Page 32 of Free Fall #1

Sejin

“H oly shit, it’s cold as fuck!” I gasp as I leap away from the waterfall.

It’s not a big one. In fact, most people wouldn’t even pay it much attention or go out of their way to find it. But there are little falls like this all over the park from spring through the end of fall.

Fresh, clean water rushes from an overhang and splashes onto a floor of granite. It doesn’t pool, but instead seeps into the cracks or rushes off away down the slope to join a creek below. I can see where Dan got the idea for using it to wash. It’s very much like a shower.

Except that it’s freezing cold and there’s no way to adjust the temperature.

“It’s not so bad,” Dan says, walking deliberately beneath the water and standing there with a grin on his face. I see the goosebumps rise on his skin, though, and his nipples pebble up, and his cock and balls shrink fast.

I convulse with my arms around myself, my long hair plastered over my forehead and down my back and shoulders.

“C’mon,” he says, stretching out his hand. “You’ll get used to it.”

I gasp again as I take hold of his fingers and step back beneath the water. I nearly leap out, but he grasps me close, and I laugh as he kisses my neck and shoulders. “Stop, stop.” I giggle. “I’m drowning. I’m dying. I’m getting hypothermia.”

He releases me immediately, but I don’t go anywhere, pressing up against him instead.

He doesn’t grab me, though, so I wrap my arms around his waist and kiss his lips.

He licks into my mouth as the water comes down around us, cold as hell and making us both shake.

We stop kissing long enough to shampoo ourselves and each other with the Dr. Bronners that Dan has stashed in his endless bag of supplies.

Once we’re clean-ish, I duck back out from under the water, grab the towel Dan put aside for me, and wrap it around myself. My legs are shaking, and I feel colder than I’ve been in years, yet I’m filled with a sense of invigoration and vibrancy.

I dress recklessly, eager to get layers on, and my jeans stick to my still wet legs as I pull them up. Tugging on a relatively clean flannel shirt from Dan’s bag, I find it’s a little short on my arms.

I watch as he washes himself more thoroughly than I’d dared. By the time he finishes his shower, my core seems to have lit a blaze in me that’s got me warm and snug like I’ve been sitting by a bonfire instead of dousing myself in cold mountain water.

Dan towels off, puts on his clothes, and then grins at me. “Fun, huh?”

I laugh because I don’t know what to say. It’s definitely a new experience for me, and one I wouldn’t swear off doing again, but I’m not sure it was fun , per se. It was…it was wild. I feel wild and free and like I’m new in my skin.

“What’s on your agenda for the day?” Dan asks when we’re back where we parked the bike, packing up the saddlebags with the gear we brought to the waterfall.

“Not much. You?”

“I need to go back to Pothole Dome later with the van to retrieve the camping gear.”

“Wouldn’t that be easier in my car?”

Dan looks up at me. “Yeah. It would actually. You don’t mind?”

“No.”

“It won’t take the magic from the memory?”

I grin. I knew he’d borrowed Peggy Jo’s bike to impress me, and I won’t lie, I’m impressed, but even if we go back in the light of day to retrieve all the gear, I’m sure the memory of our night and morning at Pothole Dome will remain plenty magical for the rest of my life. “Not at all.”

“Alright. I’ll take you up on that ride.” He rakes his gaze over me now that I’m dressed, and then checks his watch. “Want to go get breakfast first?”

I spot a familiar hunger in him, but I don’t think it’s that kind of hunger unfortunately. A sliver of disappointment bites, but then I remember I’m the one who’d said no sex during this date. But surely that was just for last night, right? Today’s a new day. A new date. Literally.

“I’d like that.” I step forward and take hold of his jacket to haul him close. “But I don’t suppose you want to eat something else?”

“Your ass?” He swallows hard, eyes lighting up.

“Sure. If you think I got it clean enough in that waterfall.”

“I’m not picky,” he whispers. “I’ll eat your ass any day, anytime, anywhere.”

“Filthy boy.”

“Mm,” he says, and his hands are in my tangled, wet hair before I can think. We kiss, and I’m starting to think he’s going to bend me over the motorcycle, take my pants down, and rim me right here, when a Toyota pulls up and a small family of hippies piles out.

“Let’s go,” Dan says, adjusting himself. “Breakfast, then sex, and then we get the stashed gear.”

It’s not far, but the way he drives the motorcycle into town like he’s in a rush to get on with our plans has me gripping hold of him in terror and excitement.

I can’t wait to see what we do with this new day.

*

Dan

Papa Bear is crammed full of people, but Sejin uses his employee privileges to skip the line, pop into the back, and return with stale cinnamon rolls with the icing a little congealed on top and two cups of coffee.

“I know this isn’t exactly a healthy breakfast, but it should hold us over until the place clears out enough for me to convince Pete to make us his special turkey-and-egg sandwiches with extra- extra bacon. It won’t be on the house, but it’ll be twice as much food as he usually gives out.”

Sejin leads me to a table by the front door, and we bite into our gooey, sweet pastries and ignore everyone as the place fills even more.

It’s clear by the way we’re staring at each other that we’d both rather be sucking face than licking the icing off our fingers, but the nachos from last night were a long time ago, and the demands of the body temporarily outweigh our lust.

We’ve just finished up the last of our cinnamon rolls when Rye drops into one of the two open seats at the table, a to-go boba in his hand, and a wide smirk on his face. “What’s up? Is this a morning-after or a morning-before?”

“Both,” Sejin says, his eyes twinkling. He’s so handsome my heart skips a beat.

“Uh-huh, well, good for you guys.” Rye grins. “I had a nice night, myself. Even got paid for it.”

I waggle my eyebrows, but Sejin looks around to see if anyone’s listening. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t Nevada and sex work isn’t legal here,” he murmurs.

“If it were Nevada, I’d have to be registered and all kinds of nonsense.” Rye shrugs. “It’s not like it’s a felony. I mean, what’s a misdemeanor in this day and age?”

“So long as you don’t let Andrew know about your side-gig,” I remind him. “He’d sic his lawyers on you like white on rice, and you’d never see Jeanie again.”

Rye eyes me with irritation. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re an asshole?”

“Regularly.”

He turns his attention to Sejin, who still looks uncomfortable with the conversation. “C’mon,” he says. “You’re saying you’ve never accepted money for it? Get real. I know you have.”

Sejin sputters, coffee hitting the table. He wipes it with his napkin and again looks around to ensure privacy. “How’d you know about that? I never told anyone,” he whispers.

Rye points two fingers at his own eyes and then at Sejin’s. “I see you. Like recognizes like.”

“I’d hardly say you two are very alike. You’re a Dom and he’s…not,” I say.

Sejin leans over the table and explains, “I only took money a few times while I was traveling across the country. It was never the only reason I slept with them. But when they’d offer, I’d accept. I was super strapped for cash, and I really needed the help. So…” He shrugs. “I took it.”

“Take out the traveling part and the not asking to be paid part, and I’m the same,” Rye says. “I don’t Dom men unless I want to, but it’s a lot of work and I deserve to get paid.” He grins again. “Even if it’s all very pleasurable labor which I enjoy very much.”

“How did you get into that work?” Sejin asks, running his finger over the crumbs on his plate before bringing it up to his mouth to lick clean.

I lean back. This is a long story and a salacious one. “Go on, tell him,” I urge.

Rye rolls his eyes, but he has a smug little smile on his lips too, giving away that he enjoys blowing Sejin’s mind like this.

“Before our divorce, Andrew and I had fallen into a kink-based sexual relationship. He got off on submitting, and I got off on making him submit. Both of us had been raised in the Mormon church, so it was all very naughty and taboo, of course. Which made it crazy-hot for him—and for me.”

“Ah.”

“That worked well for a little while. We were both happy with at least that aspect of our relationship, if nothing else. Until I decided that I wanted to transition…”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. He’s straight and not into men. That’s reasonable, but he also thought what I wanted was a crime against God and that I was setting a horrible example for Jeanie. Things got ugly.”

“ Oof ,” Sejin says. “I’m sorry.”

“What made it worse was how mean our divorce and my transition made him. He became very cruel to me and, well, in general. Though I think he’s still a good dad to Jeanie.

He’s gone back to the church—except in the ways he hasn’t—and he tries to do the right thing by her, even if it’s doing the wrong thing by me. Maybe even especially if it hurts me.”

“Yes. I remember.”

Rye shakes off the bad memories and rouses a smile again.

It looks effortful, but not insincere. “Now, I’m finally at home in my skin.

I’m not ashamed of who I am. And Andrew?

Well, he’s looking for just the right woman to be his secret Dominatrix.

Because Andrew will keep it secret even from the Mormon women he dates or marries.

I think at this point he prefers it to be illicit, you know? It’s more fun for him that way.”

“Andrew,” Sejin says on a sigh. “He’s…” He shakes his head.

“Oh, believe me, I know.”