Page 17

"Isn't it a long hike?" she asked her feet.    
It was.  The cabin was on Gram's land, that's how I'd found it, but it was deep in the woods.  No roads led to it, just one grueling hiking trail.  That's why it was so perfect.  It was a place that could be ours alone.  "About an hour and a half hiking, less if we set a good pace.  I'm up for it if you are?"
She chewed on her lip, still blushing.  "I'm up for it.  It certainly feels like we've waited long enough." 
We had, and then I'd made us wait longer, finding just the right spot, cleaning it out, stocking it up. 
The hotels in town were shit, and nowhere else felt private enough for our first real time together. 
"I just need to grab one thing from Gram's," I explained. 
"We'll be back before it's dark, won't we?  We can't hike back in the dark.  Do we have enough time?" 
"It's a Friday.  You always stay out late enough for Glenda to pass out and then you leave before she wakes up.  Do you really think she's going to notice if you're away for one night?" 
She looked uncertain.  Her grandma terrified her to an unreasonable degree.  It made me sick to my stomach to think about.  She was so helpless when it came to that hateful woman.   
"I don't want to rush," I added.  And when that wasn't enough, I used the magic word.  "Please." 
"Okay," she agreed instantly.  "But if I catch hell for it, I'm blaming you, and letting you deal with my grandma.
"Deal."  I didn't hesitate.  Her grandma pissed me the hell off, but she didn't scare me. 
I grabbed the key to the thick padlock I'd put on the cabin door.  It was on a key chain, but as we started to leave, an idea struck me. 
"One sec," I told Scarlett, leaving her by the front door. 
I found Gram.  It didn't even occur to me that she wouldn't have what I needed.  "Do you have a gold chain I could borrow?  Something sturdy, to hold a key."
She studied me, her controlled face frankly curious.  "Is it for you or for Scarlett?" 
"Either or both," I said cryptically. 
She smiled.  "I'll dig up one.  You can have it.  You don't need to borrow."
When I approached Scarlett again, still waiting by the door, I draped the key on its chain casually around her neck. 
She fingered it.  "What's this?" 
I smiled, kissing her briefly.  "It's the key to our first place together.  Hope you like what I've done with the place." 
She laughed, and I took her hand, pulling her into the kitchen.  We put together a backpack full of food, enough for days, though we'd only have one night.  There was no telling how hungry I'd be, though, so better safe than sorry.
The walk was long but idyllic.  Since we'd be staying overnight, we took our time, stopping at Gram's huge orchard and picking as many apples as we could carry, keeping one out to eat as we walked.  I took a big bite, the sound of it echoing through the trees. 
We grinned at each other as I passed it to her.  She took a bite and handed it back. 
Watching her eat did things to me.  Base, primal things.  By the time we ate to the core, I was throbbing hard and ready to burst. 
I took off my backpack, dragged her to the ground, and started kissing her. 
"You taste like apples," I told her, smiling into her mouth. 
She smiled back.  "Well, gee, I wonder why." 
"I'll never be able to taste one again without thinking of you.  It's impossible.  You do this on purpose, don't you?  You leave your mark on everything.  You love that I'm this obsessed with you." 
She laughed and laughed.  "Well, yes.  Of course I do.  If I was this obsessed on my own it would be pretty damned depressing." 
I smiled and kissed her again, then forced myself to climb off her.  "Not far to go," I told her.  "If you can control yourself for a few more miles we just may make it." 
She mock glared at me.  "Look who's talking."  Her eyes shot down to my crotch.  "It can't be Mr. Walking Erection calling me out today, can it?"   
I couldn't stop laughing for a solid five minutes, and she couldn't stop smiling.
On we walked.     
I meant to make it good for her.  To be tender, that first time more than any other.  I meant to go soft and slow.  I had my mind made up on the matter.  Making it good for her was the priority, because I knew that regardless of the pace or the tone, it was sure as hell going to be great for me. 
I had so many notions on how it was going to be, how it had to be.  I'd done so much planning, even down to hard physical labor, thought out every detail to make it memorable for her, to make it perfect. 
The first thing was the location.  I'd found the perfect place, private and remote.  I'd cleaned it out, brought fresh linens, every necessity I could think of.
I'd added a new lock and a thick bolt across the door, both of which fit the key around her neck.
I let her do the honors, my adoring eyes on her smiling face all the while.        
The cabin was just right, I saw by her reaction when we walked in the door.  She was delighted, moved, touched almost to tears.
It really wasn't anything fancy.  It was instead something thoughtful, which I knew meant much more to her.