4 comments/ 21281 views/ 2 favorites Bear Creek Trail By: rrickgauer "Let's go to Sabino Canyon and fuck," Vicky said. She was sitting on the sofa, legs crossed, sipping some iced tea. "To celebrate Earth Day." It was March, hot already in Tucson, mid-80s. Vicky sat there in shorts, her tanned legs smooth as marble, looking at Tommy with a raised eyebrow. "It's closed," Tommy replied. He was fixing some lunch. Salads with garlic and tomatoes, a touch of a chili vinaigrette. "Mountain lion, remember?" "So." "So that means there are no trams," Tommy said, bringing the two bowls of salad to the kitchen table. "Lunch is ready." Vicky got up from the couch, Tommy watching her out of the corner of his eye, knowing that wasn't the end of it. Knowing Vicky, once she had her mind set on sex, wasn't going to let it go. Especially after she had decided to have sex in a public place or, in this case, state owned land. "So we hike it by foot. We don't need a tram. We're going up there to fuck, remember?" How could he forget? Ever since he had started dating Vicky, six months already, the sex had been varied, intense, and very often, public. "What about the mountain lion?" "What about it?" "Could be dangerous," Tommy said, regretting it the moment it left his mouth. Vicky raised another eyebrow. "When do we leave?" * She was giving him a blow job. She liked to stick his cock so far down her throat she would come up gagging. She liked to have him hold the back of her head, tell her, "Just a few more seconds," before he'd let go and she could come up for air, turned on with that fucking look in her eyes like she was drunk with lust, desire. Then she was forced down again, he could actually feel the head of his cock buried against the back of her throat. "You like me to suck your cock like this, don't you?" she'd ask, looking up at him, sliding her saliva covered hand over his cock, licking his balls. Tommy simply grabbed the back of her head and shoved his cock back into her mouth. She liked him to be rough. He figured that one out the first time they had sex. Their second date, in a movie theater up at the Foothills mall, watching The Departed, sitting way up at the top, she had reached into his pants and pulled his cock out. She stroked him with her right hand and leaned into his arm, rubbing her breasts into his shoulder, whispering in his ear she wanted to suck his cock, "right here in the movie theater." She slid down out of her seat and took his cock in her warm mouth. His hands instinctively fell into her hair, the heat of the moment making him a little more aggressive than normal, but she was responding to it, getting into it. He grabbed a handful of hair, actually pulled it, testing his limits, but there didn't seem to be any limits with Vicky. The harder he pulled the harder she sucked, until he couldn't help himself and came in her mouth. Later, minutes, he had his hand down her pants and felt, for the first time, her warm pussy. He had always liked the feel of a woman's pussy. There was nothing like it. The fleshy softness, the hair, the lips, all designed by God or nature to lure him and his fellow compatriots to desire it, want it, need it, die for it. Vicky's pussy was warm and wet, telling Tommy she had been turned on by sucking his cock. He slipped a finger inside and she moved her hips up out of the chair, trying to grind against his hand. Tommy moved his finger out and up over her clit, back and forth, in and out, until Vicky clutched his hand and came. * He could bring his pistol, a Glock 9mm. Probably wasn't enough to stop a mountain lion, at least with one shot, or two for that matter, but he'd feel safer. How fast are mountain lions anyway, he thought? He was a pretty good shot. He had blown the shit out of some gallon milk containers filled with water, out in the desert, from fifty yards or more. Plenty of time to down a charging mountain lion. Did they charge? Tommy knew he was just rationalizing the whole deal. He really wanted to take Vicky up to Sabino Canyon and fuck her under the warm sun. Have her sit up on a boulder, legs spread, her hands on the back of his neck shoving his face into her pussy, telling him to stick his tongue inside her, lick her ass. Jesus, he'd shoot a elephant for that. "We could cut up through Bear Canyon Trail," Tommy said, a forkful of salad awaiting to be eaten. "Get into the canyon that way. It's a long hike, but probably unrestricted." She placed a hand on his, "I knew you wanted to fuck me up there, didn't you?" "The thought crossed my mind." "I can tell," Vicky said, placing the same hand on his erection. "Just thinking about me up there, naked, sucking your cock or you licking my pussy, is making you hard, isn't it?" Tommy was speechless, all his blood rushing to his cock, fast enough to make him feel heady, faint, dizzy with a hunger to devour her right there on the kitchen table. Chili vinaigrette salads be damned. Tommy glanced over towards the patio; maybe even open the drapes and let the world watch them have sex. "You want to fuck me right now, don't you?" Vicky said, her eyes following Tommy's to the patio. "Were you thinking about opening the drapes and fucking me on the kitchen table, you bad boy?" Tommy felt he could never keep up with Vicky. He was just along for the ride, however long it would last. She was too wild, too daring, too everything for him. But it had been six months and her interest, was not waning. If anything, it was peaking, increasing. Tommy swept his arm across the kitchen table, sending the bowls of salad flying, lettuce, tomatoes, chili vinaigrette everywhere. Vicky's eyes, filled with genuine surprise-Tommy had caught her totally off guard-were also filled with a kind of lustfulness. Like someone had finally shocked her. Tommy threw Vicky on top of the table, unbuttoned her shorts and slid her shorts and panties off in one quick motion. The look on her face still full of surprise, lust, passion. As she lay there on the kitchen table, her pussy exposed, Tommy threw off his shirt and ripped the cord on the drapes, flooding the room with sunshine. He was beyond speech, beyond a rational human being, fueled by lust, as he took Vicky's legs and pushed her knees back towards her head, leaving her pussy wide open. Tommy ran his tongue up her ass, licking her ass, running his tongue around the puckered hole. He loved licking her asshole, Vicky always the adventurous one, never one to pass up something new, (except anal sex, stud!) had showed her appreciation by telling him as much. "I love your tongue on my asshole. It feels so good." Tommy moved slowly forward, letting his tongue slid inside her pussy, tasting the saltiness of her sex, the heady aroma filling his nostrils, turning him on even more-like that was possible. Vicky pulled her shirt up exposing her breasts, pinching the nipples, rolling them between her fingers, pulling them towards her own mouth and flicking the nipples with her tongue. Tommy ran his tongue up and over Vicky's clit. She grabbed the back of his head and pressed him into her sex. She liked it rough that way, having him pressed down hard on her clit as he moved his tongue up and down, back and forth, sideways, until she told him to put his fingers inside her, put a finger in her ass. He'd pump his fingers in and out, press his tongue down hard on her clit, grinding it, she'd be saying, "Oh, yeah, I'm gonna cum, baby! I'm gonna cum all over your mouth. I want you to lick it up." Then she'd shudder and let her legs spread wide open. But this time he took control. He grabbed her hand from behind his neck and roughly tossed it aside. She gasped. Then he slid her across the table so her head hung off the far edge. "Grab your knees," Tommy commanded. Vicky, dutifully, did as she was told. Tommy removed his pants and went around to the other end of the table, where Vicky's head lay over the edge. She was just about to say something when he slid his cock into her mouth and buried his face back into her pussy. Vicky reached around, took hold of Tommy's ass and pushed his hips, driving his cock deep into her throat. Tommy moved his tongue up and down her slit, taking time to lick her ass again. Vicky pushed him in even further, Tommy feeling the back of her throat, the tips of her fingers dangerously close to his own asshole, knowing that a fraction of an inch more and he'd cum. Vicky, sensing this, moved her hands to his hips and started to pump his cock in and out of her mouth. Tommy slid a finger in her ass and his thumb in her pussy. The angle of his thumb pressing against her G-spot, her weakness, and brought his tongue hard against her clit. It was a race to see who could make the other cum first. Tommy knew he didn't have much time. If he didn't get her within the first few strokes, he knew she would regain her senses, bring her fingers to his ass and then it would be all over. Literally. But he had lucked out and Vicky hesitated as he ground his tongue over her clit. He buried his thumb as far as it would go and pressed against her G-spot, the muffled moan from her cock-filled mouth. The race was almost over until he looked up. * So they decided, both of them, Sunday, April 22, Earth Day, to hike up into Sabino Canyon, via Bear Creek Trail, and fuck their brains out near Seven falls. "The waterfalls will be a nice backdrop to your cock sliding in and out of my pussy, don't you think?" Vicky asked. "Perfect," Tommy replied. But in the back of his mind, not too far back, the thought of the mountain lion lurked, shriveling, for the time being, any more ideas of bravado. Over the next week, in between working and taking as much ribbing from Vicky over worrying about the mountain lion as he could stand, Tommy cleaned and oiled his Glock. He had even taken it down to the Tucson Gun Club on Tanque Verde and polished up on his aim. Tommy stood in the small cubicle imaging Vicky was on her knees, the gritty sand pitting into her knees, the hot sun burning the back of his neck, his cock, slick with Vicky's own juices, pumping in and out of her mouth, when, suddenly, without warning, without provocation, the lithe, muscular blur of the dun-colored mountain lion would come charging like a cheetah on the Serengeti. Tommy, calm as a warm breeze, picked up the Glock and fired. He missed the bulls-eye by at least six inches. In fact he didn't get within any of the concentric circles signifying a lethal shot. "Dammit!" Tommy yelled. It wasn't looking good. If he couldn't shoot the bulls-eye within the comfort of the gun club, how could he expect to shoot a charging mountain lion in the spacious confines of the canyon with, more than likely, his pants down or his face buried between Vicky's legs? The answer was, he probably couldn't do it. Why did it have to be Sabino Canyon? Why couldn't they just go somewhere...safer? But Vicky wasn't giving an inch. She wasn't making it easy. Ever since the episode on the kitchen table she had all but ceased and desisted having sex. Tommy was sure it was done on purpose to ensure he would not back out of going to the canyon. Sure, it was working, his cock never seemed to be soft anymore-particularily embarrassing because he worked as an auto parts manager at a Napa store, constantly running around looking like he had a lug wrench shoved down the front of his pants. Even his forty-two-year-old, beer-gut-hanging-to-his-knees assistant manager was looking good. "What are you looking at?" Walt asked testily one afternoon. "Looking at me like you want to fuck me or something." Tommy turned away red-faced. And Vicky wasn't making it any easier. "You ever fucked anybody in your office?" she asked one evening. "Like all over your paperwork, your cum, her cum, sweat, you know..." "Is that a hint?" Tommy asked, thinking the drought was over. Soon it would be raining, storming Vicky and her naked ass all over his desk at work. "No," she replied, and walked away. The testosterone build up was making Tommy testy, especially at work. He would snap at co-workers for the slightest thing. "Tommy, do we carry, or can we get plugs for a '69' Mustang?" Freddy, 23, asked before barely ducking out of the way of a flying box of Champions. Tommy kept obsessing over the Glock. Kept asking himself why he hadn't bought the Smith and Wesson .45 instead when he had the chance. "That sumbitch gots more kick than a broncin' buck," Smitty, the gun shop owner told Tommy the day he bought the Glock. "If you was to buy that monster I'd have to forewarns ya about accuracy. Like it ain't got much. Especially since you a novice, T. I means you're just looking for protection, right?" "Just in case," Tommy said. "Damn good sense too, nowadays," Smitty assured him. "And that's what I'm sayin's, T. The Glock is your answer. I knows it's an ugly peckerwood, but it'll do the job you ask. Now I know the S and W .45 is the kind of gun that can give ya a hard-on, but the fact of the matter is..." Smitty trailed off. "That fact of the matter is, what?" Tommy asked. "It's too much gun for ya, T," Smitty said, scratching his head hoping he didn't lose the sale of the Glock too. "You really think so?" "If I have a car question where do I go?" Smitty asked. "You, right?" "Right." "You gots a question about the firearms that's why you come to me. Correct? Right?" "Right." "And the Glock is my professional recommendation." Smitty was right about the looks of the Smith and Wesson. It was a sweet looking gun. The kind of gun you'd want to be seen with. But other than the gun club-a place Tommy rarely frequented-where would he be seen with a Smith and Wesson .45? "The Glock will meet all your needs, T. Whatever you need it for, that gun will be there to stop it. Guaranteed." Those words kept reverberating in Tommy's ears. But the truth was he was not very good with guns, period. Didn't have an aptitude for it. Hell, Vicky was a better shot than he was. The one time they went down to the gun club, because Vicky thought firing a real gun might be a turn-on, she had smoked him. Of course he had been distracted because she made him show her how to shoot the gun. "Stand behind me and show me," she had said, grinding her ass into his cock. Fucking John Wayne would have had a hard time shooting straight after that. But that had just been an excuse. Even when he was alone he had a hard time getting a feel for the gun; getting a feel for the kick. It wasn't that the Glock would be too small a caliber gun to stop a mountain lion, especially with a shot between the eyes, the problem was Tommy didn't think he could hit the mountain lion if walked up to him and placed the gun on it's forehead for him. * April 22, 2007. Sunday. The day of rest. God's day. Earth Day. By 6:00 am it was already 80. They had woke up early, had a fortifying and nutritious breakfast of wheat toast, peanut butter, grapefruit and two bananas each, along with their usual pot of Arabian Mocha Sanini coffee. "I'm ready to have your cock in me," Vicky said, before jumping in the shower. "Are you ready to put it in me?" "What a stupid fucking question," Tommy wanted to say, but wisely refrained from doing so. He would have hung off a 100 story building by his fingertips to fuck her. Tommy got his gear ready, packed the Glock in the side pocket of the backpack and walked by the bathroom door. It was ajar and he could see Vicky behind the pebbled glass of the shower door, shaving her legs, one leg propped up on the corner of the tub, her ass pointed straight at him, the pebbled glass blurring the clarity, but no mistaking it was Vicky, naked, wet, shaving her legs in anticipation of getting fucked in Sabino Canyon. Tommy so wanted to stick his cock in her while she finished shaving her legs, but he knew she wouldn't let him no matter how much he begged and pleaded. Since the lunch fuck on the kitchen table Vicky had been stingy with her pussy. She had given him only a couple of mercy fucks, but those had been quick (not even five minutes before Tommy was spurting all over the place) and uneventful. None of the usual dirty talk or heavy panting. Nothing. As soon as he had cum she was fast asleep. "Don't you want to cum?" Tommy asked. But he was met with the slow, rhythmic breathing of a coma patient. Before he knew it Vicky had shut the water off and was reaching for her towel. "What are you doing?" she asked, the water dripping off her body, rolling off her breasts. "I need to get a shower when you're done," he stammered. "I'm done," she said. "Jump in while I dry my hair." He almost didn't do it. Didn't want to stand there with his cock hard as oak, sticking out like a divining rod for pussy. But he did it. Stood there, hard as petrified wood, before he jumped in the shower without so much as a glance from Vicky. Tommy showered, sulked, the water bouncing off his cock like marbles off cement. He kept thinking about Vicky standing there in just a towel as her hair dryer roared. Then just as quickly she was done and gone. "Goddamn," Tommy muttered. He was so pissed he could have killed that mountain lion with his bare hands. Their plan was to drive in as far as possible, through the desert back roads just west of the canyon entrance, hike over a small hill and intersect Bear Creek Trail at the bottom. From there it would take about a hour to reach Seven Falls where, Vicky told him, she wanted to be fucked in every hole she had. Tommy was confused. No, he wasn't confused, he just wasn't hearing correctly because the only thing he had on his mind was getting to Seven Falls and fucking Vicky. So he was sure that what she said, and what she really meant, were two different things. Because, although she let him do just about anything he wanted with her ass, fucking her there wasn't one of them. Not that he hadn't asked, begged, pleaded, but she had always refused saying, "I have to save something for the man I fall in love with." So he let it slide, chalking it up to just an expression of how horny she too was feeling. After all it had been a few weeks since they had had an all-out, no-holds-barred fuckfest. Not since he had shoved her on the kitchen table and, out of the corner of his eye, saw their neighbor woman watching them have sex. Tommy had to admit it had turned him on so much he lost the race to Vicky and ended up cumming all over her chin and neck as she licked his shaft and balls. The neighbor woman, a woman in her early 40's, stood there like she had just been struck by lightning. Embarrassed that she was caught, sure, but more embarrassed that it was obvious, plain as day, she too had been turned on. The stricken look on her face because Tommy recognized her, they knew each other well enough to say hello by name. The next time that happened, which was sure to be within the next few days-after all they were neighbors-they would both know she had seen Tommy naked and having sex. She had watched him cum, watched him licking Vicky's pussy, and she had, obviously, watched them for awhile. It wasn't as if she had stumbled across them, shocked by what she saw, and scurried off. She had stayed and watched. Made eye contact with Tommy and stood and watched him cum all over Vicky's chin and neck. Watched with a glint in her eye like she wished it was her rather than Vicky on that table. But that was weeks ago. He had, inevitably, ran into Laura, his Peeping Tom neighbor, and said hello. She even surprised him by winking. "Morning, Tommy," she said, as they both walked out to get their mail. "Morning, Laura." And that was when she winked. Not a seductive wink, but one that said, if he was cool with what happened so was she. Now Vicky had thrown another monkey wrench, one of many, into the machine of plans. Tommy wanted to ask if she was serious about getting taken in the ass, desperately wanted to ask, but he didn't want to jeopardize future plans, so he just decided to wait it out and see what happened. Bear Creek Trail They packed a blanket, two small hand towels, suntan lotion, power bars, and plenty of water. Tommy patted the side of the backpack, feeling the reassurance of the Glock. By the time they were on the road it was 7:30. It would take about 45 minutes to drive to their destination. When they finally arrived, an almost silent drive, they changed into their hiking boots, Tommy strapped on the backpack and they headed towards a small hill to the east. Vicky took hold of Tommy's hand as they walked in silence to the base of the hill. "Ready?" Vicky asked. "Ready," Tommy replied. Vicky let go of Tommy's hand and started up the hill. Tommy followed, looking at Vicky in her kakhi shorts, white, button-down, short-sleeved shirt, her hair thrown out the back of her baseball cap, and her long, silky legs tucked into her hiking boots, little white socks peaking out of the top, wrapped around her ankles. It was a mistake, he realized, following her. The small hill, about sixty feet high, was an easy walk. At the bottom they recognized a part of Bear Creek Trail and started towards Seven Falls. "Maybe we're not the only ones with this idea," Tommy said. "Fucking in Sabino Canyon?" Vicky asked. "Or just taking a hike up here. I mean, after all, it is Earth Day." "Then I guess they'll get more than they bargained for." At the end of the trail, as the mountains broke open to a view of the desert and Seven Falls, they found a huge boulder, probably been sitting in that same exact spot for thousands of years. Had been sitting there, baking in the sun, when JFK was assassinated, when George Washington crossed the Delaware, when man stumbled upon fire. Was sitting there before man or woman ever existed. "It's perfect," Vicky said. "Don't you think?" Tommy looked around, surveying the area like a big game hunter, and thought it was perfect. The view was spectacular with a view of the falls and a wide open view of the desert laid out before the Santa Catalinas. Tommy slid off the backpack, Vicky took out the blanket and spread it over the boulder. She sat the backpack on top of the rock and then turned to Tommy. "Well," she said leaning against the boulder. "We're finally here." She glanced down at Tommy's pants. "Finally here," Tommy said, sounding like a moron. "You've been a very patient boy," Vicky said, reaching out and cupping Tommy's cock. "Patient boys get rewarded for their patience." Vicky leaned forward, her hand still on Tommy's cock and kissed him. A sensual kiss, slowly sliding her tongue into his mouth, keeping her eyes open, looking into his. She moved her hand up to the waistline of his shorts and slipped her hand inside, sliding it slowly over his now rigid cock. She moaned as she touched him, Tommy feeling like he was going to explode, any second, into a million pieces. "I'll bet you'd like that in my mouth, wouldn't you?" Vicky asked. But there was no need to answer. Vicky backed away, still looking into Tommy's eyes and began to unbutton her shirt. She was licking her lips as her shirt fell open, her white bra still covering her breasts, until she unclasped the center and pulled it open. The shirt, the bra, shorts and panties all came off. Vicky stood naked before Tommy, except for her hiking boots. She climbed up on the boulder. On her hands and knees, her back to Tommy, she spread her legs revealing her ass and pussy to him. "I think I need some suntan lotion," she said, reaching into the backpack and pulling out a bottle of Hawaiian Tropic. "Don't be stingy with it," she said, handing the bottle to Tommy. He snapped open the top of the bottle and liberally squirted the oil all over Vicky's back and ass. Tommy snapped the lid shut, placed the bottle of oil off to the side and began to rub the coconut scented oil over Vicky's back. Tommy started at the base of her neck and moved down to the shoulder blades. "That feels so good," Vicky said, pushing herself into Tommy's stomach, the tip of his cock just grazing the lips of her pussy. Tommy moved his hands to Vicky's middle and lower back, massaging the muscles at the base of her spine, just above her ass, Vicky arching her back like a cat being stroked. Tommy grabbed her ass with both hands and kneaded the flesh like a baker kneading dough. He leaned back to admire the view. Vicky's ass and pussy exposed to him, both glistening, wet with suntan oil. "Lick my pussy," Vicky cooed. "Please." There was a moment, a moment of startling clarity for Tommy. Vicky, her legs spread before him, Tommy realized these were not just feelings of lust traveling through his veins, his central nervous system, but real feelings of emotion, of caring, of wanting. There, before him, was this woman giving herself to him fully. Tommy stripped off his clothes and moved towards Vicky. He placed his hands on her soft ass and moved his mouth to the base of her back, moving slowly, running his tongue down to her pussy. Tommy slid his tongue inside and then back up over her ass, flicking the hole as Vicky arched her back in response. "That feels so good," Vicky moaned. Tommy spread her ass open further, moving his tongue back inside her pussy and over her clit. Vicky fell to her elbows, her face close to the rock, indicating she was on the verge of cumming. Tommy placed a finger near her asshole and slowly inserted it. Vicky moaned and came as Tommy slid his tongue over her clit. "Oh, my god, that was a long time coming," Vicky said, her ass still sticking up, Tommy's finger still inside. Vicky rolled over on her back, perched up on her elbows, legs spread wide open and said, "I'll need some oil on my front too." Tommy grabbed the bottle and poured the warm liquid over her breasts and belly, the oil forming a kind of river flowing down over her pussy and into the folds of flesh. Vicky looked down and watched the oil dribble down. She reached over with her hand, rubbed the oil over her pussy and slid a finger inside. "What do you want to do next?" Vicky asked seductively. The truth was Tommy couldn't decide. Too many thoughts were running through his head at once. On one hand he just wanted to throw her back and fuck her. It wouldn't take long with her pussy so slick with suntan oil. On the other hand he wanted to go down on her again. Lick all around her fingers while she fingered herself. And then he just wanted to jump up on the boulder, straddle her face and have her suck his cock until he came. He couldn't decide. Vicky took hold of Tommy's cock and slid her oily hand up and down the shaft. "Do you want to cum inside my mouth? My pussy? My ass?" That got Tommy's attention. Big time. Vicky could see it in his eyes, could see the questioning look: I thought you were saving that for the man you love? And then the look of understanding. She actually thought he might cry if he weren't so horny. He had been a trouper, a stalwart, the man, unlike all the rest, who had waited her out. After all the sex, the filthy, grinding, lust-fueled sex, they had had prior to her decision to celebrate Earth Day in the great outdoors by fucking outside, he waited it out and was still there. She had, in the past, regretted some of her decisions, had even questioned whether she had taken it too far with Tommy, even after she realized her feelings for him were different, more emotional, more vulnerable than with any man prior. But he had stuck it out. Not without some protest, but that had been mild, had been fun to watch him squirm and beg for mercy fucks and, yet, he was still there. And why? It was written all over his face; he loved her too. Too? Oh yes, she thought, there was no denying they had fallen for each other and there was no turning back. Vicky rolled over again, pointing her ass at Tommy. She spread her legs apart, reached behind and began to rub oil over her ass, slipping her middle finger in and out. "I think it's ready for your cock," she said. Tommy stood there, unbelieving, for a moment. Vicky's ass right in front of him, inches away, her finger sliding in and out and she had just told him it was ready for his cock. This, he thought, was the best Earth Day he had ever had. In fact it was the only Earth Day he could ever remember. Tommy moved forward placing his right hand on Vicky's ass. She removed her finger. Tommy slid his left hand over his cock, spreading more oil towards the head. The he slowly guided the tip to the opening and hesitated as he looked down at her. He wanted to watch the head slip inside. Vicky leaned forward, slightly, relaxing as Tommy slowly slid the head of his cock inside her ass, watching the puckered hole envelope the head, the feeling monumental, like sliding inside a virgin pussy. Tommy placed his hands on her ass and pulled her towards him, letting her guide the pace. Tommy watched as half of his cock disappeared into Vicky's ass. He could feel her hand on her pussy, rubbing her clit and sliding a finger in and out. He could her finger on his shaft and thought he wouldn't get his cock in fully before he came. Vicky, at least he thought it was Vicky at first, sounded like she was going to cum again. But then he realized it wasn't Vicky. There was no mistaking the low guttural sound of a wild animal on the prowl. Tommy's cock deflated like someone had stuck a knife in a balloon. "What's wrong?" Vicky asked, concerned. "You don't like it?" But then, she too, froze as the growl became louder. Tommy, frantic, feeling like a complete fucking idiot because he was standing outside with only his hiking boots on, his cock slick with suntan oil, his girlfriend spread-eagled on a boulder and he had completely forgot to place the backpack close enough so he could grab the Glock just in case. Forgot because he was getting his long-awaited opportunity to put his cock in Vicky's ass. Tommy listened, his eyes wide open, trying to locate the mountain lion. But the canyon, the echoes, were throwing him off. Of course, he thought, the fucking lion knew that already, that's why it was growling in the first place, to confuse and disorient it's prey. While they were looking hither thither the mountain lion would pounce. That was just perfect, Tommy thought, just perfect. They'd be found by some Park Rangers or some other wayward hikers and there would be no doubt what they had been doing. Half-eaten (if that's what mountain lion's did with their prey), naked as the day they were born with suntan lotion all over the parts that were still left intact. What a way to go. Now the sound was behind them. Tommy turned quickly, but there was nothing there, nothing but desert and rocks and... Then the sound came from another direction and Tommy whirled around again and saw the mountain lion not ten feet away. No time to get the gun. Like the mountain lion had planned it that way. No time other than to put himself between Vicky and the animal, yell for her to make a run for it. The mountain lion crept along like a house cat ready to pounce on a mouse, it's eyes focused in on Tommy like laser beams. Tommy kept the eye contact and stepped forward. "Run when I say," he whispered to Vicky, still keeping his eyes fixed on the cat. But Vicky didn't answer, probably frozen with fear, Tommy thought. He kept staring, not wanting to break the stand-off between man and animal, and repeated, "Run when I say." The big cat, moving forward like it was in slow-motion, a perfect blend of nature's atavistic will to live and stealth. Their eyes locked into each other's like they were in a perpetual photograph. Tommy almost felt relaxed, calm, ready to except death in the most unconventional of ways. How many people, especially in modern society, died from a mountain lion attack? A very select few. And how many of those died trying to protect someone else. Probably none. And it was the role of protector that fueled the courage. Tommy decided he would move quickly, yell to Vicky to run, and then like a caveman, charge the lion, let the mother fucker know this was not going to be a walk in the park. Bring the game to him, or her, whichever, it didn't matter. The point was he'd go down fighting and not like some chicken shit running away crying. And for an instant he'd get to see the look, the surprised look, in the cat's eyes as it witnessed this crazy human charging him, or her. Tommy reached out to touch Vicky's leg, reassure her that everything was going to be alright...at least for her. But all he felt was rock, boulder, the blanket before he heard the resonating sound of the Glock firing. The echo bouncing around the canyon walls like someone had fired a machine gun. Tommy watched a puff of rock explode about five feet away from the mountain lion, the bullet ricocheting, whizzing into the canyon. The mountain lion, like it knew, like the animal knew whoever shot that pistol was no Annie Oakley, stepped closer. A second shot reverberated, no closer than the first, bit into the thick desert sand and the fucking mountain lion-Tommy would swear to it under oath-smiled. Tommy finally took his eyes off the lion and looked at Vicky. The absurdity of what he saw brought him back to reality. There was Vicky, naked except for those damn hiking boots, up on one knee aiming the Glock like she was some porno actress in a cheap James Bond knock-off. Stop, or you'll shoot. Now the cat had switched its gaze to Vicky. Staring her down, daring her to fire one more round, the cat, it's back legs tucked under it's haunches, was ready to pounce the moment the shot went, surely, astray. Vicky aimed and fired the Glock, the bullet striking the sand about a quarter of an inch from the mountain lion's front paw sending sand flying everywhere, including the big cat's eyes. The mountain lion swiped at it's face and nearly blinded by the gritty sand, made a hasty, clumsy getaway. Vicky dropped the Glock and shook like the temperature had dropped 50 degrees. Tommy jumped up on the rock and held her. "It's alright," he said. "It's over. It's gone." Vicky turned and looked at him, the fear still in her eyes, the absolute, primeval stare of terror. "It's over," Tommy repeated. They threw on their clothes, helter skelter, and exited the canyon as quickly as possible, constantly looking over their shoulder for the cat. They made it to Tommy's Jeep Liberty, hoped in, not saying a word, and drove home in silence. It wasn't until they inside the apartment that they spoke. "I'm sorry," Tommy said. "For what?" Vicky asked. "I was the one insisted we go up there. You warned me about the mountain lion." "I know, but..." Vicky stopped him, saddled up to him, close and said, "You were going to step in between us, weren't you? Me and the cat, I mean." "I didn't keep the gun close enough to me," Tommy confided. "I should have." Vicky laid her head on his chest and Tommy held her to him, feeling her warmth. They were home. They were safe. They were alive.