AFRICAN AMERICAN ROMANCE: A Thug to Remember (Hood Alpha Male Pregnancy Romance) (African American Urban Contemporary Short Stories) (36 page)

I trudged forward with my gray hiking boots digging into the surface of the gravel. I went down the same gone over path that everybody else was using, until I was out of sight. I moved off the path and had my backpack over my shoulder with all the necessary equipment that I might need.

I had gotten a late start, which meant that I was going to have to use whatever daylight I had left to get as much distance as I could. I tackled the rocks with my open gloves and the chalk sticking to them to get better traction on whatever I could find on my way up to the top of the mountain. I’d seen the most beautiful landscapes around and I found myself drawn to the Rocky Mountains in Vancouver. I’d seen the brochures and I decided at the last minute last week to bite the bullet and get myself a ticket for me and my best friend Eric.

It was hard going and I had to stop every so often to take a drink from my canteen. I didn’t want to overdo it, because I wasn’t sure when I was going to find another fresh water supply. I could feel the sun beating down on me, but I could also tell that the lateness of the hour had cooled down the air considerably.

Breathing deeply, I continued to force myself to go beyond my own endurance. I cut my hand at one point but it was just a superficial flesh wound. I bandaged it with a strip of cloth and continued to take the fight to Mother Nature. I wished that my sister Tiffany had the same attitude, but she was more comfortable in a four star restaurant with mints on her pillow. I often thought that one of us had been adopted, because we really didn’t have the same tastes.

I was almost to the top and the sun was just this flicker in the trees, when I spied something that made my eyes go wide and my fingers began to lose their grip. I was so stunned that I didn’t even realize that I was falling until I felt the air rushing by me.

It wasn’t the fall that killed you…it was the landing.

Chapter two

I could see these strange red wings, but the sun was obscuring the face of the creature. I heard the flapping and I saw it coming closer and a sense of panic came over me to the degree that I was actually shaking like a leaf.

There was a strange sound, a screeching almost animalistic howl that followed its downward descent towards me. I wanted to scream, but I realized that I was screaming and that whatever this thing was had overshadowed me in decibel. It felt like everything was going in slow motion and then I saw the red eyes and the way that it seemed to look through me. For some reason, I concentrated on those eyes, never really getting a good look at face that went with them.

I awoke with a start, a sheen of sweat over me that made it feel like the sheets were sticking to me like a second skin. It was a very vivid nightmare and I was glad to be awake from it.

I reached for the clock, but found it wasn’t there. I reached for my knee-length robe that was hanging on the bedpost, but it wasn’t there either. My eyes were just adjusting to the darkness with the only semblance of light now a sliver coming through the dark curtains.

“It’s about time that you were awake. I was beginning to think that you would sleep through the whole day.”

I heard the voice from somewhere nearby. My mind was still a little fuzzy, but the figure of the man in the doorway with a tray in his hand was definitely not anyone I knew. “Before you go and scream your fool head off, I should tell you that I was the one that rescued you from the cliff. You took a nasty fall. I’m just glad I was there at the time. You could call me your own personal savior.”

I saw the cross around his neck and I knew that he was only teasing, but his long hair did make me think of Jesus. It didn’t help that he also had the beard to match and that open white shirt, and the way the sun was shining behind him was a sure sign that he was a man of miracles.

“I don’t remember anything,” I told him. “The last thing I do remember is seeing…something in the sky, and then falling.”

He put the tray down beside me with some fresh water in a glass pitcher with a heavy drinking glass.

“You were very lucky,” he told me. “Truthfully you didn’t fall more than five feet. Unfortunately, the impact against the rocks knocked you unconscious. You were unresponsive when I got to you. I had to carry you on my shoulders up to the top of the mountain to bring you here, to my home. It wasn’t easy. Thankfully you don’t weigh much.”

I tried to move, to get up, and I had my silky caramel colored leg out of the sheet before I realized that I wasn’t wearing any clothes. I pulled the sheet tight against me and looked at him for some kind of explanation.

“Was it necessary to strip me bare and leave me vulnerable and exposed like this? I’m not trying to tell you how to be a good hero, but I think you might have taken a couple of liberties that were not exactly necessary.”

With his shirt open, I could see what looked like a small tattoo on the upper side of his left shoulder. It was red and as he got closer, I saw that it was a twisting, coiling dragon. That must’ve been what I had seen, before I passed out. The red eyes and the creature with the wings. Sure. For some reason it had manifested into a creature in my mind.

“I had to take your clothes off. They were ripped and you were bleeding and the only way to get to your wounds was to have easier access. I’ve seen all sorts of bodies. I was a medic in a past life. It’s not something that I like to talk about, but I know how to field dress a wound while people are shooting at me. I think that I can handle a young beautiful African American woman that falls into my lap.”

When he was within a couple of feet of the bed, I was finally able to see him more clearly. Along with that dragon tattoo, he also had a couple of scars that were probably a byproduct of his time in the armed forces. I wanted to reach out and trace them with my fingernail, but I thought that might be going a little too far into his personal space. Then again, he had already stripped me naked and could envision me naked anytime he wanted to.

He was over six feet tall, taller than me even, at least 200 pounds of solid muscle with not an ounce of fat that could be seen anywhere on his body. I would’ve liked to get a closer look, maybe a detailed inspection of each one of those muscles, including the one that was showing a little bit of excitement from seeing me naked and at his mercy. He had the weirdest eyes, green with these yellow flecks. They didn’t look human.

He must’ve seen that I was looking at his eyes. “It’s from an injury. I’ve never found a reason to fix it. It doesn’t hurt and I find that it gave me back the eyesight I had when I was a child.”

I instantly liked him and felt safe.  I’d never imagined that happening to me with any man. Eric was my best friend, but he certainly wasn’t the manly sort that would jump in front of a hail of bullets to protect somebody’s life. I could see that this guy would do that for me or for anyone and that was a testament to his character.

“I’m sorry for your injury, but tell me what’s going on. Where exactly am I? That might sound ungrateful, but it’s not every day that I wake up in a stranger’s bed with no clothes on.” I remembered a few drunken binges in college that ended up exactly like that. They were fun at first, but each new one left me with lower self-esteem. After the third time, I swore off any more one night stands. I had no interest in shacking up with anyone that had a kind smile and a nice package to boot. Speaking of a nice smile and a nice package, my hero here had that in spades.

The intricate detail on the dragon tattoo showed some amazing artistry. Whoever had done it made it look like it was alive and the eyes seemed to follow me wherever I went. It must’ve been some kind of optical allusion, but it was definitely worth whatever money he had forked out to have it done.

“You’re in my cabin,” he explained to me. “We’re about five miles away from where you had your nasty spill. I think that you may have broken your ankle. You might be feeling a little numb. I had to use some morphine to dress your wounds. I have this chronic condition and I need constant injections to keep me from flying off the handle.”

I turned my arm and saw the puncture marks on the inside of my elbow. Damn.

I lifted the sheet and saw that my ankle was swollen two times its size and covered in a bandage to make sure that I didn’t move too quickly. “I don’t normally say this, but you are an amazing man. I’m very lucky that you came along when you did. If it’s all the same to you, I would like to call for an extraction team.”

He gave me this face and I got this feeling like he wanted to tell me something, but didn’t know quite how to say it. “Here’s the thing. My place is off the grid and I would really like to keep it that way. I enjoy my solitude and without the stress of a real job, I’m able to stave off that chronic condition I mentioned for days at a time, before I need another injection. It’s the only reason why I gave you one of them, because I could spare it. There is no cell service out here and I don’t have a landline or even a computer to contact the outside world with. To be honest, I never had any need to have one and I like it that way. I do have a generator, but basically it gives me TV and all the hot water and electricity that I need for one person.”

The one thing that I had to do was make sure that he didn’t think that I was some dainty little flower. I had no interest in being coddled and I showed that by slipping my legs out of the sheet. I was standing in front of him completely naked with my bald crease calling the attention to his eyes. I liked the shaved look and I had no reason to be embarrassed about my body. My breasts were enormous and without the bulky denim shirt, he could definitely see that they were a mountainous terrain that would be worth climbing.

“Unless you’re going to keep me here like your prisoner from that movie Misery, then I would suggest that you move out of my way, so that I can go and find something to eat.”

I tried to take a few steps on my own, but the pain that came shooting up from my ankle and other places was more than enough to make me stumble and fall into his arms, even against the morphine.

My hands came in contact with his bare chest and I inadvertently squeezed his pectoral muscles and gave them the once over. His hands had cupped my breasts from underneath and even though he had only done it to prevent me from injuring myself, it did feel damn good.

“I have a few things on the stove that I think that you’ll find to your liking. If you would allow me, I will be more than happy to escort you to the table and we can eat there. You must be hungry. I brought you these and I doubt that they’ll fit, but it may still suffice for the time being.”

I got back on my feet. This was the first time ever that I had touched a White man, this intimately. Except for Eric. Usually, I kept with my own race, but I was starting to see that maybe I was denying myself a different kind of low hanging fruit. The contrast in our skin colors was very erotic and brought to mind the first time that I had seen Eric naked. He wasn’t the only one that could call upon that image anytime he wanted to.

“I know that this might sound like a strange question to ask, considering that you did save my life and all. I’m wondering if you’re just going to stand there and watch me get dressed. If you were a true gentleman, you would turn around and give me a little bit of privacy.”

“I was just going to leave, but then you got up and gave me quite the shocking sight. I thought that you might be telling me something, but maybe I’m just an oblivious man that has no idea what a woman wants.”

I seemed to have struck a nerve. It wasn’t my intention to make him feel that he had done something wrong. My mouth was open and I was drawing breath but before I could say anything he closed the door and left me to my own devices.

I forced myself by sheer will alone to move, with a few grimaces, along the way to the window. I looked out to find everything was surrounded by trees. There was no sign of life or other cabins in the vicinity. I went back over and took my phone and brought it over to the window and tried to get a signal. No good.

The pants that he had left me were a pair of blue jeans. They were too big for me and rode low on my hips but at least they didn’t fall back down. I didn’t know who they belonged too, but they were definitely a woman’s. He had also left me my denim shirt and I could see that it was freshly laundered and my bra and panties were right there underneath it all. I could’ve taken off the jeans and put the panties on, but I decided not to bother. Going commando gave me a sort of freedom. The feel of the rough material against my slit sent nice little jolts up into my core as I went to find my hero.

Chapter three

It took me a moment to get myself composed enough to leave the comfort of this bedroom. I walked down the hallway, stopping occasionally to look at the pictures that adorned the walls. There was this blond temptress in one with the eyes of someone who was in love, standing right beside the man that had saved my life. Come to think of it, I never did ask his name. I probably should, given the circumstances.

I made my way into the living room and found that the place was immaculate. It had this opened concept and the kitchen was right there with him behind the stove with billows of steam coming from at least three pots. He looked like he was testing the sauce and then he looked at me and it was almost like he couldn’t believe his eyes. I’d purposely pulled my hair back into a long, dark ponytail, which of course gave my breasts a lot more attention than I intended.

Then again, maybe I was looking for him to look at me like that. There was something sexual about the way that he stared at me that made me feel almost like he was looking for something intensely physical happening between us. Like I said, I’m not one for one night stands, but I could certainly rethink my position on that with a guy like him.