LUNA
I'm sore in places I didn't know existed.
I assume that's a given for anyone after a day of climbing; except I didn't climb, not yet.
Sunlight is barely yawning into the woods when I unzip the tent and step outside. Lucas is still sleeping deeply, naked on top of the two sleeping bags that we never used. I let him rest for now, get some coffee going.
He worked a lot harder than I did last night...
Hopefully, with experience, I'll take on more of the sexual load. When we get our own place together, I'll have every opportunity to sharpen my game.
The thought is like a burst of caffeine. We're going to move in together... I figured I'd feel different in the morning, but I don't. The ecstasy of our night together—when we didn't have to worry about noise or my roommate banging on the wall—is still fluttering in my heart.
Being with him makes as much sense as turning the page in a book I can’t put down.
Last night, I finally let go.
I surrendered control, trusted him and put myself in the most vulnerable position I’ve ever been, and I was rewarded with a treasure I never knew I was seeking.
He makes me want to be brave, to let go, and trust that everything will be alright.
To trust another person with the things that could hurt me the most, there’s never been a more terrifying prospect. But it’s a climb I have to make. I can’t stay hidden in my library forever, protected by the hardcovers and lost between the pages.
Speaking of which, I finished The Love Hidden Within.
Turns out, the two best friends were in love all along. They got married, ran away, and had a bunch of babies. Now that I’m writing my own love story, that poor romance novel is so underwhelming.
The tent unzips just as I’m pouring hot water over instant coffee grounds. Lucas pops his head out, half-asleep.
“ Gmurnin. ”
“I think it’s pronounced ‘Good morning’ ,” I laugh. “Sleep good?”
“ Too good.” He stumbles out and stretches, still completely naked.
I let my eyes look wherever they like.
Lucas yawns, meets my gaze, and looks down at himself. “Sorry, is this all right? Are we at the casual nudity level in our relationship?”
“Casual? Maybe not.” I raise my mug to him. “But still very much approved.”
He comes over with his half-hard cock and sips his own mug, smiling stupidly as we enjoy the soft sounds of the mountain waking up.
The rock wall looms, the lines Lucas ran yesterday waiting patiently for their next climber.
“I’m ready,” I say.
“Ready?” Lucas yawns again. “For what?”
He follows my gaze to the crag before smiling wide.
I take a hefty gulp of coffee, exhale deeply, and walk over to the waiting harness.
“Stop smiling. And don’t you dare drop me.”
I feel like I could walk into open air and keep on strolling. Like the breeze could sweep me away and take me where I please.
Lucas was right: I feel like I can do anything .
Climbing that cliff was a brush with death. I swear, the Reaper was laughing at me as I scrambled and squealed and clung to the line.
But his voice is what got me to the top.
Keep going.
Take a breath, you got it.
One hold at a time.
I believe in you…
Those bursts of encouragement—and his hold on the belay line—pushed me higher until, before I knew it, I was sitting up there staring down at the sea of trees and Lucas dancing where I started.
We’re on the two-mile hike back to his van, our gear on our backs.
My heart is still flying.
“I am so proud of you.” Lucas walks closely behind me, hands on my shoulders, shaking me and booming, “You did it! Woooooo!”
Even I let out a warrior cry.
Me. Yelling. Letting my voice carry into the trees and scare away birds. I don’t even feel the urge to shush anyone.
Nothing feels daunting.
Moving in with Lucas presents itself as the next step, the next chapter, the logical move that I’m eager to make.
I envision us decorating together, moving all my books and his climbing gear into a spare room that becomes our library/adventure headquarters, even inviting his brother and Ana over for dinner so Lucas can flaunt his newfound stability.
I’ll dote over him, praise him in front of his disapproving big brother.
If I can climb, I can do it all.
With Lucas, I can be the warrior princess I’ve always wanted to be.
Something cuts into my fantasies: a sound. A guttural moan.
Lucas and I halt on the trail. He meets my eyes and holds a finger to his lips.
The sound bubbles up again, only this time it sounds like help.
We’re both pulled toward the source, breaking off from the trail to the edge of a sparse ridge overlooking the forest below. I stop short, but Lucas creeps to the ledge and peers down.
“Oh, shit.” He turns, already getting his pack off. “Somebody’s down there.”
My heart plunges into my stomach. Suddenly, I don’t feel so brave. I inch my way forward while Lucas works frantically and calls down, “Stay calm! I’m coming down to you!”
Sure enough, there’s a man in highlighter colors sprawled out maybe twenty feet down. The jutting piece of rock he rests on is small, holding him out like Earth’s offering. His leg is contorted. He waves painfully to me and says something I can’t understand.
“Jesus.” I feel like I can’t breathe. “What happened? Did he fall?”
“I don’t know. Doesn’t matter.”
Lucas has lines of rope out and he’s stepping into his harness.
“Hang on.” I paw at him. “Did you say you’re going down ?”
“Obviously.”
“Are you crazy? We have to get help!”
“No cell reception. Another twenty minutes back to my bus. Maybe fifteen minutes of driving until our phones work.” Lucas is calm, certain, running through a checklist in his mind as he secures a line through the carabiners on his harness.
“If that guy rolls the wrong way, he’s gone.
He could be losing blood. We have to get him up. Luna, I need your help.”
He storms off with the long rope, picking out the thickest tree near the trail and wrapping the line around the trunk. I follow him, but I’m not sure what I should be doing.
“Get in your harness,” he says surely. “You remember how to hook up.”
It’s not a question. He tells me I remember, so I remember.
I move without speaking, taking shallow breaths as I repeat the steps I took for my climb to get secured. Once I’m in, I rejoin him at the tree.
He’s moving like a man on a mission, like nothing can stop him.
“I can repel on my own, and the tree will hold our weight once I’ve got him. But when I call out, you need to help me get back up.”
I find myself being hooked into the anchor end. Lucas puts part of the line in my hand, then guides my other hand to the knot on my harness.
“This is the motion. Lean back. Pull. Lock. Lean back. Pull. Lock.”
He works me through it, giving me a crash course in inching a ton of weight back up the cliff and holding their progress. With how he’s rigged it, the carabiners will hold the tension once a length is pulled.
“Put your feet here.” He moves me to a rock facing the cliff’s edge. “Leverage. Get low. Anchor yourself. Wait for my word.”
Is this really about to happen? How the hell did I just become part of a rescue mission?
Words float like ghosts from my lips, “I don’t think I can do this…”
“You have to. We have to.”
He takes my face in his hands and smiles.
“You can do anything, Luna.”
To supplement my lover’s faith, the injured man cries out for us.
My whole body nods and keeps on nodding. “OK. All right. Go.”
Without another word, Lucas steps backward off the cliff. It takes far too long for me to realize that the line is moving and he didn’t just fall to his death.
I wait.
The sun feels abnormally hot, breathing down on me. Sweat beads on my face but I ignore it. I don’t move my hands from the positions Lucas put them in.
Finally, I hear his voice climb over the cliff. “Bring us up!”
Lean back.
Pull.
Lock.
With all that weight on the other end, my muscles strain with pain I didn’t know existed.
The line goes so taut in my hand that it feels like it’ll tear through me.
But the leverage works, I stay low and lean as far as I can.
With Lucas working on the other end, slow progress is made until the rope suddenly goes slack and I fall flat on my ass.
I look up to find Lucas and the man safely on solid ground.
“Where’s it hurt, sir? Your leg? I’m gonna roll you to check for wounds, all right?” Lucas throws me a thumbs up before moving the man and receiving an earful in return.
We get a makeshift tourniquet around his battered leg.
Lucas ensures the man that he’s going to be just fine, smiling at me and giving me my next set of instructions. Take the keys. You know the way back. Drive down until you have reception, call 911 and let them know where we are. He needs an airlift.
I get out of the harness and grab the keys from his pack, still out of breath. My arms are so exhausted that they feel like noodles. Adrenaline keeps me moving.
Before I start back toward the trail, Lucas grabs me by my shorts and says, “You got this, baby. I trust you.”
The hunky adventurer I found on the floor of my library is staring at me like I’m his hero. Without a second thought, he trusted me to be a part of his team, to put a man’s life in my hands.
He pushed me to new heights.
He let me into his adventure, and it’s only just beginning.
I feel like I’ve sprouted wings.