled at Rick and squeezed his hand. “Come on.” She led him down the slope. She had a spring in her step. She really loves this place, Rick thought. And he couldn’t blame her. But it was too far from Andrea and Bonnie.
When they reached the stream, Bert stopped at its edge. She stood there, turning her head, smiling as she watched it rush and swirl. It sounded like a strong wind, and a hint of coolness seemed to rise off its surface.
“What do you think?” she asked. She looked eager. And she looked ready for disappointment.
“It is nice,” he admitted.
“I know we’re a long way from the girls, but this is
“Okay,” Rick said.
“You want to camp with the girls, don’t you?”
“No, of course not. It’s just that we told them ...”
“We don’t owe them anything. Hell, we spent the whole day with them. We didn’t come on this trip to have a four-some. We came to be with each other.”
“It’s just that I’m worried about them.”
“The guys are long gone, Rick. The girls don’t need our protection.”
“No, I suppose not. I said we could stay here.”
“Your heart wasn’t in it. Do you
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Because if you do, just say so. I’ll camp here, out of your way. Maybe we can even get Bonnie to come over, so she won’t...” Her voice snagged. Her eyes glimmered wet. She turned away.
Rick put his hands on her shoulders. “For godsake, Bert.”
“I’m sure she’d be ... more than happy to oblige you.”
“It might be nice,” Rick said. He felt Bert stiffen under his hands. “But she isn’t you.”
“Oh, I’m sure she has pretty much the same parts.”
“So do a Volkswagen and a Rolls-Royce.”
“Christ, you’re going automotive on me?”
“Four wheels and an engine, but there’s a difference.”
“You don’t even have a Rolls-Royce.”
“Got you.”
She sniffed and rubbed a shirtsleeve across her nose. “Yeah, you got me. Still want me to move in with you?”
“Will you?”
“No. But I’ll think about it.” She turned around. Her dirty, tear-streaked face wore half a smile.
“Your mascara ran,” Rick said.
“What mascara?” The other half of her smile came up.
“You need to wash your face.”
“Thanks, buster. You seen yourself lately?” She kissed him on the mouth. “Anyone for a bath?” she whispered.
“We’ll freeze our nuts off.”
“You may.”
“We’d better get back,” Bert said. “The girls might think we’re lost and come looking. If they see you like this ...”
“They’d go apeshit, but they’d be tough out of luck. I couldn’t get it up now if my life depended on it.”
“Wouldn’t bet on that,” Bert said.
He felt her hand.
“Ah, I was right.” She patted his belly. “But enough of this. We’d better get dressed.”
She sat up. Her back was speckled with grit. The smooth face of the rock still bore her wet imprint.
They both stood. Rick used his open hands to brush off her back and rump. Then he turned around, and she did the same for him. “For a man,” she said, “you have a very nice ass.”
“Well, don’t beat it to death.”
She squeezed it and stepped away.
When they were dressed, they crossed the stream, leaping from rock to rock, and made their way down to the campsite. The shaded clearing had a fireplace with a grate, and a good flat area where they decided their tent would go.
“Looks fine to me,” Rick said.
“Any more qualms about abandoning the girls?”
“They’ll be all right.”
“Would you feel better if we asked them to come over here? I’m not willing to give up this place, but if they want to bring their stuff over...”
“You’ve sure changed your tune.”
Bert shrugged. “I guess Andrea doesn’t seem like such a big threat anymore.”
“I guess she wouldn’t,” Rick said.
Bert reached forward and clasped her hands behind Rick’s neck. “So, what do you think? Should we allow them into our nice little hideaway?”
He slipped his hands inside her open shirt. He curled them over her breasts, lightly caressing the smooth skin and stiff nipples. “I don’t think so,” he said. “They’d just be in the way.”
“Let’s bring our packs over.” She tipped back her head and squirmed against his moving hands.
“What’s the hurry?”
“I want to ... lie out on the rocks again ... while the sun’s still on them.”
“That’s certainly worth hurrying for.”
She swallowed. “Thought you might think so.”
Rick drew the front of her shirt together and fastened the middle button. She released his neck. Her hands glided down his shoulders, then dropped away.
He followed Bert across the clearing and up the rock slabs to the stream. They hopped across it. The flat surface on the other side, where they had made love, was dry now.
Rick remembered how her wet skin had been cold at first, and stippled with goosebumps.
Then he remembered what his mind had done.
How could he have let himself imagine such things?
It had been Bert under him, but sometimes it was Andrea; Andrea naked on the trail to Dead Mule Pass, but not dead, not decapitated, alive and writhing, gasping and clutching at him as he rammed; and then she was Julie sprawled beneath him in nothing but her knee socks, Julie his stepmother, but she was no more dead than Andrea or Bert and those were her hands tugging at his buttocks to urge him deeper into her wet, hugging heat. Rick had thought, this is wrong, this is bad. But he couldn’t help it. He loved it. He was having Bert and Andrea and Julie all at once.
It’s these damn mountains, he thought, ashamed now that he’d allowed such fantasies to take hold. It’s the mountains and not enough sleep last night and hiking all day in the heat. It’s what happened with Julie all those years ago. It’s Jase and Luke and Wally and knowing what they’d do to the women if they got the chance. Or is it what
Hadn’t Bert suggested as much this morning?
You’re
Your
Sounds to me like you’re projecting your
Yeah? And what was I projecting when we caught them spying on us with their binoculars? Was that my imagination, too?
